Style blogs April 16, 2007

I am a bit addicted to blogs. I could easily spend hours on craft and style blogs and I am in love with San Francisco so any blog to do with there is on my list to hit. So today I discovered a fabulous blog that combines my two loves into one – sfgirlbybay! We share the same aesthetic and she peppers her posts with SF pics and event info. I just love it. I haven’t seen any knitting related posts yet but she did mention her neighbor hosts a Stitch and Bitch gathering every month. That’s good enough for me.

Also, if you’ve been living in a cave for the last 5 years and don’t know about Apartment Therapy – San Francisco, well, it’s time. It’s packed with SF style and events and don’t miss the House Tours. They’re so inspirational!

Here’s a craft blog for you – Shim + Sons. This woman is amazingly crafty and her little sons are the kind of cute that isn’t annoying or sugary sweet but somehow stylish and clean. I know, I know. That sounds weird to say about kids but it’ll make sense when you see them.

Again, I don’t think she’s a knitter but you’ll love her style despite.

I should also mention that I owe J L Yarnworks a big product update on The Urban Knit. I have been sick and have been lagging in that department. I absolutely promise I’ll have all her gorgeous stitch markers in the shop this week!

Have a great Monday all!

Awesome news! March 22, 2007

OK. One of my super-nice fiber artists (Jennifer of It’s a Colorful Life) told me that TUK was mentioned in the latest Lime & Violet podcast. Yippppeee! You just can’t buy that kind of advertising (well you can but…). I’ve already noticed a rise in traffic and orders. Thank you to everyone who is checking The Urban Knit out! I’m working hard to keep the shop stocked with fabulous goodies. Every free minute I’m either taking pics of product, processing pics, fulfilling orders or some other business related fun.

Thanks for all your support! Shop on!

My first write-up! March 15, 2007

I got word yesterday that The Urban Knit is going to get it’s very first write up in the Craft magazine blog! Yippeee! I’m so excited. Here’s the link. Keep your eyes open for it. I sent her a press release about the shop a while ago. Thanks Natalie!

HUGE UPDATE!!! March 14, 2007

Hi guys! I have a HUGE update coming to the store. I have incredible yarn from Colorful Life, adorable needles from YarnRescue, fabulously soft yarn from Sereknity and incredible patterns from Purl. Wow. I have a lot of work to do and I have to apologize to the ladies of those companies because I have been so busy and have lagged a bit in getting their beautiful products online. I just want to assure you all, they’re on they’re way. I have taken all the pictures (that took a LONG time) and have to process them and set up each product. It’s not a fast process but that’s owning a yarn shop for ya!

I’ll let you all know the second it’s all online. I’ll send an announcement. Thanks so much for your patience!

Offline February 7, 2007

I just wanted to let you know that my regular computer is on the fritz. Thankfully, I have my laptop to work on. But I won’t be able to deliver any pattern orders until it’s fixed which could be today. yay.

Working on the laptop is fun, though. Totally different than the desktop. I feel very techy working on the laptop. Well, except for my nails. You see, my birthday is coming up on Saturday and my mother treated me to a pedicure (my first! yum) and on a whim, I decided to get a full set of acrylic nails put on. Wow am I glamorous now! I feel like someone famous but the down side is that I can’t type and, it struck me as I was sitting with my hands in the nail dryer, WHAT IF I CAN’T KNIT???! Holy cow, that would be lame. I haven’t tried it yet. I’ll let you know if it works out.

signed: Scared in California

The people I meet February 2, 2007

Opening The Urban Knit has been really great, not only because I get to drool over the fabulous yarn that I sell but because I get to meet so many wonderful women from all over the world. Case in point: Just yesterday I got an email from a woman that was trying to place an order on the site but was having trouble (note to self: launch Zencart to the firey depths of hell and install VirtueMart instead). Turns out not only did she place a nice order but she’s totally cool too! What luck! Since I work on the computer all day (web designer, remember?), I am oh so happy to add Sarah to my list of “ladies to chat with when I’m bored”. Thanks Sarah!

Another item that is unrelated to yarn is this incredible blog: Web Worker Daily. You out there that slave at a computer in a home office (or in a regular office) will be lovin’ this one.

I am so stoked that it is February! My favorite month because of the 2 wonderful holidays in it. I can’t remember exactly what they are – President’s Day and something else, I think. But I also love it because my birthday is on the 10th. Yahoo! Tru, tru, I am getting older but I love that on that day I get to boss around the hubby and kids…”More cream in my coffee!” “Yes, ALL of my t-shirts need ironing, thank you very much” and “Guess what dear husband?! We’re watching Bridget Jones’s Diary tonight!”

Getting older ain’t so bad.

WIP January 25, 2007

I thought I’d show what I’ve been working on these days… sock for my girl. They are small and adorable and almost done. Socks are so great and fast. I just love ‘em.

Other than that I don’t have much to report. I do know someone that does, however, Crazy Aunt Purl. If you’re in the mood to laugh, go on over and take a read.

What the?? January 16, 2007

What the heck? Russell Crowe knitting?

Check out this article at World Knit.

Tons of new products and no time January 12, 2007

Hi all, well, I can’t believe it’s the middle of January already. Yikes, time flies. I have a ton of new products to enter into the shop – some INCREDIBLE sock yarn from Jennifer at It’s a Colorful Life. I’ll post pics as soon as I can get them taken (busy, busy). It took me awhile to pick Jennifer’s shipments up from the post office but finally, they’re here.

I also have some super cute new patterns from Crafty Alien. Lisa is a designer by trade and does a beautiful job on the packaging as well as the pattern! I’m able to sell her entire line so I’m really happy about that. I’ll have all these new items posted this weekend. Here’s a peek at some Crafty Alien:

I’ve also done some interesting advertising lately – a large vertical banner ad in Sweaterbabe.com brought a ton of traffic to the site. And I have a new ad coming out on Crazy Aunt Purl. Both those sites get roughly 10 thousand of hits a DAY. So I’m sure that’ll give me some good exposure. You know how they say you have to get your brand in front of the consumer 7 times before they’ll buy? Well, I have 5 more to go! I’m also newly listed on craftrevolution.com, ibuydiy.com and indiecollective.net. Yay!

Another important update, I think I loathe Zencart. I hate to say it but after spending hours and HOURS tweeking code, the shop pages still look cookie cutter. I spend a lot of time designing the main pages of the site and I don’t want that funky feel to be lost on the shop pages, know what I mean? So, thanks for Lisa at Crafty Alien, I discovered VirtueMart. I’m going to be transfering the site over to that cart soon. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Well, have a great night. Thank God tomorrow’s Friday, right?

Whew! December 22, 2006

Hi there! Well, the shop is officially open which is so exciting. About 5 minutes after I opened the virtual doors, I got my first order for Twisted Fiber Art TUK Signature colorway (of course!).  And no sooner did the shop open than the shop closed. Zencart stopped working, to be exact. I am totally perplexed as to what happened. I keep wracking(sp?) my brain trying to figure out what I did wrong. I have scoured the Zencart help forum but it seems as if I’ve set everything up correctly.

What’s happening is an order can be placed fine and payment can be made through Paypal with no problem but the order won’t be registered in Zencart – meaning no order info or order number is generated within the Admin panel. So, yippee! I have money in my Paypal account but have no idea what it’s for! lol.

If any of you want to purchase something using your Paypal account just to test it, PLEASE DO AND I WILL REFUND YOU. Thanks in advance.

Despite the cart not working perfectly. I’m pretty happy about everything. I keep adding things to the shop and editing it here and there to make it better. I look forward to 6 months down the line — it should be pretty tight.

Happy holidays!