Yarns in My Shop!

I have decided to go through my stash and sell some of the yarns that still have labels on them. Here are the yarns that will be periodically added to my shop, my readers get a sneak peek!



A mustard yellow wool with black specs throughout the skein.



A gold colored 100% acrylic, 364 yards.



Bright, lime green eyelash yarn, 60 yards.



Fun Fetti, black eyelash yarn with bits of brightly colored ribbon interspersed, 46 yards.



Zitron Loft, 100% Merino, dark grey and brow, 100 meters.

So keep your eyes peeled on my shop so that you can grab up these wonderful yarns before someone else does!

New Rainbow Scarf in My Shop!

So there is a new super cool and uber chic scarf in my shop this morning!

But it is not one of my own, it was hand knit by the very talented woman who first taught me how to knit. It is 100% wool and would be a perfect staple accessory in anyone’s closet. And at only $37 this scarf is a total steal! Go on over there and check it out, you know it would make the perfect gift for anyone on your list or even yourself! Think of it as a reward for all that hard work you put into picking everyone else’s holiday gifts *wink wink*

New Scarf and Ear Candles?

So I finished another scarf today, along the same lines as the green one that sold on Friday. Instead of another green colored one, I knit this one in fall colors, shades of oranges and browns. What do you think?



Also, earlier today, my housemates were talking about these things that you stick in your ears and then light on fire! It is supposed to suck out all the wax and other ickies that accumulate in there. I did not attempt this, but my boyfriend did, he says it worked and he could hear much better.



Basically, what the device is, is cheese paper and parafin wax. The cheese paper is wound around a large paintbrush or something like it in a long funnelish shape and then dipped in the wax. When it is inserted into your ear it creates a vacuum and the fire on the other end uses up the oxygen in the tube and the ear canal and then it proceeds to pull out the gunky stuff inside your ear. It would work wonders for those with constant ear infections and the like.

New Scarf in My Shop!

So I just listed this recently finished Multi-Green scarf. Its very soft, very light, very cool! It is similar to my Multi Blue and Multi Red Scarves, but a little shorter and generally skinnier. Although the scarf is light, it still keeps the neck of its wearer just as warm as a heavy scarf would.



This scarf was up in my shop for maybe, an hour, and it has already sold! Needless to say, this has made me very happy and I just got back from the post office so it is off to its new owner :) Here is how I packaged the scarf before I shipped it. I included some business cards, a handwritten thank you, a flower broach and a discount coupon for the buyer's next purchase. I personally really like how all the colors coordinated, don't you?

Interview and Helpful Hints From CricketsCreations!

After reading so many of her forum posts and other articles and reading her advice to other team members in the Etsyknitters Team, I asked Celeste of CricketsCreations if she would pretty please do an interview and give us some insight into this brilliant and very kind person:

When did you start knitting?

I took an elective class when I was eight years old. From there, I
studied knitting books and tried out patterns. Now I design all my own
work and can get really creative!

What is your favorite thing about what you do?

I'm a color and texture junkie who also happens to be a Gemini...scarves are great because I get to play with all kinds of crazy combos and don't have a chance to get bored (I make 2-3 scarves a day, generally)!

What does a typical day look like for CricketsCreations?

Get up in the morning, shower and get dressed (I like to "get ready for
the day" even though I work from home). Then, I start working for Best
Friends Animal Society from my home office (which is also my home studio
for scarfin'). If you're curious about what I do for Best Friends,
please see http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/PostDetail.aspx?bp=5628.

On my breaks, I take a few minutes to do the following daily on Etsy:

1) Answer any Conversations (convos), relist sold items, send a note to
customers thanking them & letting them know when I'll ship their order,
renew popular scarves on Etsy, etc.

2) Scroll through the pages at http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php and
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_west.php looking for gold stars next to the
treasury title. A gold star tells me I'm in that treasury, so when I
see one I enter that treasury, click on each item and leave a comment.

About once a day, I feature one of the curators who's included me in my
blog at http://cricketscreations.blogspot.com/ (I wish I could feature
them all, but I'm usually in several treasuries at once).

3) Visit
http://www.majaba.org/heartsitems.php?userid=&submit=Submit&name= and
check for new item hearts (this gives me an idea of which items are most
popular and/or which to make sure I have plenty of in my inventory).

