MountGigantic

Hello, all! I am currently doing an Indiegogo campaign to help raise money for summer classes that I need to finish my undergrad degree. I need to take two courses this summer and would love to sell some art to fund it, rather than taking out a loan from the bank. If you would like to contribute, you can find my campaign page HERE 🙂

Here are some examples of the perks you can get when you support my campaign!

Landscape paintings! Available in several sizes and your choice of colors!

Portrait drawings of you or someone you love (or even just “like-like”)!

Hand Knit hats and mitts!

Hand-painted postcards direct to your mailbox!

And so much other good stuff!

• Knitting patterns
• Handmade yarn & button kits

Feel free to spread the word and a million thanks for your support!

Today is the Johnstock Craft Fair, which I’ve done for the past few years. I like this show because it’s small (i.e. affordable for a crazy girl selling wool in the summer) and it’s (kind of) in my neighborhood. Plus, the folks that run it are super nice 🙂

As usual I will have my handspun yarns. I’ve been selling some at Digs, and realized last weekend that I only had about six full-size hanks on hand, so I quickly spun up two 2-ply’s and a single…yeah!

The amazing new thing I will have this year are my ceramic buttons! I made these as part of my ceramic class project with the intention that I would be selling them at Johnstock. Multi-task win! I also made the backer cards, so merchandising skill win! If you’re in the Twin Cities, stop by and say hi 😀

Oh, man…where the heck have I been? Living life apparently 🙂

To sum it up as quickly as possible, so far this year, I have:
– started working on the Solo Exhibtion Program at Altered Esthetics Gallery
– met some great people at the Knit-Ins at SooVAC
– been accepted to the University of Minnesota (woot!)
– moved into a great house with awesome housemates
– paid off my last batch of student loans
– and bought a BANJO! (the best thing ever!)

So now that we’re all caught up, I can talk about knitting stuff, starting with this weekend’s happening.

The Johnstock Craft Fair in NE Mpls is tomorrow. I’ve been busy making some non-knitted things that I have yet to take photos of. I did Johnstock in 2010, and it was fun. I learned that when it’s the beginning of summer, people aren’t really thinking about buying scarves and hats, so I decided to put my sewing machine to good use. I’ll will bring a few of my hats and neckwarmers, just in case and all of my handspun yarns…plus, I’ll be offering some of my older stock at discounted prices 🙂

This year, I’ll be sharing my booth with Bitter String Art (aka my awesome friends, Beth and Brandon). The do some amazing stuff and I’m really excited to spend the day with them. I’ll also be dragging along my spinning wheel, so if you’re in the Twin Cities this weekend, come check out the fun times 🙂

In future news, I’m planning on submitting for the craft show that Caffeto Coffee Shop has at the end of the summer.

Also in the works is a line of handspun & naturally dyed yarn for Digs Studio, and possibly hosting a “Great Wool-Wash Weekend”. I’m quite excited about this one, so stay tuned for more details.

Here’s a knitting recap for 2011:
-knitted almost 7 miles of yarn
-published 9 patterns
-had spots in 3 craft shows
-made Christmas gifts for 12 people in less than 2 months

So, you may be aware that I said I would be taking a knitting hiatus for about a month. Trying to pack as much crafty stuff in to such a short time is hard on the hands and can really drain your knitting enthusiasm pretty quickly. While in Indiana for Christmas, I knitted myself a pair of convertible mittens, something that I desperately needed.  And that was going to be my last project for a while.

The non-knitting lasted about three days, when I casually picked up my needles & some not-so-fancy yarn and before I knew it, had knitted up a scarf. Then a few days later I cast on for another Crocus sweater, which at this point has only one sleeve and the button bands left to do. So, I guess a knitting fast just isn’t going to happen and I’m fine with that. 🙂

A little back story on this pattern…
I go to Shepherd’s Harvest in Lake Elmo every spring. The weather is always notoriously cold and damp. This past spring, I had the crazy idea that I would knit a neckwarmer to wear to the festival. I started knitting around 10:30 and had it blocking just after midnight. The next morning, I wove in the ends while waiting for my ride and proudly kept my neck cozy throughout the day. Now that the weather is turning cold yet again, it’s become one of my daily accessories.

$3.50
A slightly sinister twist on this modern classic accessory. Half stockinette & half garter stitch construction lends a subtle tilt to this quick, easy knit. Pattern can be easily adjusted for any weight of yarn, from Sock to Bulky 🙂

Simple V-shaped neckwarmer fits comfortably around your neck and can either be fastened with buttons or tied like bandana. Use two or more skeins for a shawlette to drape over your shoulders. Either are sure to keep you fashionably warm.

Pattern, text and photography Copyright © 2011 Kristy Childress, MountGigantic.com
This pattern is for personal and non-profit use only. Resale of items made from this pattern is not permitted but knitting for charity and gifts is permitted. All Rights Reserved.

