Weiner dog key fob

Kid asked me for this for a buddy that runs a hotdog cart. For xmas.

Crocheted in place knob legs.

Sesame seeds on bun are French knots.

Whip stitch nose. Embroidered tongue.

Leash ring should be smaller.

Yellow yarn wraps resemble (slightly) mustard squiggle.

If I were to make it as just a toy, I would make a separate tube sweater.

Note to self - insert eyes first, insert eyes first...

Other views in THIS ONLINE ALBUM.

Diy Hacksack balls

It's bothered me that when people order something as simple as a hackysack ball or footbag, I can't get the shipping costs down.

Basically unless it's a flat package that fits thru a mail slot, Canada Post charges for a small packet. But 3 little bags filled with beans just can't compress into the slot.

What if I make them available as a Diy, include a yarn needle (that's still thin), and diy-ers can supply own beans?

(A bag of dry navy beans is pretty cheap. I'm seeing a 500g bag for 3.99 on Amazon.ca. But you can get them cheaper at local grocery store or bulk bin place.

Whereas the small packet rate for shipping goes up to just under $10, also dependent on weight.)

I've made a photo album that goes step by step thru finishing off the bag. Here's the link:

Diy hacksack album

Here's a text guide to go with the album (photos in the album are numbered as captions):

1. Contents of kit (3 shells + plastic yarn needle).

2. Shows completed ball for comparison with shells

3. Sample shell to be filled in these pics, bag of dried navy beans, yarn needle

4. Get a dedicated bag of beans for this. The hands go right in there

5. Grab a handful of beans. Make a tube with your hand. (I've tried funnels etc, but hand works best)

6. Video clip of how beans go in.

7. What bag looks like when full. You don't have to fill to the brim.

8. Thread up yarn needle with yarn end at opening of bag.

9. The loop is kept from slipping closed by a piece of invisible tape. Pick tape off. It doesn't leave the yarn sticky.

10. Tighten the loop down by pulling the long tail/needle end.

11. Stick needle thru loop to begin closing. DO NOT tie a knot here.

12. To gather the top for closing, stick yarn tip thru 1 edge of the stitch. (Each stitch around top looks like a V. So you're picking up the outer edge of each V.)

13. Grab about 3 stitches at a time and snug up. Then do in batches of 3 until all the way around. (If you do all at once, the yarn kind of grabs itself and snarls and doesn't give you as tight a closure when you're done gathering.)

14. Shows loose gather all the way around.

15. Tighten down all the way/full gather. Tie knot here.

16. Push needle with yarn still threaded down thru top of ball and out bottom end. Snip tight to bottom edge of shell. (It will get sucked up into the ball after snipping). Take care not to snip into the shell of your ball.

17. Done! Rest of pics show top and side view of finished ball. As well as with measuring tape for scale.

If you've stumbled onto this posting and would like to buy the kit, here's the link to it in my Etsy shop:

Diy hackysack kit - where to buy

*A few beans will escape and roll around. If you can do this on a blanket on the floor or on your lap, it's easier to contain them.

Enjoy!

Kitty ears balaclava - modification design notes

This well-known Patons/Beehive pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn (Sayelle) on 4.5 mm needles. (Publishing date doesnt appear on attend. Styles sort of show the era.)

For deeper rib around face (where pattern starts), use 5 mm.

For warmth for children, start with wool blend vs 100% acrylic. Revert to tighter gauge of 4.5 mms.

For neck ribbing, need warm, so stay with 4.5s. To knit in round (and avoid neck seam), divide rib st over 3-4 needles at this point. Orient them with half across front at face. This will allow for seamless split when begin dickie front.

Knit neck rib to about 4 ins. Split st evenly between front and back. Place back st on stitch holders. Knit front to  5 ins. C/off. Knit back st to same length.

Crochet around edge of flaps so that they lie flat.

For dk weight yarn (like the floral/acryl), knit on 5.5 and 5 mms. This is a more decoration weight or under hood weight for child anyway.

Adult - This gauge should work in this yarn for adults as well.  Add 2 - 3 rows in non-increase or decrease sections top of head.  Longer interval in back of head section (so 12 rows b4 first, 6 rows between next decreases.)

For floral - try to maximize floral bands in non-rib runs.

