My Week in Instagrams: February 22, 2013

I can't believe this is the last Friday of February. This year is whipping by. This past week, I've been pretty productive as far as knitting goes. I've eliminated a few skeins, which made me happy. I also made a small dent in a few other skeins, so they're going to be finished up quicker. Anyway, this is what I've been up to this week, according to Instagram.

This is the cowl I mentioned last week. It used almost a whole skein of Wool Ease Thick and Quick, but not enough to call it finished. I'm going to find a project to use all the partial skeins of T&Q that I'm sure I'll have soon enough.
Winston and I were goofing around, and sometimes I pick him up and throw him over my shoulder like a baby. A 55 pound baby. Rick took this photo, and I loved it.
I love white hot chocolates from Tim Hortons, but they're never full to the top. They're kind of frothy, I guess. Still tasty, and I will continue drinking them forever.
I was knitting with The Knit Girllls and Numma Numma. This cowl is another one I finished this week. More about it a little later. I love knitting and watching podcasts. If you haven't watched The Knit Girllls, I strongly suggest it. It's really entertaining.
I sold a pair of tiny flower earrings to someone in Texas. I couldn't find the ones that were actually in the shop, so I had to make them. I have to get more metal earrings made for my upcoming shows.
I dug this skein of Moda Dea Tutu out of my stash. It's been in there for about 6 years, waiting for the perfect project. It's the accent on a little project that I neglected to photograph, because it's not sewn up yet. I'll hopefully have that up some time next week.
All these wonderful vegetables that Rick is washing/peeling became some amazing Moroccan lamb stew. No recipe for this, because he mostly wings it. It was served over Israeli couscous, which was a really good pairing. There is still quite a bit left, I'll probably have that for dinner tonight.
I set myself up to make some more earrings the other day. I finally got around to making a few pairs today. I need need need to make more. I have the craft show next week, and my stock is running really low.
Rick also made a quinoa salad to have with the stew. I could eat this stuff every single day. There's quinoa, tomatoes, cucumber, a red onion, corn and the seasonings. Once again, no recipe unfortunately. I should get him to write things down.

This is most of what I've been knitting this week. First up is a creamy coloured lace neck warmer. It's my usual pattern, and I think it looks awesome. I still have enough yarn left to make something else, I just have to decide what I'll be doing.
This is the same neck warmer I was knitting with The Knit Girllls. I was hoping to finish off all three of the colours, but only managed to get two eliminated. That means I'm at +13 for my stash down so far. Only 63 more skeins to eliminate by the end of the year! I'm sure I can do it. I do have more yarn coming to me though. I'd better get cracking.
This is my new favourite neck warmer. It's almost the same pattern as the other lace neck warmers, but it wraps three times instead of two. I've had a couple people ask for longer ones, so I'm trying out a few to see if they'll actually sell.

Make sure you check out my sponsors, they have some amazing stuff.

Monday Update: February 18, 2013

It's Family Day here in Ontario, and a few other provinces, so that means I get paid to stay home and knit! That's how I like to look at it anyway. I've been a busy little bee the past few days, knitting quite a bit. Unfortunately, I haven't been finishing many skeins, but I'm not about to be a downer!
The first thing I knit was this pretty blue scarf. It's made of an entire skein of vintage yarn that I got from the older woman last year. I didn't weave in the ends yet, but that will only take a few minutes to do. I like to wait until I have a bunch of items to do it, and do them all at once. This makes one less skein in my stash, and my total thus far is +15. Yes, still kind of backwards, but I'm making progress.
I'm trying to make a few looser, light weight scarves for the spring. I have two shows coming up that I doubt I'll sell much knitwear at, but I want to have options. I still need to make more earrings for these shows. I have my area all set up, it's just a matter of putting a podcast on and get to getting.

Next up is a set I finished knitting in the past couple days. It's my usual neck warmer pattern with the eyelets, paired with a ribbed head band/ear warmer. I actually really like the way these look together. I think I still have enough yarn to make one more head band, so I might do that today. I'm trying to expand my repertoire of knitted items, and this is one of the things I'm considering adding to my line. What do you think? It's fairly simple, but I think it looks really nice with the neck warmer.

