itchy fingers...

not literally, thank goodness. i used to think that i was allergic to wool. turns out i was only sensitive to the really scratchy stuff and only in a sensory sense (lol). not a true allergy.

anyway, the itchiness i refer to is my excitement about knitting up the bajillions of designs i've been working on and writing up and sketching. i haven't had as much knitting time as i'd like and what little time i do have has been spent finishing up custom orders and swaps and trades. i haven't really been able to actually knit up most of the designs i've worked out on paper and in my head.

since fall is approaching, i've been working on a lot of little pant/sweater sets for mostly 15", 16", and 18" dolls. boys' and girls' stuff, but admittedly heavier on the girl or gender neutral side if only for the fact that there are more girl dolls out there in circulation. i've also got a felted coat i'm trying to figure out, but i'll be honest it's not going too well on that front. i may end up knitting individual pieces and hand sewing them together. i like the rustic/rough sort of look of hand sewing, especially with contrasting seams. so i'm hoping that i'll get to finish that some time in september.

i've got to figure out how quickly i can whip up these sets. the pants are pretty straightforward, though the little embellishments can take a bit of time. it's the tops that are more time-consuming, mostly because of the details and shaping. a lot of my designs have cables or lace in them, or at the very least special stitchwork other than stockinette, etc...so once i'm actually knitting them up rather than just writing them up i'm sure i'll find areas that need more tweaking.

my biggest worry is not having enough stock for Etsy and the congo. I don't mind not stocking on my main HC site, but I'd really like to be able to fully (and frequently) stock two stores. i know i'll have more time once school starts up again, but i'm still pretty nervous about timing.

speaking of timing, i've gotta get outta here - baby needs to sleep!


**i am typing one-handed right now, since i am nursing my littlest one, and will be avoiding the shift key. thank you for your understanding.**

For everything there is a season...

That phrase has been used to describe so many profound and important things...so perhaps it's a bit gauche to use it to describe my little online shop. But I'm a rebel so I'm doing it anyway.

I have loved making longies for the past year, and am proud of the work I've done. But I have decided that it's time for that season of Little Knittles to end. It all boils down to me feeling restless and wanting to devote my time to designing. I felt most at home when I was creating my transitional inseam design and working on doll outfit patterns. I may still end up making a few cloth diapering soakers once in a while, but I won't be accepting any more custom orders. I have too many ideas floating around in my head and I need time to try them all out. I do realize that it may be a collossal failure. I mean, really, how many doll outfits do people need?? I'm aware of that potential business pitfall. But I'm charging ahead anyway, full throttle.

I'm also going to try to ramp up my presence on Etsy. I have pulled all of my listings off of my main Hyena Cart site for now and have put everything on Etsy. I've never really listed much on there and am just figuring out how it all works, how to promote on there, what strategies to use in terms of marketing and stocking times. Hello learning curve!

I'm still planning to return to the Bella Tesori congo in September, but I also realize that my speed may still not be up to par. I am not sure I'll be able to stock in a timely manner and I'll continue to evaluate how much of a contribution I'm really making to that extraordinary group of WAHMs.

For now, I'm finishing up a custom and two swaps. Once those are done, I'll be hanging up my size 8 needles for a while and plugging away full force on my doll clothing designs. I hope to have some progress pics over the next few weeks.

Thanks for reading!

My Flickr gallery is up!!!

It took me 38024492 days but I have finally finished. It's sort of funny to look at the first pictures from a couple of years ago. Not only are the garments themselves of slightly lesser quality, but the pictures of the products are also sub-par. The mark of improvement! I'm proud of what I've accomplished over the past year. And things are getting better and better every day!!

The gallery completion coincides with the introduction of my aunt, Rocio, to the Little Knittles team. My aunt is the wife of my late uncle, Juan, who died on New Years Day, 2009. We still miss him dearly, as do Rocio and her three young daughters. Rocio lives in a small fishing town on the northern coast of Peru and has recently decided to use her amazing crochet and knitting skills to earn her livelihood and provide for her daughters. Right now she is focusing on crocheted handbags, which will be available for sale some time next week.

So without further ado...I give you...(clickable links)

My gallery of work (3 sets in all)



and

Rocio's gallery of work (1 set so far)

Time vortex

I got sucked into a worm hole again and didn't work on the galleries like I PROMISED I would. And let's be honest, I won't do it this week either probably. I have some stuff to take care of at home first. Like getting rid of the piles and piles of stuff that obviously snuck into the house while I wasn't looking. You see, I have this portal inside my house. It sucks the important things I need like the jury summons and my car keys into an alternate reality. And it replaces those things with useless crap like Shrek watches and instructions to toys we've never owned. My house, basically, is conspiring against me. So once in a while I have to put on my upcycled goggles, my hand knit tights, and my tie dyed SuperMama cape and jump in. Today is that day. And tomorrow will probably be another such day. And possibly the weekend. This vortex is an evil, evil thing.

I also gotta keep knitting because the vortex never gives me EXTRA time. It only sucks precious moments away from me while I'm rooting through my refrigerator looking for something to eat.

ONWARD!

Galleries

Oh, I am bad at taking pictures. Let's just put that right out there. I think part of it is that I'm impulsive. When I am ready to take a picture of something I've created, I wanna do it RIGHT NOW. I don't want to wait until the lighting outside is just right. And I think *that* is partly because I know that if I don't do it *right now* when I'm thinking of it, I'll forget. So I guess that my impulsivity is a coping mechanism to deal with my forgetfulness? Wow, I'm messed up.

But the fact remains that I'm really not great at taking pictures of my stuff. And I'm even worse at updating my gallery. I have a gallery at Plogger and I also have one at Flickr. But neither one of them is particularly updated. I think that I'll spend this afternoon getting things updated. That's something I can probably do while my littlest one is sitting on my lap, unlike knitting. Well, I *can* knit with her on my lap but there's always the chance that I'll knit her fingers into the waistband of my current custom pair of longies. She likes to touch things. That silly curious child.

So my goal for today: Get my galleries updated. What's on your plate today?

gratitude.

i have so many things to be grateful for. i could, and do, spend a long time listing them evety day. so many things. but today, i am thinking of those among my universal circle of mothers who have lost their little ones...or their not so little ones. i have mine here with me. all of them. yet i did nothing more or less or better than any of those who have lost theirs. so i pray to God that He will continue to bless my family, and that He will soothe the hearts of those whose children He has called home.

much less verbose this time

Here's another recent custom pair of longies using Little Turtle Knits' Picky Pants pattern. It's on Mosaic Moon's Goblin colorway with red trim, on Targhee yarn base.  Wow that's a lotta links.