Self Portrait Monday: December 27, 2010

Knitting in the office edition. My back has been killing me, so I've been sitting in Rick's office chair and using his heating pad. I'm rocking the new Christmas pyjama pants, and knitting cloth 3 of 5 for that custom order. I've cranked out a few rows of my shawl in the past little bit, otherwise I'd probably have these done.

The past week was eventful to say the least. I worked a whole bunch in the days leading up to Christmas, and then got Christmas eve and Boxing day off. I have one more day of Christmas festivities tomorrow, and then it's the new year, and then my birthday shortly after. This time of year ends up in a whirlwind and I try to do my best to arrive at the end of it all in one piece.
I bought nearly $300 worth of yarn yesterday from Michael's. I would never spend that much though. They had a sweet sale (25% off entire purchase, including sale items) and then all the yarn I love using was on sale at huge discounts as well. Most of it was already discounted about 50%, but then Homespun was 70% off. CRAZY! I got enough to fill four regular shopping bags almost to bursting. Homespun, Thick & Quick, Roving and one skein of something sparkly (can't remember the name of that one)

Winston is feeling much better lately. He has an appointment with the vet tomorrow, hopefully the last one. He hasn't been eating much lately though. Not sure if it's from him being sick, or just because he has been eating more snacks (he loves potatoes and eggs!!!) between meals.

How have the holidays treated all of you?

L'entrevue Radio-Canada/The Radio-Canada Interview

Comme dit quelques jours passés, voici l'entrevue Radio-Canada. S'il te plaît, excusé mon accent horrible et mon vocabulaire qui fait pitié. Merci a mon partenaire Rick, pour avoir modifié le son a un format qui est compatible avec le blog. L'original peut être trouvée içi, sous la date du 23 décembre a 6h30.

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Like I said a couple days ago, here is the Radio-Canada interview! Thanks goes to Rick for editing the interview to a format usable here on the blog. The original can be found here under the December 23 heading in the 6h30 file.

Listen to the edited version Here

Busy for the holidays!

This year, the holiday season is working out great! I hadn't planned on any knit gifts to give to my friends or family, just a few commissioned things to work on, a few items that I am testing out to have ready for next fall/winter (thinking ahead!) and then some knitting for myself.
The lovely thing about all of this is that my stress level is greatly reduced compared to some other knitters. Another lovely thing is that I have time to give an interview to a local French radio station about knitting and Made In Windsor. I will be doing that later today at The House.
I will ask the interviewer if there is anywhere online I can get a recording so I can post it here.
I am incredibly nervous about all of this. I was educated in French from the age of 4 through 18, but I haven't used it much since then. I didn't believe my teachers when they said I'd lose the ability to speak the language if I didn't use if often.
I am determined to use my French abilities more often.
Do any of you know of any French art/craft blogs? Yarn specific would be great!

Self Portrait Monday: December 20, 2010

As you may have noticed, my Very Good Things posts have become sporadic at best. I work every Sunday, and I don't always get on my computer then. Yesterday, for example, I worked 10-4 at the restaurant, and then 5-10 at the other job. By the time I got home, I just wanted to relax.
To remedy not having these posts, and to get myself used to not looking like a total doofus in front of a camera, I am going to do Self Portrait Monday posts, and include some of the Very Good Things that happened that past week.

Total doofus look going on here. With added bed head. But, I am knitting a dishcloth for a custom order (this one is cloth number 1 of 5) which is great. Another good thing this week? I sent Rick to his parents house with the scarves for his sister in law. I finished them all up last night, and I am very happy with them. I did forget to take pictures, though. I also have most of my Christmas shopping done, which is awesome!

Something Very Bad did happen this past week. I wasn't going to mention anything about it, but I feel like I should. My parents went grocery shopping in Michigan last week. This is a common occurrence for people in the Windsor area, and my family is no exception. I don't know all the details, but they were rear-ended by a Jeep in my mom's Equinox. My mom spent some time in the emergency room in a neck brace, on a back board. I'm not sure how my dad did, or how he is feeling now. He's been in a bad accident in Michigan once in his life already (A few years back, he was rear ended by a semi truck, and pushed into the back of another semi truck. Thankfully, he was driving a large pickup truck at the time)

I'm glad they're ok. And I really hope the idiot in the Jeep (who was more concerned about the damage to his vehicle) has insurance and a good lawyer.

How have all of you been?

Another photo from the Made In Windsor Holiday Store

I just came across this picture in the group that Rick took of the store. Before I go on, I just have to say how great he is. He came out to the store to help set everything up. The one night he came, he came back to the apartment to pick up random things we needed (a desk lamp, speakers, tape etc etc etc) as well as dinner for me, among other things. He came back to the store the next day to take photos of everything. The lighting up there in the Attic is weird, at best, and took some great shots regardless.
My iiPhone/iPod cases are right at the top, with my hair bows right below. I haven't sold any yet, but I am hoping that I will soon.
The adorable owls underneath are Made From Scratch. She makes adorable stuff. Jewelry, owls, pillows, the list goes on. She is incredibly talented.

The Holiday Store is going so well. I really hope all of the artisans sell a ton of stuff.

