It's going to be good

So I'm on the road for a few days this week for work, and as usual at a hotel, I'm not sleeping well. I think the fridge made some kind of weird noise at 3am which woke me up and I just couldn't fall asleep again. I should have had the sleepy time tea my mom gave me! I feel like that really does help me stay asleep longer.

I laid there for awhile and eventually decided to catch up on my blog reading. I need to figure out a way to mark the posts that I love and really want to comment on. I think I should start using the bookmark feature on feedly to remind myself to go back and comment. I feel like when I'm reading blogs, I'm just not in a headspace to make the thoughtful comment that I want to, so ultimately I don't. Plus when I'm reading on my phone, some blog platforms aren't all that friendly to phone commenting. I can't tell you how many great comments have been eaten by my phone! Then there are some blogs that just don't like me - I wanted to comment on Erin's (http://pbsandwch.wordpress.com) blog to congratulate her on baby #3, but it always asks me to sign into a wordpress account I don't have! 

Anyway, that was a long tangent that devolved into a different post I've been meaning to write, about how I would love to be more thoughtful about the blogs I love and am inspired by. So two for one I guess. My ORIGINAL point is that after about 30 minutes of reading, I gave up and resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get any more sleep. Yesterday was a long day of meetings with a brutally early start, some went better than others, but ultimately I think will resolve well. I had a pretty good dinner with coworkers. I'm missing my family like CRAZY and can't WAIT to see them and squeeze them tonight, especially with a bout of illness in our household. I've got a to do list a mile long and there's nothing I can do about it now. 

And yet. With so much on my mind, totally exhausted, I just had this incredible feeling of....I don't even know. Hope. Happiness. Contentment. Love. Just so much positivity washed over me and it's so unlike me to say any of that but there you go. Nothing specific. Just good. I dashed off a quick text to let my husband know I was thinking of him. I got up and decided to make the most of my newfound time by taking a leisurely shower and having a cup of hotel coffee. I've got more than enough time to finish up the order for Julie (https://www.etsy.com/listing/165587253/hand-knit-toddlerchildrens-mittens) that will go out Saturday, though I wish I'd planned ahead enough to bring the yarn for my next slipper order (https://www.etsy.com/listing/118129146/tall-womens-cottage-slipper-socks)! And with that I'm going to try to hold on to that good feeling through another long day. Hopefully by putting that good energy out there, it'll come back to me. :)

(Also I kind of want a nutribullet now. Darn you hotel infomercials!)

Just enough

 

Talk about cutting it close. I was getting quite nervous as I bound off! This is 1/12 of a group project, so hopefully I'll have a picture of the finished item in a few weeks. I also REALLY hope that my gauge is accurate. I used the larger size needles that the pattern suggested, and it seemed like the right dimensions as I was knitting, but my finished dimensions feel a bit on the small side. I've currently got it pinned out on my floor and gave it a bit of a steam to hopefully stretch it a bit to match the others.

Now on to mitten #2 of an open order! I'm so happy I was able to fit in this bit of personal knitting. :)

So do something about it then

So in yesterday's post, I was hyperbolically complaining about the cold like so many of us do in these ridiculous-even-for-winter weather conditions, just generally trying to be funny. But then I went to wrap it up with the realization that, uh, not only do I not actually have to go outside in said cold for more than about a minute per day, but I have more than sufficient means to keep warm. Which then made me feel like a total whiny....well, a-hole.

Rather than delete the whole thing, I decided to make it a self-teachable moment. I immediately looked up a local charity that I actually volunteered for in the food pantry several years back - to get my architectural license I logged about 80 hours of community service. Isn't that funny that it's a requirement for a professional license? I don't know the details of WHY it's required, but I kind of liked it. It seems like unless you are part of a religious organization, which I am not, many of us fall out of any kind of volunteerism as adults, so it was a nice push. Anyway, I saw that they give clothing right to the people who need it, which is exactly what I was looking for. I often give to Goodwill, but I feel like they just resell donated goods and use the profits to help people - which is great, but I have a perfectly good down jacket that right now could be much more useful on someone's back than as cash in pocket, you know?

Pardon creepy dog-flash-eyes. He can't resist something soft on the floor.

So yeah, I found a coat from college that is super warm that I forgot I even HAD, so clearly, I don't need it. I also found a bunch of hats, scarves and mittens that are in great shape that I just don't wear.

 

I even found one of my very first crochet projects, a VERY unfortunately colored blanket. It's hideous, and I must have run out of purple so I decided that neon would be the perfect thing to make it longer? Good lord, I have no idea. BUT, it's actually seamed together pretty sturdily and it's quite soft. May as well give it a shot at some use rather than hiding out in ugly shame under my bed, along with a couple sweatshirts that haven't seen much action.

So yeah, I don't know. I didn't sit down to do resolutions, but don't be a jerk whiner and help others seems like a pretty adequate goal for life in general. I'll be dropping off these 3 bags of warmth tonight, and meanwhile trying to complain about my first world problems a little less.