Bike helmet cover

I've purchased covers in the past from other vendors to 'pretty up' a boring black helmet . But the time came to make one myself.

The style that worked best was an oversize tam. It goes around the helmet easily.

By the time you tuck in the sides to streamline, you kind of have a newsboy type cap. On my first prototype i did a small token brim and tacked it under. You cant see it very well topside. Maybe the tiniest edge sticks out. But it does give a bit of a shading structure to the cover.

To keep it from slipping, a short drawstring around the brim. Also makes it adjustable.

Simple surface embroidery.

It doesnt take long to make. But tams do take a fair bit of yarn. So in the range of $25 - 30.

On the 2nd prototype, i did one round too many and had a bulky tuck at the sides. (*8 rounds depending on hook size). To disguise it, i did more embroidery on the side seam. Gave a vine like effect. CLICK HERE for online album with more pics.

One commentor said something about the first sample being like the animal covers that kids wear over helmets on the ski hills. It's been a long time since alpine skiing for me. And there were no helmet covers then (helmets - bah !).  But it's a good idea. I see a local pet shop stocks animal themed knitwear for dog walker etc. i think. Dog riding obvs not the most common idea (altho i do have a  walking rod on the trike for Jo. We go very slow). More likely for kid bike helmets.

Believe it or not, i have sold 2 of them. Hmmm....

Bike pogie covers 2.0

 

I finished these in the spring but neglected to make notes at the time. Crocheted with a purple camo yarn i had lots of.

I did shape these. But honestly, they could be rectangles and it would be fine.

Quicker, Takes a fair bit of yarn. Bit more time than one would think. But for sure quicker than the  lined set.

Quick to surface decorate.

Perfectly served the function to brighten up black Mec bike mitts.

Could obvs be easily personalized.

Re price, i don't think you could charge less than $30 for the pair, given the time and yarn volume.

I would make them again if requested. 

CLICK HERE  for a few more pics

Kayak mitts - design notes

 

Finally finished. And weather is right for field testing these.

Worked great. There were decent gusts and waves. 10 c day. There was superficial water spatter on top of the mitts. You could see water beads. But the mitts stayed dry inside & out.

I didnt tighten the  drawstrings around the paddle slots, but could have. Fingers were cool. But when i took hands out to take pics, my hands became noticeably colder.

These took a long time to make. Started in round, 2 needle centre section for paddle slots, back to in round to finish. Stripes since working with scrap & didnt know i had enough yarn. Would be way fewer yarn ends to sew in without stripes. Would eliminate stripes if making for sale to keep time commitment therefore time costs down.

Made mitts long for potential male sizing.  They were too long for me. But i ended up getting extra warmth from grabbing the extra length from inside and  creating another layer of barrier to the air. so i'd keep that length. Maybe make a bit wider for a man.

Had thought about lining them with flannel or fleece. But cloth doesnt repel water as well. So am happy with result unlined.

Has taken me a couple of years of picking away at these.  Timing had to be right to test them.

Generally satisfied with result.

Cold battery workaround

Yesterday I re-experienced a prob i have with the trike in winter - motor chugging, mainly up big hills. I think it's the cold. My fingers were freezing (after taking them out of mitts to take pics) going in the direction of the chugging. When turned and had the wind at my back, fingers thawed and no more chugging.

I have this bike trunk for the Hilltopper battery in summer, just to give it a place to live. The seat post strap is really worn down due to some rubbing i didnt realize was going on. So the batt lives in this trunk on the rat trap. But it almost overheats in spring-summer in there. Half way thru a short ride, I have realized it's noticeably to the touch. So i unzip and let the heat out. (I likely need another solution with better airflow for the HT batt.) But it occurred to me yesterday, maybe that heat buildup could be useful for winter riding.

Shown here is my Solo Rock battery. It's a tight squeeze to get it into this trunk. But it does fit. When i checked the battery this morning - temp +1C, no sun - the batt was cool to the touch. Certainly no signs of overheating. No chugging. Next step - try this on my steep, cold hill for effect on chugging.

Re moisture. I had left the front end, closest to the wheels, unzipped. There were a few water drops on the batt on the open end. I can certainly orient it so that it zips around further. Not sure if it will offer protection from salt.

Perhaps the old slush-proofing go-to, Scotchgard around the trunk. After that, an aesthetic plastic bag for the winter.

