Cooperstown

Well, this was the big weekend in Cooperstown as the Baseball Hall of Fame held induction ceremonies. There were over 70,000 people in town, few free parking places and a lot of famous people walking around. Most of them were Hall-of-Famers who had autiograph booths on Main St. One customer to the shop answered my 'have you seen anyone famous?' with 'I think so, he had a large handlebar moustache but I don't know his name.' (I think she saw Rollie Fingers.) Another customer answered "John Travolta'. Now that got the attention of almost everyone in the store at that moment! Seems John is good friends with Cal Ripken, Jr who was one of the inductees and John & his wife flew in for the weekend. Half of Baltimore also seemed to be in town this weekend, too. I've got to say they were all very nice people and I love the accent! The only downside was that I didn't sell a lot. (Only 1 sweater set-a navy v-neck cardigan with white baseball buttons with a white hat stitched in red to look like a baseball , 3 of those baseball hats, and a blacksheep sweater.) I can make those baseball hats in my sleep...and do! The blacksheep sweater is an old design with 3 white sheep in a field on the front and a single blacksheep on the back. I get tired of making them but the keep selling. Shouldn't complain now, should I? My next big day in Cooperstown will be Aug 25 when I get to do a knitting demo at the Otsega Hotel. I wonder if anyone famous will be around then?

Times are Hard

This week is a really difficult one for me. I'm scheduled to work 2 days. My mom had a couple of doctor appointments and I have to work at the shop in Cooperstown on Friday, so my time at the library is short. This weekend is the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction so things will really be rocking down there. I'm working on Friday and on Monday. I usually try to miss these busy weekends but not this year. I hope I see someone famous...that I recognize. Sales have been really slow so I'm also hoping for a big crowd with lots of money to spend!

It's wasn't all knitting!

I just reread my last entry and it sounded like all I did on my vacation was knit. That's not true. We spent a morning shopping in Northville where there's an old-fashion five and ten cent store. I went out to lunch with some friends a couple of times and we got invited out for bar-b-q ribs one night. I went to a concert at Camp of the Woods that was very good and the local 4th of July parade (held on July 7th) was the best I've ever seen up there. And I read most of the books I had brought with me. (That alone was different!) I even washed windows in the camp and ironed and put up clean curtains! I enjoyed my vacation very much and I wish it had been longer. Ten days really flew by. I'll try it again in August.

Vacation in the Mountains

I'm in Speculator NY at the laundromat (!!) using a public access computer. It's been raining up here for a day and a half but today looks a little better. At least the sun is shining! I have gotten a lot of knitting done! I made a pair of baby socks with the wool-cotton-soyfiber-chitin yarn that I just had to buy. They made up kind of cute. (Chitin is made from shrimp and crab shells and is natually antibacterial.) Today I'm working on the superwash wool that was treated with aloe vera and jojoba oil. My hands feel smoother. I also did a baby set with a beret. I had Janet Evanovich's Mean Lean Thirteen on cd and that helped pass the time. Opps...the laundy is done!

Putting things in perspective

Sometimes we all go thru life looking at the little things that happen to us as major obstacles. A pattern that just won't work, a broken needle. Then something happens that puts it all in perspective. I just learned that a friend's son was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq last week. He was 30 years old. Marine Sargent Shawn Martin. Semper Fi

Working In The Shop

I worked in the shop in Cooperstown on Saturday. It was a nice day and quite a lot of people came into the store...many bought things, too. My first sale of the day, in fact, was one of my afghans. It was knit on the diagonal-like a dishcloth-on size 13 needles with Red Heart's Baby Cloud. Those afghans knit up pretty fast and look good. Most of our baseball hats (knit in Sugar and Cream Cotton yarn and embrodiered to look like a baseball) had sold. And the new summer sweater I had done in sport yarn with cables instead of ribbing was gone, too! I enjoy finding out that things have sold and luckly I had enough stock with me to fill in the holes on my shelves. Unfortunately, that was the only thing of mine that sold on Saturday. The rest of the day's sales were pretty well spread out to the other members of our co-op. One of my last sales was to a gentleman who was wasting time before a family wedding. He was a 'step' and I guess they don't have much to do during a family wedding. He was looking for something for his wife whose name was MaryEllen. One of our members is also named MaryEllen and he ended up buying over $30 worth of her beeswax candles and one of her hand-made baskets just because the name was the same! He was a very nice guy, too. I started another summer sweater yesterday and hopefully, will finish it tonight. Mom was busy knitting a baseball hat when I got home Saturday night so there should be a couple of them ready for me to work on, too. I want to get the shelves full before the end of this week. Cooperstown should be hopping this weekend and next week! Oh, the Doobie Brothers are in town for a concert tonight. Wish I was there instead of here at work, after all there is life beyond knitting, isn't there?

Too Hot To Knit???

We went to Speculator to our camp this past weekend and went to a pizza buffet at a local diner with a group of our friends. (Most of the other patrons there were locals so you know the food was going to be good.) The buffet had app. 10 different toppings on the pizza. It was a serve yourself/all you can eat thing with a glass of ice tea and dessert included in the $7/person. The pizza was pretty good and none of us went away hungry! Even my mother, a lst generation Italian-American, agreed that the pizza was good! I took my knitting to camp with me and worked on baby socks. I've done so many I can almost do them without thinking. Last night I started a v-neck, raglan-sleeve cardigan that I've done before and couldn't get it started. I'm blaming the color--soft navy--and the weather--it was too hot. Hopefully I'll do better tonight. I have to work in Cooperstown on Saturday and want to have it done by then. Mom knit a bear that I had found online and I did a matching cardigan for it without any trouble but the kids' size was beyond me. Oh, well, that happens sometime, doesn't it?