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This is a George Costanza quote.  I like to quote Seinfeld characters whenever possible.

The room re-do is almost 100% complete so pictures will come tomorrow or the next day.  In the mean time, I spent the weekend fine-tuning my hollywest.com website and she is finished!

Click here to see the goods

I suppose I should explain myself a little here.  For the longest time, I envisioned the “new” hollywest.com as being a second place (or actually the first place) I’d be selling my jewelry.  I’ve had that website since 1998, it’s well indexed, and I already had all of the “back end” I needed, as in shopping cart, authorization gateway, etc.  Over the years I’ve sold a lot of jewelry on hollywest.com and it never occurred to me not to use it as my main web store.

Then came Etsy.  My intent was to use my etsy store to promote my main website, which was to be hollywest.com.  But after a couple of months on etsy, I’ve realized that for the size of my business, it is the perfect, and least expensive, way to sell my jewelry to a huge audience.  Of course, Mick had already put in a lot of hours programming my website and I felt a bit bad about that, but he told me programmers have to deal with that all time–working on stuff that never sees the light of day.  Last night, Mick moved hollywest.com to our own server and I canceled my merchant account with verio.  This will save more than $100 a month in web hosting fees that I’ve basically been flushing down the toilet this past year while I tried to decide which direction to take my business in.

As you will see, hollywest.com has become a portal to my etsy shop.  It’s so much easier to tell people my URL is hollywest.com, and of course my business cards and packaging materials already say hollywest.com, so I’d never get rid of it.  With all of this in place, maybe Holly West Jewelry Design will break even one of these days?  This will be my goal for 2008.

Here is my current challenge:  re-do my work/guest room so that it is both a functional workspace and a comfortable place for guests.

As daunting as this is for me (and it is daunting–this room has been a headache for me since we moved in seven years ago), I’m excited.  Because nothing floats my boat more than a good room re-do–I’m getting a little tingly just thinking about it.

This room has a history.  When we first moved in, I decorated it solely with guests in mind and it was fairly comfortable.  When I started making jewelry, however, I needed a space where I could work and it didn’t make sense to devote a whole room to a purpose (guests) that was really only used maybe 6 weeks of the entire year.  I should add that when I have guests they usually stay for a week or more since Mick’s relatives travel from England.  It’s important to me that they have a comfortable space that will suit them for more than a weekend visit.

Mick has been doing some work with the lighting/wiring in the room so I have to warn you–while it’s usually pretty messy, it’s not usually this messy.  That said, let’s start with a few photos of the space in it’s current state:

This is the corner of the room that houses my jeweler’s bench.  It’s a little nook that fits the bench perfectly, and it’s easily hidden with a curtain (which is not shown).

This small sofa has a pull out bed, which is only semi-convenient.  It’s fine for singles, but when couples come we have to pull out the aero-bed, which I hate.  And by hate, I mean I hate sleeping on them, and I feel bad making my guests do it.

This is the closet.  About a year ago, I ordered custom cabinetry which has helped to cut down clutter in the rest of the space, but has become completely disorganized and full of things I never use.

Now for a Little Inspiration

I’m pretty sure what color scheme I’m going to use in the room.  I’m thinking a variation of this:

(photo credit:  HGTV.com, Designer:  Ammie Kim)

My thought is to paint the wall that the bed sits against a very saturated blue/teal color.  It’s also a jewelry studio, after all, and I loves me some jewel tones.

That said, these three color schemes are also appealing:

(photo credit:  HGTV.com, Designer:  Nicole Sassaman)

(photo credit:  HGTV.com, Designer: Ammie Kim)

(photo credit:  HGTV.com, Designer: Andreas Charalambous)

Feel free to post your preferences in the comments section–who knows, you might be a guest at my house one of these days and you’ll have to stay in this room!

I am a geek, for sure.  A few of the things I am geeky about:  the Bee Gees, celebrity sightings, dogs, genealogy, Judy Blume books… the list goes on.

So it should come as no surprise that I’m also a knitting geek and had to purchase custom labels to sew into my finished projects:

These were cheap:  about $27 for 100 labels from Sterling Name Tape.  It took about 4 weeks for the order to arrive, but I’m very happy with them.  The only thing I wish is that I’d ordered them with dark gray lettering rather than the red.  I was going for a look similar to my hollywest logo, which is why I chose the red.  They’re cheap enough where I could order another set, I guess.

