Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I Sold A Hat!

A couple weeks ago, a coworker asked for me to make him a slouchy hat in a dark grey colour. I picked up a skein of HomeSpun while I was in London (Ontario, haha) with Rick for a wedding a few weeks ago. I started it in the car on he way home, and finished it within a couple days.
We finally had a shift together yesterday, I gave it to him, and it looks awesome! I'm hoping he'll be able to send me a picture, but no promises there.

An other good thing about bringing my knits into work is that other coworkers will ask about what I am making or delivering, and some of them ask to buy more of my things! My boss may buy a hat for her teenage daughter, and one of the ladies in my department may buy a hat for her 2 year old. I can't wait to see if they go for it!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Busy busy!

I haven not been updating, once again. This time, it's for a few reasons.
I have been cranking out kids hats off of the knifty knitter. I've been working on some scarves. Finished a couple dishcloths. I have been very productive.
But. My wrists have been hurting. There is no denying that it is knitting related. Even if it's not, it is definitely being aggravated by it.
I've been trying to stretch my wrists often. And I've been taking a ton of breaks, but they still hurt.
I am going to try to take it easy with typing, knitting, and other such things for a few days and see if that helps at all.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Mason-Dixon Knitting

I got the book on Thursday, just as I was leaving to go to Rick's house. I read most of it, and I must say, I love this book. The pictures are wonderful, the writing is fantastic (I wouldn't expect any less from these two lovely ladies) and the patterns are amazing.
Like I said before, I'm not much for knitting from patterns, but I might just break that for some of these patterns.

Also, the video in the last post is of me. I know I've posted pictures and such before, but just for any new readers who don;t know who I am.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

More Yarn

Yesterday, Rick and I went on a quest to find a white belt at Value Village. Not to be confused with Value City in the U.S., Value Village is a thrift store. We looked and looked, but couldn't find a suitable belt for the wedding we are attending on Friday. I will be checking at a couple vintage stores tomorrow.
The trip to VV was not entirely a bust. They often have yarn in bags for a couple dollars each. I always look through, hoping to find something useful. Until now, I have never found anything worth picking up.
I got three skeins of Astrakhan, by Berella, in the Ocean colourway. They are 90% superwash wool and 10% fine nylon. Three skeins, three bucks. Not a bad find, if I do say so myself. There is only a very very slight odor... It's not musty or anything, so I think a quick wash will solve it.
The one problem with the yarn is... stuff stuck in it. It looks like Easter basket stuffing, and wood shavings. I think that when I unwind the yarn to wash it, it should all fall out. If that fails, I will just have to pick through it and get it all out.
I'm planning on making a kids hat and an adult hat out of this. It's rare for me to have an exact plan for yarn when I buy it, but this yarn told me that's what it wanted to be.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines, and SwagBucks

Okay, I may be a little late on this one.

I just purchased Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside The Lines from Amazon the other day. I have been planning on ordering it since it was released, but I haven't had the extra money, or a credit card.
I have gotten both of these in the past week and ordered the book right away.
I am a member of SwagBucks**, and recently redeemed nearly all of my points for Amazon.com gift cards. I had something like $20 (US) in credits in my account, and got my credit card so I could finally place my order.
Since I am in Canada, it will probably take a bit longer for me to receive it. I am so excited, though. I rarely knit from patterns, but I love collecting knitting-related books.
Once I get it, I will certainly post a review of some sort!

**Yes, there is a referral code in there. If you do sign up, I'd appreciate if you used my code!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

New yarn!

I know I haven't been updating much lately, but fear not, I have not forgotten you!
The other day, I returned some yarn from the scarf I just finished for Rick. I know, returning yarn is sort of crazy, but I knew I could get other yarn with that money.
And more yarn is what I got.
I bought three skeins of Bernat Harmony, in different colours. One dark pink, a lavender colour, and black.
All I can say is this yarn is amazing. Super soft, has just the right amount of texture. If I double it, it's perfect for the Knifty Knitter.
And, best of all, it's affordable! Coming in at $3.99 a skein for 169 meters/184 yards, this will keep me going for a little while.

I have been working on a lot of craft show things lately. I have two in November that I at determined to do really well at. I am taking the day off work, risking losing a decent amount of pay. I'm trying to figure out a way to make deals on my product without losing a lot of money.
Have any of you ever done a raffle at a craft show? Give a ticket away with each purchase over $X and draw at the end of the show? The only problem with this is that I don't drive, and I wouldn't want to make the winner come pick up the prize.

I'm open to suggestions!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Made In Windsor Grand Opening Follow Up

Christine, from Made In Windsor, just got around to updating about the grand opening party. I did post a few things about it a little while back, but now I have more pictures, taken by Christine herself.
I spent most of the day working on hats on my large Knify Knitter loom. I guess I was doing a demo of sorts. I had quite a few young kids staring at me and asking what I was doing. I showed them a finished product, and asked if they wanted to help. Many parents were very hesitant, worried that the child would ruin what I was making. Little did they know that the task at hand was very simple. All I did was ask for help holding the yarn so it wouldn't roll onto the floor. This little boy (I can't remember his name!!!) was an absolute joy to hang out with. he would watch what I was doing, and then just talk away about something or other, and then gently pat the yarn and smile. He's a lot like me, now that I think about it! Several other kids followed suit during the day, content to hold some super soft yarn. A couple of the older kids helped me by actually wrapping the yarn or making the stitches. Knifty Knitters are great for kids, they're super easy to learn, nearly instant gratification, and inexpensive.
After a while, I went outside to enjoy the sun with Dianne, who I mentioned in the other post. She was making cookie pieces, and I started working on an other hat. Later that night, there were 3 of us sitting outside with our craft of choice: knitting, crochet, knifty knitter-ing. It was a lot of fun talking yarn with others, I saw spit-splicing up close (I don't use 100% often, if ever, and that was sort of a foreign concept to me. It just seemed like a ridiculous idea that would never work) we discussed various types of yarn, taking on too many commissions and a bunch of other yarn-y topics.
All in all, awesome day. I talked to a lot of people, networked quite a bit, and left with a smile on my face.