Weeks of November 7th - 27th

I've been working hard this entire month, both in my shop and at Joann, and it has certainly paid off. It's been a great month for business. It also doesn't hurt that I often have my cat friend napping by my side while I work, interrupting me periodically to be petted. Having lived with us for over a month now, Teddy is settled in and seems perfectly happy with his new life as an apartment cat. Since he used to be a stray, I was a little afraid he'd try to escape, but so far he's expressed no desire to slip out the doors and only a little interest in looking out the windows. He seems quite content as long as he gets his daily doses of play time and affection. And he enjoys my cat blankets. :)

In knitting news, I finished a new baby sweater using Ella Rae Amity Prints:

Otherwise, it's been lots and lots of hats and gloves!

Weeks of August 7th-20th

We're in the midst of moving and things have been quite crazy for the past couple of weeks. Our new place is literally just five minutes up the road - it even has the same zip code as our current address - but even so it's stressing me out! I do have another cute custom-order baby sweater, also in Vickie Howell Sheep(ish), to show for last week. The color is Chartreuse(ish). Here's the photo, and I'll get back to packing.

Week of July 31st - August 6th

The red sweater pattern is typed up, but I didn't get to the photos yet. However, I do have two sweaters that I completed this week. The first is a unisex baby sweater I did as a custom order. I used 3 balls of Vickie Howell Sheep(ish) in Yellow(ish). The cute cow buttons came from Fine Points.

After putting it aside briefly to complete the baby sweater, I finished my newest Mossy Jacket, also a custom order for a family member. This is the 5th one I've made, but since the yarn comes in so many pretty colorways, I haven't gotten bored with them yet! This one is in Trendsetter Tonalita color #2349 Bright Multi.

Week of July 24th - 30th

I mostly worked on the red lace sweater for the past week. It's finally finished, and I have a picture:

It's oversized and, meaning no offense to my dressmaker's dummy, generally looks better on someone with arms. I'll try to get some photos of myself in it this week while I write up the pattern.

Speaking of patterns, I FINALLY sat myself down and finished the men's vest pattern I've been sitting on for a while. It's listed here.

I have two custom orders on the needles right now: another Mossy Jacket for a family member and a baby sweater. The baby sweater is taking precedence right now; I'm hurrying to get it done by Friday.

All in all, I've been having an exceptionally good few weeks, sales-wise, for the summer. Most of my sales lately have come from Australia, where of course it's winter. I'm very grateful.

I sometimes worry about my international pattern buyers because I write all my patterns American-style, using the silly, antiquated English system of measurements. I've considered adding metric measurements, but I'm not mathematically-minded and the metric system is daunting. I didn't learn it very well in school and I don't understand it well. Also, every country has its own way of writing knitting patterns, so how can I accomodate every method? So I make sure to clarify US sizes and hope that my fellow knitters don't mind converting from inches to centimeters.

Week of July 2nd - 8th

Cleveland hasn't been spared the heat wave, though we're lucky to have had a few days' rain last week and no windstorms yet. Thanks to our new window unit, I have two baby sweaters and my completed TARDIS scarf to show for this sweltering week.

First, the Hooded Cardigan by Debbie Bliss, from the pattern in Design It, Knit It: Babies, knit using two balls of Ella Rae Amity Prints acrylic/wool blend:

This hoodie pattern is one of my favorites for baby sweaters; it's quick, easy, and very cute. I knit this one for a baby girl in the family. For a boy, I decided on another old favorite, Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket. I used the newsletter pattern from The Opinionated Knitter and two balls of Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun:

That one always turns out bigger than I expect, but I guess too big is always better than too small, especially when it comes to babies. I found the adorable elephant buttons at Joann Fabrics and couldn't resist; they don't match exactly, but I think they work anyway.

And, last but not least, I finally sat down and finished my TARDIS scarf. I would have liked to have made it longer, but I ran out of medium blue cotton and ultimately decided it was fine as is:

I'm considering putting the pattern up here for free, my only hesitation being the copyright issues of using the word TARDIS or the police box image. I'll see.

Knit and spin

It's been a blazing hot summer for Cleveland, and yet somehow, I find the need to teach myself to spin wool in my un-air-conditioned apartment. I first kind of learned to spin when I took some weaving classes in college (those classes were really what got me into textiles), and was not particularly good at it. Lately, however, I've decided I should expand my skills, so while I was ordering a ball winder on KnitPicks last week I got a Turkish drop spindle and some wool roving. They arrived yesterday, and this afternoon I've been trying to twist the roving up into something resembling yarn.

And it is just as hard as I remembered - spinning is one of those things that's easy to grasp in concept but difficult to execute well. I've managed a couple of feet so far and I figure I'm doing okay for a beginner, but not well enough that I'm going to post pictures. It's a bit discouraging, but I have to keep reminding myself that when I first learned to knit I was TERRIBLE at it, and look where I am now!

I will, however, share some photos of the baby sweaters I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. I started by knitting sweaters for a friend's baby, which lead to me designing my own. I have three patterns up for sale now on Etsy and on Ravelry.