Weekend Wrap Up ~ Easter Weekend

This weekend is for celebrating and spending time with family. Blair and I spent the weekend together doing just that since we are officially FAMILY now! So exciting! 


This weekend we also did a little house hunting. We have been looking for a house to rent for some time with very little luck. Since we are in the Coast Guard and won't be around for too much longer, it's not very safe for us to purchase a house so we are renting because we have totally outgrown our apartment- especially with all of my yarn and equipment I have acquired while starting my business! This weekend we may have found a winner! I'm not getting my hopes up too high or going to go into describing it too much because nothing is set in stone as of yet but I can't say how excited I am to have FINALLY found a place we are remotely interested in putting an application in at. Fingers crossed all goes well and I can have a much better suited office and have the kitchen space to put out all of our new great appliances we got as wedding gifts. They are still in boxes and I regularly drool on them preparing for the day their great exteriors can meet the fresh air and get used!


I am proud to say that this past week I submitted applications to craft shows for the first time and have chosen a few more to apply for in the near future. Although I am not guaranteed any spots as of yet I am hoping to hear from some of them soon - fingers crossed again. I've got a lot of finger crossing going on these days.


Last but not least I did a little photography for the newest addition to my store with a very fun little man! Here's a sneak peek at how they turned out.

Speaking of modeling, I am putting together something very fun and extra special for my modeling participants. I am in the process of earning my photography certificate through the University of South Alabama and have decided that I want to take as many of the photographs for my store and business as possible instead of contracting the job out. I enjoy taking them and think it adds a little something special to my store that the entire process is a work of my own! I am always looking for local models (Southern Alabama area) to wear my work and am putting together a special program/incentive for those that would like to participate. It is still in the works but it you would like to be included or know/parent someone who would please feel free to contact me. It's going to be a lot of fun. I need males and females of ALL ages!

Picture Sunday

Ok well I know I said that I was going to spend today taking pictures and learning to apply the new things I've learned in my photography class. It hasn't been cold at all here in Alabama all year and of course today of all days I wake up and it's basically under 40 degrees and windy as I'll get out ALL day! It's beautiful and sunny but I sure as heck don't have the urge to get a nasty cold a month out before my wedding. Needless to say, as tempting as it is I know I would be miserable out there in the cold so I'll have to post pone that to another day and spend the afternoon knitting instead (no complaints there). I did however do one of the class assignment because it requires me to be inside :)


The object of this assignment is all about lighting. Be inside a room, position your object/model near a window with the light raining in and capture the highlighting of the light on one side right next to the darkness on the other.  I've seen a lot of pictures done this way and it looks really neat when done right. Here's mine: 

In all of these if you can't already tell the light is coming in from the left (that's where the window is).  Usually at this point I would load them up into photoshop and mess around with the brightness and other settings but since this is for a photography class, I figure I should leave it alone so I can be shown where to most make my improvements from my un-altered images. 


On the other hand I did want to share with you a few blogs that I have recently been turned onto while learning more about photography, and even more so photoshop. I'm a little more handy with that program then I am with a camera (although I am by no means a pro at either). I have another blog I want to share with you, but I'll bust that out another time - Keep you on your toes!


The first blog I want to mention is The Coffee Shop Blog. She posts free photography tutorials, free actions for photoshop, and free scrapbooking designs. Did I mention it's all FREE. I have downloaded a few of her actions and used them myself and they are really great. All of the files come with the action and/or scrapbook design along with instructions on how to use them. This blog makes it almost impossible to screw it up- VERY user friendly and FREE. Did I mention it's FREE??  It is definitely worth checking out! Here's a link to a page of the site where all of the free goodies that they've ever posted are available- there's a ton of great stuff: The Coffee Shop Blog Freebies.


I hope you guys enjoy! Time to go spend the rest of my afternoon knitting.

I'm BACK

It seems like I haven't written a post in a MILLION years. Things have been so busy over the last few weekends with wedding showers!!! I've been so blessed to have all these special showers and wonderful people who wanted to come and spend these special moments with me. I never thought that I would enjoy blogging so much but I have really missed writing to all of you! Here's a picture of one of the coolest cakes I've ever seen and it was at my lingerie shower!

A friend of one of my bridesmaids made it and it was amazing! She does it for fun on the side and it was just as amazing in person as it is in this picture, not to mention it was DELICIOUS. 


I've officially started knitting up some jewelry. It's still winter now (according to the groundhog) so it's still chilly enough for scarves and hats and all those traditional knitted items but the warm season is right around the corner and I'm getting prepared for the season! It's not done yet so I can't show you yet but imagine a red cowl-like necklace with lots of texture and shape! I think many of you will be surprised with how this will look and I can't wait to share it with you guys.


Since I've written last I've also finished the bearded beanie and it's gotten over 100 views just this week. I'm very excited and wanted to give you guys a special thanks because ya'll are the people that make it happen! 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/92300743/bearded-beanie-hat-hand-knit-and-crochet

Now that I have all of my showers out of the way I should be back to blogging on the regular until it gets to my wedding! Speaking of my wedding I want to remind you guys again that the store will be closed a bit from March 8th -22nd for my wedding and honeymoon. 


