Odds and Ends

 Just a few of my non-knitting projects that I've been working on...

Magnetic under-cabinet mason jar spice rack

Embossed flatware plant tags

Embossed flatware key hook

Home Sweet Home Embossed Silver coat/mug hooks

Bike-Friendly Fingerless Mitts

These mitts are some of my very favorite things to knit, especially with this gorgeous Aslan Trends Royal Alpaca. It's like buttah!

Modeled here (and nearly swiped!) by my 10 year old, Scarlet.

This is the first of many pairs that I have on deck. I also have some of this same fabulous yarn in basil, Andean coal and bone. I think that a striped pair might be in the works!

Almost ready...

A wee preview of some of my bazaar offerings. The late nights of knitting, mixing and painting are paying off - I have some pretty nice looking inventory (if I do say so mahself), ready for market. Wahoo!

 Bath Fizzes & Sugar Scrubs

Goats Milk Soaps

A mish-mash of useful and whimsical knits

I'll be here! Come on down and see me and score some one-of-a-kind gifts from local crafters and makers. :)

Shop Local!

Lincoln Winter Market 2012

Woohoo - I'm in! Time to get some serious knitting done!

Please join me and scads of other Olympia area makers and vendors for the 2nd annual Lincoln Winter Market, November 24th, 11-5 at Lincoln Elementary School.

For more info on this and other Make Olympia sponsored events, check out makeolympia.com. :)

Felted Kindle/Nook Cozy

I've been toying with the idea of trying felting for a while now, but I was intimidated, and so, put it off. Well, I finally got off my duff and did a felted project! This is an improvised pattern, using some lovely wool that I was given as a birthday gift.

Now that this has emerged a relative success, I can move forward with my original plan to make a slightly more masculine-looking one of these for a family member who is presently deployed overseas. My thought was that felted wool would be fairly impervious to assault by moisture and hopefully, sand.

This cozy is 9 1/2 by 6 inches, and may soon be growing a wristlet-type handle. ;)

Would you use something like this for your e-reader or tablet PC? What would you expect to pay for this baby?

Three cheers for the magical properties of wool!
Michelle

Building Inventory

This comprises about half of my "body of work" over the past 4 weeks.

I've kind of been in the dishcloth zone. ;) Last year, dishcloths and bike helmet earmuffs were my two best sellers, so my plan is to make as many as humanly possible in the run-up to the holiday season. Dishcloths are one of my very favorite things to knit, because they're short and sweet, and there is room for endless creativity and variety.

My family and friends can definitely expect a few of these in their stockings this year!

Patterna Non Grata

When I attempt a pattern twice, and end up frogging it twice, next stop is the round file.

Goodbye and good luck, Grey Loop Scarf. You were supposed to be so simple, but your creator's errata fixes were even more confusing than the original errors, and came out different and weird every time.

Alas, them's the breaks.

Onto a "Soft as a Cloud Cowl" from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. I'm using Cascade Yarn's Baby Alpaca Lace in Caribbean Heather. So yummy! :)

Hooked on the Hook!

I'm still a wee bit burned out on the knitting just now, and have instead decided to revisit my old friend crochet for a little while.

I've never really known how to do much more than chain, single crochet and double crochet - nothing fancy, no cool stitches. But, boy do I make a mean granny square... ;)

So many of my friends have been making really great crocheted pieces lately, I kinda wanted to pick it up again, just for a lark, and I'm having a ton of fun with it!

I'm really just goofing around, so there's nothing to show for my tinkering, but I'm enjoying the luxury of puttering around instead of stressing out about producing something. :)

Little Sold, Much Learned

Two bazaars in two weeks doesn't sound like much, but it seriously handed my butt to me.

This being my first year doing this and having so many up-front costs, I didn't really make anything. Between that and my tendency to fall in love with all of the great stuff that my fellow crafters are selling, I usually end up spending everything that I make and then some.

What I've learned that I will apply to next year's bazaars/fairs, if I do them -

*Focus on the small pieces, they are what moves.

*People will NOT pay Etsy prices at a craft fair, even if the quality, packaging, etc., are exactly the same. They want a bargain, even on the high-end stuff. :/

*You can never have too many $1 bills.

*Make double or triple the inventory that you expect to sell. A half-filled table looks sad.

*Get a buddy or two who sell similar or complimentary items to share your table with you if you don't have oodles of inventory (or even if you do). It's funner that way. :)

Stuff that I did that seemed to work well -

*Using my business cards as my price tags. They're purty and they were free!

*Network and chat with other vendors/crafters/artists - their experience and camaraderie make you a better seller.

*Encourage folks (kids too) to touch, try on, anything they want. Vendors who keep things locked up or don't let you try their stuff out make people feel suspicious or suspect, which is a crappy way to treat people.

