Weekend Wrap Up ~ Showers & Knitting

This week has been particularly busy and it's only going to get busier from here! In the last 7 days I have had a wedding Coastie shower, second dress fitting, photography class, a fraudulent charge on my credit card and lots and lots of knitting! I haven't gotten quite as much knitting as I would have liked this week but I am gonna keep this post short so I can really tackle some yardage on my projects today :)


I was very blessed and excited to have my very first wedding shower yesterday. This shower was a little different than your usual shower in that this was all about meeting my new Coastie wife family! It was so much fun getting to know the girls that I will be moving around the country with in my adventure of being a military wife. They were all wonderful and I am so glad to join the clan. 


My second dress fitting was a surprise all in itself. I was planning on just trying it on and bringing it home but of course that would have been easy. I ended up having to have it taken in (which I wasn't originally doing) and re-doing the bustle. Now I'm totally paranoid that I'm going to gain like 2 lbs and never be able to get back into it lol! This sucker is tight. I think it will be much better (as long as I don't have any cake between now and March) though. Hopefully I will be picking it up and taking it home in a few weeks.  On the down side I realized that the veil I hand knitted in lace will not work well with my dress!!! I spent a ton of time on it and in the end the color just doesn't match my dress right so I'm just going to let that be my something "borrowed" from a friend. Looks like I may be starting my wedding veil line a little earlier than I anticipated.


As far as knitting goes I haven't popped out any new product but I sure have been knitting up a storm. I was planning on having the bearded beanie out by the end of this month but it may not be until the beginning of February before it hits the store. Here's a sneak peek of what it will look like:

I'm getting ready to close up the top and start on the beard. These really are so much fun. 


The second project I currently have on my needles is the cardigan. If any of you know anything about the shaping of a garment here's about where I am ~ I've done all the decreasing for the waist and now I am doing the increases for the chest! Pretty much means I'm a little more than half way done with the body.

At this point it's kind of hard to tell what it is but to help you out it's worked from the bottom up so the ribbing is the bottom of the cardigan and it's not quite to the area where the sleeves will be.


I am quite aware that Valentines day is coming up right around the corner. Now is a good time for you fellas to get your lady something nice and original or you ladies to treat yourself  to a little something like a hand made ear warmer:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89216117/hand-crochet-ear-warmer-with-pinwheel

I currently have this and 2 other colors in my store. On top of that if time permits I want to add some hand knitted jewelry to the store before then. I know, I know "hand knitted jewelry"?? Just trust me on this one, it's a good idea.


And last but not least I'm starting to post on my Twitter account! If you have a Twitter account you can find my there @Innov8iveKnits or click on the follow me button on the top right of my page! I'd love to follow you.


Hope all has had a safe and fun week. I'm off to knit!

Weekend Wrap Up ~ Goodbye Scarf, Hello Cardigan

Mardi Gras Scarf

This week I finished and sold the last Mardi Gras scarf I will be making this season! I've been working on it for some time and was very pleased that it sold locally before I was even able to put in in the store. It was just in time though, the first Mardi Gras parade happened in town yesterday. She was able to wear it to the first parade of the season.


A lot of my time since that's been finished has been directed toward the custom cardigan. I've added quite some length to it but a project of this size won't be done overnight. I will say I am really enjoying working on it and it's coming along nicely. I really love the sheen the silk gives to the garment. 

I have added a good 6 inches since this picture was taken

After some consideration I've decided that Innov8iveKnits is getting a twitter account! It has been created but I'm not actively tweeting just yet. I'm still working out some things on it and how I want to utilize it. If you would like to get ahead of the game and follow me now you can find me there @Innov8iveKnits and I will certainly follow you back. There's also a link to follow me on the sidebar of my blog by my facebook & pinterest. I'd love to have you!


I also wanted to plug a reminder about the temporary closing of my store in March for my Wedding. The store will be closed between March 8th and the 22nd. If there is something you want to purchase soon you may want to consider doing it before then. You are more than welcome to message me during that time if you like and I will gladly return all of your messages upon my return. We are very excited about the big day and our trip to the Virgin Islands. It will be my first trip out of the United States with my brand new husband. Man that sounds weird... husband :).


On a related note to weddings I had the most awful dream last night that I forgot to bring my wedding dress to the wedding and LOST it!!! How on earth do you lose an entire wedding dress or forget to bring it?? I woke up this morning in a half heart attack state over it lol.


This weekend has been pretty icky and rainy so I've spent most of it on the couch watching my favorite TV shows and knitting away. It has been so relaxing and refreshing to spend a whole day in my pajamas doing EXACTLY what I want to do. No cleaning, no cooking, no day job just straight up knitting and doing what I want. It was fantastic and just the little break I needed.

Weekend Wrap Up ~ Community & Big Projects

New Year's has come and come and gone; now it's back to the daily grind with a fresh new look. This week I've been tackling 2 large products and got the chance to meet a couple of local fellow Etsians.

A few days ago I started my largest custom order to date - a silk & wool and cardigan. I really can't explain how excited I am about this project! My customer has picked a LOVELY blend of yarn and a beautiful style to work with. Basically my customer asked me to re-create a cardigan she'd seen on someone else. Here's what I've done so far (only a good 4 hours of work at this point):

My other big project I'm trying to blast through to get finished in time is the Mardi Gras scarf. Mardi Gras is just around the corner and I'd love to get this out right at the start of the season. I truly love this scarf. The combination of beading and light airiness is a great representation of the holiday. Even better, the colors are muted enough to wear any time and not just Mardi Gras. I will say that this second scarf is moving along much quicker than the first one I've done. I am considering making another in this pattern but in a different colorway maybe different shades of blue, or if I can find the right yarn a blend of black, green, and grey (my absolute favorite color combo in the Vera Bradley line right now). 

Saturday morning I had the pleasure of meeting a hand full of other Etsy sellers right in my back yard. I was clueless that there were SO many people selling their hand made goodies in my area. By "my area" I mean pretty much in walking distance from my home! It is so exciting to meet in person fellow sellers! In just a little over an hour we had a chance to share a wealth of knowledge between us. It was informative and lots of fun. Here are the links to their stores. Definitely check them out - buy hand made & and local! It doesn't get much better than that.

Southern Starfish ~ Personalized canvases

BronStar Originals ~ growth charts & nursery decor

Atutudes ~ hand made tutu's for girls

Garavan ~ jewelry collage art