I'm Moving!

Well I was talking to my good friend Brian Liloia about my new blog and he highly recommended wordpress over blogspot. Being that he has been doing this sort of thing for a long while now and I have really no idea what I am doing, I decided to heed his advice. Thus you can find the blogs new home at hiloverde.wordpress.com. As I learn more about the program there I will be adding new features so check back often.

The Birth of Hilo Verde

So as I said earlier I have been knitting regularly for about four months. Originally I took up knitting to be able to provide a inexpensive, personal, and high quality gifts for friends and family members. I knit up several hats for friends and family. Additionally I knitted socks for my boyfriend, embroidered a set of kitchen towels for my best friend, and a table topper for my mother. All of these gifts were well received and I have to say I was pretty proud of my work.

Christmas came and went and I was still knitting with the same fervor as before but this time I didn't know what to do with my products. I had more scarves and hats than I could use myself. A friend of mine and fellow volunteer has an Etsy shop where she sold her handmade items and she encouraged me to try it. Thus Hilo Verde was born. My friend and I spent awhile brainstorming names and I have to admit that I was pretty picky. Finally we settled on HiloVerde which means Green Yarn in Spanish. I chose this name for several reasons. First, I lived in Spain for 9 months while I was in college and came away with a great appreciation of the culture and language spoken there. Also I am currently volunteering in the San Luis Valley of Colorado where there exists is an amazing mix of Hispanic, indigenous, and American culture. I wanted to honor these two locals with my shop name. I also wanted to allude to the fact that I would be selling items that were produced in a way that was environmentally sustainable and thus "green". Almost all of the knitted items in my shop are made from recycled or natural fibers. Additionally I strive to support local businesses whenever possible.

Knitting Roadblock

The famed original headaband - check back
for the new and improved (maybe) version.

Well I have been knitting regularly for about four months now and unfortunately I have come to an the knitters' equivalent of writer's block. I have been working on a couple of projects lately and cannot seem to move forward with them.

First, back in November I bought a great hand dyed silk/angora blend that I was using to make a hat. This was back before I knew really anything about fiber types. The yarn lacks any give and so the hat was just blah. I ended up taking it out and redoing it about 4 times before I decided to set it aside. Four months later I was feeling industrious and picked up the discarded skein. This time I planned to make a lace leaf pattern on a hat. I though surely after four months of knitting under my belt I would be able to produce a beautifully laced hat in no time. Think again. I have probably taken out and restarted this version of the hat another four times! The problem with lace is that once you make a mistake it is much more difficult to go back and rectify it than other patterns. This hat is still in progress so check back for updates.

The second never ending project is a headband from super soft hand spun, hand dyed yarn. I had just a little yarn left over from a couple of fingerless gloves I knit and I thought a headband would be perfect for this ultra soft wool. My first attempt I finished in one night despite repeated unraveling and reknitting. I posted this on Etsy but found that I had a hard time promoting the item as I wasn't wild about it myself. This led me to once again unraveling it and starting anew. It is currently sitting on my kitchen table and I have yet to do the finishing touches such as buttons and appliqué flowers that I have crocheted.

So all in all it has been pretty frustrating couple of weeks as far as knitting goes. It seems I just can't finish a project! I should probably set both aside and just start an easy no brain project for the time being. Check back for pictures of the finished projects.

My First Post... of any kind

Well I've never been much for personal networking or blogging sites, but I thought I would give this a go. I recently started a small business at hiloverde.etsy.com and was looking for a way to promote my goods. I thought that a blog was a good option for reaching people outside my circle of family and friends. I plan on writing about my projects, other people's work that I appreciate, and various other topics that I am currently contemplating. Thus far any of my attempts at personal journaling have failed as I don't write regularly. Hopefully this blog does not meet the same fate!