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February 29, 2008
kitchen table
Ah, the Mac and PC in perfect harmony together. Or something. Doesn't everyone's kitchen table look like this sometimes? Its madness around here, utter madness.
Posted by Kerrie at 01:25 PM | Comments (2)
February 28, 2008
pretty flowers
These flowers are sitting on my desk for me to look at all day. The lillies were some that I bought from tesco at a silly reduced price (they are still beautiful 2 weeks later) and the roses were given to me by a friend. Don't they look pretty together. I love fresh flowers.
Posted by Kerrie at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)
February 27, 2008
Squash
I know the pic is blurry but I love it. This is just the way that the children look most of the time, jumping on each other and tumbling all over the floor.
Posted by Kerrie at 10:35 AM | Comments (3)
February 26, 2008
Funny from Brooke
I was reading Dooce just now and Brooke looked over my shoulder at this picture of Chuck and said
"Oh my, a dog eating from a plate with a knife and fork. How pleasant"
She cracks me up.
Posted by Kerrie at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)
Rules of parenting
has anyone else read this book?
The rules of parenting - Richard Templar
I bought it the other day and read the WHOLE book on the train last week. I love it, his writing style made me laugh out loud, the rules were nothing new but its nice to see it all written down in one place. Love it, every parent should read it.
Oh and Catherine, you were right. Option 1 it is. Hopefully between my hipknits server host and my ISP they should sort it out in the next couple of days.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2008
Day 1
Instead of a busy productive day I have spent almost 4 hours on the phone to BT trying to establish why I can receive email but not send it. The answer? No-one seems to really know but it will not be resolved quickly. I will try and use webmail tomorrow but replies will be slow - sorry :(
In the meantime, here is a lovely lovely design that someone is working on using our aran weight silk. Yummy, don't you think?
Posted by Kerrie at 06:58 PM | Comments (2)
February 24, 2008
Overwhelmed
But in a good way, there is just SO much going on here at the moment that I need to take regular deep breaths so that I can focus on what to do next.
MagKnits - the new site goes live on Saturday, its looking great.
Yarn Forward Magazine - short term busy as the spring issue is due with the printers next week. long term busy with a million other things including (but not limited to) summer and autumn issues.
HipKnits - SO MUCH TO DO. yarn to dye for wholesale orders, yarn to skein and label for wholesale orders. Friday's shop update to prepare. An entire shop to pack up and move out of by Friday (we're moving again for a number of reasons, too many to go into here) customer emails of gorgeous knits to browse through.
I really won't be around too much this week and next while Lou and I work super hard with the design team sending pdfs of pages back and forth until they are perfect. The mag has been through 4 sets of copy editing eyes so far and have 3 more planned for next week, it still won't be perfect but as near as we possibly can.
I think I'm going to concentrate on photos for the next 2 weeks and will try and post one picture every day of something important to me. Words will come as and when they can but I need to limit my blog writing / surfing / Ravelry time for the short term. xx
Posted by Kerrie at 07:59 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2008
Yesterday
Yesterday was lots of things, it was long, hard work, exhausing, fun, interesting and so so exciting. I spent around 16 hours out of the house on my feet. around 9 hours on trains and the rest of the time in meetings.
I usually slob around the house in crocs or trainers. Spending that amount of time on my feet in proper shoes was hell. If anyone saw a woman in black trousers, grey shawl carrying a Jordana Paige satchel sitting on the floor crying at one of the many London train stations I went through then that was me. They still hurt today but I stopped crying about it when I got home last night.
Off to filter through the 400 emails that are waiting for me and to pack up 2 or 3 sacks of post to keep Mr Postman happy as he had nothing to collect from us yesterday.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:13 AM | Comments (1)
February 20, 2008
Wednesday
I have so much to say that I don't know where to start. Its Wednesday morning at almost 9.30 and I've been up for 3 hours and achieved so much already that I'm tempted to have a cup of tea and some toast and go back to bed for a while!
