On Being 'Harlotized'

Many of you have heard by now. Even more of you are here just because of it. But for those of you who don't know, it's true... I've been 'Harlotized'.

You may be wondering why there is a can of spam(the oh-so-delicious pork and ham treat) in a post about being 'Harlotized', but there are some who are wondering what it even means to be 'Harlotized', so I'll start there.

It all began last monday night, December 7th. I was checking my email when I noticed that a certain Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee purchased my French Press Felted Slipper Pattern. Could it be? The Yarn Harlot herself was purchasing one of my designs? I went straight to her Twitter Feed to read "buying yarn for French Press Slippers".

Just because of this little mention, I saw a small spike in slipper pattern sales over the following days. I had to ask myself what kind of crazy power this woman has...she didn't even put a link up and people started buying my pattern!

Fast forward a couple days; this is where the real craziness began. On Thursday, I got home from work to find my email address flooded with new mail. Not only were there hundreds of new emails, but every time I glanced down at my laptop screen, there were more- the list just kept growing.

At first I assumed there was something wrong- but then the realization hit me... I had been 'Harlotized'. No sooner than this idea popped into my head, I went straight to the Yarn Harlot's blog. And there it was!

Oh, to write with such power to command thousands of reader's attention. No one does it in a way quite like the Yarn Harlot does. As you can see, the post needed no pictures. There were just a few links to click along the way... and the results were astonishing!

I didn't even read the whole post before it struck that I had to start sending out emails as fast as my fingers(or the three year old computer) could. You see, when a customer purchases a pattern from me on Etsy, there is no automated system like Ravelry. I have to do the grunt work myself- send out an email with PDF attachment. (And contrary to popular belief, I didn't actually sell out of the PDF- the link Stephanie used was one specific pattern. When that one pattern sold, it said 'Sold Out', but there were always others up in the shop).

I got to work on the emails and it was not long before I got this:

I was flagged for spamming for sending out too many of the same thing to different email accounts. I changed my email address in Etsy, got back to work, and encountered this:


And so it continued for 6 different email address before I realized I could upgrade my Google account to Google Apps. I quickly shelled out $100 and started sending emails from the original address (after a few hours had past and I gained access again, of course!). It wasn't too long after that I ran into this problem:


AGAIN!!

Things have slowed down to a point where I am not getting locked out anymore, but I'm afraid Google, Yahoo, and Hotmail will probably be monitoring my IP address for the next year or so!

All in all, I can't thank Stephanie enough for giving my pattern so much exposure. She has quite the following, and I am blessed to be mentioned on such a wonderful blog. I am forever indebted to the Yarn Harlot for her 'Oprah effect in the knitting world'!

What about you? Do you have the pattern yet? If not, head on over to Roxanne's blog, the 60/40 where she is hosting a giveaway. Two copies of the French Press Felted Slipper Pattern will be given away on Saturday. All you need to do is get to the post and leave a comment about your favorite holiday tradition.

While you're there, check out the rest of Roxanne's 'Homespun Holiday' series, you'll be happy you did!

Friday Finds- Tonal Yarns

Let me start by saying that I have never been a fan of variegated yarns. Sometimes projects will turn out great, but you never know...I guess I don't like that much unpredictability. What do I like? Just a little bit... which is why I can't seem to get enough of Tonal Yarns.

It all started with stumbling across a couple different Ravelry projects made with Madelintosh yarns. Have you seen this stuff? It is nothing short of amazing!

I mean, come on! Look at that color, and all in a red hue? Gorgeous! But this isn't enough, you must see more:
Although Madelintosh was my first tonal yarn love, I have found others since.

Sock Weight Superwash Merino from BlackSheepDyeWorks




Superwash Merino Fingering Weight from okayknits



Merino/Cashmere/Nylon fingering weight from Femme Fatale Fibers

And for those of you who have heard; yes, I have been 'harlotized'. Stayed tuned next week to hear about the experience!

Dark Car Knitting



Over Thanksgiving I decided that I would take a few days to let my slipper orders pile up and just relax. The funny thing is, relaxing to me usually involves some sort of knitting. Although I can't honestly say that I didn't work on slippers all weekend, I did find some time to knit for me.

My requirements for my Thanksgiving knitting were simple: the project must involve no counting. I wanted something I could work while we were driving to see relatives and entertaining guests. I stumbled upon the Sunday Market Shawl by Vanessa Carter of Knit Fish and knew we had a winner.



I have never done anything with dropped stitches before, so I thought that this sounded like a perfect project- no counting and a new skill, what fun! I grabbed some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool and started knitting away! The whole project is basically knit in stockinette stitch, which means I could do as much or as little as I wanted in a sitting. I used less than two skeins of yarn and was more than happy with the result. After all, you can't beat mindless dark car knitting!

Buttons!

While millions of people head to the stores on Black Friday in search of the greatest deals on the newest electronics and trendiest toys, I tend to spend the day at home. There have been years in the past that I may have gotten up in the wee hours of the morning for some 'amazing' gift bag that only a few chosen shoppers receive, but those days are long gone. I value sleep over shopping any day. Plus, with laptop in hand, I can do all the shopping I need to do in the comfort of my own home!

And this year, just like years in the past, I avoided the crowds...until I saw the JoAnn's circular. With slipper season at its peak, I seem to be running out of buttons faster than I can sew them on.

I have been waiting for a couple months for the buttons to go on sale at JoAnn's, and they finally did. Fortunately, I didn't have to fight the crowds on Friday, the sale was going on all weekend. Not only were buttons half off, but there was also a coupon for 20% off my entire order(even sale items...exciting, I know!). So, what normally would have come out to over $500 in buttons($500!?!) ended up costing me around $200. Don't worry, I got a TON of buttons- my receipt is taller than me(by a good amount, too). And without further ado, I present the buttons:


If you want a closer look, click on the picture itself and it will open in a new window. I have at least a few of all the buttons pictured and they are currently all available for slippers. I have quite a few favorites in this new batch... which ones are yours?