Weeks of October 3rd - 16th

I've put in a lot of hours at Joann Fabrics lately, mostly at the cutting counter - it has been so busy there! At home I've done a couple of custom orders, most notably this cute toddler sweater:

It's made with my new favorite non-wool yarn, Lion Brand Cotton Ease; it's for a two-year-old living in the deep South, so wool wasn't really an option! I borrowed the basic shape and added the wildflower knot design to the body to keep things interesting and to add a feminine touch. The adorable pink buttons are from my workplace.

Otherwise I've been stocking up on shop staples - gloves and such. I'm giving myself a refresher course in Spanish, since I'll be going to Guatemala for a week in December and I want to be somewhat functional! I know it's just a week, but I want to make the most of it. And it's good manners.

Week of September 26th - October 2nd

Fun stuff first. I spent a while going through the Mother Bear Project photo gallery and was rewarded for my efforts with three new photos of my bears with their children. These are in South Africa, Togo, and Mali:

Now the boring stuff. I was dedicated over the weekend and listed patterns for my red lace sweater (finally!) and my knitted necktie. Here's the red sweater on a real person - namely, me - and now I have to sign off and go work on a custom order. The holidays are coming!

Week of September 19th - 25th

It's been a productive week. I finished the last headband of the current set; I don't expect to knit any more for a while. This one is dark blue, and you can find it here.

I also completed my cat blanket pattern, which is listed on Etsy, Ravelry and Artfire:

And I've finished my first necktie. I came across some trouble because the tie kept curling to the right; somehow the stitch pattern worked out so that the end of the right-side rows were looser than the beginning, no matter what I did. I solved the problem by whipstitching along the edges, so now it lies nicely flat. No listings until I've knitted one or two more.

Weeks of September 4th - 18th

I put off blogging last week because I didn't have any interesting pictures or new listings to show. Now I do. I was almost out of headband/cowls in my shop, so I got out a few pretty oddballs left over from my Mossy Jackets and knit three headbands in pink/orange, multi, and forest green. They're great for the fall and winter.

I have a new men's sweater design on the agenda, as well as a line of knitted neckties, which I'm working on now. I've never been a fan of machine-knit ties; while some guys can make anything look awesome, I think on most men they're irredeemably dorky (and this is coming from me). Hand-knit ties are a different matter entirely. There's a fine line between dorky and geek chic, and they tend to fall in with the latter. I seem to have found a good combination of gauge and stitch pattern for neckties, so I should have photos by next week.

Weeks of August 21st - September 3rd

We made it through the move and are now in our lovely new apartment, though it's still cluttered with boxes. Joann Fabrics has given me a ton of hours over the last couple of weeks - a bit ironic that it's now, but I'm not complaining.

I bought some pretty calicos from my workplace and I've been making half-window curtains with them. I started out on my Singer sewing machine, but we got into a fight pretty quickly and so I've been hand-sewing them instead. It kept jamming and breaking needles, and I need to get it serviced, but we're not currently on speaking terms. I don't mind hand-sewing; it takes longer, but my hands never jam and seldom break needles, and the finished effect is just as good.

Going to go unpack clothes and maybe put together a bookshelf.

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.