I do not like early mornings, if I had my way I would not wake up until 8 am every day. 7am is slightly better but any earlier than that and I really feel short changed. This morning it was 6.30 and I had all 3 kids in bed with me, drinking milk, jumping around and asking for breakfast. I wouldn't wake up early for anyone other than them. They are so lovely together, it makes me melt. The other week they all stayed over at grandma's house and slept in the same room, Brooke and Cam in a double bed and Trinity in her travelcot. When grandma woke up at 7 she wondered why she hadn't heard from any of them and peeked into the room to find all 3 of them curled up in the double bed. Apparantly Trinity had woken up and cried and Brooke and Cameron had managed to get her out of her travel cot and tucked her up in bed with them. I wish I'd seen it. (not sure I'd have liked to have seen the getting her out of her travel cot part though)
The mornings are a busy time for us. Breakfast, wash, teeth brushed, dressed, bags packed for the day then if there is time we have a few minutes of TV before the various nursery, playschool and school runs. I have a car full on a Wednesday, another mum and I share the drop offs and pick ups which means that I dont have to leave the house on a Friday if I dont want to. Lovely.
This morning was lovely. First we go to school, then we go to playschool and then we go to nursery. Trinity has been at nursery part time since January and this has been the first week that she has gone in with a smile and a wave and a bye bye instead of tears. There is nothing worse than dropping off a baby who cries and holds her arms out to you as you walk out of the door. Until this week she has not settled in well at all. I thought that I was doing the right thing by keeping her at home with me until she was older and then only sending her in part time but maybe not. Brooke and Cameron started nursery full time at 6 months and settled in nice and easily, Trinity was 10 months and only going in part time - the transition wasn't as good.
I'd drive to work every morning feeling terrible. Wanting to turn around and pick her up and hug her all day even though I knew that wouldnt help anyone. The decision to be a working mum is a hard one, lots of people don't believe that mums should work when their children are small - I get some good hate mail on that subject, all from women which is sad. This week has made it all worth while. Dropping off a smiling happy baby who holds her ams out to her carers and waves bye bye to mummy. Peeking through the window at pick up time to see her happy playing with the toys and the other babies. Going into the room and seeing her come crawling over, smiling and babbling. It makes it all worth while.
So there you go, I said a lot without saying very much at all. I'm lucky, its all working out well for me at the moment. I love my kid free days when I can come home and get 6 hours of solid uninterrupted work done. I also love the days that both Trinity and Cameron are home with me, I can appreciate those days so much more now that I have the time on my own. Time to drink that tea and carry on with some Mac work now.
I won't be back until Friday now, I'm away all day tomorrow at a nice exciting meeting which you will all hear about in good time.. Keep your fingers crossed that it all goes well.
Posted by Kerrie at 09:17 AM | Comments (10)
February 19, 2008
YF Photoshoot pics
Are up on the YF blog, we had such a lovely day for it and the model and photographers were lovely, no surprise there though as I've worked with Marianne and Barry before.
Back to the Mac now for more YF work, I've never had a Mac before. Its a bit of a learning curve but a lot of fun! Lou loves it when I email her with daft questions about how to open the CD drawer and what button am I supposed to press to maximise the windows. Hee hee.
Posted by Kerrie at 09:04 AM | Comments (6)
February 18, 2008
Shop updated
The shop was updated at 11 this morning, yarn is selling quickly but there are still a few skeins of bargain to be had. Don't trust the new products page, its not working for some unknown reason so you'll have to browse the categories on the right. There are some back issues of YF mag on there nice and cheap if you missed any of them. x
Posted by Kerrie at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
Little bits
Thanks for all the get well wishes, I'm still not totally well but I'm getting there. It is sooo foggy and cold here today that I would like to stay on the sofa all day but alas, there is lots to do so I'll be braving the outside later on this morning to go and pack up some boxes in the shop.
Lots of little bits for you this morning, I should be more coherent tomorrow - I hope.
The winner of the guess how many skeins of yarn in the pile was the crazymadknitterlady. 97 skeins, that's a lot of yarn! I'm starting the shop update now so it should all be done by 11am ish - an email will follow to the newsletter people with a little discount code for them so if you are not signed up already you have a couple of hours to fix that. The winner of the skein of yarn is one of my most lovely customers so I'll drop you an email and we'll sort out which skein of yarn you would like. Thanks to everyone who played along, I loved watching the comments come in..