I really can't complain about how life is right now. There have been some down days, and the bank account is a little thin, but overall I'm happy. I think I'm going to finish watching this episode of The Knit Girllls, and then go work out.
Happy Monday everyone!

My Week In Instagrams: February 1, 2013

This past week has been a fun one. I worked a few shifts which were alright. It was also Rick's birthday on the 30th, so we did some fun stuff for that.
-Lately, people have been bringing in LOADS of empties. We always get them, but for a little while, we were getting an abnormally high number of them. This is a photo of one of the bins we collect wine and liquor bottles in. They're sorted into two bins, one clear, one mixed. I take a sick satisfaction in slamming the bottles into the bin, and making them bust into a million pieces. There is a cover over top so glass shards don't come flying out, don't worry. (I took the cover off for this photo)
-One day, I think it may have been Sunday, my coworkers and I each got a hot drink from Tim Horton's and our cup height relation matched up with our heights. I was way more amused about this than I should have been. It's really nice having a Timmy's right across the street from work.
-I wound a couple skeins of handspun into cakes. I got this yarn at Art in the Park two years ago. I started making a shawl, but I really didn't like how it was working up. I think I'm going to knit this into a shawl of a different design. The initial one was centre-out/top down. I cast on something like 4 stitches and was increasing every other row, and it was a boring triangle. I'm probably going to do it side to side like the Baktus. I like the way these ones fit more like a scarf, rather than a shawl. Rick's mom has a kitchen scale, so I'll definitely be using that to weigh the yarns and make sure I get the most out of my yardage.
-These neck warmers are something I'm particularly proud of. I finished all of these since the start of the new year. Normally, I'm more productive, and I can knit one of these in two days, but I've been working on other smaller projects in between. I'm still loving this slightly lacy pattern. I hope to sell a couple of these at the craft show tomorrow. I think I have enough stock to fill up my display racks again. This has been stressing me out for a little while. I sold so much at my shows pre-Christmas that things were looking a little sparse. We'll see how it goes!
-This is what remained from a skein after I finished some cuffs (more on this soon!) and I counted it as eliminated. I think there's less than three yards here. I wasn't considering skeins eliminated unless they were seriously gone then I realized that's not really realistic. I always have something left over no matter what I do. I'm going to donate the little bits like this to LeeLee hats for tying the tags onto the hats. Or, and this is somewhat unlikely, I have an idea that will use even the tiniest pieces.
-I spent some time this week making earrings. I got supplies a while back, and I'm finally getting around to using them. I'm running low on posts, so I'll probably need to order some of those pretty soon. I'm also looking for more unique flowers and such to use to make the earrings. I've contacted a couple Etsy sellers, and I have a few ideas, it's just a matter of having the money in my Paypal account to purchase them. I'm trying to not add any money to my account. Anything I earn from Etsy is fair game for purchasing supplies.
-Last night, Rick and I went into Windsor for a Broken City Lab event. They had a call for submissions for their Regret/Resolve project, and I sent mine in. They chose my resolution (the one shown in the photo) to be printed onto two shirts: one for the show, and one for me. The whole project was great. The idea was that people could submit regrets or resolutions they had, many of them relating to the city of Windsor, which could be chosen and printed. It's a really neat idea, and there were some great submissions. It took me a while to find my shirt up on the wall, because there were so many people jammed into a small space. Rick pointed it out to me, and I snapped a quick photo. I resolved to create more. I want to be self employed, and this can only be done by creating more than I do now. Yes, there are other things I need to do, but creating is the only way all those other things can happen.
After BCL, Rick brought me to Pho Xic Lo. This was one of our favourite restaurants when we lived in Windsor, and we knew we had to make a stop.
How has your week been?

