A Day Spent Indoors

The view from my window today was a wet one. It rained most of the day only letting up long enough for me to steal away to grab some groceries. I had planned to work on my back patio to get it ready for spring and summer cookouts, but instead I sat on the couch and knit on my next project.

I'm knitting this.

Remember, in my last post, when I mentioned that I would knit my first shrug in the next couple of months? Well, I'm actually sticking to that statement. It's my first "grown up" project. It's an actual garment AND it has lace work in it. Wow, I know, I'm shocked too. After 5 attempts to get through the ribbing (I do ribbing all of the time, so I'm not sure what my hang up was) I finally got to the lace pattern and it's been smooth sailing since. However, the combination of small yarn and small needles have left my hands cramped up about halfway through the project. So I'll call it a night for now. Perhaps I'll finish it before the work week starts.

Well Hello

Yes, I do manage to finish a big project every now and then. These little fingerless gloves might look small, but this was a very big project for me. I picked out roving from my stash, spun it up specifically with these in mind, set the yarn, waited for it to dry, waited some more, got distracted by a couple of craft shows and things like that, and then I finally knit them up into Toasts. Okay, so they aren't exactly Toasts or even Toasties. They are a combination of sorts - knit with a thumb hole instead of a half thumb thing that I thought looked a bit off.

So there you have it. Aside from being superwoman most of the time, I do find the time to finish a knitting project when I put my mind to it. Now, off to spin more yarn because these are addictive.

A Finished Object

Remember that yarn I gushed over a while back (see here if you don't), well, I finally found a project worthy of this yarn. I looked and looked for something I'd wear... a lot. I love hats, but don't often wear them as I find myself trying to keep my hair looking nice for work. So a hat was out. Mittens or fingerless gloves were the same way... I like them but don't wear them enough. I wanted this yarn to get knit into something I'd grab almost everyday on my way to work. Well, almost every cold day.

I found a pattern on Ravelry for a "Wham Bam Thank You Lamb" cowl. It was a free pattern, always a plus, I could do it in one evening, again, a plus, and it used chunky yarn, not only a plus but a requirement. I read over the pattern, cast on my stitches and a little over an hour later I had the masterpiece you see above (please excuse my old DMB concert t-shirt, I don't dress up for knitting hour in front of my tv). I'm so excited with how it turned out and with how it features my yarn.

And for all of you shoppers out there at the Fayetteville Farmers Market who pick up skein after skein of yarn and ask "what do you do with 100 yards of yarn" well, this is one project.

Must they tease me?

Over the past year I have collected a handful of prints on Etsy. This one is my favorite:
It is from Lineanongrata.etsy.com. Julia, the artist, also has a wonderful blog here. Well, I was happy and content with my knitting print until I saw this little gem in her shop this morning:Do I really need to buy new prints? I'll wait until Christmas comes and goes. If my family doesn't snatch it up for me, I'll buy it then.

Knock Knock

Hello? Anyone out there?

Sales have been a bit slow for me on Etsy this week - but then again, I've been a bit MIA from my regular life. I did keep up with things the best I could from Little Rock, but there was no time for crafting there. Perhaps when I'm back to being creative here the good karma will reward me on Etsy.

I did list some new things in my shop today. Oh, and I finished a scarf and started a new one. I'm madly getting ready for a sale on Saturday, November 8. It's a few local artists/crafters and I cannot wait. I'll post more information soon.

I took some time away from everything last night to sit with the Sweet Boy on the couch and watch a scary movie. We watched The Strangers. I'm not sure how much I liked it. It did startle me a few times and it wasn't a bad movie, but I want to know about the killers. I've always been interested in what makes the mean people be, well, mean. I'm not creepy with interest, just normal with interest. The movie ended allowing room for more movies, but still, I just want to know what the bad people were bad. Ah well.

Besides scary movie watching, we decorated the porch and had a big bowl full of candy ready to pass out. However, we got ZERO trick-or-treaters. I don't blame them - with kids getting shot and kidnapped last night, I would not let my kids out of the house either - that is, if I had kids. Is it really that bad out there?

I suppose I should call it a night and head up to bed to snuggle in with a good book.

