The Walking Hat

That left turn I took the other day was the correct way to go.  Sort of.  The blog is not 100% fixed but it's fixed enough for now.  I'm having to use the "jeanniegrayknits.blogspot.com" address rather than my own web address but if I'm understanding all the information/problems/issues, in 90 days I can make it my own once again.  Meanwhile, none of my old pins on Pinterest work and lots of links are broken but I can blog and my Etsy shop is still linked here.  Again, it's not perfect, but it's workable.  At this point, I'm pretty happy with workable.

Meanwhile...

I've been pretty busy restocking my shop.  Sadly, I'd sort of ignored the shop for several years but Winterfest was an eye opener.  I did really well there and was quite pleased with my sales.  I left home with three giant Rubbermaid containers packed so full of knitted items their lids barely closed and came home with two empty containers and the third had so little in it, I could still see the bottom.  Dollar wise, I beat my sales goal by four times!  

Needless to say, I was very pleased with Winterfest and it really motivated me to get back to my Etsy shop.  Granted, it's much easier to sell knitted items face to face when the customer can feel the softness of the yarn and try items on but....  But if I can sell that much at one location, with a limited number of customers (granted that was a pretty large number of  customers,) there's no reason why I shouldn't expect to make the same number of sales online when I'm marketiing to the entire country. Right??  I know it will take time and lots of effort but it should work, right?

So... Pretty much all I've been doing for the last week or two has been photographing and listing items for sale in the shop.  

Meanwhile, I have been doing a little personal knitting.

I've been wanting to learn to knit and walk at the same time.  I can read and knit (knit, not purl) at the same time so walking and knitting shouldn't be that difficult, right?  I figured if I could do both at the same time, I'd (1) be more productive and (2) be more motivated to go for daily walks.  I desperately need daily walks.  So, I bought myself a walking knitting bag.  

This little bag from Knitters Pride's Mindful collection is perfect.  It's a cross body bag which is perfect for walking and knitting.  It easily holds a skein and a smallish project.   At the moment, it's holding two skiens and a few rows of hat.

I also realized I didn't need to "learn" to walk and knit, I just need to practice it.  I think I may need to wait until spring to get that practice in though.  It's been so cold, I can't feel my fingers if I don't wear gloves and I have definitely NOT mastered the art of knitting while wearing gloves.  Perhaps that's what I should be practicing.

Meanwhile, it's supposed to snow again tonight and tomorrow so I'll have plenty of indoor hat knitting time.  This winter reminds me of the winter we had 25 years ago.  It was the year Sarah was born and we had a blizzard every Thursday from early January through the end of March.  Luckily, this year we are only getting one to five inches or so each weekend rather than the foot or more each week we got 25 years ago.  As much as I love snow, a good blizzard and wild weather, that year was a little much.  I'm quite happy with this year's weekly couple of inches.  It's very wintery yet completely underwhelming.  

Happy knitting!

Saving the world

Remember a few weeks ago when I was all excited to go see a trunk show a friend was having to show off her hand dyed yarns?  Do you also remember even further back me talking about feeling overwhelmed by my yarn stash?

Well I do.  And now, now we have a roof leak and while we wait for the roofer and wait to see if his repair job works, everything in my room is squished over into a three foot strip along the edge of my bed.  My only seating is now on the bed.  So I sit on the bed knitting, and staring into the closet of doom.  With the exception of my camera bag on the floor and a very tiny plastic Christmas tree on an upper shelf, every thing you see in that closet is craft related and 95% of it is yarn.  And that's not even all the yarn.  I'm completely overwhelmed.  It's actually making me a little bit depressed thinking about the fact that I will never ever live long enough to knit up all that yarn.

And with that in mind, I swore to myself that when I went to the trunk show, I'd only buy one skein.  One.  One single, solitary skein.

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Yarn Haul from the Dying for Art trunk show at Yarn Matters, Williamsburg, VA

And so I came home with eight skeins and a new tote bag.  Good grief!

I don't even have concrete plans for them.  The top two skeins, that purpley gray and the red multi colored, plus the light blue multicolored on the bottom row are all DK weight and will be socks.  Or maybe fingerless gloves, but most likely, socks.  I desperately need new socks.  I just don't want to knit socks anymore.

