After Christmas Bargains for Sock Givers

I am a huge knitter and giver of socks - maybe that's why I started a sock business! I love to visit Target and other various retailers after Christmas to see if I can find some great bargains.  Yes, even at this late date there are some wonderful finds out there.  Most people overlook the Christmas gift bags that are left, especially ones like these.  But, at 10 cents each because they were a whopping 90% off, they will make some great bags for next year's Christmas sock giving.

Since we do various arts and craft shows also, I'm always on the lookout for bags to place the socks in for our customers.  They not only leave smiling because of the handcranked socks but because they've been placed in fun bags.  Add some pretty tissue paper and voila!

Tomorrow I absolutely have to get my inventory done and bring last year's ledger to a close.  Then, this year's fun will begin and I will get some serious cranking done and new sock yarns ordered.  So much to look forward to for sure!

Sock Plans for 2012

I have such high hopes for our little sock business this year.  I'm hoping to increase the amount of socks made on our antique sock machine and hopefully add some new designs and patterns also.

One design line that I'm working on is called "Catghans and Dogghans - Tail Wagging Afghans."  These are whimsical blankets for dogs and cats that will definitely make their owners wish that they were for humans! 

So, I hope that you'll follow along this year on our adventure of socks and all things knitted AND of course our life of living off the electrical grid in the California mountains.

We hope to add chickens to all this fun and I was lead to a fantastic blog (thank you so much Heather!) called Tilly's Nest.  If you want to learn more about raising chickens, this is a must read!

We will also be offering some little giveaways along the way, so be sure to watch for those.

Little Boys, Calico and a Chicken Named Lucy

We've had our two oldest grandsons during their Christmas vacation and decided to take them to Calico since they've never been.  Spencer is 11 and Mitchell is 8 - perfect ages for such a trip!

We did warn them about the open mine shafts and that they were to stay away from them.  Fortunately, signs are posted and we made sure that Mitchell read them. 

Our son Rick loves to go to Calico and enjoyed the day as much as the boys.  Here we are inside the silver mine which gives you a glimpse into what it was like back in the 1880's.

Boys love to climb and so a trip to the lookout point was on Mitchell's list of things to do.  Here you overlook the entire town of Calico and even can see the vistas out in the desert beyond.

The boys couldn't resist this photo opportunity and either could I!  In the background you can see the old school house.   If you haven't been, it's really a remakable place to visit and take your family.  On the way home, Spencer told me that Calico is better than Disneyland!

They just laughed and talked the whole way home and then we got on the subject of chickens and I told them that we've decided to build a chicken coop on our property.  I told the boys that they could each have their own chicken.  I asked Mitchell what he would name his and his answer was swift - Lucy!

I wish you all the very best in this new year and may your blessings be many.

The First Gift of Christmas Was..................

In the movie, The Christmas Box, Richard Thomas enters Mary's (Maureen O'Hara) hospital room and says to her that he knows what the first gift of Christmas was.  It was a child.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Merry Christmas to everyone and may we all be thankful for such a gift.

And our lucky winner is TeddynBarbie.  Congratulations on winning a pair of our fingerless mitts.  Please write me at tehachapisockcompany@gmail.com with your mailing address and I will get those off to you next week.  Hope we made your day!

Some knitting news to announce:  the upcoming issue of Knitting Today Magazine should be out in a few weeks and inside you'll find one of our designs.  I won't spoil it, so you'll just have to peek inside!  If you don't subscribe to it, I've seen it on the shelves at JoAnn's and I'm sure other newstands will also carry it.

 I finished the "monsters" for our 8 year old grandson, Mitchell.  He absolutely fell in love with Rebecca Danger's book of knitted monsters and even asked for the book!  So, I included it and wrapped everything in a fun gift basket for him.  I can't wait to see his face tomorrow morning when we go to Bakersfield.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas tomorrow and thank you so much for your kind words throughout the year.   It's always fun to have so many friends from all around the country (and world) who share your passion for knitting and are always there with lots of encouraging words.  Merry Christmas to all!

The First Gift of Christmas

One of my favorite tv movies is The Christmas Box with Richard Thomas and Maureen O'Hara.  Have you seen it?  In it, Maureen O'Hara asks Richard Thomas if he knows what the first gift of Christmas was.

If you can answer this question with the correct answer, your name will be entered in our drawing for a pair of hand cranked women's mittens.  On Christmas Eve, I'll randomly draw one lucky name for our little giveaway.

This photo is not the actual mittens that we'll use, but I wanted you to be able to see the style when made on an antique sock machine.  The yarn will be different and I'll choose something fun.  Good luck and may this week before Christmas find you all in good health and enjoying this very special season.

I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can........................

Three of the four items for the magazine project are now finished.  Tonight I'll start the last one and then complete it tomorrow.  Once blocked out, everything will be ready to ship out on Tuesday.

I'm still trying to crank out a few more items on our sock machine for our Etsy shop.  What do you think of these Christmas mitts?  I sure wish they were as quick to make as the socks, but I still enjoy making them.  The construction is so different than hand knitted ones and you'd think that the thumb looks a bit landlocked, but believe me, it's not!  Total movement when worn!

Then these very berry looking socks turned out quite nicely, also.  We're down to only 9 pr of socks left in our Etsy store, so I really need to crank seriously the rest of the week.  I bet you're all busy knitting for Christmas, too!

Have a great week ahead.

Vacations are wonderful, BUT................

My husband's vacation is over and he's back to work now. Don't get me wrong, I adore my husband. He's a wonderful, wonderful Christian husband, father, grandfather and friend to all. We've been married almost 42 fabulous years. We think the same things and even complete each other's sentences! But, sometimes it's just a good thing to get back into your regular routine and have everyone where they normally should be.

He really is a great help around the house, but on holidays the safest place for him is to be out of the kitchen! Last year he volunteered to do the Thanksgiving dishes and unfortunately broke a favorite relish dish of mine. It was an accident and really was no big deal. But, this year I decided to just let him relax and I'd do the dishes.

I had everything neatly put away in the frig and everything cleared off the table except the butter dish. With my back turned, I heard a huge crash and quickly turned to see my husband standing ankle deep in turkey gravy. My mouth just dropped open. He had come into the dining room, saw the butter dish and decided to "help" by putting it in the frig. When he pulled out this one sliding rack, it caught the handle of the saucepan holding the gravy and slid it right out and onto the floor.

I didn't realize that gravy could splatter 5 feet in all directions - not to mention his shoes were covered in it. We had him slip out of them and just step backwards, hoping that he wouldn't step in anymore of it. The shoes were thrown out onto the back porch where Bo (being the yard dog that he is) completely licked them clean!

With that, the floor even got scrubbed, although I think bringing in the garden hose might have been easier! Next year, I'll remember to get everything in the frig before turning my back!

Knitting news: the mitts are going in the mail tomorrow! I hope to make a few pair now for Christmas presents and for our Etsy shop.

The project for the magazine is 1/4 of the way done now. I'm quite pleased with the results and will now focus on completing the rest. Hopefully, I can get a few more pair of socks made for our Etsy shop before Christmas.

So, I better get back to it and will write another post very soon - maybe even a little giveaway before Christmas!

Have a wonderful day!