So far so good.

Handlebar Mitts (Pogies) - Road Test 3 - Rain - Passed!

Well i think i've taken these as far as i can. Conclusion - they are great if you're making them out of wool and cloth you have at home and don't want to spend money on them. Also are cuter than store-bought options out there.

Was drizzly today, but came down mild to medium hard on way back. Hallelujah - the insides stayed dry! You could feel the top was damp, but there was no dampness inside. See video HERE.

I was worried the minky cloth i ordered from Spoonflower might not work. But i put my hands in and out of the gloves numerous times on this ride, and the insides didn't get wet.

I like all the colour on them, and the bike patterns.  Used duplicate stitch for the letters, needle punch for the bikes, and french knots for snow, flakes, lazy daisy st for the yellow flowers floating out behind the bikes. The Happy Bike print on the cloth liner was so fun. So aesthetic-wise - 200 percent improvement over MEC type pogies.

It was about 4 degrees C when we were out. The kid had cloth bike gloves, and his hands were wet and cold. Mine weren't. If biking sub zero, i would wear  lite biking glove underneath. I do this with my rubber store-bought ones anyway.

They've been a while in the making. I think you could get your money back selling them if you used fun locally sourced flannel (vs specially ordered cloth), as well as wool already in stash. So let's say $30 in wool, $15 in cloth. Time in labour - 3 hours knitting, 1 hr cutting & sewing, 2 hours topical stitching. So undervaluing one's time at $5 an hour, that's $30 in construction time. Total - $75 in time and materials. To buy them in non-black vinyl colours is over $100, so this is still cheaper to make your own, and has way more character.

If you were to make them for other people, i'd ditch the cloth liner. Make a cover for MEC pogies to give character. The top stitching gives quirky pattern and colour. Simplify the design to take 1 hour. Now you're at $30 in wool,  $25 in construction time = $55 time and materials cost. Ditch the embroidery and you're down to $45 time and mat. If you could sell the covers for $50, then you would start making money.

If it's just a cover, you could make from acrylic-wool blend or just acrylic for less cost/more colour. I will try a prototype pogie cover in A or AW blend, and record results.

I think this bodes well for the experiment i want to do on kayak pogies. Basic mitten shape that can be smaller since it doesnt have to stretch over  brake levers, hole thumb and opposite side for paddle shaft to pass thru. Line with flannel to absorb some water, definitely wool shell to repel splashing.

Rewarding project :)

Whole year of cycling - mission accomplished!

I've been loosely keeping a social media record this winter of when I/we have been able to get out on bikes.

I combed thru my google photos last nite, and effective Feb. 21, we've biked all year. Woo hoo!!!

That doesn't mean every single day. Obviously even in summer there are travel days where we might not have biked - travel days, days that are just too busy, or family visiting days. So i have cut myself some slack on that in winter as well. There might have been a 4 -5 day block where we didn't bike, but never as long as a full week.

It takes a few seasons to get all the pieces in place. Changeover to winter was a lot easier this year with a couple of sets of handlebar mitts at the ready in the garage. I think i have 3 balaclavas now.  They give varying degrees of coverage. My go to one is a Mec that goes quite far down the back of the neck. I gravitate to a turtleneck, polar fleece vest, long coat, bala and wool watch cap over top for super cold days. Was -11 C yesterday, and i was fine. Fingertips feel it when you take off glove to shoot a couple of pics! :)

The next hurdle is making your bike easy to get out in winter. We have an old school garage. Mainly well-aged particle board with a new roof and door. (My point here is to show you don't have to have state of the art, HGTV worthy garage to facilitate this.) Making sure winter bikes aren't stuffed way to the back has been key. Our driveway is pea gravel. It gets icy back there. I have the crew make sure there's a decent amount of salt down. Past years the 2nd car, which older son now uses, has blocked  the way out. Car is more in use this year, so it has been easier to shovel thru to maintain a clear path to the road.

Once you're out to the road, you're in the clear! Here in Halton Hills (nw GTA),  the main road ways are clear pretty reliably within 24 hours after a major storm. I have tended to use the adult trike with electric wheel in winter. Heavy, solid, plows thru anything and doesn't skid out. The only problem it has is that if you get stuck on iced over car tire ruts - that leads to a fear of tripping problem. But the main source of problem for that has been my driveway, not any where else.

