sweaters

little ones. without arm holes.

well, that might not be entirely accurate. they do have spout holes.

For no particular reason I became inspired to get working on my teapot sweaters this week. Of five pots, two are now cozy. And the great thing about it? They neither take a lot of time nor yarn. I just might get all five done before December 5.

must. make. mittens.

I did it AGAIN. Yes, AGAIN. I waited until the last minute to beef up my stash of mittens for the Holiday Craft Show. Can we just pretend that planning that wedding took up all my free time?

For the sale this year, I’m not doing any neckwarmers. They were too confusing for most people. In place of those, I was hoping to get some tea cozies made, with the pot included. However, I have pots but no cozies. We’ll see how that ends up…

Another change to the status quo is the type of yarn I’m using. The first few years I purchased white commercial yarns and dyed them before knitting simple ribbed mitts. Gradually, I’ve incorporated handspun yarns and different styles of mittens. This year I don’t have any of that first style of mitt and most are made of handspun. I will also be using some undyed fiber and recycled sweater yarn.

And here are some of my most recent pairs of mitts. The middle pair was knit two at time and finished in one day! I’m excited about that accomplishment.

flip-top mitts

Every year I sell fingerless mittens at Christmas, people always ask about those convertible flip-top type. They go from fingerless to full mittens – BAM! And I always say, “yes, I should do that! Maybe next year.” A year goes by, nothing happens. I don’t think about mittens in July. Well, I didn’t really think that much about mitts this summer either, but I decided to try the flip-top mitts anyway. It was interesting. For next time I need to make the edges overlap just a wee bit more. Buttons and loops to secure the flap, and we’ll be done! Except I have to make the other one to match. That’s the hardest part!

who needs mitts in july?

No one, I suppose, but this is probably the best time to be making them. Last summer I decided I’d make for-sale items all through the year and not be scrambling in November. And guess what? It was a good idea. But did I do that again this year? Not really.

Over the past few weeks I have not been able to decide what to knit. I look through my books and my print-outs and my Ravelry queue, but nothing seems interesting. That’s when I figured it would be smart of me to knit for my December sale. Brilliant!

My goals for this year’s sale include:
Fingerless mitts
Full mittens (new)
Tea cozies with pots (new)
Tea cozies without pots (new)

I will not be making any new neckwarmers. Those don’t sell very well. Part of the problem is that people don’t like wool (especially on the neck). Part of the problem is that I have a skinny neck and not everyone else does, so what fits me doesn’t fit them and I’m miserable at making multiple sizes. If I do the tea cozies, it’s like making neckwarmers except the teapots don’t complain!

Nearly complete fingerless mitt. Knit from handdyed recycled sweater wool

Two brown teapots who need sweaters.

a goal has been reached.

[sigh]

Finally, end to a long week and a busy weekend! My sale went super great, leaving my stock severely diminished. I had a lot of positive comments about the display and repeat customers who came back to get more, reporting how much they enjoyed what they bought last year – always a good sign.

I had also brought some yarn and sold 14 of 17 skeins. That was the biggest surprise. I didn’t think there were that many people here who would be interested in handspun yarn. Definitely something I will continue to offer. The mitts sold the best, as they have done in the past. I love it when people say, “But my fingers are the first thing to get cold!” I sold several neck muffles and snuggly cuffs too, that latter being a last minute addition.

Also today is my 23rd birthday. I do not think I’ll be buying myself a new wheel this year! Having 3 in the house is plenty. Now I’ll be able to get back to dyeing and spinning and finishing up my Christmas present knits.

busy bees! excited ones too.

I’m getting really excited about this whole crochet thing. I’ve been experimenting a little at a time with it; adding it to edges and such. It’s not something I particularly like in huge quantities – no crocheted ponchos for me! But it is fun on the top of these wristwarmers that I just made yesterday. The bottom part is done in garter stitch and the top is just a single crochet thingy. It looks a little lacy to me and being white I feel that it is quite delicate and feminine.

Yarn is handspun -
Blue is a handdyed cashmere/merino blend
White is a mohair/BFL blend (that I did on my drumcarder!)

Getting more active in the process and adding little touches here and there really makes for a more interesting product. That seems like a “duh” statement, but I’ll say it anyway.

