i love etsy.

I think the first time I encountered etsy, it was via Fearless Fibers' shop... browsing for yarn. Afterwards I went and scanned "my" section, "knitting"... it was full of great stuff but nothing I needed (have you *seen* my flash your stash?! I also forgot several pics, apparently...) and then etsy just dropped off of my radar til i started my own shop. I had no idea what great stuff lurked there, but now...! Let me be a tiny guide thru some of my purchases so you can get an idea that its not just yarn (though, the yarn's great!)



Reversible zipper box pouch with Japanese knot
by JapaneseHandmadeEtc.etsy.com

I'm a huge tomboy at heart. (You've seen the pictures!) Tomboy or not, I love taking my knitting to go with me. The astute sock knitters among you will have already noticed how the box pouch is *perfect* for just that. I loved my trek pouch for on the go knitting, but the ribbon "handle" would often twist in the wind as I walked and took the yarn with it, so it wasn't best for walking around and knitting. Satomi's purse strap is very sturdy, interfaced and double sided, and doesn't move when you walk. The entire bag is reversible/double lined with fabric and has interfacing, so it keeps that cute box shape even if its not stuffed to the gills with socks. (Sticking out is a finished sock, and an almost-complete one... kinda putting that box shape out of whack. It is box shaped though :) and a perfect size for sock knitting.) Also, as its stiff and lined, I haven't had any needles sticking out of the fabric as I have with a single-fabric layer pouch. (Though, cure that with Sherry's double pointed needle protectors, also at etsy! She has some great new beads in, if you haven't seen.)

Satomi's agreed to make me a custom one (with fabric I bought from etsy, natch) when she completes her move to the States. (She's really nice.) For now she's in Japan-- but the shipping to my west coast home only took 6 days last time, so not too bad for the anxious among you who spy something in her shop that's ready for sale now.

Someone dear remarked I'm becoming more a girl lately... I think its my new spate of purse purchases. Somehow it skates my tomboy nature if I don't use it as a purse but as something to carry knitting projects in.



Wood and vinyl purse by miamaria.etsy.com

For my sock and almost-as-big-as-a-breadbox projects. I have to admit, I love it and it does make me feel like a girl to carry it, even if its just hiding a knitting project inside. Can't be used for walking-projects, but great for grab and go stuff.

Want to see inside? :)



Lined with a japanese fabric, and housing "scratch art" yarn from DyeabolicalYarns.etsy.com

Technically, I didn't buy the yarn from etsy, even though Rachel has a new handpainted yarn store there. I saw this skein on her blog, and I begged her to sell it to me. Wasn't pretty, but the yarn is :) Black and rainbow, beautiful!

More etsy yarn love though you've seen it before...



2nd German stocking in Fearless Fibers' Superwash Sock, "royalty"
(and hand bent wire stitch markers from zero.etsy.com)

I haven't even been able to start the decreases on the leg yet, and my new red shoes are coming via UPS today... oy. Need to get back to knitting, but I have so much more to share! A few more...



I never wore jewelry before*. Well, in high school I usually had fingers full of rings, and once I wore a huge (literal, from the hardware store) chain that weighed 20 lbs secured by a keylock for a party that I'd rather not remember... but this is different :)

Clockwise from top left:
Goldfish by pamloudy.etsy.com
Van Gogh glass by lingglass.etsy.com
Dichroic pendant from liskidder.etsy.com
2 cold rolled steel pendants from TimothyAdamDesigns.etsy.com
Red waves from lingglass.etsy.com

For those with kids (or, kids at heart! yuk yuk yuk...)


(forgive the blur, kiddo was being held off with my spare hand as he tried to rescue his etsy treasures)

Clockwise from top left:
Handmade fabric and foam flash cards from thetotspot.etsy.com
(we have the number set, too... lost in the maw)

Custom soap with ninja! from Halflyng.etsy.com
(orange scented soap with an orange ninja. duh.)

Dozen multicolor crayon "cakes"; from FigGarden.etsy.com
(fun, but locked away when i'm not supervising. goodness forbid i have another artist escapade on my hands.)

For the kid, but not yet...