What the "polar vortex" means to me

It's cold and it's dark, and there is precious little that makes me think that prying myself from my warm bed is a viable idea. And this is despite investing in a programmable thermostat that warms the house up to a tolerable temperature and a sunrise alarm clock that is supposed to trick me into thinking that there might be something worth seeing. Oh no self, you can't outsmart me. I know that the blanket fort is where it's AT.

On my day off this week I rearranged the furniture in my living room to resemble a giant couch-bed and piled it high with blankets while decked out in my snuggliest fleece. I considered this a perfectly reasonable way to spend the day.

At any given time, I might be wearing 2-3 full outfits simultaneously. No, I don't pick out my work clothes this time of year based on what might look cute. I choose my pants based on which ones have enough extra room to fit my under armor running tights and still button. Which in itself is laughable, because I don't run, and I sure as h*ll don't run when it's cold!!

I don't tend to dress in bright colors. I know that probably there is some psychology that says that seeing bright, cheerful colors boosts one's outlook....but again, I'm too smart for that nonsense, self. You might be able to get away with that in springtime, when it might actually warm up to a reasonable temperature in the foreseeable future. But now? It's January. The BEGINNING of January. I know that this is only the beginning, and therefore I prefer to tuck in and pile on as much clothing as possible, most of which is black....gray....charcoal gray....navy if I'm feeling crazy/it happens to be a thick sweater. Maybe the dark colors remind me of still being asleep? Warm in my bed? Which is my favorite thing lol.

I also begin to seriously regret not knitting more for myself. I would love to have a good pair of wool socks and a super cozy oversized grannyish sweater. Instead I just put on as many thin Old Navy sweaters as I can get away with and make a mental note to spend time this summer knitting for ME. Yes, it might be somewhat unpleasant if it's 80 degrees....but the payoff will be worth it!

I begin to think crazy skewed thoughts when facing a high of -10 with windchills around, oh, -50. Thoughts like oh, it's going to get up to 10 degrees today! Above zero! That sounds not so bad! And what's that you say? Almost UP to freezing this weekend? Huh, might as well chuck the hats and play outside!

Mostly though, I keep these thoughts to myself and thank my lucky stars that I don't actually HAVE to spend any time outside. It also gives me the thought to clear out that basket of "just in case I need it" winter stuff like hats and gloves that I don't really wear, and get myself to the nearest shelter. Like tonight.

Year End Thoughts

I've taken an unintentional break from the internet these past few weeks. It was an unusually busy end of year at work, with a huge design effort culminating in back to back week trips (one 2 days, the other a sort of massive 4 days....the week before Christmas). Most years it seems that projects kind of wind down before the holidays and end of year because there simply aren't the people around to pay them proper attention on the clients' side due to travel and vacations and such, so deadlines simply get set for sometime in January. But this year that was not the case, so that alone has me feeling a bit turned around. I mean....I had to have my husband address our Christmas cards! I did the list for him, but now in hindsight I can think of a handful of people I would have added had I been doing them myself, but you just have to do what you can do and let the rest go sometimes.

On top of the sort of odd frenzy at work, my little shop has had sort of an incredible year! I felt like I was a knitting machine these past few weeks (which has me thinking a bit how I'll want to differently handle next year's holiday season), and I finally had a chance to look at the numbers while I found myself awake at a sort of ungodly hour. I ended up sending out 17 hand knit or crochet goodies from November to beginning of December, plus another 2.5 on deck. (For fun, this compares to just 6 orders last year plus another 3 that came in just after the holidays through the end of January, with roughly the same non-existent level of marketing.) At one point earlier this month I was actually feeling simultaneously thrilled and a bit sick at the thought of it that I actually backed out of a craft fair I was supposed to do back on December 7, which is SO not like me. (Oh man, that actually reminds me that I didn't even include craft fair numbers in that count!) I set an order deadline for the shop to promise orders by Christmas and then I kept a close eye on the posted ship dates for USPS to deliver by Christmas Eve. Thank goodness they didn't seem to have the delivery issues that UPS and FedEx reported this year! In a fashion that is again, seriously unlike me, I found myself flying off to the post office minutes before they closed on multiple days before Christmas to get packages out on time. I even had to go so far to have to express just one of two pairs of legwarmers to my cousin, which would account for the "half" order on deck. I feel terrible about that, but I guess in trying to make the best of it I can adjust the fit of the second pair if needed, and there will certainly be some extra goodies in the second package for her little girl!


