Here are some things I know for sure:

1. I was uncool long before being uncool was cool.

2. Pale is the new tan.

3. I need constant supervision.

4. Cooking and cleaning are for people who haven’t discovered knitting yet.

5. A morning without coffee is like… something…without something else…

6. Chocolate is proof that God loves me and wants me to be happy.

7. People from Massachusetts do not find it amusing when you yell, “Where’d ya PAHK? Over near HAHVAHD YAHD?”

Just thought you’d like to know.

Perhaps you didn’t know this about me, but I will let you in on a little secret.

I can hear what you’re thinking.

Only when you’re visiting this site, mind you. Not just randomly all the time. So you think.

Like right now, you’re thinking, “What’s that colorway?”

See?

Right now you’re thinking, “Gosh, how did it get to be Labor Day weekend already?” Except for you, over there, you’re thinking, “Labour Day? Don’t we celebrate that in May?”

And right now, “Sheesh, she hasn’t updated her blog in forever. Where’s she been?”

And, “What exactly is that yarn?”

Because I am a benevolent Yarnista, I shall not leave your questions unanswered.

The colorway is called Wild Strawberries. It’s meant to look like wild strawberries. Mostly because I walk on the wild side and like to be edgy in my name choices. Just when you think I’m going to zig, I zag. I like to keep you on your toes.

This was inspired by a lovely LYS owner in Cordova, Alaska. (Alaska shoppers/travelers? Say hello to The Net Loft for me.)  It took me a while to develop the technique for this colorway, one in which there would be tiny bits of red (like one or two stitches) embedded in a field of kettle dyed greens. When this is knit up, it will remind you of those tiny red berries that proliferate near the ground, surrounded by all manner of leafy things.

I had to figure out a way to: a) keep the berries tiny, b) keep the berries red, c) have them be surrounded by fields of green. (Red+green usually equals brown, hence my challenge.) I had the laughable first attempts on my desk here at the studio until the straw that broke the camels back: my husband of all people, my husband who never has an opinion about yarn, picked up the skeins and asked, “What are THESE?”

I had one of my assistants squirrel them — and all my samples — into a new storage system in my office. The new storage system, one that was devised with a considerable amount of thought and input from experts, can only be described thusly:

First, someone takes a cardboard box we have laying around the studio, usually something that once contained items shipped to us.

Next, they make sure that there is nothing in the cardboard box. Nothing at all. They do this through visual and manual inspection.

Then, they place the samples — gently! — into the empty cardboard box.

They use a permanent marker, preferrably a 1/2″ chisel-tip, Sharpie-brand, black-ink model, and print: “SAMPLES (yarn) (dyed)”.

Finally, the boxes are then taped closed with a special tape gun. I am picky about my tape guns, having been through at least eight of them in the past 18 months. I am in love with this tape gun. (When they say it’s the Cadillac of tape dispensers, they mean a Cadillac with a leather interior and surround sound.)

I recommend this system to anyone — you might try using it in your own home or office.  I know it sounds a bit complicated, with the visual AND manual inspection of the box,  the legible printing with a marker of the permanent variety, and the taping closed of the box, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll find that it’s really rather handy.

You could use this sytem for things like “CLOTHES (winter) (kids)” or “ORNAMENTS (Christmas) (tree)” or “GARBAGE (throw) (away)”. The possibilities are endless.

Right now you’re thinking, “Is this person kidding?”

The answer in the form of the question is, would I kid you?

P.S. Look for Wild Strawberries later this year.