Good night. It’s been a while hasn’t it? Sorry for the insanely boring blog as of late. Isn’t Summer supposed to be laid back, easy, slower paced? Summer has had me by the throat so it goes without saying that I couldn’t be more thrilled that Fall is just around the corner…..

It’s a Fall thing indeed – this boot obsession of mine.

Gilgarran Boots – Be still my boot loving heart.

Fall accessory knitting has also begun -

Deluxe Lace Stitch Cowl  from SweaterBabe. While I love this, I’m thinking it needs to be tweaked a bit.

With the above mentioned modifications I’m hoping for something that, at the very least, slightly resembles this little number from the latest Garnet Hill catalog. It’s a fine line between a cute little capelet and an ‘all sorts of wrong’ poncho. It comes down to proportion I think. As long as you have a base layer(s) that gives a you a long visual line (say all one color underneath – black, grey, brown, etc.) with the capelet on top it would be really cute. Also, I think it’s imperative that the capelet isn’t too long, that it stops just above the smallest part of your waist (you know, accentuate the smallest part of your figure). What do you guys think? Any ideas? As a knitter and hand-dyer of yarn, it just seems wrong to go out and buy one…..

Speaking of Fall accessory knitting, I have a couple of fantastic suggestions to share with you tomorrow. Thea (the design whiz behind Babycocktails) has come up with two adorable patterns featuring Plucky yarn – not only are the patterns super cute, they are free!

So tell me, what do you most look forward to about the Fall? Is it the kids being back in school? The weather cooling off? The knitting, of course the knitting! The food? Leaves? Hayrides? To me, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

Lately I’ve realized that I try to keep the blog quite sanitized – very happy, cozy, light and fluffy. But, thinking about it, I thought that perhaps my customers and readers would appreciate it if I were more open and sharing of the not-so light and fluffy stuff… a little bad with all the good so to speak.

I truly see my customers as friends, not just customers and, as friends, they have the right to hear about the icky things as well as the nice goings-on. Therefore, I am hereby making it a goal to be more open with good, bad and ugly side of things. Which brings me to~

June, 2010. I was not a fan. So very glad it’s over. While part of the frustration I have for June was completely out of my control (medical issues/tests which made for some compressed dyeing schedules, some extended family issues, etc.) a good portion of the wonkiness was my own darn fault (it’s the people pleaser in me, while that can be a good thing, it can totally come back to bite me in the bum at times). I’ve had an epiphany – I bit off more than I could chew. Way more. And, as a result, a few things fell through the cracks. My customer service suffered and that makes me very unhappy. Customer service is of the utmost importance – you guys mean the world to me. It is my pleasure to be able to be in contact with each and every one of you.

I’m seeing things with a fresh set of eyes and have a new perspective on all things plucky and, well, life in general. I’ve made a few changes to ensure that my customers receive the sort of top notch service they deserve. Any good business should be a work in progress and like any WIP sometimes you have to frog a little bit and go back and re-read the pattern to get it right! So, in the immortal words of the pluckiest of gals, Scarlett O’Hara Kennedy Butler – “tomorrow is another day.” Here’s to July and a fresh start!

I’ll be off the grid (in a work capacity) this weekend, spending time with family, cooking, knitting and generally just re-charging my batteries. But, next week I’ll have a fantastically pretty update for you with FREE SHIPPING – a little celebration of new beginnings. In the meantime have a great weekend everyone and happy knitting!

Raspberry & cherry lemonade… farmer’s market Wednesday this week.

Just like clockwork, every Wednesday, around 3:30ish in the afternoon I make a quick get-away and head to the farmer’s market. How I love that place. Only there, in a small-town farmer’s market, can I find old friends of my grandparent’s (the Riverview Drive grandparent’s) and hear “You’re one of the Kooistra girls aren’t you! How have you been honey!?” Puts a smile on my face just thinking about it. Almost, but not quite, like a little visit from with grandma and grandpa. I miss them.

Anyway, what’s not to love about a fist full of flowers, some plump berries and fresh spinach and feta bread (and peanut butter cookies for Shelbie). Oh, and Sam loves the fresh dog treats I bring him. It’s a highlight of the week for all of us.

Speaking of Sam, the little pistol thinks the new coffee table rug is for him. Guess I can see how he’d be confused, I mean it goes so well with his coloring.

Plucky Merino SW Worsted – Sassy Sangria

Another Wandering The Moor. Shelbs has absconded with the other one. I totally saw that one coming. Speaking of Shelbie…. look who has her very own etsy site!

And, if you’d love to be entertained… do check out her flickr stream as well. I may be biased, but there are some fantastically artsy photos to be seen. Enjoy!

Because I just couldn’t wait until Eye Candy Friday!

Over the past several years or so Shelbie has been a regular source of eye candy for the blog…. after a little hiatus she’s back to sharing with us again. Yay! We both thought it was time to bring a little more eye candy back to the blog. Feel free to check out her Flickr Photostream.

Awww…. Sammy.

Doesn’t this just scream Summer?

Coated Rouge Heels, please come live with me. I’m very certain we will be happy together for many years to come. You’re what I’ve been waiting for and all I’ve been wanting in the perfect red pumps. I’ll be anxiously awaiting your arrival.

xo,

s

• Writer’s Block has me by the throat.
• A power surge that come this close to burning your house down and fries all your electronics (yes they were all plugged into surge protectors) really bites. The fact that insurance covers it and the fact that we will get new items doesn’t really make it any better. Bit of a pain to put it mildly.
• Contests. Let’s have one!
• Spring Fever. We’ve got it bad, how about you?
• Knitting. I’ve got an extreme case of ‘I want to cast-on for a sweater (see above yarn) but I cannot, for the life of me, decide which one!’
• Crochet. Yes, let’s. I ask you, how cute is this?
• How do you make the perfect hard boiled egg? You know, done all the way through and the shell comes off perfectly! It should be the most basic thing ever, but I always have a problem with a sticky shell.
• So, speaking of contests, I want to know what you’re knitting/crocheting this spring. What are you just dying to cast on/finish? Or, are you searching for ideas as well? Go ahead comment away. I’ve got a pretty snazzy prize for the winner picked out. How does a sweater quantity (maximum of 8 skeins) of worsted weight yarn sound?  I’ll keep comments open until Tuesday, March 30 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern and draw a name.