Monday Update: January 21, 2013

It's the start of a new work week for most, but I don't work till Thursday. This past week, I haven't been super productive as far as knitting goes. I had a couple rough days mentally, and I just didn't want to knit. Yeah, you read it: I didn't want to knit. Most of the time, knitting helps me relax. Well, this week that just wasn't enough. I cried for a good long while one night. Okay, I can't write about this anymore, it's making me misty eyed. I feel a lot better now, which is a good thing.

I finished knitting another neck warmer this week. Very similar to the other ones I've made, just slightly different numbers, because I was using a different yarn. I really like the way this one knit up. The yarn is Loops & Threads "Country Loom" which is available exclusively at Michael's. My mom got me two skeins of this in the Landscape colourway, which is shades brown and blue. I will probably get more of this yarn once my stash diet is over. I definitely won't be replacing Homespun, but this is a nice alternative.



The other things I've been working on are bows. I shared them on Friday, but here is another little peek at one of them. They turned out really good, I think. I tried puling them off the ring base, and they're stuck on there pretty firmly. This was a concern I had when I started making them. I knew the adhesive I had was good on non porous surfaces, but I wasn't sure how it would work on the porous yarn. Well, it works! I have to decide on a colour to keep for myself. I'm a fan of the red, but it won't match most of the stuff I wear to craft shows (where I will likely be wearing it the most) so I might just go with white or black.
I'm sending a couple of these to a photographer friend of mine so I can get some really nice photos up in my Etsy shop. I'll have these listed as soon as I get the photos from her.
In other news, I've been listing earrings in my shop! I used my iPad to take the photos, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The photos aren't stellar, but they are definitely pretty darn good. I just have to work on my editing skills in Camera+ and I'll be set!

I haven't made any progress on eliminating skeins of yarn. Most of the knitting I have done has been on the baby gift, and that's not much. I'm going to start finishing off the little balls of yarn again so I can start counting some numbers!

What new projects have you been working on?

Monday Update: January 14, 2013

Happy Monday! I've been busy working on the fundraising for my trip to Guatemala, and I haven't been doing a whole heck of a lot else. If you'd like to help, you can purchase something from my Etsy shop, or join the Ready to Ship sale on Petite Tuques' Facebook page.
Last week, I finished three small (very very very small) balls of yarn, as well as one slightly larger one. I am tracking how many skeins/balls I reduce my stash by this year, and this brings me to minus 4. I almost didn't even want to count the small ones at first, because they were so small and insignificant, but I figured if I get some numbers going, it will encourage me to keep going, and not give up less than a month after setting myself the goal. I am hoping to reduce my stash this year quite significantly. I have a LOT of yarn. Most of it is in clear plastic totes, but there is quite a bit in cardboard boxes, and reusable shopping bags. The lowballing goal is to get rid of the cardboard and bags, and the extreme goal is to clear out those, as well as three of the eight plastic totes. If i reach the latter goal, I will allow myself to stock up on yarn that I use most often, such as Homespun, Thick and Quick, and hopefully some sock yarn for the Beekeepers quilt.
To eliminate these balls, I made a bunch of bows, and a colour block neck warmer. I haven't been super productive, partly because of all the fundraising stuff I need to take care of. I've also been working on Christine's baby gift, which I need to have finished soon!

Sorry about the quality of the first one. I didn't realize how terrible it was until I uploaded it to Ribbet.

The middle photo is of a bowl with a bazillion little bows waiting to be sewn. I also made one of my lace neck warmers in dark blue. I am still in love with this pattern. I tweaked it a little bit to adjust the size, just based on how the one I kept for myself is doing.

As far as debt goes, I'm still at $1400. I paid a small chunk on the card, but after interest charges, and a couple small iTunes purchases, I'm back to square one. Some more crappy news on this front is ahead. I don't know whose bright idea it was, but things have changed drastically at my workplace. We got two new full time employees, who've transferred from other stores, as well as a new manager who will be working with us full time (unlike our current manager who splits his time between two stores). What this means is that our already thinly spread hours are even thinner. I'll be lucky to get 5 hours a week. This is all coming at a bad time for me. Not that there is ever really a good time to lose hours at work, but with going away for a couple weeks, I don't feel comfortable applying for jobs now, and then have them call while I'm gone. I think it would just end up making things more difficult for me.
The other option is to try the knitting thing again. I knit almost constantly already. I have a few local stores that sell my stuff pretty successfully. My Etsy shop is getting decent traffic. It seems like this year would be a good year to try doing this again. I'd still keep the one day a week at the Beer Store, but maybe, just maybe, I could supplement with my handiwork. Argh, I'm so confused and torn!