The photoshoot was fab last week, really really good. The model was slightly slimmer than we had requested but the clothes fit her well and the photos that I saw on the cameras were brilliant. Lou and I are busy working with the design and proof reading teams to get the pages together this week and next before our print deadline so we're going to be pretty busy. I will get some of the behind the scenes shots that I took last week (in between carrying heavy bags and adjusting cardigans and shawls - Lou and I were stylists, photographers assistants, lunch makers and general dogsbodies, how glamourous running your own business, dont you think?) up on the YF blog in the next day or so.
Oh, and one last thing - the yarn on ebay is FLYING off the shelves which is really exciting for Mandy and I. Who knew so many people would want the fluffy stuff, the best is still to come but we are thinking of putting it on ebay slowly and taking HUGE amounts to Olympia with us next month. If anyone is going to the show at Olypmia and wants to see a list of what we have before it all gets put in a big pile Black sheep style just send me an email and we'll send you the list so that you can pre order.
Posted by Kerrie at 08:54 AM | Comments (1)
February 15, 2008
Ebay yarn
I meant to post this earlier, Mandy and I have started to list the yarn on ebay for sale. Full packs, £10 including free shipping within the UK. Fluffy ones on there first, more to come.. If they dont have pics then bear with us, we're doing a joint effort as I cant upload pics from my laptop so I'm doing the words then Mandy does the pics.
Posted by Kerrie at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
Limited service
I'm sick. I don't get sick like this very often but both Lou and Wayne suggested that the 70 + hour weeks, stress and sick children have finally caught up with me. I've been on limited service since the photoshoot on Wednesday which just about finished me off.
I'll be back next week with all sorts of goodies, details of the winner of the contest, new yarn on the site, stories of the photoshoot (and some pics) project club fairisle cardigan photos. Lots. It makes me feel tired just thinking about it so me and my fever are back off to bed with some paracetamol. I know I'm properly ill when the idea of not working doesn't fill me with horror and panic about what I'll miss, I just can't do it at the moment.
Posted by Kerrie at 09:04 AM | Comments (12)
February 12, 2008
Fibre dyeing
I dont dye fibre very often, I've never really been able to get the vibrant colours that I love so much in other people's fibres. I have just 2 or 3 new lots of fibre that will go on the site 1st March (we have lots of sale goodies that I've found for you then as well), this is one of them.
While the pastelly colours are nice enough they are not what I was hoping for, I think I'm going to stop dyeing fibre for a while until I can work out where I am going wrong. Any tips or advice from other fibre dyers? I have tried using crockpots and direct dye approaches as well as different temperatures but still can't quite seem to crack it..
Posted by Kerrie at 09:09 AM | Comments (3)
February 11, 2008
Pay it forward
Ooh, lote of lovely contest entries so far, I came back to the laptop this morning and spent about half an hour moderating all the comments.
I had some time to myself this weekend so I started to make my pay it forward gifts, they are looking really good so far (even if I do say so myself!) I decided to make everyone who I am spoiling something different which will keep it more interesting for me.. I can't wait to see what everyone thinks of them, I'm hoping to have them all done by the end of the month. I'm looking forward to seeing what Clara cooks up for me as well, I tend to be very unlucky with swaps (I never received any sockapalooza socks from my original pal or a saviour this time around) but I'm excited about this one, its good to know the person who is making something for you don't you think?
I'm expecting an exciting post week this week, still waiting for the last couple of garments for Wednesday's photo shoot (nervous, yes? I hope they arrive in time) and Jam Mam posted the projects club silk fairisle cardigan to me on Saturday so hope that will be here today or tomorrow. Yay for exciting parcels in the post.
Posted by Kerrie at 07:15 AM | Comments (2)
February 10, 2008
Contest
I thought it was about time for a contest over here. I have been sorting through all of the HipKnits yarns this weekend and I knew that I had a fair few to get photographed and on the site (the problems with camera and photoshop meant that I only managed to get about half done before going to Center Parcs) but I didn't realise quite how many there really were!
I'm planning on putting them on the site Thursday evening, with a little Valentines discount for you all. In the meantime, have a look at this photo of all the skeins of yarn and make a guess at how many are in the pile. The correct guess made between now and 12 noon Thursday (UK time) wins a skein of yarn of their choice from the shop update on Thursday. If more than one person gets the answer right then I'll either give them both a skein of yarn or pick a name from a hat, depending on how many there are! If no-one gets it right the closest person wins.
