Je Tricote Pour Moi

Hello gentle readers in Blogland!

 I have forthwith moved my blog over to Blogger for some well-needed change and re-sleeking.

 You can find me here now:  LucindaC

Enjoy!

Lucinda 

Exciting news:  I will soon have my items for sale in MyMy's new brick and morter store!  I'm working on a bunch of earflap pom-pom hats that will be sold in the store, so I'm really excited for my first consignment deal.

I just started my internship yesterday with JCPenney, and I'm loving every minute of it!  But I'm not loving the 40 hour weeks I'll have to start working (time to wake up to the real world), especially the 2-11pm shifts that I'll start next week.  But hey, it's retail.  Someone has to work during then!  This week consists of learning all the basic training that all the associates have to know; next week I start shadowing a department manager as part of the internship program.  I wonder what projects I'll have to be in charge of.

So after standing most of the day, I come home pretty tired and with not a whole lot of time to work on Etsy stuff, which is sad.  I guess I'll have to just do as much as I can on the weekends and try to post in the forums in the evenings.  Lots of sellers on Etsy have full time jobs and are parents with small kids, so if they can manage it, I'm sure I can.  Plus, it's not like I have to worry about making dinner when I come home since I'm home with my parents this summer.  Won't be the case next year when I'm out in the real world for good.

Here's an important lesson in gauge: CHECK IT.  I finished my Central Park Hoodie this weekend and discovered the disasterous results from the gauge that I *thought* was ok:  I had too many stitches per inch. Which meant that my sweater was way too small.  Which meant I would never wear it, and would have to frog it and do it again.  Sadness quickly insued, and I still can't look at it in my knitting corner without getting a little upset about it.  I really believe that it's the best sweater I've made so far, and the cables look gorgeous in the Lamb's Pride.  I was really busting my butt trying to get it done last weekend so that when my aunt comes to vist she would be able to see the beautiful sweater I made.  But I decided I won't rip it out until she sees it, so I have evidence!  When I become less emotionally attached I'll start over.  When I finish it, it'll probably be the appropriate season to wear it in anyway.

My nerdy boyfriend, of course, did not understand my explanation on the phone and why I was brought to the point of tears.  Well...he doesn't get knitting like he gets transistors.  Anyway, I've decided to move on to my Cabled Shell from Vogue Knitting Summer 05.  And the gauge is correct on this sucker!

So to all the newbies out there who don't believe in gauge checking (because I was one of them at a point in time): CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT!!  Get it??

In a fit of overcoming creativity-block, I found two items I started making and never finished.  So, I finished them!

I made this a couple of months ago when I was still up at school, but I couldn't finish it since I needed a sewing machine to do the majority of the lining.  Plus, I knew I had this really awesome fabric for it from another defunct project that would go with the yarn perfectly.  I was surprised how much sturdy and structured the lining made the bag after I finished it.

 I had some left-over yarn from a bag I made and sold from this yarn, so one night while watching TV I decided to make a little stockinette stitch bag which got lost in my yarn pile.  When unpacking all of my supplies when I moved back home, it was a nice little surprise to find.  They were super fast to make, I think I'll do a few more.  The sad thing is that the store where I used to buy this yarn doesn't carry it anymore, so I'll have to spring for the expensive stuff instead of this knock-off (it had the same fiber content as the expensive yarn, but loads cheaper!).

I've been picking up my Central Park Hoodie at night after all my etsy store stuff is finished for the day, and I'm a little over half-way done with hood, which is uber exciting.  My aunt is coming sometime this summer and I'd love to have it finished before she arrives since I used the money she gave me for xmas to buy this yarn.

Well, off to figure out what to contribute to The Sampler...25 knitted samples at least, yikes! 

Yeah, it can.  Especially when things don't work out how you wanted them to.  Take for example, my latest attempt at making a sunglass case for sale on etsy.  I had a vision in my head of a wide, cream colored case with calbes made out of wool that would be big enough for my honkin' huge sunglasses that would probably devour Ashley Olsen's head.  And then to close it, I'd use a cute little i-cord drawstring.  Totally adorable, right?  That is, until I actually made the bugger. It ended up curving around my sunglasses instead of being elegant and sleek, and just looked dead.  My mom pronounced that it looked "hot" (not in a good way) because it was made of wool and it being 90 degrees out, who would want a wool sunglass case.  I wiped my hands of that idea.

And then there's the urge to make something so freaking awesome, but I don't know what.  I hate it when I get into creative funks!  I'm dying to make something, but everything I come up with and start just ends up sucking, at least to me.  I can't justify selling something if I don't think I'd even buy it.  

