Early New Year’s Yarn Resolutions

It’s that time of year, when the magic of the season is winding down. With one big hooplah left, my thoughts have turned toward the new year and the much-hated resolution time.  I have written about the futility of this practice before, especially when it comes to life-changing practices. It’s great to review your life and make tweeks here and there, but expecting to lose those extra 10, 20, 30 pounds or write the Great American Novel may be a stretch.  For me, those aren’t the kind of decisions made during New Year’s.  What’s your process, if anything?

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

So I’m making a resolution that I should be able to stick with. For January, I am going to wallow in yarn indulgence and make nothing but socks. I have drawers full of fingering weight yarn that are stuffed. I have nowhere else to put the fluffy, gooey wonderfulness, so I’m going to do what nature intended, damnit!

Having said that, my first two sock projects are being made with worsted and bulky yarn, in that order!

As for sock building technique, I am so married to the concept of cuff down, I don’t know if I’ll honestly ever try toe-up. I know, there are those of you in Yarnlandia that are die-hard toe-up fans and you’re huge advocates, and that’s ok. I just don’t like the increasing part of it – I’m a decrease kinda gal. My focus, instead, will be stranding or the fair isle technique when possible. I have seen some beautiful works of art intricately worked into a pair of socks, and that is my ultimate goal. To get there, I just need to keep practicing, because apparently, I’m not a natural – but that’s never stopped me from doing something I want to do!

As for my online graphics business, I’m still waiting for the “surge” – ! If you’re old enough to know what I’m talking about, bless you! LOL! And I do appreciate any of you sharing the link. It’s the digital version of “word of mouth”!

This shop is for those of you who don’t like Etsy! I know there are a few of you out there. 😉 https://inktale.com/nittinninja

For those of you who prefer Etsy, or just don’t care! Remember, if you’re not into the product concept, please share it so someone who would like it can view it! https://www.etsy.com/shop/NittinNinja

I also plan to do it this year – I promise! I’m finally going to make a temperature blanket for 2020. Tomorrow, I’m going to battle the post-Christmas crowds and make my way down to Joann’s in Roseville – ugh! – and get my yarns.

These are my temp ranges and colors. Didn’t want to get too complicated on either. I’ve seen some charts that break down the temp by five degrees and have 16 different color variations. I will be using the crochet moss stitch and starting on January 1st. Wish me luck!

So there you have it; some resolutions that will be easy to obtain! Yay! What do you have lined up for the next year?

Crafts Fair Season Over And I Killed My Back!

…but not really. I just forgot to take my wonderful chair with me to Cornish Christmas in Grass Valley last night, so I was on my feet, hauling heavy stuff and starving for about 6 hours. How do those of you who work in jobs where you stand for about 8 hours a day…live? To be fair, I’ve had back issues since I was in my robust teens, and live with some kind of pain on a daily, but DAMN! And since I’m wracked up here, I figured I’d make an entry – lucky you.

These are random pics of the event, and the kindly gentleman with the senior chihuahua dog allowed me to take a pic. I couldn’t resist – look at that little sweetie in a Santa outfit!

I must admit that this is the second year running that we haven’t put up a tree. Mind you, I do have some simple decorations scattered here and there to remind me that, yes, it is the Christmas season, but a tree? Since I’m not buying anything for my husband, and my daughter’s gift was digital, I didn’t want to mess with it. Am I turning into that older person you know who doesn’t decorate for anything because they’re just waiting to die? Shit, I hope not! I don’t feel like it, I’ve just got other things going on – none of which are worth mentioning! LOL

I’m full of piss and vinegar today, so I’m also going to add some eye-candy for the fiber artists out there.

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Cool, huh? And now that the crafting season is over, I can work on something of my own. I think I’ll make some socks, and not use the Vanilla Latte pattern that I, literally, always use.

What’s going on with you guys? You about done with Christmas and the holidays?

A Request For Some Feedback!

Another cheater post entry – sometimes I just don’t feel like doing any more writing!

Also, here are the shops I want feedback on! They’re in the video, but this way may be easier. https://www.etsy.com/shop/NittinNinja and https://inktale.com/nittinninja

Of Yarn Crawls, Craft Shows, Re-Imagining, And A Snowy Thanksgiving

Here we are, staring Christmas in the face, and I am, yet again, in the middle of the busy craft season. I started building up my inventory in August, but I think it looks woefully small…again. I should have started in June, but I don’t feel like spending the better part of the year, and my life, making stuff for sale. I like wearing the stuff I make *pout*.

My new baby and a sweater I knit

Conversely, no one is putting a gun to my head and forcing me to do this. I feel that selling my goods is a way to not feel like a freeloader in my house. Along with my writing gig at Outlaw Soaps that I mentioned a few posts back, I realize that, yes, I am contributing, but it doesn’t feel like enough.

In the spirit of that thought, I decided to up my game with my graphics. Rather than keep them in the limited world of Cafe Press, Zazzle, etc., I have re-imagined my Nittin’ Ninja brand. I now have shops on Etsy, Inktale, and Bonanza platforms. Still working on loading graphics – did not realize how much time it would take! However, if you’re interested, click on those links! If this isn’t your cup of tea, do me a solid and share the goodness, please! This is a very limited niche market, and I’m just trying to spread the word at this point. Thank you guys!

