I've figured out Ravelry and more...

So, it seems that we skipped spring and launched right into summer. I was wearing my summer knits all weekend. Saturday I had on the great Ayala tank top. Saturday night Jeff and I went to a wine tasting party and I wore a little black dress and my linen shrug (I was woefully under dressed - but everyone consumed too much wine too quickly to really take too much notice.) Then Sunday I actually didn't wear a knit - but I did dress Zoe in her Banyan skirt which she loved and it looked just adorable on her! I need to hurry up on her Mondrian dress - I have one side finished - but I guess that is not going to cut it. I seem to have little knitting time....between trying to get stuff done on the computer (I will elaborate on this in a minute), reading (I've just read two good books --The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards- both really good- and I am engrossed in Still Alice by Lisa Genova right now), work, kids, and life in general I feel like I need 48 hour days - not 24! On the computer I have been working on two main things. First - I have finally figured out Ravelry! I am really not sure why it took me so long - but someone finally showed me and it's really easy. I have put some projects up - so look at my page - or join The Yarn Company Group - I think you can just click through above... I am also working on setting up a Yarn Girls' Website that will offer downloadable patterns. We have tons of new designs but no platform for them really - publishing is in the tank and I don't see us doing a new book - so I thought a good way to get our patterns out there for those who want to purchase them without purchasing the yarn from us is to join the bandwagon and set up a site! I am trying to do this as much by myself as possible - my lessons at The Apple store need to pay off. I have the general format of how to go about it down - but before I can do do much I need to size all the patterns and we need to redo photography. Then I can set the whole site up and hopefully only need to engage an outsiders help for the e-commerce aspect. Lofty ambitions but I think I can do it. My goal is to have the site up by sometime in August. I can't believe it is May next week - we start seeing reps to buy Fall yarn! I am not sure I can wrap my thoughts around wool at the moment - but I guess I have no choice...and it is suposed to get colder tomorrow. Until next week...happy knitting. Check out Zoe in her Tahki, Sky cardigan.

Well I am back from Jamaica. A week of sun and fun was very nice. The trip was good - easy travel - the place we stayed was fine...very kid friendly and we all had a nice time. I read on the beach and was about as lazy as I could possibly be. Jeff relaxed and enjoyed all things Jamaican. Max loved the big waterslide and playing soccer on the beach...he loved making his schedule each morning and sticking to it. And Zoe loved the jamaican men. She cooed and batted her eyelashes --it was quite a spectacle. She named the grill guy "ya man" and stood at the grill demanding ice cream, popcorn and attention. This is Zoe dancing the night away with Kervan. Here is zoe loving her daddy. Max also went sailing everyday with one of the lifeguards. He loved it - I think he really got a thrill going way out into the ocean - I got some palpitations but I love that he has a sense of adventure. That is Max on the boat all the way out.... And here he is a little closer to shore. I did not get much knitting done - almost the front of Zoe's dress. I am happy with my color choices though - it is going to be super cute if she actually wears it. Well - it's nice to be back (kind of)...and hopefully I'll have more knitting news next week. Until then - happy knitting!

I am on my way to Jamaica on Saturday. I cannot wait- I am so ready to get away! I am in the packing/gathering/stressing out phase that always accompanies getting ready for a trip with kids. I really hate packing for trips with my kids - I always feel there is so much stuff to bring because of my uncertainty as to what the kids will actually need... will they wear one or two pairs of shorts in a day? Will Zoe drip ice pop all over herself everyday or every other dayor twice daily? So I almost always end up overpacking their clothes. Then I pack medicine - what if they get a fever - bring motrin, what if they have a cough, a stuffy nose, diarreah etc. And I always like to have an antibiotic for strep on hand and the pink eye eye drops(because who knows if I can get medicine where I am - or my medicine of preference??) I really turn into a nut in such a situation! Then the kids need entertainment for the plane, food for the plane...I need to make sure I pack special animals that they sleep with, that special blanket (Zoe likes to sleep with 5 blankets on top of her, in a specific order...she has a little ocd with that...but I have already told her I am limiting her to one blanket - we'll see how that goes over)...and then I need some books, and who knows what else? If it were just me I'd bring a bathing suit, flip flops and a few shirts, shorts and some nyquil(just in case). Anyway, between the packing, the upcoming seder at my in laws, my husband's partially torn achilles, and my father sending me an email that he "needs to speak to me about something urgent soon" -- it all made my eye start twitching. It was very annoying, so today I am trying to take a lot of deep breaths! Today I am trying to focus on what knitting I should bring with me on vacation. I have decided to make Zoe her own Mondrian dress. I am going to use pink, off white, brown, turquoise and green. I am very excited. I am also trying to figure out one more project and I can't decide between a sweater for me out of black Gedifra, Ayala - or something else for Zoe -- maybe her own Creative Focus Silk cardigan. We'll see. Tomorrow I am taking Max to see the Bodies exhibit down at South Street Seaport. I am looking forward to it. I think it should be interesting and he is fascinated by the human body so I think he will think it is really cool. We are bringing my computer to Jamaica so I should be able to post from there--if not maybe Julie will or I'll be back in two weeks. Happy Holidays. Oh - and I almost forgot...we now have groups on both Facebook and Ravelry - The groups are both called The Yarn Compamny...please join us! Also - anyone know why even though I type my blog with paragraphs and my preview shows paragraphs - there seem to be no paragraphs when I post....I am confounded!