new toys

I finally got myself organized enough today to get a bunch of toys listed in my Etsy shop. These are mostly toys that have not sold before, or have been waiting around since last winter (when somebody decided to arrive early). This time I decided to list clothes separately, to give my customers more choice in how the toy will look. As well, these will probably be the last toys I knit for sale for a long time. If you want one, you might want to be quick like a bunny, as three of the toys have sold already!

Bianca

clarification

There seems to be a bit of confusion over the new Siamese Kitty pattern, so I'd like to clear that up so we all have fewer troubles as I update more of my original patterns.

If you bought the Siamese Kitty pattern or the "Fuzzy Knits" book (not "Festive Knits") from Lulu, you need to forward me a copy of the receipt so I know you purchased the pattern. The thank-you note or your order number won't work because Lulu doesn't let me see individual purchases. Sorry to be a bit pedantic, but it saves us all time and energy to get it straight :)

If you bought the Siamese Kitty pattern on Etsy, I should still have your original transaction notice, so I just need your Etsy username to look it up.

Only the new version of the pattern has been available on Ravelry, so anyone who bought it there doesn't need to worry :)

If you have any questions please leave a comment so we can clear up any other points here where everyone can see them.

Edit: Someone had the great idea that if you no longer have your receipt, just email me a copy of the old pattern. That way I know you bought the original.

pug pattern

At long last, the Pug pattern is available to you! You can find it on Ravelry, Etsy, or Lulu. This is an intermediate level pattern. Skills required include a variety of increases and decreases, intarsia, and seaming. The anorak can be knit without seams by working the sleeves in the round. If you notice any mistakes, please let me know, and I'll post the corrections here. I hope you all enjoy the pattern!

Now I'll stop hanging around in front of the computer, and go enjoy the sunshine by planting some bulbs. I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

chipmunks!

The Chipmunk pattern is now available at Etsy, Lulu, and Ravelry. It has been a super busy weekend, and I am too tired to write any more. Thanks for all your patience, and I hope you enjoy the pattern!



P.S. If you find any mistakes, please let me know so I can post the corrections here.

Introducing Qoop

Hello, Mr. Mitten here. I haven't blogged in a long while -- I'm back full-time at work, and late summer is very busy time of year in the world of education (I work at McGill University in Montréal).

We're not quite ready to go forward with our plans of having a self-hosted shop (this requires lots of work and lots of time), but we're making small steps toward that goal. One of them is cutting back on our dependence on Lulu, and we're now glad to introduce an option to buy printed copies of our books through Qoop, which is another on-demand printer like Lulu.

Qoop offers a number of benefits over Lulu. First of all, they provide similar quality printing services, but at a significantly lower price. For example, a wire-bound colour copy of the "Festive Knits" on Lulu costs $23.55, and on Qoop it is $19.03. They also offer a USPS "Media Mail" shipping rate, which literally costs about 3-4 dollars to ship a copy of the book across U.S.

Qoop also gives you more control over how you want your book done. If you prefer "Perfect Bound" books to "Wire-O," you are welcome to select that option (it's fifty cents cheaper, too, though I find that pattern books are way nicer when wire-bound). If you don't care for colour and just want it for the text, then you can even choose the "Black and White" printing option, which further cuts the price by about $5 (a black-and-white wire-bound copy of "Festive Knits" is $14.22).

If you've been holding out until the price of the book drops, then now is your chance. :)

• Fuzzy Mitten's Festive Knits on Qoop

Once the new edition of "Fuzzy Knits" is done, it'll be available both at Lulu and at Qoop as well.

Hope you have a good evening, and happy knitting! :)

-Mr. Mitten

pattern design poll results

We've been discussing the poll results and comments for the last few days, and we've come up with some preliminary plans on how to make the most of your ideas. (this post is a little wordy, so I'll try to have something more fun next time)

The most popular poll result was to number the rows in the patterns. I've already started on this, and will continue to work through all the patterns as I have time. Mr. Mitten should have time soon to start publishing new editions of the patterns, so keep your eyes open for news of that.

