I'm Baaaack!

Ahhhhh! It feels good to complete a major undertaking. Doesn't matter if it's a knitting project or something else. Another similar feeling is that of being somewhat "lost" until you find something else to become engrossed in.

Well, the Natural Products Expo-east is over and I believe I'm fully recuperated. My house is a mess, though from all the neglect of the last couple of months. The yard, too. I don't believe I've spent any time outdoors in the yard since Sept. began!

I'm posting some photos of our exhibit at the expo. We met TONS of people and felt strong interest in our products. Our magnet kit was a big hit. Acupuncturists who stopped by the booth loved it and even called me "genius" for creating it. The store manager from the New England School of Acupuncture said it was "brilliant" ! Serious praise and I love it!

Knitters who suffer from wrist, elbow or hand pain should take a look at our website and check out the magnet kit. You are always welcome to give me a call and I can talk specifically about your problem and how you can help yourself.

There's 10 super powerful little magnets that you put on the ouchy spots. I also include instructions for re-directing that stagnant energy which causes your pain to other areas of the body which will benefit you. It's a mini acupuncture treatment without needles!

Now about knitting:

I've had my sister's sweater all sewn up and ready for her to try it on for 6 weeks now. I just have to make the time to go to her house and let her try it on. There's a drop sleeve, so I want to measure how low it comes down off her shoulders so I'll know exactly how long to make the sleeves. You know, there's nothing more anoying than having sleeves too long!

She's a plus-size woman, so I thought this kimono style sweater would be comfy. Back when I began the project, I was doing a test of the pattern to see how it would look on me. While I love the comfort of a kimono style sweater, I wasn't sure it would look good. Drop sleeves aren't always very flattering, especially on big girls. I just used inexpensive cotton (Sugar & Cream ombres). My sister loved it so I decided on the spot to make it for her.

The pattern is super easy and it was free online. I'd totally recommend this for any beginner. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/merino-frappe-kimono-jacket

The seed stitch edging is really a nice touch. It's knit in one long strip and then sewed on.

There is a lot of sewing in this project because the edging is sewn both on the front side and the inside. I don't mind the sewing, though.

I've picked out my next pattern to make: a scarf with Debbie Bliss Pure Silk. That'll be a Xmas gift for a friend. I'm going to be way behind in my charity knitting as well as my Xmas gifts, but so be it. I decided not to make myself crazy this year trying to make something for everyone. I'll do a couple of things and then get cracking on a sweater for myself. Being another plus size lady, that's a lot of knitting!

Put down the knitting and step away from the needles!

Just in case there are actually people who are interested. . .

I haven't touched a knitting needle in weeks! Where have I been? What have I been doing? Well, you see, I have this little business. It's called Sacred Essentials, Inc. We are the makers of Sacred Smoke Ear Cones.

What's an ear cone, you say? It's a folk remedy for cleaning out the ears and eliminating congestion in the head.

Ear cones are made from strips of fabric, dipped in beeswax and hand rolled into a tube, narrow at one end, wider at the other. The wide end is lit on fire and the narrow end is placed at the edge of the ear canal.

YES! A lit torch is placed at your ear! (Ravelry members can see a pic of me doing it on my avatar).

The smoke goes into the ear and stimulates the glands to produce wax, thus flushing out any old build-up in the ear canal. Having studied Asian Medicine and understanding about the flow of Energy (Chi) throughout the body, it's my belief that the smoke stimulates the flow of Chi and thereby helping the ears, sinuses and lymph to clear.

Anyway, we're a little cottage business, consisting of 2 business partners and 2 cone rollers. My business partner's sister and daughter work for us. Sometimes I've had my daughter working with us too as my assistant.

We're taking a BIG step and undertaking several huge projects -- all at the same time. We've been constructing a new website. www.sacredsmokeonline.com My son came to the rescue and when we were shocked at the cost of a professional web designer, he built the site using a free template and hooked us up to Paypal. Our new site now offeres cones for Retail Sale. We've been a wholesale company only for the last 13 years, so this is HUGE for us. We're so excited! Within one week we've had 3 sales so far. Ta-Da! He'll be constructing a wholesale site that will link to our website, so that my wholesale customers will be able to order online. I'll certainly miss chatting with them, but saving time means saving money in business.

Our second major adventure at this time is that we're introducing a new product to our line. Finally, after being an ear cone company all these years, we're branching out and beginning to realize our goal of offering more variety in products. We'll be launching our new product later this months. It's a magnet kit designed for use in pain management. Called, Earth Energy Magnet Kit. I've been using these magnets for years in my shiatsu treatments. Phase I is this basic kit. Phase II will be a book (or large booklet) in which I'll have treatment protocols for a wide array of health issues, from treating arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, tendonitis, bursitis, etc, etc, etc.

Our third, and biggest investment, is that we'll be exhibiting at the Natural Product Expo-East from Oct. 16 - 18. They're expecting 45,000 attendees, so we're hoping to introduce tons of representatives from distributors and stores to our product. There's lots of ear cones on the market, but frankly, ours work better than just about all of them. A deeper healing, more thorough cleansing, more relaxing and our unique and safer technique are some of the reasons that once people try our cones, they are astounded and never go back to any others.

We've hired a marketing team to help us in all areas of these projects. They're doing pre-show marketing and publicity, reviewing and editing my text for the new product and the website (which won't begin to be posted until over the next weekend), and even graphic design of new promotional literature and business cards as well as professionally designed packaging. All of this is tremendously exciting for us.

Anyway, consequently, my knitting has fallen by the wayside. I'm way behind with listening to my audiobooks, and I haven't even started downloading my Overdrive audiobooks.

I've got two bramble bags that are ready to be assembled and finished. My sister's sweater needs to be tried on so I can get an accurate measurement as to how long to make the sleeves, and my brother's scarf still needs a couple of more feet knitted (that was LAST year's Xmas present). I think I'll only get around to knitting one Christmas gift for this year. That will be a silk scarf for one of my women friends.

I'll post more as things unfold. Meanwhile, love your life and enjoy yourselves!