It has also helped that bike buddy is taller and stronger. It used to be a worry, him not being roadwise enough to look carefully past tall snowbanks at intersections.

My rides weren't long. In general i like having an errand, rather than just riding in loop. Taking pics becomes an errand. Nothing fancy, just even an update to IG story. This kind of project forces you to view your surroundings with a fresh, appreciative eye every day. (Note to self - new theme needed for next winter!)

The pluses:

* no cabin fever thru jan - feb

* no expensive gym membership needed.

* no struggle with unsatisfying sweaty claustrophobic indoor workout

* outdoors essentially every day

* great life skill taught to the kid

* maintained hip  flexibility

* some hip strength retained

* general positive mental health maintained - no SAD, cabin fever etc.


What to do differently:

* incorporate indoor strengthening regime. In the past when locked in on snow days, i have a workout involving paddle strokes and  light repeats/strengthening/ stretching, that i just didnt do this year due to time constraints. But i am missing the upper body tone up, especially on side that has a weaker shoulder.  So i have to protect time for  at least a scaled down version of that.

So i'll keep posting my #winterbiking pics, i guess until equinox - when that would be #springbiking .

But suffice it to say, photo record shows i have already made it thru a full year of biking :D :D :D

Knitted Handlebar Mitts - Test 2

Finally got around to testing these today with their new alpaca liner.

They actually held up fairly well. I think you can see from the pic that my cheeks are pretty red. It was cold. Like about -2 deg C with a brisk wind.

But my hands were fine. I tried them first with a basic stretchy dollar store mini glove inside. No cold issues whatsoever. Not sweaty. You could feel a cool pocket inside the glove. The metal brake handle was cold, never became un-cold, just not as frigid.

Went around the neighbourhood making scout deliveries.  Probably out for around 40 mins. So a lot of stopping and starting as the kid went from house to house. I cooled down. But hands never got cold.

For about a block on the way home, i used no glove inside the mitts. That was also fine. My hands werent cold to the bone. And the hands do slip in and out of the mitt easier.

The mitt has a narrow black alpaca liner on the inside. I wanted to try a tight fit right against the hand for better insulation. You can still feel cold against the skin, but again not bone numbing.

The brake handle does poke thru the liner. But that's the good thing about knitting. it has kind of built in chinks so there's lots of give.

I could have tried tightening off the draw strings to keep more cold out. I didnt really get a chance before the ride was over.

I like how the knit mitt gives you a lot more colour options, which is what i wanted.

The thing i'm not sure is sustainable is the length of time to make it. If I were to sell, i'd like to keep the  price $50 or less. but i think with the extra yarn in the liner and the time to make and stitch together, i wouldnt make money on it.

If you could get the same results from a  knit as you go double layer, like thru Fair Isle stranding, that might cut time. But the patterning is less mindless than i'd like it to be. I wonder if simply weaving an a layer on the wrong side might do it. not tricky, but extra time.

Back to simple pattern Fair Isle. I might have to give up the band i wanted for  duplicate stitch personalization. But that would have taken extra time anyway.

I'm also not sure right now how it does for snow or rain repellent.  It's not going to be as  repellent as plastic, but it might do okay for snow, and get you most of the way home dry in a light rain.

More mulling required, I think.

Flower girl dress - prototype

Well maybe not that much of a prototype. I've made these hybrid knit/cloth dresses for years. I keep asking myself why. Why not just crochet the skirt as well?

I dunno. I think you can make use of some pretty remnants.

And now that mom's gone, it's a way to use cloth connected to a loved one. A long time ago I inherited a bunch of cloth mom had bought when we were tiny kids. I remember some garments she made from them. Even using cloth she thought was pretty kind of makes me happy.

Mom would have loved the classic gingham in this skirt. I had some pieces but none were quite big enough to make the generous hem mom would have approved of.

That's why i added the crocheted picot lace trim. It's not quite the same blue family, but i like the pallet of blues idea.

As for the matching hat, i sewed lots of cotton hats for my girls when they were small. Out of remnants. I had a beautiful yellow one that a librarian commented on one time. It later went missing. I think it was a hit with more than the librarian.

I didnt have enough scraps or time to sew up a hat to match here. So i crocheted the little hat with  fan motif in the hat band.

