ElleGanT

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the Etsy Knitters "Winter Warmers" Team Challenge is this fantastic baby hat by Ellen of Dream Knits by Ellen. A very worthy winner and best-seller (kindly modelled by customer Allison's son Garrett).

Ellen is an expert knitter with a lifetime of experience that is reflected in her beautiful knits and I hope you enjoy getting to know her.

My name is Ellen.
I was born in Ukraine and moved to United States 17 years ago.
I have a daughter, two sons and two precious grandchildren.

I discovered knitting when I was six years old. If I could, I would knit 24/7. I knit everything, starting with a sweater with complicated patterns and ending with infant baby shoes.

I come up with the ideas as I knit. I only know what I am about to make, a hat or a pair of mittens and the ideas for the details just come pouring in. I record new pattern when the item is almost ready. It's a labor of love.

I always wanted to have my own serene and cozy knitting cafe. Then I discovered ETSY. My whole family put lots of effort to make my ETSY store the way you see it now.

I am very thankful to my customers, who kindly share pictures of their children wearing my creations. Here is my customer Angie's daughter Luna modelling my "Moose" hat. My customers are also a source of the ideas. I use mostly good quality cashmere and wool occasionally for my products.

My personal favorites are the "Owl" hat and the "Valentine's Day Glove". My "Valentine's Day Glove" was featured in "BUST" magazine FEBRUARY/MARCH issue 2010.

My bestseller is the "Mouse" hat that won me ETSY KNITTERS TEAM Challenge.

I wanted to say very special "Thank you" to Allison, Meghan and Angie for providing pictures of their children.

I love being a part of ETSY and member of ETSYKNITTERS TEAM. I met so many wonderful people here.

My major reward as an artisan is to know that my customers love and enjoy to wear my creations.

Featuring Knitters on Blogs

The High Plains Knitter has started a new series on her blog featuring Etsy knitters and crocheters.

Her most recent post features an Etsy Knitters Team member: Elena of Passion Knits.
"I think the name of her shop tells a lot about Elena. She has a passion for knitting and for fiber. Her shop is full of bright, gorgeous, creative items that just make you want to reach into the computer and touch them", says The High Plains Knitter.
To read the full story, please go here.

If you would like to have your Etsy store featured on The High Plains Knitter's blog, please contact her directly.

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Additionally, Beverly of DesignBCB is actively looking for Etsy sellers that would like to be interviewed for Handmade News.org. Beverly is a columnist for the online magazine.

If you are interested, please contact Beverly via the Etsy forum thread she set up or via a direct Etsy email.

Beaded Knitting??? Talk about beautiful!

Knitting with beads? Or knitted items with beading embellishment. Either way, it's all gorgeous!

This weeks theme- Knitting with Beads, led me to find some beautiful beaded wedding items from our great team members participating the I DO 2008 Wedding Challenge.

First is this gorgeous blue beaded garter from Knotty Stuff.

Hooked out of soft mohair & sparkly novelty yarn and trimmed in a sky blue cotton blend. It features a corded elastic woven into the top of the garter so it stays in place! Glass beads are crocheted into the flower centers. It's very dainty and Knotty Stuff accepts custom orders for other colors.








Continuing with wedding garters, here is a knitted garter with festive violet butterflies featuring freshwater pearls by Bubolina. Hand knit in cotton, Bubolina also offers this garter with blue butterflies, as the wedding 'something blue' item.







Perfect for a night out on the town, or I think even as a bag for the wedding night or honeymoon, this little bag by Hand Mades by Lori, is handknitted 100% cotton bag/purse is 9 cm or 3-1/2 inches square in stocking stitch and finished with lace and pearl beads. It has a little picot edging with a loop over a pearl bead to close.

Every bride needs to carry her essentials...






While these fun foot thongs are silver, they look perfect for a beach wedding! They are perfect for going barefoot while it looks like you're wearing flip flops.

Crocheted in metallic silver yarn by A Needle in the Haystack, they feature tourquoise beads around the ankle.


Let's see what the week holds for knitting with beads. Stay tuned for more fabulous features!

Summer Fun Wear...

A new week, a new theme... This week: "Summer Fun Wear", bringing you various designs from the Etsy Knitters Street Team to wear for summer.

What prompted this week's theme? Well, last week I finished a new pattern for a Corset-Laced Halter Top for summer and I posted it in my etsy shop: Fuzzy Bunny Knits . It's been so popular! Everyone is looking forward to summer and getting ready for their summer wardrobe. This pattern is so easy you can make one in every color and have an entire wardrobe!

Here it is:
What have the other Etsy Knitters been up to?? Well.. they have some fabulous options for summer as well.

