Happy Kwanzaa - Imani - Happy New Year!!

Imani - Faith

To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

May this new year be filled with love, peae and prosperity for you and yours!!

Happy Kwanzaa - Kuumba

Kuumba - Creativity

To do as much as we can, in the way we can in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Happy Kwanzaa - Nia

Nia - Purpose

To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Happy Kwanzaa - Ujamaa

Ujamaa - Cooperative Economics

To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together

Happy Kwanzaa - Ujima

Ujima - Collective Work & Responsibility

To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

Happy Kwanzaa - Kujichagulia

Kujichagulia - Self-Determination

To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves

Happy Kwanzaa - Umoja

Happy Kwanzaa!

The starting principle in the Kwanzaa celebration is

Umoja - Unity

To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community nation and race



Merry Christmas!

May you be blessed this Christmas with joy, peace and love!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Photo courtesy of the Columbia County Current

Wishing my Jewish friends and family all the best in this celebration of rededication. May you have joy and peace throughout the season. Happy Hanukkah

End of Year Clearance!!

Photo courtesy of Vectorportal via Flickr

From now until the end of the year use coupon code "CLEAR2011" when you check out with your purchase from the Yarn Obsession Etsy Shop to get 45% off your entire order!!

All "Ready to Ship" items are first come first serve because once they're gone that's it! The goal is to clear the shop to start fresh with new designs for the new year!

Hurry, even after the sale ends, once "Ready to Ship" items expire, they will not be relisted! I'd love to find them all new loving homes!

Happy Veterans Day!

Honoring all who have served! Hug a vet today!

National Mud Pack Day

Today is National Mud Pack Day! Yes folks, there is such a thing, I looked it up. Mainly I was looking for random holidays to play around with and that is what I found out. Now, I could go into detail of what the holiday is for, and what it means, but I'll just let you go to the website and read about it yourself. In the meantime, let's get excited about the amazing color of mud in various forms and the items made of the sticky stuff.

Yes, even men celebrate with mud packs!

Making mud pies is a favorite with children.

There are even festivals for mud (Boryeong Mud Festival)

However, my favorites have to be the items created in the color of mud. . . I love these:

Crochet Adjustable Neck Cuff - Chocolate

Detox Dead Sea Mud & Bentonite Clay Cold Process Luxury Soap Bar

Facial Dead Sea Mask - Sweet Mud

 Go play in the mud today and enjoy! Happy National Mud Pack Day!!

Sometimes, It's personal.

It's been an interesting few days to say the least. Starting on Wednesday night when we, as a family attended a holiday party for on of the schools my husband works for. We had a fantastic time with a magician, caricature artist and a "build-a-bear" style vendor. All paid for by the school, and all lots of fun for the kids. The food was wonderful as well. But, the highlight of the evening came when it was time to "boogie" on the dancefloor. My boy loves bands and he was the first one out there. However, upon reaching the dance floor, he promptly ran into a young lady who wouldn't let him go. . . literally. This is not just a proud momma talking, I have video to prove it.

On Thursday, I spent a the bulk of my day working on this blog. Updating it, moving things around and just tweaking along. I don't often get the opportunity so I took it, and am I glad I did. Thursday was a rainy cold day. The temps never rose above freezing and the rain never stopped. . . so by Thursday night, when the temps began to fall, and it was still raining we were ripe for some mayhem. Nature delivered and we were covered in ice.

It was beautiful, especially when the light hit just right, but it was not good for "business as usual". We awoke to a dark house, no heat, no stove, no computer etc. Many would have had a meltdown early in the day, but we went most of the day sitting in front of a fire. Me with my project, my hubby with his student papers and my son with his superhero action figures. When the sun began to go down at about 4pm, that's when we decided we needed to do something in order to be able to function for the evening. . . so we packed up books, shower goods, etc. and headed to my brother's place for food, heat and showers!

My fireside project was crochet. I spent the day working on a project I thought I'd never be able to finish before Christmas, but am now confident I can. There is always a bright side.

We spent both Friday evening and Saturday evening at my brother's house, but on Saturday night, when we came home ready to build a fire for the night, we found the power had returned! What a relief since we'll be hitting the road on Thursday morning and there is lots to be done before then.

In my tradition, here are a few Treasuries that I was priviledged to be a part of last week.

This treasury was curated by Sixx Jewelry



This treasury was curated by Nancy Rosetta



This treasury was curated by Treasury Town



Anyway, alls well that ends well and we survived the first "storm" of the season.

Podcast appearance. . . so to speak

Since opening our "pop-up" store in Downtown Crossing, Boston the Boston Handmade team and shop have gotten a bit of attention. The Boston Globe ran an article, The Boston Herald ran an article, and we've been mentioned on countless member and non-member blogs and sites. Needless to say, we're all very excited about the opportunity we've had to promote the Buy Handmade mantra we've been pushing for the holiday season. However, on Tuesday a few of us got a different opportunity.

Guido of "It's a Purl, Man" fame got us to come out on Tuesday evening in the freezing (literally) weather to be a part of his podcast. Since I would have been wandering the streets until it was time to actually meet, I was pleased when Guido put the invitation out to join him for dinner first. Guido and I met for dinner, chatted about lots of things including yarn, Boston, New York and family then we headed over to the shop, which Jessica, opened especially for this meeting.

We had a great time talking about the shop, our individual projects and how the holidays have affected out "creative" decision making. My fellow podcast mates were Jen of Blue Alvarez and Lynn of Cozy Cottage Creations. You can check out our podcast at It's a Purl, Man later today. . . I'll be sure to post it here to make it easier.

Giving Thanks

Tis the season to be thankful for what you have and I am most thankful for the blessings of a happy & healthy family. The last twelve months have ushered in some incredible changes in our family and we are stronger for it. I'm thankful that I'm once again able to knit & crochet and share that with others.

Mostly, I'm grateful in knowing that no matter what, the basics are what matter most: love, health, shelter and food.

Today as my family celebrates the season and joins together in thanks, we'd like to send thanksgiving blessings to you and yours. May you Holidays be filled with the basics.

Holiday Sale!

Holiday shopping time is here!!! I don't know about you, but now is when I start to think about what I need to get for the holidays in order not to miss anyone or any sales. . . speaking of sales, I'm having one!!!

From now until November 15, 2008 I'm offering the following discounts in my shop:

Get 15% off any item prices up to $39 - use code hs101515*
Get 20% off any item priced $40 or more - use code hs101520*
Get 25% off any custom items priced $55 or more - use code hs101525*

Simply process your order as usual, put the appropriate code in the message section, process your payment and I'll refund you the difference after payment (or you can request a revised invoice prior to payment)

This is your chance to get a beautiful unique item for a discount. Custom orders will be processed on a first come, first serve basis. There is a limited capacity, so if you have a project you'd like to have prices, please contact me ASAP!

Yarn Obsession is where the sale is! Come by and order for that long list of giftees you have!
*These offers cannot be combined with any other offers or coupons