(Yikes. What a title. The (But Fun!) I threw in there doesn’t even really jazz it up. An exclamation point just looked stupid. No one would exclaim after saying that.)

I’m Michigan bound today! My Amtrak (kill me) to Holland leaves at 5:20 and I’ll be rolling in around 9:30pm. My mom called me yesterday to alert me that Edy’s is having a huge sale and to ask what flavors of ice cream she should pick up.

So yes, it’s going to be an awesome stay in the mitt.

I’ve been chatting to you lately about my pretty minimalist lifestyle – my spending less lets you live happily making less philosophy -  so I wanted to break down my pattern sales for those of you who might be curious about it. I know I was before I started trying to sell my patterns!

I went into producing this ebook with no expectations whatsoever. I know The Sweatshop will not make me a millionaire and I don’t want it to. I love it and it’s a bonus that I’m starting to be able to live off my work. This was my first try, my first try of many!, and the more patterns I write the more people I reach the more money I make from doing what I love. At least that is the plan.

So! The Summer Tour of Knitting Patterns Ebook went on pre-sale May 31st to a select group of my long term knitting students and supporters for a discounted rate of $12. Then it went public on June 1st for $18. On July 1st I released the patterns individually and their cost ranged from $2-5.50.

After two months of availability, here are my sales numbers:

Ebook Pre-Sale = 15 copies at $12 = $180

Ebook Sales at Full Price = 11 copies at $18 = $198

Individual Sales = $49.50

Individual Sales includes 6 copies of the Twin Cities Headband, 4 copies of Baby Sweater Buffet, 1 copy of Caitlin’s Cardi, 1 copy of Traverse City Tube Top, and 1 copy of The Loop Entrelac Tank.

I’ve made $437.50 on this project, and counting. I would absolutely call that a success!

Larger successes:

1. There has only been one mistake found and reported back to me and it wasn’t even an error in a pattern portion of the ebook.

2. Knitters that I don’t know are out there knitting what I’ve designed! Reading my words and making things that wouldn’t exist with out me. That blows my mind.

3. I have relationships with knitters now that I would never know if I didn’t write these patterns. They found one of my patterns, they liked it enough to purchase it, they knit it, they shared that process through the magic of the internet, and now we are part of each others lives.

The bottom line is that I had no expectations going in, so sales exceeded my expectations. But more than that is the knitting community’s reception of my patterns exceeded my expectations. I’m addicted to writing patterns that people want to knit. I want to see their pictures and read their thoughts! I love it.

So I’ve got to use this information to help me write better patterns in the future. This was my first try, and I’m going to make each next product better and better, which should lead to more sales and views and interest and, above all, more people knitting my designs.

I’m leaving in a few hours for a 5 week working vacation because of you! You motivate me to be better and better at what I love doing, which is a solid equation if you ask me.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• June 3, 2010 -- Wedding/Ebook/Eating/Hyperventilate (1)
• May 31, 2010 -- Get The Sweatshop of Love’s Summer Tour of Knitting Patterns Ebook Today! (3)
• May 31, 2010 -- Summer Tour 2010 Ebook Pattern: Traverse City Tube Top (0)
• May 31, 2010 -- Summer Tour 2010 Ebook Pattern: Caitlin’s Cardi (0)

A Very Tiny Business is a business that runs with only a couple people, or only one person in this case, has a super low to nonexistent overhead and mostly doesn’t make very much money. They can! But generally don’t.

The Sweatshop of Love is a great example of a Very Tiny Business. It’s a one woman show (me!) and I make WELL well WELL well WELL below the poverty level.

I talked a bit about my lifestyle when I paid off my student loans in May. I don’t spend a lot of money so I don’t have to make a lot of money. I tried that whole corporate thing and it just isn’t for me. Now I work a part time freelance admin job where I make between $800-1,000 a month. My income from The Sweatshop, teaching classes and selling kits and patterns and completing custom orders, varies greatly from month to month. I’d say on average I make between $300-700 per month from The Sweatshop.

My expenses, however, are minimal. My personal monthly expenses (rent and utilities, phone) are around $450 per month. Add $75 for groceries and $100 for going out to dinner and drinks a couple times a month, and I spend between $600-700 a month to live.

I live below the poverty line and I’m saving money because I don’t have a car, don’t buy myself bullshit I don’t need, make most of my own food, pack my lunch, and bike myself around.

Because I work mostly for myself and live such a thrifty lifestyle I can take my business wherever I want to go. And this summer I’m going all over!

From July 30-Aug 4th I’ll be hanging in Allendale MI with my new nephew I haven’t met yet!

