Kneedles & Life

a little bit of yarn. a little bit of life.

Maker Gift Guide

Looking for a holiday gift for a maker friend? I love giving my maker besties something special and it’s usually a skein of luxury yarn. I’ve put together some ideas that I think any knitter/crocheter would love!

Just a heads up, this post contains affiliate links. This means if you use my link to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, and helps me continue to create free content for you! Thanks for supporting my blog in this way.

  1. Maker hoodie and mug. Monica creates beautiful screen printed maker gear that is high quality. I have washed my mug many times in the dishwasher and it still looks brand new. I love sipping tea out of this mug and knitting.
  2. Needle/notion pouches. My friend Gina has a bunch of handmade bags and pouches in her shop and these are especially festive!
  3. Gina also dyes beautiful yarn. I have several of her colorways and they have all made beautiful hats and headbands!
  4. Stitch markers. I love the stitch markers Yesenia makes. They are delicate and beautiful and you can never have too many stitch markers!
  5. Knitting bag. It seems like most makers love Gilmore Girls and this would be a fun bag to gift one of them!
  6. Enamel pin. Pins are fun to collect and put on notion and WIP bags, as well as backpacks and other things. I have a few from this shop and love their beautiful knitting designs.

Comment and let me know if you’ve ever received a maker gift before!

Holiday Gift Guide – For Her

Hey ladies, you can send this one to your significant other! 😉

These are all things I have and love, or are on my wish list. Hope it helps!

Just a heads up this post contains affiliate links. This means if you purchase through my link I may receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you any extra but it helps me continue to create free content for you to enjoy. Thanks for supporting my blog!

This cozy blanket, Kindle Paperwhite, and AirPods are three of my favorite things. The blanket comes in a lot of colors but I love the basic cream and use it for a lot of pictures too!

Another cozy item is socks and I LOVE these Camp Socks from JCrew Factory. They’re usually on sale too!

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Holiday Gift Guide – For Him

Can you believe it’s the holiday season already?! I think I’m feeling extra jolly this year because we definitely need it, am I right? I polled my followers on Instagram and they said men are the hardest to buy for (to be fair, most of my followers are women lol), so I rounded up my 11 favorite items that I have given as gifts and have been a hit. I hope you find something that fits what you’re looking for!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you purchase through my link, I may receive a small commission. This does not cost you anything extra, but it helps me continue to be able to create free content for you on my blog. Thank you for your support!

You guys have most likely already seen my Maddie face mug from Type League Press but I have to mention it again because it’s just so good! You could give this mug to almost anyone in your family who loves your kid (or pet)! I’m also imagining a situation where you put your own face on it and give it to your boyfriend or girlfriend LOL. Make sure you check out this mug because it’s a huge hit.

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Healthy Pumpkin Hummus Recipe

Tis the season for all things pumpkin – even hummus! I love hummus, especially making my own. You know exactly what goes into it and there’s no weird preservatives. It’s also super cheap to make!

I recently made a chocolate hummus you can find in this post that is super yummy and not too sweet. This pumpkin hummus is also not sweet, but that’s how I like it. You’ll see that it has no refined sugar, just pure maple syrup (NOT pancake syrup lol) which is a healthier sugar substitute.

Enjoy!

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The Coffee Bean Pumpkin – Easy Knitting Pattern

Anyone else continuously adding more pumpkins to their house all season? I just added the fourth one to our tv cabinet and my husband said I was getting a bit extra LOL. Can’t stop, won’t stop!

The Coffee Bean Pumpkin is an easy knitting pattern named after the Coffee Bean Beanie patterns I have been designing this year. You can check them out here! The slip stitches create a little coffee bean looking stitch, hence the name.

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best selling items for markets

Hey Maker! If you’re a small business owner, you know how hard it is to decide what inventory to offer and what your customers will buy, especially at markets. You typically don’t take orders at a market, so you need to have actual items available for purchase. I usually do one or two markets during the holiday season and I am by no means an expert. So I polled my followers on Instagram who do markets and asked them for their best selling items! I have rounded up my favorite patterns/designers in each category to give you a list that I hope will be helpful as you prepare for another successful market season. You got this!

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of my links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Hats

Hats is the obvious first category, right?! I selected a few simple, gender neutral patterns that would be great sellers at markets. If you live somewhere cold, you will most likely sell a lot of hats in a variety of sizes.

The first is my own. The Lazy Day Beanie is a bulky weight design written in 8 sizes. It’s quick and great for the whole family. You can top with a pom pom or leave it plain! I almost always use Lion Brand Color Made Easy for this design!

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ten easy things i do to save money

Something you may or may not know about me and my family is that we live on one income – a teacher income. We have been blessed in many ways, including my small income on the side, but we are also smart with our money and make sacrifices each day. We are able to live an enjoyable life and say “yes” to most things we want for a number of reasons that I want to share with you.

You may wonder about my income. Blogging and designing pays for our groceries and any personal shopping (more yarn lol) I do, but my husband’s income pays all the bills, big purchases, traveling, etc.

I want to share this list with you incase you’re trying to make the switch to a single income, or you’re living paycheck to paycheck and can’t figure out why. Nothing here is really profound or unique, just personal ways we save money each day in our own lives. We are fairly minimalist in how we live and don’t have a lot of stuff (besides kids toys now haha). I’m sure many of you can relate to a lot of these!

So here’s what has been working for us. Like I said, we are very blessed in many ways. Also what works for us may not work for you and that’s the beauty of life. Everyone is different! Comment and let me know a way that you save money each day that may help me or someone else!

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little obsessions bringing me joy in 2020 quarantine

I made a short list of some of my favorite things (besides family, obviously) right now that have been making me happy! Comment and let me know if you’ve tried any or there’s something currently bringing you joy!

Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links. This means if you purchase through my link, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog in this way and helping me create more content!

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how to make the most of your mornings as a mom

I write this to you at 10:33 on a Saturday morning. I have about 20-30 minutes before my daughter wakes up, and I feel like I’ve had a fairly productive morning, especially for a Saturday. I am a mom and do not work a conventional job so I have the blessing of staying home with my daughter, but I won’t lie, those nap times are super special and important. I am a wife, homemaker, blogger/influencer, and small business owner on top of being a stay-at-home mom. Since having my daughter, it is a daily challenge to get things done, but being her mom is my first priority and everything else gets done around caring for her.

If you’re anything like me, mornings are your most productive time of the day. I know that if I don’t do certain things in the morning (like cleaning) they won’t happen at all. But the time feels like it FLIES by too quickly every. single. day. Something that helps me is having the same routine. Every day we wake up at the same time, eat breakfast at the same time, play, nap, etc.

In this post I will walk you through MY morning routine. The things I get done are sometimes different but the general flow is the same. I hope it helps you organize your mornings too!

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