Yarn Pirate Shop →

A big thank you to everyone who visited One Planet Yarn and Fiber in the last couple days!  The contest is over and I’ll pick winners as soon as my box of goodies from One Planet gets here.  It should be here in a few days.

So, on to my favorite Jewelry/Accessory shops on etsy.  I’ve found some great pieces of jewelry on etsy.  We’re talking gorgeous stuff.  I’ve been consistently impressed with both the quality of craftsmanship and the materials used to make the jewelry.  The shops I’m going to post all sell things that would make lovely gifts this time of year.

First on my list of faves is KimberlySunDesigns.  She makes these great hand tooled leather headbands.  I have crazy curly hair and some days I just can’t deal with it.  I put on one of these headbands and my hair is tamed and I look cute to boot.  It’s all nice, soft vegetable tanned leather and they are very comfy too.  As a matter of fact I wouldn’t mind getting a few more of these for Christmas…  Kim is a very friendly seller too.  Quick to respond to emails and super fast shipping.  Plus, she made me this awesome personalised key chain.  I didn’t even request it.  She made it out of the awesomeness of her heart.  Oh, and if any of you are in the Seattle area, Kim will be at Urban Craft Uprising this weekend.  I’ll be there too, and I swear I will fight you all to the death for headbands! 

Next up is Twisted Lily Designs.  I have a couple pieces of her jewelry and it’s divine.  She makes the most beautiful things out of precious metal clay.  You have to check out her rings, and I adore her necklaces with simple silver charms hanging from them.  She uses really high quality materials.  Her jewelry would be the perfect gift for a mother or sister or a dear friend.  Or me.  Everything arrives beautifully packaged and ready to give to someone special.

I adore Shop Clementine.  Every time I’m looking for that really special piece of jewelry I click on her shop and there it is.  I swear it’s like she can read my mind.  She is a very friendly, helpful seller.  I placed a custom order for a Christmas gift for my sister and it was done and posted in record time.  I just can’t say enough great things about this seller!

I’m worried this post will be too long so I’m just going to list a bunch of shops I have patronized.  All of these shops have my seal of approval.  They are all friendly, professional sellers who turn out beautiful quality work.  You can click on the pictures for more info. 

Rae’s Creations — she’s an international seller (Korea) but don’t hesitate to order if you see something you like.  Shipping is pretty affordable and quick.  One of my favorite shops.  Just look at that pile of baubles!

Rachael Sudlow– amazing organic designs

Hapa–precious metal origami jewelry.  I ordered something for my mom a few weeks ago and it’s beautiful.  You can see it here.

Keykalou–cute little hand bags

Well, that’s it for jewelry and accessories.  I have a few more links to share that don’t fit into any particular category.  It’s just stuff I think is spiffy.  Stay tuned!

ps…

If jewelry just ain’t your thing you can always accessorize with yarn. 

Buying handmade and supporting small businesses go hand in hand.  I love that I have my own small business, and that I’m able to help other small businesses by selling my yarn there.  I’m lucky enough to have hooked up with some great stores early on.  I love selling at Tangle, Pure Knits, The Loopy Ewe and Pick Up Sitcks!  Their great taste in all things yarny and dedication to customer service make it a real pleasure to do business with these women.

I’m very excited to announce my newest store! 

The ladies at One Planet Yarn and Fiber have been hard at work for months getting their store ready.  They’ve been scouring the globe searching for gorgeous yarn, fiber and accessories.  Their goal is to represent small independent artisans and companies from all around the globe. 

So far they are doing a great job!  They’ve got yarn you won’t find anywhere else.  Beautiful, lush handdyes from Uruguay that will make you say “Manos del Who now?”, velvety cashmere, and accessories from all over the world.  If you check out their Indie World Wide page you will find my yarn (soon.  i promise!) and yarn from many other amazing fiber artists.

Pretty, isn’t it?  This is by Felt Studio UK, and it’s up for sale at One Planet Yarn and Fiber. 

So, to kick off their grand opening I’m having a little contest.  It’s a scavenger hunt, and I promise it’s an easy one!  The prizes will be goodies from One Planet Yarn and Fiber, and I’ll throw in a few things as well.  Here goes.  I’ve got 6 questions about the merchandise at One Planet.  All of the answers can be easily found by exploring the website a bit.  There are 2 bonus questions that have no right or wrong answer.  I just threw them in as a way to get a little feedback on the store.  Please EMAIL your answers to:  heygeorgia(AT) yahoo(dot)com and if you would be so kind to make the subject line read “contest”.  Thanks.

