I started this last week so I'd have an easy project to work on while I was at Stitches with my Mom & sister. And then, I got sick Friday morning, the day I was supposed to go. Ugh, I had even reigned in the yarn spending when I hit Wool & co a few weeks ago (for the first time! Love it!) Oy, ok - so anyway, I had an easy project to work on while I wasn't feeling so good.
This is one of the suprises from the summer Knitty, and even though it's so similar to my Montego Bay scarf, (by the same author too!) I really like it. The yarn's not nearly as soft (hemp on this project, bamboo on the scarf,) but I think it might get softer after a wash. Even if it doesn't, I could always make the handles out of something softer; I haven't really thought about them, or the drawstring yet.
The color is probably better in the second picture than the first, but it seemed so dark that I lightened it up a bit. Normally, I'd want to go back and fix it, but I've got better things to do today! LOL
It didn't take me very long to knit my Montego Bay Scarf; but I did take 5 days to cast it off and weave in the ends! LOL I finished it just in time to wear it to BogHer, and I'm glad I did. It was nice to wear something I made. It was a super easy peasy knit, and I love it in the bamboo - so incredibly soft! (I've been meaning to post this now for over a week, I didn't get the pics I wanted the fist time I photographed it. I think these turned out great, though!)Specs - Pattern: Montego Bay Scarf by Amy Singer (Interweave Knits, Summer 07)Yarn: Southwest Trading Company Bamboo in Intensity, 1 1/3 balls (just over 300yds)Needles: Knit Picks Options Interchangeable circulars, size 10Started Monday July 16th, finished knitting July 23 (cast off & wove in ends 7/27)
I opted to shorten my scarf up a bit, the pattern size was 7" wide by 80" long, and I thought that might be a bit too long. I also decided to leave the fringe off, I braided one piece with the tail ends and didn't think I'd like the look for how much work braiding the rest of the fringe would be. My finished measurements are about 6-8" wide by 72" long. The width is tricky, because the lace just keeps on stretching!
I absolutely love this FO, and plan to make more Montego Bay scarves (quick knit = great gift!) It was great tv knitting, and the results look so pretty, even though it was super easy! That's my favorite kind of project lately - big impact with minimal effort! Stay tuned for another Amy Singer pattern, I just cast on for the Everlasting Bagstopper from this summer's Knitty!
I went to the second day of the BlogHer conference this weekend, at Navy Pier; and had a really great time. I met some new friends, went to some awesome talks, and got a whole bunch of free swag (score!) It was a lot of fun, but it left me super exhausted. I'd hoped to write up this post after I got home Saturday, and it's Monday now! LOL I started with the breakfast talk on artificial intelligence, which was a bit less sci-fi than I was expecting. The speakers did touch on our universal fear of both technology and the unknown, but didn't really expand more on that. One commenter wondered what was to be done about how Google indexes pages, after her reproductive rights blog was indexed as porn, and blocked in India. Internet censorship is an issue that's very important to me, as I'd be very disappointed and angry if I couldn't voice what I think here. Next, I went to a talk on turning your blog into a book; which was particularly interesting to me right now, as I'm putting together projects and writing one! I was hesitant to announce it here, for all the world to see, somehow it felt safer when I was just bouncing ideas off my family. Surprisingly, I think it might be easier than I was expecting, not in that it won't be a lot of work; but that I have more options in this the age of self-publishing. For those of you who might be curious, my book is about using materials on hand for home decoration. And before you go and lump me into the "thrift-craft won't look good in my home" category, I'm focusing on getting high-end results with quick & simple projects. Luxurious home items made from recycled and repurposed materials - is the feel I want to impart, although I'll admit trying to come up with titles has me stumped. They all sound so silly when I say them out loud. LOLAfter lunch I caught the craft-blogging talk, although I'll confess it was mostly stuff I've read/heard/learned myself already. Don't under-price your work, it harms the market and you. Come up with a story to "hook" your buyer, so they can't not buy it. Experiment with photography to come up with your own style. I knew I should have stood up & asked where the panel thought craft-blogging might evolve into, or go next; but I had a headache starting, and so I left a few minutes early and missed meeting Amy Sedaris and Natalie Zee-Drieu. Oh well, I'm sure I'll go again next year, it was a lot of fun! (Oh, and I was a lazy bum-ass blogger and didn't take any pictures. Something about how many women were whipping out digital SLR's made me want to appreciate the conference in my own way, with my visual memory. Google for pics, there was lots of ladies taking tons of pictures!)