Blank book made from "Are you my mother" book binding, by 2cheekymonkeys.etsy.com

When little one was born, and even before, I wanted to make him a keepsake of him. I tried my hardest to get into scrapbooking, but I just couldn't... wasn't me. I take trillions of pics of him, and figured it was close enough to a "gift" of himself he'd enjoy when he was older. When I ran across these wonderful blank books on etsy, I had a new idea along the same line-- I would write my son letters about himself, about me and about us-- this was a great book to start that in. Its about an inch thick of blank pages, and the story is still inside. The binding's tight and will last me a while, so will the number of pages.

Its mundane stuff I'm writing, but its fun for me thinking of keeping a dialogue now for him to enjoy later. My mom was quite... silent as I grew up, and its only now that she has started to share things about her life at my age and younger. If anything, this will be good practice for me to learn to share :)

(as she realizes she's been showing off stereo/typically female purchases and can't stop now...)



Superbirds silkscreened apron from MaryInk.etsy.com

I wore this yesterday, so its a bit fresh with my kitchen handiwork... pastelon de platano, honeybaked ham, mashed potatoes, roasted asparagus, stuffed mushrooms, salad, crescent rolls... ugh. Still full, but looked good cooking it :)

Also wearing a threadless tshirt under it, but its not as cool as my most recent tshirt purchases from them...

brand new this morning:



and because i couldn't resist:



Yay! :)



* i did wear jewelry when i was younger. i used to be mistaken for a boy *all the time* (see picture here if you've forgotten). i would be routinely chased out of women's restrooms, asked by strangers what sex i was. it really didn't bother me; i chose to wear my hair the way i did, i wanted it. it did bother my family though... so much so that when my sister finally convinced my mom to let her pierce her ears, i had to have mine done, too. there was a bribe in there somewhere, too.

my sister went first, gun to the earlobe at the ubitquitous mall jewelry store. pinch, pinch. yay. girl who pierced my sister went on break as i replaced my younger sister in the chair. new girl, gun in hand, pierced my right ear and shattered my world with pain. i wouldn't let her pierce the other.

turns out, something went very wrong and i had to have three seperate "operations" (read: doctor with a scoop-tipped something digging out nastiness from my infected ear, without anesthesia for fear of having the infection travel thru my blood, or something that sounded like that over my 7 year old screams as i lay good ear down on the butcher paper in his office) to undo the damage.

after every session, doc would wrap my head jauntily with gauze to keep the pads in place. my (caucasian) mother would say the same thing, every time... "you look like a vietnamese refugee!" (i'm half japanese. the things we say in the privacy of family ;))

even after all of that, i kept the ear pierced. if you remember the 80s (i was in the madonna fan club with my friends across the street!)... "left is right and right is wrong" it went. so, not only was i a "boy," i was a boy with his ear pierced on the wrong side, with all of the attendant meanings.

one German down

There's no good way to take these on my legs, especially inside... (better pics when the pair's done, promise!)


German Stocking by CookieA.com, single
Started: March 19 (?)
Fearless Fibers Superwash Sock, "royalty" colorway
Susan Bates US 1, 2.25mm **9 sts/inch**

These are going to be really cool done. :)

I used Deb's superwash sock yarn since I'd used the solid white for the test pair already and though they're beautiful and the patterning really pops... white's not my bag. I don't know if purple is, but when I spied 2 hanks still for sale at Deb's store, I pounced. The Fearless Fibers is thinner than the Louet Gems Pearl the pattern calls for-- they *look* the same, but the Louet has more density (and Koigu has more density than Gems, but that's another post.) The white pair were knit on Susan Bates US 1's (2.25mm) at the pattern's gauge, 8 sts/inch, but the FF on the same needles ended up at 9 sts/inch.



Cookie's done a bangup job with the pattern though... she's sized it with over 200 different size combinations (seriously). So instead of worrying about the math, I just breathed a sigh of relief that Cookie'd done it all for me already. I would normally fit into the 3rd size of stocking, but knit using the 4th (next larger size) to account for the smaller gauge of the yarn. I did do a quick and dirty check to make sure my gauge would work out in the larger numbers, but they did and as you can see, it worked out beautifully.



