Featured on Bernat's Ravelry Page!

I haven't logged in to my Ravelry page in a very long time, since I've just not been in a yarn craft mood.  I did it on a whim today, and found a request from the Bernat Studio to feature my ugly blanket photo!  That means people who are not logged in to Ravelry can see it.  I'm totally geeking out about this!  I kind of felt bad about calling it the ugly blanket, but since it's not that ugly, I guess it should be ok.  Check out this pattern here.

It just goes to show you how important the photos of your work are!

Thanks to Jesse for asking me to make it in the first place! :)

Hit & Run - No. 1

Last night, I attended an event called "Hit and Run Happy Hour" at the CS Gallery.  It's a really unique monthly gig, that's opening, closing, art fair all in one.  Artists pay a fee to be able so sell for these two hours. Basically, it earns the artists some quick cash, and allows us to network "without working that hard," as Daniel said. Plus, refreshments are provided. I had a great time, though socializing with strangers usually leaves me feeling pretty drained.  It was really interesting mix of mediums.  My table was between O Joy Photography and Paper Pieces by Vicki.

I brought in my patrons, and a friend who I think should start showing there.  It's a great venue, and Daniel is very easy to work with - very relaxed, not stuffy at all.  I'd really like to eliminate that idea of fine art being pretentious.  We have to pretend to be pretentious so that the wealthy will pay attention to us and buy our stuff.  It's all a big dumb game.

But anyway, here are some of the people that participated last night.  If you couldn't come out, take a look at their websites.  A lot of them are part of the Columbus Etsy team. Great stuff!

Blue Flame Leather - leather items for very, very, VERY reasonable prices! I didn't get to talk to this girl, but I look forward do the chance. :)
Cam's Crochet - great crochet jewelry and accessories.  I would have bought all her bracelets if my dumb hands would fit through the things.
Cobenick Studios - This is Daniel's shop.  Handmade paper, books, calligraphy.
Cassandra Glass Photography - beautiful candids and scenes. No website, but this is her e-mail, right off her business card.
O Joy Photography  - her photos have a hazy, dreamy feeling to them, and she puts them on functional objects!  Win-win!
Paper Pieces by Vicki - Pre-made scrapbooks.  Totally worth it, in my not-so-humble opinion.
The Roscoe Room - Suzanne is so much fun, and the story about the name of her studio is great!  She's full of insight and encouragement, and I would totally be best friends with her. :)  The Roscoe Room is her studio, and is attached to the CS Gallery.  It's much more appropriate than the insurance office that used to be there.

I can't wait to show with all these great people again!

Smart Packaging

I recently - and by recently I mean a month or two ago - purchased some yarn from a local seller on Etsy.  Her shop is called Yarn Chef, and here theme is fantastic!

First of all, she sells exactly what you'd expect: yarn. Katy, the chef herself, has a slogan too - Cooking up beautiful color.  Why the odd mixture of food and yarn?  For that, you should really read her bio, but I'll sum it up:  She loved food, went to culinary school, worked in the culinary arts.  Then she had a kid, and needed to change her career.  She learned to knit, and now combines the two in this most clever way!

Not only is the product beautiful and fun to work with, I can't get over her packaging! Here's what I found when I opened the little tyvek (waterproof!) envelope:

The yarn was wrapped in tissue paper, and slipped inside a clear plastic bag.

She included the packing slip, a sample of some other yarn, with instructions for a knitting stitch printed on the back, and a hand-written thank you.  This is something I like to do as well.  I think that real-person contact is important to people buying goods on Etsy, home of the handmade!





Look at how beautiful the label on the yarn is!  Everything has her logo on it - including the sticker used to hold the tissue paper closed.

Here's the sample and thank you.

And what's on the back?  Instructions for a grafting stitch!

Now, check this out.  I love this.  How does she pull her theme together and bring the Yarn Chef full circle?  She includes a recipe card!

I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds delicious.  The card is so elegant and beautiful!  And every bit of it could be done at home, with clearly professional results.

Thanks for the inspiration, Katy!  I've got some work to do.  :)

Check out Katy's shop on Etsy.
Read more of her story here.

Zig Zag Memories

Something about winter always has me running for the yarn crafts.  I made two Koolhaas hats, with much success!  These are a great stash-busting hat, but I indulged a bit on some of the yarn.  Silk and bamboo blend? Yes please!  I was showing off the very first of these hats to a friend of mine, who requested I make him a blanket.  He said to make it hideous, with orange and yellow.  Later, he said that he had particular memories he was trying to recall.  So, I added brown (also at his request) and a touch of some nice olive green.  I'll be working it into this pattern.  Gotta love the free ones, right?  This is what popped into my head immediately when he told me what he wanted.  I always get extra excited to make stuff for other people.  This one will evoke good memories as well.  You can't beat giving the warm and fuzzy feeling to someone by doing something you love.  

The Yarn Crafts Begin

I was knitting my puppy a cute little pink cable knit sweater.  I started it almost a year ago, and I decided it was high time I finish it, now that it's getting colder.  I had to make about three, just to get the pattern right, and continued to enlarge it.  I completed the body and one sleeve, and tried it on my oh so cooperative dog, only to find that it's STILL TOO SMALL!!!  You can imagine my frustration, but now, I have time to make the Koohaas hat!

Jared Flood, the designer, said he wanted to make something that was quick and fairly easy to make, and a small enough project that people could splurge for a little bit of nice yarn.  This is what I've done.  I've been wanting to try this bamboo fiber yarn I found years ago, because it's oh-so-soft.  I bought it in a lovely cream color.  And then I really splurged and sprung for a lovely earthy green silk and bamboo blend.  Evidently, I'm on a bamboo kick, because I also bought my circular needles in bamboo.  They came highly recommended, and I have to say that they have just enough grip against the silky yarn that I don't drop stitches all over the place.  I can't pretend to be a master knitter at all, so I'll take anything available to make the process a little easier.

This is also my first charted knitting pattern, and my grandmother's as well, who taught me everything I know, and who is knitting this along with me.  I've already had to pull everything out once, because I misread the very first row after the cast on, whoops!  But so far, I'm getting the hang of it.  The first couple rows of knitting in the round are trickier than I expected, and I've read reviews that lead me to believe that it's not as easy a pattern as Mr. Flood would have you believe.  Nevertheless, I press on.  Wish me luck!