ETA: I just realized my header's been down for more than a week, the domain I had it sitting on expired. Ack!
With so many great suggestions for what to knit next, it was really hard to pick a winner! A few highlights - Marsha recommended a Moebius scarf from a ball of Suri Dream, Obssesed with knittting suggested a Morning Surf scarf with KP Shimmer, and Bunnysquirrel thought my La Luz multi would make a beautiful My So Called Scarf - among bunches of other great suggestions! I'm so grateful to all who entered, you really made it tough to decide what to knit next, in a good way! LOLI had to go with Michelle's combination of the Montego Bay scarf and my remaining SWTC Bamboo - it was just too perfect not to knit it next. I'm still dying to try Sea Silk, but I can't find it locally, and buying on the internet can be tough to choose colors, or pick the right one. Michelle, please let me know what color beads you'd like most (I have pink, dark lilac, robin's egg blue and white pearls available. The white pearls are slightly larger, though.) I'll also need your address, you can email me or leave another comment with your email address, so I can get in touch with you.A great big thanks to everyone who entered, I really appreciate the time you took to stop by and leave a comment! I had lots of fun with this contest, so I may have to do another one soon! God knows I've been having a tough time deciding lots of things, lately!!!
Ok, so I decided to keep my contest open a couple more days. I'll close it Monday morning, just before I pick a winner. Actually, I may have to award more than one winner, there's been so many great suggestions! Thanks to everyone who's entered already, I really appreciate the help deciding what to knit next! And if you haven't yet, scroll down and enter! All it takes is a comment, and you could win a pair of my newest product - sterling silver Tree Branch earrings!
I had this great plan today, to list a few tree branch earrings in my shop. I even have a post all written up, but alas - it's not going to happen today. I'm having a party for my Mom's birthday tomorrow night, and I'm all consumed with cleaning and errands today. Last year, I left it all til' the day of, and I didn't get to enjoy myself as much because I was too exhausted. Definitely don't want a repeat experience, so I'm trying to pull most of it together today.Menu - BBQ Chicken (Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, it's the best.... seriously.)Baked potato wedges - courtesy of my sister, she saved my butt because I normally make fries, but my deep fryer needs replacing.Fresh corn on the cob - ok, so I'm making the birthday girl bring it!Chocolate almost-flourless cake - again my sister stepped up, I'm not really a cake baker (see next!)White chocolate mousse, with raspberry Chambord sauce - my kind of dessert - no bake! LOLI've posted the recipe for the mousse before, but I wasn't satisfied with my pictures before. Maybe I'll have to revisit it. I also keep thinking about turning the tree branch earring tutorial into a pretty-printable pdf, anybody interested? I have some experience with vectors, and I thought illustrations might be a bit clearer than my original flash-high-contrast pics. Let me know what you think! I appreciate it!
Thanks also to those who've entered my contest! I've gotten 18 suggestions from 14 people entered. There's still 2 more days to go, though I'm tempted to keep it open over the weekend. So many great suggestions and ideas! Keep them coming, because I may decide to award another winner, as well!
Oh, and another last minute thought - I'm going to BlogHer this year! And I get to see Natalie Zee Drieu! And Amy Sedaris! And there's a talk on artificial intelligence! Can you tell how fricken' excited I am?!?!?! LOL Anyway, I'm only doing the second day, but I'm really looking forward to it. Anybody else going to be at the craftblogging talk?
I still can't quite believe I finished knitting my Wisp in less than a week. I wasn't planning on having it done this fast, and so I hadn't given much thought to what I would knit next. This is where you come in! Help me decide what to knit next, and you could win a pair of Tree Branch earrings! Leave a comment with what you think I should knit next, (links are welcome, too!) and a short reason why (if you've got a minute more!) If I pick your suggestion you'll get to pick a pair of earrings from the stock I have on hand. For the most part, they're the same except for bead color/shape.
More about me - I'm a relatively intermediate knitter, I've tackled a cami, mini skirt, and a couple other projects where gauge was critical. I've done lace and circular knitting, although not on DPN's - I find them hard to hold and weird to work with. My favorite kind of project is both functional and beautiful, although I do enjoy more whimsical items every now and again. I'm not into socks (due to aforementioned dislike of DPNs,) or hats; but I do have a few Blythe dolls, and enjoy the tiny knitting.