From Aug 4th-Aug 29th I’ll be in NYC for the first time ever hanging with PT and knitting my little fingers off for my fall class schedule and winter ebook.

From Aug 29th-Sept 2nd I’ll be in Minnesota with PT for the MINNESOTA STATE FAIR!

On Sept 2nd PT and I will be renting a car and driving from Minneapolis to Allendale. That is 11 hours, baby. Midweastern road trip!

Sept 6th I’ll be heading back to Chicago to get ready for Renegade on Sept 11th and 12th.

Pretty sweet, right?

Who takes 6 weeks off work to travel around? No one. But who travels around bringing their work with them? Me!

Stay tuned. I’ve got LOTS planned for New York City.

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Velma gets a bad rap.

Velma Attacked by Elephants

She is the bitchy one. The princess. She is anorexic and bulimic at the same time because she is too vain for only one eating disorder.

Velma on the Toilet

She is the hot one, and no one likes the hot one.

Velma turned 7 this weekend. Which means I’m coming up to my 7th year in Chicago.

I transferred to Columbia College here in Chicago in 2003 after one year at Adrian College, a tiny liberal arts school in south east Michigan. I liked it there but spent the whole year planning my escape.  I spent the summer between schools at home with a healthy case of social anxiety disorder and a cheating boyfriend. Luckily for me fleeing from the cheating boyfriend overwhelmed my desire to stay in my house and not talk to anyone, so I found an apartment and headed to the big city.

Velma and Edmond

But not before my friend Jeff and I were driving around the unpaved roads of our hometown, Allendale MI, saw a free cats sign, pulled over, and walked into a cat-infested barn.

There were a million six toed cats running around, and tiny Velma sitting in the corner. Jeff spotted her.

“She got stuck in the milk tower for days, that’s why she is so skinny,” the owner informed us. “She was screaming so loud we had to climb up there and get her.”

Clearly cats weren’t a huge priority on this farm, so what I now know as Velma’s sounds-like-a-baby-being-strangled cry saved her life. Spending days at the top of a milk tower as a kitten set her up for her life of self imposed malnutrition.

We moved to Chicago a week later.

Velma, named after the super hot man killer Chicago character Velma Kelly, (clever!) only likes me because I’m much less attractive than she is. I’m her ugly pity friend, which I’m ok with. She is one of those cats that sticks to herself unless you need her. If I’m upset she senses it and is by my side immediately. Every time.

Velma, Pudge, and PT

She’s had quite a few men in her life, and, being the slut she is, has loved the shit out of every one.

I remember thinking, at 19, that I’d have Velma when I started having kids. But now that I know her I know she would never stand for that shit. Babies? She can barely handle Pudge.

Pudge is the opposite of Velma in every way; lovable, big, cuddly, and a big slob. Pudge sleeps on her back with her legs open and, GASP!, eats in front of people.

I love them both. But Velma will always be my first pet on my own. It was me and her, alone in the big city, before anyone else. She is the super hot bitchy model friend I’ll never have in person form.

So, Miss Velma Kelly, happy 7th birthday. I know you are telling people you are only 4, but I know the truth.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• May 3, 2010 -- FO: Built By Wendy Mini Dress (3)
• December 30, 2009 -- Cat Distruction and a Blogger Award (2)
• November 30, 2009 -- Michigan is for EATERS (2)
• November 7, 2009 -- Homemade Tuna Helper Recipe (2)

My little bro and his wife got an addition to their family Wednesday morning!

Hey Nolan!

Don’t start with him about the Lions. He will cut you.

Wake Up Dude!

Apparently he sleeps a lot. I chatted with him on the phone for a bit Wednesday and he seems like a chill bro. A few coos here and there and that is all he really had to talk about. He had only been alive for 10 hours at that point so he didn’t have too much to say.

Mommy, Daddy (<- my BROTHER?! What?!), Nolan, and my mommy (Nolan’s GRANDMA?! What?!) are doing well. Despite all of our best guesses, he was only 7 lbs 13 oz. I was guessing, like, 28 lbs. For Emily’s sake I’m glad I was wrong.

I’ll be sure to share pictures of him rockin’ his personalized onesies and, of course, the DinoSweater! I won’t get to meet him until the end of July, but he already promised to drive down and pick me up from the train station, so he’s already such a sweet guy.

Any ladies looking for a boyfriend?! He’s single! I’d be happy to pass along his cell number if you’re interested.

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Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is bbqing up a storm and enjoying some much needed R&R.

We are getting ready to launch the Summer Tour of Knitting Patterns Ebook tomorrow so we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to fire up our grills. In the mean time, here are some knitting stories I’ve been reading lately! More fun stuff this week than last. No stupid quotes about how knitting is a dying hobby, at least!