Deb gives you a laaaarge hank for your money-- 4 oz/560 yd. Even so, I will need to use the 2nd hank for the second sock... the first weighs in at 70 gm with 50 left over. I've decided to just wind the second hank and and knit the second from it-- with any luck, I'll have another 50 gm left over for a pair of "regular" sized socks. If you have smaller legs than me (totally possible ;)) you may be able to get away with using only 1 hank of Fearless Fibers superwash sock, and that'd be a $16 pair of handpainted kneehighs!! Dude.

Yo quiero this yarn though-- the color's great, so was the service. I think I'll knit the "regular" pair at a tighter gauge though on US 0's... I could have done it for these, but kneehighs on US 0? Uh, no.

Speaking of etsy... the mailman just handed me the coolest package. (When will he get used to me answering the door in pyjamas?)



A new Superheros card pack from April at Creative Apples. Yow. She was one of the vendors from my choka/etsy contest... and I already had her Superheros I card pack as well as a custom order from her. I'm addicted to buying cards on etsy, and April's are always *so* cool and have real range. I hate (mom always said, hate is too strong a word to use for anything) buying duplicate cards, but with her flickr photostream and etsy store, I never have to :) I'm also addicted to the idea of custom *anything*... its rare for me to be able to afford it and not feel like I'm putting anyone out asking for it.

Thanks again April... sending mail has never been so fun. :)

And just to show *my* range in card purchases thru etsy...



Thank you coloring cards from Cre8tiveMama, also etsy-based. Yall know my kid's penchant for trains by now... a wonderful way to send thank you cards for (insert made up holiday here where my relatives shower the munchkin with candy and holiday themed toys). She says she does custom orders, too... may need to look into that as my kid needs to send plenty of these :)

There's way more etsy love out there, maybe for my next post I'll show off some of my favorites. Especially since the second stocking still (five times fast!) hasn't been started yet... no worries though. I'm employing a carrot-horse-cart approach... bought myself some rad new shoes that I can't wear til they're done. (Amazon is running a shoes.com/shoemall promo-- $20 off $80 and free shipping thru 4/15 so it was a good deal, and of course I bought them in red :))

...til then!


eta!! i need to get in contact with Lindsey, if anyone knows her or if you're reading, please email me at the addy below. (need to claim your prize!) thanks! :)

Happy flash your stash, 2007

Happy flash your stash 2007 :)
Originated @ knittyboard... see links to fellow flashers *here*.
(click on the large photo to advance to next pic, or select thumbs to skip ahead.)



Awesome browsing function from pictobrowser.

Info on yarns (names, colorways) attached to individual photos in my "flash your stash 2007" flickr set. (Someone convince me to go flickr pro, please. I'm a cheapskate who doesn't want to pay the 24.95/year, but its so cool and without it you can't see my 2006 flash set... ergh.)

Meanwhile, back on the farm...

Previous April 1 flash your stash (2006) HERE... be warned, pic intensive. Also (with the same warning), previous flash your sock yarn stash post here.

Happy happy... its actually a good thing, kicking me to list some languishing yarns on destash and order a whole bunch more (you'll have to wait for those pics!!)

...hoping to be back soon with a finished german stocking...

tally

of things I learned over the past few days.





Stockinette soothes my troubled soul.



So does an excellent pattern and fabulous yarn.



The bent wire stitch markers from my shop help, too.

Also...

Don't wax your own eyebrows when sad.

(pictureless, you sadists.)

:)

Have a good week!!

Denmark socks and contest winners

Someone told me a reason to like handmade socks is that, when you walk, you can feel the (purl) bumps on the soles of your feet-- a physical reminder of the effort and care that went into each, gentle vibrations against your consciousness via a usually unconscious action. I always thought I just had insensitive feet, never feeling anything odd about my handknit socks, other than they were a little heavier and a way lot cooler than 6 to a packs.

Walking around with the little one today in my new Denmark socks, I felt them too... a good thing, a sweet reminder.


Denmark socks
Started: sometime before Stitches West 2007
Finished: March 18, 2007
Socks that Rock, mediumweight-- Mist colorway
US 3 dpns, 4



Complete with nupps! I could see how these could drive a lace knitter batty, but just one round of them on the socks is a really pretty detail above the rib/cables. Cables are easy enough to memorize, though for the life of me I couldn't get the setup row right from Nancy's written dx (how many patterns do I have to knit to be on a first name basis with a designer?)... had to use the chart.