*Offer to answer questions and show people how things work without pouncing on them like a lion at a watering hole. The hard sell creeps people out. (Not that that is my style, but being cornered and badgered by a few other vendors really reinforced this point for me.)

And that is that for this year's sales! I'll put more up on ye olde Etsy in the coming days and weeks. If it sells, yay! And if it doesn't, that's ok too. As much pressure as I put on myself to make a lot of stuff for these sales, it was also a lot of fun knitting things that made people happy to see, touch and use. I am taking an indefinite breather from knitting (which, knowing myself, probably won't last for more than a few days), and when I resume, I'm going to knit at a leisurely pace and only on projects that I thoroughly enjoy. No "production" knitting - for now. ;)

Thank you to everyone who offered me support in the form on mentoring, inspiration, encouragement, compliments and sales. I'd always fiddled with the idea of crafting for sale, and now I can cross this one off my bucket list. ;)

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!
Michelle

The "Studio"

AKA - The dining room. ;)

Made this Week 11/14-11/17/11

Unisex cabled cap. An original design! :)


Openwork Beanie, modified from a pattern on Ravelry.

...plus a "Big Lace" scarf, a pair of earmuffs and half a dishcloth. I'm looking forward to giving the needles a rest here shortly. ;)

I'm in!!! :)

The poster for the Lincoln Winter Market, made by one of Olympia's most gifted artists, Nikki McClure. Please come out and see me and lots of other local artists, crafters and vendors at the market and SHOP LOCAL!

New in the Shop ~ 11/30/11

Some pretty little dishcloths -




And a simple little cabled lady's cap -




In the meantime, I'm just finishing another Cabled Wrap Scarf and trying to psych myself up for a day of finishing work on the many dish cloths, scarves and earmuffs that I've made over the past few days. Strong coffee and streaming Netflix keep my needles humming. :)

Michelle

Made this Week 10/24-10/30

All of these pieces would benefit massively from better (i.e. - not middle of the night) photography and a proper model, but in lieu of those things, here we have this past week's creations -


A Bulky Ribbed Wrap Scarf that will benefit greatly from blocking, the addition of a button and model. Made with a double strand of Mushishi wool/silk. I'm going to make one of these for my own self... eventually. :)



A couple of good old, trusty-dusty cotton dishcloths.



Three pair of kids size bike helmet earmuffs - two in Noro cotton/silk and one in Woodland wool/nettle fiber. I need to find a cutie pie to model these for me too!

Right now I'm working on yet another pair of bike helmet earmuffs in 100% baby llama in a soft violet color. I'm not quite sure yet what will be on deck after that.

Busy, busy! :)
Michelle

Bazaar Season is Nigh!

And I'll be participating in two local Bazaars/Craft Fairs, both benefiting two of Olympia's best elementary schools.

The first is the Lincoln Winter Market on November 26th, 11am-4pm at Lincoln Elementary. (A beautiful poster by local artist Nikki McClure is in the works for this event. Will post when it's finalized!)

The second is at Roosevelt Elementary's Holiday Craft Bazaar on December 3rd, from 10am-2pm.

I'll have the ever-popular Bike Helmet Earmuffs in Adult and Kids sizes, scarves, hats, dishcloths and lots of other fun odds and ends. Please come out and see me and buy local to support our wonderful Olympia schools!

Michelle

WooHoo!

I may not have sold anything crafty yet, but my Rudi's Bread-themed upcycled tote won me a little contest anyway! ;)

My bag won me a bag!

Now, to get crackin' on some goodies for sale... :)

Yoga Bag #1

At least that's what I think I'm calling it. It's long width-wise, but not too tall - good for carrying a yoga mat and gym clothes. The body of the bag is made from approximately 13 plastic bags, and the handles are made of cotton.





Let me know what you think, and what you'd expect to pay for something like this, because I have no idea whatsoever about what I should charge for these. :\

Michelle

Project #2 - The Scarlet Satchel

This one won't be offered for sale, only because Scarlet-bug has laid her claim on it. It's 90% complete. Pictures to follow later this evening or tomorrow. ;)

Michelle

Project #1 - Done!

Here is my first shop project, the "Utilitarian Upcycled Tote Bag".




I'm not an ace with a sewing machine, so this isn't perfectly rendered. On the plus side, this tote is made of 100% used, clean plastic bags (approximately 25 of them!) and is very sturdy. I haven't decided exactly what else I want to do with the handle. Maybe knit and i-cord and wrap it? Or maybe just crochet around it for a better look and comfortable feel in the hands. Still thinking on that one.

Since I'm still a little nervous about it, I'm going to have my more Etsy-experienced friends look it over and critique it bluntly before offering it for sale. In the mean time, I'll be thinking and tinkering on bag #2. ;)

Michelle