I like almost anything ocean or sea related, and my favorite colors are aqua, lilac & other cool jewel tones. My stash isn't huge, but I do have some great stuff I'm looking to use, here's some highlights - Right now I have pink, purple and robin's egg blue tree branch earrings, but I'll have more colors available later in the week. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to answer them for you! Contest ends next Friday, July 13th (also my Mom's birthday!) 3 entries per person, only please! I'd like to give everyone a fair shot. Thanks for playing!
ETA: I'm also open to new yarn purchases, so feel free to suggest them as well. Those were just a few I'm looking to use up. I love finding new favorites, too! Also, please check out my Flickr stream for pics of these yarns, and others in my stash. Thanks again!
When I first saw this month's Knitty, I was a little disappointed. None of the patterns really grabbed me. It's not as if I didn't like some of the cute summer tops, like Coachella and Zin Zin; but I didn't know if anything would be worth making for myself. When I went back for a second look though, Wisp really caught my attention. Plus, I just happened to have the perfect yarn for it - Douceur et Soie mohair/silk in soft seafoam - it was meant to be!
Detail shot of the backwards loop cast on.
I used to be really intimidated of lace, thinking it was only done on teeny-tiny needles. Now I know better, and I'm really enjoying this project. It was pretty easy to memorize, after I got the hang of where the eyelets went; and it knit up very fast, too. I started last Thursday, and I'm nearly finished already! (I actually finished the knitting Wednesday night.) I even got the suggested shell buttons, in both sizes no less! LOL All I have left to do is sew the cast off edge. I like to match my cast on* & off edges, I find traditional bind-offs to be very noticable, and not very stretchy. I still use a regular bind of every now & again, but for anything lacey or stretchy I tend to use what works best for me.
It's funny when I think about how personal knitting really is. Even though it's a craft lots of others do, I think we all have to find our own personal style and decide what techniques we like or don't, for ourselves. I feel like I've really pushed my knitting to the next level this year, though. I've never finished a project so fast, or been so satisfied with how it finished. My Clapotis came close, but after wearing it out a few times I decided I really should have added a few more straight repeats, to make it just a bit longer. Oh well, I can always make another Clap! LOL I've tackled my first sweater, skirt, circular, and lace projects this year, and I've gained a ton of confidence in knitting from a pattern. Not all of those projects were sucessful, but I'm not nearly as intimidated by the patterns or techniques that seem complex to me anymore.
*Note - When I knit wraps, stoles or anything stretchy, I use a backwards loop cast on. It's tricky to knit evenly from, and I end up having to even things out a bit after the fact; but it's much stretchier than cable, knitted or long-tail cast on for me, and so I use what works.
Although I've been blogging for over a year, I'm still not quite sure how these meme things get started. LOL So I thought I'd start one of my own, short and sweet - nothing too complicated!Here's how it goes - once you're tagged write a short blog post about your favorite word, and what makes it your favorite. Of course you can have more than one! Be as long-winded as you like! Just make sure to copy & paste this text into your post, and tag four friends! My favorite word is luminous. I love the feel it evokes, and how many different things it can describe. It implies a quality of light that's soft, ethereal even. It makes me think of jellyfish and moonlight. I find most silk fabrics to have a luminous quality to them, something about the sheen and luster in the way they drape is so soft and pretty. Glass is another material I often find luminous, it can have so many different colors and textures and still pass light beautifully through it. I'm tagging June, Karrie, Shirley and Star. Can't wait to hear your favorite words, ladies! :D
Although I'm very creative and can come up with lots of things to make on my own; my favorite kind of craft lately is taking an item that might be a little bland, and making it perfect for me and my needs. I call it perfunctional crafting, because I love making things both more personal and functional at the same time. LOL This is my entry in June's Whiplash - Introduce Yourself.
When I first got this bag (for Christmas from my husband,) I thought it looked a little plain. The color was really nice, but it was just a plain solid. It has a bit of texture with a diagonal weave, but other than that - a little vanilla on the outside. Nothing really wrong, just not quite "me" yet. LOL Then, I spotted it on Craft Daisies, with some upgrades! And I knew I had to make mine really "mine!"I had the fabric for a few months, for another home dec project, and had tons leftover. It's not a quite a barkcloth, but still a very stiff fabric. Not necessarily great for bulgy items, but perfect for patterns - they've never sat correctly inside the bag, 
with my knitting & yarn. Voila! Perfect pattern pocket for my knitting bag! LOL I sewed up the open side first, and then used fusible tape to attach it to the bag. I'm lucky it opens tightly, otherwise I would've had to hand sew the pocket into place. Blegh! (Can you tell how I feel about hand sewing? LOL) Even still, fusing the pocket down was a little tricky, and I managed to scorch the fabric slightly. Good thing it's a beige background with darker beige and mocha accents, it's not terribly noticeable. 