Once work at my "real job" is completed, I spend the rest of the day
shipping scarf orders (its' such a thrill!), remaking scarves which have
sold or creating/photographing/listing new designs.

I integrate family & friends...either visiting while I knit, or taking a
break from business to have dinner, see a movie or go for a drive.

If you could branch out to any other medium what would you choose to learn?

Lampworking and glassblowing! I'm utterly fascinated by chemistry, physics & other sciences and love the transformation of glass to works of art!

Are there any other tid bits you want to throw out there? Anything at all :)

Here's a link to my success tips:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5838121

Thank you so much, once again, for doing this. I really do feel that your wisdom and helpfulness is priceless and I hope to one day aspire to your success!

Two New Listings in My Shop

So today I decided to list the ornament hats I wrote about. The listing can be found here. I am advertising them as ornaments, teddy bear beanies and egg cozies. I took some cute photos with my bear Roger. Roger was given to me by Dominic for Valentine’s Day this year and he came with some heart chocolates. Needless to say, Roger is a very super cool suave kinda guy ;)

I also FINALLY listed this cowl. I ordered the roving from another Etsian and spun it up myself. I then knit it up into a cowl and attached a braided loop to secure the large coconut button in place. The merino is very soft and has all the warmth of wool but none of the itch.

New Items For My Shop, a Busy Weekend

This weekend was productive, I did some spinning, some knitting, some chilling with my momma, and I got a much Much MUCH needed haircut. I didn't get a chance to blog this weekend because I didn't have the cord to download my pictures, so I am going to do a weekend's worth of blogging now, hold on tight!

I had received about 8oz of navy wool roving sometime last week and put off spinning it until I go visit my momma and show her how to spin. Needless to say, 8oz of roving definitely takes some time to spin and appears to be a small explosion of fluff when left unspun on the couch for a few moments. The spinning was fun and most of said spinning took place while watching Bucket List and 21 with my mom on the couch, while she was knitting her scarves and I was lost under a storm of roving. It yielded about 110 yards of worsted or heavy worsted yarn and will be listed my Etsy shop soon. As with all handspun yarns, there are slight variations throughout the skein, some thicker parts, some thinner parts, but these, to me, add character to the color, texture and general feel of the completed garment.


I also finished some small ornament hats during my visit. I had already completed a Santa hat, and during the trip I made two beanies of the same size, one red and white striped and one mostly white with some red stripes. I think I will list these in my shop as well, as a set. And if it seems to get good reviews I will make some more in varying colors and sizes and patterns. Perhaps some small mittens, stockings, candy canes, etc. If you have any ideas or requests for ornaments for the coming holiday season please let me know! I need all the ideas I can get :)

My mom taught me to knit way back in the day and she still does some knitting (mostly when her baby girl is home to accompany her though hehe). She found a pattern for a mohair cardigan that she really loved and bought the yarn to make it. After all the pieces had been knit and sewn up, she found out that it didn't fit her quite right. I tried it on when I got there and it fit me just fine :) And its soft, and orange, and beautiful and I love it! I mean, I ant my mom to finish and love her own projects, but I don't mind taking them off her hands if needed. So these pictures are trying to depict the gorgeous sweater and my new super cool hair cut. It actually doesn't look all that different from my old one, its just more cleaned up. It had been over a year and half since I had a real haircut and it showed. So, these pictures aren't great, but I'm sure you all know the difficulties of trying to photograph yourself by yourself.








And, as classes have started back up, I find my bag unorganized and difficult to sift through, so I made myself this yellow pouch. I especially love the red buttons and red bamboo that hold the piece together, literally!



And here are some cute photos of my pup Panda. He always sleeps like this, crotch up, passed out. I figured you all would get a laugh out of it :)

Cowriter for Another Blog!

Last night, meandering the Etsy forums, I stumbled upon a message asking for Co-writers for a blog. I inquired to the position and have been accepted! The blog is: http://blufuse.blogspot.com/

I write for the "Ideas for Her" section. The blog is directed to toward guys and what I find will help them to find gifts for their ladies ;).

I hope you all go have a look-see! Also, if you know of any good gift ideas for girls that might in the blog don't hesitate to let me know :)

On a separate note, I sold the custom critter cozy I was working on. I shipped it off today along with some business cards to the ever talented AlwaysAmy.


I plan to blog this weekend as I will be spinning more roving and getting more and more knitting done, so stay tuned!!