Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Test balloon

I've been toying with the idea of opening my own etsy gift shop for a while and thought now might be a good time to send up a test balloon before baby comes and life gets too hectic. Besides, the distraction has been welcome these past few days with all of the unknowns surrounding this pregnancy (more on that later). And so I totally did it! Check out the new annypurls shop:


My first offering? Java Cuffs! I'm targeting the office accessory market! LOL!!! I'm having so much fun coming up with different patterns and ideas for these and just can't knit them fast enough. It's also a fantastic way to use up some stash so it's a win-win all around. I don't know if these will sell or not but I'm proud of them and think they're fun and fresh. I figure if no one snatches them up, the worse that can happen is that I'll have them ready to drop in stockings come next Christmas.

Setting up the etsy shop was pretty straightforward for anyone else out there who may be thinking of jumping on that bandwagon. The most frustrating part for me was coming up with a banner with respectable quality which was totally not happening with the software I had at my disposal.

Hubby even downloaded a trial version of Adobe Illustrator but it was soo not intuitive for me and after cursing at the computer for a good hour, I decided to cheat a litte. I took a photo of some nice scrapbooking paper (the blue banner background), opened it in our photo software and added text to it. Worked like a charm and I kind of like that it's simple but fresh.

By the way, scrapbooking paper is fantastic as a backdrop for photos too. I used one on the table and one propped up against a bottle of window cleaner that just happened to be laying around creating a mini-studio for photographing my finished cuffs. Too cool! (I hope it's not illegal...)

Then the most difficult part of the whole etsy thing is pricing. Seriously. It's hard because on the one hand I know how much time energy and care goes into creating something unique with your hands but I also have a limit on what I would personally be willing to spend on something. I had such a hard time with this.

I finally decided to let the market dictate the price. I checked out what other similar products were selling for on etsy and went with that. Now we just wait and see and try not to get too crazy checking up on my shop a zillion times a day.

Okay, now pretend I have a really clever segue to transition from going on and on about thermal sleeves to what's going on with my baby ;0)

I mentioned Monday that my doctor was concerned about my blood pressure which was borderline and asked me to go see her at the hospital on Tuesday since she was on duty in the delivery room all day and could take my BP again to help her decide what if anything to do about it. So, I expected this visit to take 10 minutes.

Instead, I lay on a hospital bed in the exact room where Julian was born (such an eerie feeling!) for 5 hours while a super nice nurse and my doctor took my blood pressure reading every half hour, monitored the baby's heart rate, and took a zillion samples to send to the lab and waited for the results. I had no reading material and NO KNITTING with me....for 5 hours!!! Now I know you feel my pain ;0)

The verdict: I have pregnancy induced hypertension...again! They started me on some meds and will be monitoring me weekly to determine when to induce. I am currently 32 weeks along and they're hoping to tough me out until week 34 and then we'll see about inducing labour sometime between weeks 34 and 38 depending on how well the meds are working and on my condition.

The good news is that the baby is actually HUGE! They estimate that he is already 4 and a half pounds and that if carried him to term he would weight 9lbs! My radiologist explained that if you lined up 100 average sized babies by order of weight, my lemondrop would be the 5th largest!!! Scary if you're actually looking at delivering at term but since I know that won't be the case, it's reassuring to know that he is already a good size.

Now I have to mentally prepare for the possibility that we'll have two little ones in as little as 2 weeks and at most 5 weeks.

I'm sooo not ready...

I haven't even cast-on for my delivery socks yet! Got to make me some nice comfy ones to cherish forever and ever!

35 comments:

  1. Those are very cute java cuffs. I saw that one has already been purchased! Good luck to you on both your new store and your baby!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:30 p.m.

    Good luck: with the baby and the baby etsy shop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:36 p.m.

    The very best of luck with the baby to you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's good news at the doctor...I was thinking they were going to tell you "twins"...happy Etsy shop opening!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! That's exciting baby news... not long now! Nothing like a deadline to get things moving along.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just bought one! They are great. I hope that your etsy shop succeeds. I also hope that all goes well with the baby.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:29 a.m.

    Love the java cuffs. Very cool designs!

    I hope that all goes well with your baby. Both of my boys were 9lbs, and I'm only 5'3" and was fine, so I'm sure that no matter how big your baby is, all will be well. =)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9:04 a.m.

    My son was 9 pounds, 11 ounces when he was born in the "traditional" way, with basically no drugs. Not fun.

    After he was born the nurse told me "Congratulations! You've just given birth to a 3-month-old!" And he lifted up his head and looked around the room.

    He was 1.5 hours overdue.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous9:28 a.m.

    Hi Anny, I have just started reading your blog and I love the things you knit. Any idea where I can find the Phildar magazine with the foxy pirate sweater? I have a 3 months old son and he would look so cute in that sweater (my husband loved it too).I went on the Phildar website, but could not find a way to order old magazines. Any suggestions? Good luck with your pregnancy. Thank you, Monica

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous9:51 a.m.

    Very, very good that he's already big...I was induced at 30 weeks, which was insane, because of course they had to do a c-section in the end. Way too early. My little one weighed 2 pounds 9 oz. :-) Best of luck keeping your little guy cooking for as long as he needs to.

    The java cuff idea is excellent! It does double duty of keeping your hands from burning plus keeping the coffee hot...a cup cozy, almost. Totally cool.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:04 a.m.

    Good luck, the java cuffs are cute, i just started reading your blog and was just wondering how far apart your little ones will be?

    Just remember 'This too shall pass' :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:44 a.m.

