Extraordinary Machine

Yarn peeps: I just posted this update to the AnnieAmelians group on Ravelry. It's a little update about what's changing at AA.

Hi ladies! (and gentlemen?)

Many of you have noticed the huge sale going on in the store right now. Some of you may be wondering, *What the heck is that crazy lady doing? Is she getting rid of all her yarn or something?!* I'm so sorry it has taken me a whole week to wade my way through the boxes and shipping labels to make this post!

Here's the scoop: last week I said I was going to do a 33% off birthday sale this week, but things have been a-brewing in my brain for a little while now, and I decided there was no time like the present to implement my plans. AnnieAmelia.com is going to shift directions just a bit.

I love owning a yarn store. It's been a dream of mine for many years and though it wasn't easy, turning that dream into a reality has been an exciting experience. In all my excitement, however, I got the party started just a little too soon! Turns out that independently running an online yarn store while simultaneously publishing a monthly pattern and sewing up a handmade subscription is a little too much for a mama of four young kids to handle! :-)

So I'm scaling back on the yarn, for now. I know I wasn't the biggest yarn store on the block by any means, but I did aim for a round-ish selection of yarns, and that's primarily what will be changing. Going forward, the yarns I will carry will be directly related to the Sweetcases and patterns being released.

Which brings me to the Sweetcase. Sweetcase fans, have no fear! I am going to continue publishing the lovely Sweetcase, but after the end of Subscription Cycle Three, I won't be offering them on a subscription basis anymore. They will only be available for individual purchase. **Please don't stone me.** You must understand that my children need clean underwear. I've been testing that theory for the past year and it turns out they really do!

So here's what you can expect from AnnieAmelia.com, version 2.0:

- Ongoing Sweetcase fun, hopefully as close to monthly as I can make it!
- More patterns, some requiring more than one or two skeins, even.
- Kits! Actual kits! For the love of kits, who doesn't love kits?! (These will often be a scaled-down, less-expensive version of the Sweetcase.)
- Kabobbles. Which is to say, fabrics, notions, things you'd like to stuff in a gift bag or hide in your closet and pet. Also often related to the Sweetcase.
- Blogging! Blogging? Yes, blogging. Are you ready?
- YARN. But mostly (you guessed it!) as related to the Sweetcase, meaning overstock (read: discount) of yarns featured in the Sweetcase and, get this, different color options for AnnieAmelia.com patterns!

I hope all this news excites you as much as it does me. It's all about learning and growing as an individual after all, right? When you pick up the needles, you're never sure exactly how the project will turn out. You just know you better have fun doing it. Thanks for letting me have fun right along with you. Here's to Sweetcase #457.

Have I ever told you the number of rodent homicides our family has to its name? Okay, maybe not homicides, per se. Well, some of them were definitely homicides, but others were purely accidental in that the person committing the homicide had no idea that hamsters don't bounce. That's an accident, right?



Hey, I don't say these things lightly. I know ultimately that the blood lies on my hands.

( for the record )

So in addition to overcrowded birthday parties, our family has another tradition and that is going out to dinner on your actual birthday. Really this is because birthdays are just a great excuse for me not to cook dinner. Some moms have a tradition of making favorite foods for birthdays, and those moms are the suckers, that's what I say. Sometimes we go out for dinner if I get all the laundry washed. You have to set the bar low ladies, this is what I'm saying.



Here's Birthday Girl #1. She has selected Logan's Roadhouse as her restaurant of choice.

( pass the ketchup )

One of the challenges of having two birthdays so close together is deciding which elements must be duplicated lest the delicate fabric of sibling equality be destroyed and which elements must be kept oh-so-specially individual. Luckily I am blessed with lots of input from the young people involved and while our planning and execution usually goes off without a hitch, one thing that can vary widely is the documentation of the event.

Take this photo for example.



This photo - team-determining bandannas in envelopes waiting to be hidden throughout the house - is a pretty sad representation of the video scavenger hunt that lit up our neighborhood between the hours of 6 and 7 PM on party night. Girls: running, screaming, laughing. Neighbors: bewildered, tolerant, amused. There were slides being slid down backwards (how crazy is that?! for heaven sakes), 13 year-old boys rapping out the ABC song (my personal favorite), and babies bursting into tears as hordes of 10 & 11 year-old girls tried to force a laugh out of the little victims.

