Make Me

Squee With Me

Are these not the cutest? And they were so super simple. I really do like Erika Knight's patterns. They are easy to follow and very wearable. I wonder if I can make these booties in my size!

The Rowan Wool Cotton is a lovely yarn to knit with. Very soft and squishy. Perfect for squishy little baby toes. I have enough time that I think there will be a matching hat in the near future.

When I posted about these a couple of days ago, I included a link to the book on Amazon. It no longer works. I tried to create a new link, but something weird is going on with Amazon. Says you can buy it new or used, but it's not clickable. Weird.  Anyway, I got my copy from the library, which I always find is the best thing for baby items.

I made these in the largest size - 9 months. One thing I've noticed is that there are always sizes on baby items, but no one seems to be informing the babies that they need to comply. They are always out of the size way too soon.  I finally figured out that if I just make the largest size, it will fit them at some point.

Show me your booties, you say? Okay! Here are some other photos! Click to embiggen. Open mouth to squee.

Patterned

Been running through my bookmarks and checking old sites. Ran across Hot Patterns and they are having a sale. Check out the clearance patterns.

When I first visited the site they had a pattern for a coat similar to the one Violet Beaudelaire wears in Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events.  I really, really want a coat like this. In red. I didn't get the pattern because I don't think my sewing skills are quite up to par for a coat. It's scary.

I also came across Wiksten-Made, where a lot of very cool sewing happens.  I think it's amazing the things people are doing in the world. How talented they are, but just because we don't see their stuff at the mall they just escape us. Yet they are successful and productive. Yet another great thing about the intrawebs - as the malls of America become exact carbon copies of one another, these independent designers become more important to those of us who appreciate uniqueness.

One more link. Ever see something so clever, yet so simple you immediately kick yourself in the head for not thinking of it first? Yeah, me too. Right after seeing this post on Grosgrain. Soooo adorable!

Maybe there will be some sewing for me in the future. I dunno. I say I'm gonna sew but I never really carve out the time for it. Probably because it always seems like a good idea until I actually get to the sewing machine, then it's just me rushing and cutting valuable corners to get to the finish line. But I still buy patterns and fabric. That's something.

Best Bead Giveaway Ever!

Denise Yezbak Moore is having a super bead giveaway. Go check out her blog AND check out the awesomeness of her work as well as those gorgeous beads!

Speaking of beads - I'm still listing earrings at the Lazy Lima Bean for the big sale. It's taking longer than I thought! Still, there is stuff listed now on sale and I haven't advertised it yet, so go take a sneak peek and tell your friends!

Proof of Knitting

Take a looky, there. I do knit!  Inspired by Major Knitter I decided to make the cute little booties from Natural Nursery Knits by Erika Knight.

Anyway, I started these little booties last night and I'm almost done with the first. Super easy, lightning quick.  I'm hoping to make a little hat with ear flaps too, but right now I don't have enough yarn. I think the booties are enough but just in case I have time, I want to mix in a little something extra.

Baby gifts always post such a problem for me. Either I can't get it knit up fast enough and the baby outgrows it before I bind off, or I just make too many mistakes.  Or I run out of time. 

After this I have a baby blanket to do. It will be quick hopefully. I'm making it for a friend whose sister-in-law is having a baby in the fall.  The Garter Rib Baby Blanket will be made with two strands of yarn, a crazy, lush brown alpaca and a soft, earthy green woolly bit of love.  I originally thought it would look like a forest floor with the combination of the brown and green. Now I worry that it will look like army fatigues.

I have a 7 hour car trip coming up in a couple of weeks, so I'll be starting the blanket then.  Hopefully I won't still be knitting it in August when I have to go to Scottsdale for a week, because soft, lush alpaca and 118 degree heat just don't mix.

Jump Start

I was reading an old Oprah magazine the other day. An article by a writer Martha Beck talks about jump starting her creativity with what she calls "The Kitchen Sink" method. If she's stuck and not producing quality work, she will stop, read short sections in several unrelated books, do a physical activity and come back refreshed with new ideas.

I think I kind of do a similar thing, it's just that I've never thought of it consciously enough to remember to do it when I am stuck! What I seem to do is take a sort of break. Do something restful, read a book or watch stupid television or clean off the table. Problem is that I just tend to get caught in the activity - I don't use the time constructively. When I clean the table, then I might start to reorganize the drawers. I can't usually read a short section of a book, I hunker down and read the whole thing. Next thing you know the whole weekend has gone by and I've forgotten all about the creative project I was working on!

The photo here is a close up from the Chihuly Exhibit at the Salk Institute a couple of months ago. There is a Flickr page containing more awesome photos than what I took. I forgot my camera and only had my phone. It was an early morning haze and we were rushed because they were trying to get an official photo on the last day of the outdoor exhibit. This piece is a large sun that looked as if it were setting on the horizon of the the Pacific. Wouldn't these colors make great yarn?! While I don't think the quality of my photos is necessarily stellar, I'm glad that I decided to work with what I had and get shots from different angles. It gave me a whole new perspective.

Sometimes I will just take my camera out and have a little fun. I've said before that I'm certainly not a contender for the world's best photographer, but I am finding that I have my own take on things. And sometimes I happen across an interesting shot, or something surprising happens that I wasn't expecting. The photography has been something that jolts my creative process in the arm. I look at my really bad, out of focus pictures and they teach me something - and not just to take a better photo next time! They show me something I didn't take the time to really see. Maybe that tile in the backsplash is cracked or the person that walked in front of the subject is crying. I like examining that frozen moment in time.

Let's all take time to examine what we do to excite our creativity into action. Maybe let me know what it is your doing!

Blog Neglect, Book Rec and A New Attitude

I've had the page open for a month. I've thought of a million different topics to post on, but I just haven't sat down to the computer with the mindset to get things done.

I have the usual excuses. Busy at work, trying to build up the Etsy store and trying to get my crafty mojo back. But frankly I've been bored. Bored with the blog, bored with knitting, stamping, collage, paper, yarn, beads - it's all blurred into one big Meh. 

I know it will all come back eventually. Perhaps I am going through a change. I did just before I really got into collage. I also think that part of it is trying to be creative, productive and make money at the same time doesn't jibe well with my aesthetic. I second guess myself a whole lot more - will this sell? Am I appealing to my customer?

It's been helpful in learning about the marketing side of selling handmade and it's presented in a way that does not make the process seem as overwhelming as other books have. 

I've broken my tasks down to manageable ones. Currently I'm creating my Facebook page for Lazy Lima Bean. It's only driven home what hopelessly crap photos I take, but I did find proof that they're better than they have been when I first started. That's something. The book includes online marketing, selling in boutiques and building a viable press kit. All good things, even if I can't comprehend them right at the moment. 

Ideally I will soon have figured out a kind of schedule that doesn't have me glued to the computer 24/7. Maybe I will be able to work out the promo portion to about 3 hours a week or something like that.  I did really work on the promo part in December and January and I did see a increase in sales. But it just took too much time - the Etsy forums, Twitter, Facebook - it seemed like it was taking over my life.

Another decision I've made is to revamp the shop eventually. I want to sell off everything and start doing the stuff I'm excited about. I'm also paring down the items I will list. Giving some thought to having seasonal offerings and a sale to clear out the current stock. It's all rather disjointed and doesn't present me as an artist at all, but as kind of all over the place. I need to work on my "brand" and what that means, exactly.

If you're having trouble with your Etsy store or want to start selling your crafts online and elsewhere, I highly recommend The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line. I think it's well written and offers great advice from several types of sellers who have made a success of the craft business.