Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Etsy Tour – I Recommend It

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I attended the Etsy San Francisco Meet-Up last night and if there is one coming to your city I highly recommend you go! The Etsy people were all super nice, informative and enthusiastic about handmade and about their jobs.

I was SO JEALOUS of the tech people. Hey, I’m crafty but I’m a coder geek too. I spent my morning getting with WordPress MU and will spend my afternoon cutting fabric for my dress pattern. Maybe I’ve posted before about how much geeking and crafting resemble each other… if not maybe I will soon.

It was great to hear about other peoples Etsy experiences and then hear Esty’s feedback right away. It really makes a big difference for me since I kind of loathe forums and wading through a million pointless user responses.

I ended up having to bring my two year old and so I was kind of distracted, although, I have to say he was pretty good. Loud and squirmy… but good for a two year old!

Two things I wanted to say but was too distracted to get out:

1. I wish it was easier and less time consuming to upload pictures for a listing. Hook it up to Flickr? Allow multiple selections to upload at once? Something like Facebooks little java applet for photo albums?

2. Sub Categories – Whenever I am searching peoples shops I often am frustrated by the category sorting. I want a DRESS in MEDIUM. I don’t want to sort through 45 pages of small dresses.

I was happy to hear all the items that are high up on the Etsy’s development list and the possible new features. Shop rearranging is exciting and I liked the idea of a ‘Buy it Now’ widget for the Etsy Mini Shop’s and I might be willing to pay for that on a click by click basis.

Thanks Etsy peeps!

Check here for the tour schedule.

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.