It still bothered me that the gingham didn't tie in to the hat. Then it hit me - a ribbon thru the wide gaps in the fan. The ribbon is just a strip of the gingham, pinked and stay stitched all around. Thread thru and simply tie in a square knot at the back. Gives a way to snug up on a tiny head, along with say using bobby pins. I also did a small picot strip of the  hem lace to make it seem like less of an after thought as well.

I love this knit bodice with the sort of ribbon tied shoulders. It makes for a nice stretchy fit around round tummies. The shoulder ties allow quite a bit of adjustment for length. I measured this at 14 inches from shoulder to end of lace for the smallest fit on the doll. Tied longer, I could get a length of 18 inches. You could do longer. You might just have to put a lace strip across the chest so it doesn't dip down too far. Obvs you could also wear with a tshirt or turtleneck under it and more of suspendered skirt effect.

The socks are the ribbon embroidered flower  ones i posted a while ago.

The little Mary Jane slipper shoes are ones i also made a while ago. They could be done in any colour.

To adapt to flower girl white, this could be done in  the offwhite of the blanket in photos. Bodice and blanket are same weight craft cotton. Cloth skirt could be eyelet.

I don't think i would need the periwinkle lace piece if i bought a piece of eyelet that was big enough.

That would make the dress cheaper to produce. To account for time, I could probably list the dress for $30 and the hat for $15.

This sundress outfit was originally made for a toddler cousin who had a birthday recently. It has taken me a year to finish - sigh. But I think she can still wear it :D

Fun project.

Knit handlebar mitts - road trial

Ok so i made a 2nd mitt but gathered the top thinking maybe the wide square top of the first try might be colder.

Square top created by 3 needle bind off; round top by thread long tail thru last row.

Square top went over readouts and brake handles better, with less pulling away than round top.

Tested them today. Temp was 3 degrees C when i got back.

Interestingly, the  round top was colder. I;m not sure why.Wonder if it's because the  square style allowed the  warmth of the mitt to rest closer to the hand.

At first i wondered if maybe the wind blew more on the round top hand. But the round top was still colder on the way back when the wind blew on the other hand.

With skin right against the mitt, my hands were chilly but not frozen.

About half way thru the ride, I put on a nylon cycling glove under the mitt. Hands were  toasty that way. Underpad of mitt gave good grip on the thumb throttle and brakes inside mitt.

Went barehanded on last block home. Freezing. Not the coldest i've ever felt. I've also found that when you ride with handlebar mitts, once you get riding, your hands warm up and maybe generate some warm air inside the gloves. So it could be that taking the gloves off at end of ride, a lot of circulation warm up had already happened.

This ride did not test for waterproofing. Not too concerned about that. Most other cycling gloves would  get damp anyway.

I think these mitts are good for slightly below zero and above. If it was winter cold, I would probably go back to my padded  plastic coated pogies.

But the kmitted mitts do what i wanted in terms of really opening up the  colour options with affordable materials. Simple stripes had a nice Hudson Bay blanket kind of look.

I think i could further personalize these with a band of duplicate stitching, which wouldnt have to be in wool. But much more investment in time would take the affordability out of these mitts.

Wool is more expensive. And tighter gauge would be better. But tighter is harder on the fingers to knit - for me anyway.

Probably a decent rate would be $50. Decent price point if you can upgrade with colour. I would probably post at $45 and  try to keep the # of hours down.

With the square top I changed from in the round to back and forth at the  handlebar opening. With  the round glove i continued in the round using a primitive steek technique. A lot more bulk is created. More time bc i;m not so skilled at this. Note to self - keep it simple, go back and forth at opening, add colour thru dup stitch. Idea - x's and o's - love the earth by biking kind of thing.

Certainly worth developing a pattern for:)

The value of learning to knit

It's come up a lot lately. A friend posted that her son needed pure wool socks for an outdoor program. Or that a child lost a glove and department stores had changed to spring clothes so that she couldn't find a replacement pair.

Another friend, a new gramma, posted some pics online from a super expensive baby shop. One thing on her wishlist was a cable knit cap for a newborn that cost at whopping $30. I posted a pic of the aran style cotton watch cap that i make. One of her commenters asked for the pattern. I doodled it out on a desktop sticky note, and have finally listed a pattern for it.

