Little Purls Knittery

Craftaluma!

2008-06-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

So I've been a neglectful, frenzied mess trying to get ready for my first official craft show. It's called Craftaluma and it's happening next Sunday in Petaluma, CA (which is about 15 miles north of San Fransisco). If you're in the area you should come on down and say hello!

Etsy Picks: In the Garden

2008-05-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am so inspired these days by my tenacious little veggie garden. We have the absolute worst clay soil out here but some how these mini plants are able to break through the caked surface.

So I decided that this week, in the first of many 'Etsy Picks,' I'd feature some fabulous, original garden themed stuff. All these items can be found for sale on Etsy.

Add some cool to your window herb garden with these hand stamped silver plant markers from Nina Gibson Designs.

And at only $7.00 a piece they're an affordable, environmentally friendly (not to mention a gagillion times hipper) alternative to plastic.

Check out this awesome utility apron from Nurtured Threads. It has tons of pockets and a little holster that I think would be perfect for holdling my trowel.

Get dirty and look good doing it for $30.00.

Pull up a lawn chair after a hard day's work in the garden, invite some friends over and roast some veggie kabobs over this very cool pedestal fire pit. Perfect.

John Tunger, $500.00

And last, but definitely not least, restore your dry over-worked hands to their pre-shovel glory with Farmer's Hand Salve from Sugarwood Naturals.

This would make a great gift for any gardener in your life for only $6.50.

Hope you enjoyed my Etsy Picks for this week! Make sure you check out all the great shops I featured today. And don't forget to leave a comment! I'll be back next week with more fun stuff. Have a great weekend!

Seriously Delinquent Blogger.

2008-05-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

That's me! I haven't updated my blog since before my Mexico vacation....and that was a while ago. Oops. Lots of new stuff in my Etsy shop. So check it out if you get a chance. Here's a little glimpse at what I've been up to, knitting faux bling chains. It's my new thing.

Also, the garden is going well, stay tuned for some fantastic videos. Oh, and I'll try to post some of my Mexico pics. The trip was ridiculously fantastic!

Ties, Ties, Ties

2008-04-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

So my latest obsession has been knitting men's (or women's) neckties. I got started on this after doing a custom order for Charles of Etsy's Accounting Department. And now they're my new favorite thing to make.

<-------this one is brand new and I'm calling it the 'Used Car Salesman' :) It's made with wool tweed and mohair.

------------------------------------>
This one is made with recycled cotton and has a striped rib pattern. Definitely on the classier side.

<------And here my current work in progress. Man, I forgot how effing long it takes to knit something up on #3 needles! Its already been like 5 days!

It's a really awesome pattern that I hijacked and altered from one I found on the internet. The ties are knit on the bias so it greats these really awesome diagonal strips as you can see in the photos.

I'm thinking of opening another shop on Etsy that sells only knit ties....What do you think???

Magical Gem Sweater Parade!

2008-04-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

A mythic goddess of astronomical proportions has recently come to my attention. She is known as Leslie Hall aka The Rescuer of Gem Sweater Magic. She is my new hero, my idol, my God! If you're looking for me I'll be the one in the corner lip syncing Mid-West rap songs in a gold lame` jumpsuit.

SPOILER ALERT....I might just have to create a Gem-inspired treasury...

Front Page Fabulousness!

2008-03-30T12:25:00.001-07:00

I made it to the front page today! And man am I excited. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, in a total funk. But man, there is nothing to take you out of a funk better than seeing your smiling face on the front page of Etsy! If you get there fast enough you might still be able to check it out!

www.etsy.com

FIBERTASTIC!

2008-03-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

So I went to the fiber festival yesterday in downtown Sacramento and yes, it was fibertastic! Saw some beautiful work out there and connected up with some of the very lovely ladies of the Sacramento Craft Mafia (I'm hoping one day they'll let me in!). I thought I would share with you some of the fabulous stuff I saw!

Here's a photo from RoxyCraft a fantastic crochet artist who mostly sells patterns but when put up to it for the Fiber Fest came up with some fantastic plushies to sell....you simply must check out her website. Her patterns definitely don't suck. Ah, makes me want to learn to crochet!

Here's one of my favorite items from the Handmade Parade . Also notable where some adorable handmade teddy bears sewn from vintage upholstery fabric like the one seen in the corner of the photo. To see more of them click here.

And then there were alpacas!!! Yes indeed, these beautiful animals graced us with their presence and even let us pet their soft, luxurious fur (though not on the head as I found out when Milo, the black alpaca in the foreground nipped at me!). Yes, they were quite the spectacle in downtown Sacramento, stopping traffic and causing pedestrians to stop and stare. But I think they liked the attention.

