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Spill Guts Here. It's gotta go somewhere, know what I mean? Can you stand it?
purls before swine
Geek Knitting
West Indian Parade
West Indian Parade
Dog/Cat Wrestling
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2.29.2004
Last week I had a conversation with a customer about cats, and she told me that pink and white cats are "money attractors". Money cats. I laughed, but when I got home, I started calling Puschy "Miss MoneyPenny" {to retain the Bond theme}, and to get to work and start attracting.
Business at the shop has more than doubled since then. I've been really cranking out fine gauge knits for spring, and they're selling faster than I can knit, I was making extra to put online too, that'll have to wait now till I make more. Coincidence? hehe
And I forgot to mention yesterday that the "sweat pants" have a SQUARE CROTCH. If you can shape an armhole, you can do a little more realistic shaping down there. Geez. I know I'm ranting, but this is in the best knitting magazine out there right now. Bad.
I've been planning to do knitted shorts this season in 7g, in linen/silks for this summer, some with knit lace "mudflaps". They will not have a square crotch. I just had to laugh when I saw that. Ok, no more comments about this, but quality shaping is my obsession. 2.28.2004
Working on fine gauge knits with crochet edging. Taking some pictures at the shop later for the gallery.
Read many positive reviews online of the new Interweave Knits, my sub ran out, {always forget to resub}, so I stopped by B&N yesterday and picked up a copy. Annie Modesit's twinset is *beautiful*, and worth the price of the magazine. However, the "sweat pants" I've read about are horrendous. If I want to look 40 lbs heavier down below, I'll do it the fun way, with dark chocolate and sweet potato fries. Heavy gauge cotton boucle' and pants don't mix, ok? If your going to knit something for the bottom half, I think it's got to at least be a fine gauge in a smooth, non-stretching yarn, silk, linen, etc. And what about the dreaded, deeply unattractive "butt pooch"? You know, sit for a few minutes, the ass gets stretched out, and you look like you're carrying a load. That pattern is a bad idea. 2.27.2004
Latest: my real estate deal didn't come through, too much competition coupled with a scumbaggio, vampiresque real estate agent did it in.
But now I know how to play that particular game, so it wasn't completely a negative experience. Next time, it's mine. 2.26.2004
A good article on the return of the incredible Jil Sander, one of my alltime favorite designers. {NYT reg. req.} The most difficult thing is to make a simple garment, and she understands this in spades. It's pretty easy to crap a design up.
A unexpectedly visited me at the shop yesterday from upstate. I was completely unmoved. :-> It's sunny and warming up outside. I feel very happy this am, hoping to get some news later today, hopefully good. 2.25.2004
Of local interest: Gothamist interviews the clever & elusive Charlie Suisman, of the daily Manhattan Users Guide {MUG}. I love Charlie. I think he's got consistently excellent taste.
2.24.2004
Working in the studio today, waiting for developments to occur...In the meantime, winter is snowing it's last, non-sticking gasp outside, and I'm handknitting cotton cabled halter tops.
 Also machine knitting cotton/silk and linen peek-a-boo tanks. Will post pictures when those dry, probably will put those in the online shop as well... It's annoying to be thinking of summer while drinking hot chocolate, but that's retail.
Thank you to Carrie, Jen and Katie for the best poncho class ever. Sex and the City was minutely dissected while at the same time knitting/designing three extremely different and beautiful ponchos. You guys were great!
2.22.2004
Business developments are not going according to original plan, they've taken an unexpected detour, which is actually far better. I can't be specific until things are finalized, but I'm very, very excited. Should know one way or another in a week or so. The suspense is killing ME!