The second most popular idea was for more photos of the toys, such as close-ups of the pattern details. Including more photos in the patterns themselves would make the files rather large and more difficult to download, and more costly for you to print. Instead, I'll be making a Flickr set for each toy, and the pattern will include a link to that set. Then you can look up more photos if you need them (in better resolution too!). I'll probably be doing this as we publish the new pattern editions.

The third most popular idea was to separate the toy and clothing patterns. We've been thinking of doing this for ages, but the logistics of the problem have stalled us for now. We'd like to set it up so you could get discounts for buying more patterns, but this is difficult or impossible to set up in the shops I have now. Also, that many different patterns would be confusing to browse through on Lulu and Ravelry. Mr. Mitten is looking into setting up a shop on my website, which would have lots of great options for you, but it's going to take several months before we can get it ready. In the meantime, I'll be offering some pattern bundle discounts on Etsy.

Other popular answers included different animals, or more patterns like the Scraps Chaps, as well as more fun clothing patterns. I'm keeping lists of all the ideas you've given me, as well as any I've had, and it's enough to keep me busy for a long time! What I work on really depends on what inspires me at the time, or what will please the most people. At the moment I'm considering some costume patterns for Halloween, and maybe one or two new toy patterns I've been thinking about.

I know lots of you would like more toys knit in the round, but I still think it's best to keep the patterns simple enough for most beginners. I will try to design a few more seamless clothing patterns, for those of you who hate seaming. If you need any help converting the patterns to knit in the round, please check this blog post, leave a comment on Ravelry, or email me.

I think that's quite enough writing for one post! If you have any other ideas you'd like to share, please leave a comment or email me. Now I need to go put a little munchkin down for a nap :)

shop update

I spent all day taking photos and listing everything in my Etsy shop. I didn't think it would take so much time! I didn't get to do anything else today, except run by the post office so I have packing stuff to mail the kits, once people buy them. I wonder if they will sell as quickly as the last ones? I even gave up some of the yarn I dyed for myself for a few of the kits. One of the kits has some lovely green/blue/lavender variegated yarn that turned out so pretty. I've already knit one little sweater from it (which is waiting for a toy now), so someone gets the rest.

I wrote some stuff in my shop announcement, but I don't know if anyone reads it. So, if you really like one of the kits, but don't want the book and/or yarn, please send me an email. I'll refund the difference to you, and just stick the left-over book or yarn into another kit. If I sell a few kits over the weekend, I'll sew some bags next week and list a few more. The awesome green bag with the giant trees on it sold super fast, but luckily I have more of that fabric.

I'm interested to see how my fabric toys will sell. Comparing them to similar toys on Etsy, I think they're just as cute and well-made, and a reasonable price. I'd really like to make more, because they're so fun. Plus, I have more ideas on changes I want to make. I'll just have to be patient :)

I swear, tomorrow I'll post about something totally not Etsy related! I think I should post a bunch more of your toy photos, since I've skipped a couple weeks.

new kits

I was planning to save these kits for the craft fair, but I won't know if I've been accepted for 2 weeks yet, and I haven't put anything interesting in my shop for ages. There are three kits with tote bags, and one with a zipper pouch. All are for different toy patterns: a squirrel, a puppy, a monkey, and a mouse. Also, the bags and yarn colours are all different, so there's something for everyone. I would have liked to make more than four, but I used up the last of my Fuzzy Knits books and available yarn to make these. Looks like I'll be placing some orders and spending money here soon!

If I don't get into the craft fair, there will be more things coming to my Etsy shop soon. If I do get in, well, I'll be making stuff like mad. But it's likely there will be left-overs, so that will all go to my shop after the fair in July.

updated

amber
Originally uploaded by baprime

This is just a quick note to let you know the Etsy shop has been updated with lots of pretty and cute things. This little gal is one of the new toys. The yarn I used for her was a lucky find at my local thrift shop, called Beehive Loopella. I'm pretty sure this has been discontinued, which is too bad! Once washed, it is soft with a great curly, nubbly texture.