All the rest are fingering weight and will most likely be shawls.  The gold and navy skeins on the bottom row are Urth Harvest and I plan to use them together.  I just love that navy and gold together.  I also feel slightly better about my purchase because Urth plants a tree for each skein sold.  I may be overwhelmed by my yarn closet but it's helping to save the world.   The other skeins are all my friend Martha's, or more specifically, Dying for Art yarns.

And that bag!  Well, I needed a bag.  Okay, okay.  I needed another bag like I needed another skein of yarn.  But look at it!  How could I resist such an adorable bag?  Besides, it has pockets galore and is big enough to hold an interchangeable needle set, a medium sized tool bag, a large sweater, the start of two shawls, a wash cloth project bag and a few spare skeins of miscellaneous yarns that may also turn into shawls at some point.  You know, just in case I run out of knitting and need to start a new project on the fly.  And yet while big enough to hold all that, it doesn't feel like a huge, gigantic project bag. Besides, it has alpacas and lamas on it.  No one, including alpaca farmers, can agree whether they are alpacas or lamas so I'm saying it's both.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

A new toy

I have a new toy!

Shweater Bag from Twisted Yarn and Fiber

My new Shweater bag from Twisted Yarn and Fiber.  Wanda, the shop owner is in my Wednesday night knitting group and when I found out she had jelly fish themed bags in her shop, I immediately went shopping.  

She was sold out of the jelly fish but I fell in love with the whimsical animals on this bag.  Surprisingly, there are no sheep but there are goats, turtles, pink flamingos and several different types of dogs as well as many other critters.

Making progress on the Eclipse shawl

Besides the cutie-patootie animals, the bag features a leather handle and a drawstring closure.  Once you get where you're going, you simple loosen the drawstring, fold the opening down and presto-magic!  You have yourself a fabric yarn bowl.  How cool is that?

twistedyarnfiber.com

If you're in the market for a new knitting bag or needle holder, go check out Wanda's shop, Twisted Yarn and Fiber on Etsy.  You won't be disappointed.

Friday Makers? It's just not the same

I'm bringing back Makers' Monday for just one day and on a Friday.  Friday Makers' doesn't exactly have the same ring to it but oh well.  I had intended to write this post way back when I was routinely having Makers' Mondays but for reasons I don't remember, I never got around to it.  

Anyway....

I recently posted a photo where you can sort of see my purse hiding in the upper corner. I absolutely LOVE that purse and have always meant to share it's origin with you.

grassfed leather clutches from White Oak Pastures

I bought the clutch from White Oak Pastures on Etsy.  I'm not linking to the Etsy shop because it looks like it's closed and they are now directing everyone to their own website.  I hope you will go check them out but be forewarned.  They are a zero-waste farm and as you would expect from a zero-waste farm selling leather goods, there's a lot of meat for sale too.  Even as a rare steak lover, their site can be a little hard to look at.  Their photos are good, and large, and the meats are just a little too 'in your face' until you click on the menu button and find the leather goods section.  But having said that, I hope you'll go check them out.

White Oak Pastures

The farm is located in Georgia and they sell much more than just leather goods and meat.  I appreciate their farming practices, their love of the land, their handcraft skills and their customer service is excellent.  They even provided me with photos when I mentioned to them that I wanted to brag about my new purse.  If I'd only held up my end of the bargain and bragged about it back then....  But really, I think it says a lot about the product that I'm still loving it a year later.

Anyway...

Leather goods from White Oak Pastures

I Love my clutch!  When I first got it, I was a little worried that the leather would stretch and the closure wouldn't keep it closed.  Happily, I had nothing to worry about.  According to my Etsy purchases list, I've been using my bag daily for almost a year.  It still looks like it did on the day I received it.  It honestly shows zero wear and tear.  And, it has an outside pocket that I hadn't even noticed when I purchased it.  The pocket is a perfect fit for my phone.

So, I hope you'll go check out their website.  They have much more for sale than leather clutches.  They offer a variety of food items in addition to the meats, a large supply of leather goods, some of which are quite unique and pet items.  And no, I'm not being paid for this post although I wish I was.  I need to earn an extra bit of money so I can buy myself this bag.  I really, really want that bag.

