Holiday Craft Market/show tomorrow

We are participating in a Holiday Craft Market Show tomorrow at a school in Halifax!  We do not know what to expect, but as always we are both looking forward to the experience.  It is not too early of a morning so that is good, and goes longer into the afternoon than we are used to.  I am sure that we will be pooped at the end of the day.  Hoping it is a successful sales day and that we have fun too!

MsB from Socks Made On 88

Another OOAK :-)

Another One of a Kind :-) These are a women's size 7! They won't fit me, but how about you?

We have another pair very similiar to these shown above also.  They are a Women's size 9. I did not take a picture of them but they will be added to the inventory of pictures of available sock pairs on our website.

Msb from Socks Made On 88

No Socks but Sweets instead!

Today I am not doing much socks stuff!
But what I am doing is making these, and some sugar cookies too.
You are probably wondering, wow, she (MsB) never posts much 
things other than sock updates.  Well it is quickly approaching the festive time of year and I am not only MsB of Socks Made On 88, but I am also someone who does other things as well.  Today I am baking!  These are traditional treats of MrB's family at Christmastime.
They are called Mocha Cakes, and I am not such why....they should be called Almond Balls in my opinion but who am I to ague with family history.  I am also making sugar cookies that is from my family tradition.  I already made 6 dozen but need more.  The others are for family members in their Christmas packages.  

Now speaking of cookies and putting them in Christmas Gift packages, I bet you can guess what else is in those parcels too?  I dont have to give you many clues, do I?  This act of giving will continue also as a tradition I am sure, as the years go on....  This act was very much a staple in MrB's family gift giving from his mother,  and that act of having wool socks and getting them Christmas will now do a full circle!  What better gifts to get in my opinion are the homemade ones, socks and cookies, where can you go wrong?

So I am sitting here thinking, and I can recollect that I never as a child got wool socks for Christmas, ever!  I wonder why that was because I certainly did live in a climate, in Western Canada where I could have used them.  You don't want to know how many times I froze my toes out in -30 degrees celius weather outdoors skating on the ice covered dug outs, then come indoors and unflaw my feet over the heat register.  Perhaps having wool socks would have helped, perhaps they would not have, regardless I still would have gone and we will never know for sure now.  This MsB will not be skating any time again soon!

So I have taken a break from baking,and now I have to get back at it doing a batch of sugar cookies, and I promise that I will do some work on Socks Made On 88 too, as I mentioned before I do have to tag the socks that posted pictures of earlier. MrB did some cranking earlier so you know what that means? 

MsB from Socks Made On 88

OH OH OOAK!!!

These are our most recent One Of A Kinds!
I know you might get tired of me saying I love them!
But I do LOVE them so much!  OOAK's have to be my MOST favourites!  MrB says MsB you say you like all the socks!!! 
And I say, Yes that is true, but I can honestly say there are a few that I do not like.  So to MrB I did disclose the ones I do not like.  But guess what?  I will not be telling you Hahaha!  But I promise if he makes a pair in the future I do not like, I will tell you :-)  Now of these two pair shown above can I tell you which one is my favourite and that is the pair, sitting to the right, and that is only because I am not a pale pink fan.  There is something about the cuff on the other ones that dont do it for me, but then again if someone gave them to me I would wear them but the other pair would definitely be higher on my list if I had the choice to choose one over the other! OOAK's are ultimately MsB's favourite in general!  They are not for everyone but they are certainly proving to be great sellers for a lot of our customers, and that is why we continue to make them.  They are a little bit more work for MrB to do, but we feel good having them being semi eco-friendly also!  And how can you not feel good putting on a bright bouncy pair of socks like the ones showen here!  I would be Tigger wearing them, and some days it doesn't take much for me!  Our Socks are Hugs for your feet, so if they make you Smile and Bounce too, that is superb!

MsB from Socks Made On 88

Socks for Show and Sell!

MrB has been cranking away....we needed some more socks for the Show we are doing this upcoming Saturday and also for another show in December and a market just before Christmas.  We need to add to our Women's size 9 collection.  So here are two recently completed that will be tagged today ready for Saturday... Show and Sell..that will be the name of the game!  I like those words instead of Show and Tell, it will be Show and Sell for us! 