Fiberworks is offering this delicate, Taupe Lace Scarf, knit in 100% baby alpaca. It would be lovely wrapped as a big bow or draped to show off the lace work and would work well dressed up for business with a suit or draped over a cocktail dress for evening. Isn't it gorgeous?


And Lindercella has created this Hot Pink Summer Wave Scarf that is just amazing! 60" long in 100% acrylic, this summer weight scarf is perfect for day or night time wear.


And what about these cute little wrist warmers perfect for spring and summer? Hand knit in a very soft silk/wool blend yarn hand dyed by Norske.


To finish with some fun... I couldn't resist including these great knitters "Knit Love" notecards by LocalGringos. I own a set of these notecards and I absolutely love them! From her "kNotes for kNitters© series of collages", ruminations on the theme of kNitting in particular, and Fiber Arts in general, a profession of "Knit Love".

These notecards are a collage design, hand & digitally colored, and are the third in LocalGringos' series honoring knitters past, craft connected-ness, and the Art of Knitting "handed" down from one pair of hands to the next. You've got to love them!!


Well, that's my offerings for today... I look forward to seeing what other fabulous Summer Fun Wear is posted throughout the week! Happy Knitting!

We have a Winner!

The Banner Poll has ended and we have a winner: the Yarn Basket banner.

The votes were running close for a bit...

Now you'll see the blog go through a few more changes. Now that we have a 'look' that we've decided on, we will build the blog from there. Watch us over the next few weeks to see!

Running Neck and Neck...

Only 2 days left to vote!!!

And the we still have a tie... between "Yarn Basket" and "Stockinette" banners.

If you haven't taken time to vote, please do! Voting ends on Friday, 25th and the winner will be announced on Saturday.

Gardening on the mind...

This week's theme, chosen by Knitted Gems, is "Garden." What a perfect theme for the weather we are having here in Maine this week! We are finally seeing the last few piles of snow melt off and we even experienced a 75 degree day this past week. Such a relief from the difficult winter we had!

I've been looking at my small flower bed, thinking how much it needs my attention. When I spotted this item "The Vegetable Garden Hip Pouch" from The Spinning Hand, I thought, "What a great idea!"

"This is one of my first designs, from when I was still mainly a cross-stitcher and had just begun to discover the possibilities of knitting. A good, strong yarn in garter stitch lends itself well to embroidery, especially in earthy tones of Paternayan wool. A young lady might decide to use this bag as a carrying case for Peter Rabbit or the Velveteen Rabbit. It’s also fresh enough for those of us who are a wee bit older than that." ~ the Spinning Hand

She learned to knit in 2001, from her great-aunt, but didn't learn to purl until 2003! Since then she's been quite addicted to knitting. You can tell from all the beautiful items in her shop that she has certainly learned her craft. Take a moment to visit The Spinning Hand !

New Week, New Theme...

Monday Madness is upon us and we're launching a new format and new look here at the Etsy Knitters Street Team blog. Each week you will see several posts geared toward a specific theme set for that week. Each author will highlight items from various Etsy knitter team members.

Launching the new look, there are new banners to choose from. Throughout this week, I will be posting the different banners as the header of the blog. On Friday, we will ask the members to vote for their favorite new look. So, please check back each day to see a new banner and on Friday to vote in the poll.

Today's new look is Banner #1 - The Yarn Basket

Now, moving on to this week's theme -- Fuzzy Bunnies for SPRING !!!

I hopped along the bunny trail, looking for various bunnies to share with you... all week we will have bunny stories, bunny knits, new colors for spring looks and more...

Here are the fabulous new bunnies I chose to showcase today:

(Having Etsy mini difficulties-- I'm working on it)

From right to left:

1. Sassy the Bunny Crochet Pattern PDF by Sherri Crochets
2. Fingerpuppet Rabbit by The Nutty Knitter
3. Crochet Amigurumi Easter Bunny with egg by PSBBdesigns
4. Fairy Moss Scarf by Knitting Bag
5. Easter Bunny Pattern PDF by Knittingmette
6. Egg hats by Norske

Please take a moment to check out these bunnies and bunny inspiring items...

And don't forget to stop in each day to keep up with bunnies and spring and our Banner poll...

Three Cheers For Our New Mod!

I am very pleased to announce our new group moderator Thanita (a.k.a OneHappyTree)! She is very enthusiastic about getting EtsyKNITS off the ground and is a wonderful asset to our group. Welcome aboard OneHappyTree!

EtsyKNITS Street Team

We're just in the beginning stages of creating an Etsy Street Team exclusively for knitters!
Whether you're just starting out, you're a seasoned pro, or anywhere in between, we'd love to have you join us. EtsyKNITS is open to hand and machine knitters alike. We are a global team so it doesn't matter where you live, you can join in the fun.
Pop by our yahoo group, EtsyKNITS, and join in the discussion.
Please be sure to include your Etsy store address when applying for membership.