On to other stuff!

After many years of reading about yarn crawls and wondering what they were like, our area LYS finally got it together. Of the 11 participating shops, I made it to only three before I ran out of money!

Map of Sierra Nevada 1st Annual Yarn Crawl

Those three pins look sooo lonely!

As you can see, I will have to pace myself. I had actually planned to hit up at least 6, but there were other events going, such as the Colfax Railroad Days event that happens every year.

While there, I purchased some fiber art from really cool people.

Beautiful mandala work from Bohemian Designs by Silvermoon Regalia (artist not pictured. She had to go take care of her children while her mother and husband manned the shop!)

Local folks having a laugh

Those both pics are from October, and a lot of the merch has been sold and replaced with new stuff – yay!

Taking a break from shoveling a track for the tires on our slanted driveway!

The view from the other side…

And this was Thanksgiving. Three hours of scraping and fighting to get the Subaru up the driveway – but I freakin’ did it! And I still managed to gain weight!?

What’s everyone else up to these days?

Weekend

Hey, my knittahs and crafters! Don’t you love this time of year? Yea, it’s still hot, it’s still summer, but August is to the knitting and crafting world like Friday is to the weekend. The anticipation of cool weather means you’ll be able to follow your passion full-goose bozo style!

Of course we had to eat before exerting so much energy, searching for yarn!

Yesterday, my friend Donna and I went to Joann’s Crafts and Fabric and had a little fun there. I need to remember that not everyone is on the same energy or interest level as myself when it comes to yarn or knitting. There was a class going on, and I just ran right up and said Hey what’s everyone doing? and I screwed up someone’s stitch count.  She didn’t look too pleased; in fact, she looked kind of pissed. I backed off immediately, then laughed when Donna said, We’re gonna get kicked out!  To further that concept, we happened upon some wooden letters that spelled out the word PENTS.  So, you know what I had to do – I switched out the letter T with the letter I.  We giggled like teenagers, snapped a pic, then quickly walked away.  Yeah, it’s fun to be our age!

tee-hee

Yea, the veritable mountain of yarn I purchased

Part of my seasonal frenzy includes me rewriting an easy pattern for a rolled brim hat.  While annotating my “improvements”, I’ve discovered that I really like to use the continental style of knitting. After 33 years spent using the throwing method, suddenly, I’m switching hands!  Does that mean I’m going to be using the continental style for everything? Or does it mean I’m just working so heavily on the fair Isle technique that it’s starting to feel more comfortable? Either way I’m embracing it and just going with the flow.

Last year, I had written a lot of patterns that I was going to publish; This year, I will endeavor to get all of them out. It happens! In the meantime, I still must edit my Kitchener stitch video. Damn! Does it seem like I have of a lot of pending projects going on?  I’m always so amazed by crafters who have young children and manage to put out patterns, blog posts, and video tutorials on a regular basis.  In particular, I’m thinking of the ladies behind Whistle and Ivy and Repeat Crafter Me; they have little children and they their output is pretty spectacular.  Oh, I know there are many more working moms out there, but those two came to immediately.  They must have very supportive husbands!

On that note, I’ll end this entry.  See you in the funny pages.

Reelin’ In The Years

Naw, we’re not going to talk about Steely Dan and that bitchin’ song. It’s a lazy Sunday and I’ve been editing my Amazon music playlists. Every time I remembered a song I wanted to add, a flood of memories followed. I’m sure I could spend my time better, but eh – some days are meant to while away. I have decided this is one of them.

Then it occurred to me what I could do that was…well, if not productive, then amusing for me! I’ve embedded a video detailing the most difficult part of making socks – the Kitchener Stitch. It’s not a tutorial. It’s just me snagging on about it.

Just me being frustrated!

In the meantime, I continue on my trial month with Outlaw Soaps as their social media content writer. I hope this turns into a regular gig, but like I said earlier, if not, then I’ll just go back to being a customer – their most important job!

With summer in full swing we’re going out with the new Jeep, and discovering areas relatively close to us – COOL! Yea, after Hawai’i, we had to have one! And yea, now we are broke, so the forays are few and far between! We also added a new rescue doggy to our family, Nala and we’re getting to know her. She’s the one smiling! This was a Saturday visit to Donner Summit – see the snow? Yea, that was earlier this month. Neat, huh?

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And speaking of cool, a friend of mine and I were able to go out and do some painting. The weather has been sooo mild, it’s gorgeous! Here we are at Emigrant Gap, which is about 15 miles up the road a piece from where I live. As this happened on a weekend, we ended talking to so many people. They’d come up and talk to us, and I thought we should start charging for art lessons! In fact, I let an extremely curious little guy paint on my canvas – hey, it’s acrylic paints. No harm, no foul, and I think he enjoyed it.

Wow. This entry has been all over the place, hasn’t it?! That about sums it up, though. Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

A Cheater Post

In all the excitement of the travel and what-not, I forgot to mention here that I finally finished the Zweig sweater!

So, it begins. With the crafts season coming up in October, I’ve got to roll! I wanted to post something, so I did a video. Enjoy!