For Your Little Pumpkin ~

Cooler weather this weekend found me back at my favorite fall/winter spot ~ in the family room, feet up, watching movies and pulling out skein after skein of yarn and my knitting looms. It is my favorite cold weather pastime.  And it's fun to step out of the studio once in awhile for a change of scenery!

This little beanie was a spontaneous creation and it made me smile to imagine some cute little pumpkin walking around ~ or even topping off their Halloween costume ~ with this soft and warm pumpkin head!  It is available in my Etsy shop now.

Dreams and Wishes and Hope...

As promised ~ more items benefiting Make-A-Wish! They are in my Etsy shop now.

These super soft, super warm chunky knit beanies were hand-knit on looms and are sized as "child size;" I would say they would fit a toddler from about age 2 - 4. Sporting buttons full of hope, one states "Dream" and the other "Wish." (Watch the little guys with those buttons, though!)

10% of each sale will go to Make-A Wish Foundation of Colorado. Thanks for taking a peek!!

Apple. Tree.

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Hmmm... apple; tree.

If you've followed my blog you know my affection for my 92 year young Mom ~ and how much I have learned from her. One thing that has become more apparent to me as I age (ahem... not that I'm old or anything) is that I enjoy being productive. Productive almost every waking hour. Omg. I am my Mom. ;-)

So sitting in front of the television at night has always seemed like a waste of time if all I'm doing is looking at the television. I have many hobbies that have kept me busy over the years whilst TV watching; but about a year ago I discovered knitting looms. And oh boy, a faux knitter was born!

I am in awe of people who really knit - you know, with needles and patterns and such. I think the looms are not quite "knitting." But they are fun and fairly easy and produce a consistently nice product! There are ways, too, to make many, more complicated projects using them.

So something I really enjoy in the evenings (particularly those long winter evenings where the sun sets at 4:30 pm!) or on a long car trip ~ is knitting on my knitting looms.

And 'tis the season ~ soon. Time to get ready for those snowy mornings walking the dog or hitting the ski slope and the need to bundle up! I have a few beanies/toques/hats in my Etsy shop with more appearing as the snowflakes begin to fall!

An Homage to Mom

My Mom had three sisters; two of them were stricken with breast cancer. One passed away a few years ago; the other has suffered with complications and side effects for more than 40 years. The up-side is she survived; the down side is her quality of life hasn't been that great.

When the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen was in clinical trials a few years ago, my Mom felt a responsibility to participate. She volunteered to be a part of the study for a couple of years. So, she's kind of my breast cancer hero, too. She took a chance ~ not knowing what the drug may do. Fortunately she didn't experience any side effects and is still healthy as can be.

Mom turns 92 on Friday. One of the gifts I'm giving her is this super soft (think angora/cashmere) pink hat I knit for her, with a special little note from me. ;-)

Finding Direction

When I opened my Etsy Shop about 18 months ago it was a mixed bag of photography, knit hats, note cards, dog treats and stuffed animals. Initially I thought ~ wow, what an opportunity to showcase all my interests!

Three months in (after a thoughtful hike along the East Bay in San Francisco/Berkeley) I made the decision to narrow down what I offered in my shop. I felt that the wide array of items offered were perhaps working against me ~ that maybe potential customers were confused when they entered my shop. Was I a photographer? A seamstress? A baker? A knitter? I was confused; I can only imagine what visitors thought.

On this early morning walk along the San Francisco Bay, watching the sun rise and reflect off the city skyline I thought about two things: (1) Considering all my interests, which offered me the most satisfaction and the most happiness? and (2) Considering all my interests, which presented the opportunity to actually make some money?

Although photography was, and will always be, a passion, it is an extremely competitive market. I have always had an affinity for stuffed animals, so I decided to focus on that.

So I did. And sales picked up. Within six months I began designing my own stuffed animals and developed a line of one-of-a-kind "Wee Ones." Sales hit an all time high at that point. A few shops across the country began to approach me interested in consignment possibilities.

Wanting to stretch my imagination and creativity a bit (because I have to admit I like creating new things) I recently expanded into applique plush pillows and applique baby bibs. And then I remembered ~ oh yeah, I know how to make knit beanies/hats. It is fun to go from one line to another ~ to mix it up a bit. But this time, I realized I had unconsciously created a new focus.

While at a networking social the other night a few people inevitably asked, "So what do you do?" I instinctively handed them a business card and said, "I make stuff for kids." They knew immediately what I do.

And with that, I realized ~ I have a direction. I have a demographic I can focus on; I have a market I can cater to. I know what shops to contact; I know how to promote my business. Everything makes sense now. :)

Direction. It makes all the difference.

Signs...

This is what I do on road trips. Well, this and shoot out the window a lot.

I go thru stages with hobbies/addictions. My knitting looms have been lonely and ignored for several months ~ since my little animals took over anyway. But since it was a little crowded in the Jeep to bring my Janome sewing machine along on this most recent road trip (although my mister offered an adapter and was sure I could keep sewing), I opted for something a little more compact ~ a couple of my knitting looms.

I decided to knit hats (these are small!) for Olympic Bears (both USA and Canadian) I plan as my next "freckles & friends" project ~ and thought I'd knit a few for Valentine's Day as well. (Did I mention addiction?) Well, I get a little obsessed. I not only knit these six, but I think there are about ten or twelve more in a suitcase (knit thruout the trip). So, of course now the challenge is to make the bears to match the hats.

An aside ~~~ My Dad was a man of few words, but I do remember two comments he made to me over the years. One was:

"Cindi, I get tired just watching you run up and down the stairs. Don't you ever sit down?"

and

"You sure know how to make work for yourself..."

Like I said, he didn't talk much, but he was observant. ;-)

Now back to my story ~~ I found it an incredible coincidence that I picked up my looms for the first time in months and last night I sold a knit hat (people size) on my mister's website (a little plug for www.buyoffseason.com/ ). I had forgotten I had anything listed with him. So isn't that the strangest thing? That I'm finally making hats again and one that I had totally forgotten about sells??

I believe in signs. And I think that's one. I just haven't figured out where the sign is pointing yet...

Two Down; Seven To Go :)

No, the hats aren't really for them; I just decided to get everything in one shot. My friend ordered a pink hat, a "blue/white" hat - for the actual babies, a pink polka dot bear and a blue polka dot dog for twin babies in their family who will be making their appearance soon.

So now before moving on to the rest of the special orders, I think I'll experiment with something I've been thinking about. If it turns out, pix to follow. And it may even end up in the shop. ;-)