Exciting Order

I just got a very exciting order. Someone at work saw a hat that I made and wanted one for himself. He actually said, "I need to talk to you about knitting. I saw John's hat and am totally jealous." This is the first time that I have had someone see another person's completed work and ask me to make something for them. I am very excited about it.

Warmest wishes,
- J

Changes

I am very excited to announce that www.eterknittydesigns.com is about to get a new look. My wonderful friend Gryph has been helping me redesign the site. He has done an excellent job and I am so thankful for all of his help and great advice. There are just a few more tweaks to make and then the new site will go live.

I will also be taking more photos over the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for the new designs. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Warmest wishes,
- J

Holidays

I just received several new orders for the holidays. I am really excited to start on these projects. I will be making a pair of spats for my good friend Barret, three scarves for my boss, a scarf with sleeves for my wonderful and very supportive friend Michelle, as well as a few items I can't mention. I have a feeling I am going to be knitting non-stop from now until Christmas. If you are interested in placing an order for a gift for the holidays, please let me know soon. I am running out of time to make things.

I just finished a couple of new hat orders and will be working on some new designs. I am going to be making some mittens soon, which I think will be fantastic. I also have several new arm warmer/gauntlet designs and I am working on coming up with a design for fishnet thigh-high spats. I will let you know how that design progresses. I finished the mohair shrug that I mentioned in my last post. It looks fantastic. I am really excited about it. I also just finished my favorite scarf to date. It has stripes of a beautiful burgundy chunky wool and black crochet thread. I can't wait to take photos and post them for everyone to see.

I have many other new projects in the works. I will let tell you all about them as I complete them.

Warmest wishes,
- J

Current Projects

It has been a long time since I updated. I have been very busy working on the site and on more projects. I have some great things in the pipes. I am working on a really cool metallic mohair cocoon shrug. It is stretchy and soft and the colors are amazing. It would look excellent with a pair of jeans, or you could dress it up and wear it to a special event. I am also working on a beautiful braided cowl. It is made with a gorgeous deep purple satin blend. I am about a quarter of the way through it and I am really excited about how it is turning out. I will be making another scarf with sleeves and will be taking photos of it as soon as I am finished. I also have a pair of thigh-high spats that I will be making, as well as a pair of socks. There are some great things in the works. I can't wait to finish them so I can show them off.

I am also very happy to announce that there are photos up in the project gallery now. Keep in mind that these are just a few examples of things I have made. I am not limited to the items that are in the gallery. I should be getting some pictures of a baby set that I made (includes a hat, booties, and a sweater) as well as a hat and scarf set I made for my friend's 18 month old daughter. I will post them as soon as I can.

I have another meeting with my friend Gryph this week. I am looking forward to it. He always comes up with some great "kniticisms". I will be posting them so we can all enjoy them.

Warmest wishes,
- J

Coming Soon!

I am very happy to announce that not only will I be posting photos of my projects to the site within the next week or so, but that my very talented photographer friend, Anna White, has consented to take the photos for me. She is an incredible photographer, and I am honored that she has agreed to help me out.

Keep an eye out for the photos!!

Warmest wishes,

- J

Full Day of Knitting

I woke up this morning at 10:00 am and began my new weekend morning routine; stumble out of bed, put on a pot of coffee, find something entertaining on TV and begin knitting. Today was exceptionally productive. I finished a scarf and hat set for an 18 month old (disgustingly cute!), and then made a hat for her father. I also perused my favorite yarn store in Seattle with a good friend of mine who is just getting into knitting.

This evening, while working on the above mentioned projects and teaching my friend some techniques, something happened that totally made my day. My friend's mom stopped by for a visit and saw one of my designs. She absolutely loved it and spent the next half hour gushing over it. It was so nice to receive such genuinely enthusiastic praise for one of my creations.

I am getting so excited about launching Eterknitty Designs. I have gotten so much support from my friends and family, and from my customers. Looking over my project log today, I realized that I have been asked to make 16 projects since 10/24/09. It is so heartwarming that people want to own my creations.

I am currently working on creating my logo, which I hope to unveil soon. I will also be posting some photos of my work on the site over the next couple of weeks. Before I can do that though, I need to get some volunteers to model for me. I would love some photos of everyday people wearing my designs so that I can include them on the site. If you are interested, please email me.

I think it is time to give the hands a break for a while. Off to bed with me.

Warmest wishes,

- J

How it all Started

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my Grandma Wolf. There were no other kids around, and while I enjoyed helping my grandma with her cooking and other projects, I got very bored very easily. My grandma, being an ingenious woman, figured out how to keep me quiet and occupied; she taught me to knit.

I have been knitting for 19 years now. Mostly, I have been making clothing and gifts for my friends and family. Recently I was showing a hat that I had made to a co-worker who asked me why I haven't been selling my work. Over the course of the next couple of days, two more co-workers asked the same question. An idea was born. Why not take something I love to do and make a little money at it? I started researching methods of selling my handy-work. In exploring my options, I realized that conventional methods of selling hand-made goods are flawed. Items are made ahead of time and then either sold at craft fairs, or resold through boutiques, making the prices prohibitive. Besides, every customer is different. A better option is to make items tailored to each individual customer. While this could take longer, there is nothing like having a custom item made just for you.

I started bringing pieces that I had already made to work and talking to people about them. All of a sudden, I had 14 orders waiting to be filled and Eterknitty Designs was created.

I want to thank all of the people who prodded me to get this business going. You are all my inspiration. I also want to thank everyone who placed initial orders with me. I hope that you enjoy your items and know that they are knit with love.

Warmest wishes,
- J