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ReStyle prints and new beanies!

Today is a day for getting everything done. I work full-time, I'm a single mother, and I have a long-distance boyfriend, so days to myself at home happen almost as often as solar eclipses. I'm happy to announce that the cosmos have agreed to give me a day off and I'm crossing things off my to do list.

I won some prints from ReStyleshop on etsy via elv's blog a while back and finally had the chance to stick them in frames and hang them on the wall.

 

I've been admiring Jan's prints for years (seriously!), so I was thrilled to be the winner of elv's giveaway.

 

I'm a big fan of Cathrineholm dishes and all things scandinavian. Now, if only someone can come over and make the rest of my house look perfectly mid-century modern.

What I wouldn't give for an actual Stig Lindberg cup full of tea. Sigh. 

I bought the frames from Walmart for about $6 apiece. They're admittedly very cheap and flimsy but they do the trick as long as no one inspects them too closely!

Since I was home alone during day light hours, I did a mini photo shoot with some new beanies. There's a black Abbotts Harbour slouch in the shop and a new colour block Abbotts Harbour slouch in grey and blue.

Both of these hats would look great on a man or a woman. I'm going to find it hard to part with the new colour block beanie! These are definitely my colours.

A new year

A new year, a new set of goals and expectations. I'm not one for making resolutions, but I do love flipping open the first crisp page of a new journal. This year I'm jumping on the bullet journal bandwagon. Nine days in, I'd say it's working for me. I always keep a notebook handy to jot down tasks, appointments, and assignments, but the bullet journal seems to be streamlining my notebook.

I was so busy filling orders in December. I feel as though I can finally breathe now that it's January. But I've been enjoying knitting to start filling the shop again with some lovely woollies. Here are a couple of new beanies ready to ship to you!

Abbotts Harbour slouch, colour block version in cream and light brown

Ledge Harbour slouch in bright emerald green

I'm sending you all warmth and best wishes for 2015. Happy new year!

Instagram and KOKITO

The cold weather is upon us and my little fingers are busy endlessly wrapping yarn around needles. I just sent 10 colourblock hats to KOKITO in Prince Edward County in Ontario (with five more to follow -- my fingers can only move so fast!)

If you're anywhere near Prince Edward County, please drop in and show Shelley and Jenn some love.

I've also started an Instagram account for darn it all. You can follow all my woolly adventures here.

If you need anything from the shop before Christmas, please order soon!

Dots & Loops

Just a quick update to say that I delivered a stack of beanies, fresh off the needles, to Dots & Loops Handmade in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

It was my first time visiting the shop and it is just perfect. It's so nicely laid out -- no clutter -- and it's clean and beautifully organized. I would love to work in a shop like that. Almost makes me want to move to Lunenburg . . . 

If you find yourself on the South Shore, please stop by Dots & Loops at 183 Lincoln St. And while you're there, have the beet salad at the Salt Shaker Deli. Seriously. I can taste it right now. It was one of the best things I've ever eaten!

Organic cotton wash cloths

Homespun recently contacted me and they're nearly out of darn it all product! I've been spending the past few weeks doing this:

 

and this:

 

and now I have a big stack of organic cotton wash cloths ready to ship off to Indianapolis!

 

But first I have to finish knitting a few more fingerless mitts and hats to include in the shipment.

I hope everyone had a great summer. As the weather turns colder, I'm getting pretty excited about all the warm woolies in my future. But before that, I think I'll take time to enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer sun. Happy September!

Tusket Vintage and Antiques Fair

The Tusket Vintage and Antiques Fair is this weekend in picturesque Tusket, Nova Scotia! If you're local, stop by to check out all the antiques and collectibles. I'm personally hoping to score some jadeite.

And while you're browsing your favourite kitschy trinkets, why not stop by and check out my big ol' stack of warm woolies? Yes, that's right -- darn it all will be making its first real-life-not-on-the-internet appearance at an outdoor sale during the summer. Whether you like it or not, winter is coming again in six months and it's never too early to plan to keep yourself warm and cozy.

See you this weekend!

Big news! Patterns now available!

I've been working away at writing up patterns for three of my hat designs and I'm very happy to announce that you (yes, you!) can now knit your own darn it all slouchy beanie!

  

I've checked my patterns twice, thrice and probably more times than that. I'm crossing my fingers as I send them out into the world, hoping there are no typos or errors!

 

So, how can you get your hands on a sweet little pattern? Two ways, my friend. Patterns for the Abbotts Harbour slouch, Miniques slouch and Ledge Harbour slouch are available in my shiny new Ravelry store and ye olde etsy shop. 

And how much would you expect to pay for such a hat pattern? Well, . . .

 

Okay, I'll stop. I don't want to sound like an infomercial. Suffice to say that I'm selling my patterns for a mere $2 apiece.

So, c'mon! Grab some sticks, some string and a toonie and knit your little heart out!

Of course, if you're lazy, I'll still knit you your own darn it all hat. There's lots of selection right over here.

New in the shop!

The etsy shop is full of wonderful handknits right now, ready for your holiday shopping! There's a new cream/beige coloured Pombcoup cowl just waiting to be wrapped around your neck. It's so cozy and warm, made with 100% superwash merino wool.

You'll also notice a couple of new colours in my collection. The Ledge Harbour slouch is in white and gold/mustard. I'm also working with a new yarn supplier, so I will have even more colours in the weeks to come!

art + antler

Just wanted to pop in to share some exciting news! Darn it all slouchy hats and wrist warmers will soon be available at art + antler in Hazelton, BC.

