Etsy Sale

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This week I'm holding a Spring Cleaning Sale in my Etsy Shop! Use the Coupon Code "SPRING" to get 25% off everything in the shop! Here are a few samples...





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Heart-Balming

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It was Valentine's Day Eve, and not being very good at planning ahead for holidays, I had a sudden urge to crochet some hearts to share with the world. I made six of them while binge-watching MadMen (I can't explain), and a few more the next morning, with a vague plan to give them to random strangers throughout the day.


Two days earlier, I had a knock at the door, and there was a total stranger, a neighbor from a block or so up the street, holding two packages of mine that I'd assumed were missing forever. This made three rather important items our new mail delivery person had dropped off at the wrong address. One was our rent deposit check. I was getting grumpy.

I checked into filing an official complaint with the USPS, and then considered calling or visiting the local post office to grumble in person. And then, while working on a nice pink heart on Valentine's Day morning, it occurred to me to try being nice first.

I pulled out my good thank you notes, handmade by my…
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my big reader's wrap

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The Oregon Coast is chilly in winter (and much of the rest of the year), and I wanted to knit something I could snuggle up in rather than turning the heat up, up, up. A wrap seemed good. And I wanted pockets too, because they're useful, and because women have historically been deprived of pockets. True story. Look it up.

Most of the time I knit really simple things that can be made without continually reading a pattern. If I could read and knit, I'd read a book, not a pattern. So much more interesting, right? So far, I haven't figured out how to do that, except to listen to audio books, which are not the same kind of fun as hearing my own little voices in my head, you know? When I have to choose, read or knit, knitting usually wins.

So wandering around Google Images, Pinterest, and Ravelry for something like a "shawl with pockets," I came across a lot of patterns for Reader's Wraps. This was a great idea I'd never heard of. All I wanted were dimensions fo…
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fear of thumbs

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I've been knitting fingerless gloves for years. Completely fingerless - as in no little thumb-sleeve either, although I would have liked having the thumbs. Truth is, I was afraid of thumbs, or the making of them in gloves. For some silly reason, I didn't think I could do it. Sheesh. Maybe I should have tried...

Well, a new year is a good time to banish old fears. I finally decided it was time to tackle my thumbophobia, and went in search of an easy pattern, which I quickly found at Hand Made Rukodelky. (Thank you!!!) I printed the pattern, gathered my yarn and needles, and had these beauties finished in just a few hours.


The pattern was so easy to follow, I actually worked on them mostly in public, and at one point, with beer in the mix too. No problem.


The yarn is Noro Kureyon, and all these colors came from just one skein. So much fun. I used a little (9 inch) size 7 circular needle instead of DPNs for the body of the gloves, which for me is a while lot easier than wrangling…
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last minute knitted gift-card pouch

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You meant to make thoughtful gifts for everyone on your list, but somehow the time just flew by, and now it's officially the Last Minute as far as hand-making goes. Oops! Speaking for myself, I'll start earlier next year, like maybe January. 

To the rescue, these cute little pouches make a nicer-than-store-bought presentation for a gift card, and later magically transform into biz card holders or handy pocket wallets. Depending on your knitting speed, these take roughly an hour to make (for slow-knitting me), so you should have time to whip out a bunch before gifting day arrives.

This is not so much a pattern as a basic guideline to making a little buttoned pouch. Improvise where you need to! Now enough chit chat. Ladies and gentlemen, start your needles!

Knitted Gift Card Pouch

small amount worsted weight yarn (these bags each weight about 1/3 of an ounce, or 8 grams)
size 7 circular needle (8 or 9 inch, or longer for magic loop, or DPNs)
button
yarn needle and scissors fo…
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cats are not dogs, and how tangling string untangles frustration

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As Airbnb hosts, we have lots of lovely interactions with guests while they're here, and with potential guests making inquiries before they book. I try to be really clear in our listing, about the house, amenities, and rules. The trouble is, some people would rather not actually read the listing, or if they do, they just ignore the parts they don't like. Oy. I mean really, who thinks cats and dogs are the same thing?

Today I got a booking for two nights in March, from a very nice-sounding couple coming down from Canada. They were very excited to stay here at Mermaid's Nest, and everything was great... until I got to the part in their message about bringing their cat...

Ruh roh...

I had stated very clearly in our listing that we allow small dogs. Cats were not mentioned. Neither were goats, snakes, skunks, or rhinos, because I figured people would see that part about dogs, and at least ask before assuming all other animals were welcome. Oh, silly me. Apparently these nice p…
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