This week has been a busy, confusing week. I hope to get through this in one piece.
What have all of you fine folks been up to?

What I've been Up To

Thank you for the input on my last post where I laid my cards out on the table as far as my debt goes. I didn't publish all the comments, but I did reply to all of them. I will update now and then about my progress, and what I am doing to have more money available for paying off my credit card.

This is what I've been up to lately as far as knitting goes. The first and fourth picture, I've already shared. I'm going to try to do weekly recaps of what I've knit every Monday. Some stuff might be repeated, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum.
The second picture is a small pile of the bows I sewed up last night. I have 15 bows total in those five colours. I want to have 100 made for the craft show I'm doing at the beginning of March. The third photo is of yet another neck warmer. My mom got me this gorgeous Homespun colourway for Christmas. Two skeins of it! I love it! It's so autumnal and warm looking.
I've been knitting loads, but I haven't finished any skeins of yarn yet! This is hopefully going to be remedied with some projects I have on the back burner right now. I need to work on stock for the aforementioned March show before I work on more wintery things for next craft show season.

I'm going to watch some podcasts and knit some more bows! I can't want to show you what these turn into! I think you'll love them!

Happy Birthday To Me, and My Week In Instagrams: January 4, 2013

Today is my birthday! It's been a pretty good day so far, but more on this later on in the post! Here is what I've been up to this week, in Instagrams. If you want to see the photos larger, check them out Here. These are in chronological order for once, instead of being backwards.

1) Rick bought us each an iPad for Christmas/our birthdays. I got a mini, and he got a retina, which he has since returned due to some dead pixels. He'll be getting a new one as soon as they get them back in stock. Mine is wonderful, I didn't expect to like it as much as I do! I need to download some more apps, mainly one to write my blog posts from.
2) Last week we had a couple pretty busy nights for empties. One guy brought back something like 30 cases of empty cans. It filled the whole upper section of the bin. We looked over the edge and couldn't see a single can of another brand. Crazy!
3) We picked up some movies from the new-ish local movie rental place. We've watched most of them, just a couple left to get to for me. Some of them were scratched or otherwise unplayable, which is a bummer, but they cleaned them and gave them back so hopefully we'll be able to watch them. Some of the movies we got were Crashing, A Lonely Place To Die, A Dominatrix Story, Albatross, And They're Off, Brotherhood, and I think there was one more, plus a TV show that Rick got. None of them were exceptional, but I enjoyed all but "And They're Off" that was terrible.
4) New Year's Day I watched some movies and had some snacks. It was a nice laid back kind of day. We don't usually do much for New Year's Eve/Day, so this was just my speed.
5) I knit another mustard lacy neck warmer, which was a made to order sale that I got on New Year's Eve. It took me a couple days to whip it up, but I love knitting with Lion Brand Homespun, so it's always a treat to knit with it. I used my KnitPicks Harmony Wood for this. I've used the Sunstruck a few times, for darker yarns, and I really, really like them. I have to figure out something to knit with the smaller sized needles so I can use them all! I have quite a bit of lace weight, so maybe another shawl or two is in order. This style of neck warmer is still my favourite thing to knit. In fact, I have two more on the needles right now! Not even kidding!
6) Rick and I stopped at Taco Bell when we went to Windsor to return his iPad. They have something called an XXL Burrito, which I decided to get. It was really tasty, but comically huge. I picked it up, and it must have weighed over a pound and a half. GIGANTIC. Next time I get it, I'll skip the fries and just eat it.
7) I started on the THIRD of four balls of yarn for Christine's daughter's gift. I was watching some YouTube videos while doing this (The one in the photo is This One, you MUST watch it) I haven't done much more than a few rows, and the baby shower has already passed (I missed out because of work), but I am okay with this. I will have it done before the baby gets here!
8) Yesterday before shipping the mustard neck warmer, I stamped my first fibre content and care tag. I bought the manilla tags at Staples, and got the stamp itself from TickledPinkPaperInk on Etsy. I am absolutely in LOVE with this stamp. High quality, crisp print, and the fact that it is see through is great. If you need a custom stamp made, I highly recommend TPPI. I might get another stamp from her with the same font and a similar layout and use it to stamp my business cards. And then possibly a third to make the earring cards. I want my branding to be consistent, and I don't want someone else to have the same type of cards as me (which is the problem with using Vista Print)
9) I told you I loved this neck warmer pattern! I finished this bright red one this week as well. For next fall/winter, I want to have sets made with neck warmers and one or two other wintery accessories, which I am still trying to figure out. I think matching sets are super cute.
10) And now we're up to today! I went and got a shellac manicure from the salon I get my brows waxed at. I bought a Groupon a while back, I think during the summer, actually, and finally got around to using it. I had a hard time deciding between colours, so I went with two: a really pretty reddish pink, and silver on the ring fingers to add some fanciness. Rick thinks multiple colour manicures are weird. What are your thoughts?
11) Rick brought me for Vietnamese today. We have a pretty sweet local place that makes some excellent food, and today was no exception. This first photo is of two of the three types of rolls we get: minced shrimp on sugar cane in the background, and fried spring roll type in the foreground. We also get the cold rolls in rice paper that are filled with vermicelli, shrimp and veggies. So much deliciousness!
12) This is my usual dish at this Vietnamese place. Vermicelli with spring roll and shrimp. I love it, I think I've gotten it there all but two of the many, many times we've been. It's almost like a deconstructed roll, as it has all the components, with the addition of a fried roll, and some bean sprouts. I add some hoisin, and it's prefect.

