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I am so tired and worn, I couldn’t even think of a good title for this post.  The store is closed while we move and all the yarn is in safely packed away.  I would say that 90% of the house is packed.  I still have a list of 500 things to do, but I can just get them done one step at a time.

The biggest irritation right now is the buyer.  Ok, let me lay it out for ya’ll.  Our house is 10 years old and it was lowest price in the neighborhood because it was also the SMALLEST house here by  about 100 sq. ft.  We took some off our asking price, paying some of his closing and threw in our fridge.  Funny side story, the day we signed the paperwork, our realtor called and said "Oh, the seller’s agent wanted to know if you’d throw in the washer and dryer."  The washer and dryer he wanted us to throw in was a $2300 5 month old set of LG front loaders.  I told him yes, for $2000 back on the sale price.  That was the last of that craziness I heard.  THE NERVE!  Throw in my most favorite appliance in all the world.  HRMPH!

Anyway, they had a whole house inspection.  Fine.  Then yesterday he had an electrician come out.  Ok, there’s a switch that doesn’t go to anything because we took down a ceiling fan and just capped off the power but left the switch.  NOW he wants to have a roof inspector come out.  IT’S A 10 YEAR OLD HOUSE!!!!  He can pay for the roof inspection, but if he wants money off because the roof only has 5-10 years left, he has another thing coming.

Selling a house can never be easy, can it.  Just needed to vent over the process!

Well, the countdown to the big move is here.  We’re so blessed because our house sold in TWO DAYS (big load off our minds) and found a place near Cleveland to rent for a few months while we look for homes.  It’s an adorable upstairs unit of an older home on a fantastical street.    Starting July 28th, the Granola Yarn will be closed for a few weeks.  Not sure exactly how long but we’re guessing around 3 weeks.  That gives us time to get settled and turn our new sunroom into glorious yarn storage!

In the meantime, Granola Yarn is having a HUGE SALE.  From now through the 27th, simply enter ClevelandRocks in the coupon code field and get 30% off your entire order!

Um…no one told me that when you move, you don’t have ANY TIME to knit.  I’m so close to being down with my Peace Fleece shawl but I’m afraid I will have forgotten how once we’re safely relocated to Cleveland.  This weekend we head up to find a house to rent until ours is sold.  Speaking of selling our house…I’m sure my neighbors made quite an impression on the people who came through for a viewing today. First viewing since it was listed yesterday.

Anyhow, I spent all morning making each region of the house sparkle.  I made candles over the weekend so the kitchen smelled like orange danish, the bedroom had a faint cedar chest scent, while I opted for a raspberry vanilla on the other side of the house.  Not to strong, just enough for the hint of scent and hominess. The windows were washed, the carpet swept.  Smooth jazz music on softly in the living room, every blind and curtain opened and every light in the house on.  Perfect.

I walk out to leave well before the prospective buyer is due to show up and what do I see but my 65 year old German neighbor in too tight jean shorts and no shirt.  He’s all lubed up with some suntan OIL (I thought they banned that stuff or something).  Freshly back from vacation, his rotund body is browned to perfection which made the white chest and back hairs stand out all the better.  He looked like a sausage that was dropped in a pile of straw.  Hot mess.  WHITE HOT MESS!!!

So there he was - leaning on his shiny pick’em up truck keeping an eye out on all the neighborhoods comings and goings.  I’m thinking to myself "Please go inside, please go inside".  He didn’t.  He was quite content to stand surveying his cul de sac like a portly pinguid suburban solider . Not to worry though, in case he became fatigued, he did have a folding lawn chair in the driveway as well.

As I leave I notice my OTHER retired neighbors as ALSO sitting on their driveway.  What is the deal, people?  You have sunrooms and patios!  Beautiful, well maintained and furnished sunrooms and patios. USE THEM.  I’m trying to sell a house here that DOESN’T have fancy sunroom!!

Oh, I can only hope the work I did inside erased the horrible image of my slippery neighbor and his belly buttonless self from the perspective buyer’s mind.

I can’t take credit for this picture and his is not at ALL how my neighbor looks, but my brother ’shopped this and sent it to me after her heard the story from his wife.  That IS my house though…soooo, if anyone is in the market for a lovely ranch house in south Dayton Ohio, lemme know. 

Tim and Semra - this post’s for you.  Cheers!

It feel like forever since I’ve been about to write anything of substance here and I don’t know if today will be any different.  Life has been hectic.  Between the store and my contract job it seems there’s been little time to do anything, but guess what?  I found time to get myself a new full time job.  And guess what?  It’s not in southwestern Ohio.  It’s in Hawaii!  No, just kidding, it’s not in Hawaii.  I loves me some cold too much for that!  It’s in Cleveland and I start in just a little over three weeks.  Everyone keeps asking me if I’m excited and yeah, I am! But getting the house ready to sell and pack and all that fun stuff, I barely have time to think!  I had two companies want me, so it’s good to know I have skills.  I’ll be working at a hospital as a Sr. Technical Trainer (I love the Sr part of the title).

No fear - it does NOT mean I will be closing my little store, although I might have to pause sales for a week or so.  I love helping people who love eco-friendly yarn and I hope that once we’re settled to add more products to the site.  I’ve just been trying to maintain inventory the last few months because of the impending move but once we’re in the land of the Lake Erie and the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, I want to do more.

I’m REALLY excited because Cleveland looks to have an active Stitch N’ Bitch.  Since we don’t know anyone in the area, I’ll be venturing out to meet some other knitters as soon as I can.

Look for a sale coming up soon.  We’ll call it the Cleveland Rocks Sale. 