Comments to this entry only please, I dont need any more emails to wade through. x
Posted by Kerrie at 12:04 PM | Comments (97)
February 09, 2008
Housewife needed
We had a lovely night out last night, went to a local Italian restaurant and ate far too much. Brooke had arranged a chocolate cake for Wayne with candles on spelling out his name, Cameron ate a HUGE pizza and then climbed onto my knee and fell asleep and Trinity charmed everyone at tables around us by smiling waving and talking to them all. It was just what the doctor ordered, a chance to sit back with my lovely family and forget about everything else for a while.
Whenever I start to get a little bit down I like to sit back and look at all the things that I have achieved over the past couple of years. I know that I'm not perfect and I would never pretend otherwise but I am actually quite proud of what I do. HipKnits is going from strength to strength with a lovely customer base of almost 1000 regular customers, many of whom I have met at shows / open days etc. I send out around 40 parcels every day and have such lovely emails from people who enjoy knitting with our yarns. That makes me happy.
MagKnits has been around for a few years now and the number of hits the site gets each day is unreal. We have over 30,000 people signed up to our newsletter list - I sometimes can't believe that so many people are interested in what I have to say. The new format will allow for so much more flexibility in what we do, it is going to be fab. MagKnits will be back on 1st March with lots of new bells and whistles for everyone.
Yarn Forward Magazine is really coming together now that Lou has joined us. The first 3 issues were tough but despite all of the problems I think that I did a good job at getting a subscriber base together of over 500 people (most of whom have resubscribed which is fantastic) and making enough contacts in the yarn world to keep it full of patterns and features. There were big issues with communication and other things, it was a hugely steep learning curve for me and I made some silly mistakes (like setting up the subs databse without keeping email addresses, doh.) but the way this year is unfolding is going to be brilliant.
So on the whole, despite my moan on Friday I am doing OK. Obviously I could do with a few more hours in the day to deal with everything, especially the emails which mount up at an alarming rate if I have even a few hours away from the laptop.
I have a selection of goals, both business and personal, and Wayne and I were talking the other night about getting a cleaner. It is one of my early goals this year, to be able to afford to get someone to come in and help with the housework. The more we talked about it though the more we realised that I dont just want a cleaner, having to tidy the whole house before they come round seems to defeat the object to me. I want someone who will put things away, stack and unstack the dishwasher, keep the laundry mountain under control, iron and put away clothes. Someone to cook dinner, make sure we always have milk in the fridge and remember before we run out of toilet roll. In short, I want a housewife!! Apart from Wayne having 2 wives (which is an option we've discussed - ha!) does anyone know where we could get ourselves a nice housewife from?
Chinese takeaway and bottle of wine tonight on the sofa while I sort out boxes of yarn and generally get a little more organised. Gulp, wish me luck - it doesnt come naturally!
Posted by Kerrie at 12:00 PM | Comments (7)
February 08, 2008
Good cause
I'm feeling a bit blue today, nothing serious just feeling a bit taken for granted and unappreciated, there are lots of moans going on at the moment about the magazine, and MagKnits and various other things. I know that I shouldn't let it get to me but it does, I'm in a bit of damned if I do and damned if I don't place at the moment. I have received TONNES of lovely supportive emails from people but the few people that seem to like to complain about everything that I do are the ones that shout the loudest in public. I've just about had enough to be honest. Its a lovely sunny bright day and I'm wondering why I bother to do anything other than get wellies and coats on and go and walk around the forest for a few hours. Its tempting but I do have an awful lot to do so maybe not..
To disctract you from my grumpiness, I suggest you go to any one of these places instead :
- Lilith is organising a fundraising event to raise money for her 5k run she is doing in June. There are some great prizes to be had, I've got my eye on the posh yarn lucia or the fyberspates gift voucher to get me some of Jeni's lovely fiber.
- Michaela (sweet and lovely person that she is) has finished blanket number 3 for Oliver's fund. She has gone over and above the call of duty with these blankets, each one is more beautiful than the last - although number 3 isn't really my colours.