I'm too hopped up to sleep. Had my favorite dinner of caesar salad, crabcakes and half an order of sweet potato fries with creamy pepper sauce with Ranjit tonight at City Lighting, a great, neighborhood restaurant with a white, wooden sea otter as a bar mascot that opened recently on Flatbush. Also shared butterscotch pudding. Must try to get some sleep. Even the pets are sleeping. My eyes are too tired to do any work, but my mind is going a million miles an hour. Maybe I should write things down to get them out of my head. 2.21.2004
Food for thought:
"if you make something everyone loves, that's a mark of mediocre design, not great design" Notes of: EtCon04: Don Norman on Emotional Design. I also really enjoying reading Suzy Menkes descriptions of fashion shows, WITHOUT the pictures. example: Fine Knits but Woolly Thinking. I had lovely pictures of those garments running through my head, but when I bothered to track down photos of the shows she talks about, I was bored. Far more interesting to imagine it. 2.20.2004
Oh geez, some highly exciting and stress-inducing business developments have arisen since yesterday. FOcusing on those as best I can. If anything exciting materialises, I'll report it here. Just trying to maintain equilibrium, function as an adult, and soldier on. Knitting? Yeah, right! One of these days.
2.19.2004
OOhh LaLa! I got quoted in today's Salon article about the new porn for girls mag "Sweet Action", which I carry at the shop. If you want a copy, email me, staceyatredlipstickdotnet. $8. US
2.18.2004
Bifurcated Rivets. Succinct gem.
Have you seen the new stop-mo Steriogram video "Walkie Talkie Man" that's entirely made out of knitted, crocheted and felted yarn? {thanks, Lia!} One of those rare things I wish I'd done!
Budding cross-dressers who have a hard time finding information, take a look at beautiful Zoe's site. I'd say she's got it {tied} down. {no pun intended, ok, maybe it is intended! :->} The shop IS tranny friendly. I know from living with a CD how hard it is to find clothes and info.
This is just one reason why I FUCKING LOVE BROOKLYN. You can be yourself here, whatever that is, and be accepted.
"Mind Wide Open" {Salon.com review}, a new book out by Steven Johnson, author of "Emergence", the most interesting book I've read in a few months. I love this kind of stuff.
Ok, it's a soft launch, phase 1 of the new shop section. Don't get your silk panties in a twist, you can't shop yet! I still need to add some navigation, please use your back button for the next few days if you poke around there. Online shop is on the way, I promise!
It's been fun messing around with graphics, I do really miss it, but not the clueless clients or dysfunctional companies I worked for. I could never do really good corporate art, I tried. I think it's a bizarre artform. My mind is far too twisted. Spent many hours looking at stock art in bald wonderment. Who are those people? Visual stereotypes, composite diversity. 2.14.2004
Raw silk embroidered patch in the window of the shop this week:
 Saying courtesy of Mrs. Janet Marsan, relayed to me by her son Tom. 2.11.2004
Spent yesterday researching and then speaking on the phone with suppliers from Hawaii, for new spring things in the shop. People in Hawaii (the ones I talked to, about 8 of them) speak very, very slowly, and are exceedingly, over the top polite, whereas I'm used to doing business very, very quickly, not overly politely, and I must have sounded like I was a nutjob on crack to them.
Pretty funny at first, a bit frustrating after a while. Got some very sweet dresses and other things, though. I don't think I can live anywhere else but New York, I need to be in a superfast, efficient environment. *sigh* 2.06.2004
Google's Top 500 Blogs with the word Blog in the URL. The one you're reading now is #414. Curious.
Some actual knitting content! This is an example of the suspension tops I've been making variations of for a few years.
 7G MK ribbed body, crocheted "cables".
Had an excellent conversation with my accountant Ed, {the Magnificent}, this am. Not closing. He gave me some business strategies to use to deal with some of the problems I've been having.
No Politics will be discussed during my business day. I am prepared to be rude and cut someone off, if I must. I can feel the perpetual headache I've had for weeks slowly subsiding already.
I've changed my mind about closing, I think, which is a woman's choice. I may not be able to completely change my life in one month, have to accept that. It's going to take more time, and I was told today by many people that I care about I'm cutting out too soon.
