KameKnits - the crocheting/knitting/typing fiasco

There's never any time!

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:07:00 +0000

Any time I'm stressed out, I remember back to a Saved By The Bell episode. The one where Jessie is taking speed because she's got too much going on and not enough time in the day to do it all.

"I'm so excited, I'm so excited... I'm so ::sobs:: scared"

That's what I think of when I'm stressed. Probably odd, but that's okay right?

I still have not finished my friend Stephanie's baby blanket for Rebecca... nor have I finished Kathy's baby blanket for Jackson. I'm trying. But I have a lot going on and on the days that I plan to get more things done, Jake seems to know I have those plans, and makes himself extra needy.

Today we had one of those gross "only a parent could understand" diapers that made me debate throwing him in the bathtub over going through a handful of wipes to clean him. The wipes won out in the end because he was wiggling so much that I was scared if I tried to bathe him that he would have more issues.

Needless to say, I haven't gotten a chance to make anything to put in the Etsy store.

I'm not sure how often I am going to be able to do that when I go back to work in May. Between work, Jake and trying to complete projects, something has to fall to the wayside. And since kiddo is #1, and work pays the bills... we know what's going to fall.

When I finally finish those blankets, there will be pictures, if only to prove I actually finished them.

9-day Granny Square

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:07:00 +0000

So before I show you the square, I have to explain my square.

Over the last ~1 yr I have been frequenting a forum on Ravelry ("Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, weavers and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, project and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration.") of women who were (at first) trying to conceive and then those who were also due in February 2011.

One of our members lost her baby. Incredibly sad story, and not mine to tell. Because of this, the ladies in my forum have begun putting together crocheted and knitted squares to assemble a blanket to give her.

So, I signed myself up to make one square. I have been pretty busy lately (baby and all) so I wasn't sure how long it would take me to make said-square.

I began this square 12 days ago (finishing 3 days ago). One 8 inch square which would normally take me a single afternoon, has taken me 9 days. It took me 3 days just to weave in the ends.

Why? Because any time I picked up the square to work on it, Jake would start screaming.

And while I love listening to the munchkin scream at the top of his lungs, I prefer him not to be a dark shade of maroon.

So here, ladies and gentlemen, is my 9-day Granny Square.

Now we will see how long it takes me to mail the square (currently sitting in my living room for the last 3 days)

Square pattern from: http://dayna.tdgservices.com/ShowPattern.aspx?PatternID=35

Once a week = Fail

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:25:00 +0000

So before baby Jake was born I said "once a week" for my blogging goal.

Well if you check the date of the last post, I did not do a good job with that one.

I can't blame Jake for that.

The first week I was busy doing freelance work with taking care of a brand new baby.

The next 3 wks, well I was adjusting and trying to get my brain back.

My memory is still shot; I'm constantly starting "projects" and then forgetting what I was doing. Heck even now I am typing this with one hand as someone nurses.

What (other than a New Year's Resolution) have you tried to commit to that you just haven't been able to follow through?

Today's the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:33:00 +0000

Well at least it's the day we're going to the hospital.

It seems our baby boy has made quite the comfy nest in there and does not want to come out. So today at 5pm we will be going to the hospital to begin the induction.

Since I had hoped to go through this labor with as little intervention as possible, this has been quite disappointing to me (to say the least).

However, although I am the eternal pessimist, I must be optimistic that once things start going, that they will continue that way and we will only need a minimal amount of intervention.

So, since that's a lot to have on your mind, I've been keeping busy making things for baby.

In the last 2 weeks I've started and finished 3 projects.

A wool soaker to go over his cloth diapers (above)

Wool soaker pants (both above and below)

And finally some thing cute and fun, a stocking cap!

In the meantime I am also working on several baby blankets for the slew of friends I have who will also be having a baby this year.

Boy am I a busy girl

Back, with a good excuse?

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:08:00 +0000

Okay maybe it's not the best excuse as I'm certainly aware there are lots of people out there doing what I am doing and have time or at least the severe dedication to update their blogs.

Yesterday was my 40wk doctor appointment for our soon-to-join-us new addition.

