Monday Knitting Update: July 15, 2013

It's the halfway mark of July, and I can't believe it! I haven't been knitting as much this past week, because I worked quite a bit. I did, however, finish an awesome, super long, seed stitch mustard yellow scarf!
It's made of a vintage, fuzzy acrylic, held double, on size 11 needles. Super long, too! It's going to be great in the winter time. I had it wrapped around my neck four times, and the ends still hung down to mid-torso. I have a whole bunch of this yarn, as well as the same type in an olive green. This scarf used two whole balls. I'll probably do a few more identical scarves, to facilitate selling them online with the rebrand.
Speaking of rebrand, holy stress balls. It's a lot of work. I have a friend working on my graphic stuff, and I'm hoping to have that done soon. I'm still playing around with SquareSpace, and trying to get all of that figured out. I'm also trying to figure out how I'll sell off the rest of my Knit, Nicole, Knit! line of knitted items. So many things to figure out, and October isn't getting any farther away.
What have you all been up to?

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!

Fat Tuesday and Some Other Stuff

It's Tuesday, a day I don't normally post, but since we're at the Arby's office, I figured I should. I drew the winner of the giveaway yesterday, and she got in touch with me so her prize will be on its way very soon. ON that note, Lori of Evermore Studios is keeping the discount code active until this Saturday, February 16. The code is knkrocks and you will get 20% off your entire purchase, excluding shipping. You should definitely pick up some of her yarn, it's beautiful!

Now, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday and what have you. Rick's mom is making pancakes for dinner tonight, and I am so excited! I'm a big fan of pancakes and waffles and other breakfast pastry/bread type things.

In other fun and exciting news, I've been knitting up a storm. I've made a small dent in my recent stash enhancements. I finished three scarves in the past couple days, to knock out 3 whole skeins from the stash. Two of them were from the new Wool Ease Thick and Quick I got a little while ago, so that's really good.

These bring my total stash down count to +8. I've decided that I would be happy with a total of -50 at the end of the year. One skein a week is totally doable. I just have to counteract the skeins that will be coming in. I have some yarn coming to me in the near-ish future, NOT stuff that I bought so I'm not really breaking my New Year's goals, that means I will have to get more knit up asap.

How are all of you fine folks doing?

Some Finished Projects: A Baby Blanket and a Scarf

Over the past few days, I've been knitting quite a bit. With having received my nine new skeins of yarn, I wanted to get my stash down back on the rails. I knit a whole Wool Ease Thick and Quick scarf in under 24 hours. I probably could have gotten it done much faster than that, but I did spend a lot of time playing silly Facebook games, and eating.

The baby blanket for Christine's soon to arrive little one has been finished for a little while. I finally wove in all the ends tonight, and got around to photographing it nicely. The final measurements are about 26"x40" I'm very happy with that size. It was quite a bit narrower before I blocked it. I just love the way the vertical lines up the peaks and valleys of the chevrons look. I probably could have gotten the edges to lay perfectly flat and smooth, but I didn't want it to be too perfect for fear of it being somehow ruined. I always worry about this when I knit gifts. Some of the stuff I've given to people have pretty much never been worn because the recipient is scared of wrecking it. This blanket is something I want the little lady to use until it's worn out. I want her to drag it around into toddler-hood, and maybe make it into part of a blanket fort later on down the line.

The second item I finished was a basic seed stitch scarf. I used a skein of Wool Ease Thick and Quick in the "Fig" colour, and I think it's super pretty. I made it a few stitches narrower than the T&Q scarves I've made in the past. This is a more feminine colour, so I wanted the proportions to reflect that. I mentioned a while back that my stock of scarves was running low. I didn't think I'd ever see the day where I ran out of scarves. I guess it had to happen eventually, considering I knit mostly neck warmers these days. I'm going to make a few more and then return to knitting the tiny things like bows that I've been cranking out.

Keep entering the giveaway! I can't wait to see who wins the wonderful prize.

Saturday's Craft Show

This past Saturday, I did a craft show at a local arena. It was a charity show for an animal rescue. I sold a few pairs of earrings, and got a chance to talk with many of the other vendors. Unfortunately, I wasn't 100% prepared as things were missing from the move. I forgot some earrings at home, and I had to borrow a table cloth from a neighbouring vendor. I will definitely be ready for the next one, though.
I had close to 200 pairs of earrings on the table. I know for the next shows, I will only put one pair of each colour up, and have the rest out of sight. It made the table pretty crowded, as you can see.
I set up my scarves and winter wear, as it was pretty cold outside. I realized that I don't have nearly as many scarves as I thought I did (they only covered half of the top of the laundry rack, and usually I have a hard time fitting them all) so I am going to be knitting more.
I had plenty of hats, and enough neck warmers and cowls. I have plans for how much of everything I want to keep in stock, so then I don't have too much of any one thing.
I have a lot to learn about craft shows, and this business as a whole, I don't doubt that at all.

Four Finished Scarves

Since I started my 101 list, I've started and finished four scarves and two dishcloths.

These are the four scarves. The green and black is a cone of green acrylic blend and a chunky black acrylic. The creamy, hard to see one is a skein of Wool Ease Thick and Quick in "Wheat" all done in seed stitch. The next one is the same yarn in "Charcoal" also in seed stitch. The last one is the same chunky black acrylic as the first, with a ball of awesome vintage Italian wool/acrylic blend that I've had in my stash for a while. It's quite long, and very warm.
As you can see, I still have ends to weave in. I will hopefully get those done today to bring them down to Phog. I haven't checked my sales there since my actual birthday. I'm 80% of the way to my low balling goal, and about a third of the way to my "wouldn't it be awesome if I sold this much!?" goal.