I had a hard time falling asleep last night as well, with tons of post ideas rolling around in my head, most of which I of course cannot remember now. One of them was definitely how I'd like to change up my shop process for next year. For starters, I think I need to pre-make some of my more popular items. While I definitely like the option for people to pick and choose their color and size, and will continue to offer that option, I bet I could take a little pressure off myself by examining the trends so far. The cottage slipper socks were definitely my most popular item both this year and last, and the colors trended sort of the same way as well - mostly the oatmeal color that's pictured as well as charcoal gray, and mostly size medium. They are probably the most expensive item in my shop on my end in terms of materials, which has always stopped me from keeping them in stock, but now that they've sold pretty steadily for two seasons, I'd be ok making up a few pairs in advance.

 

Last year I sold several of the long tail elf hats, but only a few this year via Etsy - I sold a few more at craft shows. Those are pretty low impact to make up ahead though, and I feel like the color options are more limited for the "standard" item - mainly reds and greens for Christmas colors, and it wouldn't hurt to have some newborn sizes in pink and blue around as well.

Toddler mittens were sort of a whim for me - basically I toyed around with a few different designs because I needed some, and listed them on the site for kicks. They've been flying! It sort of boggles my mind that people don't seem hesitant to pay $18 for kid's mittens, but that's a fairly middling price compared to others I've seen around on Etsy. There also doesn't seem to be a ton in the standard chain stores (from my super limited search) for an every day mitten that isn't the hardcore, playing in the snow for hours, enormous puffy deal. Definitely a time and place for those, but the run to daycare really isn't it. So while these are more time intensive than the elf hats, they've been pretty solid and are lower in cost for materials as I can make several pairs from a single ball or skein of yarn, that's another one I think I would consider keeping in stock. Especially since I had to turn down an inquiry for a bulk order! That one bummed me out, because I'd have loved to help this person out....there was just no way to do it before the end of the year. It's just me over here! As much as I enjoy knitting and this brave new retail world, I can't let myself take on too much to the detriment of my family life.

To sort of spin off that last line...I'm a little jealous of all of my customers! I have some generously gifted sock yarn just sitting in my disaster of a craft room/ office/ let's face it, it's the cat's room that I would love to turn into socks for myself...but the time just isn't there! Standard socks....while they are seemingly a staple for many knitters, they've always intimidated me. I'm not exactly sure why! I make the slipper socks, so I probably know all the techniques. But the yarn and needles I use for that are many times larger than those for real socks that are actually meant to fit inside shoes lol. I guess I worry that when working with such small tools that it won't feel like I ever make any progress? I definitely enjoy knitting as a hobby, but lately life has been all about deadlines, so the thought of knitting on a longer turn around is a little scandalous to me!

In addition to my apparently guilty pleasure, personal sock knitting, I have at LEAST 2 other things I'd like to make for my nearest and dearest....plus new ideas for the shop. I've got my sister testing out a new product, er, Christmas present....an earwarmer headband thing. I made a few earlier this year that I wasn't happy with, and whipped out this new one just in time for Christmas. Literally...I mean like hours before I gave it to her! Given that amount of development, I'm not ready to list it yet, so I'll have to see what she thinks. Always trust little sisters to give you true, honest feedback! Plus I want to develop a shorter, slip-on slipper. I LOVE my tall slippers, but they really only work with leggings, skinny jeans/jeggings, or tights. I want more of an every day deal to leave lying by the back door that I can put on when I get home from work with normal pants. Bonus to self - I would get to keep the samples for myself! I also have a charity hat to knit (that I was supposed to have done by December 16! Ouch!) that will really move to the very top of my list after my paid orders are out the door. More than I need a nice pair of socks....a warm hat for someone in need is certainly more important this winter. So with that....since sleep doesn't look likely and who has time for proofreading...off to knitting!

Ok West Elm, I'm Impressed!

So earlier this week, I posted about this runner I got from West Elm a few weeks back that was pretty off kilter.

I'd been waffling about whether or not to return it, even though it's obviously flawed. Mostly because it seemed like too big of a pain to find an open UPS drop place. First world problems, I know, right? Well anyway, after a little encouragement, I finally just sent them an email inquiry to see if this was typical of all of these rugs, or if mine was indeed messed up. (I guess I thought that perhaps they would rely on the handstamped nature of the rug as a reason? Like handmade imperfection? Which, uh, as a handmade maker I really try to avoid myself, so that seems silly even to me.)

Anyway, I was just using their online form so there wasn't a way to attach this photo (and I certainly didn't direct them to my blog, because who the h*ll am I?), but I offered to send it if they wanted to follow up. So yesterday, I actually got a personal phone call assuring me that no, that was definitely NOT normal - no photo needed. And not only could I exchange this item, which is now on final sale, but she was going to arrange for UPS to pick it up at my house AND provide a mailing label! Which honestly was another reason I hadn't done the exchange earlier - I would either have to wrestle with my home printer which is always out of ink somehow, or remember to print it at work which is impossible. (Oh lord, how lazy can I be?!?!) Then they'll have a new one to me in about a week!

I have to say, this has been one of the most pleasant customer service experiences I've ever had!