15 Minutes of Fame

For a portion of this afternoon, I felt like a celebrity. No, not the kind who go to rehab before they are even old enough to legally drink, but the Etsy kind. A fellow member of AREtsy and my coworker, BeadedBombshell, let me in on a little secret this afternoon. One of my bracelets had made it to the front page.

WHAT? My bracelet? Front page?

In a moment of disbelief, I found myself fumbling across the keyboard to make it to the Etsy front page. There it was - Desert Oasis sitting on the front page amongst some beautiful items in an incredible treasury. The treasury was created by Zygopsyche and can be found HERE.

It is amazing how many views my little bracelet received and how many "hearts" both my shop and the bracelet took away from this experience.

Of course, the front page is short lived and life goes back to normal once the next fabulous page of goodies goes up, but it was fun while it lasted. And in case you don't believe me, see below for yourself!

A Bit of a Makeover

After taking many batches of photos for my Etsy shop that I was quite proud of, I figured it was time to get rid of the unsavory photos and replace them all. Anytime I use the word "replace" that usually means it will take the bulk of my day to do. This was no exception.

I took a plethora of pictures and took many minutes uploading all of them, editing them, cropping, etc etc etc, and finally, I had a batch I liked. Now to just load them up on to Etsy. I'm still working on that right now as that is the longest process.

Prior to my picture extravaganza this afternoon, I planted my pepper and tomato seeds. They will settle down in my dining room for a few more weeks until it's warm enough outside to start setting them out on the porch during daylight hours. I was a bit more picky and choosy with my seeds this year. Last year I have weird hopes of having more tomatoes than I could throw a shoe at. What that resulted in was, well, more tomato plants than I could throw a shoe at and not very many tomatoes because I couldn't keep up with the up keep. I'll do better about that this year. As soon as they start to sprout, I get some lovely pictures taken for all to see.

Off to finish the shop update and start on some yarn.

Snow Day

It's a snow day here in Fayetteville, wait, scratch that. It's a half snow day here in Fayetteville. Yesterday I was hoping and crossing my fingers for snow so I could sit here and knit all day. Now, if I was off all day, I'd probably be knitting now. But instead I'm going into work at noon. It's hard to do anything else knowing you've got to get ready for work in a few hours. I'm not motivated, I'm deflated, I think I'd prefer a full day of work.

I have projects that need finishing. I have a scarf that has been on my needles since the end of October. It's almost the end of scarf season but I've made a committment to my crafting self that the scarf will get finished this week. I'll just work on selling it of gifting it next year. I also received some beautiful beads from a shop on Etsy wanting to do a trade. I'll make a bracelet and some earrings out of the beads, and she'll send me some yarn. Good trade. When I finish, I'll post the jewelry, her beautiful beads, and the shop.

I suppose those are all of the projects, but it seems like a lot. I'm just sloth like this morning and the snow doesn't help. Maybe if I force myself to be productive...

"Me" Time

I've spent a bit of "me" time for the past couple of nights and this is the product. I like it. It's a first attempt at making designs on knit items with felt BUT I had fun and will be practicing. It's only 7 months until The Clothes Line Fair - where these might make their debut (unless I get impatient and list them in Etsy when they look like I want them to).

If you can't tell, that is a little red bird on that scarflette (it kind of looks like a fish).

It's Not Fair

I recently stumbled upon these lovely and oh so simple earrings on Etsy. Both are by LisasLovelies and both I could not wear on a regular basis. True, I can't wear most earrings on a regular basis due to a metal allergy I have (silver included) but these are so perfect to wear everyday when you don't feel like picking something colorful and flashy out of your jewelry box.

It makes me want to fall on the ground kicking and screaming "It's not fair".



They warned me when I got my tattoo that I might develop an allergy to some metals. It's my fault.

My sister, Punkinhead, and I went out to the flea markets today. I looked and looked for that treasure that is awaiting my discovery out there in flea market land, but I didn't find it. My sister did find me a vase full of knitting needles. The only complete set was a set of 4 double pointed needles. I'm unsure of their size, but they look good for socks and they were only $.50. You can't beat that with a stick (but I refuse to call that a treasure). Perhaps I'll find my treasure another day on another trip.

I posted my latest earring creations in my Etsy shop tonight. I really like this design and cross my fingers that they fly out of my shop faster than I can post them. A girl can dream... right?

