Stitch Markers

I'm going to link to this post in the side bar, so that I don't need to post every time I have an addition to my stitch marker catalogue.
Thanks to everyone for their support and interest!!

I got my findings!

They were delivered yesterday, which means that I can start making the stitch markers that my LYS will buy from me!
I'm going to take photos of them all before I sell them, and will get them added to the album below as soon as I can.
Today is really sunny here, and while that's awesome in general, it's making a properly exposed photo hard to come by.
:)

Another LYS?

I took my stitch markers to another LYS today, and it looks like they're interested, too!
Things are really starting to come along...!

Stitch Markers!!

Check it out!!!!
Here's a link to some photos of my Stitch Markers!

Stitch Markers

I'm so excited that the LYS is going to be stocking them for me!!!
AND last night I donated some as door prizes at our Bobmas Eve meet-up, and everyone seemed to like them, which is awesome! Although I know that I like them, the same thing goes for these as for my photos - it's always nice to get some positive feedback from people "in the know".

I'm just waiting on a shipment of the findings, and I should have them in the store in 2 weeks!
Things are moving along nicely...!

Etsy!

I'm starting to get some of my greeting cards up on my Etsy site!!!

Check it out!

Custom requests are more than welcome!
I'm not sure how many to post up there, and don't want to put all 50...that would cost too much for me just to see if people are interested.
I'm also not sure how to put sets of cards up without limiting which cards are in that set...that's something I still need to think about.
I'm going to try and get a "catalogue" pdf file up on my own website, and maybe honour requests through Etsy, but not post them up "just because".
I don't know...any of you have any suggestions?

On another note, sort of, the LYS is going to stock my stitch markers and pattern magnets!
2 dozen sets of stitch markers, and 1 dozen pattern magnets, all bought outright!
I've also decided to not go with a set price per stitch marker, but to price them according to what they cost me to make. That way, I won't be limiting my choices to ones that would fall within that set price, but will be able to explore new options, even if they're a little more expensive.
I'm thinking that I'll sell them in sets of 2 and 3, and have multiples of the sets available if people want a set of 4+.
I was considering putting them on Etsy, too, but so many people sell stitch markers on Etsy that I think the market is a little flooded already. I think I'll stay local for now.

Thank-you to everyone for being so supportive of my creative endeavours!!!!

And a photo to leave you with: a scan of my most popular photo card:

As promised

Here is a photo of my finished Tree Jacket!
But first, a photo of the 2 different sleeves:

It's pretty obvious, but just in case, the right sleeve (left side of photo) is the huge one that I frogged, and the left sleeve is the re-knit smaller version.

This photo is a double-whammy: My finished Tree Jacket, AND my homemade Easter bread!


Pattern: Tree Jacket, by the Zephyr Girls
Ravelry Link
Yarn: Patons Decor in Chocolate Taupe
Gauge: No Idea
Size: Large (40" bust) with sleeve mods, and 0.5mm smaller needles for the waist-to-bottom portion of the body.

Love the sweater (now that it's finally finished)!!!!

What I would do differently: I'd knit more garter at the top so that the lace part started after my bust line. If I don't pull at it, the garter-lace line lies right at the middle of my boobs! Not ideal, but it doesn't bother me enough to frog and reknit, or to cut and knit and graft. It's done.

I'm getting there

Well, I've taken the initiative and started trying to get local stores to stock my photo greeting cards!
First I went to a hair salon/shop, and she's going to take one each of my local shots (so 14 cards) and sell them on consignment. A good start.
Then I went to another local shop that sells more cards than the first. They seemed interested, but already have a person who sells them photo cards, and the owner wasn't in, so I have to go back next week.
Same with the third store I went into, minus the already-have-a-person thing.
The last place I went into yesterday was a framing place that sells art. My mom goes in there to get things framed, and suggested I see if they'd be interested. The owner was in, and we talked for almost 15 minutes! I took my cards out, and he went through them all, spreading them out on his work table. He said a number of times that they were really good, and a completely different style than the photographer he currently works with (he already had some photo cards in stock, but they were very different from mine). Although friends and family have been telling me that they're good, and that I'm a good photographer with a good eye, it's always nice to get some positive feedback from a professional. He told me to come back at the end of April with all of my local shots, too, and he'll buy them outright from me. With the kind of inventory that he stocks, he's not worried about tying money up in cards, not when compared to oil paintings and pottery and such.