Thank ou so much for reading this far! I'm off to watch the last movie of the bunch we rented, as it's due back tomorrow, and then Rick's mom is making sausage soup for dinner! Have a good weekend!

A Weekend In Review

I meant to blog yesterday, but I had quite the busy day, and ended up going to bed quite early.
This past weekend was probably my last craft show for a good long while. I did the Christmas Craft Show, in Windsor, and it was great!

You can click the image to see a larger version of the photos.

-Rick and I stopped at the post office on the way out to my parents. I got my sock yarn in the mail! I ordered a bundle of sock yarn mini skeins from Evermore Studios on Etsy about a week and a half prior. The yarn is even prettier in person than the photos lead me to believe! So soft, and a great variety of colours. I have the next couple days off work, so I am going to wind them into centre pull balls. I can't wait! I should be getting my DPNs from Midwest Yarn any day now, so I might allow myself to knit one hexipuff before starting the gift for my friend, for which I will be receiving the yarn at the same time.
-Friday night, my brother and I went to the bar that's a couple blocks from my parents house and had a Caesar. He turned 19 over the summer, which is the drinking age in Ontario, so we decided to hang out over a drink. We had a great time.
-Saturday morning, I set up for the craft show. I had a great space, on a corner, not far from the entrance. I had fantastic neighbours, and had a great time overall.
-I got FOUR orders for custom items on the Saturday of the show. The first was a cream cabled scarf. My mom bought me to Michael's to pick up yarn after the show, and I got a huge shopping bag full.I stayed up super late (I think about 3:30 am) so I could get the knitting done. I woke at 6:30, so I could finish it. It worked out well in the end, as I got it done not long after arriving to the show. The woman who ordered it came to pick it up in the afternoon on Sunday, and loved it!
-The second order was a crimson red lace neck warmer, the same as the ones I have in my shop. The colour is absolutely beautiful. It knit up quite quickly. I am definitely going to make another in the same colour. The recipient was one of my neighbours at the show.
-The third, and final order I completed, was a head band. I've seen similar items on Etsy and other blogs, but had never made one myself. I love it! It worked out really well, and much faster than I had anticipated. This went to my other neighbours, for their daughter. I am going to make more of these, no doubt about it!
-After the show, I went back to my parents, and decompressed for a while. We all went to my brother's hockey game, which they won. It's been a while since I've seen one of his games, so it was nice being back in the arena. I worked on my final order, a navy blue shawl, during the game. It's almost done! Just a couple more rows, and it will be ready to go. I stayed the night at my parents again, and left early Monday morning.
-Mom drove me home, where I unloaded all my stuff, and then she and I went out for lunch. We had fish and chips. Mine was in sandwich form. Absolutely fantastic. I've had food from Joey's before, but never the sandwich. I loved it! I had left overs for dinner at work.
-The last pictured is a screen shot I took when I was face Time-ing with Rick, and he changed the camera so I could see Winston. Poor little guy looked so confused when he could hear my voice, but not see me!