    I love those java cuffs. Are they your own pattern? Too cute! Great idea for the etsy shop. :)

    5 hours with no reading and no knitting! How awful! I gave birth to both my kids in the same room and it was an odd feeling as well. Very dejavu-ish. Keep your feet up and relax as much as possible. Your little guy needs to cook for awhile longer. {{hugs}}

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous12:02 p.m.

    Good luck with these next few weeks before the baby comes. I love your java cuffs and look forward to seeing some more fun items in your etsy shop. Oh, and I love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous12:07 p.m.

    Will be checking out the shop momentarily.

    A girl I work with had a 9-pounder in October. Can we say epidural? After that, she did well, but it took 21 hours to deliver. Hopefully, yours will go a little faster. Good luck!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous12:12 p.m.

    I love love love the Java Cuffs. Will you do custom?

    I've done a 9 (and 5 oz.!!) baby - NOT.FUN.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous2:32 p.m.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your shop looks fabulous. I've bookmarked it :-) Looking forward to seeing more of your fab knits.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anny,
    The reassuring thing about your lemondrops weight is that the placenta has been working properly and lemondrop has gotten good nutrition. That's excellent for a baby whose mother has PIH. Now for the fun side, your java cuffs are way cool! They fit a coffee cup just right. Good luck with the shop. Sorry you were captive for 5 hours without knitting!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous3:17 p.m.

    I just purchased one of your Java Cuffs ~ eager for it!

    Good luck with your pregnancy.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous3:58 p.m.

    I've had two pregnancies with PIH and feel your pain. I'm now expecting #4 and had never considered making some delivery socks as a keepsake. What a great idea!!

    Best wishes for your etsy shop. The java cuffs are too cute.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous5:51 p.m.

    My best wishes for you and yor baby! I love how well you multi-task. I hope to aspire to your level of productivity. And I love your etsy shop!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous5:59 p.m.

    Good luck with your new shop. I am sure it will go well. I cant believe that you will have a new baby in or after 14 days. I am sure that the time will go fast. I had a 9lb baby, and her delivery was the best and easiest. I told my partner afterwards I could have done that delivery 10 times compared to the first one. I never enjoyed being pregnant though, so it has it downsides. I wish you the best with your second bub's delivery, and hope that you can hold out an extra few weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Good luck with all the baby stuff! I was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes so I feel your pain...although you're much further along than I am. Plus, you've been through this before. Still, I wish you all the best! I also wanted to tell you that I love the cuffs, especially the laced-up one. It reminds me of a little tuxedo. Good luck with the shop!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous7:55 p.m.

    Congrats on your store! And take care of yourself and the wee one!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous7:57 p.m.

    Love the java bands. A 9 lbs baby isn't really that big, I had one. Not that having a baby no matter the size is easy, but 9 lbs is a nice size. Nothing wrong with it at all.
    I hope your little one stays put for you and they don't have to fiddle with you too much.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Best of luck with your etsy shop! Love the banner you made for it - how ingenious! I would never have thought to do something like that!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous9:56 a.m.

    Anny,
    I have a question for you...
    are you selling cuffs that you already have finished, or are you taking an order and then knitting up the cuff? Just wondered how you're handling it?

    I plan to get one of the cuffs for my sister-in-law. It seems much more fun to buy one from you than to make it myself! Hope this really works for you. I may use the site to sell some teddy bear sweaters.

    love,
    r

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous9:59 a.m.

    P.S.

    Elliot was 9lb 12oz. Keith was calling everyone after the delivery and telling them how much he weighed. I told him, "nevermind how much he weighed, tell them how big his head was!"

    love,
    r

    ReplyDelete
  29. You go and take care of yourself and Lemondrop, ok?

    My brother and his wife had a new baby 2 months ago...when their older daughter was 15 months. It's tough, but it's fun! You can do it :)

    (The java cuffs? Way cute.)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous1:27 p.m.

    Best of luck on the store ... and hang in there for the expected little one. Hope you can hold out as long as you can, because the closer to the due date the better it is for the baby. As long as your health isn't in jeopardy that is. My Mom said that her biggest baby was the easiest to deliver & her smallest was the toughest. She had eight (8) in all. Size & delivery didn't stop her, but the TEENAGER years did, LOL. My son was 8 lbs. Nothing to it. An 8 pounder is easy peasy!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous10:30 p.m.

    Holy cow! Your deram is slowly but surely coming true!!!

    I'm so happy for you Anny.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous9:47 a.m.

    Oh, I forgot to mention- about Illustrator. I took a course in Illustrator at Humber College and the teacher kind of sucked, but basically- I found it a very difficult program to learn. I still don't know how to use it even though I passed the course.

    I like what you've done, and I think that scrapbook paper backgrounds are great. You can download digital scrapbook paper too, which might be useful to you.

    Hope you're feeling good Anny. I can't wait to see your newborn baby!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I just stumbled along your blog the other day and have been enjoying catching up on your archives. Those baby sweaters you have made are so cute! I might just start stock piling baby sweaters till friends have babies, or I have some of my own! Look forward to reading all about the new little one!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous6:17 p.m.

    h this sounds familiar- at 29 weeks, I was put in the hospital (pregnancy induced hypertension), given a single room (no extra charge- doctor ordered). At 34 weeks, I had a new c section, a tiny baby, (she was a footling breech)(that means she tried to deliver her foot a few times) (ow)-and no reduction in bp. PLease have your bp checked after baby- lots and lots!

    ReplyDelete
  35. congrats on the new etsy and the pregnancy! I hope to knit like you one day..i just started out!

    ReplyDelete