Before posting my new goals on Monday, I thought I'd go over my list from last week and sketch out what I accomplished.

So:

• I posted DLS #2
• Planned for DLS #3, but I don't know if I'll have enough ready to post.
• Finished my first listing for my Simple Luxury Cashmere socks.
• Modified my sock bands for my Simple Luxury line.  Not only did I mod the alpaca bands, but I also created some for my cashmere socks, as well.
• Started the pair of alpaca socks, but am only about 1/4 of the way finished.  I should have them finished, if I don't get distracted, by Monday or Tuesday.  I bet I'll get distracted! :)
• I didn't even touch the Shop section of the website.  Didn't even take a peak.  Bad me.

Not on the list, but I did:

• Finally retimed my sewing machine and finish sewing up a batch of sock sleeves.
• Worked on an experiment that has proven to be mostly successful.
• Finally got around to ordering some new size 1 double pointed knitting needles that I've been really needing.

It's funny, I always think I've updated 'just the other day', and I'm always surprised to see it's been 4, 5, 10, however many days since I last posted.  Time flies when you're having fun, I guess!  So, as an effort to combat that, I'm going to start doing a few entries a week from preplanned series.  I started the Dirty Little Secrets entries last week, and I'm going to try and keep that up and also add a weekly goals entry.  

So, for this week's goals:

• Add this week's DLS entry.
• Plan for next week's DLS.
• Finish my first listing for a pair of Simply Luxury Cashmere socks
• Modify my sock bands for my Simple Luxury line (a line about ninjas just doesn't seem appropriate...)
• Start and finish a pair of Simple Luxury Alpaca socks to replace the ones that sold this weekend.
• Start redoing the 'shop' area on my website.

That all sounds doable, but we'll see how well I do!  I'm almost half way finished with the SL Cash socks, so I'm pretty sure I'll at least achieve that.

I went up to my craft room yesterday after snapping a few pictures for my newest listing, and decided to take a picture of a dirty little secret of mine.

So?, you might ask, 'It's a pile of remarkably well knit artisan tabi socks! What's so dirty about that?'  Well, if you look a bit closer, you'll see bits of yarn hanging from the socks.  Some of these socks have been listed in my shop for months, and I still haven't gotten around to weaving in the ends!

So that's my secret.  I hate finishing my socks.  As much as I love to knit them, weaving in the ends is a torment.  Something takes over my brain right as I'm finishing a pair that says 'Hey! here's another idea for some more socks!  If you start that pair, you won't need to weave in the ends on this pair!'

The only problem with that is, almost always, a pair will sell before I get around to finishing it, and I have to sit down at midnight to weave them in to get them out in the mail the following morning.  It should be the slow season for knitting, but I hope airing these dirty little secrets will give me enough accountability to take action.

I'm imagining knitting away all summer and having to weave in the ends of my entire inventory as winter orders start coming in.  AAAGH!

Share your dirty little secret with me here!

Yup, this is what I feel like right now.  The mail came today and I took delivery of a delicious 20 lb box of yarn.  It's the largest yarn order that I've made in some time, and I'm completely overwhelmed by the new colors and textures.  I'm so distracted that the 'chai latte' pair of tabi that I'm working on now are being sadly neglected.  I could have them finished in a few hours, if I didn't keep running upstairs to confirm color combinations.

I've got a bunch of new blues, a new purple, some eye scorching reds, and more black so that I can make more sizes of the most viewed item in my shop: Chrome and Black Tabi.

Hopefully, I'll be able to sit down tonight and crank out this current pair of socks.  I'm close to halfway finished, but the colors upstairs are calling!  I almost wish that the delivery had been slower!

My stashbusting has been going pretty well, but I've spent a lot of time knitting up my 'favorite' flavor.  It kinda defeats the purpose of clearing things out, so I'm going to spend this week working on using up some not-so-favorite yarns that I've been ignoring.  I don't have a ton of it, but it's just going to sit in my craft room closet unless I give it away or knit it up.  Since it's a washable wool blend, it's probably not a bad thing to knit for the shop.  

I'm currently working on a pair of cut-off gloves for my husband, but I hope to have them finished by the weekend.  I've got two balls of alpaca that I haven't been able to find a use for, so the gloves count as stashbusting, too. :)  Woohoo!  Progress.

Since I've been doing so well with the clearing out, I decided to place a big order of yarn.  I'm reaching the bottom of the barrel on my stock yarns and it's the slow season for my stuff, so I figured this was a good time to make a big order.  I ordered plenty of my stock yarn, but I'm going to be introducing some cotton blends (they're amazingly soft) that will be more suited to warm summers than my straight wool blends.  

I recently ordered a test run of tags from nuvonova, and have decided I absolutely love them.  They wash well, the colors are vivid, and the fabric is sturdy.  

I decided to invest in some tags after someone contacted me about a month ago, overjoyed he'd finally found my socks again.  Apparently, he'd lost my business card, couldn't remember my name, and had been searching and searching (good thing I moved in to internet sales!) and finally found me.  He said that the screenprinting I used to have done on the bottom had worn off, which made me start considering my tags.  