Not being able to find what i wanted when i wanted it - that's why i stoked up the knitting and sewing engines when my older kids were young. Finding well-made classic decently-priced items for children should be easier. But it's not. If you want it done right, you've gotta do it yourself.

So friends, learn to knit. You could start with this easy baby hat ;)

Recent genius :O ideas

I keep tinkering with  the posting/listing/payment platform for the writing component of Goodyarns.

I've learned a lot from the sweater pattern listings.

I like how Esty's immediate digital downloads works. The customer gets the pdf instantly and I get paid instantly.

I don't know why it's taken me so long for this penny to drop on auto renew. The 1-up listings usually expired after 3 months. If i want to keep something online without site maintenance, that didn't seem a great longterm option. But if I list something like 999 available, it will keep auto-renewing.

This is great news for the books, patterns, lesson sets, etc.

My books on Createspace are reaching a dead end bc the site wants US tax info which i don't have time to invest  in figuring out the Canadian workaround.

But i don't face this tax problem with Etsy listings.

I also don't like how with Createspace, I had to choose from some pretty bland cover art, when the artwork Holly created for the original printing was the first best most beautiful approach, complete with small turtle. I'd rather go with my own covers.

I have my own plastic comb binding punch, and it's not that big a deal to bind the books.

The costly part now is colour printing. We just printed a couple of copies of a collab picture book B and I worked on - as Christmas presents for relatives. But it cost too much money for colour on all inside pages. And I'm not happy with how reducing his inside illustrations cut out all his fabulous detail. Would rather insert full page of colour art 1 page at a time, if you know what i mean.

But - if I just do colour covers, and all the inside pages in black and white, then there's potential for kids/recipients/readers to treat as a colouring/activity book.

My older kids went thru a phase about 10 yrs ago of making their own activity books for friends. So made up their own colour by number, connect the dots, word searches, crosswords, etc.

As far as an instant download goes, I suppose you could pitch it as a kit, and your pdf would include an instruction page that lists materials you need to finish, such as simple binding instruction such as using paper tape.

Yes, I'm starting to like where this is going very much....

Pay-it-forward Listings

It's been fun over the years to add items to the shop that help other people.

With many charitable organizations connected to Canada Helps, it's drop dead easy to forward money to them via Paypal.

The first additions to the philanthropy/fundraising section of the shop (these are buttons down the left hand side of the shop page where common sought items are loosely grouped) were fundraising books for a youth humanitarian trip. For the 2010 trip, the group developed a poetry book, and for the 2012 trip, we developed a children's picture book. These are also listed on Amazon. And I was able to upload lots of sample pages so people can 'see inside.'

Another fundraising piece was the lined tuque called the Tyler hat, in memory of the son of a friend we met on the trips whose son died after a short yet valiant battle with brain cancer. Since it benefits Winnipeg Inner City Missions, the idea was for it to combat the notoriously frigid Winnipeg winters. The design has kept evolving. I've stuck with the basic tuque or beanie. And I may add a lined earflap hat.

A third prong features the cotton baseball-style caps for youngsters (see pic above) for the mission of a friend doing great work in Cambodia. These are quick and easy little caps to make. But i wanted them to have some value added. At first I had sunglasses. But the extra needs to be always replaceable, and I can't always source the glasses. Now I have a 3D applique of a flower with face for girls, and a turtle hiding in its shell for boys. It would be better if they were toys. I think i just need to attach a back circle with lite stuffing to make the turtle a toy. The flower is probs ok as is. And affix without a pin - a round soft plastic stitch marker might do.

Another way the shop helps out in the community is thru donating items. i've donated sweaters, dog coats, HP toys to silent auctions. I'm always open to hearing a good pitch.

I definitely want to keep growing this dimension of the shop.

Well past time to update this blog!

It's been about a yr and 1/4 since we moved to the new house.

Late summer - fall - pre-Christmas I was basically cranking out sweaters.

I have about 5 started at the moment.

I tried an experiment a couple of yrs ago where I made up a couple of sweaters in cheaper yarn. Even with the price adjusted, they just didn't sell. I think i ended up putting one into a fundraising silent auction.