For those of you who may know me on a personal basis, you know, i'm a planner. I've spent pretty much every moment the last 9 months either working, sleeping, or planning something for the baby. That's not necessarily a good reason to be neglectful to my blog. Because really, this is something I have decided I wanted to do and need to continue to dedicate myself to.

So my new and I swear this time it's official plan is to post at least once a week with what I am working on. I'd rather once a day but I cannot promise that when baby boy does finally decide to show up that I will be able to handle a once-a-day regimen.

Once a week, once a week.

My new mantra.

Snappy snap snap

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:28:00 +0000

Almost a year ago I began this pattern for a sleep sac with a matching hat.

Then all I needed, were some snaps to close the sleep sac

(Here it is while I was crocheting the border - without the snaps)

I kept trying to remember to purchase some snaps but completely forgot.

Then fast forward to four months-or so-ago when I started looking into cloth diapers and the patterns to make them. I realized that you also needed snaps for those. So, since I was going to request that my husband's mom make some diapers, I should probably pick up some of these snap things then huh?

So, I went online, and asked around. Who had the good ones, which type should I get, etc.

I ended up going to Kam Snaps and purchasing a snap plier (which yay for me came with 200 snaps for <$8). Sign me up! I ended up ordering 100 white and 100 offwhite, which also came with a card of samples of the other colors available.

For those who have never seen plastic snaps before (like I was prior to this adventure) this is the top portion. It looks like a thumbtack

And then here are the two inside pieces.

You place the thumbtack through the fabric (in this case the crocheted sleep sac) and choose one of the inside pieces. Then you take the pliers and give it a firm press.

(another angle)

Here is one with a few of them already installed

After a bit, it gets to be pretty easy to decide which pieces need to go where. And then soon enough, you have a finished product!

Now all I have to do is finish weaving in the ends, and wash the sac to see how it all goes.

Once that is done, I'll have to send a picture of the final piece (hopefully with someone inside so you can see how adorably cute this pattern really is.

It's about time!

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:24:00 +0000

Well a lot has been going on the past few months.

We found out that we are going to be having a baby boy in February.

Work has been insane. Every time I think there is going to be a little break - something drops into my lap that needs to be done yesterday.

But... now, although it's super busy, I've been able to start crocheting again.

I had been on and off for a bit - but not really completed any projects.

In the last few days though, I've started quite a bit and finished several of them.

Sadly, nothing yet will be added to the store - most have been for our upcoming addition (who is currently kicking me in the bladder, thanks son!) and then this blanket that I had originally made for the baby but I've since changed my mind. Might hit the store - or might be given as a gift to one of the several people I know that are expecting right now.

First off for baby - Ear flap hat

Then another ear flap hat - (currently working on the matching mittens)

And a pair of blue hats

I've also finished a blanket (which is currently tumbling in the dryer), and am working on the cutest stuffed animal turtle (complete with removable shell and diaper)! Pictures to come on those. And hopefully so will more posts now that I have gotten a handle on everything going on.

So...

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:31:00 +0000

So...

Soooo....

SOOOOOO need to update.

I keep meaning to make new posts but then something happens and that gets pushed to the side.

I promise. At least one good meaningful blog before the end of the week. And then I must get back into the swing of things :-)

Sleep Study

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:07:00 +0000

For the last year and a half or so I have been exhausted. I mean, driving to work in the morning and sitting at a long light leaves me seconds from falling asleep in the car.

When I go to bed at night, I'm tired. And normally, I fall asleep pretty quickly. When I sleep, I feel like I sleep well. I don't remember waking up most of the time (however I am notorious for talking in my sleep). Every once in a while I have to get up for the restroom, but I go back to bed very quickly.

So, I decided to go to the PCP (primary care physician) and ask about the fatigue. She took bloodwork (checked for lymes, iron, mono, pretty much whatever you can think of that would cause fatigue) and it all came out fine. I apparently have a tiny itty bitty level of mono that she could see so I would have had it a while ago but nothing active.

This leads us to the sleep study. My PCP referred me to a sleep specialist to see if he can figure out what is wrong with me.

So here are some pretty entertaining pictures of the sleep study (didn't bring my camera so I am sorry for the quality).