Knitting in the News

At St Andrews School, Knitting Teaches Math, Helps Newborns in Afghanistan at The Providence Journal

Quilting, Knitting, Crochet and Embroidery Now Available on the iPad in AppModo

Stealth Knitting on Public Sculpture Deemed Illegal in Berkeleyside

Fun Stuff

Make Your Own Knitting Needles (video!) at DIY Network

A Guide for Knitting and Crocheting on Vacation at Suite101.com

Celebrate Geek Pride Day with Nerdy Knitting at The Fort Worth Knitting Examiner

More Weird Knitting Objects at Metro.co.uk

Now get out and enjoy the day! Just be sure to come back tomorrow for the official Ebook launch. It’s going to be massive!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• May 14, 2010 -- Yarn (Link) Barf (0)

Bobbie Bear and Sheldon

I’m jetting (not remotely jetting, I’m taking the slower than molasses Amtrak) home to Michigan for the weekend and I’m all packed! I’ve got presents for my soon-to-be-born nephew Nolan. You might recognize them! Baby Bobbie Bear and Sheldon the Turtle. Nolan will not be at a loss for hand knits in his life.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

Also packed is Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter! I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last year and out of control loved every page of it. Abe is by the same author, Seth Grahame-Smith, and he is alright by me. The problem is that the Amtrak, in all it’s lateness and slowness, usually lulls me to sleep if I’m not moving my hands.

So I’ll be trying to read and knit! On the Amtrak! Wish me luck.

Next week is going to be quite exciting around here. I’ll bring my super awesome exciting Sweatshop announcement to you by VLOG on Tuesday. TUESDAY! I’m so excited I could jump up and down on the Amtrak to Michigan.

Until then I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. It is going to be HOT in Chicago so keep an eye out for stray bullets and cars on fire!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• November 27, 2009 -- Black Friday Beets (0)
• November 23, 2009 -- The Land of Dial Up Internet Connections; or, Christmas Present Update: Rachel (3)
• September 8, 2009 -- Hella Detox (2)
• August 13, 2009 -- Wrapping Up (0)

There are so many fun knitting stories in the news it’s hard to keep up! Here are a few of my favorites:

Knitting in the News

Thar She Blows: Knitting Pretty With Wind Powered Yarn Factory at Ecorazzi

Cambodia Knits: Crafting for Change at Crafting a Green World

Torontonians Hope to Set Knitting World Record at National Post

The World’s First Extreme Knitting Club at the North Devon Journal

Era of Knitting Lessons in Schools has Ended as Cash Saving is Agreed at The Shetland Times: “Knitting was a necessity for Shetland families 50 or 60 years ago but these days knitting machines could do the job cheaper and quicker. In fact he went further, claiming that machine-knit was ‘as good as any hand-knitted garment’ which was ‘unfortunately a dying art’” – Fat chance, buddy.

Shetlanders Fight to Save Traditional Art of Fair Isle! at NEWS.scotsman.com

Norfolk Churches Invited to Knit with Pride at Network Norwich

School Club Teaches Girls New Craft at the Pittsburgh Morning Sun

Fun Stuff

Knitting for Poets: Elizabeth Zimmerman at The Poetry Foundation

Fraggle Rock Knitting Song! (video) at Craftzine.com Blog

Knitting Chickens at Apron Thrift Girl – Her first grader learned to knit in school! It’s not dead!

Cake Wrecks Sunday Sweets for Mother’s Day – AMAZING knitting cakes!

Tending the Fashion Flock – at New York Times Women’s Fashion blog

Related Sweatshop Love:

• May 31, 2010 -- Yarn (Link) Barf (0)

I mailed a huge check to the US Department of Education Friday, paying off my last student loan. Which means that I am completely debt free. No loans. No credit card debt. Nothing.

I paid for 8 of the 9 semesters it took me to graduate myself with loans. My mom and grandparents helped me out a long the way, and my mom paid the interest on my loans while I was in school, but the majority of that cost was all on me.

I worked in corporate real estate right out of college and made a huge salary I hardly spent. At the time I wanted to save up as much money as I could so I could open a yarn shop, and over the 2 years I worked there I saved around $36,000. I invested a lot of it, I put the rest in a money market account, and before the recession I was making more money off that money than the cost of my loan payments.

But when interest rates went down and you couldn’t find a good short term CD to save your life, and when I realized opening a yarn store wasn’t part of my life’s goals anymore, I started paying off my loans.

$12,000 last year. And $17,000 on Friday.

