i'd rather be knitting!

Each day I get a little more organized, and a little closer to the day when I will actually post an item in my Etsy shop.

I guess I didn't take into consideration how much time some of this would take me. Plus I can't completely focus on my perfectioKnits business--I still have to home-school my kids, try and keep my house under some semblance of control, and have time for knitting new items.  All this business stuff just kind of stresses me out.  {I'd rather be knitting!} 

There's still so much I need to do.  I have yet to figure out prices and shipping costs for the items I want to sell. I have to decide on and post my shop policies.  I do have some packaging/shipping supplies on order (finally!) and my hubby has agreed to find time to design and print me out a few business cards soon.  Speaking of business cards, some day I hope to buy some Moo business cards and/or Moo mini cards but I know that first I need to establish my product line and then figure out the best way to take some good quality product-only photos.  It would also be helpful to know which of my items my customers like best before I order any special photo-business cards.

My new {replacement} checks for my business account came.  They're still not printed the way I wanted (they put my business name on the same line as my name instead of beneath it like we requested), but at least my name is spelled correctly this time.  These will do for now, but I certainly won't be re-ordering checks through my bank!   

Sarah had a photo session with her 6 month old nephew yesterday. Here's a photo with a hat I made especially for this session. Of course, she'll get to use it as a prop on other adorable little guys too!  <smile>

earflap hat by perfectioKnits

Actually, this is the second hat I made for this session. 
The first, although it's adorable, ended up a bit small.

 

I couldn't get to Michael's to get more of the same yarn--I hate that the nearest store is a two hour drive from here and that Michael's doesn't have an online store!  I ended up ordering a different self-striping yarn from WEBS and hoped it would work.   As you can see, the two yarns were a bit different, but both look nice.

baby steps

My yarn orders were all here by Friday.  {happy day!}
 
I really feel like I'm taking baby steps with this business stuff.  But one step at a time and we'll get there, right?

My bank account is set up and I'm Paypal verified.  This means that if and when I make money, I can transfer it from Paypal directly to my new checking.  There was a slight hitch with my new checks--the 50 free checks came today with my name misspelled!  Ugh!  So, now I must wait a bit longer before I'll have printed checks that I can use.  Not a big deal, but annoying. 

I'm still busy knitting stuff--this weekend I was busy making hats for Sarah.  Now I'm trying to make time to make a few more items to sell on Etsy too.  It's taking me longer than I originally anticipated to get some of the styles and sizes just right.  I still hope to be open for business sometime in January, but as the days tick past and I'm still not ready, I wonder if I should just say "opening soon" and hope my "soon" is sooner than later!

new yarn on order!

I just ordered more yarn!  I'm so excited!  I've bought a few new-to-me yarns to try out.  Looking for a few good yarns (that won't cost me an arm and a leg!) to use on a regular basis here.  Hope I may have found some good ones! 


Sarah tested out my roll brim hat (boring name, I know!) and another baby pod I made.  Here's a couple photos of the little beauty she photographed with them.

roll brim hat {with little lulus flower clip} and baby pod

I love how the Little Lulus clip makes the hat a bit girlier.  So cute!  Makes the hat a tad more versatile too.  Without the clip, a baby boy could wear it and would look super cute. Add a lovely little flower clip like this one and it's also perfect for a girl! 

Anyways, last night I started working on a lace wrap (infant photo prop).  I've seen some lacy baby wraps on Etsy and thought they were adorable.  So I decided to go ahead and make one myself without a pattern.  It's very basic and a pattern isn't really needed--just a little test knitting to determine how many stitches to cast on. I like how mine looks already.  I do think these look so sweet with the baby's toes or fingers peeking through the lace, so I'm hoping it turns out nice.  This first one is going to be mine to keep as a sample, but I bought 2 more balls of the same kind of yarn so I can make some to sell too.  I'll get some photos of it posted when it's done!

new year update

It's January.  Time is flying!  I've been busy during Christmas break, but haven't made as many items as I had hoped.  I'm still waiting for feedback from Sarah on a bunch of items I've made--it's hard to make more of the something if you're not sure which size works best!  

But, despite the set-backs, I am just a tad closer to opening shop now.  It's a bit overwhelming--all the little details that I want to have in order before I begin selling my hand knit items on Etsy.  But it's slowly coming together piece by piece.

One rather large piece in place now is that I have a federal tax ID.  And I plan on opening a business checking account later this week too.  I still have to finish designing and print out my business cards, determine shipping costs, set up my shop policies, and about a hundred other things.  Not to mention make more items to sell!

It's a lot of work, but I believe it's going to be worth it.

Of course, what's a blog post without a photo?  So here's a little hat I made for my newest baby niece.  Isn't she a doll?!

black knit hat with crochet rosebuds

Happy New Year from perfectioKnits!