Vegan Craftastic: March 2009

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Nesting Pattern

Yay, I'm finally done with my Nesting pattern! My tester, Yuliya Sullivan, did a great job and I couldn't have done it without her. Like I said in my previous post, this pattern has been in the works for quite a while and I'm very happy to see it finally released! I designed this with the idea that I wanted a cute way to use up leftover sock yarn (I always have leftovers, I like short socks). I also wanted to find a cute use for novelty yarn and I think the nests are a great way to use any crazy yarn you might have hiding in your stash.

The pattern is a great value, it includes instructions for knitting a mama bird, baby bird, large nest, small nest, and eggs, all for $5. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry or on Etsy.

enjoy!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Weekend Fun

Shane had one of his rare weekends off this last week, yay! We decided to finally make the trip to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis for the Bohus knitting exhibit. And we even got to go for free since we used a museum pass from the library. The exhibit was very cool, very inspiring, I wish I could post pictures but photography isn't allowed in the museum. Curses! My favorite thing was a yellow and pink sweater, it's not a color combo I would really think of as working but it totally did! Here's Shane and me being dorks outside of the museum:

On Saturday we went to see Watchmen, a movie we've been wanting to go to for a while but Shane's schedule hasn't been pretty lately. I wasn't sure I would like this movie, I'd heard lots of mixed reviews and I haven't read the graphic novel. But I ended up really liking it, very cool and entertaining. After the movie, we had dinner at Holy Land, mmmmm falafel!

Ugh, I'm so tired right now, I just got back from the gym and the workout totally kicked my butt. I've been naughty and haven't made it to the gym anywhere near as much as I should lately so I know I'm in for some soreness the next few days.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Treasury!

Squeeee, I'm in an Etsy Treasury:

My Under the Sea Tote is in the latest Vegan Etsy Treasury, yay!

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Saturday, March 28, 2009

And the winner is...

Jennifer (jaymoh on the ppk)!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered, it was a lot of fun reading everyone's comments, it's amazing how many different favorites there were! And if any of you who entered ever want to order from my etsy shop, just convo me first and I'll set it up so you have free shipping, I'm hoping to have a shop update sometime next week.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A Wee Preview

I've been working on this pattern set for quite a while but I wanted to show a quick peek of what's to come! The pattern is for a set of two birds (a baby and a mama), nests in three sizes, and eggs, all knit. It's going to be sold through Ravelry and Etsy and will be my first for sale pattern, yay! I'm hoping to release it April 1st at the latest, I just need to pretty up the pattern and work on pictures. I even had a tester on this one, aren't I fancy :)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Contest!

I've been meaning to have another contest here for a while and I'm finally doing it, yay! I really appreciate everyone who has ordered from my etsy shop, like I said before the money is going toward upcoming school expenses (August will be here before I know it!) so thank you. Ok, back to the contest, so what could you win? How about this:

This is one of the newest bags I have up in my etsy shop, it's the Sticks N Skulls Knitting Bag. Isn't the fabric great? Anyway, I made an extra one and all you have to do to win it is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of cookie. Why? Because I'm hungry and wish I had some cookies (or that I wasn't too lazy to make some, either one would be good). And if you post something about this contest on your blog and link to my shop you get an extra entry. Easy peasy! Quick rules:

1. Contest begins today, March 22, 2009 and ends Saturday, March 28.

2. US residents only please because I'm too cheap and I hate the hassle of mailing international(terrible, aren't I?)

3. Please make sure I have a way of contacting you, either through e-mail (youATwhateverDOTcom) or through a Ravelry name, it's no fun having to track people down from their blogs. But if I know you or you've entered a contest here before you can just leave a comment.

4. Winners will be picked at random.

Thanks for playing!

-Kala

Friday, March 20, 2009

FOs: Baby Stuff!

Holy wow, I actually finished some stuff! There's a baby shower next week at my weekly knitting group so I whipped up some cuteness, I'm 99.99999% sure the recipient won't see this so I think it's safe to post. Of course I had to make a hat:

The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca's Skinny Dyed Cotton which is 100% organic cotton dyed with low impact dyes. The colorway is called sprout and I got it free from that skein a month contest, it also came with this handy baby hat pattern! I added the little loop on top though, I thought it looked a little plain without it. I also made a bib:

Isn't it cute? I used the pattern from Chickpea Sewing Studio and it was great, very easy to sew and no pattern pieces to enlarge, gotta love that. I'm totally in love with this fabric, it's so cute and retro!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Knitty Knitty Bang Bang

So I keep going back to the new issue of Knitty hoping I'll change my mind, but I'm still pretty meh about it. I usually love the Spring and Summer issues but I'm really just not feeling this one. The only thing I loved was Cachoeira by Kristi Geraci.

These socks are gorgeous and will definitely make it onto my already obese queue. How about you guys, anything you're itching to knit from the new issue?

Monday, March 16, 2009

Washed up from the shore...

Ok, maybe it didn't really wash up from the ocean, but isn't it cute? It's something new I have in my etsy shop, a message in a bottle. The messages are customizable, here are some examples:

These are perfect and inexpensive gifts for your someone special!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Stars Go Blue

Have any of you tried to snag a Treasury on Etsy? If you don't know, a Treasury is a collection of favorite items on etsy that members make and post, some of them even end up on the front page, it's great exposure for shops. I love etsy and am always being tempted by cute stuff and I finally got to do a Treasury, you have to wait until the list is below 333 and it's always over 700 when I look so I was pretty lucky last night. Anyway, check it out, it's called The Stars Go Blue and it highlights items from my fellow members of the Vegan Etsy Team:

The Stars Go Blue

This is just a little screen shot, click the link to see the real thing, and if you like it you can leave some comment love on the Treasury!

