Kiyowara

Chloe update

Chloe will be out on medical leave for a while, so if N and I look like we're slumping at the shop, please prop us up with caffeine.  We're a little stressed, but it will all be okay, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday, Purlescence Yarns!

Happy Birthday, Purlescence Yarns!  We made it a whole year and we're still here!  It's been an exciting year.  On to year two!

Things happening at the store

Fun things are coming up at the shop.  Tonight is Late Night Knits, and we're going to show Pirates of the Carribean!  It's a fun movie, and I'm really looking forward to it.  I believe the plan is for folks to bring in their favorite comfort food to share, so it should be interesting.

Next up is our Birthday Party!  On October 13th we are going to celebrate Purlescence Yarns' first birthday with an all day extravaganza and yarn clearance.  Food, fun, and a small fashion show are among the planned activities.  Calling all Ribby Pullies, Ju-San Lunas, and Clapotis!  We're hoping to get as many of you together who have knitted these great projects for some group photos!

On the 20th of October our friend Candy has graciously offered to run a Party Lite party to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness Fund.  The shop will be open until 9 that evening.  More details to follow!

It's going to be a fun month.  I can't wait for Autumn to trully be here!  Isn't the cooler weather that we're having fabulous?  Hooray, knitting time again!  (Well, always for me, but it's much more fun to knit sweaters when it isn't so hot outside!)  Happy Mabon, Atumnal Equinox, Fall!

TNNA!

Wow!  What an experience!  I had a blast and there is simply too much to tell you right at the moment.  Nathania, Chloe, and I were blessed to meet fabulous people, and our reception with various vendors and publishers was terrific!  There are so many new products and yarns out there, you just can't believe how lucky we fiber craftpersons are at this point in history!

A couple of the highlights for me were getting to meet and chat with Amy Singer (Yes, of Knitty!), Nicky Epstein, and Kaffe Fasset.  Yes, that Kaffe Fasset! I even got to talk technique with him for a moment or two, and he liked my Spanish Dancer.  What an honor!

I am glad to be back home, though it's taken me all week to get caught up.  We're in the middle of some more rennovations.  The back room carpet is now gone, and we're working on scraping up the last of the glue reside.  I think the cement looks so much better than that nasty old carpet!

Fly-by posting

Just another quick update.  The Diversity Scarf pattern has been published.  That makes four designs up in Purlescence Yarns. I have now promised a customer that I would get my basic poncho pattern written up before she gets back from vacation in two weeks!  I should have the Loop Collared Cardigan written up and the model cast-on later next week after I finish the never ending intarsia project, which I'm hoping will be ready to ship out by Friday after Thanksgiving.

Don't forget about our Pajama-Jammy-Jam Sale on Friday, November 25th!  Check out our website for details.

Almost There!

We're now down to painting fixtures and working on finishing touches such as the crown moulding, baseboards, etc...although the bathroom door isn't quite finished yet!  I just wish my elbow would stop hurting.  Nonetheless, we are in sight of the finish line for the actual construction pieces.

I did manage to get in a run at the gym today: 2 miles.  I'm hoping to start a trend with yesterday's walk and today's run.  I've got to get the fitness thing back on track.

slow days moving

I feel a bit like I'm standing still.  We made a whole bunch of progress last weekend, and then it felt like things changed very slowly over the rest of the week.  Lots of stuff got done, but it's harder to see things like paperwork, buying inventory, arranging for extra fixtures to go away, planning new designs (Yes, new designs coming very soon!), and managing to get a little personal knitting done for the first time in a week...so lots of stuff happened.  However, tomorrow is another of the days where big physical changes should happen on the store.  I'm really looking forward to it!  We did get to haul a bunch of extra fixtures over to DCS.

On the personal knitting front, I cast on a poncho yesterday for me (I know, I never knit for myself!), and it's almost finished.  After having thoroughly enjoyed a lovely evening celebrating Mabon with Mike and Co, Leslie and Co, and my family, I'm going to tuck in with a cup of tea and finish up the poncho knitting.  I should have a picture of it to show sometime tomorrow...along with new progress shots of Purlescence!

Sunnyvale Yarn Store

So, it dawned on me that perhaps I had failed to list the location for our wonderful new store.  We're located in Sunnyvale, CA.  It's a really great town in which to own a small business.  Now, if I could only find a better routing from my house... It's was a busy week and I decided to take today off. I realized about mid-week that between the tunic I was working on and Purlescence that I had failed to take a day off in about 3 weeks.  Much crabbiness was issuing from me, so I figured I had better take a day off before my friends and family disowned me! I got to have a wonderful sleep-in, a chance to try to bank up some hours to make up for the many sleep hours I have been short of lately.  My wonderful wife, Kaye, had saved some breakfast aside for me.  She's the best! I'm taking my daughter, Ruth, to Build-a-Bear this afternoon and then we're on to her swim practice.  I haven't seen her swim in several weeks. Have a great Friday!