Connections

Thank goodness for Barnes and Noble.  

Besides my book fetish, Barnes and Noble has free WiFi and coffee.  And cookies.  Can't forget the cookies.

The wonderful folks building a house down the street from us cut the internet cable so I'm happily typing away at the local Barnes and Noble, drinking Trenta iced coffees and eating cookies.  And knitting.  Of course I'm knitting.

See that project bag that coordinates so well with my knitting?  Anne, one of my knitting group buddies made it for me.  That's not a great photo of it.  I'm sitting at a tiny table with my computer, calendar (an 8.5 x 11 paper one!) my pen collection, my phone, my coffee and my cookie and my purse all spread out on the tiny little table.  And other patrons were giving me weird looks and I was too self conscious to continue trying to take a decent photo.

That photo is a little better.  It was taken at a knitting group meeting a few weeks ago.  

Any hoo - I love the bag.  It's the perfect small to medium sized project bag.  I can get two skeins of yarn, needles and most of a shawl in there.  And, it has a little claw hook hanging off one end where I can attach stitch markers or tiny scissors.  And see the stars?  They sparkle!  It looks like glitter splashed over the fabric but it's definitely not glitter.  I really, really love this bag.  And it doesn't hurt that my current project color coordinates.

And since it's #Unraveled Wednesday, let's talk books.  

Oh my goodness!  I started reading a new series (The Ariane Trilogy) on my Kindle. OMG!  I read the first two books (The Ash Moon and The Somber Call) in a little less than 36 hours.  Work got in the way of my immediately finishing the series but when I got home last night I started the third book, The Crucial Shift and read 82% before the need for sleep took over.

The Ash Moon written by Michelle Dare

Everyone at work was teasing me about reading the series.  First, it's YA but hey - I like YA books.  They are quick to read, usually very entertaining and they tend to be 'clean.'  The series is advertised as a paranormal romance.   In other words, it's a bit Twilight-ish.  But SO, so much better.  The human girl character takes care of herself and is anything but needy and the vampires in no way sparkle.  They are nice (for the most part) and funny, but they do not sparkle.  And there's ton's of action.  Oh, and did I mention, it's free on the Kindle. 

Makers' Monday

I'm going 'old school' for today's Makers' Monday post.  Instead of talking about what I'm making, I'm going to show you a few things others have made.  In other words, I got lazy.

I'm actually writing this late Saturday night because I have to work on Sunday.  I know!  My "summer" job starts tomorrow.  Or yesterday, as you read this.  My work schedule will be sporadic days sprinkled here and there for a while, then it will be every weekend, then every day.  Anyway, I won't be around on Sunday to type up the post.

Saturday's to-do list had me taking photos of several things I've been knitting but...

I accidentally spent Saturday curled up in the comfy chair reading trashy romance novels instead of being a productive member of society.  In fact, I was so unproductive, I didn't even knit while I read!

So here it is, late Saturday night and I've got nothing of my own to show you.  I do, however, have a couple of things I've procured off Etsy recently that I'm super excited about and think you'd also be interested in.

Ann Budd Gauge Ruler courtesy of Friends and Fiber

The first is Ann Budd's Gauge Ruler from Friends and Fiber on Etsy.   How cool is this thing?  You just lay it over your knitting and match up the stitches on the ruler to your knitted fabric stitches.  It's so stinking easy to use!  The ruler, besides being an actual 9 inch ruler, measures gauge in half inch increments from 9 stitches to the inch up to (down to??) 4 stitches to the inch.

Cool new tool

 And, if you're like me and tend to refuse to check your gauge even when you have a cool, handy gadget, it also makes a great knitting journal bookmark and bullet journaling straight edge ruler.  Oh, and it's also handy for tearing washi tape.

Ruler available at Friends and Fiber

Hey!  Look at that - a tiny bit of knitting.  I'm no where near as far along on my Slytherin sock as I'd hoped to be.

Knitting Project bag from Twisted Yarn and Fiber

And then there's this project bag.  I LOVE my new project bag!  Actually, I'm not sure I can legally call it "new."  I bought it several months ago and you may have even seen it hanging out here on the blog.  I use this bag constantly so I'm sure it's probably been in a photo or two.