This is a picture of the room. It was pretty much like a small hotel room. It had a bed, lounge chair, bathroom with a shower, TV, etc.

The TV

The spy camera that was watching me while I slept. Super creepy but it wasn't like there were cameras everywhere.

After sitting still for over a half hour with my nurse-friend spackeling sensors to my head, chest and legs.

Sensors on the legs

The typical Facebook/Myspace bathroom mirror picture. In this case, it was quite useful to take a picture of all of the gadgets that were sticking on or hanging off of me.

Told you sensors were spackelled to my head

Overall it was a decent experience. I slept a lot better than I thought that I would with all of that crap on me. There were also some tubes that were placed up my nose so they could monitor the amount of carbon dioxide that I was exhaling. Actually that was the most annoying part of it. Because of them having to hook all of that up to a central spot, if I needed to use the restroom, someone had to come and unhook me. So when i woke up around 4am and had to pee, I just closed my eyes and went back to bed. I woke up a second time around 5:50 and spoke to the man in the ceiling (there was an intercom so they could listen to me sleeping too!!) and they came and released me for the day.

I wish that I had taken a picture of the oh-so-sexy hair that I had after they removed all of the sensors from my head. Just look at that first picture of me, and imagine my hair about 4 inches higher and more "mad scientist"-like.

I get the results July 15th.

We'll see...

Holy Toledo, it's been over a month!!

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:09:00 +0000

It has been a month since my last entry. Why? I've been busy.

Scratch that, I'm always busy.

I'm going to have to admit that I completely forgot this part of my web life.

Let's see, where to begin the updates...

Well I attended a Fiber Bash where I saw some very talented ladies spinning yarn. One of which was Rose from Alma Park Alpacas. It was watching them that inspired me to finally take the dive and purchase some roving yarn from Alma Park (below)

and then immediately when returning home I purchased a drop spindle kit

and a Turkish spindle (which as you can see, Mia really likes the spindle)

I received them the other day in the mail and immediately went to spinning (although in all reality I should have taken the nap that I so desperately needed).

I began spinning the Grey and Navy roving wool as provided in the drop spindle kit (there's no way I'm using my lovely roving yarn from Alma Park until I know what I am doing).

I've created a very interesting looking, yet not entirely functional, two-ply yarn.

It is quite lumpy (completely inconsistent and barely usable) but I'm going to try to make a small swatch with it just to see how it works up. I was pretty happy with my first go at it, even though it didn't come out so well. I mean, at least Mia likes my yarn.

Team Tuesday! Featuring LunamuseFibers

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:05:00 +0000

So this tuesday, as I don't have a significant amount of time to spend crafting the blog, I've decided to flip through my favorites and find a EtsyNJ team member that I have a ton of favorites for.

Introducing LunamuseFibers!

I love this color.

And she can even make pink (which if you know me, you know I hate pink) look great!

There are just so many things on my wish list!

And not only does she spin and dye her own yarn, but she also works with it.

Check out her store! And check out more entries for EtsyNJ Team Tuesday!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:13:00 +0000

Quick promo to a college friend of mine, her site DomesticAdventure.com is great.

Check it out

Working like a crazy woman, damn the man!

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:59:00 +0000

So, the last 2 weeks or so have been a bit crazy.

I have 2 projects going - a blanket/hat set for my cousin's new baby Stella (born last week) and 3 puppies (based on the picture below) for a friend of mine

Sadly, I've been so busy with work-related business that I haven't had a lot of time to be working on any of these things.

I've got completed:

Baby blanket (below) - still need to weave in all the ends
White baby hat
1/3 of the striped baby hat
1 pink puppy put together but with no face
1 purple puppy almost put together - needing some more stuffing
and pieces of a yellow puppy that i need to complete and then put together.

All of these things I would like to have done before the end of the week.

In the meantime, I've got a few projects going on at work that I am waiting to get the green light on and when i do it'll be super crazy.

Also in the meantime, I am working on a freelance project that I have received from a friend of mine, which is great because our hole in the house roof and the horrid roof on the sunroom that both need to be fixed are begging for some funding. So all this craziness is paying for at least the roof to be taken care of.

Hopefully I can get my freelance stuff completed AND take care of the other projects I am working on.