Goodbye Old Friend

I'm not going to lie when I say I've been a bit discourage by my Etsy sales this month. I've had a trade and played along on the SNS Secrets thread last weekend, but not really any sales to sing about. I considered relisting a scarf yesterday. It had been almost a month since I relisted a scarf and thought perhaps that would be a fresh change from my earrings that I've been posting like crazy lately. I decided against it. I'd like my listing fees to go new product, not relistings.

So I spent the day doing some knitting and watching a lot of Rome. Late last night I logged on to discover not one, but two scarves sold. One was a scarf I never thought would walk off and the other was one I've sold 4 of before and is quite popular. I was ecstatic. It was just what I needed to remotivate myself into spending time on my shop.

Today I took advantage of my sunny window, took pictures, and posted a handful of earrings in my shop. I've finally got some of the ones I've talked about on here but had not posted until today. Go get them while you can!

In other news, AREtsy is getting together in Conway this weekend for a meet and greet. I wanted to go but just can't make it down there. Instead I'll do some participating in the SNS thread tomorrow evening. I'll have to think of a really good sale... any suggestions?

Custom

I *heart* custom orders. While selling anything I make is good in my book, custom orders allow me to make things that a customer specifically asked for. I don't have to worry about if someone is going to like it enough to buy it or if it will sell at all. I just have to worry about finishing it on time (which I always do).

I received a phone call before Christmas from someone who had purchased a scarf from me last year. She wanted another one. I pointed her to my Etsy site hopeing for a sale. Nothing came from it. It wasn't a huge loss. However, I received another phone call from her this past week wanting to purchase two custom scarves. While I would have been thrilled to sell one stuff from my Etsy site before Christmas, I was even more thrilled to sell two yet to be made scarves after Christmas.

I set to work on them yesterday and finished them up today. I'm pleased with the results and hope she will be as well. In fact, I like them so much, I might make one for my Etsy site. The colors are nice.

Something for myself

I managed to finish all handmade Christmas presents by mid-afternoon yesterday. I rewarded myself with these fingerless wrist warmers. The pattern was very simple and I'm pleased with them. Of course, with all first attempts at patterns, I've made note of things to do differently on the next pair.

I met a lady in town today to pick up a pound of skirted, unwashed fleece. It's beautiful and I can't wait to get it washed and usable. I'm hoping to receive a drop spindle under the tree tomorrow so I can spin it into something wonderful to knit with. I'll be updating everyone on my crafty gifts, so stay tuned.

I woke up yesterday morning with a bit of a cold (I can't have a holiday without a cold, it's inevitable). The cold medicines have made it a bit hard to want to finish baking and wrapping presents, but I must go on! Christmas is tomorrow and time is running out.

I'm weak

"Outstanding" from 12fifteen.etsy.com

Recently I found myself weak and at the mercy of good marketing techniques. I feel safe when I see something that says "only 100 prints made". 100 gives me plenty of time to wait it out, decided if I want to buy it, test the waters to see how fast they are going. However, when "only 100 prints made" changes to "only *some number less than 10* left" my safety goes out the window. Now it is only a matter of time before it sales out... what if 10 people who wanted this item very much all decide to buy one RIGHT now.

I'll tell you what happens, you buy something.

I bought the original inspiration behind Winter Trees the other day. It came in the mail on Saturday and it's wonderful. The print is even lovelier in person and the packaging was supreme. I even got a couple of holiday cards out of the deal, I'm a sucker for freebies.

I also found myself quite weak at the book store tonight. I bought a couple of knitting books. Not patterns or techniques, but actual read before bed kind of books. Both by Stephanie Pearl Mcfee. I got Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off and At Knits End (also by McPhee). I'm really looking forward to some reading as soon as I'm done with these Christmas gifts!

In the Mailbox

Despite the dreariness of the situation I found myself in tonight (walking down a wet driveway, crossing the cold wet street, getting my gloves wet from my SOAKING wet mailbox) I found a wonderful surprise in my mailbox. The package instantly cheered me up. It was soft and squishy and I knew JUST what it was.
I had purchased some hand spun yarn from SDSpin last week. I found it on the gift guides and the price was great. I snatched up two orders and think... no, I know I'll be going back for more.
98% of me wants to jump right in and knit something with it immediately, but 2% of me says "slow down, find a pattern that you love, don't rush this". You see, this is only my 2nd and 3rd skeins of hand spun yarn (first skein is waiting on a project too) and I'm just amazed by how beautiful it is. Sure, I'll still purchase the economical acrylic fashion yarns from the local craft store, but I think I've found a new addiction.

