Sunday, September 21, 2014

New Fonts

I've been hesitant to write this post, but it needs to be said at some point. So fair warning, this post has some politics in it. I know I know, you never discuss politics in polite conversation.

I no longer shop at Hobby Lobby.

When the Supreme Court allowed a corporation to have more rights than a human being, or rather be more important than women in general, I could no longer spend my money with them. There are plenty of other options in my area, and I've moved on with no regret. JoAnn's is currently my favorite as their online is easy to search, they have plenty of options, and give a student discount!

Now about how this affects ReenieKnits: All these boards were made with letters found at HL. Since I would no longer be shopping there I would need to find another way to make these letters.

JoAnn's happens to carry the large size in the same, or very similar font, (I think the exact same) but I still went and found some more/other options. Now when you order a custom board from me you can choose what style letters you would like.

(To the left) These are called "Casual Day". They are a little bit blocky, and I like them, except for the O.


 (To the right) These are called "Dot to Dot" and the remind me of my high school days making posters or writing notes to the BFF.

I made a comparison shot, of the old with the two new fonts. If the old font is still your favorite, be aware that I do not have all the letters, and it may not be possible. Though, I am still hoping I can find another seller and get that font back in my inventory.

So good bye Hobby Lobby, its been nice knowing you. You provided wonderful fake flowers for my wedding. You were always so generous with the wrapping paper. I could count on you for the endless hours of time wasted scoping out the new fun quirky things you had on your shelves. No more, until you provide your employees with the compensation they deserve, the compensation they are guaranteed by law, I say good bye.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

To-do list

As always, my to-do list is full. Here are a few of the highlights:
*knit Browns hats
*knit dual cable mitts
*knit another baby blanket
*update Ready To Sell page
*update Wooden Boards
*blog about new fonts
*blog about Yard Sale
*homework
*studying
*dishes
*laundry
etc. Oh, and maybe I should take a shower... ;-)
Working on the first one tonight, and since season premieres are next week, there is not much on tv tonight. Means no distractions, yes? Its a busy life to be a stay at home mom who is never home. The last four will never be checked off for long, so I guess I'll just focus on knitting as much as possible :-D and cross my fingers for a full night of sleep for MissM

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Conceptual Knitting

I posted back a bit ago, about the conceptual knitting your favorite football team. Well I think I know how I'll play with it. Skein of Green, skein of White. Knit the number of rows as the number of points that week. Alternate colors every game. Win/Loss does not matter, just try and make a really long scarf :-)
Luckily this week was a by week... So I'm only behind 45+27 rows.

Update on the Yard Sale coming soon!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Yard Sale

This Saturday will be ReenieKnits first public outing!

The local radio stations are having a giant yard sale, where e'rebody will have a booth and be able to sell all their junk. Well, we'll have a little junk, and a little (lot) of awesome.

As always there are just not quite enough hours in the day. Part of that is because my little love, MissM has been teething, and then working through a cold. So sleep was non-existent, which makes the waking hours so much longer, but no more productive (and sometimes less).

The yard sale is two days away, but I want everything done NOW, because otherwise it wont get done? So sewing in all the ends of the washcloths I've been knitting up these last few weeks, and wanting to knit more, and maybe a glass of wine, and some homework that is due Monday.

Tomorrow the sister will come to town, late, and I'll want everything ready to go since Saturday morning will be a rather early one. Good news, I've got a pile of business cards, and already handed one to my neighbor :-) I may be looking into more "shows" like this. If you know of one in your area, send me the link! Reenie and MissM could just come visit you. I have an Aunt (in-law) who may share a booth with me in the Grand Rapids area. Put into motion by a Grandma who wants some M time, of course.

Feeling optimistic, though also drained. Eh, I'll sleep when I'm dead? Too many ideas to slow down now :-)

Friday, August 29, 2014

The Yarn Fairy

Its been a good week for mail! A dear friend in Washington (state) is doing some decluttering, and her stash had to go. I happily accepted the West Coast goodies :-)

Look at that overflowing box!

Contained inside: 4 skeins baby yarn, pink and greens. Another in a redder shade. More Lily&Cream than I care to count (hooray! washcloth knitting!). A large skein of Bernat cotton (perhaps some patterned washclothes?) Two skeins sparkles red yarn (Christmas scarf?). Plus two circular needles and some odds and ends (is this tee-shirt yarn?)





  
Very excited to start planning projects with that stash.

