knitcole

January's Giveaway on Freckled Nest

Hi Friends! It's that time again. I'm participating in January's Giveaway on Freckled Nest! You can go here to enter the giveaway. You could win this awesome United States Silhouette from yours truly that is 100% customizable! The one I did in the photo was requested by my friend Kristin for her momma who has two daughters, one in So Cal and one in Chicago.

So head on over to FN and enter!

Nicole

Denim.

I've always had a tough time finding jeans that fit my body correctly. If they fit my hips then they don't fit my waist, or vice versa and many times I simply can't get them fit period. I have found trying on jeans to be the most frustrating thing and usually dread going to the store and trying on a stack of 15 pairs and finding nothing that fits.

The last time I bought jeans I found some at Urban Outfitters that I liked. They weren't perfect but with a belt they were at least comfortable. So of course, when I recently checked for another pair I found that they don't carry them any longer. So it was back to the drawing board. When Levi's first came out with their Curve ID jeans I went to the store and had horrible luck finding any that fit. Since then they have expanded the line and I decided that I should give them another try.

I went on their website and followed their instructions for how to measure yourself for their jeans. I was very surprised when I was told to buy a size 16 jean! That's 2 sizes larger than my normal size 12 but I ordered what they told me to anyways. I found three pairs, 2 straight and 1 boot cut, for $91! They were having a great sale and I placed my order and hoped that at least one pair would fit.

I was shocked when they arrived and all three pairs fit! I just had to pass on this amazing news in case it might help someone else find jeans that fit. I haven't worn a belt on my jeans in over a week and I kind of can't believe it. Sometimes finding clothes that fit just feels so amazing!

Nicole

Business Goals for 2012

Ok yesterday I shared my personal goals and today it's time to lay out the business goals. I felt that my business was really going somewhere by the end of 2011 and that I really needed to have some solid goals for knitcole for 2012. 

1. Create one silhouette per day. This was a lofty goal indeed and it's already been modified. I found this to be incredibly difficult and have changed it to creating 5 silhouettes per week, one for every work day. The whole purpose of this goal was to find new ideas to expand my collection and keeping with that notion I've even decided that when it's necessary I can create more than one per day and that when I am away from home I will not need to make up for it when I get back. Even with these changes I'm sure I will still have at least 100 new designs this year.
2. Complete Indie Business. Indie Business is an e-course I have found to be wonderfully informative and helpful. I haven't yet finished the course and this year I want to finish the remaining lessons and possibly review those I have already completed.
3. Create a wholesale package. I want to create a package that I can send to stores that I want to try to sell my aprons in, this way I can expand my market and hopefully achieve my next goal to...
4. Sell in one new store. I love selling my aprons at Seed and want to try to sell them at one new store in 2012. 
5. Participate in a large craft sale. I have no desire to sell at craft fairs every weekend but I would like to participate in a large craft fair most likely near Christmas. I want to prepare for it in advance and hope for expanded sales and exposure.
6. Blog more regularly. I'm not sure what this actually means. It was a goal I had last year and I was able to blog more last year than the previous year but I haven't figured out how regularly works for me. I tried to say I could blog so many days per week but I was unable to keep to this regimen so I am unsure of how to measure this goal in 2012.
7. Sell 100 aprons. What a goal! I know I can do it but I wanted to set a number that I could reach for. I'm excited for what 2012 will bring and I am hopeful that I can make this happen.

Resolutions, Goals, whatever you want to call them.

Hi Friends! When I posted on January 3rd I neglected to tell everyone Happy 2012! I hope everyone had a lovely New Years Eve, mine was very mellow and I loved every second of it. As many people do, (and as I did pretty unsuccessfully last year,) I made some resolutions/goals for myself for 2012. I tried very hard ot keep them somewhat reasonable and actually achievable and I gave myself rewards for completing some of them in hopes that I would actually complete them.

1. Read something everyday. Last year I made these very lofty goals to finish several books. It didn't happen. So this year I told myself I would read something everyday. It may be a paragraph, a page, a chapter...just anything. As a reward, once I finish a book I will reward myself most likely with a new book to read.
2. Try to make a new dish every month. This was in an attempt to expand our dinner menu. I actually achieved this in January with Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops.
3. Use my planner. I'm a paper person. As much as I love my iPhone and iPad I'm just not very good at using it to plan ahead. I need to write things down to remember them and so far it's been a great way to track my goals and days.
4. Send a note card each day. Ok, this one is HUGE. It's quite difficult to sit down and write a note card each day but I wanted to do this in an effort to keep myself in touch with those I don't get to talk to as often. Sometimes it will be a birthday card and other times just a simple hello. Trying not to beat myself up over missing a day and then just doubling up and so far it's worked but I vowed not to reward myself for staying on track with this one until I actually write one each day for 30 consecutive days.
5. Dress less lazy. I love my t-shirts, jeans and Converse and as much as I love them I'm kind of in a fashion rut. I have an aversion to shorter dresses but I'm going to try to wear dresses that don't go down to my ankles and to keep my t-shirts folded up and opt for something a little cuter to wear with my jeans.
6. Budget better. I'm not frivolous with our money however I'm not a very good budgeter. I need a better plan for saving and spending.
7. Master the banjo. So I got my banjo last year for my birthday and try as I did I have found it difficult to learn. I was doing ok learning from a book I received but I just wasn't getting it so I got a new book, Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus by Wayne Erbsen. It's amazing! After three days I'm able to play a simple song. It's really making me like my banjo even more and I've decided that at least 2-3 times a week I will sit down and learn something new. So far so good.

Those are my personal goals for 2012. I have quite a few business goals as well but I decided that both were too much for one post.

What were your personal goals for 2012?