After knitting Cookie's German stockings, I remembered how much I enjoyed picking up heel stitches (I know, I know...). I didn't use the pretty ktbl pickup on the German stockings though, though here they shine. (I pick up the back loop instead of the front like Grumperina... I thought thru the back was the way Nancy Bush shows you how in all of her books, but I just checked and its not. Oh well.)



Speaking of shine, can you love STR any more? Oy. (Remember this yarn? A gift from Abigail for being her 1k commenter?) Who knew a tomboy like me could gush over pink and brown. The mediumweight just flies off the needles, and is a great fit for the pattern (thanks to Stacey for the inspiration!!) I was worried the cabling would be lost, but no... I think its just fine.

Speaking of... Winners of my etsy-based contest?
(sorry it seems early, the contest should have read the 19th for Monday)...

$25 Fearless Fibers gift certificate to Lindsey
$16 tinymeat gift certificate to Andrea
$15 LingGlass gift certificate to Paula
$10 Three Owls Knitting gift certificate to Jen
5 Creative Apples custom cards & shipping to Nad
$10 time2cre8 gift certificate to Alison
$10 zerOmarkers gift certificate to Stacey
The Friday Night Knitting Club hardback #1 to Cathy
The Friday Night Knitting Club hardback #2 to Emily
(hopefully yall have heard from me by the time you've read this! :))


phew. I need a nap. In my new socks. :)

spinning and sock pattern pr0n

So much, but so little knitting! :)

I had an awesome weekend, kicked off by a spin-in at spinnity's... real spinners, yall! Alden Amos ain't got nothing on these girls. I picked up the second braid of Mars Superwash from Margit (I wasn't the only one there who fell head over heels for this colorway, I tell you knit flix and Nathania have excellent taste, too ;))...



...met someone famous, proved to Cookie I am a real live person most of the time, generally was my afraid of people self, uttering oh about 5 sentences the entire evening (mostly goaded on by Kristi and cold medicine), and had an all around super time.

I spun, too! :) The second sock's worth of the "Crying of Lot 49" merino top I saved for myself after listing them in my etsy shop a week or so ago...



...and I'm in love. Is it okay to be in love with two things at once? Oy, but can you blame me?!



This is definitely my favorite handspun yet. DK-ish weight (once taut, its really lofty... does that still count as dk?), about 333 yd of two ply loveliness that will be some insane socks. At least one sock's going to have a yellow foot and a charcoal leg (or reverse), but I don't care. I took Teyani's recent sock (hop!) yarn spinning posts to heart-- not trying as much for a balanced yarn off the bobbins in the end but one that will be springy once the twist has been set in the wash... and I think it works. Not perfect, but definitely a breakthru for me.



It'd been hanging to dry in my hall closet's doorway and everytime I passed it, I had to squeeze it... this is the first merino handspun I've produced that is actually squeezable, huggable. (Does that make sense? My merino sock weights before felt wiry, scratchy though the base fiber was so lovely and soft...)

I'm waxing over yarn, but so in love I don't care.

I can't start knitting it though (i KNOW!)... I have finally gotten back on track w/ my Denmark STR sock thanks to kind knittyboard souls who rescued me from my sorry loss of a US 3 Boye dpn, and I should finish the second sock from the sock madness competition, despite the fact I am out on the first round... not to mention the fact I actually bought yarn (I haven't bought sock yarn in forever!) for a project I'm jonesing for... no hard and fast details til I have everything in my hot little hands, but hinthint... a Cookie A pattern :)

Speaking of...



Yeah. Holy crap is what I said, too. Thanks Cookie :)

Hm... oh! Back on the holy crap tangent-- Boing Boing, Craft:, Kotaku and Wil Wheaton dug the bmp pattern along with most of yall (don't forget to enter the contest if you haven't! on til the 20th! win something etsy-riffic!)... I had several emails asking me to sell socks knit from it (no thanks, but find a local knitter and pay him/her well is all I ask!), a marriage proposal (no joke), and shock in discovering that the pattern was a top 10 story on digg.com...

Rockstar week :)

bmp space invaders socks... and a contest

bmp socks, by me :)


I have to say I'm just so happy today :) My bmp pattern was a love letter thru process and product, and I am just thrilled knitty gave me an opportunity to share it on this scale with all of you (whom I really do cherish in my anonymous, blog reading way).

