second storie} indie market

Be there or be square, kids.

holiday knitting is ON

I finally made some concrete decisions regarding my Christmas Knit List and I'm putting the plan into action! Assemblage is taking a seat in the "way back" for now. Jewelry making has been taking up the vast majority of my free time, and suddenly I realized that I probably started my holiday knitting too late. My late start pretty much eliminated the idea of knitting a sweater for anyone...not that I was really jazzed to attempt another sweater for a family member anyway. So I had to choose some smaller projects.

What do you knit for Dad after you've already knit for him two ill-fitting hats, a really gigantic sweater, coffee cozies that he actually likes, and thrummed mittens that he refuses to wear because he thinks they're "too nice"? The answer is, clearly, socks. The problem is that I don't knit socks. Or, rather, I haven't knit socks. Ever. I've had half a Jaywalker sitting at the bottom of my knitting basket for what I think must be years by now. I've just never been able to get into it. But socks were so obviously the solution to my Dad Gift Dilemma, that I decided I had to try again. I've always liked the Log Cabin Socks from Handknit Holidays, but the size only goes up to a men's 8.5! I needed a 9.5-10. So I decided to knit the pattern as is, using larger needles and yarn and hope for the best. (Stop laughing.) I had trouble finding the perfect combination of color (something heathered and natural looking), care instructions (machine washable, since he'd never wear them if they weren't!), and gauge (chunky). So I settled on Plymouth Encore Chunky, which contains...acrylic. Yipe. Being so unsure of my sock knitting skills, I was hesitant to spend more for even a superwash yarn if I was just going to wind up tossing the whole project anyway. Yes, of COURSE I'm regretting it now! (Stop laughing). You told me so. I know, I know. But they're actually looking nice and I think they might even be the right size and I'm fairly certain my dad will love them and positive that I'm knitting another pair for my brother-in-law.

(Know what? Sock knitting is kind of fun. No, I'm not crossing over to the dark side yet. But I am on my tippy toes peeking over the wall wondering what else you guys are knitting over there.)

small bird tweets

I probably need to join another networking-type website like I need a hole in the head, but when I read the Etsy Storque article on using Twitter as a marketing tool, I thought, "eh, why not?" I figured I could post Small Bird jewelry updates and new Etsy listings, and maybe even get some public opinion on new designs. I don't really have an outlet just for shop updates, so that's what I'll be using Twitter for; self-serving Small Bird propagation. Mostly. ;)

However, Twitter has already proven a bit more addictive than I anticipated, so it's impossible to resist commenting on all the other fantastic stuff you guys are posting on there! But that's the whole idea, right? I'm hoping it will help keep me more connected with the online crafting community, too. So if you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm smallbirdjenna. See you over there!

the craft gods are...moody

I just found that I have been officially accepted as a vendor at the Second Storie} Indie Market! (With the jewelry, not the knitting.) The vendor list looks very impressive and I'm really excited to be a part of it. It's all going down on November 29th and 30th at The Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. I've been working on some new designs, so I should have a bunch of brand new pieces to show off by then! It's interesting to me how my aesthetic continues to change as I learn more and create more. Most recently, I started experimenting with faceted stones. I used to think that "sparkly" wasn't really my thing. But I kept coming across faceted gemstones while shopping for new materials and...well, they became kind of hard to resist. It must be the girly-girl in me. I think the 6mm stones are just perfect for a lovely little solitaire ring. But I'll have to wait and see. Maybe no one will like them and it will be a short-lived experiment. Or maybe I'll just keep making them for myself.

I should probably just stick to metal, since the yarn is not my friend right now. I finally got the sleeves finished for Assemblage (after knitting one of them 3 times) and started on the left front. After about 8" I realized I was doing the decreases incorrectly. I was decreasing on both sides (like the back) instead of just one side. Sigh...stupid mistake. So...rip, rip, rip. I'm starting to wonder if I'm even meant to knit this sweater at all! They're my own stupid mistakes, but it really feels like the knitting gods are against me on this one.