I am really happy with my progress on the "Knit 5 miles of yarn" goal. I am at just over 1400 feet, which is about a quarter of a mile. Not bad at all, considering this is only one week of knitting.

I have lots of project ideas. The one major thing stopping me is that my yarn stash is a complete mess. I know certain yarn exists, but I have no idea where to find it! I have sorted out a couple drawers in my storage area for yarn for charity knitting. Most of the stuff I do is for Lee Lee hats, so it's mostly baby yarns and small balls of various colours, too small to do anything else with.

How Much Would You Pay?

I just finished knitting a matching scarf and fingerless glove set. Currently, I'm debating knitting a matching hat. I'm not sure how much I would charge for a set like this.
-The scarf is about 6 feel long, including fringe.
-The gloves cover just past the wrist.
-The hat would be slightly slouchy.

How much would you pay for such a set? I charge about $20 -25 for a similar scarf, and my hats are $25-30. How much should the set for all three accessories be?

A Tiny Hat And Scarf

Here it is, the tiny hat and scarf set!
I have three sets like this in the shop right now, and I will try to have more after the shows on the weekend.
There are a few new items in the shop, a couple in each section, just about. I will be adding more as I have the chance. It can be tedious and time consuming to add all these items. I have been running out of adjectives to use to describe the new listings. Do you ever feel like that? There must be some rule somewhere that says you can only say the word "nice" or "purple" so many times in a day. I've tried using the thesaurus, but I am still stuck on the same words over and over again.

What do you to find better ways to describe your item?

Teeny Tiny Scarf

This scarf is part of my current knitting obsession. It's only an inch and a smidgen wide, by about 20 inches long. This is the first one I've made, and I will attempt to make at least 15 of them before Friday's show. There will hopefully be many more than that. They are part one of a two piece set. I will try to get a few listed in the shop this week, with better photos of course.
I didn't do any specials for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I was too busy this weekend to keep track of that stuff, and I am kind of kicking myself for it. I don't know if I would have even gotten any sales, but I'm sure just the increase in traffic would have been beneficial.
I am slowly working on goals I have for 2012. Sales, traffic, productivity and so on. I am going to be running this business like a real business.

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.

Craft Show Progress

Knitting like a crazy person is paying off. I've finished three scarves in the past couple days. They are all made out of Homespun. Olive green, a nice coral-y orange and a really cool variegated blue. That finished up two skeins.
I've also started on a purple/plum Homespun scarf. This one will likely finish up this skein, as well.

I am starting my inventory list right now. I hope this isn't as overwhelming as it was last time I did it!

Fashion Show Recap, and Production Progress

The show went well Friday night. I got a lot of great feedback, and met some new people. I had about a dozen pieces in the show, and they were all well received. A few people told me after that the scarves and shawls were their favourite items in the whole show. Unfortunately, I didn't sell anything, but I am ok with that. I did tell a lot of people about the upcoming shows, so hopefully I see some of them there.
I've been trying to work on scarves the past couple days. I noticed I don't have as many scarves as I do neck warmers. I want to find a good balance. Plus, scarves are a little easier to pay attention to when I am doing other things.

I finished one pink scarf, and used the remainder of a skein of Homespun. Starting on another scarf immediately.

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.

My return to blogging, and my 300th post!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am back! We finally got our internet hooked up yesterday, and I am so excited. We watched some Netflix movies, and I got some knitting done in the process. More on that a bit later.

The apartment is amazing! Third floor walk up with hardwood floors, high ceilings and big windows. The neighbours all seem great, and the couple that take care of the building are fantastic. There is a huge park right across the street for Winton to run around in, and a bunch of other dogs in the area for him to play with.

I still have some unpacking and organizing to do, but I've been putting it off. I'm too busy enjoying the new place.

The only knitting I got done was a couple scarves. One is in Bernat Harmony, and the other is a mystery yarn. I'm starting another in the Harmony right away. I really love that yarn.

Like I mentioned in the title, this is my 300th post! It's hard to believe I've been blogging this long. I'd like to thank everyone who has joined me in this journey, commented on my posts and mentioned me on their blogs.

What I've been up to!

Knitting, for sure! Really though, I have finished a scarf and a cowl in the past couple days, started another scarf and finished and started dishcloths.
I started downloading podcasts, mostly knitting, but also a few others, such as green living and vegetarian life. I am definitely looking for more, so if you podcast, or have a favourite that you'd like to recommend, please do so!
I am getting all of my stuff ready for a show on Sunday. The Made In Windsor Open-Air Crafter's Market is an every Sunday thing, from now until who knows when, it really depends on the weather I guess. I am going to try to do a few of these in the coming months, in addition to the two phog shows I already have in the works.
Nothing brought into rEvolution, yet. I am going to do at least one show before I bring anything in there. I want to make sure I have enough stock at the shows before I worry about stores.
Today, I go back to work. I've had a couple days off, and been quite productive. I think it's time to go back to the grind, so I can appreciate my days off a little more.

What have all of you been up to?

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.

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?

Oops! I forgot!

I finished a scarf the other day.
I brought stock into Made In Windsor today.
Do you see the problem? I do.
There was no blog post in between. I guess you'll have to imagine an orange-y Homespun scarf, about 6 feet long. Super nice, in my opinion. But I could be biased.

I'm looking for suggestions for things I could knit to sell at the store during the warmer months. Socks are out of the question, I lack the required attention span to make two things that match. I would love if they were simple enough to make while I am reading blogs. And if they can be made of cotton, also a definite plus!