Making Lemonade

EDIT EDIT EDIT – I just found out that my rejection letter from the arts center was a MISTAKE. Good grief! Well that’s comforting. Everyone who’s requested things from me already, THANK YOU, and the items are yours (unless you change your mind, which is fine). Everything else is off the market for now, though things left after the show will be made available again well before Christmas.

I just had a rather significant pile of lemons drop into my lap. I’ve been working doggedly for the past couple of months on knitting machine and needles making things to sell at a local craft show. It supports a community art center, and is a good way to get my name out there. But I just received the very unexpected news that my work was not accepted to be a part of the show. I’m not sure what caused this decision – is my stuff too boring? Were my price points too high? Did I not work hard enough at styling in the pictures? But that’s out of my hands now, and it’ll do no good for me to throw a fit about it. I took a risk, which I thought was a very safe bet at the time, and I was wrong.

This does, however, mean that I have a bunch of finished knitted items for sale (representing a significant investment) that I don’t quite know what to do with, and that if I’m quite honest, we can’t exactly afford to swallow.

So I’m turning to you. If you haven’t started Christmas shopping yet, check out the pieces below. Because I’m selling them straight, and the arts center isn’t taking a hefty cut, I can offer them at much lower prices. I’ve suggested these lowered prices with the descriptions, but really, if you want it, offer me what you can afford. It’d be nice to get some return for my time, but at the least I really need a return on materials purchased. I’ll ship to you first class for free, anywhere in the continental US.

If you’re interested, shoot me an email or a facebook message.

Category #1: the Ruana. These large pieces are like a poncho, but open in front. They are made with high-quality 50% alpaca/50% wool yarn (Ultra Alpaca by Berroco, if you’re curious). The pattern is of my own devising. It can be worn a variety of ways.

Open in front…

With one side thrown over a shoulder…

Or my personal favorite, with both sides over the shoulders. Cozy. Here’s what it looks like at back:

I have three for sale. The grey-blue and brown one (below) have a recommended price of 140$; the grey one (above) is a big longer and wider (thus taking more yarn) so the recommended price is 150$. Any of them would work on nearly any body type.

Grey-blue one with a feather and fan border:

Brown with a seed stitch border:

Category #2: the Arm Warmers. I had a lot of fun designing these. I love fingerless mitts, but I find I am always pushing them up past my wrists when I do the dishes or something. These were designed with that in mind, since the thumb-hole is so discreet as to disappear when pushed over the wrist. They are pictured on my normal-sized hands, but the cuffs should be stretchy enough to fit over most arms, and the arms themselves are very roomy.

I have nine pairs for sale. The plain ones are made from a silk/wool blend (Silky Wool by Elizabeth Lavold) and recommended price for them is 30$; I have two pairs each of blue, black, and green. The stripey ones are made with a silk-wool blend from Japan (Yuzen by Noro, discontinued) and the recommended price for them is 45$ since the yarn was significantly more expensive. I have one pair in each color.

Warming the hands…

Or out of the way!

Plain silk/wool (two of each pair available): green, blue, & black

Stripey silk/wool: purple (SOLD)/pink, pink/orange, green/black

Thanks for considering. I’m serious about offering what you can afford, so don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m bummed about not getting to participate in the arts festival, but if that means that I get to offer finished items at a more reasonable price to my friends & readers, I will be happier in the end.