Madness

Madness is certainly an apt description of life of late. Madness is also how I might describe the decision to do 3 craft shows, 2 weeks apart, with 2 weeks of initial prep. And shall we also add in entirely new products? And we can't forget that the Etsy shop is in full swing of the holiday rush! These are all not bad problems to have in the scope of things though, that's for sure. Every spare moment it seems has been spent with busy hands, knitting, sewing, crocheting, oh boy, is my house a mess and have we ever been eating a lot of delivery food! And as it happens, otherwise occupied hands make for a blog full of crickets. I'm quite sure that I actually took a bunch more photos with my good camera with all intentions of blogging about them, but as it turns out I can't seem to connect any time to blog with access to those photos, so a few phone shots to catch up it is!

So here we have 2 new items that haven't yet made it into the Etsy shop, but did do the rounds at 2 of 3 craft fairs so far. The mug cozy is something that I initially thought was just cute and would be quick to whip up several of them in order to actually have some stock to offer at these shows. But wouldn't you know it....they actually work!?! I have a habit of making myself a cup of tea at work, getting distracted, and remembering it's there only to take a sip and it's gross and cold. This little wrap though actually keeps it warm for about 45 minutes and drinkable and not gross for an hour! Holy cow. So I hope to have some more of these ready to go in the shop before x-mas, as I think they would make a cute stocking stuffer. I also took time during the shows to keep crafting, and came up with these sweet little flowers. I sold them as hair clips, but I would love to add them to some hats - I think it could really "girl" up something like the newsboy hat. (Also, shellac manicures DO last a really long time without chipping! They also give you some mad noticeable grow-out if you find yourself without the time to properly remove it, haha)

 

This is unrelated to anything, but I ordered this rug from West Elm....and it's totally crooked on one side. I haven't decided if it bugs me enough to return or exchange it. I ordered it before it went down to the final sale price on the website....so I think I could still exchange? It's not so bad laid out as is, with the crooked side toward the door. But I can't really rotate it (it's a runner) without that crooked part looking me in the eye, so I guess if I keep it, it just won't wear evenly. Which....for the $40 I spent....maybe that's ok? Maybe it's time to just get the rug pads out for it so it stops slipping all over the place and call it a day? And find a rug for the living room and stop living in musical rugs madness (that's a whole other story!).

 

 

One (of many) pairs of sweet little mittens going out the door. These have been crazy popular in the shop. I think I have 4 pairs to make in the next week!!

Oh boy. I shouldn't be sent to the store with no time limits.......

But I think it was worth it! I've started making these tote bags after discovering a miraculous source of those awesome, funky printed coffee sacks (and chocolate too! Those are coming!). I'm totally digging them. They are super roomy inside, big enough for a laptop, with all kinds of inside pockets for cords, and phone, and whatnot, with a magnetic clip on top to keep it all contained. The front and bottom are super durable burlap material, cut to include all the cool printing, and pre-washed and dried to soften them up. Then I made the back out of this soft fleece with some added interfacing for strength, tough cotton webbing for the straps, and contrasting lining fabric! So far these have been craft show exclusive, but after my last show on Dec. 7, I plan on listing anything left (and any more I'm able to make) in the shop as ready to ship items. Most of what I do knit-wise is made to order so that I can customize colors and sizes, but since these prints are unique, it's tough to do custom. Bright side though is that there's no lag time, so they would also make good x-mas gifts!

 

And finally, just some shots from this weekend that pretty much typify what I'm doing when I'm not here. Watching the rain, filling the house with fall scents (I love this "mountain lodge" candle from Yankee Candle - it is such a light scent that it smells like nothing in the sensory overload of the store, but is juuuust right when you get it home. I hate overpowering smells, even good ones!), and settling in with a hot cup of tea to work on more Etsy orders (that's a cottage slipper sock). At least until the end of naptime!

Happy Halloween!

I've been ridiculously busy these past few weeks, using every available minute to get ready for my first craft fair this weekend, as well as keeping on top of a few orders from my etsy shop. A good problem to have for sure, but it makes for busy hands!!

But in the spirit of Halloween, this crazy pumpkin pyramid appeared near my house, and I just had to get a picture of it all lit up. Pretty impressive!!

Of Late

Wow. How do those daily/multiple times per week bloggers do it!? I feel like I've been so busy with life in general that there simply isn't time to upload photos, have a thought, write a post....but I've definitely been up to some things, so here's a snapshot. Or two.

We took serious advantage of a "fill your car for just $28" special at a local farm, and Halloween'ed up the cottage. I think I'll have time to carve approximately zero of these pumpkins, but I'm still enjoying the way the pumpkins make the untrimmed planting beds look almost on purpose. However this might not look quite so cute in February....since I doubt we'll actually get them cleaned up before the snow falls!