To Do List

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:28:00 +0000

I spent the better part of Sunday morning taking pictures (which was not the best day to take pictures as it was quite grey outside) and they did not come out as well as I thought they did (curse you little screen on the camera)

However, I did manage to make out with some acceptable pictures, at least a few per piece that I can use to finally create the listings! Now, the problem is, I didn't measure anything. At all, and I normally include measurements. So I am going to have to create the initial listing and then update later on. But YAY for finally taking the pictures (which is half the battle).

Still to do:

Take more listing pictures
Take measurements of new items
Take new listing pictures for old items
List, list, LIST!!

This post is part of the EtsyNJ Team Tuesday Blog Hop! Visit the EtsyNJ Blog!
Check out my other team members that are also blogging about New Jersey Artists today!

Give "UGH" to the Sickness

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:57:00 +0000

Apparently I acquired (and have since shared with my husband) a stomach flu.

Started Friday morning, or really if I think about it, it probably started Thursday afternoon where I felt fine, but off. Just something not right.

Thursday night, had dinner, did a little work, shampooed the carpets (we were having a party on Saturday). Friday morning at around 2:30 AM I woke up with "issues" (we'll call it that for friendly purposes). I spent the rest of the morning on the couch (didn't want to keep my husband from sleeping). Called boss-lady and told her I wasn't going to be able to come into work. Spent the entirety of Friday on and off sleeping on the couch and having issues, eating a few crackers, 2 pieces of toast, and some applesauce. Drank some Pedialyte (which I find disgusting. tastes like some cough medicine would taste it if were orange flavored - my husband got me that over the grape because well he knows I despise the "fake grape" taste)

Saturday - woke up feeling a little better. Not good. But better. Decided to keep the party on. Went shopping at BJs for supples. Came home. Had some more issues. Scrubbed my arms and hands surgically before preparing meatballs and ziti with latex gloves on. (didn't want to infect the guests) Party on.

Spent about 2 hrs of the entirety of the party laying down in the living room on the couch. Just felt like crap.

Towards the end of the evening - husband started to feel sick. Originally thought it was alcohol - immediately realized it was not.

Now we're both sick. I still feel horrid but now I have a lovely headache to go along with it.

I managed to finish my challenge item for the Create Crochet Team 48-hour challenge.

Listed here

I still have a LOT of my transcript left that is due tomorrow morning (that I took Thursday - well before I realized I was sick). Today is going to be rough. I may have to tell my client that I cannot finish the transcript and that they'll have to get someone else (which I HATE doing but I don't know that I will be able to finish it.)

Desperate need for some photos

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:43:00 +0000

The last few weeks I have been cranking out one project after another, however I haven't taken any listing pictures.

Why?

No clue. Probably because I've finished most items and just moved right onto something else (if I wasn't already working on something else). I have about 12 items upstairs in my room waiting patiently for their day in the spotlight.

Now that the daylight savings has changed and we should start having more sunlight in the evening, maybe I will get a chance to start taking pictures. I need the sunlight AND the lights that I have in order to get any decent photos.

Now here's the question for you - for you sellers out there, how do you take your pictures? Do you take them outside? Which do you find easiest? And for those of you in particular that have larger items like my crocheted blankets, which do you find is the easiest and best way to showcase your items for your pictures?

Walk by Knitting

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:52:00 +0000

This is the most amazing thing...

From: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/midnight_knitter_covers_west_c.html

'Midnight Knitter' covers West Cape May trees, lamp poles with yarn
By The Associated Press
March 10, 2010, 10:08AM
WEST CAPE MAY— Someone is spinning quite a yarn over this shore town.
Dubbed "The Midnight Knitter" by residents, someone is covering tree branches and lamp poles with little sweaters under cover of darkness.
Mayor Pam Kaithern said police are looking into the guerrilla crocheting, which technically is against the law because it is being done on public property without permission.
The mayor and many residents admit they're enthralled by the rainbow of colors that has popped up.
Resident Susan Longacre said she takes a walk each morning in Wilbraham Park, where several tree branches and light poles have gotten the treatment. She told the newspaper she thinks it's great.
Even those who are not thrilled admit the yarn is better than spray-painted graffiti.