-

Friday, March 13, 2009

Project Spectrum: March

I bet most of you have heard of Project Spectrum, but if not, check it out, it's a very cool project and I'm very excited about participating! For March and April, the themes are North, Green, Stones/Gems/Rocks, Winter, and Earth. I decided to make a bracelet:

This is a very special bracelet for me, I bought the beads last summer on our honeymoon in Duluth (North) at the cute little bead shop, Bead Harbor. I thought the pretty yellow and green glass beads would work beatfully together in a bracelet, and I think I was right! I love how it came out and it fits really nicely too:

And I was lucky enought that I bought just enough of the green beads to make a second bracelet for my etsy shop:

Yay for new inspiration!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Gracias

Thanks everyone who wished me a happy b-day yesterday, that was very sweet! Yesterday was pretty good, I had wanted to do more but it was freeze your ass off cold so we're going bowling on Sunday when it's supposed to warm up. I can't bowl when I'm all bundled! I got some nice gifts and the husband made me a cake (although it wasn't as cute as Julia's, I still loved it, hee hee). I got some nice gifts and some gift cards to use later, here's some of the crafty stuff I got:

Knitted Lace of Estonia

Stray Sock Sewing

And some beads I got myself at the Bead Monkey.

Oh and today is the last day for the birthday sale in my shop!

-

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Happy Kala Day

Have a fabulous day everyone, I think I will too!

-Kala (she who has officially entered her late twenties!)

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Birthday Sale!

To celebrate my birthday next week, I'm having a big sale in my Etsy shop! Here are some of the things that are on sale:

Bird Tote on sale for $10, Regularly $16:

Squirrel Project Bag on Sale for $10, Regularly $15:

Plus, lots of my project bags are on sale for only $8, regularly $15! Including these:

Blue Cotton Fields Bag:

Chocolate Cherry Bag:

Friday, March 06, 2009

Birthday Necklace!

I decided this year for my birthday (March 11, mark you calendars, ha ha!) that I would get some of the things I've been eyeing on Etsy for a while. The first thing I ordered arrived today and was packaged beautifully:

It's the Shoots and Leaves necklace from Emmakat's Etsy shop and I looove it, it's so pretty! Here's a pic of it on, do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a necklace you're wearing?:

It's very cute and beautifully made, I'll definitely be ordering from her again, here's more stuff available from her shop that I love:

Wine Bottle Necklace:

Leela Earings in Purple:

Raincloud Matchbook-Style Notepad:

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Molten

This sock is some of the top secret knitting I've been doing, but I can finally share! This design is going to be in the upcoming book on cd "50 Socks - 50 States" that's being put out by Laura Andersson and Crystal Palace Yarns. The basic idea for the book is a sock pattern inspired by every state in the US. I was lucky enough to have been asked to design a few socks and the one above is my Hawaii sock. The inspiration for the design was the contrast of the dark black and oranges in a volcanic eruption, something like this:

Kinda cool, eh? I'm very excited to be included in this project, here's the book promo blurb:

***********

This huge multi-sock, multi-designer book will be released ONLY on CD, with previews at the June TNNA show.

The Publisher, Dr. Laura Andersson of Sirius Knitting Publications http://www.siriusknitting.com/ is collaborating with Susan Druding & Crystal Palace Yarns, who will also be distributors.

"50 Socks - 50 States" is Volume 3 of the "Friendly Socks" series of books, which are multi-designer compilations - bet you will find some of your fave on-line designers here!
The CD will include sock designs that cover the full gamut of imaginative sock fun
ribbing, beading, cables, cuffs, fair isle, intarsia, and lace
with novel sock construction, directions for socks including top-down, toe-up, double-pointed needles & both 1- & 2-circs
diverse sizes too! socks for infants, babies, toddlers, children, teens, women, & men as well as at least one holiday stocking!

You will SOON be able to find more pictures and details at http://socksandmorewithcpyblogspot.com/ and> http://siriusknitting.blogspot.com/, as well as on http://www.straw.com/ and here on my own blog.
The CD-only release will run $19.95 (plus shipping, where applicable) and can be obtained from many yarn shops
as well as from Dr Laura proflaura@firststepinternet.com or drlaura@siriusknitting.com

*****************

Coraline

So have you all seen Coraline? The husband and I went out to see it yesterday at the AMC in Roseville. We even had a coupon so it was only $5 total for both of us to get in, muah ha ha! I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the movie though, I think I'd heard too many good things about it and had it built up quite a bit in my mind. The visuals were lovely and it was lots of fun spotting the itty bitty knit wear but overall it was a bit dull at times. Oh and as an added bonus there was a kid in the theatre who was freaking out the whole time, he was so scared, I felt so bad for him! We was squirming around telling his mom that he was scared and wanted to go home but his mom just kept telling him to close his eyes if he was so scared. This movie isn't really meant for little kids so if you know that your little one can't handle some disturbing imagery (being chased by someone who wants to sew buttons onto your eyes for example) then you probably shouldn't bring him along and make him sit through it just because you want to see the movie. Not that I think nobody should take their kids to scary movies, I've loved scary stuff since I was a wee little Kala and never freaked out or anything.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

Shop Update

Since Friday was just a little busy I didn't get a chance to do my weekly shop update here on the blog so here we go today! I got my sewing area put back together and actually got some stuff made!