Being a Grandma is so much fun!!!

I can say with absolute joy that I love being a grandma (Mimi). My grandson Joziah is now 18 months old and is pure happiness when he walks into a room. I look forward to coming home when I know he's going to be there. He makes me smile every time I see him.

He's also the perfect model for my knitting. I love making him crochet toys to play with and things to wear. So far he's gotten two hats (currently working on a third), a pair of socks, two crochet binky clips, and crochet tiger rattle.

Frog binky clip

Tiger binky clip

Joziah's 1st knit beanie (2017)

Tiger rattle

Colorwork Hat (2018)

Current cabled hat (2019)

As you can see my grandson is very photogenic and I love capturing him at play and when he's sleeping - don't they look like little angels when they are sleeping? His current hat is blue and green with beautiful cables, it will also have ear flaps and two mini pom poms on top. I can't wait to see him sporting his new hat - even though he doesn't like wearing them.

When I'm not making something for Joziah, I'm making something for the latest addition to family, my nephew Connor. He was just born last month and I was scrambling to get his baby blanket done before he was born.

Dreambaby DK Baby Squares Afghan by JoAnn Turcotte

Duplicate stitched Connor's initials

Baby Connor wrapped in his blanket

I'm also currently working on a crochet blanket for one of my twin nephews that were born a month before my grandson. Unfortunately, I didn't get to make them their blankets before they were born so I'm trying to get them made this year before they turn two. I did have fun making them these pumpkin overalls for Halloween two years ago and these super soft cloud pillows last year for Christmas.

Twins Cameron & Carter in Halloween jumpers

one of the twins enjoying his pillow

And in-between gift knitting I've had a few orders, including these two dog sweaters that I just completed for Molly the pug and Lulu the chihuahua - same sweater in two sizes.

Molly in petal pink sweater

Lulu in also petal pink sweater

I'll be gearing up for shows again this year. I won't be doing any summer shows but I will be doing holiday shows in November and December. When I have the dates, I will be sure to post them. Happy belated New Year and Happy Knitting!!

New online shop now open!!!

I'm happy to announce my new online shop is now open for business!. If you don't find what you are looking for there, then shoot me an email and we can discuss your custom order.

And now my new website: www.knittermama.com. And as a welcome to my new shop, I'm giving free shipping to any order during the month of March, just use FREESHIPMARCH2018 at checkout.

Thank you and happy shopping!

Fall is here and all I want to do is knit

I love this time of year, the leaves are changing color and the weather is cooler. Which means, I get to knit some fun cool weather knits. I've been browsing patterns on Ravelry to get ideas for projects for fall and winter. It's so much fun to go through the many wonderful patterns and choosing ones to make.

Like a great pair of cable hand-warmers (Traveling Cable Hand-Warmers, by Purl Soho) or a warm shawl (Jet Stream by Heidi Kirmaier). So many to choose from, so little time to knit them all! Especially since I'm already working on some projects for family and friends.

Right now I've got a few UFO's on the needles: baby blanket (Baby Squares Afghan), baby overalls (On-the-Go-veralls), baby bonnet (Marius Bonnet).

Baby Squares Blanket

Just finished today! (10/10/17)

Marius Bonnet

I'm looking forward to knitting and crocheting for my upcoming holiday bazaar in December. I will be making hats, cowls, and mitts. I ordered some bulky yarn, sport weight, and bulky wool just for the holiday show.

My old standby will of course be the owl mitts and matching hat that I have made over the years that people seem to love. I will be using my knitting machine to make some long scarves, which will be so much easier than in previous years where it seemed like knitting a scarf took forever to finish.

What are your cool weather knits that you are working on, would love to hear from you? Happy Knitting!

Holidays are over, what are you knitting?

The holiday season is over and what are you knitting? Usually around this time, I'm taking stock of my inventory, but since I didn't do any production knitting last year I really don't have much stock to inventory.

A few weeks before Christmas, I sent out an email letting friends and family know that I had product that I wanted to let go of and so I let them pick through the items I still had on hand and let them take whatever they wanted so they could give them as gifts to their friends and family. Whatever was left over, I decided I would give to charity. I spent a few hours scouring the web to find charities that would take hats and cowls that I didn't sell. I found one on twitter that actually contacted me last year, called Emily's Hats for Hope. Emily is trying to reach a goal of 25,000 hats this year and I am happy to help her with her goal.