On another note, I love Ravelry! I asked in the forums if anyone knew how I could contact yarn stores, and I already have a couple of good ideas. Now I just need to overcome my modesty, and admit that most won't think I'm an annoying brat trying to sell them something useless. I'm truly no salesman, and I feel so awkward approaching strangers and convincing them to buy something from me. Doesn't help that I'm shy, neither.

shop update

My shop update will be tomorrow afternoon, so if you're in the market for some cuteness, please drop by! There will be magnetic pin cushions, knitting bags, kits, and toys. It doesn't sound like much, but I've spent the last few weeks working on everything. Today was spent taking photos for the listings, so here is a sneak peek at everything. I don't have any more books to add the to update, but if anyone really wants one, you can get them here.

My husband has also been super busy working on a booklet of Easter patterns. It is available for sale in my Lulu shop, although this is really meant for yarn shops. I'm hoping to get enough wholesale orders to be able to make more booklets in the future. We got one printed to see what they're like, and I really love how it turned out! It's such a nice size, and seems like it will last for many uses. I wish we could have colour pictures inside too, but it was really too expensive. So now you know where most of my knitting time has gone lately! I'm planning to make a new toy for every pattern and keep them this time, in case we need more pictures in the future.

I am still thinking about the cow pattern, and how to get it to look the way I want. It's much harder than I thought, I suppose because cows really don't look like teddy bears. I also have a bunch of toys to make for Mahar Dry Goods, so I won't have much extra knitting time in the next 4 weeks. I hope you all can be patient. I really want to do the best job I can, and sometimes this takes more time than I expected.

stuff for the shop

I've had a busy day over here, and it's not because I'm avoiding going out in the nasty weather (rain in January is just wrong here). I'm feeling the pressure of the shop update deadline, and deadlines always help me get stuff done.

I finished one little toy that was commissioned ages ago, and I might share photos when I get some, because she is just too sweet. I finished another pin cushion, and made 4 little cloth bags for the book kits. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to get any toys made for the shop update. If I bust my butt, I might get two or three done in time. We'll see how much knitting I can get done over the next 7 days. I also want to sew some more bags just to sell on their own, but I'm thinking of making patchwork ones so they'll be a little different from what's in the kits.

All this means that the cow pattern might come out a little later than what I was thinking. I'm not very happy with my first attempt, and am feeling quite uninspired about the whole thing right now. I'm taking a little break from it, and hoping I will feel more like working on it once the shop update is done.

Valentine's is coming quickly too, isn't it? I'm not sure if I plan to do anything special for February. I already have a sweater pattern with a heart on it, so I doubt I will do something like that for the feature pattern. Who knows, maybe my creative juices will start flowing again, and I'll come up with a fantastic idea!

shop update

Maybe I'll kick myself later for promising a shop update so far in advance, but it could also motivate me to get everything ready on time.

I am hoping to do a shop update by the middle of January, let's say the 18th for now, to be negotiated if necessary. This update will include the cow pattern, some pin cushions, some knitting bags, maybe a toy or two, and a custom-order toy listing. I don't think I will have the new pattern books by then, so the books and kits will be listed a bit later. I was hoping to have more ready, but I am furiously working on an important project which is taking up all my knitting time.

Thanks so much for your well wishes. I am slowing beginning to get over my cold, and I appreciate you patiently reading through my whinging to get to the good stuff :) I need to get better soon, so I can meet friends for coffee, knitting, and new LYS exploring!

secret pattern

The new secret pattern is coming along well. I decided it would be my entry for the Holiday Softies contest, and I guess that was the motivation I needed to start working on it again. I'll just say that it's very different from my other toy patterns, but it seems to be pretty cute anyway :)

Hopefully I will soon have more time to knit toys for my shop, because the holidays are approaching quickly and I feel so unprepared!

I now have all the materials I need for a new item for my shop - pincushions! And these will be special too, because they'll have a magnetic dish to hold the pins. Keeping in line with my Fuzzy Mitten theme, they will be partially made of cute fabrics and soft wool felt. Now I just need to sew them :)

mailing list

Would anyone be interested in me having a mailing list? I could send notes on shop updates etc. If you would like to be on the list, please leave a comment on this post, or send me an email. Thanks!