Meanwhile. Yarn that already has a purpose has arrived! Plus some wooden letters for name boards. Thanks JoAnn's for shipping so quick!

I'll show off the letters soon, as I'm trying out some new fonts. Need to update my inventory and see where I'm at. Lots to organize and get together. For tonight, just listening to Spartan football, and knitting another washcloth.

I had a plan to knit one washcloth a day until the Yard Sale, but I'm already two behind. Hoping to catch up a little this weekend, and now I've got plenty of yarn to keep going with!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Fresh'n'clean

The back-to-school cleaning bug must have bit me!

Sudden burst of motivation after naptime. MissM is encouraging me to continue with ear drum shattering, high pitched squeals. At least, it could be interpreted as encouragement.

I've been hanging on to a lot of old school things, books, notes, power points, lab manuals, etc. Nearly all of it, GONE. Dusted, cleared, and rearranged her shelves and drawers. Then I started sorting things out for the World's Largest Yardsale.

Reenie plans to be there, knitting away. If you are in the area please stop by and see all of our Ready to Sell items in person!

Now, to pick out the perfect business card before the yard sale...


Friday, August 15, 2014

Friday Night Knits

CMS sent me an email that set my mind spinning.

It is called conceptual knitting, and Loopy Yarns wants you to try it for your favorite football team. Pick two colors (team colors, usually) one for wins, one for losses. Pick a number of rows for each game. Then knit! For NFL that means 16 regular season games, or just 16 weeks to complete your project.

Roughly something like this,
with the Championship game in the center?
This creative brain of mine tries to make it more complicated, of course. What if I did all the major MI teams, in one project? Lions, Spartans, and (eww) Wolverines? How awful/eclectic would that finished project look?

What about a B1G patchwork? Each team gets their own block... how many knitting needles would I need for that? Would I take into account bye weeks? A black stripe "randomly" placed through each block... When would I ever actually sew the blocks together? Is this a fun piece for ReenieKnits to sell? Would someone want it, or only if their favorite team was the right color? (Winning color, of course). Is it a small enough project I could take it to campus, or would I never have time to keep up?

Too many thoughts. I need to focus on the project in hand. Though her White Socks scarf made me think of that Detroit D hat I made a while back...

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Perfect Timing

Yesterday was the final exam of my last summer course. And today I received a package!
Three books to borrow from a friend. With no more text book reading for at least two weeks, I'm excited to do a little relaxing/fun read!

Reenie is looking into a local "yard sale" where she can bring her crafts to a booth this September. Hope these books don't slow me down too much, I would love to have another couple sets of washcloths.
Also started a new pattern as requested by a repeat customer. (I've made her a unicorn scarf in the past). Dual cable fingerless mitts. Still looking for a nice sport weight yarn for the completed project, but the stash yarn I used to test the pattern looks pretty good.
The finished project wont be green and white, but rather brown and cream. Can't wait! I love new exciting patterns, and fall is perfect cable knits time :-)

Time to crack open these books while MissM is still sleeping. Make the most of these last weeks of summer everyone!


Friday, August 1, 2014

New month

Well Hello August!

So many exciting things this month. Ripping off the calendar page felt good. MissM starts daycare this coming week, and I'm back to campus at the end of the month. Sad to know summer is coming to a close, but looking forward to a crisp fall breeze. Football season, bonfires, and hoodies. Time with MissM will be even more precious as it is fleeting.

I've begun the planning process of her birthday party, but not yet the crafting. What are your favorite ideas for a littles b-day?

Monday, July 21, 2014

Red Pajamas and Washcloths


Saturday M and I took a trip up to the mall, and our local Barnes&Nobel. Storytime included a visit from Llama Llama! She was a little cranky from bad timing of naps, but she sat nicely while they read three books. She was more interested in the couple of three-ish years olds behind us, but still. :-)

We then got to do a "craft" which was really just coloring. They also had squares of colored paper you could glue to the bottom of your picture as Llama's quilt. The five minute ride back home was enough for her to be OUT, naptime!

Meanwhile, Reenie has more projects going up in the Ready to Sell page.

Set of three washcloths. The color is named "beach blues" or something similar, but I paired it with a solid purple. I finished the last cloth while video chatting with some of my Dec. girls. It was our own Mom's night out, except in!

