Self Portrait Monday: July 25, 2011

It's Monday once again! I am knitting at the chiropractor's office, as I just finished my weekly massage. Rick is in getting his back worked on right now. Our massages aren't the nice relaxing ones people enjoy getting... Because of the car accident that happened in May, we're both still a bit out of whack. This is to try and get us back in place.

I am working on a hat for LeeLee Hats again. I want to get 10 done total, and then go back to working on winter accessories.

Speaking of winter accessories, I am planning on approaching a few local stores with some of my items to see if they will sell on consignment. I am not completely sure on the percentage I should offer them... I will have to figure some things out before doing this, but I would really like to be in a handful of stores soon!

Slow and Steady Wins The Race (or something like that)

There is some progress being made on the stash! I have been working on dishcloths for a while, and I think it's time to show them.
I made the blue ones for Rick's friend, Sarah. She asked for blue, and gave no other specifications, and this is what I came up with. Not sure if she wanted solids, but I can always make more, if she does! She asked for 3, but I made 4 because I still had some of the lighter blue left. This finished off one small skein of cotton.
I still have to weave in the ends, but other than that, they are done, and I am very happy with them.
The pair of neutral coloured cloths is for my Mom. Just one more cloth to go, and all of hers will be finished. This finished off another skein! I've made a whole bunch of cloths for her, and I will be giving them to her this weekend. I hope she likes them.
I have also finished quite a few hats for LeeLee Hats in the past couple days. They use up yarn that I otherwise wouldn't be using. Three made so far, with another on the needles. I still have to sew them up, as I am knitting them flat, but they are looking super cute!
With these knits, I am adding 9 finished objects, and 2 finished skeins. With the next post, I should be adding at least 2 more finished skeins!

I Renewed Some Items in my Shop!

A few of my items were expiring soon, so I decided to renew them! I've done a few so far, and I will be doing more over the next couple days.

I still have quite a few of my cotton bangle bracelets available. I've sold a few offline, but still none in the store! There are always other colours available. Also, if you wanted to get a few of them to wear together, let me know in a convo, and I can bundle them together at a savings for you! I am planning on listing more colours once I have a chance to photograph them.
I am also renewing some earrings. This olive green pair has gotten some attention lately in the way of views and hearts. I love their colour, and the size is just big enough to be noticed, without being HUGE.

There are quite a few different ones being renewed, so be sure to check them out!

Self Portrait Monday: July 18, 2011

Today's portrait is a little bit different.
I FINALLY went to get my passport photo taken.
It kind of looks like a mug shot. But, I can kind of see a resemblance to both of my parents in it. Not the mug shot part, just the shape and features of my face.
This photo will serve me well for the next 5 years. With Iceland in September, and I am sure a few visits to Michigan in the following months, it will be used often. I still need to get my guarantor to sign the back of one of these, and then head down to the application office.

In other more knitting-centric news, I helped my friend Tracy at a craft show. She is the lady behind LeeLee hats. The show was a let down, but we had fun regardless. I finished knitting one hat, and I gave her 6 skeins of yarn. This puts me at 16 items made, and a total change of four less skeins. Not bad, so far, I'd say. I've started working on another hat already, and I still have a dishcloth on the go. I will post all my recently made dishcloths later this week.

Sponsorship?

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been such a quiet week. I've been working quite a bit, and therefore, not knitting a lot.

I have been considering having sponsor spots on my blog for the past few weeks. I really do enjoy reading blogs, and I have seen a lot that have added sponsor spaces in the past little bit. I am starting to think that this might be a good idea for mine. I don't expect a lot of money off it, but being able to pay my hosting and domain renewal would be lovely. I would also like to advertise my blog in other spaces to bring more traffic here.
What do all of you think? Ultimately, if there is little to no interest, then I will not bother. But, if at least a handful of you would be interested, then I will figure out the logistics of it. I am planning on doing month long spots, and only one size (probably 125x125.) I will do a sponsor profile post for each, and then post a few of my fave items from each shop, or fave posts from their blogs. There are a couple other ideas I have rolling around in my noggin, but those are going to be a secret for now!