Overall, the weekend was great. I did very well at the show, and I enjoyed spending time with my family. How was your weekend?

A Little Big Discouraged

I try to be as upbeat as I possibly can on my blog, but sometimes that just doesn't work. This last week has bummed me out for some reason. I've just been in a less than stellar mood, and I can't figure out why. I think I'm getting a cold, so that probably has something to do with it, but it's not everything, I'm sure.
I haven't been working as hard as I could on my business, and I know that's a problem. I didn't do a Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday/whatever sale this weekend, mostly because I am lazy. I really could have done something, but I preferred sleeping and knitting. Last year, I told myself that I would do it this year. Well, that didn't work out. I'm really bad a pre-planning things in advance, I usually just fly by the seat of my pants and hope for the best.
I really need to figure out how to make this business work. I love working at The Beer Store, but it's not something I want to do forever.

It's not all doom and gloom here, though. I have a couple custom orders to work on! My friend Paul asked for a red and white Where's Waldo? style hat, and I am doing that on my Knifty Knitter. I just started into the white body of the hat, after knitting a wide red brim. I haven't knit on one of my looms in ages, so it took a little while to get back into a rhythm.
I was also asked to make a neck warmer similar to the eyelet neck warmers in my shop, just a different size. My mom is picking up the yarn for that from Michael's this week, and I will work on it this weekend when I am at my parents. I have to make sure I bring all my knitting tools with me, otherwise, I won't be able to finish it for Sunday, when Rosina will be picking it up.
The last custom order is for a woman named Cassie who owns Walkerville Soap Works. She makes baskets up with her amazing soap, and asked for a lavender coloured one to go into a lavender themed basket. I'm about a third of the way through that, and I plan on finishing it tonight when I get home from work.
In any case, I am going to try to put myself into a good mood. I'll work on this hat, and play some games online.
How are all of you doing?

Awesome Thursday: September 13, 2012

This past week has been pretty great. Lots of fun things going on.

• On Saturday, Cindy and I went to Shoppers Drug Mart (Like CVS or Walgreens, for the American readers) because they had a special point redemption day. I got $110 worth of free stuff, instead of $85. I have been accumulating the points for quite a while, waiting for a special like this.
• We also got our makeup done for free! (I am such a ditz/bad blogger, I totally forgot to take a picture) .Just like a lot of places, they will give you a make over in hopes that you'll buy some of the product. I ended up with a powder that I really like. I don't wear much make up ever, but this is such a light powder, it just smooths things out, and still looks natural.
• I finished another neck warmer! I'm trying to get a bunch made for my upcoming craft show, and the stores that want my stuff. I started on another one, and then restarted it a little while later. I was about a foot and a half in, and then I noticed I dropped a stitch about 2 inches from the cast on edge. So I restarted it with a drop stitch pattern, on purpose, haha.
• I'm working on sort of mass producing some of my items. Rather than having a bunch of different items, I'm planning on making a few of each design, in one yarn type, to facilitate Etsy listings and future stock at different shops
• I sold a couple pairs of earrings at rEvolution. I'm going to bring more in there soon.
• I picked up some new tags for my items. I came across some really neat ideas online, and I'm going to make them my own.
• Rick and I watched God Bless America. At first, I was a little hesitant to watch a movie with such a title, but I got into it in the first few scenes. It's pretty hilarious. You should definitely see it.
• I've been listing earrings in my Etsy shop. They're definitely my big seller, so I want to get more of them in there. I'm trying to be much more organized with them, so we'll see how that goes.