And then this goes to...

This handmade pendant - not yet in my Etsy shop - goes to Recycled Ideas. I found her blog, Field Notes from an Evolutionary Psychologist, through the PIF I took part in last week. I love her shop and hope she likes what I've designed just for her.

I like this so much that they just might show up in my shop soon.

I had big plans tonight to do a couple of bracelets (I still have time for that I suppose) and start another scarf, but here I am, 8:00 PM, blogging. *sigh*

Still blushing

Earlier this week, Denise Felton, a fellow Etsian and member of AREtsy, contacted me. She wanted to feature me on her blog. I nearly fell out of my chair. I've seen numerous people featured on blogs and have read their writings and thought "wow... that would be cool". I was wrong, it is far better than being just "cool".

This morning, she has posted her feature about me on her blog (a great blog to follow because it's actually updated with stuff worth taking the time to read). You can read it here: http://denisefelton.blogspot.com/

And when you're done there - go check out her shop at DeniseFelton.etsy.com. She does wonderful collages and cards and you won't be disappointed.

One of my favorite collages of hers is this one

I honestly don't know how to thank her for this... I am truly and honored.

At last... I'm finished

I finished the first of a few Christmas gifts I planned on making this year. I've been busy the past couple of weeks so this one has not received the amount of attention each day that the rest will. I'm quiet pleased with it and I'm counting on the fact that the recipient does not read this blog.

I was supposed to travel to Kansas City, MO for a concert today, but the weather was less than accommodating. Instead, a friend and I went to lunch and a movie. We saw August Rush and I have to say that it was a wonderful, heartwarming, cry your eyes out kind of movie. I highly recommend taking a break from whatever crafting you are currently doing and driving to your local theater to see it.

Oh, and I had time to bake some cookies today. We might need them if we get the freezing rain that have forecast for us on Monday. Baked goods and queso with chips are always my preferred" stuck in the house because I don't want to drive on the ice" kind of food. It's a bit hard to eat chips and queso while knitting though...

What took me so long?

If you follow my blog, then you know that it's been over a month since I organized my crafting area to the point that I could sit down and work at my table. However, due to the unique angle that my floor is position at, I was unable to sit there without rolling backwards into my TV. I finally purchased a rug to sit my chair on yesterday and it's amazing how a bit of carpet changes everything. I can sit and work and not roll around.

Since purchasing that rug, I have churned out three bracelets. At this rate I'll have quite the full Etsy shop and Christmas presents done in no time. Since I made another sale (some earrings and a bracelet) last night, a full shop will be necessary. The bracelet I made tonight replaces the one that sold... in colors only. None of my bracelets are exact replacements.

My sweet boy took me shopping for my birthday tonight and aside from the frivolous purchases (CDs and a COMFY house robe) I purchased Knit and Purl edited by Erika Knight. It's a collection of 250 stitches to knit (no knowledge of cable needles needed). I'm ready to get Christmas gifts behind me so I can start on this book! Hopefully I'll have new stitch patterns successfully knitted to post here during the new year.

Well, off to finish one of those Christmas gifts I just mentioned.

I Love Olive

I do... I really do. This is my 2nd, and probably my last, bracelet for the day. It's another one done in sterling silver wire but this time I chose chartreuse, olive, and brown for the colors. I'm very happy with it.

Another thing I'm very happy with - the satin background. FINALLY I have pictures I love. I bought cream and black satin tonight at the craft store and I am so very glad I did. The black worked best for this bracelet, but I'm sure the cream will come in handy eventually. If not, I'm only out $1.49.

This morning was the morning that I became obsessed with felt beads. I went to the Northwest Arkansas Community Creative Center's Art Bazaar and bought some felted wool beaded earrings. I must get some beads of my own to play with. I could learn to felt but that really needs to wait until I get some other projects done. In the mean time, I've found plenty of them on Etsy for purchase. Now to just narrow them down to just a handful that I want.