Knitting cables

Its knitting season!

I've had a knitting shop on etsy for a while, which I haven't "worked" much. At all. In fact, I've emptied it out altogether more than once, and left it sitting there, abandoned, for long periods of time. 

But I have all this yarn. A lot of yarn. Seriously. I'm a yarnaholic. Some of you might like beads, or colored pencils, or fabric, or something else. You know what I'm talking about. Your 'thing' is on sale somewhere, and its calling out to you. You never need it, you just have to have it. 

Well, that's how I am with yarn.

Sometimes I just can't commit to doing a whole big project, like a shawl or big scarf even, because of time. So I've been trying to come up with something small I can make, that's fun and cool.

I love love love love cables, so starting playing with some ideas. How could I make a 'stand alone' piece of cabling, not attached to a sweater or something? Usually you see cabling done within a panel, with plainer stitches on either side. I wondered what would happen if I just isolated them. What would it look like? Sometimes you try these genius ideas and end up with a hot mess.  

But this time my idea worked. I actually started with a much more complicated braided piece, then edited it down to these simpler ones. And having it look like a bow tie was a happy accident! My intention was to make an accent pin - something you could wear for a pop of color or texture on a sweater or jacket. The larger ones just happen to look like a bow tie.

So I sewed a pin back to the back of each one, and voila! We have Cable Knit Bow Tie Pins and Mini Cable Knit Bow Pins.

It was fun to make the little cards to pin them to. Taking the pictures for the shop is never my favorite thing, but a necessary evil. (I always wonder about the people who do the pro photo shoots, with models and all. How on earth do they manage that?) So I do the best I can.

There are 25 new pieces in the shop, mostly all Fall-ish colors. Christmas and holiday ones are in the works. I hope to do some hair clips and other little goodies too. How cute would these be on pet collars? If you have an idea for one, or would like to commission me to make some for you, please let me know!