Still working on the Central Park Hoodie, slowly but surely.  Maybe I'll pick it up again tonight, if it's not so hot and my hands don't start sweating because I'm working with wool.  Last week in Tucson, I started a cabled shell from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 05, and it's definitely the most challenging thing I've done to date.  I heart cables, which makes it a little more bearable, but all-over cables are tricky and take a long time to do.  I think I only have about five or six inches done on the back.  At least there's no sleeves!

Well, back to the drawing board.  I found some stuff I made that needs to be finished, like putting in linings and such, so maybe I'll do that today. 

From here 

Mark with bold the things you have ever done, with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest. 

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn

Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Spinning
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles

Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (EWW!)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Wow, it's already May? When the heck did that happen? Oh yeah, last night at mindnight.  Duh.

 I had a really good weekend last weekend because...it was my birthday!  I turned 21 on Sunday, and my friends and my boyfriend went out Saturday night to celebrate.  I was so happy that he came down to see me and I didn't think it was going to happen since the drive to State College and then back to Boston is about 14 hours.  But it was so wonderful that he came!  In addition to the plane tickets he bought for me to come to see him, he got me a Nike armband for my ipod nano that works so well in the gym.  It protects the ipod from getting sweat all over it, and the armband breathes really well and is washable.  I think I'll go use it again today  :) 

Thank goodness this is the last week of classes; I'd cry if it wasn't.  And yes, I don't have finals during finals week, but I still have two exams, and in-class essay, and a final paper to do before Monday.  So in reality, this feels like my finals week but with classes I also have to go to.  But I'll be home in less than a week, which is the only thing getting me through all of this right now.  Why can't I graduate, too?  I don't want to do my senior year!

As far as the knitting scene goes, it's been lacking.  I made two sales about a week and a half ago, which was awesome because I was running super low on funds to get me through the rest of school until home.  But other than that, haven't really done anything.  I finished knitting a tiny little bag, but haven't put the lining in it or the zipper.  And with all of this crazy end-of-the-year stuff going on right now, I haven't had a whole lot of time to sit down and do something.  I think I'm starting to lose a little steam with my etsy store. 

I'm so glad that there's a little more than two weeks left in the semester; I'm really getting sick of all my classes.  And now that all of my professors have waited until the last minute to cram in some exams and papers, it's stress-time.  I also need to work ahead on stuff so that I don't have a ton of work to do during....my 21st birthday weekend!!  I'm so excited my boyfriend is driving down from Boston to see me, it'll definitely make my weekend even better.  But just two more weeks...then home for a week, I go to Boston to visit Justin, then come back home and off to Tucson for a week to see my grandparents.  Then home for another week, and I start my internship at JCPenney!  The summer is going to fly for sure, and then I'll be a senior.  Eep!

With all my schoolwork, I've still been able to squeak in some knitting time, but very little.  I can't remember the last time I knitted something for myself, maybe over spring break in March?  My etsy store  certainly has kept me busy since I want to add as much new stuff as possible.  I added this new bag this week:

 I've gotten a good amount of hearts lately on etsy, which is always nice, but there's nothing more frustrating than having over 100 hearts and only four sales!  As far as new was to "promote" my store, I've submitted my store to some blogs which are keeping me in mind for future posts, so I guess that's pretty good.  I need to come up with some more stuff.

...Because now I've discovered the joys of iWeb.  Sure, I can code and stuff, but the layout is so nice and looks so clean.  I've been reading stuff on forums about how the coding is really awful (like using div = paragraph instead of <p> for a paragraph), but I don't care!  So I've decided to build a site to link to my etsy store, and I can use the macs in the computer labs here at school.  The problem will be when I come home this summer, since I'll have no way of updating my site since I have a PC.

I've wanted a mac for awhile now, but my boyfriend (who is getting his masters in computer engineering) says that they're useless since so many programs aren't compatable with them.  But I don't care!  They're so nifty!

That's it.  When I graduate, I'm getting a Powerbook. 

How sad it is that I haven't updated my blog since 2006!  Anywho...

This week I'm being featured all week long on Circle Back Studio's blog as their featured artist, which is pretty exciting!  I'm hoping it'll drive more traffic to my site as well as maybe increasing some sales  :)  Things have been kind of slow as of late sales-wise, but I'm still getting a lot of traffic (somehow).

I've also been trying to look into different marketing strategies since I think my biggest area that needs improvement is promotion.  So far I have a myspace, a stylehive, flickr album, and I'm listed on Bust's Girl Wide Web and indiecollective.net, so all of that's a start.  I really want to try to submit my site to some other blogs soon, but first I need to finish up some more of my items and add them to my store.

Now that winter has pretty much said "bye bye,"  there will be more and more purses and bags that will be gradually coming into my shop.  Stay tuned!