Monthly Archives: November 2011

Black Friday thru Cyber Monday Sale!!!

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Now through Monday November 28th, save 25% on ALL of my patterns!  The sale includes Honey, Sequoia, Red Tide, Pacific Pine, Marine Layer*, and even the entire Left Coast Knits ebook! 

*For Marine Layer to qualify for the discount, it must be purchased and downloaded from Ravelry.  I can not offer the discount for patterns downloaded from Knitpicks.com.

To use this discount, use coupon code mustknitfaster2011 during checkout.  No restrictions, just happy knitting :o)

 

Wednesday already?

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It seems as if Monday and Tuesday just sort of flew by- well, in retrospect anyhow.  I find it funny that days can seem to stretch on forever in the midst of dishes, laundry, clutter cleanup, cooking, and child rearing, but when you look back, it really seems to have flown by.  Alot has gone on in the past two days, actually.  After 2 months of focused designing, knitting and then knitting again, and furiously jabbing a calculator, Im pleased to announce that I have completed my very first shawl(ette) design!  I will be releasing it soon, possibly by the end of the month.  I need to get the pattern transferred from my messy jumble of a notebook to a well-written and easy to understand pattern format.  That could take a while.  While I understand what I mean by “pull the yarn in that direction to make it do that one thing”, I understand that that might not come off well in a pattern.  It might confuse…

Monday found myself and my lovely Daughters doing our Thanksgiving grocery trip.  While we were planning on going home to spend Thanksgiving with my Family, we’ve come to the conclusion that we just cant afford it right now.  So we’ve reverted to our original plan of hosting some people in Dean’s command, which is always fun.  The Holidays are the only time of the year when I am allowed to have a houseful of single sailors!  But I digress.  While out on our grocery trip, I found one of my absolute favorite holiday treats.

Yummy Candy Cane Kisses!  I love white chocolate and these are such a delicious treat.  I also bought a pack of Holiday Oreo’s, and as you can see, Violet really enjoyed those:

Yes- red Oreo frosting all over the tile floors and white cabinets.  Fun, right?  Festive?  THAT was fun to clean up, let me tell you.

Aside from the snacking on unhealthy treats, and cleaning red frosting off of grout, I’ve actually been quite productive.  Im working on a Super Surprise of Super Awesome Awesomeness for my Swap on a Budget spoilee.  I chose Malabrigo Rios yarn to knit it with and I am in LOVE with this yarn!  While I love Malabrigo Worsted, I find that the single-ply felts entirely too easily.  But the Rios is a 10-ply worsted weight, still 100% Merino, and amazingly soft!  It is kettle dyed, but the colors have not pooled once.  Im using the colorway Azul Profundo, which is a beautiful blue yarn which goes from a deep, lovely sapphire, to a stunning sky blue.  It’s not at all dramatic color change- but just enough.

I’ve also finished my Son’s mitts that he requested.  He loves them and really enjoyed wearing them to school Monday morning and showing them off to his friends.  Despite the fact that it was nearly 75 degrees when he came home from school that day, he was still wearing them and they were pilling like mad.  I suppose a pill shaver is in my near future.

Have a wonderful day!

Must Have Monday- Sunshine Walks & A Special Offer!

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This weeks Must Have Monday features one of my absolute most favorite Etsy shops- Sunshine Walks!

Ran by Lisa, who is one of the warmest and kind etsy sellers you will find, Sunshine Walks offers a wide array of sewn project and notions bags featuring  fun, whimsical fabrics.  Having purchased 2 of her notions bags (one small and one medium) over the past year, I can attest not only to her amazing Customer Service, but to the wonderful quality of her bags.  The fabrics she chooses are strong, quality fabrics that hold up extremely well- even surviving the deep, dark depths of my large knitting tote, where stray needles have been known to roam.  Some of her latest offerings include my personal favorite:

(My wedding anniversary is next Wednesday- hint, hint Mr. Missbecca!)

Can you see how amazing this bag is?  Fully lined, and beautiful!


And it’s equally amazing interior:

And some of her zippered pouch offerings:

 

(Accessories not included)

Another amazing interior shot:

Can you see why I am in LOVE with this store?!  Her bags are amazing!  I was lucky to have the chance to chat up Lisa about her store this weekend, and Im happy to share the interview with you here today!  Read on for a SPECIAL OFFER from Lisa!!!