 

We found an amazing deal on a place to stay through my friend's aunt's friend (got that?) in Manhattan, so we were NYC-bound for a long weekend to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary! We had the most ridiculously good weather for mid-October. It was nice enough to walk around without jackets most of the time! I've been there twice before, but I haven't done the really touristy stuff either time, either because I was "too cool" or too cheap. But this time we went to the top of several buildings as well as visiting the Statue of Liberty which re-opened during the government shutdown just in the nick of time.

 

Pretty much the entire results of my garden...all grown without any assistance from me. The herbs that I'm drying (holy cow, how domestic am I?!) are entirely self seeding, and the little pumpkins and gourds are kind of weeds. I guess my compost doesn't get hot enough, and squash sort of comes up willy nilly, but this year I actually got some little pumpkins! The potted herbs I've actually managed to keep alive indoors all summer, which is a small miracle. Turns out houseplants like water! Who knew!

Finally in the background, I've always thought that doing a craft fair might be fun. I rejoined the devil known as facebook, and saw that a friend was doing a couple. I asked if she might be interested in a booth buddy, and she said she was! So since then, I've been busily knitting and crocheting my fingers to the bone to try to build up some sort of inventory that I hope people will like. Because I'm not super bright and the first show is in less than two weeks!! Worse comes to worse, it will be a fun way to figure out if I want to do any more of these in the future and it will basically be a win if I can sell enough to cover my half of the booth fee. Plus if things don't sell I can always put them up as ready to ship items in my shop! (and omg I'm not actually going to be selling socks at these craft fairs - that's a book that one of my knitting group members generously lent me. I would love to be able to knit my own socks, but I think I'll have time for that in approximately 3 years.)

So! Whew! That really does feel like a lot going on lately!

Has this ever happened before?

On deck for me today:

9:00 - brow wax
9:15 - manicure/pedicure
11:15 - massage

Whaaat?! I think the last time I was THAT pampered was the day before my wedding. And I didn't get a massage that day, and I probably was stressed out about something. How did I get myself such a trifecta (quadfecta?) of a day? Well, I got a gift certificate/reimbursement thing from work a few months ago for a job well done that I could use for ANYTHING I wanted. I wanted to use it all up at the same time because I needed to put it all on one expense report. I originally planned to just get the mani/pedi and buy myself some gift certificates for massage so that I could make the pampering last as loooong as possible. However...yesterday I started to feel my neck going out AGAIN (seriously, that would be the sixth time this year....I thought it was a joke that you start falling apart at 30. It is not.) so I lucked out in that I could actually get in for one today. Huzzah! And I'll still pick up a certificate for another at a later date.

I'm just guessing. But I think it will be the best. day. ever!

I love/hate technology

My smartphone is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me.

Someone asked me last night what I liked and didn't like about my phone, as she's in the market for a smartphone. I have an iPhone 4s, which is sort of irrelevant to my train of thought here, but anyway. I love that I always have a camera on hand now, and so many moments that I would usually miss because I feel weird carrying around a real camera are easily captured. I love that I can quickly and easily share cute videos or pictures with my family via text or email. I love that I now have GPS even if my car doesn't. I love that I can check the weather forecast from beneath the jumble of my blankets without even fully opening my eyes. (I admit though that I sometimes remind myself of Phoebe from Friends, the one where she walks into the apartment and asks, "Hey, can we turn on the TV? I think it's raining outside.") I love that I can access all my favorite blogs and shopping and to do lists and schedule with a few taps. I love streaming Netflix on my laptop, which in combination with my DVR totally makes up for our lack of cable tv, because it saves me from flipping through the channels to relax and lets me watch what I want, when I want.

But.....I feel like it often overtakes my life. I despise looking up from my phone, and seeing my husband totally absorbed in his as well, both of us completely tuning out the room, and each other. I love pulling the laptop into bed so that I can knit and watch Real Housewives of whatever before I go to sleep while simultaneously referencing my pattern online.....but I also hate realizing that my husband is downstairs watching tv and working on his laptop far too late into the night at the same time.

I like that everything is all neatly bundled into my smartphone, but every time I think of taking a technology free weekend I have so many, well what about this questions. Like, well I would turn it all off but then it's also kind of our home phone so what if someone needs me? Or what if I ONLY use it to take and send that daily photo? (And if I pre-schedule a daily email does that even achieve the purpose of unplugging? Or is that cheating?) Or what if I'm knitting and I haven't printed out my pattern, can I fire it up to check on it then? And what if my husband implodes from not being able to do his fantasy sports or whatever it is that he's over there pecking away at? Doesn't the very fact that I have so much heartburn over the mere suggestion of 48 phone/laptop/tb free hours - EVEN when I'm just proposing it TO MYSELF - say that this is sort of a problem?

I'm not sure if I have a point here.....this is just a stream of consciousness that I felt the need to document. Electronically......(is this irony?)