I'll be taking some pictures to get some assignments done for my photography class tomorrow. I'll share the fun and pictures from it soon if not tomorrow as well! I started taking the class out of necessity to get good photos for my store and have started to really enjoy it as more of a hobby. Hopefully I will have some cool things to show you. If all else fails and they all suck (which is quite possible I'm a newbie) I have been turned onto some very cool people and blogs as I have been learning this thing called photography and will share them with you as well. 

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 ~ Trip & New Endeavours

This weekend I made another visit to one of my closest friends up in Auburn. We always have such a great time together. She just found out she's having a little bundle of joy and I will be making her new addition a special blanket. I haven't started it yet and she hasn't picked out the colors but here's what the pattern will look like:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/iHodge/tumbling-blocks-blankie-80661ad
(not my picture or work - see link for details)

I think this is SO cute and I can't wait to get started on it for her!

I had a little excitement of my own this week as well - my first international order. Innov8ive Knits is officially international. That is so exciting for me. It's amazing how many people from how many places get to see my work. 


I have 2 things to thank to my special sale this week and a tremendous jump in my views & favorites. For the first time I tried out Etsy's search ads. For a reasonable amount of money I got approximately 14% more views than I would have without it. Along with that, I went through and re-did my listing titles and tags to improve my SEO (search engine optimization). It certainly made a difference in my stats this week and I'm very pleased with the results.


Another new thing that I've gotten involved in is that I'm now a proud boutique partner for Oleo O Models (click me).

 This is a great little modeling business that provides precious models in professional photographs for small business like me. I will be sending out a few of my flower clips for some of the models this coming Tuesday. The girls I chose are cuter than cute and I can't wait to see what I get back! 


I started my photography class this month and once I complete it, I plan to take a large chunk of my store photography myself on local models. I enjoy photography and being self sufficient is exciting and important. Up until this point all the photography on my site has been mine. I an excited to get some professional shoots as well as looking forward to improving my skills in photography as well.


I have a lot of things to tackle this week. Hopefully this week will be as productive as the last! 

Weekend Wrap Up ~ Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a very fun and safe new year! This week I've had some exciting things going on.


I have added the flower clip line to my Etsy Store! I have yet had the chance to get them on a model due to the holidays and crappy weather we've been having lately here in Alabama (lots of overcast) but the photos can always be changed in a listing and I really wanted to get them out there as well as meet my monthly goal of introducing them to the store!

All of these can be found in my Flower Clip Section (click me)

In addition to adding a brand new line, I've picked up a great new order that I am super stoked about... a custom made cardigan! I'm so flattered and thrilled to be asked to do one and can't wait to get started. It's going to be a simple and flowing cardigan made of a silk/wool blend. Super luxurious and super fun! 

On top of the excitement of that, my awesome fiance got me the BEST needles money can buy for Christmas: Addi clicks! This cardigan is going to be a breeze and a real pleasure to work on with my new, slick, coolest ever on the planet needles. Seriously, these are like the Royls Royce of knitting and I can't wait to put a big fat project on them.

This week I also got a new shipment of yarn. This shipment has included more fun colors for the ear warmers (red, blue, and pink), more colors for flower clips (white, red, and green), and more colors for bearded beanies ( red, grey, heather green, and orange).

 I haven't put up a bearded beanie in some time but it has moved up high in my list of things to knit so be on the look out for one of those! In new color combinations. 

AND I can't forget that I have recently been included in a treasury which is so flattering here: Waves of Color (click me)

All in all this year has been a great year. I have high hopes and many exciting things to look forward to in this coming  year including my wedding in March, and hitting the first year mark of Innov8ive Knits. I can't wait to see what else 2012 holds!

Weekend Wrap-Up ~ The end of the endless scarf

Since I've finally got this cold kicked in the butt, I have been working nonstop on this scarf! I am SO glad to have it done... well almost done. Remind me to never make a super intricate cabled scarf out of a DK weight yarn again... EVER. lol.  It does look great though, and after all of this hard work, I will be quite sad to see it go! That's the only downside to the business is that I have to give my hard work to someone else (for a price of course).  I put a lot of time and heart into these projects and it's been surprising how attached I get to them.

Right now the endless cable scarf is in the blocking process

Here the scarf is soaking in some luke-warm water before being laid out to block. After it's dried, all I will need to do is sew on my label and get it ready for delivery to my customer. This piece is also pretty sentimental because it was the first custom order that I received! I can't wait to get some really good pictures of it too. Expect a photo shoot in the near future.

Also in news from this week, Innov8ive Knits is going nationwide!!! Yesterday I made my first shipment of product all the way out to California! The rhythm hat is traveling in a package as we speak. It's so exciting that my work is getting to travel and see people it never would get to make an impression on here. It is hopefully the first of many travels of my work to many different places all over the country. After making that shipment, I realized that I should have a better game plan on how I do my shipping for out of state customers and my Etsy customers. Research was made and I have decided on all orders to ship in the future USPS priority mail. It seems the best budget wise and convenience for myself and the customer to to the flat rate envelopes for most of my orders. Odd shaped larger items may have to be done differently.

Now that this scarf is pretty much done, I am going to start doing the pinwheel hat today. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product, especially with some added modifications.

Between stock for my growing Etsy store and custom orders my queue to knit is just growing like weeds! It got to the point that I had to do a printout just to keep it manageable and make sure that I get things done with a priority and order to make sure things get done when they should. I'm not swimming in profit and I'm not answering phone calls and e-mails all day long but things are definitely growing. I am so proud of how things are blooming and I can hardly contain all of the ideas I have for the business.