When did you get started making project bags?
About three years ago I tried my hand at making my first zipper pouch.  I’d been sewing a long time, even working as a stitcher for a local recycled sail tote maker, but I was afraid of zippers.  I finally decided just to go for it, and LOVED the end result. I was so stoked to put my knitting projects in something nicer than a ziploc bag!  I LOVE playing with color and my bags and pouches gave me the chance to try so many gorgeous fabrics.  I ended up making lots of pouches for swaps on Ravelry and I was encouraged by some good friends to open an Etsy shop and managed to work up a few different bag patterns for myself.  I also make tote bags and needle rolls when I have enough of the other project bags ready to sell.

How old were you when you learned to sew?
My mom taught me to sew when I was really young, probably 7 or 8. I started diving into her bag of scraps and making lots of…slightly more complicated scraps.  In middle school she helped me make a couple dresses and I started quilting when I was in college.  I definitely consider myself a knitter first but there is something delightful about the speed with which I can complete a sewing project, and fabric is just as addictive as yarn.  Eek!

Is Etsy the only place that you sell or do you sell locally as well?
I’ve sold some pieces to a couple local shops but it’s so important to me to keep a hearty inventory in my shop that I really need to focus my energy on Etsy most of the time.

Is this your only job or do you work outside of the home?
When I first opened my shop I was working three part-time jobs PLUS Etsy.  That’s how I roll.  🙂  In March I had a baby girl and now I’m a full-time mama and hope to be able to supplement our family income a little bit with Etsy.
If this is your only job, do you find that it is easy or difficult to juggle home life and working from home?
Right now it’s really difficult.  I’m absolutely a perfectionist and I want my home to be tidy, my baby to be happy and thriving, my husband to have an engaged partner, and my business to succeed.  But for the past 8 months of being a mama I consider it a winner day just if I’ve managed to make dinner.  I’m trying to work out the kinks in the system so I get at least a couple hours of sewing in every day but right now it’s really hard to get everything on the to do list done. 

*~*And now for an amazing Special Offer from Sunshine Walks!  Lisa is offering my readers 10% off of your order from her shop through the month of November 2011!  The special offer is also good for custom orders placed with a deposit!*~* 
Use code LEFTCOAST10 during checkout

Project Overload? Never!

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I’ll just come out and say it- I tend to put entirely too much on my plate.  My workspace looks like a war zone, and my stash closet(s) are in dire need of some organization after the past few days.  While it has been amazing to see so many of the designs that have been swirling around my mind come to life, I feel like I could fall into the swatch pile that has continuously grown on my desk and sleep for a week.  But I have to admit- it feels good to be in such a creative whirlwind! 

I currently have a pattern being test knit, and it’s getting pretty great reviews from the testers!  It’s a single skein cabled and lace scarf pattern using MadelineTosh Tosh Merino Light (TML), which is a single-ply, fingering weight yarn.  Im hoping to release the pattern on Ravelry around Thanksgiving, so be on the lookout!  Here’s a wee sneek peek:

I’ve also finished a prototype for another new design this past weekend.  It’s a single skein shawlette which knits up pretty quickly on size US 5 needles and a skein of fingering weight yarn.  No sneek peek just yet, but soon!  I plan on knitting a second one to try it out with a different yarn.  I will be going home for Thanksgiving and will hopefully get some lovely photos of all of the recent designs then. 

To add to the project overload, my Son asked me this morning to knit him some gloves!  We live in the desert, and it has started to get pretty chilly in the mornings- it was 49 degrees this morning when I walked him out to the bus.  So now Im on the hot search for a pair of kid-friendly gloves.  Im thinking the 75 yard Malabrigo Mitts will be perfect for him.  I’ll just have to do a little stash diving to see what I have in boyish colors.  Maybe a Christmas gift? 

Luckily, I dont knit for others unless it is specifically asked for.  Im easily offended when my handmades aren’t well recieved and giving a gift to a non-crafter is just asking for trouble.  I have, however, been asked by my baby sister (who is 23 by the way!) to knit her soon to be born baby girl (!!!) a monkey.  I decided on a Jerry the Musical Monkey by Rebecca Danger, and will also knit one for baby girls big sister for Christmas. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!