All-in-all it was a great trip and I managed to score some fantastic yarn which I'll talk about more I'm sure as I start to knit it up. It was so great connecting with local artists as I generally feel so isolated out here in the sticks. Now I know I'm not! YAY Fibertastic!

Canary in the Coal Mine

2008-03-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been away for so long a lot of family stuff going on right now. You understand. Anyways, I still haven't gotten around to that pattern I've been promising, but I will soon!

Here's a photo of my latest piece, totally crazy huh?-------->
It's entitled 'Bitch is the New Black' and is entered in the current CCCOE challenge.

I also thought I'd share with you the brand new treasury I managed to snag a few minutes ago, it's called Canary in the Coal Mine and is all about grey and yellow. Hope you like it! Here's the link:

Tally's Fabulous Treasury

Don't forget to post a comment!!

I'll also add that I will soon be heading to the Fibertastic festival in downtown Sacramento and will be bringing along my camera so I can share with you all the fabulous stuff I find!

See ya on the flip side!

Hello Yellow pt. 2

2008-03-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here's the photo I promised.

Hello Yellow!

2008-03-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

New colors, new buttons! New cuff!

Just finished sewing on the buttons and taking pictures. Now I'm off to list it on Etsy! Tomorrow I will be posting a pattern for these, just as long as everyone promises not to sell them! :)

Oh, and the feature is finally up and running! Check out French Roast Designs for my interview!

Featured!

2008-03-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

Yay! Just thought I'd share the news! Starting today, I will be featured in a fellow Etsyan's blog : French Roast Designs (found here: http://frenchroastdesigns.blogspot.com ).

You can learn all my dirty secrets and some tips and tricks for surviving in the cut throat land of Etsy. You'll also see some of my works in progress and find out how it all started...

Hope you check it out! And let me know what you think!

New Design

2008-03-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

I tried something new today. As opposed to the full scarflette, I've done a warm weather choker version. I think it's pretty stunning I must say. It was harder than you would think to make. Knitting a circle is tough! a few of my first attempts came out looking like ovals, or triangles. It wouldn't have taken so long if I had taken the time to chart it out! LOL I'm so lazy.

One of these days I'll write up a pattern!

UPSTASHING

2008-02-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

I just got a bunch of fantastic new yarn!!! I can't wait to start makin' stuff! ooo the possibilities! Forget about destashing! I just got my tax return and I'm upstashing!!

I found some great hand dyed yarn on ETSY...my favorite so far is from TwistedSistersYarn they made this fantastic wool blend with all the reds and pinks and oranges seen here:

It turns out I love orange!

2008-02-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

I started this one last night and really wasn't too stoked about the color. I thought to myself....naw, it's not gonna work. But lookey here! What do I find, but possibly my favorite scarflette ever! I'm so out of tune with my own color preferences.

Just Finished!

2008-02-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

I finally got my digital camera which I ordered from Amazon weeks ago. So this afternoon I'm busy taking pictures of all the items I've knit in the past week and should have them posted on ETSY by the end of the day.

Here's my latest bobble scarflette! I know it's probably not very exciting since it's just an inverse of the last one...

I promise to be more original in the future.

Here's the link to the ETSY listing:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9901367

Wow I'm Probably the WORST Blogger Ever in the History of Blogging....

2008-02-28T10:38:00.001-08:00

Ok, so it's been 6 mos. since my first post, which I think officially makes me the worst blogger in history. Recently I opened an ETSY account to sell my handknit creations which you can find here:
http://littlepurls.etsy.com

So I guess in light of that I'll start posting again. I've kinda headed off in this crazy direction, as far as knitting is concerned. I'm now mostly making jewelry and cuffs....trying desperately to find a new and exciting direction.

Here's one of latest. The pattern was originally commissioned by my sister, but I liked it so much I had to make another one.

A knitting blog!

2007-09-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Tally. Technically speaking I'm a boat builder from St. Michael's, MD, but deep in my heart, I'm a knitter. Lately I've been designing my own patterns. In the past I have been disappointed with the knitting patterns out there. For the most part, they're boring and predictable. I want to knit myself a sweater-vest that says I'm hot! And why not?

I'm not too familiar with this blogging thing. So bear with me. I hope to be able to post patterns and photos and get feedback from all the hip little knitters out there in cyberspace. Let's share.

Here's a picture of me in my latest work-in-progress. I call it 'The Thinking Cap'...get it?...'cause it has light bulbs on it?...anyways, I know it kinda looks like crap (am I allowed to swear on here?...please say yes...) I haven't blocked it yet and it still needs a lot of finishing. The pattern will come later if there are interested takers. I'm also working on a sweater vest (the afore mentioned sexy one...). More to come.

Love you, keep in touch!

Tally