Shineys!

The other day I checked my mail and found this:



it was my package from the stitch marker exchange!

I quickly tore into it to find a pretty little card, and inside the hand made box, a neat little button which promptly found a home on my knitting bag, and a set of truly awesome markers.



Thank you Danielle!!



I especially like the middle one with the little dangly bit; it catches the light and sparkles!

look! content!

Jen of JenLa said I should show in progress pics of my shawl just to show the difference between finished and unfinished.

Unfortunately not a day after I got her comment I finished the shawl!

Yesterday I set it to block at the motel, and I'll be picking it up tonight, I'll have modeled pictured tomorrow.

Unblocked, it came out to roughly 5 feet:



Blocking: seven and a half feet x 26 inches:



Speaking of jenla
Thanks to everybody here for voting for my adorable critters in La's contest of DeFeet. My menagerie tied for there category and I recently received this in my mailbox:



I love them La, Thank you!

New stitch markers.

I was weak, there was a sale at Jo-Ann's on bead. I bought a lot, I couldn't help myself.

You will notice that I'm using different cards for these.
(Bill made the logo for me, doesn't he rock?)
That is because I bit the bullet and made an etsy storefront!
Whiskers in a Twisted Stitch will now carry all my stitch markers, and will eventually some day carry my own hand dyed yarns! (I need to wait until I have a little more money to buy the dyes and new pots)

if you like the stitch markers I show here, please stop by my store and buy some, you won't be disappointed!
http://wiats.etsy.com

Walkin' on Sunshine!

Last night while in the grip of horrible tension headache I got some great news, the Zephyr I ordered had arrived, and so had the 12mm split rings!

This morning feeling much better, I set to work, first to make a batch of stitch markers for tomorrow's knit night:

Then to the shawl,

OMG! The Jaggerspun Zephyr is amazing, I sat myself down in my chair in my favorite sunbeam and set to casting on and I was amazed, this yarn positively GLOWS! The resulting fabric is so soft and squishy and delicious. It's a good thing I like Monica or I would so be keeping this shawl for myself. But since I do like her, I get to do something even better, once I finish this, I'm going to buy MORE Zephyr and make another shawl for me, mmmm...

Right now I'm about half way through the first repeat of chart 1B (Sunshine)

I'm having trouble keeping my hands off it, I want to keep working, even though I know I have to finish Bill's gaiter sometime before the 20. (We're going to a winter fun days event at the Minna Anthony Common Nature Center up on Wellesley Island, and he'll need the extra warmth)

Omg I sold something!

Remember this post where I talked about selling stitch markers?

Well, I enjoyed making them so much, I wanted to keep doing it. I had a few beads leftover, (and I could help buying a few more while we were in Watertown the other day) so I sat down and made some more.* Now I have plenty of stitch markers on my own, so I really had no reason to make these new ones, especially as the bag of stitch markers for Bill's mom is full, and everybody else's gifts had been sent out.

Then I got thinking; the only real reason I didn't want to sell my markers was that the only venue I was aware of was places like Etsy and frankly I really didn't want to bother with mailing and dealing with people and setting up a shop etc. It didn't make the small profit I would make worth it.

Then the other day I realized that I could probably sell them on consignment over at Reinmans!

Reinmans is the local hardware store, but they are much more than that, the woman who runs the place is also one of the women in charge of our bimonthly knit night, and there is a sizeable yarn store there. To top it off I knew she already did consignments, because the woman who helps teach sells many of her felted bags there.

I did a bit of research the day before, looking up how consignment sales are usually conducted. Most of what I could find was for people who make clothing, but I did get a few ideas. They said that most owners like to make an appointment where you can sit down, and look at samples of your work before they decide. Then there were a couple of ways it could go. I could name my price; she pays me, and sells the items at a slightly higher price, good for me and pure profit for her. Or she could name what she was willing to pay and then sell them higher, not quite as good for me, as I wouldn't have as much control over how much profit I made out of the deal.

I got all excited, put together a little tag that I could print out on 3x5 index cards, attached the sample markers with pretty yarn and then yesterday while I was at work with Bill I walked over to talk to Mary (the owner.) I asked if she would be willing to think about it, and showed her the markers. And she LOVED THEM!! *squee*

Also luckily I was able to name my own price. I asked $7 per set of four, which isn't too expensive, quite low compared to some of the things I saw at Etsy, but I was still making a big profit compared to material and time costs, and I didn't have to deal with people (other than Mary) and no fiddling with a storefront or mailing out stuff! She's selling them for $8.50, so they should hopefully sell well, especially in the holiday season. I almost wish I had asked for more, but it think I'm just being greedy, I mean, I'm making a profit, having fun, and frankly I don't think people in this area will be willing to pay much more than that. (During summer when the place is full of tourists is a different matter, but I think most of my sales is going to be locals for a while)

The only thing she asked for was markers that could fit larger needles, as right now, the only split rings I could get only fit size 10's (6mm) and many people are fond of big needle projects.

I explained that right now I was only working with leftovers because I didn't want to put in a big investment without any assurance of a deal, but now that I know she's willing, I would get bigger ones. I found a place online that sells larger split right for cheap, so in the next couple of days I may order some. I only use split rings (which are harder to find in a variety of sizes around here) because they are stronger than jump rings and less likely to snag on knitting

*the markers in the picture are not the ones I sold. I was a dork and forgot to take a picture of them before I took them to see Mary

Pink: (insert Aerosmith joke here)

While In Watertown yesterday a string of really pretty pink glass beads caught my eye, and even though I don't do much beading I bought them on a whim.

This is the result:

I'm really getting into the homemade stitch marker thing. Ever since I made the bunch for Bills mom, I've had the bug.

I was looking around etsy and the price they usually go for just isn't worth it, most people are selling them at cost or a little above, and frankly I would want to make more for my effort. So I guess I will have to just settle to making a few sets every now and then to give to friends.

On the knitting front:

What's that... a heel?!

That's right ladies and gentlemen; I've finally made it to the heels.

And a mighty fine heel it is if I don't say so myself!

I'm using the Sherman heel and its coming out way better than any of the other short row techniques I've used so far, I think this one is a keeper!

And the Yuletide presents begin

Well hello cute little kitty bag, what are you holding?

Ohh, stitchmarkers!

The bag was made with lambs pride worsted and then felted, then the pink wool yarn was needle felted on in the shape of a kitty face. Pretty easy actually, I just cut little strips of yarn, paced them where I wanted and poked at them a bit to anchor them in spots while I shaped them properly, and then I stabbed at them like crazy to make them stick.

The stitch markers are simple charms and beads from the craft store with split rings, they were quite fun actually. I plan on making a few more to fill out the bag, but I need to stop and get more split rings before I can finish.

This set is for my soon to be mother in law; she loves knitting and cats, the purrrfect combination!