1.  How many styles of Honeycake Designs needle cases are there?

2.  What is the retail price of the Sereknity crystal/beaded needles?

3.  Where are the Sheep Shop Yarn Company’s yarns dyed?

4.  How many sellers are listed on the “Indie World Wide” page?

5.  What is the yardage of Lanas Puras laceweight?

6.  Where are Lee Chesson needles made?

Bonus Q #1.  What is your favorite Lanas Puras colorway?

Bonus Q #2.  What is your favorite product on the site?

That’s it.  You can find all of the answers here.  The contest will end Tuesday at midnight.  I will select 3 people at random from correctly answered questions to win the prizes. 

My regular base yarn is back in stock.  I just finished up an order for One Planet, it should be up on my page very soon.  They will be the first store to have my regular merino superwash yarn back in stock, and they’ve ordered lots of gorgeous colorways!  I hope you will stop by and browse the wonderful things they have to offer.  What would make a better holiday gift for a knitter than yarn you can’t find anywhere else (ahem, hubby?  are you reading this )?  Their selection would also make perfect secret pal/yarn swap gifts.  Now go forth, buy lots of yarn and feel good that you are supporting a small, hard working business.  Those evil, filthy rich corporations have enough of our money!

The Thanksgiving constest winner is Sarah.  Sarah, I’ll be sending out your prize after Thanksgiving.  Thanks to everyone who left a comment.  I had fun reading your stories and thinking about all of that yummy food.

I mentioned that I’m on strike for holiday knitting right?  It’s true.  I woke up one morning in October and realized I didn’t want to do it this year.  Part of this feeling is no doubt influenced by the mountian of yarn in my basement waiting to be dyed, but it’s really more an issue with motivation.  I just don’t wanna.

So, I may not be making most of my gifts this year, but that’s no reason to buy a bunch of meaningless off the rack crap at Target.  I love the meaningless crap at Target as much as the next person,  but I feel like I can do a little better when it comes to gifts for my friends and family.  This year I’m buying most of my gifts from artisans and craftspeople.  If I’m not going to make that Christmas gift by hand then by golly someone is! 

I can’t think of a better place to shop for hand crafted goodies than etsy.  Etsy just had a major site upgrade.  There were some bugs at first, but most of those have been resolved or are in the process of being resolved.  The new site is so much easier to use!  Trust me, I’ve tested it out a few times already.  The shopping cart?  So awesome.  Over the next couple days I’m going to list my favorite etsy shops by category, and I’ll provide a little info about the seller if I’ve bought from them before.  Um, chances are that I have.  I’ll post pictures of some of my purchases too, so you can see how much they are being enjoyed.

Let’s kick this off with the stuff we’re all interested in.  Yarn.  There is some fabulous yarn on etsy.

 You’ve all heard about yarnpirate right?  Hehheh just checking ;).

My #1 favorite place to shop for yarn on etsy is at Cinnamon Stitches.  Angelina kettle dyes her yarn, and she produces the most amazing organic looking colorways.  The shifts between colors blend so beautifully!  I bought a skein of her yarn and I love it so much.  She’s a great seller too.  Super friendly and fast shipping.  What more could ya want?

Yarntini is another great place to shop for yarn.  Looks like her shop is empty right now, but keep checking back.  Jessie of Yarntini is great to work with.  Her yarn, besides being gorgeous, arrives beautifully packaged–just like you bought if from some fancy pants store.  It practically jumps on your needles and begs to be knit. 

If you’re looking for a manly perspective on hand dyed yarn, you chould check out Adam Knits.  Engineer by day, yarn dyer /knitter by night…you must check out his colorway “Printed Circuit Board“.  Perfect for any lovable computer nerds in your life with cold feet.

I’m becoming obsessed with hand spun yarn, so I also wanted to mention these shops:  Fresh Yarns, Ruby’s Daughter, and Hand Spun and Dyed too. I just received some yarn from HS&DT today and it’s really nice.  I can’t wait to cast on for some mittens with it.  You’ll have to forgive this terrible picture.  It really doesn’t do the yarn justice. 

For great knitting accessories be sure to check out these shops:  splityarn has the coolest stitch markers and I hear her needle cases are the best.  Woollybonbons sells some gorgeous spindles.  They have great customer service, and package everything so carefully.  I love my spindle, although I haven’t had time to play with it yet.

I’m sure there’s lots of other amazing yarn on etsy that I haven’t found yet.  Honestly, I don’t search etsy for yarn very often.  I’m too busy looking for jewelry.  Stay tuned for my favorite jewelry shops.  But just so you know, I’ll be mad if you buy all of my favorite stuff ;)!