When I was first learning to knit I could finish a dishcloth in the length of a Nascar race. I think I'm even quicker now. My aunt was one of my first customers back then. She used a dishcloth until it fell apart, and then paid for me to make her more. :-D

Another set, and I still need to tie in the ends. Colors are much more vibrant in person. I'm deciding on what solid to include in this set, or if I should sell it as two. My thoughts stray to sets of 3 and 5, $10 and $15. Still deciding though.

As you can see, I still have yarn so many more wash cloths to come! MissM is up, so more blog updates later!




Saturday, July 12, 2014

Aunt x2

Well Reenie has done it again! Become an Aunt!!

Sister-in-law finally went into labor early Friday morning. She was 10 days overdue, and impatiently waiting (I've felt her pain). Baby girl got the memo and evacuated the premises. Baby girl is a little peanut, just like her daddy. Can't wait to see her tomorrow and get all the snuggles.

Niece #1 should be getting a package today. The tracking says "Out for delivery". Inside are some cousin shares, a new gift for Mom, and a Wooden Board for the nursery (Pictures to be posted after they confirm it was received).

M is a book lover too!
In reading news: I finally finished the Scarlet Letter! Man, that is a wordy book. I moved on to Gone Girl, and am making much faster progress. Taking suggestions for what to read next! Please leave a comment! I only made my Goodreads goal 12 this year, as I knew the infant would take up some (all) of my spare time. I'll have to check my classics list, but I think after another fun quick read I'll try to tackle Oliver Twist again.

I shall post again soon. With photos of all the projects I've completed lately. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Name plate finished!

All packaged up and ready to go. The new parents are in the process of moving, so we are waiting to send.

Meanwhile, the Reenie family took a much needed vacation this past weekend. Thursday night I put MissM in the Ergo carrier and walked over to a friends. She fell asleep on the walk, but woke when we got there. Too many voices. She was not a fan. Yet, she slept right through the fireworks.
Loud bangs, okay, adults talking, not okay. Noted.

Friday we packed the car and drove 45 minutes to the zoo. Unfortunately MissM took fifteen to fall asleep, so only a half hour nap. We walked around the zoo for a while, fed a Giraffe, peeked at a baby monkey, tried to pet a llama (s/he was uninterested in us). M fell asleep in the stroller, and then got woken as we were boarding a tram. After lunch (for all of us) we ventured out of the zoo and met up with her Aunt. Played there for a while, ate again, then started getting sleepies. So we packed her up and headed to our hotel. Another broken nap though. Finally got a decent nap after we'd settled in. Tried to take her swimming. Not a huge fan, says the overtired lady.

Saturday was nice and relaxing. We tried the pool again, and it was a decent success! Maybe we still have an Olympic swimmer on our hands. Had lunch out with her Aunt, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. Napped in her cousin's crib (what, she's not using it?). Then back to another relaxing night at the hotel. Sunday we packed up and came home early. Good to be home, she says.

Mr.Reenie was back to work bright and early this morning, and this Reenie is ready to put the finishing touches on her knit washcloths.
Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Expanding family

This weekend was a good one in the Reenie family. My sister gave birth to her beautiful baby girl. MissM is no longer an only grandchild. I am now an Aunt!! We were expecting a July baby, but the end of June sounded better to the babe, and who can argue with that?

In knitting news, I've finished a set of three dish/wash cloths. Lily&Cream is on sale too! Might be worth a trip to JoAnn's to stock the stash drawer. Wash cloths are great little projects as you can't really lose your spot, so I can knit while she's awake or napping!

Working on the finishing touches for new niece's wooden board, pictures will be posted after her mom has received. May have an order for 3 sisters name boards. Little monkeys, already thinking of Christmas presents! Excited to talk ideas with their mother and get crafting!

Hope everyone has a good 4th. We'll be taking our little rockstar to the pool for the first time.
It will be nice that Dad actually gets to participate in a first :-) It also means this postpartum body needs to go shopping!

Monday, June 23, 2014

Goal Reached!

Well, the Facebook page is going well. Tomorrow will be one week of being up and live, and we have already reached (and starting to surpass) our goal! Hooray! Thank you to my family for sharing my page and getting my name out there.

This weekend I didn't get any knitting in, as we had a family wedding to attend. This was M's first time with a non-grandma babysitter. Eeek! The girl we hired actually used to be baby sat by yours truly. Small world, cyclical babysitter, or something :-) I was anxious, mainly because I'm a first time mom, but also MissM has been a bit futsy about her bedtime. Thankfully, it went smooth and girlfriend played, ate, and slept great for her. Guess I should allow myself a few mom's night outs.