Self Portrait Monday: July 11, 2011

Hello Monday!! It's been a loooong weekend. I worked a food festival with Rino's Kitchen, and that just about knocked me out. I ate till I almost burst... On Friday, Saturday AND Sunday.
Saturday was my anniversary with Rick. He was at his parents because I was working all weekend, so we didn't do anything until today.
I've also finished knitting a couple dishcloths. Two more cloths added, and one skein finished. I m now up to 15 items made, and +2 as far as skein count goes. Soon, I will catch up!
I haven't been knitting all that much the last few days. Between work, the gym and the weather, I haven't really felt like doing much.
I did, however, go to the LeeLee hats knit club on Saturday. I finished half a hat, and left it there so I could continue it next time, or someone else can work on it.
I should get back to knitting. I have an order for some blue dishcloths from a friend, and I want to get them made!

One of my pairs of earrings was in a treasury!

Woohoo! I got a convo yesterday that said I was featured in a treasury! I am so excited. This is only the second time one of my items has been in one, and it's awesome!
I also made some new earrings a couple days ago. I've bought quite a few buttons over the past few months, and I haven't made any earrings in quite some time. Some of my listings are expiring soon, so I am hoping to have these new ones up before then to help increase their chances of being sold.
Rick and I are picking up a new camera later today for the Iceland trip, and I am hoping that it will take decent macro photos. Photographing my stuff is definitely my least favourite part of all this, but it has to be done!

Self Portrait Monday: July 4, 2011

Happy Fourth of July to my American readers, and happy Monday to everyone!
I have three more dishcloths made! The white striped cloth and the middle seed stitch one finished of another skein of cotton. I am up to 13 items made, and a net change of plus three for my number of skeins of yarn. Just one more skein of cotton to use up and I will consider myself even. The other two that I added will be used in a few weeks. They will be my plane knitting for Iceland.
I am just a few rows away from having the baby blanket complete. That's a pretty large ball of yarn, so I am happy about that.
After these are done, I will probably make some baby hats. I have quite a few skeins that I have earmarked for some charity knitting, and a lot of them are on the small side. Instant gratification!

I am getting so excited for Iceland. There are about 60 days left until then, and still so much stuff to do. I am going to try to sell some of my knitwear and earrings between now and then to have some extra spending money. I will hopefully be listing some stuff in the next week or so in my downtime. I've been working extra shifts because of our new extended hours, so my free time has almost disappeared!

Dishcloth Progress and a Crazy Awesome Announcement!

Despite my minor set-back earlier this week, I am making some progress on the stash.
Five more dishcloths made, and one skein eliminated.
The top two cloths are for my mom The rainbow is one of the CoolSpun Cotton balls she bought me. the other three are just other cloths I've made.
I am working on a few more cloths for her, as well as the baby blanket. I did a few rows yesterday, but it was so hot in the apartment that I just couldn't do any more!
I think I might post a few dishcloths in the Etsy shop. There are a lot of knitters who have cloths for sale, but they are mostly the regular "grandma's favourite" style with the yarn overs at the edges. Most of the cloths I've been doing are striped or patterned in some other way.
Anyone want to weigh in on this? Should I bother listing some cloths? Should I do packs of multiple cloths?

Ok, onto the amazing news. My boyfriend, Richard, has wanted to go to an amazing, far away land for ages. He got an email recently saying the plane tickets were close to half off. So, come mid-September, I will be doing a lot of firsts: first time on a plane, first time outside of North America, first time I'll use my passport (which I still have yet to acquire) and the final, and most important first...
My first time in Iceland.
We have the tickets, and we're getting our travel arrangements... arranged. We have a few must see things to do, and the rest of the time, we're sort of going to fly by the seat of our pants.
Rick and I are both planning on getting a lopapeysa, trying Iceland's world famous hot dogs (which are made with local meat, and therefore perfect for my food eating lifestyle), eating skyr, and hopefully, seeing some sheep.
If any of you have suggestions of things to do in Iceland, please let me know!!