I can officially say I know how to knit. So far I have only made a cotton dish cloth (and I’m not finished with it yet), but still, I know how to knit all the same.

Practice is the key here, I think, and before you and I know it, I’ll {hopefully} be knitting up a storm.

Here are some things I am dreaming of making:

A hat like this one

And a scarf like this one.

For Zan.

And for me.

Also, how adorable is this? I just can’t even.

Next Christmas, I’ll hopefully be making all my holiday gifts. At this point it seems I’m getting ahead of myself, but with enough practice I think I can start to make some magic. At least, I’m dreaming about it! There is so much pretty out there, I just want to make it all.

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I tried to teach myself via youtube, but that didn’t work in my favor, then my cousin Haley came to town and taught me how to knit and purl, but as soon as she left I forgot everything she taught me, so last weekend I finally decided to spend a little money to take an actual class.

Enter, Gather Here…

DREAMY!

The class (Knitting Basics) was awesome and completely worth the money ($45). It was just me and 4 other people, so it was really intimate and completely hands-on (obviously!). The instructor was super nice and adorable, and with the small number of students she was really able to walk around and help us as we needed it. It was two and a half hours, too, which seems really long but actually went by in a flash. I loved sitting around the knitting table chatting with the other beginning knitters, sipping on tea (they have it there for you to enjoy!) and working towards by goal.

Most of all, I love how good I feel about knitting now that I’ve taken the class. I feel more confident and now it’s just about a whole lot of practice.

Who knows, maybe next I’ll learn to sew?

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Do you knit? Did you have a hard time getting used to it? So far for me it’s still pretty laborious, but I dream of the day I can sit in front of the TV with my knitting needles working feverishly on a cozy project.

SOMEDAY!

I’ll be sure to post about my first real project (not my dish towel) as soon as I complete it. Wish me luck.

So, I’m going to do this.

I’m going to open an etsy shop and I’m going to do it soon.

I thought for about two seconds that I would first get the shop up and running before giving the details. You know, instead just tweet out that “I have exciting news coming!”, and build it up like “BIG SECRET REVEALED ON THE BLOG SOON!!”. But first off, I always think those suspense building tweets are annoying (JUST TELL ME ALREADY IT CAN’T BE THAT BIG A DEAL) and second, I just don’t work like that.

So I am here to tell you that I am about to open an etsy shop and I’m all kinds of excited/scared/hopeful/stressed/happy about it.

Get your browsers ready, people:

www.dearfriendshop.etsy.com

(Not open yet, but soon!)

Right now the shop is under construction. I’m still working out project designs and selling costs and all that exciting stuff, but when I do open I will be selling handmade greeting cards featuring the photography of… wait for it…. YOURS TRULY.

I will also be selling prints, if interested.

I’ve been really pleased with my photography captures this past year and enough people were encouraging me to think about selling my prints, and so I thought about it, and I’m taking the plunge.

I’m absolutely scared that nothing will sell. Or that people won’t love my stuff or they’ll think it’s unoriginal. But whatever. I’m working really hard right now to make good quality cards, with a little twist of personality and originality, using photos taken with love. And that’s really all I can do.

Pour my heart into it and make something people will {hopefully} want to buy.

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For the record, I would TOTALLY want to buy my cards if I saw them in a shop.

So I guess that’s got to mean something.

Right?

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Projected opening date: February 15, 2013

OMG.

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{background image artwork via here}

{read more about my 2013 goals here}