So I made a real list for my gifts. An official one. Unfortunately it made me realize that I don’t have very many gifts done. I had three done but my dad needed another hat and I decided to not make him wait two months for it. Now I have two gifts done out of 12 and luckily 4 gifts are for kids. I’m really trying to focus on gift knitting so I put my socks on hold and I finished a shawl I was working on for me. This is the Lonely Tree Shawl made out of reclaimed yarn.

I used my hand spun alpaca to start this lined beanie. The brown gradient is the hand spun and the blue is reclaimed alpaca yarn. I’m a little more than half way done and I think I’ll be able to finish it this week. 

I felted these slippers and they ended up a little furry. They are a little too fuzzy right now and one of them felted more than the other but it was good practice for the ones I’m making as gifts. 

I started these new slippers last night and I might be able to finish the knitting today. I’m making these women’s size medium

My plan for this week is to finish the felted slippers and the alpaca hat. I also want to make one of the kid’s gifts but I keep changing my mind on what to make them.

In other news, my pattern is almost done being tested and I took some new pictures of my completed shawlettes. Thursday I’ll be starting the raffle for this blue shawlette. 

I was hoping for some cooler weather but it doesn’t look like I’m going to get it. I know I should want to hang on to the warm weather as long as I can but I’m done with it. Until it’s too cold and then I’ll change my mind! I work at night right now so sleeping during the day when it’s hotter has been a little challenging at times. I also want to spin and knit all kinds of things that make my hands hot. There is one project in particular that I really wanted to hold off on until it was cooler and I have a good chunk of time to work on it. I unraveled a large portion of a cashmere sweater (pictures below) and I was able to get one skein plied. I took pictures and was planning on finishing up that week so I could list it in my shop. I went to do the second skein and my hands were just so hot and sticky that the yarn was just breaking over and over again. Straight from the sweater it is a single ply of 100% cashmere and it’s pretty much cobweb weight. After it’s plied it’s amazing and the colors are great and I love it! Before it’s plied it’s been pretty much my enemy.

There are a few other sweaters that I really want to get processed and listed this month because I would love to be able to give people more choices. I’m making progress on hand knit items but that’s only because I can work on those at work. I don’t think they would appreciate me unraveling sweaters at work. Fuzzies and threads everywhere! Tomorrow when I get access to a camera I’ll be posting some updates to my Christmas knitting stash down. It involves the orange variegated scarf that is in progress and yarn pictures of what is coming up next! 

I thought that I would do a little extra sharing today about why I have an etsy shop. I have always liked being crafty and I learned to knit and crochet when I was a kid. I would pick up little projects off and on but I didn’t really get into it until after high school when I started to gain a little more confidence in my knitting skills. I also started finding better resources and I saw patterns for things I would actually want to own. Before this I would see pattern books that were filled with dated styles or complicated steps that I didn’t understand. I think modern knitting magazines kicked me back into knitting because there were sweaters in there that looked like someone normal might actually wear them. I think around that time I got the “I can’t believe I’m knitting socks” book. I shouldn’t have believed it just yet thought because my first socks were pretty bad but I felt like I could knit anything I wanted to.

Fast forward to my miraculous discovery of RAVELRY! Best website ever! I was searching for a pattern and I was directed to create a ravelry account and I was amazed at how many people and resources there were. I had endless sources of inspiration and enough help and information to actually act on those inspirations. I think I was accustomed to the facebook thing where people are always trying to find or create drama and I was super excited to see how upbeat and positive people were. They wanted to share but they want you to share too!

At this point I was still just using acrylic yarn because everything else was really just out of my price range. Everything changed again when I discovered a tutorial for unraveling sweaters! It was nuts how much yarn I got from one sweater. Around the same time I discovered that you could dye wool yarn a rainbow of colors in your kitchen for like a dollar. I was officially hooked on finding wool sweaters. I was already a thrift store shopper but now I was a thrift store shopper with a purpose.

