After some success selling my hats and closely reading the eBay rules (ahem!) I decided to mark the beginning of 2011 by formally launching Maisy C, my part time cottage industry.
I can’t pretend that business hasn’t been slow, but at least I’ve made a few sales during which must be the slowest trading period of the year.
I’ve been trying to diversify into other novelty hats and some bags, scarves etc. but no, it’s the cat hats that are in demand. Not entirely sure why, but there you go.
Filed under knitting
… the nights are drawing in. It’s cold enought to light a fire and the hens are going to bed earlier every night. Time to get the knitting needles out! I’ve been collecting wool to develop a few ideas: some good, I notice that River Island have started selling animal hats; some not so good, when I thought through the boiled egg beanie to go with the baked beanie, I realised it was a non-starter. However, I have sold four hats on eBay this week. Yippee! Admittedly, some sold for slightly less than the cost of the wool but I need a few disasters as well as successes to assess the potential market. It’s never going to make my fortune anyway!
Filed under knitting, Uncategorized
I’ve just sold my second hand-knitted hat on eBay! And I’ve been asked to produce a version of one in a different colour!
It’s been rather interesting to see which styles sell and which don’t. I’m really curious as to where and when people are going to wear my ‘stripy cat with ears’ and ‘fun fox hat with ears’ – maybe I should have made a photo a condition of sale – but, hey, whatever floats your boat.
Filed under knitting
It appears that I’m not the only person aggrieved by eBay’s unfair charges. They announced via email this week that the mandatory Free P&P charges for the Accessories section was to be replaced by a Maximum P&P as is already in place for things such as books. Common sense prevails!
Filed under knitting
There are only so many hand-knitted hats that even the most ardent fashionista can accommodate in their wardrobes and drawers, so I decided it was time to sell some of my surplus if I wanted to continue with my hobby. The natural choice was eBay as I’ve successfully used it during the past year when I was clearing the house out. However I discovered that Free Postage & Packaging has been imposed in some categories, such as Accessories, apparently in reaction to customers being deterred by excessive P&P charges. Absolute nonsense! First, you have to increase your start bid to cover your costs. This makes your item less attractive at the start of the auction. It also incurs a higher insertion fee which you pay regardless of whether the item is sold or not. eBay also take a percentage of the final bid so you are effectively paying them a percentage of the overheads that you incur to package and post the goods. On more expensive items, this probably doesn’t make a huge difference but on items that are relatively cheap anyway, P&P costs are a bigger percentage of the overall final bid. I’m not averse to paying eBay a fair price for using their facilities but this makes me feel I’m being ripped off.
So what is the casual seller who wants to sell excess items to do? I’m not a sweatshop churning stuff out so the cost of hosting my own website just to sell the odd item is prohibitive, as is paying for a table at a craft fair to sell a couple of items.
I’d be interested in finding out what other knitters do because I’m sure I’m not the only person with this dilemma.
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I haven’t started a new knitting project yet but I did come across the instructions I’d written in a notebook to make the teddy shown in the header picture. I also found the scribbled instructions, definitely written on the hoof, to make his little jersey, but they are going to take rather more deciphering so I’ll leave that to another day.
Teddy needs a 50g ball of eyelash or some similar fancy, fluffy yarn (you can normally pick them up in the market or £1 shop pretty cheaply), a set of 3.5 needles (but you may need to adjust according to your yarn), a handful of kapok stuffing, a preformed nose and a set of eyes. Apologies if the quality of the instructions isn’t up to Paton’s standard but it’s such an easy pattern it’s hard to get wrong. It’s knitted in one piece so is easy for beginners, especially children.
Leg 1 (front): Cast on 3 stitches. Rows 1 -3 increase by 1 st at each end. Knit 18 rows. Leave on holder.
Leg 2 (front): Cast on 3 stitches. Rows 1 -3 increase by 1 st at each end. Knit 18 rows then transfer stitches for Leg 1 to needle.
Body: Knit across 18 stitches for 9 rows. To make the front of the arms, increase by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Increase by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows. Knit 1 row. Decrease by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Decrease by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Then knit 38 rows (this forms the head). To make the backs of the arms, increase by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Increase by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows. Knit 1 row. Decrease by 2 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Decrease by 9 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows. Knit 9 rows.
Leg 1 (back): Knit 9, turn, then knit 17 rows. Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next 3 rows, then cast off.
Leg 2(back): Knit 18 rows on remaining stitches. Decrease 1 stitch at each end of the next 3 rows, then cast off.
To make up: Fold and sow around edges ensuring you leave enough gap to turn teddy inside out. Turn teddy inside out. His head will look like a square. Make his ears by sewing across the corners, partially stuff his head then insert the eyes and nose. Stuff the rest of his head but before filling the body, sew around his neck and pull up like a drawstring. Secure fairly tightly then continue to fill the rest of his body. Sow up the remaining seam.
Teddy may not be a sophisticated bear with articulated joints but he is quick and easy to make, and can be made in a variety of yarns and colours.
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The long, mohair stole has been completed at last, along with matching beret.
God knows when I’ll actually wear them. Possibly in the house, during a power cut. We tend to get them in winter. For some reason I’ve never managed to fathom, they usually occur on Thursday mornings.
I think that will be my final knitting until the nights start drawing in again. Actually, that’s on Sunday as it’s the longest day on Saturday! Doesn’t time fly …
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They say that you should never follow a fashion if you’re old enough to have worn it the first time. This nugget of good advice also applies to knitting patterns. My mohair jumper has now been converted into the shawl collar cardigan below:
It doesn’t hang very well on a hanger, and it’s not a pattern by Alaia, but it is more practical and has had several outings to date.
I’ve also unravelled another mohair mistake, knitted to an eighties’ pattern (wouldn’t you think I would learn?) that became a noughties’ drawer filler. This time it was a kingfisher bolero with a frill around the edge. I know it sounds absolutely awful, but the main problem was the way it hung at the back, far too much ‘swing’. I was tempted to stick to another tried and tested v-neck, long sleeved, plain knit sweater, but I’ve decided to indulge myself and create a lacy stole instead. I’ll probably rarely (never??) wear that either, but at least I can knit whilst watching the TV without having to follow a pattern and, let’s face it, lacy stoles aren’t really subject to the whims of fashion.
Filed under knitting, Uncategorized
Am I the only knitter who spends as much time unpicking as knitting?
When Elle UK was launched in the late 80s, I bought it religiously. One of my favourite features was the designer knitting pattern in the back and I cut out and kept each one. Over years of successive house moves and subsequent clear outs, my collection was whittled down, but one pattern I did keep was a stunning Azzedine Alaia jumper. As 80s styles made a comeback of sorts I decided last year, at long last, it was a good time to knit it. Unfortunately, as is often the case with old patterns, it required an obsolete mohair yarn, doubled. So I used a beautiful mohair / alpaca mix instead that roughly knitted to the same tension. The result was a rather beautiful geometrical garment, soft as a sleeping kitten to touch, but totally impractical. As the wool sheds rather a lot of hairs, I was told I could only wear it in the car if I wore a coat over it – impossible due to the wideness of the sleeves. It was also incredibly warm but rather short so prone to ride up and leave you with a chilly back. So after a few outings, mainly round the house, it became consigned to the further reaches of the wardrobe. Reluctantly I am now unravelling it. I’ve found a pattern for a cardigan jacket style that is more practical (I hope!) ironically in the same broken rib. Still, at least for a time, albeit a short one, I had an Alaia original. And no, I haven’t had the heart to throw the pattern away yet.
Filed under knitting
