Drinking While Knitting

Ooolaloop Combo Set
I love mindless knitting. Give me wine & the latest episode of Madmen, a pair of big needles and a bunch of gorgeous textured yarns. Life is good.

I started painting my own mixed-yarn sets around 10 years ago, and sold the orphans on eBay. Stopped selling on ebay in 2007, and went with Etsy instead. Not the greatest decision financially, but much more enjoyable.

Godaddy: Remodeled website...I got it done!

Whew! That was a lot of work. Katsarayarns.com badly needed to be updated, edited, tweaked, freshened up.....

I chose godaddy to host the site and shop. I hope that was the right decision. Pleased with the clean look and feel of the template and the ease of updating the catalog. Like anything, it takes a bit of learnin' to get the hang of editing a website, and I still encounter snags along the way as I tweak things. I'm hardly tech-savvy, so I guess I'm proof that it can be done. However, the "Website Tonight" product is badly mis-named. It should be called "Website in A Week or More."

Katsara Colorways: Handpainted Multi-Hues

Click on the image to zoom it up. I've edited my massive colorway collection down to these 49 most popular colorways.

Victorian Collars now in Etsy Store

I'm in the middle of a nasty cold, curled up my chair with knitting needles and soft boucle painted yarns. From memory, I've been whipping out some of my Victorian collars -- I did so many of these a couple of years ago that the pattern is imprinted on my brain. I'm wearing one right now. I'd forgotten how cozy & non-itchy it feels to wrap one of these around the neck-- like a guilty pleasure.

My studio mate has been making some uber-cool clothes in polar fleece. Now that's the ultimate guilty pleasure! I foresee wearing her tops all winter, and one she's making in plaid polarfleece trimmed in black looks like it'll be dressy enough for Thanksgiving! Yea!! Sweats to Thanksgiving!! :) :) :)

Weaving: Escaping the Computer and Returning to My Loom

Been busily designing accessories for my Etsy stores now that autumn is upon us. Here's a peek at what will be appearing at Katsarayarns this next week. The first two photos my latest fall scarves and neck wraps in progress -- still working out the finishing touches. The cloth is woven using a blend of fibers selected for their fulling effects in the finishing process. 10 colorways are planned, and I just hope I'll find the time to sample them all this month. For my pennanular Relic Pins, I decided to add the polished copper option, because the verdigris patina can get lost on some scarves depending on the fiber colors. I'll also be embellishing some OOAK's with stones for those who want a touch of glam to the rustic style of my pins.
It has become a struggle for me to find enough time for my studio work and keep up with my blog, EtsyLounge. I want another 8 hours in each day in order to fit everything in.
And now, back to EtsyLounge.....up to 200 followers now and pleased to hear from so many artists who appreciate the promotion and traffic I've been generating for them. I'm crossing my fingers that some of that synergy will find its way to my own humble stores.

Westbeach Seastone Series

My EtsyLounge blog has been eating up all my time recently, but today I finally had some time finish up my prototype for my new Westbeach Seastones Series. This triple pendant necklace is listed in my Etsy store, Piacere. Two weeks ago, while strolling on Whidby Island's gorgeous westbeach, I loaded my pockets with some jewelry-worthy stones. When I got them back to my studio, I began wrapping them in silver and embellished some of them with freshwater pearls, intending to make single-pendant necklaces with them. I like the simplicity of the single pendants, but I really like the impact of the trio, so that is how I am introducing the first of this series. The pictures illustrate some options that customers can request, which includes the single pendant style, the triple pendant style either anchored in place or mounted freely to cluster at the bottom of the chain.

Other options will include the choice of sterling silver chain, adjusted to the customer's desired size. This prototype has a lightly anodized base metal chain, chosen because the patina and tone of the metal looks so beautiful with the stone.

Fantasy Flax Fashion Show from Etsy

Click the pictures to see these Etsy listings!
I made this handwoven fringed vest the other day, and decided it could look cool with these pants and bag that I featured on EtsyLounge on June 9 in my Flax Fashion feature. I think I'd add a skinny long-sleeve offwhite tee and brown boots for a transitional fall look, and take the shawl along for when it gets chilly. What do you think?
The vest is in my KatsaraYarns store. The cropped linen pants are by ObiMama, the embroidered linen shawl-wrap is by JurgitaMi, the bag is by iragrant. 69idxs3fzr