What sorts of awesome things have you been up to?

Currently Listening To:  Your Bones ~ Of Monsters and Men

Eyelet Neck Warmers

Don't forget about my giveaway! Still a few days to enter.
Last Thursday, I first mentioned the new neck warmers I've been working on. I took a couple photos the other day with Instagram, and I finally have a chance to post them now.
This mustard one is the one I decided to keep for myself. I love this colour, and I haven't knit anything for myself in a while.
There are rows of eyelets, separated by panels of garter stitch. It's a super simple pattern, but I think it looks great. I may write this up as a free pattern to put on Ravelry, depending on the feedback I get.
I've made a total of seven so far. This second photos is only missing the brown one I finished a couple days ago. From top to bottom they are a gorgeous, rich purple (this one isn't quite perfect), snow white, magenta (from this post), variegated emerald-blue, my mustard one, and a really nice dark copper.
I'm currently working on a black one. After this, I am almost out of Homespun. Next time it goes on sale, I will have to stock up again.
What have you been up to lately?

Instagram Party, a New Neck Warmer, and Fun Apartment Stuff

Ok, maybe I'm a little late to the Instagram party, but better late than never, right? If you want to follow me, my name on there is knitnicoleknit. Leave a comment with your name so I can follow you!

I'm currently working on an awesome magenta neck warmer for an upcoming craft show. One week from today, I'm taking part in a fund raiser for a local woman with breast cancer. I have a pattern I made up that I am working on, and hopefully I'll be able to get at least five more neck warmers made this week. It's a pretty simple pattern, just a little time consuming. I've made three so far, all a little bit different. I want to get the pattern perfect so I can start streamlining my knitting line. I want to have between 5 and 10 core items in a couple types of yarn to make my knitting life easier.
In other news, Rick and I will likely be going to pick up primer and paint for our new place! We're moving into his old bedroom at his parents house. With that comes another former bedroom in the basement that will be my knitting studio (or sweatshop, if you prefer!) We are going to paint the walls a really nice almost-white, and have a lavender accent wall. We're also going to have a little kitchenette area that is going to be the same almost-white with an aqua accent wall. I'm actually excited to paint. The place we're at currently is "builder beige" with stark white trim. It's poorly painted, and just generally not very nice to look at. Now that we can choose the colours we want, I feel like I will be more relaxed and be more productive.
What is new and exciting with all of you?

Three Steps Back

Always the way with me, I start making progress, and I set myself back.
I finished up that neck warmer, and a purple scarf. So two items made. Neither of them finished the skeins, though. I probably have enough yarn left for one more item from each of them.
Now, the steps back. Michael's had some of the yarn I use on sale for a decent price. I picked up three skeins total. This "knit the stash" thing is hard! Especially considering I have so many shows coming up. I would really like to stay within my stash, but selection is really getting limited. Once all the shows are done, I will crack down and knit away at the stash. Bit by bit, I can make it through, I know it.

In other awesome news, I was asked by a woman I know through craft shows if I'd like to sell in the store she is opening soon. I plan on having a few winter wear for her before the holidays, Then, throughout the year, I will have button earrings, and a few small knitted things.

I have three craft show days coming up, possibly two more, the store to knit for, and my Etsy shop. This is going to keep me busy!

The Handmade Gift and Shopping Guide

This morning, Rick and I were photographing items to put in the Etsy shop. I logged into Etsy to check the prices of a few items, and I noticed a convo that I hadn't read. I opened it up, and I just about screamed, I was so excited. It was a note from Gilliauna, saying she featured an item from my shop on her blog! I've seen the blog several times before, and i'm sure many of you have, as well.
Take a look for yourself here.
I'm so happy that I am getting some media coverage in different places. I know that local coverage is helping my sales. I have had a few people contact me recently because they saw something I made in the paper or on a blog, and they purchase from me in person.