So of course I have to celebrate with a contest! Something new this time... yall may notice by my posts and lack of them that I have been spending quite a bit of unexpected time with my knitting accessory shop on etsy. Not only that, but much of my wakare earned goes directly back to artisans who sell alongside me. (You can sneak a peek at my covet/favorites list here to grasp the extent of my obsession and oddity.) I couldn't think of a better celebration than giving away gift certificates from a few of my favorite vendors from etsy...


***


$25 gift certificate for Fearless Fibers. Goodness knows Deb is a true dye artist, and has so many inspiring yarns (in so many variations!) that I know it'll be hard to choose. Or not to brag. Or something involving happiness and yarn. (Thanks to Deb for her donation!)

***


$16 gift certificate to tinymeat. I'm very much a wallet girl, and tinymeat's float my boat... but they carry passport covers, card holders, iPod covers-- to have and to hold. Can't ask for more. (At least I can't!)

***


$15 gift certificate for LingGlass. I am blown away by the simple beauty of her pendants and glasswork, and think you'll love them too. I'm not much of a jewelry wearer but I want one of everything she makes :)

***


$10 gift certificate for Three Owls Knitting. Our own Sherry W's shop-- featuring double pointed needle protectors that are one of my favorite knitting accessories (seriously, I think I own 6 sets now??) They're great for keeping your work on the needles and for making sure those needles don't poke thru fabrics.

***


5 custom cards and envelopes (and shipping) from CreativeApples. I've recently become an etsy card junkie, and April's are just... wow. You can choose up to 5 images from her flickr pages and she'll make them into beautiful cards for you to mail and share.

***


$10 gift certificate for time2cre8. If you've received an order from zerOmarkers somewhat recently, you'll recognize MaryLou's work-- I use her recycled atlas business card envelopes to send sample stitch markers and thank you notes in. I love them, and she does other great things with all sorts of media.

***


$10 gift certificate for zerOmarkers. Uh, because I can? :)
(For those of you that are new, this is my etsy shop.)

***


2 hardback copies (to 2 winners) of The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. I know, I know... this isn't etsy stuff! Penguin Books sent me these copies (well, they sent me three but I'm keeping one!)... and said to have fun giving them away. What more fun could this be? :) (You may remember my little writeup about the book... they have other bloggers' reviews linked on their "buzz" page, too.)

***

All of the certificates should be enough to cover at least one item in their shops and shipping, so no worries about needing alternate payment methods (unless you want to stock up, which my fellow vendors and I fully endorse ;)).



Cool? Since we have something new, how about something old... that's right. "How can I win something fabulous?" By submitting a couplet to the world's longest poem at Choka On It (if you're new, please read how first...) and copy/pasting your couplet in the comments to *this* post. I reserve the right to disqualify you if you don't follow their (simple) submission requirements... I'm mean like that, ask around ;) Any doubts, check my past choka contests here and here for more info. You must leave me either a link to your blog or a valid email address (so I can contact you if you win!)

Contest will run thru Monday March 19 20, 2007 at 3pm pacstandard... and winners will be chosen *at random* (one entry per person), so no worries about your skilz or lack thereof. I'd love for you to help me spread the word for my little celebration, too :)

Hm. Now for something borrowed and blue...

(Good luck!)

Roving, lit.

When I'm drawn to something, its usually with a great flashpoint and obsessiveness that starts from seemingly out of nowhere and just... goes. Rarely does it outlast itself, I can only point to one recent moment in my life that it has. That said, I was really really drawn to the idea of dyeing the superwash merino top roving this weekend. I have been making up colorways in my mind based on my bookshelf for forever, and some finally hit the ground running with a few favorites.



The Crying of Lot 49.
Its more than the horn for me, this book... its the California highways that shine-- blacktop and yellow divider lines. I'm a California girl, what can I say? This was the one I started with, and was so happy I couldn't stop (til the days got too long.) I kept a repeat of it for myself to spin later :)



Invisible Man.
When you enter one of the first dream sequences, falling... Louis Armstrong singing in the background, "what did I do... to be so black and blue..." You know when people use song lyrics to get something across as their own? I think this is the only time in history it was a good thing. :)


(Lady) Macbeth.
Out out. I really like this one, too-- but Margit found me the second bit of Mars Superwash from her store so I'll be spinning a lot of red and black (8 oz total) for kneehighs soon so I'm letting it go. For now :)



Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.
Miss Sissy... reminds me of the long blonde haired friend I still am too chicken to correspond with properly.