Today through July 6th, enter coupon code july4th for 20% off your entire order .  No minimums to buy and all inventory is discounted.  We’re closing today through July 7th, so we’ll ship order next week.  Have a happy and healthy 4th of July holiday!

I recently found out my husband’s cousin is expecting her first baby.  I, like most yarn crafters, first thought "how great for them!" which was promptly followed by "YEAH A REASON TO KNIT A BLANKET!"  I haven’t knitted a blanket in a couple years.  I was on a kick for a while making the 6 Hour Throw as gifts for just about everyone (but it took me longer than 6 hours because I knit like a turtle when the pattern is super repetitive).  But a baby….a baby deserves a special, extra fancy, extra soft blanket.  I spent hours last night looking at patterns.  The mom to be is a bit more traditional than I, so the super cool modern deconstructed log cabin patterns won’t work.  But I do think a nice mitered square blanket will do the trick.  Yeah for gift knitting!  Oh yeah….yea for the new baby too.  I’m still not convinced which is more exciting.

So I’m knitting away last evening while watching So You Think You Can Dance.  I know, bad reality competition shows are dumb and all, but I get suckered in.  Anyway, my eyes and ears are suddenly assaulted with The Pussycat Dolls and their most virtuous ditty “When I Grow Up”.  I’ve seen these, um, ladies on magazines and such but I never really gave them much thought. I knew they dressed like Trampy McSluttersons but I figured it could be THAT bad, right?  WRONG.  So wrong my shawl had to pay the price.  I couldn’t stop staring at the TV - I simply could not believe this was really on regular television before 10:00 at night.

I am by no means a prude.  It takes a lot to make me squirm but I do take offense with I need to shower after watching a “music” group preform.  Seriously, I think I might have the Clap or something.  The Pleather!  The spray on tan gone horribly, horribly wrong!  Argh!  It was an assault on my eyes, ears and knitting.  I completely lost my place and pulled out a few stitches in the process.  I’ll get back on track I’m sure, but it wouldn’t have been an issue if not for those damn Pussycat Dolls.

I went to our local fancy grocery store and they are touting all kinds of local foods in the produce section.  I love to buy locally, but the farmers markets aren’t quite open yet so I was excited to see the store was labeling and carrying so much local food!

I spied a few quarts of local strawberries strategically placed next to the best damn shortbreads ever and thought it would be a nice dessert.  I looked around for the price and couldn’t find one so I asked someone.  She told me…are you ready for this…SIX DOLLARS.  SIX DOLLARS for a little over 1 pint of teeny tiny strawberries with stems galore.  But the time I would clean them up, I would probably have the equivilant of half a pint.  I’m pretty sure the shocked look on my face said it all.   “They are local, you know.”  Umm….shouldn’t that make them CHEAPER?  Gas certainly wasn’t an issue because they came from 10 miles away. I could buy organic strawberries from California for almost half that.  Unless those strawberries came with with a money back guarentee that I would be younger/thinner/smarter/funnier when I was finished eating them, no thank you.

I have a certain amount of guilt with purchasing the cheaper strawberries, but I’ll buy my share of tasty local food later in the summer from the farmer’s market rather than lining the stores pockets even more.

Am I missing something from these local berry delights?  I don’t know, but I’m 3 bucks richer right now and still have strawberries to boot.

There are two kinds of people in this world - pack rats and pragmatists. I am pragmatic to a fault when it comes to material good. I ask myself a few questions before I get rid of something. Do I use it? Do I love it? Will life go on if it is out of my house? If I answer “no” to one of those questions then it stays put. If I answer yes, then I have a whole other line of questioning I go through to decide the item’s fate.

This brings me to my current situation. It’s the Heritage Glen Yard Sale this Friday and Saturday (Quick plug to anyone in the area - Miamisburg Ohio near LexisNexis - check out Craigslist or Dayton Daily News for more info!!!). Pragmatists love garage sales. We can get rid of stuff AND make money. We don’t have tons to sell, obviously, because pragmatists get rid of items when they need to be gotten rid of but we have some clothes, some furniture, decorator stuff that looked good in our apartment 5 years ago but has since lived in boxes and some hideous wall sconces I cannot bare to look at anymore.

But there he is. Kung Fu Hamster. This adorable animatronic rodent that sings Kung Fu Fighting whilst wiggling and swinging a nun chuck. Holy Mother of God - I love that little hamster. But he is so unpractical. He wasn’t a gift, I bought him for myself. I shouldn’t keep the little guy…or should I?

I decide it’s time KF go to a new home. But a price? I think I paid roughly 12.50 for him about 10 years ago. Take into account inflation, demand, gas price…hmmmm….carry the 1, multiply by 2….and the final total is…$578.33. Yes that is a fair price for KF to leave my office for greener pastures. Oh who I am kidding? The going rate is probably DOUBLE that now. Perhaps I should contact Christie Auction House instead.

I can’t believe I’m struggling with getting rid of a glorified rat in novelty form! Who won the struggle? The inner pack rat or the pragmatist?

Ok, it’s been here for a while, but I haven’t had time to get it up online. But Granola Yarn now has DK sport weight Peace Fleece in 3 colors!! There’s Olive Roots (reminds me of a lighter version of Grass Roots from the worsted collection), Antarctica White (bright cream) and Father’s Gray (charcoal).

And right now through Monday June 2nd, they are on sale! Normally $8.25, now each 350 yd skein, right now it’s only $7.50 to welcome it to the Granola Yarn family of yarns!

To get an idea of what it looks like, here’s my Forest Canopy Shawl that I’m redoing in Antarctica White after an unfortunate series of events involving a lace weight disaster.