MsB from Socks Made On 88

Put in some hours today, MrB and MsB

Today is November 25th! One month left till Christmas!
Well I told you we had a great market yesterday.....best one ever!
Then I get home and I do another inventory, get all my notes in order, make a list of things I/we should this week, before you have a show to go to on Saturday.  It took the majority of the afternoon to fill out the forms again for the market for the 2013 upcoming year.  MrB and I got that all organized and decided upon and asked questions too.  Then we printed out some more business cards.  We had purchased more paper, ink, and have a new printer so we will use what cardstock we have before I take the plunge and order some printed cards from vistaprint, as per more than one recommendations.  I some other tasks too working on stuff for Socks Made On 88 always trying to improve how things run and how I want things best for me for the things I take of after market and such. It's the day after and I still tend to reflect....I had a customer tell me yesterday at the market that she really like our display.  I know making a few minor changes and adding the basket has made a nicer visual display.  I got this selling thing now down pat, and I am so enjoying the constant interactions with the potential customers. It is like day and night since we started selling our socks in March 2012.  It used to be stressful and not so much fun, but now I look forward to each and every time.  But don't read too much into that, as I nor do we want to do this sort of thing every single Saturday or weekend.  We were talking about this with a new vendor yesterday and we said we don't want a full time job and this is not our livelihood income!  

   We went through all our bags of left-over yarn and I sorted them and got MrB rolling on his way, cranking out One of a Kind socks for the next Christmas Craft Show.  We don't want to use up all our good yarn just yet, as we have this show, another show and another market before Christmas.  It is our intentions to see how all the socks sell that we have now and then order more yarn in the New Year.  MrB got a pair of OOAK socks cranked out, and now tomorrow morning or perhaps even later this evening I have 3 pairs of socks to kitchener!  Just not sure if I am in the mood tonight, so I think I may leave them until tomorrow.  No rush...so tomorrow I think it will be! I am pretty sure that  MrB will have a couple more pairs coming my way this week too!  I will  just keep a steady pace.

I think I have one more little task to do today/this evening for Socks Made On 88....and that is to print off some sock tags.   That is easy, and enjoy the cutting part is relaxing to me.

No doubt I will be here again before weeks end.  Be watching for me, I should have some more sock pictures to post too!

MsB from Socks Made On 88  

WOWSERS!!!!

What a great Market we had today!
WOWSERS!
Sold lots of socks, great compliments, some custom orders, and my list could go on and on but MrB is chopping at the bit to watch a movie as we have put in more than a good 13 hours day today PLUS!  I need some wine and relaxation now.....so I will catch up again tomorrow if I have more to add.  Have a great weekend everyone. Be blabbing at you again real soon.

MsB from Socks Made On 88  

Market today, poll closed!

Howdy Folks, here to tell you that the poll just closed, about which of the 3 Women's socks sold first.  Well there was only 5 votes, 1 for the nautical ones, and 2 for the Rosewood Garden ones and 2 for the Funky Bright coloured ones. 

It could have been a close tie but .......
The Funky ones were asked to be put aside but the customer did not come back to pay for them so they are not consider sold.  Then I did sell another pair, so they are the first ones sold and they were the Nautical ones.  A little story about them ......MrB knit them at lower and looser tension and that made them very stretchable so they were able to be sold to a young lady who has a size 10 foot!  I am so happy for her as we did not have any size women's 10 socks available to her.  And after she bought them we had another request for another size 10 1/2 women's so we are do a custom order for her.

So only you know who voted for the Nautical pair of socks, and you were correct!  Yay for you who ever you are!

I have an idea for a new poll for sometime next week before our our Christmas Craft show on Saturday coming up.  Stay tuned...Thanks for your participation.

MsB from Socks Made On 88   

More Mens socks for Market!

Here are some size 11 men's socks all ready for market for tomorrow!
We try to have 2 size 11's and 2 size 12's on hand, and then when one sells we replace it.  We had sold one last market so this is the replacement this time around.   

 


So speaking of MARKET I must get all my market to-do's in order today.  I look forward to our markets, as we usually have a pretty great day selling and talking to people.  Wondering if we will notice if it is any busier, now that it is closer to Christmas? 

MsB from Socks Made On 88

This week, this and that!

THIS

It has a been a this and that week!  I have to admit I did not work on Socks Made On 88 too much this week.  Sort of took a bit of a break ...but then again MrB and I did work on a little one of a kind project early in the week.  I think this pair is so very cool.  It's a conservative pair made from left overs and I am really telling you ....if they don't sell by the New Year, they are MINE! I love love them!

I have socks to kitchener tomorrow, and we have market bright and early Saturday morning.  I will be in Socks Made On 88 mode tomorrow!

So what have I been doing the rest of the week, are you a little bit curious?  This is a little passion hobby of mine.  My 15th Felt Stocking just finished this evening!  I go from socks to stockings!   I will even give you all a sneak peak.  Are you Nautical or Nice?   MsB from Socks Made On 88

and THAT!

Lace Socks

Lace socks that MrB made perfecting and practicing what he learned from Jenny at the Ontario Crank-in!  Aren't they pretty?

A new Poll is up today!