Speaking of, my birthday is tomorrow! MissM and I have a lovely day of nothing planned. We will head up to old work for lunch. See the people, and enjoy the food we used to be sick of. The husband will be working all day, with maybe a break to deposit his paycheck and stop home for a minute. Wednesday is his day off, so we will relax, celebrate and have birthday dinner that day. I still have not decided where I want to go. Olive Garden and Red Lobster were top contenders as they are across town and we rarely make the drive, then someone mentioned my favorite Mexican joint... Decisions, decisions.

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Facebook page is Up!!

Hopefully this link works: FACEBOOK

Please go and Like it. If I've made you or your little one something in the past feel free to comment on how much you loved it :-)

ReenieKnits needs your help to get up and running. Tell your friends who need a great baby shower gift.

M is happy you stopped by :-)

PS. I've set a personal goal of 75likes for the first week. Help me get there?

Monday, June 16, 2014

I did not pose these

Of course I did

She's a baby.
Who loves reading.

"What is Mom reading?" you ask
Well that would be The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll and I'm still working on my classics list, so The Scarlet Letter

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Nearly there

More pictures of some ready to sell items. Slowly, slowly I am getting this business set up.

I wish I had more time to knit, but then I also wish I had more time to sleep. Such is life, never quite enough hours in the day. Happy with my time with M, and as much as I wish for more hours, I wouldn't trade my time with her.

Filling out paperwork for her daycare. She'll start in August. Just a trial day the first week. Then two days the second week. Then two or three, then a full week. I'll be on campus basically 9-5 going from being a SAHM to missing my kid 4.5days a week is going to be something.

Meanwhile, ReenieKnits!

Green/Yellow blanket with the slanted eyelets is ready! This week I'll knit up a matching hat or two. I have plenty of this yarn leftover. I also need to sew a "knit by" tag onto this one.

No green yarn left (that I saw). So no matching hat with this blankie. Nice 32inch square. I love the thick border on this pattern. Ready to go!

I recently set up a PayPal account. So now my biggest stepping stone is shipping. Also, not using etsy means I have to promote myself. So, boxes and word of mouth! Hopefully soon I'll be contributing to the family budget again. Or at least paying for the mommy and me classes I want to enroll in...

Until then, small projects.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Photo Shoot

Selling items means I need to promote them well. So here's a first practice showing off a ready to sell item!


Blanket comes with matching newborn sized hat!


When I'm ready to really sell these items I may have to move the glider away from the mess of real life, and take pictures of an idyllic nursery setting.

With hat items I think will be $30. Still figuring all that out.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

9months later

Well, the summer of deep cleaning didn't quite go as planned. A lot of clutter was removed, and the second bedroom looks completely different, but it took until January to actually get things looking clean. (Thanks Mom!)
Why, oh why, did I need to redo the second bedroom? Simple, our family was changing.
 And so did I:





And so did the room. We emptied it of excess clutter, and filled it with new items. A crib, a changing table, a glider. Several handmade items, and more pink clothes than any little girl could be blessed with.

Of course I went out the day that second line showed up and bought some yarn. To heck with my promise to not buy until I got rid of the stash! This was my flesh and blood, I was buying new yarn. And I started knitting that day (Side note: the stash is contained).

 You can see the completed blanket on the back of the glider. Except, it really isn't finished. Even for my own DNA I can't be bothered to put the finishing touches on a project. Oops. The solid squares should have little ties in them to look more like a quilt. I never got around to that.

Meanwhile I was still in school. We took summer and fall classes, and I say we because she was always there, dancing away, during lecture.

Luckily she decided to wait until after exams (and we passed with flying colors) to make her grand entrance. Unfortunately, she kept waiting. I was induced at 41weeks, and she punched her way out the next day. Beautiful babe, MissM, is now 4months and takes up most of my time. I love being able to stay home with her, but I'm still hoping to bring in an income with my knit and wood items.

ReenieKnits is beginning to be put together. I have 4 blankets ready to sell, and I'm working on other items. I'll be back in summer classes, parenting MissM, and knitting like a crazy person. I plan to use this blog to keep ReenieKnits up and running. The main point of order right now, is to figure out how to exchange money. PayPal? Square? another option I haven't been introduced to yet?

The good news is, I'll be around and blogging again! MissM is thrilled ;-)