Damn it. Shop stays open for the time being. I have a new appreciation for everything about it, my friends, clients, not so much the physical space which is a tricked-out dump, but the community it's created. I have a "brand". A cop told me it brought "class" to the block. Got even more confused by the online design, really destroyed it today, trying to finalize. Tried to work on the turbanado pattern, shop was too busy. Start working on my development gig in earnest tommorrow for an end of the month deadline, having rounded up all resources. We went to Knit NY tuesday to source out some yarn, sorry to say I was mighty disappointed. It's way smaller than I imagined, half is given over to a cafe, the other half is overpriced novelty yarn. Not my thing. Purl in the Village was better selection, but had snotty attitude, HEY! It's YARN! Not brain surgery! We ended up using lots of Karabella from School Products, as I knew we would. When this project goes "live", I'll post links. Shit! Plus I had an excellent day moneywise, a big factor, believe me. 2.04.2004
Spent a nice morning writing proposals and an equal amount of time performing printer maintainance. *GGGRRRRRR*. It's nice to get the ideas on the back burner moved up to the front burner, and turn the heat up.
Spent yesterday am meeting a client in the East Village, my old 'hood for 20 years. Wandered around a bit in the pouring rain, same old dirty, skanky streets, a few new shops and restaurants. Ate potato pancakes w/sour cream and a side of steamed carrots at Vaselka, a Ukrainian restaurant who's inexpensive and delicious Ukrainian borscht actually kept me alive for many years. Have a stomache ache right now from too much green tea cake bought at the Sunrise Mart, a Japanese supermarket I used to frequent. Wallowed in nostalgia. Got totally soaked in the rain, came home and slept it off. Had a dream I had the chance to tell Bruce Ratner face to face "You are garbage wrapped in skin". I love Brooklyn. 2.03.2004
Did the deed: gave 30 days notice to my landlord yesterday which means my cute little shop will be a memory after the end of February. It's a bit like walking on ice right now, have to make sure I don't fall through.
Going to have the time to post up knitting patterns for sale as well as working on books I been meaning to write {on knitting, of course!} for years. In my pajamas. With Kitty lounging on the monitor, and Murph chewing a rawhide {or stolen lipstick} by my feet. *deep sigh* So things are on sale all this month. Feel ok, and there's a glimmer of optimism floating to the top that I haven't felt in quite a while. 2.02.2004
Things are getting very interesting on the freelance front. I'm starting to feel excited about new possibilities.
It's pretty difficult to pull the plug on the shop. I'm emotionally attached to it. It's been a wonderful luxury to design whatever I want, then just put it in the shop for sale, sometimes in a few hours or a day. Online will be somewhat the same thing, I guess. Wholesale will not. I've learned an incredible amount about fit, nothing can replace that experience. Change has always scared yet exhilirated me. Must make a long to-do list this am. I've mostly designed the shop on my laptop running os9, because I use a very diverse set of graphics software, alot of it won't run on OSX, so it's also a silly physical logistical problem, have to bring the laptop home today and ethernet it to the big brain to get certain graphics. Designing an extensible site is also of utmost importance. I generally design myself into a box, trying to avoid that this time, as the site will have to change objects and catagories frequently. 2.01.2004
I've had enough, in many ways. I read through many blogs in the neighborhood this am and surrounding area {thanks to NYCbloggers.com} and apparently I'm the only one following and commenting this RATner land-grab business. The only one! Know of another? Let me know.
I've become a sitting duck in the shop again, having to discuss this fucking issue for 7 hours a day. 7 FUCKING HOURS. About 20 people per day ranting at and upsetting me. This is now a forbidden topic of discussion. My nerves are stretched to breaking point, and this is not why I opened a boutique. I read through some of my archives, and I used to be happy, enjoying my work and neighbors. I want to get the hell out of here, and have started planning to do so. The city has plans in the works to widen Flatbush Avenue and make it into a highway up to Grand Army Plaza, so the building housing my shop is destined for demolition eventually anyway. Most other shopowners on Flatbush are all for the arena complex, thinking it's going to be good for their business. They're living in a dream world bubble which will be rudely popped when their shops are razed "for the good of the people" and a highway. You can fucking have it! Ok? My grandmother used to say "you can't fight City Hall". Thanks Grams. You were right. I had a good three and a half years here, full of ups and downs, but it's time to go against my grain and give up. I have no more fight left in me. The shop should be online shortly, I'm starting a freelance knit development gig tommorrow, and will be giving notice to my landlord soon. |
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