A new favorite yarn

Well, another one for the long list of favorite yarns to work with. Last week I picked up a few balls of Schulana Fusione which is a silky soft 78%cotton 22% nylon ribbon looking yarn with a little shimmer. It is a bit streychy and amazingly soft and easy to work with. After ,making a neckwarmer / scarflette I ended up going back for more since it was 50% off at Yarns Unlimited. So far, Ive knit two pieces and have a third one planned and hope to find it online in more colors. They only had a few options so stuck with the blue tones since the color saturation was great. Definetly fun to work with amazed how silky the texture is and also amazed the cotton content was as high - i actually thought it was all some sort of nylon / poly blend so even more amazed by it now that found it was mostly cotton.

The fine details

One of the beautiful and unique things about creating handknit (and other handmade items) is in the fine details that can add an extra bit of love or energy to the project. By adding some sort of trim, fringe, buttons, or a little embroidery, an piece can get an extra bit of personality even though it is these small bits that actually take a little bit of extra effort after a project is completely knit, and blocked / sewn if needed yet make it stand out on its own after they are added.

Getting started on Etsy

Well, I am very grateful for all the blogs out there with information on how to have a profitable and visited etsy store. I thought it would be a lot like ebay, and am finding it is a bit more challenging since trying to knit and create items is much more enjoyable then taking photos ans sitting in front of the computer and listing. I am finding it a little harder to write descriptions, with ebay they seemed to write themselves, or I just had popular taste in clothing and shoes. Its weird that it is so different with writing the descriptions and setting prices is also a bit more perpexing. Factoring in yarn, time spent knitting, and then adding in the current economy, and prices of similiar items. A whole other issue is knitting things so much from yarns that Ive had in my stash for years so missing content / care instructions for some, and even have some items listing that knit and never wore or gave as gifts so no idea cost of the yarn etc.....

All of that said, it is also a pretty impressive variety of items and stores with amazing and beautiful items for sale in one place - which is what is so incredible about a handmade items website with individual srores - and an online community that also exists around it with advice and support while getting started and helping others to all do well. Hopefully since a rainy LA weekend, will finish a few items and create some time to sit down, get better photos and list them.

Wrist Warmer Re Do in a simpler pattern

The pattern I posted about a last month was a bit challenging to follow the way it was written. After going to the store that gave it out, I relearned that they had changed ownership. I work near the store, yet had forgotten why I stopped going there for my yarns and supplies. Needless to say, the former owner took her original patterns and samples with her so I was stuck with a 2/3 knit fingerless glove. Luckily, with the amazing options available on the internet. I found a few simple patterns that worked with the yarn I chose for this project. The yarn used for this project is an amazing hand dyed organic cotton from Uruguay purchased at a yarn store in Eugene, Oregon (forgot name) in 2004. I have seen the yarn on Etsy recently in a variety of colors.

The pattern I found was listed for free on blogspot and is amazingly easy to follow and the actual wristwarmer has a cute, simple and edgy feel to it when on. The pattern link is: vickiehowell.blogspot.com/2007/04/hand-like-hole-free-pattern-of-month.html