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Kneedles & Life

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

June 19, 2020

the arcadia coaster crochet pattern

Hey friends! I’m back with another FREE crochet pattern and this time it’s coasters! I received some beautiful yarn in the mail from KnitPicks and one was a bulky cotton. Yes, you read that correctly. BULKY COTTON. It’s soft and thick which makes a nice and sturdy coaster. Click here to check out this yarn for yourself. I am using the color Turmeric for this pattern.

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Filed in: Crochet patterns • by Kalley • Leave a Comment

June 12, 2020

The Marcie Table Runner Knitting Pattern

The Marcie Table Runner was a design idea I had back in March. I have seen a lot of crocheted table runners but not any patterns for knitters. I knew I wanted something light, lacy, and perfect for any home, vintage or modern.

I named this design after my mom, Marcie, because she is my role model and the reason I started working with yarn in the first place. She’s also pretty and sweet, just like this pattern!

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June 8, 2020

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

OK guys, it’s time for the easiest recipe of your life. I actually timed myself, and it took less than 5 minutes to get everything dumped in the slow cooker and ready to go! I love this soup, or as my husband calls “chili,” because it’s loaded with protein and keeps me full for a long time. It’s also easy, customizable and delicious! Win, win, WIN.

It’s perfect on a cold day, but you can eat it anytime. It makes about 5-6 large servings so you can eat the leftovers for lunch as well. It’s great by itself but also as a side with a grilled cheese or quesadilla. My 1 year old loves to eat the beans out of it so it’s a great meal for kids as well. As long as you use mild taco seasoning and salsa, it won’t be spicy.

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Filed in: Dinners • by Kalley • Leave a Comment

May 25, 2020

How to Grow Organic and Genuine Instagram Engagement

Hey you! If you clicked on this post then I assume you are wanting help with growing your Instagram audience in one way or another. I also assume this is not because you are trying to win a popularity contest, but because you know you have something to offer other people, whether that’s a product, or blog posts, or other meaningful content. No one should ever make you feel bad for wanting to grow. Growth is a GOOD thing and it is something I believe we should always strive for. I grew my business Instagram following to 10K in a little less than 3 years, but most of that growth happened in about 6 months, and I will tell you how.

First, you will notice I didn’t title this post “How to Grow Your Instagram Following,” because the numbers, to a certain extent, don’t really matter. It can definitely benefit your business to reach 10K for the swipe up feature in your stories, BUT if you don’t have genuine followers who enjoy your content and WILL swipe up, it doesn’t even matter. When presenting myself to a company for a collaboration, I always mention engagement because I believe that’s what any good company looks for – someone who interacts with their followers and has genuine, trusted relationships with them.

You’ll also notice I didn’t title this “How to Beat The Algorithm,” because it’s not about that either. I don’t pretend to understand the algorithm fully, but I do know that it shows users content that they like, engage with, search for, etc. In some ways it’s cool because what you’re seeing is usually what you’re interested it, but sometimes it can be frustrating. Bottom line, nothing is perfect, so you can choose to complain about it or make do with what you’ve got. Social media is still a wonderful platform and I’m thankful for it! Alright, I’m done preaching to you about that now. 😉

If I could only give you ONE piece of advice for growing engagement, it would be to BE engaging. But don’t worry, I’m going to unpack exactly what I mean by that and give you some tips! I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I want to share with you what has worked for me in the hopes that it can help you too!

I do want to point out, though, these tips require time. But if you’re committed to your business and passionate about what you do, it won’t be a problem. You can certainly set healthy boundaries for yourself, and you should. So we’ll talk about that too at the end.

Let’s go!

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Filed in: Business • by Kalley • 4 Comments

May 22, 2020

Maddie’s First Birthday At Home

Madeline turned ONE on Monday! I can’t believe how quickly this year flew by and that I’m already the mom of a toddler! With the pandemic and everything going on, we decided to safely celebrate her special day at home. We had a sweet visit with her grandparents through our glass door over the weekend and FaceTimed with other family members. I am so thankful for technology right now!

It rained and rained for day but on the morning of her birthday we had a nice window where it was just cloudy and she got to eat her cake outside in the back yard!

Overall, it was a beautiful day together and I’m so excited to see what year two brings!

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Filed in: Family • by Kalley • 2 Comments

May 11, 2020

The Willow Dishcloth Knitting Pattern

Ready for another dishcloth pattern? The Willow Dishcloth features two beautiful stitches; the hurdle stitch and the seed stitch. I combined both together for a fun, textured dishcloth that is quick to make and practical in your kitchen.

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Filed in: Knitting Patterns • by Kalley • 16 Comments

May 8, 2020

my favorite things: maker edition

Hey guys! In this post I’m going to be sharing all my favorite yarn and tools that I use regularly. I plan to share more behind the scenes in future posts, but this one will mainly cover yarn, hooks and needles, and a couple other things I use almost daily!

I have been crocheting and knitting for almost forever, but when I really started to get back into it after college, I pretty much used whatever yarn I could find. I mostly shopped at Walmart and Michaels for yarn, and I still do sometimes! But after about 7+ years of what some (my husband) may call a yarn addiction (LOL) I have narrowed down my absolute favorites.

Now if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know I absolutely love and use hand dyed yarn whenever I can afford it. I mean, it’s just so pretty! And I also love to support my friends who are indie dyers. I am also quite obsessed with KnitPicks yarn and use it all the time. I use a lot of “cheap” yarn because I don’t think the price necessarily determines the quality and there is some really great affordable yarn out there.

I get a lot of questions about my needles so I’ll be sharing those and some other random tools I think are essential as well. Hope this helps you on your maker journey!

So let’s jump right in!

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Filed in: Business • by Kalley • Leave a Comment

May 4, 2020

Father’s Day Small Shop Gift Guide

Hey guys! I’m back with another gift guide and this time it’s for Father’s Day! I know some people complain about men being the hardest to buy for, but I think they’re actually the easiest! I always have so much fun picking unique gifts for the dudes in my family, but I like to steer away from clothes or cheesy gifts and usually head to Etsy for something classy and unique.

I have personally purchased and given every single one of these items except for two, so I’ll be upfront about which ones those are in the descriptions. I hope you enjoy what I’ve put together. Let me know if you purchase one of these gifts for someone you know!

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Filed in: Gift Guides • by Kalley • Leave a Comment

May 1, 2020

Friday Introductions Q&A

Hi! Since I have not formally introduced myself on here yet, I thought I would do a quick introduction and Q&A post. I shared a question box on Instagram and had you submit questions, so I’ll be answering some of those here!

Pin to read later!
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Filed in: About Me • by Kalley • 1 Comment

April 27, 2020

The Redbud Knit Dishcloth

Here’s another one for the knitters! This is the sister pattern to my Redbud Dishcloth crochet pattern. My favorite thing about this pattern is that the texture looks really detailed, but it’s actually super quick and easy!

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Filed in: Knitting Patterns • by Kalley • Leave a Comment

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Hi, I’m Kalley!

Hi, I’m Kalley!

Here you will find a bit of everything for moms and makers. I'm so glad you're here!

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