For those who want to know what a Crank-in is?

I posted a poll about Crank-ins.  I told you that after the poll was over which is now, that I would explain what they are for those of you who are curious.  A crank-in, is best described as a mini sock knitting conference.  A common place organized by someone who invites other crankers to come along and join them.  Crankers get together to SHARE and to LEARN and make valued, and even ever lasting CSM friendships!  The crank-ins can be very large, or very small or something or everything in between.  To be honest, MrB and I have not attended one yet but we have two on our list to go to this year!  One in June to Belfast, Maine and one to Port Elgin Ontario in October!  Right now in heart would like to be getting ready to go to Missouri this weekend but that one is not in the cards for us this year.  It is on our bucket list to do though, some year maybe 2014 and beyond!  MrB has some things he is dying to find out from others at the June crank-in, to run some things by others and converse how do you do this, what do you like best, do you sugges this or that?  You can only learn so much by the online groups and virtual self-educating, that it is a such a worth while and valuable tool to have some face-to-face contact too with other CSMers.  There are not an abundance of CSMers in Atlantic Canada so it is very nice to have joined a group which also includes the New England States.  We are so looking forward to our scheduled crank-ins for this year.  The hardest part is finding out where all the crank-ins are, and taking place and when?  That's what a great part of job entails, I like doing it, and MrB would rather crank out socks and follow me, as I am the planner!  I even made myself a crank-in T-shirt to wear attending the crank-ins this year.  I dug out my fabric paint and wrote my name on it. My real name and my ravelry name too!  While MrB is learning, I am going to be networking and meeting and talking to people and in Maine I want to meet the animals and see the mill and tour the soap making and do all the fun stuff!  Evenings will be our own time, and I can not wait to sit around and chat with others maybe sip on some wine and just have a grand ole time.  Some of my Cranker friends are enroute now to a large crank-in in Missouri, and they visit the manufacture of the whom made our CSM, how luck is that?  I wish them all the best of luck, travelling. learning and socializing too!  I am envious, but  hope to hear all about it after the fact.  I am sure there will be stories and new things that others are bound to share over on the EGKC group.  I am excited for all who are attending that upcoming crank-in and more!  

Now I am off to put on my thinking cap and come up with another poll idea.....
Take care all,
msb from Socks Made On 88

s'more socks!

Some more socks all done...it was a Sunday socky sort of  day, today!

Milestone reached 50+

We have reached a milestone in which MrB has successfully created 50 pairs of socks for sale, and cranking on more as I type this update.  We are still working out krinks and wrinkles but all in all our little venture is going oh so very well! I think most of the trying things are now in the past and we both are forging forward with what we have learnt so far putting it to use to better our production.  We are looking forward to our next market on April 21st.  Hats off to MrB, he is doing a great job! I would say he has a pretty darn good assistant too....hahaha, that's a few kudos to me too! We make a good team, it's the team from Socks Made On 88, that says, "Our Socks are Hugs for your Feet!"

msb from Socks Made On 88

More Men's for next Market!

More Men's socks in shades of blues and greys ready for the next market! But for now, they lay here drying by the wood fire after me, msb has hand washed them with care to see that the dye has set and does not run. Also to do a final check once dried to see if the socks are the sizes made appropriately to our desire! These ones look like a go, a Men's size 10 and a Men's size 9 to add to the collection.

March 22, 2012 Lovely Day in the Neighbourhood!

All the pairs have now been completed!  Tea finished and a blast of sunshine and chirping before heading out for a Salt Marsh Trail walk. 

6 more pairs all set ready to go ......complete!

Ready for our next market.....some smaller sizes for women and men too!  More to be cranked out in coming weeks also, in  between our spring walks and yard preps and whatever else seems to be taking our distractions away from the constant work of sock making!

A Taste of Spring

It was 17C before noon yesterday and it is 17 just after 9 am today!  How incredible is that weather?  I have made an peppermint herbal tea and I am going to sit out on the deck for the first time this spring, and stitch the toes together ( Kitchener) of the remaining socks I have to do to catch up to MrB.  I have one mate and a pair yet to do.  Then I should have a group photo to attach here later today!  Now to go enjoy the morning air, the birds chirping, and the feel the sunshine beaming on me as I sip and sew!  What a great early taste of spring!  Enjoy your morning too!

msb from Socks Made On 88

First Day of Spring

It was the first day of Spring today!  I can tell Spring is here, there are so many other things on the go and just not sock stuff.  Back to walking, and we did a wonderful woods walk on Monday at a farm operation of producing Maple Syrup.  How cool it was, sold some socks for cash and maple syrup.  I would put a plug in for his farm, but I tend not to mention names here at my blog.  If he is reading he knows who he is, and thanks.  MrB knitted a little bit today.  I have 5 pairs of socks that were waiting for me to kitchener today, and I only got one pair and one sock done this evening.  The good thing is that they are not going anywhere and will still be there waiting for me again tomorrow.  And now it is soon the strike of midnight and I must retire for the day.  Catch you all again real soon.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Happy Hump Day~ Wednesday

