Tag Archives: knit

Smashing little boxes…

In the wake of the USOC cease and desist letter and subsequent apology, had a thought: I hate stereotypes. In a world where we must define everything, from the name of the particles that make up the air we breathe to the ethnic categories we claim on the census, it's preferred that everyone and everything fit nice and neatly into its own little box.  Speak a hybrid of Spanish or English two equally different boxes?  Then you now speak a new language called Spanglish.


Peanut and me at the shop
Photo by Jennifer Kresse
I am not too particular about stereotypes for obvious reasons, but the main one is the fact that, because I do not fit into one box on a number of levels, I can make people uneasy (or curious...it all depends on the person).  I mean, really, as a girl I was supposed to love the color pink, love cooking and cleaning, right?  Nope!  Give me a tricked out Honda Civic and I'll be the first girl in line to race Vin Diesel in the next Fast and Furious movie, because I'd be more interested in the sleek lines of the interior than the actor's chiseled muscles (though, as far as preferences go, the muscles would be at a very very close second).  :)


So why do knitters and crocheters get the stereotype that we're all grannies, spinsters, or just plain old women with a house full of cats and nothing else to do?  I mean, when I first presented the idea to my husband that I wanted to open a yarn shop, he asked me why I wanted to be in an industry full of old ladies.  And the fact that the USOC so quickly issued (and re-issued) an apology to our community of fiber fanatics means that we have more pull than the average person may think.


Green layette
I designed and hand knit this one
This is why I do what I do.  I want to pass on this craft to people who want to learn, join our powerful community, and have fun doing something that can make the world more beautiful, one stitch at a time.


So, with a successful grand opening of the brick and mortar shop, a growing number of wonderful customers, and my design mojo back, I will keep working hard and travelling on this path.  I'm designing a few patterns now, working on getting more new items in the shop, and keeping us in the Bay View area for as long as we can.


Peanut models The Wonderful Wallaby
I wanted him to have something fun for the fall
and practiced raglan yoke at the same time!

Updates: Knit & Garden

Tutorial: Fair-isle Floats

New Pattern: Alhambra Hat

Color Challenge: Orange

Illustration: Of Spaniards, Shipwrecks, and Sheep

Giveaway: Knitting Book

Rollercoaster

They don't tell you in business school that starting your own business is overwhelming on many levels.  You worry about your own success, the success of the business, and definitely about the toll it will take if you don't immediately realize what you call success.

While I continue to do the basic parts of what I love - knitting, designing, and running a business - I'm also expanding other parts of my creativity as a way to keep my mind off of things while I wait for certain milestones to happen.  


First, I'm counting down the days to a HUGE vendor expo, featuring 135 vendors, including a number of craft retailers that will be taking place in a little over a week.  Midwest Yarn will have its own booth so that people can stop by, check out some of the stock, and meet me.


I've also made tons of stitch markers as something handmade to sell at the expo as well.  Whatever stitch markers I don't sell there, I'll be listing in my Cherished Moments shop on Etsy.  If I can find a few more vintage craft books, I'll be selling those as well (I've got a number of vintage and antique craft books that are pretty cool).


There's also only 10 days left on my Kickstarter campaign and we're only at 5% funding.  


Finally, Sock Madness is on an optional round due to the holidays, so I took this time to give Peanut all the attention he can get for Easter.  That meant seeing bunnies at The Elegant Farmer, a haircut, and Easter dinner with family (both Saturday and Sunday nights!).  He and I are also visiting my parents at their bed and breakfast this week so he can get spoiled by his Mimi for a few days as well!




There's officially no turning back now.  I get the keys to the retail space soon, which means our storage space will be emptied, our house will be rearranged (all of my personal yarn and craft stash will be heading to the shop), and I will be in full swing.  I cannot wait until this new chapter begins.  Not to mention that my 30th birthday will be happening during the first month that the shop will be opening, so I have all kinds of milestones happening.

Spring Knitting: Bunny Egg

I Love What I Do!


This evening while eating dinner in our office, I turned and looked at my husband and said, "This is really gonna happen..."  We were eating at the table I purchased for classes in the shop and it just hit me that starting a yarn shop was no longer a dream, it's a reality!  I have all of the larger "fixtures" for the store, and the rest will all be incidentals.  Of course, there's all that fun business stuff that needs to be taken care of before we open, but that's just a matter of time (and paperwork).

My goal is to get a lot of things second hand or "found" in nature.  I've come across things like hat boxes, interesting dress forms, some cool artwork, or even pieces that speak to me.  I a battered suitcase for decoration, a metal milk jug, and plenty of baskets.  My mother is also giving me a lot of her old baskets that she used to make when I was younger!


In the mean time, I've been knitting like crazy for both Sock Madness and what is to be the first knit along.  Round 1 for sock madness started out with a pair of socks that require a set of dice to choose at random whether or not you will C2F every 4th row.  The result is a pair of "mismatched" socks with cables randomly happening along the instep and leg.  I took (bad) progress pictures along the way and to submit at the end of the round.

I dyed the sock yarn with
Black Cherry Kool-Aid!

At the end of each day of frantic sock knitting, I'd spend my evenings "resting" by starting the All the Stops dress, a great pattern in Juniper Moon Farm's Findley Dappled booklet.  I'll be able to post a few pictures in a few days, as we've got terrible lighting in the house and pictures are not turning out quite right.  I want to be able to do this yarn justice because the variegated Findley Dappled is breathtaking, no matter what colorway you're using!  It feels like pure silk as I knit (it should, it's 50% silk and 50% merino wool).

Peanut, my son, checks out the shelves I plan
to use for Juniper Moon Farm yarns.  :)


It was first hard to imagine how this dress was going to turn out, but it became apparent quickly that the two stitches surrounded by stitch markers are where the shoulder seam is to be.  From there, you work your way down in three sections - left front, back, and right front.  I am now to where dart decreases are made.  I've sewn darts before, but have never knit darts, an interesting concept, but they serve the same purpose - to tailor the bust line. So far, it appears that I may be the only one who's documented doing this pattern (other than the tester), so I hope someone joins me in this project soon.  My dress, once complete, will be displayed in the shop and I'll also be wearing it on a cruise in January 2013, assuming I don't gain a massive amount of weight before then.

 Last, but not least, I got permission to share an appreciation photo from the layette set I designed and made for my hubby's boss.  I know I posted it on Facebook, but here's the little boy wearing the hat and socks from the set.  I was also told that they're giving me a copy of him in the whole outfit once they get the pictures from the hospital photographer.