Wow!

A fellow INCrowd Etsy Street Team member, Stoic, who I first spotted because of her fabulous and fun Family Guy pins, included my scarf in her weekly favorite things blog post! How cool is that? The answer: very. If you're reading this, check it out; her picks will bring some sunshine to a grey, foggy morning!

Note to self: featuring other sellers in a blog strikes me a really nice concept, so Stoic, I'm going to have to borrow the idea from you sometime soon... but I'll make sure to call it something different.

Semantics, part two.

You know what I'm not knitting? A chemo cap. Why can't I just be knitting a hat for someone's mom, just in case? It'll be seamless; I'm taking care to choose a yarn that is very soft, has no wool (in case of wool sensitivity), and is machine washable and dryable, but I'll be darned if I'm going to be calling it a chemo cap. That name scares the bejeezus out of me, and I'm not going to acknowledge it. Period.

Disclaimer: if someone out there knows of any actual specifics that must go into a Just In Case Hat, let me know. So far all I can determine from scrolling through thread after thread on Ravelry is that the required elements of such a hat include coverage and comfort.

It's a good thing I finished a new Etsy Poster Sketch last night!

I got home from the yarn shop clutching a brand-new gift certificate and logged on to Etsy just to check out the Treasuries; the number was at 335! Last night I put a list together when I found my friend Lenny's shirts for sale on there, figuring I would get lucky sooner or later. I guess it's sooner! Who couldn't use a little rockabilly on a Monday night? Turn on some Gene Vincent or Wanda Jackson and check it out!

I love mysterious emails!

I just got the following email from my out-of-state sister:

"1st of all, could you PLEASE call K. [in-state sister] (I don't have work number) and tell her to disregard what I asked her to do yesterday (Sun) afternoon (I just did it via telephone).

2nd - (any time of your choosing) you may go Mass Ave Knit shop and pick something up from me. Susan [shop owner] put it by register.

Belated happy birthday to you
~Love, S."

Woo hoo! My favorite place in the world, other than home, is my LYS (local yarn store), Mass Ave Knit Shop, and the imagination positively runs wild... could it be a Mass Ave gift certificate, the most perfect gift for me for any occasion? What should I spend it on? Could it be yarn? Could Susan have helped my sister pick some yarn out over the phone? You never know!

I know where I'm going after work!

Semantics (or, what's in a name?)

Today I learned what I hope is a very valuable Etsy tip: use all 14 of your available tags! Doh! So, in going through my items and tagging them very descriptively, I have run into a conundrum: what's the real difference between recycling and upcycling? So far, I kind of feel like upcycle is a made-up word; like a more trendy version of recycle... unless to upcycle is a just a different way to say repurposed. I just bought something on Etsy that was described as upcycled, and this got me to thinking, what about the gift tags and the vase I've got listed? Are they recycled, upcycled, or both?

Weekend update.

I'm about to settle in for a nice knit on a green hat this evening. Tomorrow's agenda: work some more on my pieces for the next knit graffiti installation. Again? So, what's the big dif, Stockannette? This one is outdoors, and I will be incorporating some non-yarn materials in my pieces. Whee! The Yarnburners will be working on this June show in conjunction with Indy Craft Mafia, in preparation for the Indieana Handicraft Exchange (whose logo completely rocks, in my opinion).

For future reference (or, things I learned my first time taggin'):

It takes longer that you'd think to stitch things to objects! It took me almost two hours to install my four small pieces (photos below). Oh, and a note on planning: think about how you are going to be installing a piece when you are binding off. Sometimes you'll want your long yarn tails to end up on the same edge of your work, and sometimes you'll want them to be on the diagonal, depending on the application.
It's exciting! People seem very supportive. A guy from Keep Indianapolis Beautiful wandered by and said, "Hey, I like your door handle!" The whimsical nature of knit graffiti makes the artist and other people smile. They can't help it.

Finally, whatever you do - don't get yourself involved with a knit graffiti crew; their stuff might make yours look like crap in comparison! I'm serious; I was literally flabbergasted when I saw what some of the other Yarnburners had done; it was immense, and detailed, and beautiful. I was completely unprepared for the quirky, random, thoughtful, colorful spectacle of it all!