Nicole

 

Mason Jar Pincushion

When I was working on Christmas gifts this year I came across a photo of a mason jar pincushion and I thought it would be perfect for my sister-in-law who is improving her sewing skills.

It was a lot of fun collecting all of the little sewing notions for the jar, I especially love the stork scissors. I made the felt dahlia part of the pincushion from a book I have, (Sewing Bits and Pieces by Sandi Henderson,) then I sewed it onto a circular piece of fabric. Then after adding some stuffing I pushed the flat part of the mason jar lid into the ring, trimmed the excess fabric and hot glued it down and placed another piece of fabric over the wrong side of lid. You can still push the flat piece out of the lid as you would before but in the meantime it makes a perfect pincushion. I even made a tiny little pincushion for the pins so they wouldn't be floating around inside ready to poke you at any moment! I think it made a lovely Christmas gift and Lauren loved it and has already used it!

Nicole

Just a little something I worked up.

I was asked by a friend to make a beard beanie for a kid and I figured I've made mustaches so beards can't be that much harder. I was really intimidated by it the more I thought about how I was going to make it but I finally decided on crocheting some bobbles...I just finished my first go at it and I think it turned out pretty fantastically!

What do you think?

Nicole

December's Big Giveaway on Freckled Nest

It's that time again for a giveaway over at Freckled Nest. I love sponsoring Leigh Ann's blog and I'm excited to be a part of her giveaway again this month. Head on over to win this awesome little gift from me and some special items her other sponsors.

Silhouettes will be up in my Etsy shop soon too! Keep a look out for an update!

Nicole

 

 

Wrap it up!

I really enjoy wrapping presents! It's one of my favorite parts of Christmas. So here are my essentials to wrapping gifts.

First you've got to set the mood. Light a holiday candle, put on your Christmas playlist, grab a peppermint mocha and turn on the Christmas tree lights even if it's daytime!

Then you've got to get your supplies. Break out the wrapping paper, labels and ribbon, grab your scissors and tape and then of course the presents! I bought almost everything online this year, it was glorious.

Now it's time to get wrapping! I always like to take a seat on the floor, for some reason I think it's just easier and I always wrap in my pajama pants! Why yes those are chihuahuas with antlers and sweaters on my pajamas! I think the OCD part of me really likes to wrap because of those perfect corners. I just love this red and white paper, labels and red and brown twine from Ikea. Combined with our standard kraft wrapping paper from Target I think our gifts came out looking just lovely.

Now you can sit back and enjoy the view! (Sorry for the horrible photo but we get sunlight all day from our slider and it was impossible not to get an overexposed photo.) Our little Boston was extremely curious about the presents and he's been a good boy and left them alone but when we leave the house we put his gate around the tree to avoid any mishaps, I wouldn't want to come home and find someones special gift all chewed up!

What's your favorite thing about the holiday season?

Nicole

The best and worst thing about this time of year.

For me, one of the most fun parts of Christmas is making gifts for my friends and family. This year I'm working on some fun custom orders and some fun, new to me projects for my family. I wish I could share more than just tiny tidbits of yarn or fabric but that's all I can share for now!

What are your favorite projects to make for gifts?

Nicole

My Etsy Shop is up and running!

I get so excited every time I can log onto Etsy and see my shop! Please go visit and let me know what you think. New items are still being added and I'm about to head back into my sewing room to work on some new products for next year so please keep checking back.

You can access my shop by clicking on the link in the navigation bar or by using the widget on the right.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to support my little dream. Oh, and to celebrate shipping is FREE in December! :)

Nicole

Antlers, antlers and more antlers.

*Caution - This post contains pictures of antlers from hunted deer.*

I have an affinity for deer and antlers. They're kind of all over my house; big white deer head from Z Gallerie on my wall, a ton of prints from Etsy all over our bedroom, I adore them.

I'm not sure where this love for deer came from but somehow I happen to love deer and antlers. So when I came across a box full of antlers at my grandma's house I was so excited. Turns out the antlers were from deer that were shot by men in my family back in the 80's.

(Side note...I grew up in a family where hunting and fishing were a normal occurrence and every animal that was brought back was eaten. As a result I don't have a problem with hunting or fishing as long as you are humane in your killing and eat what you kill. I understand that this may not be your opinion and I respect that as well.)

There were two sets of antlers from deer that were shot and killed by my dad so I brought them home with me. I figured if my dad hasn't done anything with them since 1982 then it was time for someone to get them mounted and hang them up!

These are the deer tags from each animal. It's so weird to see my dad's handwriting, (which remarkably looks exactly the same as it did almost 30 years ago!) and their address in Norwalk. It's so strange to think of that time, my parents were still married when he went on this trip and would divorce a year or so later and move away from the house on Bombardier. It tells you that the deer were shot in Humboldt County at Kings Peak and it even tells you the time of day. It's like a little time machine.

There are two sets of antlers and the first set is quite ordinary. You can see a close up of the antlers in that third photo but the second set is quite interesting. This deer must have been in quite the battle to have damaged three of his points that way. I wonder what kind of event took place that would cause this kind of damage? Part of me is a little sad that he made it through whatever ordeal only to be killed by a hunter but either way I will give them a proud place on my wall because I find them to be especially interesting.

It was fun to call my dad and talk to him about these particular antlers and his trip. My dad truly is one of the most interesting people and can carry on a conversation about almost any topic. He's extremely smart, rugged, manly, bearded, gentle, funny, strong, flannel wearing man. I really didn't put enough adjectives in there to describe him. My favorite part of finding these little treasures really was talking to my dad and sharing in a part of his life that I wasn't really a part of because, well, I was two years old and at home with my mom.

Once they are all mounted I will share more photos. I haven't been able to find a mounting kit that I like so we shall see what happens with these two gems.

Nicole