MrB and I have taken a couple days off and just getting back into sock stuff this evening.  We have been concentrating on our spring cleaning, and other things this week.  Still have more cleaning to do, errands and such but we are dabbling in sock updates and sock making as I type this note.  I usually have lots to say and to report but things have been quite quiet.  I hear the cranking sound now so I am guessing by tomorrow morning I will have some toes to graft.  For something I hated doing at first, I now look forward to doing and miss when I don't have some on the go.  MrB is working on producing some smaller sized socks.  After attending our market, we realized the need for size 5-6 women's pairs, and also some size 9 men's. We should be able to tend to our cleaning again tomorrow as we are to get a dumping of March Break snow tonight and into Thursday. We may have to break out the shovels which has not been a common occurrence this winter.  So tomorrow you can think of us with cleaning, snow, shovels, and sock stuff too if we can work it all in our blustery day. Hope everyone had a happy hump day and that you all have a wonderful evening.

msb from Socks Made On 88

Just to let you know

New poll up, in case you did not notice, thought I would let you know, as I had a good response from the last one.  I was told it was fun, so let's try another one!

And for those of you who may be reading my blog and have no friggin' idea of what a crank-in is, then please admit to that in the poll. After the poll has been completed, I will explain what it is.


I think MrB and I are taking tomorrow off, so the beginning of this week may be slower with blog enteries.  But I will be back soon enough...just watch for me.


msb Socks Made On 88

Brain wave for next market

So as you know we had our very first market today.  Ever since we got home, my brain has been in overdrive!!  Oh, I know you are thinking, again?  Well when we were there I observed that kids especially young girls with their moms, aunts or grandmothers like to buy something.  We had nothing small to buy, so on went my thinking cap.  I knew MrB had a small piece/string of i-cord he made as his first project.  I snapped it up and asked him if he was saving it or could I please experiment with it, and off I went, thread and a small piece of left-over felt and a brotch type pin that robbed from my jewelry box.  Tada this is what I came up with, and I call it my i-cord sock- flower!  I put it up to a couple of pairs of socks and it looked awesome.  Another unique thing I think is only to have one per pair even more odder like a rebel like me would think.  Since they have a pin on them they could also be attached to your sweater, coat, head band or anything else just to add a little bit of colour and funk!  Now, it will be my mission to make a couple for our next market.  I am so proud of myself coming up with this little nifty idea that I just had to share it with you.  Here is my little i-cord sock- flower pinned on to a sock, and  hope you just love it as much as I do!

msb Socks Made On 88

 

Market Experience was good!

Brigadier all set up in his glory ready to get his show on the road.....

msb was proud of the display she captured and the arrangement of things worked out very well!

Our very first market experience was good!  It was good in so many ways... the exposure for MrB and Brigadier, and the exposure for us selling as it is a very new concept for us, talking with people, and seeing their interest captured in just stopping by to see the machine working and cranking and to hear all about it. We even had an elderly lady come by and tell us of when she was a young girl of how her family had one (a CSM) and she had knitted on it a couple times. Many passersby touched the socks and liked the feel of them, some asked if we would be coming back. And we also found out that there is a demand for smaller sized woman's and men's socks too. I had one lady say to me that she has a friend that knits hand-knitted socks, but that our socks looked so much nicer!  Many people comments on the bright colours we had, and lots liked the earthy tones we had also.  I was glad we had colours catering to separate groups of admirers.  We put ourselves on the market list to return for a couple months.  Also got a special request order and what really made my morning was that we achieved the objective or met our goal of expected sales for the day. We were so very pleased! We got lots of compliments on the knee highs and was a good attraction too to draw people to our table besides Brigadier himself of course.  We did have a good time too....it was fun!  I wanted to report back here just for a special person so that she could see, YES we did have FUN!  I took a couple of photos of Brigadier all set up and also of our table of socks.  This was a memorable first round to get our feet wet.  The people running the market where all very welcoming and it felt very comfortable there for us. We were among a few new crafters appearing this time.  They too were also very friendly.  We spent 5 hours there, with an hour to set up.  The time went by very quickly so that too is a good first indication that we can do this.  Now we will sit back and ponder on a few things we can do differently, or things to do to improve upon, like more variation of  what sizes we have for next month. We are also going to focus on adding one new surprise item to our table.  I think this item will sell nicely, and add a little less expense to the people interested in making a small purchase. So all in all today, a good morning early afternoon, good enough that we want to and will return!  What more can we ask for?  It may be nice to have another place for exposure too, if we could get out twice a month but we have to investigate into that further.  For now we are very happy just to know we have a place to go in our leisure and pursue selling SOCKS MADE ON 88!  There are two smiling faces and hearts at the household, just being able to  accomplish our goal set out for today. And next time, next month,  we will do it all over again!  A special thank you to my friend Sandy for inviting us!


msb from Socks Made On 88

Off to Market tomorrow

Well here we are, Friday night, the night before the big day, our very first market.  We have all our things ready to go.  I have checked my list more than once and counted the pairs of socks more than once also.  I think I have a little bit of nervous jitters setting in as my stomach is not feeling up to par.  But I know from experience once tomorrow comes I will be just fine!  And do you believe it, we will have to set the alarm clock and that is real rarity in this household since retirement for us in June of 2010.  This will be the 4th time to set the alarm! We have absolutely no idea of what our expectations should be or will be for tomorrow.  This is truly a new notch to put on our learning curve of our new adventure.  All and all, and above all I, hope that the two of us will have some fun and enjoy our time amongst other fellow crafters selling their products.  Surely to goodness, there will be that one customer to buy a pair of socks!  If we sell one lone pair we will be so very happy, as that will give us the incentive to do it again next month in April!  It is going to be a quiet night, soon going to watch a movie, no sock stuff this evening, and then rise and shine with the birds and away we go.....off to market! Wish us luck!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Mens socks with a little bit of bling!