At first, I couldn't decide what to do with the second side. The more I thought about it, though - I didn't want to clash with the print of the mod fabric. But I still wanted something really unique, jazzy & cool. I think I managed to pull those off, carrying the print up behind the second pocket, in only one repeat. Trying to explain it to my husband was a little tricky, and I didn't even really know what it would look like before I cut the piece out & pinned it in place. I was very pleased when I did though, because it turns out I like it even more than I thought I would! LOL
It's been a while since I made any Tree Branch Jewelry. I wrote the tutorial out last year, and had great plans of adding jewelry to my Etsy store. Well, it's been a few months since then, and I've taken a step back from the store; but I'm super excited to get back to making these. I messaged Amy on Ravelry, about her Douceur et Soie yarn (Ravelry has this great feature where you can mark your yarn for sale or trade.) She didn't need any extra yarn, and honestly I don't have that much of anything great in my stash, at least that I'd be willing to part with. LOL She was interested in Tree Branch earrings though, and one of her favorite colors is Robin's egg blue. Ok, I'll confess… I have a few kinds of Robin's egg beads in my stash. LOL It's probably the color I have the most of, in different sizes & materials. I had the perfect little beads for her, although I'm not sure if they're glass or gemstone. They could be Swarovski, although I'm not that familiar with their color palette. I think they look quite nice with the sterling silver wire and findings, though. And they have me jazzed to add them to the store eventually, we'll just have to see how long it takes me to get my act together on that one! LOL These are not the actual earrings I sent to Amy, I'll confess I liked them so much when I was making the first pair, that I had to make a second for myself. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Tiffany blue! (Totally, utterly gullible that is! LOL) She shipped the yarn out so fast, I wanted to make sure she wasn't waiting too long for her earrings, and I knew I'd just have to make another pair for me! LOL
Quickie no-pic post today, I've got bunches of important stuff to finish this week. I just wanted to pose the question to all of you starting your own crafty businesses out there. Do all of your family and friends tell you how to run your business too? It's been really surprising to me, when I tell people that I'm starting a business; just how many of them have something to say about how I have to run my business. That's not to say I don't appreciate the advice, but it seems as if every single person I tell (who's not in the crafty blog-o-sphere,) thinks that I need some advice about my business. I should make big-ticket items to pump up the profit, I have to pitch to stores to make the sales, and for the most part - that sales equal success. I don't think that I'd want a wholesale order for 200 tsumami kanzashi flower snaps tomorrow. It'd be overwhelming and exhausting, because my products are so time & labor intensive to produce.That's not to say I don't want to make more sales; far from it, actually. But what's important to me is what I get out of the experience, because I've already learned in my short life that money doesn't equal happiness. I want to feel satisfied with myself, and I just don't think running my business anybody else's way is right for me, right now. I don't know if it will stay this way forever, but right now I'm defining my own success. I guess I just wish that was easier for other people to see and understand. I've often felt like people derive their own interpretations and perspective on things, and that can sometimes alienate and isolate people (i.e. me.) I wonder why people focus on what I'm doing wrong with my business, instead of the things that are more positive. I know it's tough to sell on the internet, I'm no dummy after all! LOL I also know a brand new kind of product coupled with being a brand new seller means I have the odds stacked against me. But I know I'm in it for the long haul, and that whatever it takes and wherever it takes me, I'll be there. Fighting my own fight, because that's what makes me feel like I'm being truest to myself, and those goals I've set myself on. (Wow, that sounded like Rocky climbing those damn stairs!!!) My highest goal is simply quality, across the board - I want to produce a quality product, sell it with a quality experience, and enjoy a quality of experience for myself within making and selling. I know it's a lofty goal, but to me that's more important than selling hundreds of dollars of product, or even having hundreds of sales. I want to get something out of it too; not just work my poor fingers to the bone for other people's enjoyment.Any thoughts on starting your own crafty business? Please feel free to share, here or you can email me at - Crafty NOSPACE Ginger AT gmail DOT com.
