SomerKnits

I am getting down to the wire getting ready for Indie Emporium!  I'm so excited and nervous!  I get nervous before craft shows a lot.  I hope I remember everything.  I hope my booth display is as attractive as I want it to be.  I hope people like my stuff!  I've put a lot of work in to this year's inventory and so I think I am even more nervous than usual.  I have spent the last couple of days making lists, tagging more items, cutting all the extra tags, stocking my new little check out stand (which is going to make my life so much easier at shows!), making more lists, contemplating the booth display, and thinking of all kinds of last minute things I would have loved to have gotten made but just won't have the time to get to. It would be nice if all I had to do was knit and then show up at the show and all of the organizational stuff would just take care of itself.  Its a nice fantasy, isn't it?  I love the knitting part and the talking ...

Yesterday I had a quick and fun photo shoot with my new model, the fabulous Ashten.  I was getting down to the wire on getting photos of all my new inventory that I will be taking to Indie Emporium next weekend, so we really packed it all in yesterday.  Once we got her to loosen up I think she had some fun with the whole process.  And I very much hope she agrees to do it again, don't you?  The cowl above is a mohair and wool blend hand dyed yarn from Angora Jane, a local spinner and dyer.  The pattern is my one Illy Cowl pattern (Free pattern over on the right hand side bar).  This yarn + this pattern came out beautifully.  Ashten is going hollywood in this oversized cowl made of another merino wool and mohair blend, this time hand dyed by Dawning Dreams.  The linen stitch always makes a beautiful and complex looking fabric.  The drape of this chunky weight yarn is fantastic and this cowl will definitely keep you warm all winter.  Man...

I didn't get a whole lot of new inventory knit over the early or middle part of the summer.  But I have a really good reason.   You see, when I first found out I was pregnant the most important thing in the world to me (other than sharing my joy with my wonderful husband) was to find the PERFECT baby blanket pattern.  First I picked out the yarn.  I know most people pick out the pattern first, but I wanted to start RIGHT NOW so I sat down and went through my entire stash.  It happens that I had 11 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran sitting around.  They had planned on becoming a sweater, but it hadn't happened yet and I decided the light grey/almost silverish color was a perfect unisex baby blanket color.  And I still think that.  You see, we are waiting to find out if its a boy or a girl until it is born, so there was no reason to wait to start the blanket.  So what qualified as a "perfect" baby blanket pattern in my mind?  #1 - It ...

Today I posted over at make:Tulsa about all the great swag people have been making for the Indie Emporium Swag Bags.  You can check out the full post here . With the help of my friend Shannon, I got all of my swag done and ready to turn in.  Here's the sneak peek I posted on facebook yesterday: These swag bags are filled with goodies from many of the vendors and are only given to the first 50 people in the door on Friday night September 30th.  If you are in or around the Tulsa area, make sure to stop by.

I don't think I can thoroughly explain the concept of Iron Crafter to you, so you really need to watch this short video.  Its totally worth it, I promise. See, its Iron Chef meets the crafting world.  And its the newest addition to Indie Emporium.  If you are in or around Tulsa, you are really going to want to come see the hilarity that is sure to ensue from this.  Its looking like I'll be up there for the Prairie Hive Vrs. make:Tulsa part of the competition.  I'm sure there are bound to be glue guns and pom poms and who knows what else. I know that many of you probably think I have a one track mind right now, but when you spend every free moment prepping for a show, it really is all you can think about.  Besides, I have a 2 track mind right now, I just don't want to inundate you with baby stuff.  Once we start getting the nursery put together, I'll probably talk a little more about that.  The room is almost cleaned out and I have started so...

I had a fantastic weekend with some fantastic people.  I definitely made the most of my three days off in a row.  Our many adventures included knitting, movie watching, pedicures, italian cream sodas, baby shower (not for me, for my friend), baby clothes sorting, more movies, raiding the Carters 50% off sale, Trader Joes (oh how I miss thee), Melting Pot, and so much more.   This is my friend Kate and I at her baby shower.  We are kind of orange because the walls and the ceiling were all totally orange, but what ya gonna do?  It was a fun shower and she got many thoughtful gifts from friends and family. The weather also took a dramatic turn and suddenly became beautiful.  It was so nice we took multiple walks to take advantage of it. In the world of knitting to prep for Indie Emporium, I got a wonderfully luxurious merino and cashmere cowl knit up and I have a hat going that will match.  It is a wonderful deep green and I can't wait to get picture...

So the other day when I posted about working my fingers to the bone getting ready for Indie Emporium, I was in a total hurry and left out all of the funny and entertaining things I was going to talk about.  See, my blog posts are often much better in my head when I am in the shower than they are once I sit down to actually start typing and run out of time or just completely forget all of the stuff I told myself that I would mention.  For instance, I was going to tell you all how I have been knitting every single spare moment I have, which includes somewhat normal times, like any time Ben is driving and I get to be the passenger, and other not so normal times, like sitting in the dark little room at the eye doctor waiting for my eyes to dilate, knitting with them closed because it becomes too hard to focus on anything to have them opened.  I knit through the wait at every prenatal appointment (baby is doing great, by the way) and someone always asks what I am knitting. ...