"Those" parties

As a woman of a certain age, it's no surprise that many of my social engagements are "parties." You know what I'm talking about. Mary-Kay, Arbonne, Scentsy, Partylite....the direct sales gigs. Some people despise them and avoid them like the plague, but I get it man. I mean, it's your friends. It's not like they're going to give you the hard sell or make you feel bad if you don't buy. I suspect most of them are doing it for the discounted stuff you get for throwing a party anyway! And yeah, a lot of them might be doing it to earn a little extra money for the family, which, hi, I totally get.

Plus, confession time, I LOVE infomercials. LOVE. I didn't have cable as a child, and actually I still don't. So during those weird times of day when we wanted to veg out and no cartoons were on....the infomercials were. And oh, how I would watch them. They were so good. Somehow they made 12 year old me long for a Ronco food dehydrator. I've never ordered anything off an infomercial itself. Despite my love for them, I'm pretty tight fisted and more amused than swayed by the inevitable "but just wait!! If you order in the next 5 minutes we'll quadruple your order and knock off two payments!" pitch. (I will admit to in-store purchase of OxyClean - that stuff got an entire glass of red wine out of my brand new couch. It looked like someone had been shot and there is no evidence of it today. Sold. Also, fun fact, when you put a red wine stained white pillow cover into a sink full of OxyClean, the stain first turns a terrifying shade of dark blue before disappearing. Science, I guess? Also I was gifted a Snuggie, and I love that thing, lol.) (I also watched a ton of late night infomercials when I was plagued by pregnancy insomnia. I was also plagued by pregnancy induced productivity, so I would whip these guys up while I was at it.) So direct sales parties are basically in person infomercials, which, if you're me, are pretty cool.

Usually I go to these parties mostly to see my friends, have a night out of the house, sip a little wine, nibble a little food that I didn't have to make and I don't have to clean up after. Which, there you go, is the genius of the direct sales game! However I find that a lot of the stuff sold is sort of crazy out of my price range, or interesting but not something I need, or for whatever other reason, I don't tend to buy a lot. But then...along came Norwex. (btw I think that link might support my friend who threw the party if you happen to click and happen to buy. Which wouldn't be the worst thing, right?) While I hate to clean, I hate a dirty house more, so the cleaning products....they get me where I live. (See aforementioned adoration of OxyClean for proof.) The stuff is a miracle, of course, lol. Apparently the claim to fame is embedded silver particles that are part of the cleaning clothes which make them antibacterial with just water for cleansing. I can actually get on board with that claim as I've attended numerous lunch and learns about healthcare fabrics that use similar technology to kill superbugs. I hopped on the hippie-ish train several years ago, so no toxic chemicals appeals to me, not buying cleaning products appeals to my inner cheapskate, and not mixing up voodoo vinegar solutions appeals to my inner couch potato. As Micheal Scott would say, win-win-win! Plus, the girl....she cleaned butter off a window to a streak free shine with dry cloths. Ah-mazing. Might even inspire me to clean my windows for....well, the first time. Price points per product were actually really reasonable. I don't think there was much that was over $30, which tends to be my pain point for a lot of things. And plus Norwex apparently stands for Norwegian Experience, and I'm part Norwegian, so that means they were talking directly to me, right? So basically, they got me. I ended up buying the standard cleaning cloth and amazing glass shiner cloth, bathroom scrubbie mitt, and makeup removal cloths. The most disappointing thing of it all is that it seems that none of this comes with the person to actually, uh, USE them.

The week that got away

I really thought that with a 4 day business trip, I'd be able to get so much done! I was wrong! Every night was spent doing the hours long "quick meeting wrap up" followed by dinner with co-workers. Call me what you will, but I really don't enjoy that part of traveling. After a long day interacting with people and being "on," I just really would prefer to go back to my room and be alone with my thoughts. Or the Kardashians or something lol.

I also thought that the 2.5 hour ferry ride would be a good time to get some knitting (or in this particular case, crocheting) done. Again, I was wrong! The ferry DID actually go this time around, but it was really, really rough. I think I was able to crochet for about 15 minutes before the constant rolling of the waves got to me, despite the dramamine I'd taken. (By the way, fun fact. Apparently dramamine comes in "drowsy" and "less drowsy," not the NON drowsy I was hoping for!) I put my work down and tried to focus on the horizon like they tell you to, and it was not doing much from my inside seat. I guess the whole point is to focus on something that is not moving, but when it's surrounded by a moving window, well, it doesn't work! Eventually I got up and went outside to the back deck which had the benefit of much needed fresh air, an unencumbered view of said steady horizon, and a lovely English (her) and Scottish (him) vacationing couple. Their lovely accents were apparently soothing to my upset tummy, because while I got nothing useful done, at least my lunch stayed with me. I was lucky I went out when I did because a bunch of other passengers were not so lucky. Once that motion sickness really gets hold of you, you're pretty much just a goner till you hit land.

Despite all of my whiny lack of downtime, I did manage to complete an Etsy order for the lovely Mari of Crab + Fish, as well as one half of one sleeve of a baby sweater.

 

The striped baby elf hat in gray and white is on its way!