Remember to use coupon code THANKSFUL through Monday to get 15% off all pattern purchases…Keep Warm 🙂

As a knitter, there are a couple of things that you can depend on:
1. The new issue of Knitty will always break the internet.
2. You will always regret not buying the clearance cashmere yarn you saw.
3. Winter is inevitable, but it’s the best time to sell knitted things

Last night I saw the first few flakes of winter falling. It was actually supposed to be a bit more than a few flakes, but at the last minute, the storm decided to show some mercy and pass us by. But it is getting pretty darn cold here now. A week from now it will probably be in the 20’s. So, while outdoor activities will probably dwindle down to supermarket runs and trips into Uptown to avoid going stir crazy, there is much to be said for having a lot of free time, Netflix and an apartment full of yarn.

In the meantime, there are a few exciting things on the MountGigantic front.
First up is the Handmade Christmas Craft Fair on December 3rd in Saint Paul. This is looking to be a great event and I’m really impressed by the amount of planning the ladies organizing it have put into it. It’s also going to be the first St Paul show I’ve done, and I’m eager to see if the sales trends are any different than Minneapolis. I’m going to have tiny sweater ornaments, hand spun yarns, and all kinds of other knitted items. And, bonus!…my table space is right next to my friend Lauren’s, so I won’t get lonely 🙂

Then, my new sanctuary in Uptown, Plan B Coffeehouse, has very kindly let me put a display of my coffee cozies right on the counter. If you happen to be in Uptown and need a great coffee and a kick-ass sandwich, this is the place to go. They will treat you real nice and let you play scrabble 🙂

In non-fiber related news, I interviewed for an awesome solo gallery program a couple of months ago, and I’m thrilled to say that I was invited to be one of the eight artists for 2012!…I’m not sure if I can say more, because they haven’t made an official announcement yet, but I’m pretty darn excited about it. If you want to see some of my art, check out kristychildress.com

I’ve already begun planning  for 2012. Hopefully, this will mean more shows in the Twin Cities (and maybe around the region), getting a lot of art made, and getting stuff in order to go back to school next fall. It should be a lot of hard work (especially that last one) but it will all pay off in the end.

Seems like a pretty nice start to the winter if I do say so myself…Keep Warm!

I am a very lucky knitter because my family loves getting my hand-knits for Christmas. Since I was living in England last year, I chose to send my eight nieces and nephews cool stuff from London and I only made three pairs of Fetching Mitts for my two sisters and mom. In September, I asked my sister’s what everyone would like for knits this year, and the reply was a list that that included nieces, nephews and brothers-in-law and some wanted more than one thing.

Now don’t get me wrong…I love knitting and my family equally, but four months to knit 25 things?…Plus, knitting  stuff for the holiday craft shows I’m doing this season? I know I brag about being a quick knitter, but it seemed kind of overwhelming…especially since I waited until October to start my holiday knitting. So, I came up with a few ideas for knitting all (or most) my family’s Christmas wishes and staying sane at the same time.

#1-Knit with bulky yarn. This one is a no-brainer. The bigger the yarn, the quicker it knits up! Cables look amazing in chunkier yarns, and it’s easy to make super long scarves without going totally insane from miles of knitting. A few of my favorite patters for bulky/super-bulky yarn include:
–An Unoriginal Hat by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
–Capucine by Adela Illichmanova

#2- Knit with thick & thin yarns. This one kind of goes hand in hand with #1. When you knit with thick & thin yarns, your needles should be the size that you would use if the whole yarn was like the thick part. This will give your knitting good drape and make for quick finishes. And the best part about thick & thin yarns is that you can get away with doing simple stitch patterns and they still look amazing! Try doing a basic garter stitch or a K1P1 rib scarf or try one of these simple patterns:
–Urchin by Ysolda Teague
–Wasabi Cowl by Cassandra Dominick

#3- Knit simple patterns and colors…and cheaper yarns. Regardless of how you might feel about about cutting edge design, modern color palettes and luxury wools, a good number of your relatives probably won’t care for a second that you made them a boring ribbed beanie out of grey and blue acrylic yarn. Plus, can’t always trust your family not to throw your gifts into the washing machine on hot, so don’t worry about not “giving them the best”, because odd’s are, they won’t know and they won’t care.

Finally…it’s alright if you can’t knit everything for everyone.  And, facts are not everyone will be as excited by a handmade gift as you or I would be and that’t okay. So, have a backup plan for inexpensive store-bought gifts and don’t feel obligated or you’ll just run yourself and your hands into a frenzy.

p.s…if you are a member of my family and reading this, I made sure not to put any spoilers in this post, so you’ll just have to wait until Christmas 🙂