A new poll has been created and posted today, November 14th, 2012.
It will run until at least after our next market which is November 24th, 2012.
If the first pair of size 9's do not sell it will be continued until the first pair sells.  Also if we have more size 9's to add they will be added in the next few days.  So far the choices are:
#1 Nautical
#2 Rosewood Garden
#3 Funky and Hip
I will add mutiple option to vote in case you vote once and then want to vote again if more sock colours have been added.

Please note these are the names I have given these partical socks for the poll purpose only!
Thanks

MsB from Socks Made On 88    

MrB has been busy....9's

MrB has been busy, I have just not been here to report!
Also he has been working on some things I can not disclose, as it is that time of year approaching very quickly.  We ran out of women's size 9 socks, so some had to be done to added into the inventory for our next market. Here are 3 pairs with more to come, I do believe.  You can see that I have some work to do this afternoon.  I like to show some socks not yet kitchernered just to remind you that I do get a hand in the sock making process as well.  But it is MrB who does all the important cranking!  The hardest part is trying to mind-read, what colours will sell the best in certain sizes???  We got funky and bright, we got a little more conservative with more muted colours, and we got what I call nautical colours that pretty much goes with anything.  Which will be the ones to sell first?

MsB from Socks Made On 88

One Year Ago Today!

It was one year ago today that MrB took the plunge and ordered a brand spankin' new Circular Sock Machine from Erlbacher Gearhart Knitting Machine Company in Cape Girardeau, Missouri!  What a ride we have been on since.  First the waiting, then the arrival and then the learning curve for MrB and the art of sock making and the all the research and things I have learned also.  If it hadn't been for the fact that I didn't even know what a CSM was, I wouldn't have even indulged into the searching of so many things Fibre related!  Geesh I didn't even know what Fibre was, and now I own a button that says, Get your Daily dose of Fibre!  Fibre meaning Yarn!!!  I look back and I can not believe how friggin' fast that time has gone by.  It is like when you look back in your memory bank of your kids growing up. 

Last year at this time my oldest son also happened to be living with us, and he moved out the day before our Erl arrived.  He went on his merry way on his adventure and us on ours!  So 2012 was a quite a year for us and for him also.  He met his girl friend, moved to Toronto and turned 30!  I would say 2012 has been a very memorable year, a very good year.  Does one good to reflect now and again and that is what we tend to do nearing the years end for sure. I am not going to talk too much about the year ending yet for us and Socks Made on 88 as we still have a couple more monumental dates to surpass.

So back to one year ago today, November 14, 2011, we ordered our Erl!  Like I said way back when first starting this BLOG, it was like preparing for a new baby, getting the space ready, picking out a name etc. Bridadier 88 was born! We were so pumped, I mean really pumped with excitement. But it was a good decision!  We have had so much fun learning, meeting new people and just having something that the both of us could sink our teeth into, each doing what we both love to do!  MrB with cranking and adding notches to his learning curve of sock making, and Me, MsB......loving NETWORKING and KITCHENERING and all the other little creative things that goes along with making SOCKS MADE ON 88 tick and move forward.

It has been a Great Year!

And a big thank you to the Erlbacher family!
We have had the opportunity to meet both of the daughters at crank-ins and they are both lovely gals!  Someday we hope to meet the master mind behind creating these fantastic reproduction machines also.  That is on our bucket list!
And again I say:

It has been a Great Year!

This is the machine we ordered one year ago today!  This is the machine we called, Brigadier 88!  Hence the name of our venture, Socks Made On 88!

MsB from Socks Made On 88
 

Socks for MrB!

Every once in awhile MrB tries something new!  He was trying a different type of heel here and he did come across a problem or two as did I when kitchenering this new pattern also.  So the outcome of this pair is that MrB becomes the owner to put this pair into his own sock drawer.  They would be what we call a SECOND, and we wear all the seconds ourselves or MrB unwinds them and starts over.  I do like the colours and pattern of this pair and fortunately MrB liked it too, so I am glad he can now call them HIS!  Moral of our story....when we try something new the rule is to aim to make a size men's 10 or a women's size 8 so that if they do not turn out just right, they go into one of our own sock drawers! 


MsB from Socks Made On 88

More Men's socks in demand for the market!

More Men's Socks, 3 pairs of size 9 and one pair of size 11

These are from Opal Graffiti both Men's size 9

The pair to the left are Men's size 9 Opal Van gogh and the other pair to the right are size11 in an Opal option as well!

Belated photos of last Market

We get a 4 foot table and space to display our product and this seems to work out well for us!  The rack can hold 50 pairs of socks or more!

We get a space for MrB doing his demoing also.

Hello, just checking in and wanted to load some recent sock pics, and discovered I had some belated photos still on the camera from our last Market.  So why not share them said me to my blog!