I did some shopping and was really glad to find someone that could make small batches without me having to invest in plates, use stock fonts, etc.  So now I have tags!  They're located on the outside of the cuff on the left foot of my tabi, only.  They're sewn on and and easily and safely be removed, but I'm excited about them.  (Excuse the scraps of thread that i didn't remove before I took the picture, please! :))

Last night I was doing some reading on the computer (and shopping, I'll admit it), and I flipped over to craftcult to check my evening's views.  I noticed that they'd made a significant jump, when I got the statsy email saying that I was on the front page!  My chrome and black tabi were the featured item.

Anyway, I thought I'd share.  I was pretty excited!  I got a tidy amount of hearts and a number of views.  Maybe next time I'll get on in the middle of the day! :)  

I have a constantly updated catalog of the yarns I have, but I never realize exactly what I have until I go stash diving.  I dumped all of my tubs and bins out onto a sheet and went through all of the yarns I could find yesterday.

Some of them are what I find to be unfortunate colors, some are similar to colors that I use regularly, and some just disappeared into my stash.  My plan is to move these long neglected skeins to the front of the knitting line as a housekeeping measure, otherwise they'll keep getting rotated to the bottom of the pile.

I plan, after that task has been completed, to make an order and incorporate some 'lighter' and cooler blends for the upcoming spring and summer.  I'm trying hard not to focus on new yarns, because I really need to beef up the inventory in my stores.  I'm considering doing a few shows next autumn, and I'd like to start the year out on top.

Recently, I've noticed a lot of posts and received a lot of comments about washing woolen products and, especially, handknit socks.  Many people shy away from wool and handknit socks because of the maintenance involved in keeping them comfy, wearable, and clean, so I figured I'd write up a post about how I've cared for the socks I make and what I've found best.

My stock yarn is 85% wool, 15% mohair, traditionally not something that's machine washable.  My husband wears these socks exclusively, and hand washing 4+ pairs of stinky woolen socks by hand every week just isn't in my schedule.  So what do I do?  I chuck them in the washing machine.  Every time I mention that, I see several people recoil in absolute horror, so hang on those of you who are cringing and crying for socks long lost.


Check your washer setting.  Many washers, especially now, have tons of different washing programs -- some even have a wool setting!  I'm not lucky enough to have one of those magical machines, and always look for a few keywords when using a foreign machine: gentle, lingerie, sweaters, hand wash.  These cycles have little agitation, one of the big killers of non-superwash wools, and are what you want to select.  

Check your water temp.  My washer has four temperature programs: hot/cold, warm/warm, warm/cold, and cold/cold.  Cold/cold is the way to go.  Changes in temperature can 'shock' woolen products and cause fulling, and warm temperatures will make your non-superwash wools shrink to child size in no time at all.

Ditch the detergent.  There are several fine fiber, no rinse products on the market today (SOAK and Eucalan, for example) that are wonderful for woolen products, but I'd recommend, for machine washing, a regular bottle of shampoo.  Yep, shampoo -- I use an old bottle of TRESemme that someone left in the guest bedroom.  Regular detergents are harsh on clothing, and wool is hair, right?  Since I've switched to using shampoo in the machine, I've noticed that even my most felt-ready pieces maintain their structure and texture much, much, much better.  Guess those conditioning elements really do prevent tangles!

Bag 'em.  Rather than just throwing your socks in the machine, stick them in a lingerie bag or mesh washing sack.  These will not only prevent Missing Sock Syndrome, but it will keep them from rubbing, shedding, and commingling in the washer, which can increase the chance of fulling.  I use the Honey-Can-Do, multiple-compartment, lingerie bags, so I can fit four or more pairs of socks with one zip and I don't have to try and juggle a bunch of little bags when doing the laundry.


Avoid the dryer.  Even if your dryer has a no-heat tumble cycle (mine doesn't), the tumbling can be pretty hard and encourage fulling.  Either hang or lay your socks flat to dry.  Tops of dryers, drying racks, countertops, whatever work great.  I put a small fan on high on top of the dryer where I dry my socks, and they dry in a few hours and don't stay damp for too long. 

I use that regimen for all of my socks, including cashmere, alpaca, and other delicate blends (and my bras, fancy undies, etc...), and it works out pretty well.  I know everyone has their favorite method, but I figured I'd share mine for anyone interested in handknit socks but who've been turned off by the presumed maintenance.  

A new wave of custom orders came in, so I'll be knitting my fingers to the bone for the next couple of days.  I'm kicking myself for being so slack over the summer and not building up a decent inventory.  I wasn't sure how the online sales would be, so I wasn't particularly industrious.  Waiting a few months for sales probably encouraged that bad behavior, too. :)

I'll know for next year, I guess.  I placed an order, including several superwash yarns and alpaca.  I can't wait for new colors, and it'll be nice to have some washable socks listed, again.