MrB's latest pair of socks that were cranked today.  They offer up a little bit of bling for that young upclass guy that is going out for appointments, or off to work.Keys check, umbrella check, wallet , check, coins, check,  a little bit of leg bling, check, to introduce in the men's fashion world .....in that guy's world who is still a little hesitant of wearing leg bling and showing them off.  After this pair he may even bet more daring and really add some more colour and more BLING.  Why not?


msb from Socks Made On 88

Neon Knee Highs

These pretty much speak for themselves.  They are so cool, so unique!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Fashion Socks, Leg Bling for Men!

I started our spring cleaning today.  While doing so scrubbing away in the kitchen, and pulling every thing out the cupboards, I decided to turn on my local CBC Radio channel.
Little did I know a small segment was going to be about Fashion Socks, Leg Bling for Men!
It was very interesting hearing the trend in Canada for men to wear brightly coloured striped socks.  They spoke to one gentleman who was lawyer and he said that his feet felt really good and when he walked down the street just knowing that he had his Bling socks on that he too felt better and that they enhanced his day and his evenings as well out dancing.  It certainly was interesting to hear this story, on the very brink of us getting ready to go off to market on the weekend.  This is good news for us that the sock fashions will be increasing and going in the direction we too are headed, making our CSM socks.  If this trend has caught on already here or does take a leap, this would be really good for our market sales.
Listening to the radio show put a smile on our faces, MrB and mine,  and it was great to imagine how this will fit into our little niche adventure of ours. Gives us hope that our adventure will take off soon... I am going to be watching and looking for all those men who are wearing Leg Bling!  We will just call ours, a little extra Hug Bling for your Feet!  As our sock signature is "Our Socks are Hugs for your Feet!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Count-down to first market!

Tis Monday today and the now the countdown is on till our very first market which we will be participating in, is on Saturday, March 10, 2012.  We are excited!  We are nervous!  We do not know what to expect although our expectations are not high, it is the experience itself that we need.....to get that first one, under our belt so to speak!

I have been making a list and checking it twice.  Bags was on my list and I mentioned this to MrB.  He comes up with very good ideas when sometimes I am at a loss.  He suggested paper bags, and then my mind got in gear.  I dug out a package of brown paper bags that had been purchased to have in the house for the odd packed lunch when needed for outings.  I put one out on my craft table and I looked at it.  I stared at it for a moment and then I though to myself, ok simple, and yes I like it but it just needs something a little bit more, but what?  I then, started rifling through my scrapbooking stamps and knew I would like to use one of my thank- you stamps. I tried my thank-you stamps and then though umm what else do I have to put with it.  I thought I may have a sock stamp, but nope, no luck just a shoe stamp.  I didn't want to use the shoe stamp so continued to look through my collection and found a ball of yarn stamp.  Ok yes that is the one I will use!  I gave it a try and thought yes that is perfect still simple but good.  So here it is, a picture of the bag I created, and I am going to share it with you now. Oh my,   5 days til market!

Test Tubes

Ok I can honestly say that I do not love these socks.  I am the one who convinced MrB to crank -out a pair of tube socks.  I thought we should have one pair for market in case there is that one person who desperately wants a pair of socks and we don't have their size. They just have to put a smile on your face, they are so ugly, oh my, yup I actually said that!  I remember when my two boys were growing up how they both loved their tube socks ......they were great athletes in many sports and the tube socks went to many a hockey game, basketball game, soccer game, martial arts and riding lessons, biking riding, road hockey, skating, sledding, fishing you name it, they went along too.  Maybe someone will like these just for the nostalgia of again owning another pair of modern tube socks?  It will not hurt our feelings if one one buys them :-).  They will just be unravelled and made into a brand new pair...the conveniences of yarn to be used all over again.  I call them test tubes because it was just a test, msb, just had to see a pair!  OK I see you smiling too!

msb from Socks Made On 88

Soap Sack

This is MrB's prototype of a future soap sack!  This one was made as an experiment to try in our own shower to see what needs to be adjusted and how it stands up being used a face cloth also.  I think it is cute!  And it can be useful too!  We want to find some white or natural wool to make some more. They will make nice little inexpensive gift ideas for us to give away to our family and also to sell at the market.  You always see vendors selling soap at the market....so why not a sack to go with it. And everyone, I mean everyone uses SOAP!

msb from Socks Made On 88