 

I need to investigate some cuter packaging methods I think. It's one of those things I'm loathe to spend money on, because I'm never really sure what sort of difference it makes beyond a 3 second "oh, that's cute" reaction. I feel like I should also maybe make up some cards or tags or something for "branding," ha. I feel like I should see if this sticks more than a month or so though before investing any money beyond the basics. I'm a perennial under-spender though when it comes to my hobbies. Which I suppose explains why I still use a hideous knitting needle case that I got off Craigslist when I learned to knit....about 5 years ago. Self, I'd say it stuck. I will admit to having a sewing project on my list to take care of that though! Now if I could just find some time.....

Traveling

I'm on the road this week for work, living in what is surely the lap of luxury.

That's not a mirror. 

We were supposed to take a ferry, but the waves were too high so we had to drive around. Luckily I brought plenty of yarn to keep me busy!

Knit season

So strange that I was in a tank top earlier this week and yet today's casual Friday outfit of a sweater dress and leggings was totally appropriate. I wore flats without socks as I can't quite bear to break out the boots just yet because once you do there's just no going back. Yet it either didn't warm up much today or it had gotten cool again because I was SO COLD when I got home. I'm not ready to turn the heat on just yet, but I AM ready to pull out my knit cottage slipper socks. I made these probably 4? 5 years ago? And I just love them. They are so warm and cozy (and fit in rather nicely with the debris of a child who loves reading and stuffed animals lol) that I keep coming back to them every year. These are basically my test version. I've improved the way I handle the ribbing in such a chunky yarn, and subsequent pairs I've made about an inch shorter in the foot for an average (7-8) size because mine are ever slightly too large. But I never make myself a new pair. Must be nostalgic or something. I've given a few pairs as gifts that have been quite well received, and I put them up in my shop last year on a whim. And wouldn't you know, they've become one of my most popular and inquired about items. As the knitwear season rolls around again, I have to say, I can see why!

Knitting group

So I think I've joined a local knitting group! A few years ago I attended one at my public library, which was a super convenient location, but as it meets the same time and day as my book club, not so much a convenient group to join. As I'm getting back into crafting in general, and thinking about taking my Etsy shop semi-seriously, I felt like now might be the right time to reach out to the community. It would be good to be able to ask for advice, improve my skills next to women who have been knitting longer than I have, and get inspired to branch out and do different things!

And I think I may have found it! I mean, these women make sweaters for full grown adults! And more than one in a lifetime! As it is, I once bought enough yarn to make a cardigan for myself, and I got so intimidated by the size of it and how long it seemed it would take to complete it that I may or may not have many tiny sweaters in that color - and more to go - to use it up. I reached out on the forums on Ravelry because the group list for my area was overwhelming and I couldn't really tell which groups were still active. Within a few hours I got a reply from a really nice woman inviting me to join their group! It's about 20 minutes away from me so it's not the convenience of the library down the road, but it seemed like it might be a good fit. It's a diverse group, they come when they can and meet at a local coffee shop and bakery. They've been meeting for THIRTEEN years! That's impressive! My book club has been going for 5.5, and I thought that was a long time for a group to stick together.

Like I said, they have women knitting gorgeous sweaters, socks (another item I've been intimidated by for the opposite reason as sweaters - such tiny needles!), shawls, hats, etc. Some women even spin and dye their own yarn! For someone looking to be inspired, man, did I hit the jackpot. It can be hard to intrude on such a well established group, but I could tell that they are the type of group you'd want to join - they were great at pulling me into the history and long-standing stories. They also do a holiday party and charity project each year. This year is hats for a local shelter. As evidenced by my urban farming experience, I do like to try to make a difference where I live. I was a greeter and also knitted comfort shawls and chemo caps for a local hospice a few years ago too, but fell out of it when my schedule got busier, so I like the idea of joining a group with a charitable aspect to it.

So yay! Knitting group! And if you are a knitter or crocheter and you aren't on Ravelry, seriously, get on that. They have really active forums, not to mention a vast library of searchable patterns, a ton of which are free.

Visiting Ethereal Confections

Yesterday I went to visit my good friend's new chocolate shop and cafe in Woodstock, Illinois. The shop is actually a few years old now, but the cafe is new this summer. And I must say, it's adorable! Of course, this is absolutely no surprise to me. See, a few years back we worked together, and she was a pretty awesome interior designer. And as you can see, she still is!

We had this dream of being able to quit our day jobs and work from home in our sweatpants. (haha) So much so that we even started an online interior design consulting business, which turned out to be a lot of work and a sort of tough market to break into, despite our (her) credentials and (her) talent. So sadly that dream went by the wayside. But a little while later, she capitalized on the chocolate making skills she'd been earning on the side with her sister-in-law and realized the dream! Well, the quitting her day job part. I think she mostly wears regular pants.