It's just too bad we don't have any way to represent all that hilarity here on the interwebs...oh wait. Well, maybe I'll get to posting the video in another four months. Has anyone out there figured out how to juggle both the video and still cameras at the same time? I could really use some tips.



The good news is we have lots of pictures of dinner and dinner-making.

( again )

I have two daughters and their birthdays are three weeks apart.



This shouldn't be too big a deal but apparently I'm a little overzealous when it comes to birthday parties.



I'm not sure why this is.

( you're invited )

I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged! It's like I went on a blogging diet but instead of losing something I now have 473291474829 million pictures to tell the internet about. Laundry works that way, too, dang it. My laundry diets always end badly. Have you ever thought about how much laundry and blogging have in common? That's a whole 'nother post right there.

However, none of this has anything to do with what I wanted to say today. What I wanted to say today, Dear Internet, is: look at this photo of my first baby.



Do you know what I see when I look at this picture? Do you know what this photo does to my insides? I will tell you. That is why you are here.

If all the photographs that have ever been taken or have yet to be taken of this sweet girl were compiled into a time warp slide show, this would be the exact moment in time that she changed from little girl into brand new tiny young woman.

It rips my heart out. My heart is standing there in front of my camera lens.

And she's growing...before my eyes. It's such a strange, queasy, exhilarating, overwhelming situation. To give Everything, and to watch it grow old enough to flit far from my protection. Some things just aren't supposed to make sense, I guess. Some things are designed for the sole purpose of bringing us to our knees.

And so. This is one of four very good reasons I have for being better about blogging. Because in the end, this is the history of my little people, covered all over with all the mushy gushy details of how much I love them and how often they drive me right to the very edge of the CLIFFS OF INSANITY! (name that movie) And how all of those elements put together make life messy and beautiful and unimaginably amplifying. And I don't want to forget even the tiniest of all the yummy tiny bits. I am such a glutton.

Happy Squeester!

( read more )

Pastels, Brights, Pales
Of course, this means we have no drinking cups left.

( dye me a river )


And we only lost 9 or so to hunger. Mr. Easter Bunny, we're ready when you are.

And now you must see my children play basketball.

( but only if you want to )

My hair.

( go there )

The fish hat is done!



( just keep swimming )


Let there be snow!




Just kidding.

How I know I'm getting old is that I love nothing more than climbing into bed as soon as the kids are tucked in for the night. In the past, 9 PM would roll around and I'd start looking to get the party started. Those days are so gone. Now, if the sun is not shining, give me my pajamas and please pass the Tivo remote.

I think a nightstand is very telling. If I want to get to know someone better, I like to hear about what's on their nightstand. In that spirit, here is a tour of mine:


What's not showing is my huge knitting bag sitting on the floor, my laptop, and my camera - all of which are always within easy arm's reach. See, this is why I don't get out of the house. My bed is just way too accommodating.

A few other highlights from around my room:
( snoop )

This is my latest Sweetcase pattern design. I'm calling it the Posy Pillow.


Sweetcase #6 is now posted and will be available today! Imma flip the switch at 4 PM CST. Click the pic to see it in the store.

( behind the scenes )

Thank you, Pioneer Woman.

witness:


My husband thanks you, too. And three of my four children. Don't feel bad, that hold-out is a stickler. Nobody cracks that nut. She lives on peanut butter and ice chips.

*squeak*

Last night we saw Raul Malo at Auditorium Shores and now I'm addicted to his song Moonlight Kiss. But that's a terrible copy.

You should really look it up on Napster, because oh baby, salsa salsa! Dance with me!

More on South by Southwest later!

The current down economy has forced us to enjoy what we already have...


right in our own backyard, literally. This is a young cypress tree, one of many in our "nature area," and I just love the contrast of these fresh, earnest saplings with the sturdy, wise oaks. Don't ask me why.

( more spring breakiness )

Once there were two brothers.


And they were very sweet...


...but they were more silly.

( in case you haven't reached your silly quotient for the day )