Confessions of an English Opium Eater.
Speaks more to my secret madscientist life a few years back, more than anything.



Trout Fishing in America.
For me this book is more than the words inside... I'm always reminded of two things-- one, Mr. S., high school math teacher extraordinaire who lent me his copy and blew my mind. Two, the man I met years later whose aunt was one of the waifs posing with Mr. Brautigan (and who convinced me I was worthy enough to fight my fight and get into Cal)... both are long gone memories and only for the past, but good things nonetheless.



The Active Side of Infinity.
Beauty. That's it :)


I've listed them all in my etsy shop-- who knows if I'll keep dyeing to sell, but it was a fun way to spend a weekend alone with my thoughts. (I've also listed some "mystery" stitch marker sets... what can I say, heady this weekend I guess.)

(speaking of etsy-- what are your favorite shops? i'm asking for a super secret reason :))

Double happiness.

My Denmark sock has halted as I lost a US 3 dpn... somewhere. Not wanting to start another, I finished up some UFO's that really deserved it...


Hypotenuse, scarf size from KnitSpot.com
Blue Sky Alpacas-- Alpaca Silk, "ruby." 3 skeins.
US 7 (4.5mm), 24" Addi
Started: November 13, 2006 (?)
Finished: February 28, 2007

Manlace, not just for men anymore.

My camera's not doing justice to the red (as usual). I knit this on larger needles than I'd normally choose for this yarn, aiming for that airy lace look anne showed in this pic. Throughout I was worried it was going to be too open, but it really wasn't-- surprisingly warm on a blustery day outside chasing the kid, and not overwhelmingly warm still on, sitting here inside.



I knit the "scarf" size in almost exactly 3 skeins of Alpaca Silk. This stuff is great... but to be perfectly honest, I felt a few itchy pricks on the back of my neck when I first put it on. I don't consider myself sensitive, but then again I rarely wear scarves so I'm überaware. Right now I can't tell, and don't consider it itchy at all as a whole.


(trademark uncombed hair. if you can trademark being a lazy slug.)

With the larger needles, the scarf has some wonderful drape. I don't really see the sheen of silk (as much as I do in other yarns with upwards of a 50% silk content), but think this was a good choice for the pattern-- in elegance, color and drape. It's as tall as me (I say I'm 5'7", but others have claimed this is a lie), and about 9.5" wide. It grew after gentle blocking (to tell the truth, I soaked it in kookaburra and just laid it as flat as I could-- didn't pin it; I'm an awful blocker)-- and the water was just a tiny bit pink (most red yarns I use make the water look like an Amity shoreline).



All in all, love it :) Really. It looks more complicated than it is (I "memorized" the chart after a few rows; its quite intuitive), and I think it looks good. Makes me feel good, too :)

(Cue spray on hair voice)... but wait, there's more...


Diagonal Lace Scarf from Midnight Purls
"Waratah" handspun silk & merino from SantaCruzHandspun
US 7 24" Addi
Started: August 19, 2006
Finished: February 28, 2007

Is it just me or is impossible to take pictures of scarves?

I loved this pattern when I first saw it-- I knew I had the perfect yarn for it, and now that its finished, I know I did. Again, a simple lace that's easily memorizable/readable, but looks great and is interesting enough for me to want to keep knitting.



It took just 2 skeins/4 oz for a thin (5") scarf that is taller than me plus more-- the pattern's a good use of smaller quantities of yarn and one that lets the yarn shine without being obstructed or overwhelmed. The yarn, of course, is wonderful-- makes me want to learn to spin ;)



I'm thrilled with both of them-- between them, I think I have a scarf for all occasions. These two are now the only scarves I own! I feel naked when I see other women wearing wonderful scarves around me (me wearing a wool coat, and likely a tshirt underneath), always thinking "I could make that!" They both feel like a treat, and I'm excited :)

A teaser for (hopefully) next time...



Have a good weekend yall! :)


ps! i see i'm in the "stephanie's travelling socks" division/bracket for sock madness... anyone else playing? :)