But I might try it again. I still have all that cheaper yarn. What else am I going to do with it. It may have been  a case of not framing the listings just right. For the record even tho I told potential buyers about these cheaper ones, they went the ones EXACTLY LIKE THE PICTURE because that's what the recipient wanted.

And I'm realizing sometimes people sit on a potential purchase for a long time. I was really surprised when I sold a sweater that had been lingering for more than a year to a person who said she'd been viewing it for a long time. It was a gorgeous sweater, and I was sad it was languishing. It could not have  found a more appreciative home. Lesson learned - maybe I just need to leave the listings posted a little longer.

Still thinking of making up (and selling?) stitch charts for  all 26 letters. I mean, sure, people could do this themselves. But right now it ends up being me spending a chunk of time working up custom letters when asked. Worth a try, I guess.

Motivated to do a new photo shoot since the first time since the move. As usual, based on customer queries. My models are older and moving on. Lucky I found my doll model today!

Sold a couple of Cousteau type watch caps out of the blue last week. Need to freshen up my hat inventory.

Good to finally get my child's HP sweater photo'd and posted. It's been sitting around for months.

Time to get going and root around in my stash...

Fall 2012

Well I am having a bit of market withdrawal. Kelly asked for gross sales figs recently, and i was surprised to see i made $587. The bulk of earnings came from 2 events - 1 sweater sale and the last day, which was brutally cold. I was selling knit hats like 60. Probably did close to $200 that day.

So what does that mean  - cold summers are good for knitwear vendors. The jewelry guys were doing $200 each week. It would definitely be nice to do $200 a day more often.

Have started selling patterns of the weasley sweaters. They sell steadily. Now have large 1 size R, lg 1 size H and child's W. Am building up a bit of a stockpile of ready to ship sweaters. There's always someone who wants one somewhat suddenly.

The pattern experiment has been good - i do have other text products i could concentrate on.

One customer had the nerve to open a case against me on Etsy. So irritating. To open a case, the item has to be undelivered or be not what was expected. Customer opened case after 2 weeks on a custom item that wasn't even going to be finished for 3, and would take 2 wk to ship. Clearly there were no ground to open it at all. Appealed to Etsy. Sent a screen cap of Can Post graph showing item was received 3 days ago. Hang on - this just in - Etsy sends email that case has been resolved and closed.  What a relief. I hated seeing that little red warning bar. And receiving the warning email. Wondering if the cust was not very bright or trying to get something out of it - faster more expensive shipping at my expense, perhaps. Friends, govern yourselves accordingly.

We've listed the house. Looking to downsize, fewer steps, lower mortgage. Living out of boxes is a bit hard. I've got my essential kn supplies sort of  isolated. Went looking for guitar pieces to work up some christmas stuff. Well, I've got it moved up from boxes in the basement. Maybe tomoro.

So we beat on. Tiny house is so appealing. Along with my teardrop trailer.

Best wishes much appreciated!

Omg - the market is nearly over!

Well, a lot has gone on since my last entry.

Our Manitoba mission trip has come and gone. The time again went by too fast. Our schedule gets so crowded there wasn't time to try my bison fleece experiment. But we have a bison ranch out here near Milton. So maybe Benny and I can do a road trip out there for that purpose this fall.

I have picked up the yarn for some fine gauge alpaca socks for Stella and some slippers for Audrey. The house is a disaster what with getting ready to sell, but i have managed to keep these precious parcels aside.

I have gotten totally hooked on camping, am dying for a teardrop trailer, and dream about a handmade wooden one, maybe arranging for someone to make it for me for my honey for our 25th anniv in 2 yrs. Would also like a really sweet tiny home, but that will take more of a sales pitch.

Cambodia Kevin  had an FB status a day ago saying Manna4Life has been awarded NGO status in Cambodia - PTL!

And i'm still mulling whether the market experiment has worked.

On the one hand, i love the market. I'd rather be outside shilling knitwear any day than be stuck indoors at a mall.

On the other hand, my kind of classic knitwear doesn't seem to generate that much interest with the market crowd. You're there mainly thru summer, so i was making up cotton knits like crazy just to have something seasonal. But that's not what i want to spend my time doing. I ended up having a lot of sweater orders, and honestly, the time would have been better spent  remuneratively out on my deck with a cup of coffee filling orders. There are really only 4 weeks of the market where people are thinking about cold weather knitwear. Around Labour day, it was still hot and little kids were chuckling about who would buy mittens in summer. (I had only just put them out).