I totally snuck taking these pictures. Because I didn't tell her I had restarted my blog lol. Actually part of the reason I took them was to show my husband how cute this place is, but the other part was because I fancy myself a bloooooogger.Which is totally embarrassing to say.

You can see more details of the making of their cafe on her blog here (wait, so if she has a blog too, why was I embarrassed to say I do?). And if you don't happen to be in the Woodstock area, never fear, because they ship their delicious chocolates all over! I'm partial to the meltaways and anything salted caramel. :)

Trials in product photography and new listing in the shop!

Right off the bat, I am not a good photographer. In fact, I'd just go ahead and say I'm a downright BAD photographer. It's just one of those things that I can't get to click (oh lord, no pun intended) for me. For years I decided it was just my point and shoot, as everything I took came out blurry and dark, and my solution was just to not take pictures. Win! However, on the rare occasion when I could get over my awkwardness about even taking out the camera to begin with, I'd go to download them to the computer, and realize that the Christmas pictures I was saving were the first pictures there since the Christmas before. Now I'm not saying I want to photograph every waking moment of my life, but I'd like to be able to look back on more than one day a year!

So 2 years ago, I decided, well maybe it's not all me! Maybe it's the camera! I mean, what problem can't you improve by throwing money at it?! However my thrifty side said that there was no way I was dropping $4 or 500 at a DSLR for something that realistically probably wasn't going to improve my pictures, so I went to Craigslist. I managed to find a 10 year old Canon Rebel XT. Definitely not a top of the line model, but I figured it was something that I could try to learn on. So I got my camera for about $200 I think, and I proceeded to put it in auto and use it just like my point and shoot! Yeah...that didn't help a ton! I mean, things got less blurry, and I had the courage to actually use it more, but still, there are so many buttons and modes that I just didn't know anything about.

For my birthday last year, I decided to go ahead and learn this darn thing. I tried looking at a lot of tutorials online, and actually reading my manual, but it still just felt like Greek to me. I decided that the best thing would be to take a class, so that's what I asked for as my present - one of those extended learning seminars for beginners through my alma mater. This...kind of worked. I mean, at least I now kind of know what a lot of the modes do, and in certain circumstances I feel ok putting it into manual for low light situations, which seem to be all of my situations inside my house. But I'm still bad. I can't seem to get a grip on white balancing, and I end up doing a lot of adjusting after the fact in Photoshop. I think what I probably need to do, apart from practice, is sign up for an intermediate class. Maybe I'll ask for that for my birthday this year!

In the meantime, I want to try to make sure my Etsy listings don't look like total garbage. #1, I want people to look at them. But #2, I can't say in the description, "hey, this totally looks better in person! Trust me! Just buy it, then you'll see!" So I need to try to make my items look realistic and try to convey the cuteness through the screen on a plain, non-distracting background. I was reading a book that talked about a super simple construction of a light box. Just clip smooth white paper onto cardboard and set it up like a box with 3 sides, aim a lamp into it, and shoot away!

Fail.

I mean, I guess it's a little better than just putting my little hats on my white desk and shooting from above. But not much. I think maybe my biggest problem was scale. Even for the baby hats I'm mainly working on, an 11x17 sheet of paper wasn't big enough so that I wasn't catching the edges of the cardboard in the shot, which just seemed to throw off the colors even with my feeble attempts at editing the photos after the fact. Also, I even went ahead and started writing up a listing for this cute little pumpkin head hat, and that little leaf just seemed so feeble! It was late, and I decided that it really needed more work before it was ready for sale, so I knew I'd have to retake the pictures anyway, so I might as well try to make them better.

I poked around a bit on Etsy to see what other people were doing. Of course the cutest and most common photo set up was the hat on an adorable baby's head. Duh! And I even have one of those lying around. However, I've taken a stance of not wanting to splash my baby all over the internet. We've not posted a single picture of her on line, even on Facebook. (We do all our family photo sharing via emails and texts.) So....it really didn't seem like a good idea to bend my rules to sell something! Then I saw some pretty attractive shots set up either outside, or in a little vignette somewhere in the house. I opted against an outdoor option because I work for a living and most of my spare time - when I do this stuff - is in the dark. So somewhere in the house it is!

We have espresso colored dining chairs and off-white curtains, so I thought that might be a nice and somewhat consistent background I could use for most of my items.

Except, well, reflection. No matter where I aimed my lamp I just got this hot spot on the not-leather leather-ish fabric of the chair. And then I thought....wait....couldn't I just take that curtain and use it like a photo backdrop?

I think....win?!

Yeah, it's still way less good than a professional would do. I think ultimately if I keep this up with any level of success, my best bet would be to swap props for photos and have a pro shoot my knits. But this is not that time, and if we're going to go, we're going to go grass roots.

Does anyone have any other tips for product photography that a total photography neophyte like me could try to pick up?

And also, what do you think of the new hat? I added a second, larger leaf that I think balances it out a little. I can't wait to see my little one sporting it all next month!!