Now I'm starting fresh with my inventory and I've already began stocking up again with new items:

Hat/Cowl 2-in-1. Made using Lion Brand Heartland
in colorway called 126 Sequoia

Malabrigo Neck Thingie and Malabrigo Hand Thingies by
Anne Sahakian. Made using Lion Brand Landscapes

Baby Set (0-3 mos.) Apple Blossom Cardigan by Sarah Franklin,
Fleegle's Seamless Saartje Booties by SusanGlinert Stevens,
and Eyelet Baby Hat, by Brigitte Lang

These are few of the types of new items I will have available in my Etsy store. I'm looking forward to this coming year because I am also gearing back up to get into some new shows. I have been checking online to find local shows that I can sign up for. Once I have my applications submitted I will announce here and on my Facebook page where I will be for 2015.

Leave a comment to tell me what you are working on now that the holidays are behind us. And here's wishing you a happy new year and happy knitting!

Hit a slump in my knitting aka Knitter's Block

So now that the holiday season is over and the production knitting has slowed down, I find that every year around this time I find I hit a slump - knitters' block, similar to that fatalistic problem that writers sometimes get - writers' block. Production knitting will suck the life and fun out of knitting, if you let it. The non-stop knitting I do from August until December really gets overwhelmingly tedious and I find that when that last show of the season is over in December, I breath a deep sigh of relief.

I always think to myself afterwards, that I'm going to stop, give it up and try something else and I have these questions rolling around in my head, What am I doing? and Why am I working so hard? This was supposed to be a relaxing hobby! And then I think, I love this thing that I do with needles, I don't know what else I would do if I wasn't doing this. I work full-time and run this knitting business on the side and I think that it keeps me busy, sometimes busier than I want to be, but I enjoy the challenge and I like being busy. So I take a deep breath and take a little time off. I know its to keep the enjoyment of the craft from getting stale, I know if I didn't I would lose interest altogether.

So I usually try to occupy my time with something, anything that doesn't have to do with knitting. Well mostly doesn't have to do with knitting. I usually pull out my knitting books and/or magazines and peruse patterns and stories about knitting, spinning, yarn, etc. I also go through my WIP's (works-in-progress) stash and see if there is anything I want to continue working on, mostly not, but I always look.

And when I've done all of that I treat myself to a few weeks of reading catch up. Since I don't get to do a lot of reading for the enjoyment of reading during the high knitting season, I use this time to relax my hands, un-clutter my mind of knitting and reacquaint myself with some of my favorite authors. I look up to see what new releases they have out and browse the library's e-book selection to see if the next book in the series I was reading last year is available. This keeps me from totally losing interest in my knitting and deciding to give it up altogether, which I have done with many other hobbies over the years.

So when the times again to start knitting, I'm refreshed and ready to go! I delve into my books and magazines to look for more challenging knitting patterns, read about other people who have given up their day jobs to do what they love, open a yarn shop, start a non-profit to teach knitting/crocheting, etc.and dream about maybe doing the same all while my busy hands are creating something fabulous from yarn!

Have you found yourself getting knitters' block? How often do you find yourself hitting that wall? What do you do to keep from throwing in the needles? How do you keep your knitting interesting? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy knitting!

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!

I'm back!!!

I know I've been MIA in the blogging department lately, and I apologize to all of you who faithfully follow me here.

I've been pretty busy with knitting, felting, crocheting, and all things yarn related - getting ready for my first indoor flea market on Saturday and Sunday, June 23 & 24 at the Funky Junk Northwest Indoor Flea Market in Bellevue (located at 13310 Bel-Red Road, Suite 103, Bellevue). I hope to see some of you there.

You can come by and check out some of my newest market bags:

Grrlfriend Market Bag designed by Laura Spradlin of Sugar Bunny Blvd. These versatile bags are great for carrying groceries, books, knitting projects, and all sorts of things you need to tote around with you. The bag starts with a square bottom knit from the center outward using double pointed needles. When the square gets big enough you switch to circular needles. It's an easy design and fast to knit. I knit these within two to three days just doing it while watching TV in the evenings. I've already started on another one in this really great turquoise color.