Another thing I’m very recently geeky about is the Treasury on Etsy.com.  I’ve gotten a few of them now and it usually takes me at least an hour (and by hour, I mean 3) to do one because I try so hard to make it just so.  My most recent treasury is called Hooray for Hollywood (note: this link will expire around 2pm on October 16) and has a vintage Hollywood theme.  So far it’s getting good feedback but I have yet to be featured on the etsy home page.  The geek in me will keep trying!

Note:  I now have another treasury which expires on October 19.

After waiting a couple of months or so, I finally got my invitation to sign up for Ravelry yesterday.  I’m still exploring, but so far I’m enjoying it immensely.  As someone who came very late to the online knit community party, I find it valuable and more importantly, inspiring, to read about and look at so many people’s projects. 

Since I learned about Ravelry on someone else’s blog (unfortunately, I can’t remember which), I thought I’d post about it here and maybe someone who is interested would learn about it from me.

Ravelry is an online knit/crochet community that has all sorts of features, from forums to a yarn index to a pattern index, etc.  One feature I like so far is that you can search for projects by yarn-type.  I’m hoping this feature will help me get through my stash!

Right now Ravelry is in beta, but you can sign up for an invite and wait for an invitation, and like it said, it took a couple of months for me to get my invitation.  But it was worth the wait!

For our anniversary, I told Mick to look on Etsy and buy me something he thought I’d like.  He bought me a handmade spindle and some wool, which was a very nice surprise:

Today I set out to spin a little.  Turns out it’s kind of hard!  Here is my first attempt at making yarn:

I have to admit I’m not very good at reading and then following directions, so this attempt was lame, at best.  I feel quite certain I wasn’t doing it right because it didn’t spin very smoothly.  That said, it looks more like yarn than it did when I started out.

I’ll have to keep practicing…

Not only is it Fall, the best time of year, it’s also knitting season.  I pretty much knit year-round, but there’s no question I get a surge of knitting energy when the cooler weather arrives.

I blogged about my Christmas knitting a couple of weeks ago and I have since begun another gift.  When I get bored of knitting one, I can go to the other, as both of my current projects are “long-haul.”  Good thing I’ve started my Christmas knitting early!

I will continue posting “teaser” photos of these projects and when the gifts are given I’ll post complete pictures and patterns, where applicable.

I am also itching to start another sweater for myself–I’ve got the design in my mind and now I’ve got to detail it.  I’m still dreaming of submitting a design to knitty.com, you know…

This is the title of my favorite Crowded House song.

Fall is also my favorite time of year.  So much so that I got married in the Fall.  To be more specific, I got married 9 years ago today (October 3, 1998).

 
The photo above was taken on our first anniversary.  The champagne flutes were the ones we used at our wedding and the idea was to use them every year on our anniversary.  I think we’ve forgotten to do it more years than not though.  The cake in that picture was from the top of our wedding cake and unfortunately, did not keep well.  It looks pretty though!

Anyway, I’ve said before it’s fun to be married (see #94) and it is.

To celebrate this grand occasion, Mick and I are going to dinner at the new restaurant in the Casa del Mar Hotel.  Frankly, the old restaurant in this location was pricey but not the best food-wise–though the location made up for it a little.  The bar at Casa del Mar is one of my favorite places.  I am looking forward to trying the new restaurant, and will eat with an open mouth, if not mind.

Fall is about more than my wedding anniversary, however.  I’m not sure why I love it so much–especially since I live in a place that only has one-and-a-half seasons, if that.  I think it’s the lead up to the holidays, the return of cooler weather, and the good vibes I feel this time of year.  Oh, and the food, my God, the food–there are so many yummy food holidays this time of year.

To celebrate the Fall, I made an Autumn Celebration Necklace yesterday:

The pendant is a brushed silver leaf with a pretty little red garnet.  I think I might make a few more of these with different colored gemstones.  Its a simple celebration of this happy time of year.

Happy Fall!

