Quick Update

Hello All!

My knitwear galleries are all up-to date. I also completed the available colorways, tunisian swatches, and customer appreciation sections. Please feel free to browse around and contact me for any questions or requests.

As I mentioned before, other galleries will be updated sporadically over time--I am in no rush with these. I mostly sell knitwear, and all other items for sale are available on my shop (knit items have been sold on- and off-line). These other galleries will likely be filled with personal projects or gifts, but they will give you an idea of other things you can expect or request in the future.

Time to go finish my last custom order of the month, then try to catch up on a backlog of gifts, and eventually start my swap package. If you are looking for a custom order, now is the time to place it, as my calender is looking fairly empty until March.

Things are coming together...

Well, I have gotten my knitwear galleries completed. Anything noted as coming soon is a current order or currently in the works/in design. I am hoping to get color choices and tunisian swatches posted soon (still need to photograph the tunisian swatches). I am also compiling a customer appreciation album--so if you have any pictures you would like to share of your purchases in use or being enjoyed, please feel free to send them my way! I love seeing them :)

My other galleries may wait a while...I am not currently selling sewn or screen printed items, so they aren't a high priority. And while I am selling jewelry, almost everything I could put into the gallery is for sale or has been sold through my etsy shop. The same goes for any skin care items (plus, I'm debating if a gallery is required--it's neat to have a viewable record, but not necessary to my shop and site). The ornament section will be updated over the course of this year--I am writing free tutorials for each ornament I've made since 2004 while I go back and make myself one for each year (I somehow missed myself while making for the family--I use them as name tags).

Other than that, I am slowly moving all my posts over here. I believe I had exported all my xanga posts years ago, but it seems I never got around to getting them up on my livejournal, so I am currently looking for those files. However, that's a good thing because livejournal does not let you export all your entries at once (you have to do one month at a time), and blogger doesn't seem to like the livejournal xml formatting. All my old blogs still exist and you can find links on the sidebar of my livejournal (linked in the previous post) should you be looking for something specific.

I've also started adding major personal knitting goals/projects to my calendar. This way you can understand why I might give you a longer time frame than usual. Orders still take priority, but there are some personal projects I also try to accommodate with deadlines. (For example, my brother's birthday is this month so orders that do not need to be received immediately are being pushed back a few days or given a few extra days to their expected craft time. However, rush orders would take precedence.)

Thanks for hanging in there with me as I upgrade my website!

Time for a Fresh Start

Hello and welcome to the new Handmade by Caitlin!

I decided to relocate my blog...new year, new start, right? Really Livejournal wasn't providing me with the services I wanted, and I decided it was time to venture elsewhere. Please bear with me as I relocate all my old posts over here and learn all about the new features I have available to me :)

In the meantime, my livejournal account is still open and you can access it here. I'm looking forward to a new successful year!

~Caiti

Projects on the horizon for Handmade by Caitlin

Well it has been a busy past coupled of months. Lots of Christmas knitting (I still have to finish up two shawls actually, but they are close to being done). Then I sprained my wrist which has lead to slow-going on the knitting front. Still recovering, but I'm picking up speed again. I've just decided to give myself some designated rest time, so I am working minimally at night and you will notice my weekends are open on my calendar. There have also been a nice handful of orders coming in, two of which are very large, so I've definitely been kept busy. I recently signed up for a swap too that I should get working on soon >.> <.<

Once all my orders are completed, I have some plans for items that I want to make for my shop. I have a few pairs of toddler (18 month) sandals that are complete that I want to post soon. I also want to get some ice skates (hockey, figure, and a pair of toddler Chicago Blackhawks skates) made and posted. I am currently working on some Texas Longhorn cleats, and if you've been keeping up I already have Chicago Bears sandals and booties, so I want to get some cleats going soon too. The customizable roller skate listings are still in the works too. Beyond that, I just have some fun ideas for "regular" booties, like a pink bootie with a snowflake, and some pale blue and white conductor stripe booties.

Building up to that, I have been designing a "product catalog" for all my knit/crochet baby items. If you know me in person, please feel free to ask to take a look. Otherwise, I am also planning to convert it to a fancy pdf (or possibly an online viewer), so convo me on etsy or pm here and I can email you the digital version. The catalog contains items you can find in the galleries on my blog, but they are better organized by type and price points.

I also have a collection of jewelry I had made for some craft shows, so they were never posted on my shop. I need to photograph and measure these and then my jewelry selection should increase. I am hoping to find some downtime come spring for some hair pieces as well.

January Custom Orders

Even with my injured wrist, turn around time is still fairly low. I thought my customers might like to see what orders I have on the horizon to help them plan. So far January isn't too busy. Besides these custom orders, I am designing some snowflake booties and plan to get some conductor stripe booties worked up. A few pairs of toddler sandals will also be posted this month, as soon as I get my camera back from my sister so I can upload photos for the listings n_~