The Made In Windsor Holiday Store

This is it. This is the rack of most of my wintery items I have for sale at the Made in Windsor holiday store.
It's right at the top of the stairs when you walk up, which is awesome! There are also mittens on the rack that are made by Dilly Daisy.
I've sold a handful of scarves already, as well as at least one cowl.
I also have baby blankets, iPhone cases and hair bows. I will be showing you photos of those over the next few days.
In other knitting news, I am nearly finished my knitting commission for a friend of mine. She wanted four scarves and a neck warmer for her brothers and their girlfriends. I am working on the last scarf right now, and I will hopefully post photos as soon as they are done.

Very Good Things

I haven't posted one of these in a little while, but that isn't for lack of Very Good Things happening. Lately I've just been really busy and the post has slipped my mind.

• The Holiday Store is AWESOME!
• I've sold at least 5 items in the store so far, possibly more
• I am almost done my knitting commission for Lucy
• We found out why Winston has been acting strange. Rick took him to the vet today, and found out he has a fungal infection. It's relatively easily (and inexpensively!) treated
• I have most of my Christmas shopping finished
• There is beautiful snow on the ground. As a non-driver, this makes me incredibly happy

What are your Very Good Things lately?

A few more recently knitted items!

 As promised, here are a few other items I've made recently.
I'm a little new with the photo editing, so the colours are a teensy bit off. They are much closer than the original photo, though! I must be on the right track. The butter-yellow scarf was made with leftover Homespun from a baby blanket. The next one in, the purple is doubled over the "clothes line" so it's actually twice as long. The blue/grey is also doubled over. This one is SUPER thick. Next time I combine these yarns, I'll have to use slightly larger needles. The last scarf is really long. Something like 8 feet, I think? It's made from some fuzzy yarn I got in a mill ends bag. It has a lot of natural fibres in it. It sheds quite a bit, which isn't too fun.
All of these are basic garter stitch. It's awesome using slightly textured yarns in scarves; they look way more interesting for very little work!
The second photo is another hat and a cowl. The hat is Homespun, once again, held with a plan yarn in a similar colour. That is one of the best combinations for hats in my opinion.
The cowl is made from some more remnant yarn I bought. I have quite a bit of it left, even after making three scarves and two cowls from it. It's the first cowl I made in that stitch pattern. Since then, I have changed it around a bit so that the eyelets are slanted at a farther angle. It looks awesome, and makes everything I use it for more fun to knit. I am working on another neck warmer in the same pattern for an order from a friend of mine right now.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with how much I've made in the past while. I am going to continue knitting winter accessories for a little while, and then start working on my personal projects. I have two shawls on the go, as well as my giant baby blanket that I put away at the beginning of the warm weather last year.

Some of my finished items

Last week, I brought my items into the Made In Windsor holiday store. I went in today to help Christine out with some of the inventory stuff, and I also did some photographing of a few of the items.
I started with the pottery, then jewelry and some clothing. Then I moved on to some of my stuff.
This first photo is three of the neck warmers I've made in the past few months. All super simple, holding two strands together.  These ones are super simple, and super quick to whip up. They're great for people who are out and active in the cold weather, and who don't want to mess around with long scarves getting in the way.

The second is just a scarf and a hat. I wish I could find more yarn like the one I used for the scarf for as good of a price as I found that stuff. It's Bernat Roving, but I got it in a bag of mill ends for ridiculously cheap. It's a really simple horizontal rib pattern. I've done a few variations on it, as well.
The hat is just Lion Homespun held with a similar shade of some worsted weight yarn. I have about 10 hats or so at the store, and I just finished another one for a friend of a friend. She placed the order through him when I had my art show at Phog.

i will post a few more photos of my items over the course of the next few days.

The Made In Windsor Holiday Store

From December 10th until the 23rd, I will be selling my knitted things in the Made In Windsor Holiday Store. I'm super excited.
This is going to be the best place to get holiday shopping done. I already have a few gifts planned to purchase there. I'm going to have to look around some more and see if I can get the rest of my gifts done there, too.
Most of the vendors that participated in the Sunday Open Air Crafters Markets are back for the holiday store, as well.
If you are in the area, you should check it out. It's in The Attic, at The House, at 131 Elliott Et. West. I'll be there Saturday and Sunday in Rino's Kitchen.
Stop by and grab a bite to eat, or a cup of locally roasted coffee, and have a relaxing, enjoyable shopping experience.

Payments accepted are cash, debit, Visa and MasterCard.

My new favourite bind-off

Have you ever found something, whether knitting-related or not, that totally changes your outlook on a task?
I used to hate binding off in the round, well, binding off period. I bind off really tightly apparently, and it makes things pucker like crazy. I've gotten into the habit of using a needle a few sizes larger to loosen things up a bit. The problem with this, is that not all yarns behave in a predictable manner, and I never really know what size of needle to actually use.
I came across this video a few days ago. Embedding is disabled, otherwise I would have that video sitting right here.

This has, without a doubt, made my life easier. I've been knitting a lot of cowls in the round, and this is the perfect way to finish them.
You should definitely take a look.