Shop list

We received the most recent list of shops that my patterns are in from our distributor today. Our stuff is now in 347 shops, all but five of which are in the U.S. I updated the shop list on my pattern site. The shops that are not in the U.S., and the two Internet-only shops (only one of which is State-side), are at the top of the list. The rest are arranged alphabetically by state, city, then shop name. I know, 347 shops. Can you stand it? It’s so awesome!

Amaryllis

When I posted about future flowers last March—a year ago, not last month—I really didn’t think that it would be more than a year before the amaryllis bulb Mom had given me for Christmas would bloom. That seems to be the case, though.

Last year, the amaryllis bulb gave me a fabulous array of long, slender leaves. But no flowers. Narry a one.

The leaves grew, the leaves died away. The bulb sat there in its pot on the kitchen table. I watered it… occasionally—a little bit every now and then. When it occurred to me. I was looking at it one day in January, considering tossing the thing, since it never performed, and you know what? I saw green on the bulb, just above the soil line. So I watered it. And it grew. And it grew. And it grew.

This year it seems that my flower wish is going to come true. I hope. I won’t say anything definite, as I don’t want to jinx it, but… when faced with this:

Odds appear to be in favor of a flower. Or a set of flowers.

It started to open a tiny bit late yesterday, and was open a tiny bit more this morning when I took these pictures.

By the way. Check out the stem this flower bud is sitting on. I measured it. From the top of the bulb to the base of the flower bud it’s 24 inches high. Yup. Two feet of stem to support the flower(s) that will—hopefully soon, but I don’t want to jinx it—appear.

Since amaryllis often put on showy displays with two to four blossoms on a stalk, I’m hoping to get at least three flowers up there. Fingers crossed.

Seasons of Lace

I’m going to donate a pattern as a prize again for the Seasons of Lace KAL. If you want a chance to get one of my patterns for free, or any one of the other totally cool prizes that Helen’s been able to drum up, be sure to join the KAL. I’m not sure how long membership will be open, but there’s always a closing date. Make sure you don’t miss it. Sign up today, so you can participate in the KAL.

A little flag fun

I saw this flag widget yesterday, and had add it to my sidebar. Since late yesterday and as of this writing, I’ve had 21 visitors to my blog: 15 from the U.S., one from Canada, one from Germany, and one each from a number of countries whose flags I don’t know off the top of my head. Oh wait! If I click on the box, it tells me what all the countries are. Here’s the list: United States, Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Canada, and France. No idea what order they’re in, but it’s really rather a cool thing to have on a blog, don’t you think?