Long day

It was a long day today, but a good one.  We're moving furniture around, and designated first round of stuff to go away and stay.  By tomorrow night we should be able to mark off the areas for a living room and a cash register area. 

I'm tired, and I think I need a day off.  I realized that between the tunic I was working on and starting the store set up, I haven't had an actual day off for about 3 weeks.  I'm taking Friday off to rest and reconnect with my family. 

G'night!

Interesting Journeys

I wanted to write tonight about my journey to the point of opening my own yarn store, but I find myself unable to describe the experiences leading up to this moment adequately.  How do you describe the culmination of ten years (or more) of personal growth, or the precise moment when you realize that you must take a certain action because there is simply no other choice for your soul's path and right action?  You can't, pure and simple.  At least not in anyway that begins to describe the fear/joy/pain/wonder that such a journey encompasses. 

I've been avoiding opening a retail business for many years now, quite successfully I might add!  It has apparently been obvious to lots of other folks that I should run my own business for a while, but it was not at all apparent to me.  I figured out a little while back that I am what is called a Rennaisance Soul: I am happiest and most productive when I am doing many things at once.  My interests are highly varied, and I'm reasonably good at lots of things.  Many books suggest that running a business is a good way for folks like me to find fulfilling ways to make a living without dying of boredom.  So, why have I decided to stop running away now?

My mother is dying of COPD, otherwise known as emphysema.  It's in an advanced stage, so much so that she is unable to live on her own any more.  Up until 3 months ago she was still somewhat caregiving for my elderly, wheel chair bound grandmother as well.  It finally got to be too much and we had to move Grandma to a care facility.  That was tough. My mother has been a caregiver all her life and to admit that she not only could no longer care for another, but could not really even care for herself, was very painful to her.  She moved in 3 weeks ago, and we'll keep her going here as long as we can.  In the end, hospice will come in and help us through the last bits, but the journey there is long and slow with a disease like this.  My entire family is readjusting to having another entire generation present at all times, as well as having her caregiver at least 20 hours per week here in the house.  Chaos and love all wrapped up together, but emotions running very high all the time.

Leo, our wonderful dog, is aging not entirely gracefully.  He's over 80 in human years and becoming immobile.  This is a problem for a 212 lb. dog!  His feet are raw from dragging them, and he can no longer navigate stairs.  This last run of health problems for him has included recurring antibiotics, as well as 400 mg of prednisone per day.  Yeah, 400!  We love him so much and he's still a happy dog, but we can see the day coming that we're going to have to make some really painful decisions.

Ruth, my youngest child and only daughter, has just started at a brand, shiny, new charter school.  We're deeply involved in the birth of this new school, a parent-participation, developmental model that will see her from her current fifth grade year through eighth grade, but requires high participation from us.  It's the best possible solution for a kid in the 90 percentile ahead of her agemates, and one we're deeply committed to.  Or was that simply committed!

Why in the world would I choose to take on something like a new business venture - starting a retail business - in the midst of this kind of stress and chaos?  Believe it or not the reasons behind the current chaos of my life are huge pieces of why I AM starting this business, right now, in the middle of everything else happening.  Watching my mother at the end of her life has reminded in a most direct way that I cannot wait for life to be perfect.  I have to seize the day and move forward and those I love will come with me.  Life runs so quickly by, and if you want for it all to be quiet and peaceful you'll have let it all slip by without doing the things that are most important to you.

Leo is happy even though his life is not perfect, so why can't I be?  He's able to cherish every moment as only dogs can do, so why can't I learn to cherish each day and every moment, living to the utmost of my ability?  If I'm happy, then Leo is happy, simply to be with me.

What kind of lessons do I want Ruth to learn from my example?  I want her to live her life to the fullest, to take joy in fulfilling her destiny and taking action when it is the right thing to do, even if that seems like the most difficult thing to do at that moment.  I want her to see me living out my dream in my life, that she might dare to do the same in her life.  I am far more present for her in her life when my own life is lived out to the best life I can create.

All these things make it unavoidable to move forward with the path I'm now on. The birth of Purlescence Yarns is a very special thing to behold. I am deeply honored to have crossed paths with two of the best women ever with whom to bring forth this wonderful place.  Chloe, Nathania, thank you for choosing to travel this path with me.  It's a scary, wonderful, incredible journey that the Universe is supporting us through.  Tony, Kevin, Kaye, Ruth thank you for being the most wonderful family I could ever have dreamed of; Eddie, Kevin S., Karin, Kaelyn, thank you for sharing your families with me on this journey.