I'm knitting as fast as I can to finish up the order, which is also why my etsy shop is looking a little bare. No need to worry though! Fifty-two skeins of beautiful merino wool are heading my way and will soon be knit up into numerous slouchy hats, wrist warmers, infinity scarves, bracelets and perhaps even a new design ...

Pomboup cowl

There's a new darn it all design in the shop! After a couple of failed prototypes, I'm happy to reveal the Pomboup cowl!

 

It's an infinity cowl with a double moss stitch texture. I really love this design. It's the perfect width and length to wrap around your neck twice. Made with soft merino wool -- like all my knits -- it's going to be so cozy this autumn!

While I wait for a giant yarn shipment, I've been busying myself by knitting more cabled bracelets. This set of three is in cream, magenta and black.

I almost have enough bracelets on hand to make an entire sleeve! Cabled cuffs for EVERYONE!

Ledge Harbour slouch

Hey look! There's a new slouchy beanie in the shop! I'm calling it the Ledge Harbour slouch, again named after a place in my hometown of Pubnico, Nova Scotia.

The Ledge Harbour slouch is similar in shape to my other slouchy hats, but it features four eyelet rows. It's a little slouchier than the others and I adore it. I'm definitely knitting one for me to keep! 

The Ledge Harbour slouch is available in red and dark grey.

cabled bracelets

I have loads of scraps of yarn leftover from all the knitting I've been doing. Last week, it occurred to me that I might be able to create something with all of the bits and bobs. I got the idea to try to make some cabled bracelets and, after a few false starts, I came up with a design that looks like a braid.

 

and then I got addicted to knitting these little bangles!

Three different collections are in the shop. Mint and grey, cream, coral red and navy, and ombré grey.

They're a lot of fun and would look great stacked together, as shown, or individually.

In the meantime, the shop is full of hats and wristwarmers. Have a peek!

More wristwarmers

I'm been knitting so much lately. So much, in fact, that I have developed what my optometrist says is "occupational myopia." Yup. My formerly-perfect vision is now a little less than perfect in my left eye because I KNIT TOO MUCH.

So how's this for irony? I'm knitting MORE in order to sell more handknits so I can pay for my new glasses! At least this means there are lots of lovely handknits in the shop!

 

Pubnico Point mitts in light grey and dark grey. As a self-professed tea addict, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pair these fingerless mitts with a nice cuppa. So cozy.

 

My new glasses arrived late last week and I can't believe how clear everything is, even though my prescription is pretty minimal. 

They're the Miles frames from Warby Parker, in case you're wondering!

Black slouches!

People began requesting black hats almost as soon as I opened my etsy shop. The problem was that I couldn't get black yarn from either of my sources. I guess that's what I get for using a discontinued yarn to knit my hats.

That's where Ravelry comes in. I searched people's stashes and found someone on Ravelry who had 10 skeins of black yarn she was willing to part with, so I snapped it up. Two hats were already spoken for before I started knitting, and soon two more were sold!

 

Now there's only one black Abbotts Harbour slouch left, so if you're in the market for a handknit black hat, get it while you can!

So, I've been busy . . .

A few weeks ago, a friend mentioned that a store in Indianapolis was looking to sell some handknit wash cloths. She encouraged me to contact Homespun to see if they were interested in stocking my wash cloths. I sent off an application and only two days later, I got an answer. Not only did they want my wash cloths, they also wanted my hats and wristwarmers! I had enough wash cloths to send off, but I needed to knit many, many more hats and mitts to fill their order. I started knitting, and knitting, and knitting some more! Finally, today I'm sending off a big box full of these beauties to Indiana!

I'm so excited to have my handknits in a real store. This is so huge for me.

In the meantime, there's a new grey ombré Abbotts Harbour slouch in the shop! It was a little experiment and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I'm kind of in love with this one. <3

More hats!

I'm trying to knit a hat a day to keep up with demand, and I have a potentially exciting opportunity coming up that I hope to be able to share soon. In the meantime there are some more hats in the shop, including an Abbotts Harbour slouch in rust, a Minique's slouch in grey and this Minique's slouch in mist.

I just got another shipment of yarn. More grey and a really nice denim blue! Don't forget to like my Facebook page.

New designs!

I was going to write to tell you all that there are two new hats in the shop, but they're already sold! Thanks so much for your support. I'm beyond surprised!

The first new design is the Minique's slouch, named for the little road where I grew up, Minique's Hill.

It's another slouchy hat, but this time a little bumpy, like Minique's Hill. I'm really pleased with this one and will be knitting it up in some more colours as soon as I get that yarn shipment I've been waiting for ...

The next is the Dennis Point tuque. It would be perfect for any of the hundreds of fishermen who fish out of Dennis Point because it hugs the head nicely and the soft merino keeps you toasty! Or, perhaps a fisherman's wife could sport it while she's waiting for her husband to sail in.

My fingers are going to be busy for the next little while, knitting some more hats! I'm so glad people are liking my designs.

Grey Abbotts Harbour slouch

There's a new Abbotts Harbour slouch in the shop! I'm kind of tempted to keep this one. It's such a nice grey.

I've discounted it 25% because there's a slight variation in colour between the top half and bottom half. It's not noticeable when it's worn (as you can see from the modeled photos) but if you're looking for it, you can see it.

In the meantime, I'm working on a new hat design -- my third in the 8 in 2013 challenge!