The bag is from Twisted Yarn and Fiber.  I absolutely love the fabric it's made from.  First, it's black so it doesn't show dirt.  While I'm fairly obsessive about keeping my knitting clean, I do carry my knitting with me to some fairly strange places and the outside of my more frequently used project bags end up getting.....  well, gross.  But the jelly fish are fantastic at hiding the dirt, plus they are colorful enough to see at the bottom of my black hole of a knitting bag (more like a giant suitcase.)  And while the jelly fish don't actually glow in the dark, they are bright enough that I can find them in the dark when I toss the bag into the car's back seat. (One of Little Red's quirks is that she doesn't have an interior dome light.)

So, yes, I LOVE this project bag.  The drawstring closure is easy to open and close and the bag's size is perfect.  All my other project bags, and I seem to have collected quite a few, are either several inches smaller, or many, many inches larger.  This bag will easily hold a Hitchhiker or two sets of socks yet it's still small enough to cram into my purse.

As much as I love my jellyfish bag, I picked a lousy time to show it to you.  The shop is currently on"sewcation" so that it can get restocked and ready for spring.  I really hope you'll go check them out in a few days or weeks though.  I remember having a hard time deciding which bag to get because they had so many adorable ones and the customer service was excellent.  The shop's bags are definitely worth the wait.

Okay, I think I've rambled on enough.  Please join me in celebrating #MakersMonday and also, please know that I'm not affiliated with either of the products I mentioned today - I just really, really like them and thought you would too.

Santa Came Early

Santa came early this year!

Wooly Project Bag

One of the ladies in my Monday Night Knitting Group made each of us a project bag.  The fabric is The cutest!  The top fabric is hat and scarf wearing sheep knitting and the bottom fabric has sheep all over it.  If you look closely, you'll see that the sheep are really just balls of yarn with sheep faces.  And if you look closer, you'll notice that some of them still have their ball bands on them.  It's adorable!

Besides being adorable, the bag is the perfect size - not too small, not too large.  It's also got a drawstring closure and a removable hook on the outside for hanging spare stitch markers, a small pair of scissors, a tape measure, my car keys....  You don't have to be a fortune teller to know that this bag is going to see a lot of action!

Magic Number Five

Five!

This is the fifth time I've attempted to knit with this poor yarn.

Starshower 

This poor Pittura yarn has been knit and frogged four times so far but I think the fifth time's the charm.  I think it's going to be happy being a Starshower cowl.  The cowl's texture may not show up too well but then again....  I think five may just be the magic number.

Project bag from CreativeJenV

And look how well Starshower fits into my new project bag.

Knitting bag from CreativeJenV

I love LOVE my new knitting bag from CreativeJenV.  It's the perfect size for a smallish (but bigger than a sock) project.  I'm so pleased with how sturdy the bag is and how it stands up by itself.  Oh, and there's no velcro in sight.  It's the perfect project bag!

Springing forward with coffee

Spring may actually be here.  Yesterday was the beginning of Daylight Savings Time here in the US and we are finally starting to see a few physical signs of spring here in the Glen.

Our single daffodil

Our one faithful daffodil.  Since moving into this house 11 years ago, I have planted thousands of daffodils and each year one blooms.  One.  Only one.  And it's not even the same one each year.  But there it is.  Our one daffodil, not even in bloom yet.

And suddenly, the dogwood trees have sprouted buds.

Dogwood Buds

And now for the coffee part, because I need lots and lots of coffee to get me through the first few days of Daylight Savings...

Coffee Cup Project Bag

My new knitting project bag from The Guy Who Sews.  Isn't it awesome?  I just love all those little to-go coffee cups.  The bag is perfect for me because anyone who knows me knows I practically bleed coffee.  This is my second bag from The Guy Who Sews.  The other bag gets used constantly and although I don't begin to treat it delicately, it isn't showing any wear or tear so I thought I deserved a second bag.  And my new coffee cup bag is already packed & ready to go to tonight's knitting group meeting.

All this coffee talk has made me thirsty.  And sleepy.  I think I'll go brew another pot.