So, now I'm going to get working on getting some of them up in my etsy store! I have the store pretty much organized, and I have all of the cards scanned. The thing that's holding me back is figuring out how to offer "custom" card sets for sale, or offering multiples for less money. I don't know if I'm going to be able to do that, so I think I'll just have to get some singles up and see how that goes.
When the store is stocked, I'll put the link up for everyone to see!!!!!

(And I promise that I'm going to get some photos up of my finished sweater soon!!)

It's Done!!!!

It's done, it's done, it's done!!!!
And it worked and it looks good!

That's it. :)

(Pics to be posted later, when the light is better for taking them.)

Cursed Tree Jacket

I swear, my Tree Jacket is cursed! (Link to pattern. The Original.)
Either that, or there's some kind of force in the universe that doesn't want me to finish it while the weather is still cold enough to wear it this season. Which amounts to the same thing: a curse.

I have now knit 5 sleeves-worth for that sweater. The first one, I accept as pattern-modification testing. I decided to knit the sleeves in the yarn-over pattern instead of the garter stitch, and the first sleeve was a test-sleeve.
Fine.
So the second and third sleeves got me a completed sweater! BUT the sleeves were WAY too huge. They dangled, and really annoyed me. So I ripped them out and re-knit them, decreasing 12 sts in the 24 rows right at the underarm. (See mod description on Ravelry here.) Now that was better.
And then there were 4 sleeves worth.
(Note: that fourth sleeve took me a few months to work, as I couldn't decide how I wanted to proceed with yet more pattern modification.)
Now that I had the re-modification all worked out, I figured the fifth - and last - sleeve should go by in a jiffy. Well, it did! And I got it finished tonight!
Alas, when I went to take apart my Denise needles, I realized that the needle tips I had been using were the (smaller) ones I had used to pick up the sleeve stitches at the underarm, and not the ones I was meant to use to actually knit the sleeve!!! GRRRRRRRR!!!!
And RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP!!
Again.

Now my Tree Jacket is waiting patiently for me on my footstool, waiting for me to start knitting the sixth (and f*cking LAST) sleeve.

*sigh*

Note to self: double and triple check the needle tips on the cord BEFORE stating to knit, when using an interchangeable set.

Yay vacations!

Yes, it's been a while. Sorry...!
I was on vacation for a week, visiting my sister in Pittsburgh for part of her spring break! She's taking her master's in clarinet performance at Carnegie Mellon, and I haven't yet visited her down there, so I thought it was about time.
I also....went yarn shopping!!! I googled yarn stored in Pittsburgh before I went down there, and there was one not too far from where she lives, so that was where I went! And I went 3 times in 5 days...teehee!
It's called Knit One, and it's an awesome store! I was looking for some yarn to make Rogue, but I had forgotten the pattern in my suitcase, so couldn't remember what weight or how much I'd need. I feel really bad, because I can't remember her name, but one of the girls at the store really helped me out! She went onto Ravelry and found the pattern, and got me all the details I needed in order to make sure that I bought the right yarn and enough of it! I went with Ella Rae (classic, worsted wool) in a nice steel grey colour. Hey - if I'm going to put that much work into making a sweater, I'm going to make it in a neutral colour so that I can wear it with everything!
I also bought my poor student of a knitter-sister some gorgeous Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. Mmmmmmmm. There's no way that she'd ever buy that for herself, and she's really enjoying making a scarf for herself with it. (My job as big sister is done. lol)

AND, I've finally made some progress on the sleeves of my Tree Jacket! I finished one last night, and I now have the alterations worked out, so the second sleeve should zoom by. That's what was really holding me up with the first sleeve...figuring out just how I was going to modify the pattern so that it would fit properly! In hindsight, I should have made one size smaller and used short rows to accommodate my bust, because it's folding a little at the underarms, but frankly, I'm just happy that I'm almost done! It doesn't bother me enough that I wouldn't wear it, so I'm leaving it. And my first sweater is almost done and wearable!!!!!!!
(pictures to follow. I haven't had time or daylight to take a photo of it yet.)