Let's see what else have I been working on...hmmm. Oh yeah, I've been trying my hand at felting and I can only say that once you start, it's hard to stop!

I call this one Too Funky to be Square, my version of
the All Square Bag  (on Ravelry) designed by Eva Wiechmann
from Pursenalities

I call this one my Ruby Red Sparkle Bag
a spin-off of the Vintage Bubble Bag (on Ravelry),
another design by Eva Wiechmann from
Pursenalities

This too is a version of another of Eva Wiechmann's
designs - the Lagoon (on Ravelry) that can be found in
Pursenality Plus

I've done a bit of crochet as well, I tried my hand at some other types of bags, such as this drawstring beach bag:

I call it my Beach Blanket Bingo Bag
my version of the Lace Tote by Ruth Sheppard (on Ravelry)
found in Enviro-Totes (on Ravelry)

My version of Ruth Sheppard's Bucket Tote (on Ravelry) also
can be found in Enviro-Totes (on Ravelry). This
is still a Work-In-Progress (WIP)

I've been trying out some new designs for slouchy berets as well, here are a few:

My version of the Gwen Slouch (on Ravelry)
designed by Lauren Nell

My version of the Because of Love (on Ravelry) 
designed by Janel Laidman

My version of the Spring Beret (on Ravelry) 
designed by Natalie Larson (on Ravelry)

As a very special gift for a friend's mother, I made this shawl called the Monarch Shawl designed by Denise @ Lost City Knits.

'



So as you can see I've been a very busy knitter.  I hope you will continue to follow my blog, even if I am a bit of a slacker when it comes to blogging these days.  I'm hoping to get a new blog up soon with my new Knitter Mama logo and this blog will be moved, I will keep you all posted about it, but until then, Happy Knitting!

It has been a while...

I've been woefully neglectful of my blog these past few months, because this is the busiest time of the year for a knitter.  Gosh, I feel like Santa Claus saying that! But it's been great making and selling my items.

In November, I officially became a Washington State small business owner/operator; I applied for a Washington State Business License and a local city business license. I am now obligated to pay state sales tax to the State of Washington! I never intended for it to go this far, I had initially began the online shop as a hobby business just to earn a little extra cash, but it has turned into almost another full-time job and my sales have picked up considerably during the months of October, November, and December. Which is wonderful for my Christmas fund money, but man am I tired.

If I'm not at my day job, I'm at home knitting into the late hours, then going to bed to get up at 5:30 a.m. to get to my day job by 7:00 a.m., work until 5:00 p.m. and then go home cook dinner for my son, feed and take out the dog and by around 7:00 p.m. I'm sitting on my couch watching my DVR'ed shows while knitting away. Whew! That's an over full day.  But I'm loving it. I really enjoy making the products that I sell and I'm happy that others are enjoying my craft.

So, Handmade Knits by Knitter Mama is now on Facebook as well as Etsy (Knitter Mama). But my Etsy, online shop is on vacation until after the new year, but that doesn't mean I get to take a vacation from knitting. I will be knitting new items all next week to post to my shop and having a 25% off sale for selected items that are currently in my shop.

Over the past few months I've knitted quite a few orders, here are just a few of those items:

  

I haven't let the knitting get too much in the way of enjoying other aspects of my life.  High school basketball season started in December and I've been catching all my son's JV games!  I'm not a big sports fan, and I don't watch basketball on television, but I love watching my son play.  Here he is going up for a shot at a game on December 10th:

#34 (my son - Aiden) making a shot against Kentwood
High School - December 10, 2011
(picture courtesy of BG Photography & Editing)

Here he is again, during the same game:

I swear he's about 3 feet off the floor!
(picture courtesy of BG Photography & Editing)

It is so awesome to see him play. I'm always the loudest one cheering when he scores.

It will be nice to have some down time, I will try to get some relaxtion in during my vacation, but I will be knitting, but not at such a frantic rate as I did these last few months.

Well if I don't get a chance to post again before Christmas, I hope everyone has a safe and very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and Happy Knitting New Year!