Maybe I Should Be a Bookseller!

I started my Etsy vintage shop in September as a way to handle the wealth of "stuff" from years of collecting, donations from family members who were downsizing, and inheritance.  Based on my sales, I don't think I have to worry about running out of inventory any time soon.

In addition to knick-knacks, housewares, and home decor, though, we inherited a lot of books this year.  Don't get me wrong, we are a bookish family.  We love books.  We have books in my office, in the den, in the attic, by the beds.  But I'm talking a lot of books.  Maybe as many books as we already owned over again.  My husband's uncle was a retired drama professor.  I'm guessing we now have some 200 books just of plays, theater techniques, actor autobiographies, and so on.  And come Friday, all those drama books will be heading to their new home.

drama collection

The theater department at our local university has agreed to send a few strong, young students over in a van to collect the books for their department library.  This is a win-win all around.  The books leave our dining room before Thanksgiving (!), the theater department gets a lot of free books, and I believe our uncle would be happy to know that his books will be available to students who will appreciate and use them.

Now about the rest of these . . .

Finished Object?

For the last several weeks, whenever I found the time, I've been knitting this hat.  It was supposed to be for my son -- he even picked out the yarn -- but I don't know. . .   Too goofy?

I must say, this hat was a lot of fun to knit after I got the hang of it.  I learned the loop stitch (the brown part of the hat), which gave me trouble at first, but now I love it.  I think a loop stitch scarf may be looming in my future!  It also feels fabulous with the flaps made of baby alpaca yarn.  I want to wrap my whole world in baby alpaca!

My hat, though, seems too big and doesn't have as much crown as the pattern pictures.  Maybe I didn't follow  the pattern correctly and left out a round or two; who knows? Next time the son comes home, we'll see if it fits (and if he'd be caught dead wearing it).



There's at least one member of the family the hat looks good on.  You know who that is!

Don't let my version put you off.  You can check out the "real" version for yourself.  The pattern, Mackinaw Knitted Hat, is available for purchase on Etsy from Worldknits or on Ravelry at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mackinaw-knitted-hat.

Shopkeeper Extraordinaire

She started it!

I made my first Etsy sale!  This lovely lady in the yellow dress was my first listing, and she sold within twenty minutes!  That must be some kind of Etsy record.  I was so surprised and not at all prepared.  I had even forgotten to set up my Sweet Posy Dreams PayPal account to receive the payment!  I checked my personal PayPal account and wondered why the payment wasn’t showing up.  Duh!

It all got sorted out, and the lady wrapped and bubble wrapped and shipped to her new home.  She’s heading south, and I know she’ll be happy there.

If a little overdressed.