The only other variable is  whether or not the regulars would get used to seeing you there over the cycle of another summer and come to you with orders and gift ideas.

But i tell you, 5 am comes painfully early if traffic to your tent is light.

Depending on how flush we are and how ambitious i am, it might be worth considering for next year taking out a full time vendor  spot, but planning not to be there too much in the spring.

But it is fun and friendly. Has been worth a try. I really wanted it to work. The jury is still to a certain degree out.

Planning, however, to fully enjoy (split infinitive) my last 2 weeks there.

Market friends

The market experience continues to evolve. Highlight this week occurred when Joshua swung by to pick up the maple leaf skullcap he had asked for last week. The look on his face was priceless. It's so nice to be able to gauge in person how the customer reacts to their custom order. He clearly loved it.

One of the wonderful BAC volunteers helped me set up my booth last week. Note to self - double check that all weights have been lifted out of the car. When i went to set up, I had only 3 weights. Luckily my friend Margaret was on the way and i was able to get her to look for the errant weight.

Meantime the wind picked up, and we had a solid little downpour. I have all my inv pegged to bungie clotheslines hooked between the legs of my stall. I was fairly effortless able to swing all the lines to the interior  right under the roof. So nothing got damaged.

The watercolour vendor beside me was not quite so lucky. There was a bit of water damage to some of her matts. However the day became searingly hot by the end, so my damp socks dried out completely. And when i glanced at her matts they seemed to have dried up too.

Other vendors were busy hanging their walls when the rain came. i don't have them and felt a bit incomplete without them. But i noticed the wind wobbled the stall with wall more than it did mine. And as long as all the merch stayed dry, I'm happy with my solution.

It's the first day i hung the HP sweaters, blue and black - i don't have a demo version of the red left. I thought this would be pointless as i'm not doing the greatest traffic in small ticket items. But a lot more people stopped by and lingered over the sweaters. Go figure. Gotta get a red one worked up.

Have had 2 bits of feedback about not preferring the moccasin style men's slippers. Not sure what they want but i can work up a sample of a more common look. Not what i would want, tho.

Someone took a card interested in crochet lessons.

It was great to have Marg come by. We got a lot of planning done for the upcoming Manitoba trip. And she brought me a much needed coffee and mini banana loaf. And the formula of me setting up early morning, and having hubby come and help me for vehicle fetching at teardown worked quite well. And i even found a wheelchair ramp close to the elevator/washroom doors that makes it easier to do that side trip. The cooler temps helped. Will be glad when the dog days of July are behind us.

Market love

Well, I've survived 2 days at the market, Art in the Open to be specific.

Today I made 15x more than last week. Things are lookin' up!

I think it's the yarns part of GoodYarns that loves the market. Today a young woman named Princess asked if I make tuque style hats, and how much. I told her that depended on whether for child or adult, etc. She asked if I knew the movie Aquatic Life, which my daughter Holly had acquainted me with this winter. Hey, as a kid that grew up wanting to work on the Calypso, I loved that movie. Anyway the customer is looking for mom and tot Team Zizou hats - and i love this concept. Whether  this plan makes it to completion or not doesn't matter. The exchange was so hilarious.

Another customer was a lovely young lady named Holly. She tried on my oversize Gryffindor tam, and it looked fabulous on her. Anna, the vendor beside me let Holly use her mirror (gotta get me one of those - thanks Anna!) I told her my Holly, the quintessential HP fan, would definitely approve.

One returning visitor loves the HP display, and has informed me these are the Motherwell team colours.  Someone else told me if i want to sell more, tell people these are the colours of the Brampton Excelsior, the local lacrosse team.

I've given away quite a few business cards to people simply looking for knitting or crochet lessons. Gerard will be returning to a pair of half decent man slippers, navy blue.

My old neighbour John dropped by today and picked up a cute pink, jute and orange cotton ball cap for new-ish granddaughter Zoe.

It's exhausting - getting up at 5 am, which i never do. Lugging my carcass and canopy over there, hanging up my weights, setting up my bungie cord clothes lines, and then the rush to tear down.

But it is really fun. Shooting for my 10x the cost per day next week. Might just make it!