Wha...where did all this Christmas decor come from

I know I have been MIA for a while. Sorry.

I just posted this on Marimello, but for those of you who don't read both blogs, here you go.

Somehow I was enjoying a cruise to Mexico and now it's the 20th. But all that sun and sand has been muted by the news that while I was gone, an amazing woman, and mother of my best friend died suddenly. Being that she was such an influential and creative lady, I've been thinking and chatting about how creativity is passed on through the people we know.

Certainly my friend's mother was an influence on me directly. She welcomed me into her home after I only just met my friend in college and I slurped up her sense of interior decorating. On the same trip, she took me to her stylist after a series of seriously bad hair cuts and taught me to trust the powers of a good hair cut again. She knit me a scarf after a fun, but cold trip to London and encouraged me to return to knitting. Which of course led to this here blog.

But more so I knew her through people she loved and who loved her. My friend talked me out of my men's undershirts and into a fetish for shoes. She weaned me off my baggy earth-tone wardrobe and taught me that good clothes open all doors. After we hadn't seen each other for a year, we showed up on the quad with the same shade of hot pink hair. She got me into blogging and inspired my writing both on and off line. Somewhere behind all of this, her mom was shopping for stylish vintage, borrowing the pink hair dye, and reading the blogs. Knowing a woman with a pink fish tail allowed me to trust my own flashy instincts and to wear them on the outside. I couldn't be more grateful to have known Judy. And I couldn't be more pleased with the thought of her keeping the eclectic fire alive in her family and friends.

I do other stuff you know

...once in while anyway.
Go check it out. My name is in print and not just on the web. Even if you don't like me, CROQ is a FAB zine and you should read it anyway.

You can purchase at Etsy and various shops. But only if you live and cooler area than I do. Sob.

Knit a Square, Any Square

Here's a good weekend project for you knitters from lys Yarning for You. I'm going to do it. Heck I'll probably watch so much football this weekend, I'll have a whole afghan done.

Hello Knitters,

Please help us in our newest charity project:
Re-Covering San Diego!

Hundreds of fiber artists are helping to make blankets for the San Diego 2007 Wildfire victims. Would you like to join in the effort?

We have complementary yarn for this project thanks to our vendors. Yarn has been donated by Plymouth yarns, Berroco yarns, and The Skacel Company.

Here are the details along with a pattern…

1. If you want to participate come by the shop, sign up and receive your complementary yarn.

2. One ball of complementary yarn will yield TWO squares.

3. Knit or crochet a 9" by 9" square using any machine washable yarn. It can be made in any stitch pattern or yarn as long as the square is 9" by 9".

4. Please return your squares in roughly 2 weeks to Yarning for You, 1001 West San Marcos Blvd., Suite 180, San Marcos CA, 92078.

5. Volunteers are needed to assemble the squares into blankets. Want to help? Just let us know!

PATTERN:
An easy 9" x 9" square knitted with donated yarn (one ball makes two squares).
· Size 11 needles
· CO 30 sts
· Knit for 9" in stockinette, seed, garter or the stitch pattern of your choice.
· BO. Weave in all ends.

Call us if you have any questions at 760-744-5648.

Thank You, Sandy & Debra

New News: the raffle has been won

Michelle, the lovely designer of this jewelry on Etsy, will be reciving a bundle of goodness including:

A transfer from Sublime Stitching
A Dink from Shannon Gerard
Some lovely buttons from Girl on the Rocks
And a couple of loverly cotton mits from yours truly
And, and, and you know what? I'm not going to tell you what else. You'll just have to play along to find out what else I have over here.

And so because it would just be boring to discuss the other reasons why this week has been a good one (go hawks!) let's just make this good CRAFTING news day.

First of all Supernaturale posted an interview I did with Jess and Casey from Ravelry.
Secondly, Felt Club is this Sunday, November 18. I will be there and I know Girl on the Rocks will be there swilling cozied beer with me, so come check us out. It's going to be splendid: artist, crafters, designers and indie businesses, classes, AND Maker Square.

What the hell is Maker Square, you ask? Well if you're too lazy to click the link, it's a mini Maker Faire. You may want to read my assessment of last Maker Faire in San Mateo last Spring here, or you can just come find out. It's a five buck donation and well worth it.
Check out their site for all the details and where to park. (I swear parking will be better than this the Summer XL event.)

Raffle Update

Well, it's been a while since I did the raffle, but I'll be doing one tomorrow as promised. This time, it's a grab bag of coolness. A peek in the shop will give you a hint, but I haven't made my final selections yet.

Everyone who donated or purchased thus far, will be entered.

In other news, the Wild Animal Park received a donation of $75 this week to help re-green the areas that were burned by the fire. Here's a bit about the fund:

Wild Animal Park Greening Fund: Situated in the San Pasqual Valley, the Wild Animal Park is no stranger to the threat of fires. Over the past years, we have actively worked to minimize these threats through our Greening Campaign. This campaign has enabled us to create hundreds of acres of nutrient-dense, eco-irrigated land that functioned as a safety blanket for our animals during the recent fires. Although we have converted much of the Wild Animal Park’s dry, arid, and fire-prone animal habitats into environmentally sustainable landscapes, the 1,800-acres Park needs further help. Your contribution today to our Greening Campaign will allow us to continue our greening efforts in our animal habitats at the Wild Animal Park.

A Week in Review

The fires are out, but that doesn't mean it's time for me to kick back and relax.
This has been a big week. First there was an article featuring the Witch Fire shop in the Storque on Etsy, then a Ryan Jacob Smith's print from the shop was featured in a front page treasury. (Just in time to have a savvier friend snap that screen shot)

Then...drumroll please...I was on the Tom Leykis show AND the bastard agreed with me. Of course no one I know heard it, because, they claim, "a bunch of whiney bitches were bitching about women who vote or don't vote." Whatever. It was an awesome day.

But I digress. Literally.

Shop and sorry that I haven't run a raffle in a while; I'll do one on Monday night at midnight so get your donations in or buy something from the shop before then!

New stuff includes some patterns donated by Sublime Stitching, more Pom Poms from Naik Fur, boobies and dinks from Shannon Gerard, and lots more that I'll be posting tonight. Keep you eyes peeled!

New Items in the Witch Fire Shop

Well my lovelies, it has been a long and fairly tiring week. Here's a smattering of what I have posted in the shop so far from my friends and family who were directly affected by the fires:

A loverly Habu scarf was donated by my mother who knitted it while evacuated.
Another scarf, crocheted for the shop by Yolanda from LA Church of Craft. Her family is down Lakeside way.
Earrings come from Michelle on Etsy, who grew up for a time next door to me in Westwood. She took that picture of a lemon down there and her pictures are particularly harrowing.
And finally super cute coasters from another woman I might have grown up with, Melissa from Haworth Handmade.

Go check it out! I'm going to put my dogs up and what else I can do for San Diego this weekend.