- Monkee Maker is raising money for a very good cause, go and see the prizes she has up for grabs.
So there you go, 3 people who are arranging lovely prizes all for good causes. Pop over and support them why don't you?
Oh, and while you at it you could wish Mr A a happy birthday, the kids and I have a bit of a birthday surprise planned for him tonight - not going to tell you how old he is though. xx
Posted by Kerrie at 11:08 AM | Comments (7)
February 07, 2008
Cleopatra yarns reduced
I bought the Cleopatra mohair blend yarns from Carolyn last year over tea and biscuits at her house just before she moved to France. I hadn't really intended to buy them, it was a bit of an impulse buy and now that I'm down to my last few kilos I would quite like the space for some new summer yarns that I'm ordering at the moment.
So, all the Cleopatra yarns are reduced, down to £5 a skein. Get them while you can. There will be one more batch to put on the site next month but after that there will be no more. Ever.
PS - remember the Cobweb shawl I made from one skein of Cleopatra last year? Just saying, it goes a long way. xx (PS - November 20th entry in the link above, not sure why I cant link to it directly but as Jam Mam said, it aint working.)
Posted by Kerrie at 03:14 PM | Comments (2)
February 06, 2008
Random Wednesday
Did you all know that Yarnsmith has been taken over by new owners? The lovely Becky came to visit me last week at the shop, she is only a short drive through the Essex countryside away from me, and went away with a box full of yarn and magazines which are up on the site now.
We've had lots of new wholesale orders in this week, which will keepg dad and I nice and busy with dyeing for a while. Its funny how we go a month or so with just retail orders and then suddenly 3 or 4 new wholesale accounts open up at once..
HipKnits and Yarn Forward magazine (and lots and lots of packs of yarn from the ebay buying adventure) will be at Olympia at the end of March. We're also hoping to be at Wonderwool in April, Woolfest in June and then at Ally Pally in October. Don't think we are doing NEC or Harrogate this year though, they are just too far from home and too expensive to be profitable for us I'm afraid.
Lou and I are busy planning for the photoshoot next Wednesday, it is in a forest fairly close to us and we're so excited. I love all of the designs that are coming in, we are just waiting for one more now and then we have everything that we need. One of the lovely knit bloggers that you may know is coming to do the photos nad we have a model booked from a local agency. I finished the photoshoot style guide yesterday which is a printed out copy of all the shots that we want of each garment, the clothes that need to be worn with it and how the hair and make up need to be done for each one. That was a lot of fun to prepare.
What else? Center parcs is already a memory. Most of the bags are unpacked and put away and 4 out of 6 loads of washing have been done. I need to go and look on their website and book the next weekend away, give us something to look forward to.
Posted by Kerrie at 10:09 AM | Comments (1)
February 05, 2008
Center Parcs
We had a lovely few days away in Center Parcs, its such a shame to come back to the real world though. We went with mum, dad, Jenna and Jo which gave us lots of built in baby sitters and extra pairs of hands which is always useful when you're in the pool with 3 children!
We hired bikes, Trinity sat on the back of Wayne's bike and was quite happy - she fell asleep at one point which was really funny to watch.
We swam, every day for hours on end. Cameron LOVED the water slides, the wave machine, the bubbles, the water chutes and everything else about the pool. Brooke is grown up enough to swim without armbands so was able to come down the wild water rapids which she loved.
Trinity had her first swimming experience. Its the same inflatable that we had for Cam at Center Parcs all those years ago, she even fell asleep in the water at one point when she was floating in the waves with grandad. Bless her.
We played tennis, pool, walked, played at the park, ate too much, slept lots and drank plenty of bottles of wine. It was great and I want to go again. (if I look tired in the photo above its because I was, we had just come out of the pool on the last day and were about to head for home!)
The only downside was Cameron falling off his bike within minutes of hiring it and despite his helmet managing to bruise his head. Once they fixed the faulty bike, gave him a helmet that fitted and we were given the all clear by the medical team we got on with the holiday, allbeit with a HUGE bump on his head for the rest of the weekend.
So today, I'm catching up on emails and orders and washing and unpacking. I may have had a nice quiet few days but the rest of the world hasn't stopped!
Posted by Kerrie at 09:14 AM | Comments (4)