Over all, I am definitely improving all around. Rick and I are going to be photographing all of my items in the next few days, I'll start posting items, and of course, keep knitting more.

I've finished one scarf and one neck warmer in the past couple days. That finished up two balls of yarn. I started on another neck warmer, as well. This brings me to nearly 50 items made, and I am almost even with my skeins in vs skeins out/used.

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.

And then all was right in the world

You probably remember in my last post that I was having issues with my neck thing.
Well, all the problems were quickly resolved! I managed to undo the knitting back the 12 or 14 rows and pick up all the stitches once again. it took about an hour and a half to redo all the knitting I lost.
I have now set it aside, and picked up a few other projects. I started another hair bow, a dishcloth, started and finished a neck warmer, and I've been messing around with ideas for more warmers.
I am going to work on cleaning out my yarn closet very very soon.

Pretty pink iPhone case

I just finished sewing up an iPhone case a few minutes ago. I love knitting these, the sewing up, not so much. It looks a little wonky in the picture, so I stretched and straightened after the photo, then put my iPhone in. Then realized I wouldn't be able to take a photo that way and laughed at myself. The button is a really nice simple white shank button with a metal shank and little metal bit showing on the front. It looks really nice with the pink yarn. I do have to find more inexpensive shank-style buttons because my small stash is starting to run out. Perhaps I could use beads instead... No lack of supply there!
I have enough of this yarn to make a hair bow, and possibly half of another bow after the first.
I am going to be bringing this case along with my first batch of hair bows into Made In Windsor either today or sometime next week.
I have also completed another neck warmer with the off-white Thick and Quick I bought last week. That is in my "art show" pile. None of those things have their ends woven in. I am not sure if I will regret this later on down the line or not. Haha.
The airy dusty pink triangle scarf is still a work in progress. I have started feeling a bit burnt out on the fine yarn, fine needles, and endless yards of garter stitch.
OH NO!!! Ok, so, I knit while I am writing these posts, and an entire row of the triangle scarf has to be pulled out and re-knit. There are several odd mistakes in ONE ROW! This is awful and awesome at once. First, I found the mistakes right away, second, it's all in one place more or less. But, this yarn is a pain in my butt!!!
Hopefully this works out, I need to focus!
Edited to add only seconds later; I DROPPED A STITCH 10 ROWS BACK! I AM SO AFRAID RIGHT NOW!

Scarves, Bows, Cables and Business Cards

Michael's had a sale on a few types of yarn that I use, so I bought some the other day. A skein of Homespun and some Vanna's Choice to match, as well as a skein of Thick and Quick. I also got a pair of short needles (7 inch, if I remember correctly).
I started a neck warmer with the Thick and Quick. It's in seed stitch, and a little larger than I usually make them. I like the way it looks so far. Just a few more rows and I'll have it finished. I also started on a kerchief/scarf sort of thing with some of the yarn that was given to me by my friend's mom. It's a light, airy, almost lacy triangle of goodness. It's a dusty pink, very fine yarn, and I am pretty sure it is 100% acrylic. I'm not sure, and I don't want to burn any of it to check. The only downside to this yarn is that is tangles really easily. I have to stop quite often to get enough yarn out to knit the rest of the row and untangle it.
I have also ween working on the hair bows quite a bit. I got some good reviews from some friends, so I will keep plugging away at them.

I want to learn how to do cables. Yes, I know, ten or so years of knitting, and I've never done them. I've watched videos, and read tutorials, but I just can't quite grasp it. I think I need a one on one teacher.

I need to get more business cards made. I am very close to not having any of the ones I currently use, which are horribly outdated anyway. I have no idea where to order them from. I keep being told Vista Print, but I've had bad experiences with them, as have some of my friends. Any suggestions?