Summer is officially over and Fall is here!

Well now that Fall is officially here, I'm looking forward to seeing all the new fall color selections from at my LYS and getting into some serious knitting.  This summer I did knit, but mostly I was keeping up with my sales that I was getting from my Etsy shop and trying out new patterns to sell at the Kent Farmers Market.

I really enjoyed the Farmers Market and will most likely participate again next year. I only signed up for 3 Saturdays this summer because I just wanted to see how I would do and what kind of response I would get with my knitted products.  I did better than I anticipated and learned a few things about what people are looking for and pricing my products.

Here are pictures of my booth on the three Saturdays I particpated.

Here is my booth on a beautiful sunny day on August 11, 2012

 

Here is my booth on a not so sunny day on August 18, 2012.. That's me, sitting behind all the signs in the photo on the right.



Here is my booth, on another beautiful sunny day on September 1, 2012.

I actually enjoyed working the Farmers Market, but I only had two issues: working the booth alone, doesn't really allow for you to have bathroom breaks and setting up and breaking down can be a hassle and takes twice as long compared to those booths who have more than one person. But overall the experience was good and I like that I was getting exposure for my products and getting my name and brand out there!

I've signed up to have an outdoor booth in October at the Renton Harvest Festival in downtown Renton, WA at the Piazza, so if you live locally, I hope I will see you there. I'm looking forward to showing off some of my new fall-wear and you can get a jump on your shopping - hey it's never to early to start putting away those stocking stuffers for friends and family who live far away.

Some patterns I'm looking forward to trying out for fall include:

Lion Brand's - Brimmed Cap

Red Heart's - Brimming with Fun Cap (crochet pattern)

Leisure Arts' - Rainbow Stripes (crochet bag)

Vickie Howell's - Urban Revival and Urban Jungle (crochet slouchy hats)

Some new colorwork patterns I have designed for my team spirit hats include:

Dallas Cowboys

Oakland Raiders



 And a new team hat I completed earlier this month, for a local woman to give to her brother is the University of Oklahoma beanie:

I certainly hope all of you are getting started on your fall knitting and if you get a chance share some of your projects with me, I'd love to hear from you and Happy Knitting to you all!

School is back in session!

I'm so happy that school has started back up again. My son, Aiden is a senior this year and I'm overjoyed at the thought of him graduating, but at the same time anxious and nervous over him moving even more toward his independence and adulthood.  Where did my little guy go? He's almost all grown up and it feels like yesterday that he was going off to Kindergarten.

All his school pictures from kindergarten to now

I keep thinking that I have all this time to spend with him, but more and more lately he's off doing his thing with his friends or at work. Yep, you heard right, he got a job this summer and now is earning his own money to buy what he wants. Again, another milestone toward his independence, all he needs now is his driver's license and I don't think I will ever see him! Well we will cross that bridge when we get there I guess.  This year is going to be a fun year with all the preparation that goes into getting ready for graduation, senior prom, and all the senior activities. I'm so happy for him, it brings back many happy memories of when I was a senior - but we won't talk about what year that was.

Now that school is back in session and the kids are wearing their new duds, some knitting projects that you could make to add to their school wardrobe this year, like team spirit hats, beanies, and scarves.  Some I found on Ravelry: School Colors Hat that is a free download on Lion Brand, for purchase on Ravelry there is the School Spirit Headband by Angela J. Baker, School Cardigan by Georgie Hallam. A free download on Ravelry is the crochet School Spirit Afghan for your college bound student designed by Bobbi Anderson. For those that aren't into wearing scarves there is the School Time Cowl by Isabeau Knits, knit it in your students school colors and they can show their school spirit during all the winter sports without ever having to worry about losing their scarf. Or if your student prefers a scarf, crochet this quick and easy scarf a free download from Lion Brand, School Colors Scarf.

Gently remind your college student to keep their studies in the forefront with these Back to School washcloths that have STUDY duplicate stitched on the front that they would use for the five days and PARTY can be saved for the weekends!

You get the idea, there are hundreds of patterns to choose from for your returning student or your college bound student. Ravelry is a great place to start.  Have fun getting those school projects going and happy knitting!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Jenny Wilson whose name was drawn to receive the Vanilla and Chocolate personal spa set.

Thank you all who have "liked" Knitter Mama so far and keep checking in on Facebook for monthly drawings.

September's drawing is for a cabled cowl. I've knitted three of them so far and one has already sold at the Kent Farmers Market on Saturday, September 1. I'm going to hold on to the winter white and charcoal colored ones for the winner of September's drawing.

Denim Cabled Cowl - sold at Kent Farmers Market
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Design: Quick Cabled Cowl - Gabrielle O'Leary

All you have to do to get your name in the drawing leave a comment on Knitter Mama's Facebook page of what the next team ear flap hat design I'm making - *hint* - scroll down to August 9 on the timeline.

Charcoal colored cabled cowl with dazzling black buttons

close-up of cable

Winter white cabled cowl without buttons

close-up of cable


So, please stay tuned for more drawings. And don't forget to leave your guess as a comment on Facebook for September's drawing. Happy knitting!