So here I am, at 26, owing no one in the world any money. Not my landlord, not my mom, not the US Department of Education, not any credit card company, not AT&T. I went to college and paid for the majority of it myself. I’ve had at least one job since I was 15 years old. I work hard at what I love, and I’m really proud of myself for all I’ve accomplished so far in my life.

But it’s kind of terrifying! Like I don’t exist. It’s so unnatural for someone to not be in debt that I feel uncomfortable. I should be expecting a call from Obama asking me to buy a car or something. But shouldn’t everyone’s goal to be debt free? Shouldn’t I be pumped instead of feeling like I’m going to be in trouble? Has American excess been embedded so deeply into my brain at even without practicing it it’s part of my life?

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Fried Plantains, Veggie Burrito, Egg Sandwich, Rice

I’m sitting in a very empty apartment right now. It is only slightly emptier physically – I’ve lived here for over four years if I can even wrap my brain around that, and PT had only lived here for about 10 months, so most of the things are mine and still here. But I’m sitting in PT’s spot on the couch just so there is something in it. The bed is HUGE with just me, Velma, and Pudge. I’m not crashing into someone else cooking in the kitchen.

I’m unshowered, because what is the point? I’m wearing super ratty underwear, because what is the point? I’m baking bread – small loaf. I’m making granola bars – mostly freezer bound. I cleaned the cat hair off the rug this morning – PT’s job. There are pictures of us everywhere that I just don’t know what to do with.

My freshmen year of college was full of long distance relationship drama. It seemed like everyone I met had one, including me, and eventually they all failed. As far as I know. I moved to Chicago after one year so I didn’t get all the follow up stories. But there was always someone screaming on the phone, someone crying in the bathroom, someone getting drunk and cheating on their boyfriend in California, someone carrying their room phone around with them because their boyfriend was supposed to call them four hours ago and he must be dead.

White Whine Pasta with Mushrooms and Broccoli

Sure, we were 18. We were living on our own for the first time. We were in relationships with the first boys we ever kissed. Shit is bound to happen. My own freshmen long distance relationship fell apart before October.

I like to think that a lot has changed in 8 years. Maturity, self control, smart decision making, knowing what’s important: all of these things should have grown exponentially in these early 20s years.

PT as Frog

But who knows. I have a couple girlfriends in long distance relationships now; Chicago/London and Chicago/Spain. Which sounds a hell of a lot more challenging than Chicago/NYC. Technology makes it easy to communicate constantly with anyone willing.

It’s funny and fitting that most of the pictures from this past week with PT are of food. We had a seriously delicious lunch at Irazu – the site for many past PT/Allyson meals. We made lots of veggie pasta. And tuna helper.

Officially single but fielding/making phone calls and texts and video chats and gchats galore, who knows what the right answer is. If it’s meant to be it will happen. If it isn’t it won’t.

In the mean time I’m going to work like a crazy person. I’ve got all this room and time now magically. Work, work, work.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• November 9, 2009 -- Weekend: Productive and Fatty! (1)
• December 18, 2009 -- Holiday Knitting is Officially OVER! (0)
• December 8, 2009 -- Baked Shells in ‘Meat’ Sauce Recipe (5)
• November 4, 2009 -- Sexy Christmas Stocking Top Finished! (3)

God decided that with the impending PT move he wanted me to win a couple sweet blog giveaways as an I’m sorry for giving me such a hard time so far this year.

Knits Three Ways

From the delightful Alice over at The Yarn Panda I won this knitting pattern book, Knits Three Ways by Melissa Matthay.

Knit Kimono - Cute!

There are some cute patterns in this book, like this knit kimono. The idea is to take a simple sweater pattern and change it up with different yarns to knit it three different ways. It’s a good book for a beginner, and I’m happy to have it for my students, but if you’ve got a couple sweaters under your belt it’s pretty redundant. We were looking at it in Sweater Club last night and having fun imagining the different styling of some of the frilly sweaters! It’s a great addition to my pattern book collection. Thanks Alice!

EatSmart Digital Food Scale

Then over at fANNEtastic Food, Anne had a giveaway for this digital food scale that I was so pumped to win because I’ve always wanted one!

Scale in Action!

Pudge was all over it when I pulled it out this morning. Well, she was probably just all over the cutie I was weighing, for it’s roll-ability and toy-like nature. Bygones.

Thanks so much, ladies! You made my crappy week way less crappy.

And both of these women have really fun twitters, too: Anne’s here and Alice’s here.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 26, 2010 -- MILWAUKEE! (4)
• July 21, 2010 -- FO: The Two Boyfriends Cardigan (6)
• July 5, 2010 -- Happy Birthday Velma! (3)
• May 3, 2010 -- FO: Built By Wendy Mini Dress (3)