On Thanksgiving I tried my Pyrex Bake-a-round for the second and more successful time. We used the bread machine to knead the dough rather than having me do it, plus the water temp. was measured before adding yeast, which I didn’t do last time. It rose! It baked! It oozed out the sides. But that was because it was 1.5 pound loaf and the tube holds a 1 pound loaf. I sprinkled wheat germ on the outside for interest. And with apple butter, it was great!

this weekend!

I will be busy this weekend, selling at the Holiday Fine Art & Craft Sale. Stop by and say hello!

McDonough Museum of Art
525 Wick Ave, Youngstown State University, Ohio
December 6, 10-5
December 7, 12-5

my brain: lazy and a bit disorganized.

I just have not been feeling the whole “blog” thing this weekend. I haven’t been reading, participating, updating, etc. There was knitting to be done. I added several more mitts and neckwarmers to my stash. And did a bit of Christmas knitting too.

Friday I had wandered around Pat Catans with my friend and last year’s table-mate. We discussed different ideas and had a small adventure [finding the restroom]. It made me realize that I needed to see what I was working with before I could go and buy or make shelves, signs, decor. Today I got everything out and spread it on the table. Working with what I had from last year, I don’t think I’ll need to add much. I’ve got the two hand displays and also I have two neckwarmer displays made in the same way. The tree is new this year; it’s for the acorn ornaments. Definitely more yarn now too. And the bags I ordered arrived today!

Also, I’d like to introduce Celeste, our new feline. She is tall but very thin, so she can fold herself into small spaces. This is a baking dish I got at the flea market. It’s been sitting on the table and has collected a few catalogs. And also a Cat. How do they find these places to sleep?

back to work!

And that means back to work on my wool. I don’t think about this craft sale until one month before it happens. This means that all my reasonably interesting new ideas pop up slightly too late to do anything about it. But perhaps since I have no other requirements on my time, that will not be the case this time around.

Last year I sold needle-felted apples and pears. They were so cute and sold pretty well. I didn’t feel like making more for this year, but I wanted to offer something for a lower price point, like $5. And what could be better than Christmas ornaments? That lead me, in a round-about way, to making acorns. I realize they aren’t holiday themed, but neither are fruit.

Also, I bought several different luxury fibers last year directly after the sale. I wanted to offer some fancy neckwarmers – angora, mohair, cashmere, etc. And guess what I did? Waited until just now to get working on them. Starting with the mohair, I blended it with BFL; spun it into a singles yarn; and dyed it. The angora was also blended with BFL, and that I spun into a 2-ply and dyed. I’ll also be offering both of these in white because I think white knitwear can be really striking.

The rest of the angora and mohair was dyed to match more BFL. It was pretty interesting seeing how differently the fibers react to water and dye. The angora is in the bottom right corner. It did not take the dye as much as the wool. And it got all slimy. I’m curious to see how these will blend after being dyed.

thoughts on development

I’ve been talking about my single craft show quite a bit lately, as it is coming up in just a month, and I am being reminded of different issues needing resolutions. One of those issues is displaying my items in a better way. For that, I had Rich make me those wooden hand models. I’m excited about adding those to my table. I’ve been trying to figure out a better way to display my neckwarmers also, since usually they lie flat. Having them on a flat form standing up wouldn’t necessarily be any better. So far that’s still being considered. I want to add more levels to my table, rather than having everything lying flat on a big flat surface.

This is a reminder of what I did last year:

I do like the large rectangular baskets and wooden crate, but I would like to add more. Also, I’ll be having more yarn with me and I wouldn’t mind showing them off some other way – a way to get them more noticed. Perhaps I’ll bring my skein winder and hang them from there.

Another issue I need to address is bags and packaging. In the past 2 years, I never brought shopping bags with me and I never considered it to be an issue. However, it might be worthwhile to add those, especially for customers who buy multiple items. So, I went hunting for a recycled option and found Dunwoody Booth Packaging. Browsing through their stock is really quite impressive. They have multiple different recycled paper bags, recycled tissue paper, etc. Also, a lot of the products are made in the USA. I’m seriously considering giving them my business! It would definitely add another level of professionalism to my “business”.