Pictures below

Wordless Wednesday - I promise

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:44:00 +0000

I promise to never let my stash get THIS big

Story time!

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:13:00 +0000

Now it's about time for a story. Today's story boys and girls is how KameKnits Enterprises came to be.

Once upon a time... now I want you to imagine a time long ago in a kingdom far, far away.

Here I was a Junior in college looking for a hobby. At the time, all I did was read as a hobby. However, when you are in college and they force you to read books and more books, the last thing you want to do is read in your free time (again where is this free time with all this class reading?) So I decided that I wanted to learn how to knit. Where this idea came from I have no idea. I believe it first came because I found out that a friend of mine was going to be having a baby and I wanted to be able to make something for her. So I bought one of those "Learn to Knit" kits and suffered through that. Soon I realized, I cannot learn by looking at a book. I need to see someone do it.

After some time I found that a friend of mine (that I used to live next to) knitted. So I asked for her. And yay, I learned how to knit. At least the knit stitch. So that's all I did, I knitted things. I couldn't even fathom to purl... just knit. Which was fine, because you could make just about anything doing just that. The one thing I had problems with was figuring out how to exactly bind off (or end the project) I knew I wasn't doing it correctly (since I was never taught) but it was getting the job done. (This scarf was one of my first projects.)

(later on I went on to complete MANY long scarves - sew them together and make a large blanket for our queen sized bed)

Fast forward 2 years when I graduated college and went back to working at the theater. When my boss realized that I was knitting all the time she decided to teach me how to bind off. Yay. At that same time, a friend of mine realized that I might be able to crochet. So she offered to teach me. Wow was that so much easier than knitting. Or at least it

felt easier. I could whip along and create whatever I wanted and stop when I wanted and didn't have to do all of this binding off business.

I was in!

So now we've got that part...

Now we fast forward to oh say 2006? Here we have one of the first major projects I created for a friend of mine - a blanket for her new baby!

I was working at Phoenix making blankets for coworkers upon request (some samples below)

Then I realized maybe I should start selling the things that I was making in my spare time. A friend from HS mentioned Etsy. So I figured I would make a store and sell on there. BUT I needed a name! How could I start a store without a name?

Now comes the brainstorming. What the heck do I call myself? Well after much toil, many suggestions, and a few solid leads I went with KameKnits... which really means Turtle Knits (as Kame - said kah-meh is Japanese for turtle) and since I am fond of turtles and I took 2 semesters of Japanese, thought it was fitting.

So here I was with my little Etsy store. At this point it was still a hobby. Actually it went on like this for quite some time.

Then one day I decided to start a business transcribing verbatim, medical, and legal documents for companies that I have come to know through my time post-college. But now, if I want to have a business doing that, don't I need a name?

Well yes. And no.

I already had a name. I was KameKnits... but really... does that work if I am typing?

So after a little bit of deliberation and some headache, I decided to register as a business under KameKnits Enterprises.

And here we are today. I am a knitting, crocheting and typing machine who spends all of her time NOT at the 8-5 day job doing one of the other three above.

Now what I really need to do is create a website. I half would like to talk with web-designing friends of mine and request one of them to do it. But then again, I have heard nothing good from web-designing people about how horrid their clients can be. I would never want to turn out to be that person, so maybe I may have to hire a stranger. We'll see. Either way, I don't have the time to really sit and think about how to create a site and all the work that goes into it (and re-teaching myself how to do such things).

So for now, I will blog.

The end.

Editor's Note: I'm not good at telling stories. I'm more a flow of the thought type of person, so I'm sorry if that was less than entertaining ;-)

First post - We'll see how long this lasts

noreply@blogger.com (Krystyn/KameKnits) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:19:00 +0000

So since I've always had an online diary at "digitalexpressions" I've never felt the need to have a blog. I've started and deleted one about 20 different times throughout my life.

However - since this could be used as an effective marketing tool for me in the future, I feel that it is about time to start getting myself out there.

And so, here is the first official entry, lame I know, however I am currently working on a transcript and really only decided to do this as a short little "please for the love of god don't make me listen to any more!" and I really should get back to work.

Good bye for now ;-)

-Krystyn