When I recently found out I'd be meeting June, I knew I wanted to make her something but I also didn't have a lot of time. I've been trying to get my fabric stash cleaned up, and when I ran across just enough brown fleece to make a Tree scarf I knew it'd be perfect for her. One of the easiest sewing projects I've ever done, the soft fleece and added tsumami kanzashi flower snap are sure to please! (I hope! *crosses fingers*) She's on her way to Chicago right now, and I get to sneaky-post her surprise! Hahaha!For a few scarves I've even added a beaded butterfly, although I sadly didn't have the time to get one done for June by today. (June, if you'd like I'd be more than happy to make one for you, just let me know what your 2 favorite colors are!) I've really enjoyed the nature theme developing in my crafting over the last year. Organic shapes are very forgiving of mistakes, they blend in or even add character to the finished object. It's tough for me to accept mistakes when it comes to my work, so having to work with them has been both interesting and challenging. I like the freedom, but it's also intimidating a lot of times. It's easy for me to work towards perfect, because that's a definable goal (at least most of the time;) the harder part is accepting flaws as part of life, and even working with them. I guess that's why I find my affinity for nature growing at an exponential rate! LOL
I got a dwarf lilac shrub from Park Seed a week ago, and I'm anxiously awaiting it's first bloom. I know it'll take longer than I want, but I still look it over every time I go into my kitchen. Hehe. Sorry for the sucky light levels...
…and I get to meet June, of Crafty Bits @ Planet June! LOL I'm picking her up from O'Hare on Friday afternoon, and I have to cross my fingers that construction traffic won't be too bad. Who am I kidding, it'll be horrible… but I'm still super-psyched! LOL I'm lucky enough to not have to brave Chicago rush hour traffic on a regular basis, though. Make that, very lucky to not have to brave it! My husband uses the train as much as he can, to drive into the city from how far out we live can take 3 hours in rush hour traffic (only 35 miles! And it really should be "Rush hours"!!!) Nuts, I know…Please forgive my recent blog-flakiness, I love posting more than I have been able to recently. But, I've had some catching up to do on my "Spring" cleaning, and most of my crafty projects have been swappy surprises lately. (I have another one for June, but you'll have to wait til Friday!) I already spilled the doll quilt surprise, and felt a little bummed for it. I have to remember that I still think it was worth it to enter Whiplash this month, I've been too busy to play lately, and that had me a little bummed too. (I use the term "Spring" very lightly here, I've been cleaning my kitchen up. A couple Saturdays ago I cleaned out my pantry, and this past Saturday I did the fridge.)Plus, I have some decisions to make about my store in the near future. More than half of my inventory has expired in the last month, and I don't know if I want to simply relist it as-is, or spiffy up the text or pictures. I've also been flirting with the thought of just using that stock as craft fair fodder. I've been wanting to do one since my sister did one last November. I've also noticed the trend of a lot of crafters who work on products the night before the show. Not trying to make anyone feel bad, but I want to be more prepared; and I wonder if pre-made stock will help me do that.I also wonder if I should donate them as prizes for a Craftster board challenge or Whiplash; or maybe even hold a contest here on my blog. They seem to be all the rage lately, I just wish I could come up with a question or theme! LOL
It's not as if I want to stop working on my store altogether, I just need a break. All I've been doing the last couple months is making myself feel bad, and it's left me exhausted and completely drained. Life doesn't go the way we want sometimes (ok, alot! LOL) and I've been too stubborn to admit it, and reevaluate where I'm at and where I want to be with both my crafting and business. Time to take a step back and relax!
A few weeks ago I got my Ravelry invite, and I quickly dove in. Unfortunately it's still in Beta right now, but they have an official sneak peek page up - here, so those of you still waiting for your invites can check it out. It's pretty amazing, and if you're a knitter and haven't heard about it, go check it out! LOL There's a home for everything, and everything in it's home! Now I wish there was a Ravelry for my sewing projects, beading and Blythe projects!
Don't get me wrong, I like Craftster and a few other forum style boards, but after being exposed to Ravelry, they seem so Web1.0 compared to Ravelry's Web2.0 style. (No BBC code! LOL) Browse anything you want, any way you want, leave comments on project, pattern or yarn pages, queue up projects you want to work on next and reorder them easily. Share the projects you're working on, finished or given up on, and meet new people interested in the same stuff you are. Flickr pictures are integrated, meaning no waiting for photo uploads! (Blog posts are integrated, too!) I'm so in love with Ravelry right now, can you tell? LOL
What I love the most is the visual control I have, over my projects in progress, yarn stash and To Knit Next list; I can look at one page and see it all in one place. Before, I'd try and make text lists, or lists on my computer with that sort of info. Listing all the yarns in my stash was daunting, and sometimes I can't recognize the yarn name/brand without seeing it. Not to mention how difficult it was to keep track of my To Knit Next list in my head, and forget about reordering it! LOL Ravelry has made knitting my favorite craft lately!
