A boy and his blanket

A few months ago I posted this picture of a blanket that I knit for a pregnant friend.

Well, she finally had the baby last Friday! And she sent me this picture today of her new son wrapped up in the blanket:

Slacker

I've been so slack on my blogging, and I'm sorry. And don't be surprised if it continues. I'm working on several personal projects at the moment, and also creating items to sell at a Fall Festival in October, so my shop and blog are taking a back seat. But I hope to be back up and running by November to prepare for the holiday shopping season.

I'll give you a peek at one item I have been knitting like crazy. I've been knitting flowers for brooches, hair clips, etc. I keep forgetting to take pictures at home in my lightbox, so the best photo I have is one that I uploaded on Twitter, taken with my phone:


It's a bad picture, I know. I knit a few of these and I've received a lot of positive feedback so I'm trying to knit a bunch of them in different colors. I'm not sure if I will sell them in my Etsy shop yet. Do you think they would sell?

This is the end, my friend

Today is the last day of my Christmas in July sale! That means today is the last day to get free US shipping on everything, and it's the last day to get 10% off all knit items.

Well, truth be told, I haven't been feeling so well lately AND I'm going to be super busy tomorrow, so the items in my shop may not be updated in a timely manner. So it's possible that my sale may extend a little longer than planned. But, officially, today is the last day!

I mentioned here that I wanted to list at least 5 new items in my shop during the Christmas in July sale. And I did make that goal, but just barely. It was mostly destash yarn and only one new item, a ring.

I do have rings made, ready to list, and I even photographed a few of them. But I decided not to list them, for various reasons - too boring, too similar to other rings already in my shop. Instead I think I will give them to friends. I have great friends that think everything I make is absolutely wonderful, even if it's not, but they ooh and aah over it anyway - those are great friends to have! So they will get their pick of some free rings :)

Why it's important to check your gauge

I've spent the past few weeks knitting a great summer top out of some super-soft Knit Picks Shine yarn. And I finally finished it this morning! Well, except for weaving in the ends. But the knitting part is completed! I was so excited, I immediately tried it on...


...only to discover it was too big! It's not enormous, but it's just baggy enough to bother me.

See, I was *suppose* to check my gauge first, but of course I did not.

D'oh!

Missed it!

Apparently I was on the Etsy front page again last night at 6:30pm, and I missed it :(

I was an alternate so the screenshot in the Flickr group didn't show my item. But it must have made it to the front page because the Peppermint Cowl received a lot of views and a few hearts. Yay!

Front Page!

Thanks to a convo from Etsy seller Ulaa this morning, I found out that one of my items was on Etsy's front page!

My item is the blue and yellow scarf on the third row, it's called Sunday Morning and this is it's second time on the front page :)

It was on from 9am to 9:30 and had I not received the convo from Ulaa I'm certain I would have missed it, as I am usually en route to work at that time. I was able to view it on my phone while sitting in the parking lot waiting for my boss to let me in, and quickly grabbed a screenshot when I got in my office before the front page changed.

Making a list, checking it twice

Merry Christmas (in July)!!!

My Christmas in July sale officially starts today! From now through July 23rd, I will be offering the following deals:

• FREE SHIPPING for all US orders
• Reduced shipping prices for other countries
• 10% off knit items
• Additional discount, available for newsletter subscribers only

The email newsletter went out this morning, but you can still sign up and I'll send it to you. Just click on the "Subscribe" link over there on the right ----> and enter your info.

Although the sale officially starts today, I changed the prices, shipping, and Etsy tags yesterday afternoon because I wasn't sure if I would have time to do it today. I've been wanted to try a Free Shipping promotion and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do that. I've tried other discounts but with no luck. And I know I enjoy free shipping so I assume my customers would as well.

Well, within hours I already had a sale! Early this morning, a customer took advantage of the 10% off deal and free shipping, and she now has a lovely scarf heading her way! Even if this is the only item I sell during the Christmas in July Sale, I consider the sale a success :)

There are tons of shops on Etsy that are having Christmas in July sales right now. Here's how to find them:

• Search on Etsy for the keywords: cij, christmasinjuly, Christmas in July
• Check out this thread to see who's participating, and what they are offering: Click here
  

Still here!

You may have noticed a lack of activity on my blog recently. And if you've really been paying attention, you may have noticed what could only be considered "shop neglect" over at the Brookberrys shop. I don't remember that last time I listed something new. And the worst part is I have new items that have been ready to list for weeks, but I just haven't photographed them yet.

Summer came and I suddenly have very little spare time to spend on my shop. I'm still knitting, but it's things for myself that I've been wanting to knit, and I'm knitting (and shopping!) for my future honorary nephew (meaning, we're not related but I still get to call him my nephew), who is due in September.

But! I mentioned last month that I would participate in the Christmas in July sale. Well, guess what - it's July! Can you believe it is July already!? And the sale begins this Wednesday July 8th. I will be offering US free shipping on my items, as well as possibly offering discounts on some items. I'm still trying to decide exactly what to do.

And, if I can manage to do so, I want to list at least 5 new items, hopefully more. I have rings and pendants ready to list, plus I really need to clean out my yarn stash. I listed some of my yarn when I first opened my shop and it sold pretty quickly, so I'm hoping for the same results this time.

Oh! And I also plan to send out an email to my newsletter subscribers that may or may not *wink wink nudge nudge* contain additional discount offers. So if you haven't signed up for my newsletter, do it now!

Most of my Readers clicked on this link

I just found this list: "50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive"
Maybe you can use these tips, maybe not, but I think for business owners it's worth a glance.

The title of this post - "Most of my Readers clicked on this link" - is an example of #2 on the list :)

My 1st Etsyversary!

I opened my Etsy shop exactly one year ago today!

Happy Etsyversary to meeeeeee!

Unfortunately I don't have much time today to reflect on the past year, I am super busy at work.

I hope you're having a great day!