I quickly ended up with a stash of sweaters to use and I kept saying that I could sell this yarn for less than commercial yarns and still make enough money to support my hobby. It took awhile but I posted my first listings in May.

I loved that I was supporting some good causes with my money and using sweaters that sometimes had holes or were in need of a new lease on life. The sweater materials were in good condition but things happen like snags or stains. I found one sweater that still had department store tags on it but had a huge coffee stain on it. I felt pretty good about being able to use all of the rest of the sweater and I used the stained part and stained it more with some tea and made an awesome doily with it.

I think that having a hobby/business like this has saved my sanity. It has been the positive force that gives me something to be excited about. I work full time at a pretty boring job with some pretty miserable and complacent people. I’m also in school full time (I graduate with a BSIT the end of March, yay!). I have drama with family and friends just like everyone else but I started knitting a pink hat and I listed a cowl that I made in my etsy shop so I’m feeling pretty good about things.

If you took the time to read this wall of text then thank you because that is very awesome of you. September is my birthday month and I haven’t been promoting much lately so I’m starting a 20% off coupon code for everything in my shop (AUDREYLEE is the code and message me if you need help using it!). If you buy it before the 14th then I don’t have to move it with me to my new place! Think of how much you could help me ;)

I finally finishing knitting a shawl I’ve been designing. I just powered through those last few really long rows so I could block it today. I wanted a shawl that had some feminine details without being too frilly or over the top. This shawl is in the shape of a trapezoid with a block of eyelet lace in the middle section and a slight ruffle on the edge. I’ll post some more pictures after the shawl finishes blocking. I’m hoping to release this pattern later this month but I don’t know what I’m going to name it. I made this with some three ply cashmere that I had in my shop. I’ve sold out of grey but there is white beige available as well as this hand dyed cashemere.

It is officially the start of my Christmas in July promotion! As I announced previously I will being giving out free samples of my other yarns with every order during the month of July. There is also a 15% off coupon code (CHRISTMASINJULY) and with each item you purchase I will send you a free holiday greeting card. These cards will be handmade by me and if you purchase multiple listings in one order you’ll get multiple cards all free of charge.

I decided to give my customers greeting cards because many knitters and crocheters like to make Christmas gifts for their friends and family. If you are purchasing yarn or a hand knit item to give as a gift, having a cute card to go with it makes it just that much better. If you are planning on giving an item to someone for another occasion (baby shower, birthday, just because, etc) let me know and I’ll make a special card just for you!

If there is a type of yarn that you aren’t sure about and would like to try this is a great chance to test it out. Let me know ahead of time what you’re interested in and I will try my best to include that sample with your order. There isn’t a minimum or maximum on any of these promotions so shop as much or as little as you want.

Link to my etsy shop

I’ve been stocking up on sweaters that I find in thrift stores for the past year. Each time I find a good one I think that it’s too good of a deal to pass up! Well I have a pretty serious storage problem when it comes to my yarn and sweaters and such so I really need to follow through with my plan to open up an Etsy shop to sell my reclaimed yarn.

I have a few sweaters unraveled and yesterday I had a yarn washing adventure. The fastest way to wash a large amount of yarn is to use the tub. This means I need to clean the tub and make sure it’s very thoroughly rinsed out. Then I fill it up with warm water and some mild soap. As I was letting the tub fill I started to gather the yarn and realized that I need to wash way more than my tub can fit. I also realized that I don’t have enough hanging space to hang it all up to dry. I think this means I’ll be doing several rounds of yarn washing. This also means I’ll have a very clean tub several times a week. I’ve had people suggest that you wash the sweaters before unraveling. It does clean them up but the process of unraveling unleashes a lot of stray fibers. There’s also dust and things that I fear may be stuck in the stitches or between the seams that washing the sweater whole won’t get to.

In summation, I have a lot of work to do but at least I enjoy it :)