Update 9:17pm:  The restaurant, Catch, was definitely better than the old one.  Certainly try the crab fondue, pork loin, and chocolate terrine if you ever go there.  Mick had the NY strip steak, which was delicious as well.

I mentioned here that I’ve started my Christmas knitting, which means that although I constantly have something on the needles, I can’t really blog about it.  However, a couple of weeks ago I started a project that I’m really pleased about and I think it’s going to be really cool when it’s completed.  Here is a preview:

I’ve been wanting to do an Aran-type design for a long time and although I’m not sure where the inspiration for this particular design came from, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to try Aran knitting.  Using the Sweater Wizard I designed the bare bones of the project, then I took out my trusty Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns and searched for something I liked.  The front and side patterns came from that book.

The pattern for the back center of this piece came from here.  It is the Wide Multi-Cable.

I’m very pleased with these stitch patterns because the large center cable echoes the pattern on the left and right sides of the piece perfectly.  The mini-cables on the sides work very well for under the arms.

Designing this piece was a bit complicated, but not so much that it was daunting.  Yes, yes, I know math is hard, but even with my meager skills, I was able to do it.  Of course, it’s not done yet!  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to show the finished work until after the gift is given.  Until then…

About a year ago, I made these little sweaters for my friend’s twin boys.

Over the weekend, I finished another, this one for my cousin Ashley’s baby who is due in November:

Again, I used this pattern:

Fran’s Hooded Baby Sweater

The yarn is Caron Simply Soft, which I find to be a good baby-knitting yarn since it is soft and easy to care for.

The baby, who is a girl, will be named Madison.  Mick and I will be in Oregon when she is born, and I can’t wait to meet her.  Ashley asked me to video tape the birth.  I’m skeered!  Since it is the closest I’ll probably ever come to actually giving birth, however, I’m going to do it, in fact I’m excited about it.

Sometimes I feel like a bit of a poser when it comes to crafting because I’m relatively new to it.  When I was a kid, I didn’t do much in the way of making things, although I did write a lot.  I remember I used to make little satirical “magazines” (more like pamphlets) based on Better Homes and Gardens.  They were made out of construction paper and I’d staple the pages together then draw pictures and write “articles.”  That’s as close to crafting as I ever got.  Wait, that’s not true–I remember I had a little metal loom that you’d put elastic loops on and weave them through to the other end to make potholders and such.  That’s the closest I ever got to crafting.

Now, a day doesn’t go by where I’m not making something.  I don’t think it’s because I didn’t have the interest when I was younger, it’s just that so many other things got in the way.  And it wasn’t that I lacked creativity–I made a lot of stuff for my doll house and my Barbies had some pretty sweet digs (I used to make waterbeds for them out of zip lock bags and my record albums formed the walls of their houses).  All that said, I was never a crafter like my sister and mom were, and I certainly never considered myself an artist.  Frankly, I still don’t.  There’s something about that word, that label, that I really don’t feel qualified to apply to myself.

Not that it matters.  I create a lot of stuff that can be called art, for lack of a better word.  I enjoy making it, people like it, and they even buy it.  If I don’t feel like calling myself an artist, then I’m not sure it makes much difference.

I’m not saying this to knock myself down–I love what I create and think it’s for the most part beautiful.  Maybe I just don’t like labels.  Maybe I don’t want to be defined by any one thing because I’m so likely to change my mind and switch to something else.*

But enough about that.  The new issue of Knitty is here and there are things I’m going to have to knit:

Patch Pocket Raglan – There are some really talented male knit designers out there.  This is an example.  I totally wish my husband would start knitting–I think it would suit him and his programmer mentality well.

Mr. Greenjeans – Hooray for the raglans!  I solemnly swear I will not knit myself a non-raglan sleeve sweater ever again.  (And how cute is her haircut)?

Flower Power – This, frankly, is a must-knit.  I already have three recipients in mind.

I have already started my Christmas knitting and have one project that I’m very excited about well underway.  Unfortunately, I can’t really blog it because what if the intended recipient happens upon my blog?  Unlikely, but possible.

*  The one label I do use in reference to myself is “atheist.”  I only do that because I think it’s important to identify myself as such, and in terms that the rest of the world can understand (well, maybe not understand, but at least know the meaning of).