Giveaway Palooza!

I am so excited to announce my very first giveaway! I am collaborating with many other fabulous designers in a giant, wonderful, and fantastic giveaway, graciously hosted by Jaelynn of pardon my ffrench.

6 artists, 6 prizes, 1 winner! The rules are simple: visit each of the featured artists' blog and shop and leave a comment with your favorite thing about what you've seen. Blog about the entry and earn an extra entry! Giveaway ends on Sunday, 2/21. Click here to enter!

Check out the other delightful trinkets you can win!

Create your own buttoned gloves // K.M. Knits

Vintage mug, heart pendant, and notebook // Vintage, Etc.

Embroidered felt case // Biscuit Boxx

Copper white pearl open hoops // Karen Van Doren Studio

Upcycled love ring // Found and Made

Vintage owl salt & pepper shakers // Edward Farms

Numb Hands, Warm Heart!

I received an e-mail from my sister over coffee this morning -- it was a forward from her friend who saw my gloves featured on today's Etsy Finds ("80 Gifts Under $25"). I felt really proud to be included in this list. I'm so grateful to be recognized for providing a handmade product that can be cute and affordable, but can allow me to make some semblance of a living wage. Although selling on Etsy competes with my full-time day job and doesn't get nearly enough of my time as I wish it could, I still get those Etsy-butterflies every time an order confirmation or conversation pops up in my inbox. I got many-a-butterfly today. I worked 11 A.M. - 9 P.M. and it seemed that every time I checked my phone to get the time, I had a new order confirmation. It was terrifying and amazing. And being surrounded by yarn, but unable to start on these orders was completely maddening. :)

With every blessing comes a curse I suppose. As most of my items are made to order, I have a LOT of work ahead of me. I'm still not 100% confident I can get these people their gifts in time, but I'm planning to do everything in my power to make it work. Numb hands are the non-negotiable.

(And on another note, I finally figured out what "Bronto" was on my Google Analytics page. I love learning.)

The Experts Agree

Since I let my phone charge by my bed, one of the first things I do when I wake up is check my e-mail. I hope that doesn't sound too pathetic. If it does, at least it's not as pathetic as admitting that 85% of the time, the only new messages I get in the morning are from Netflix or Groupon's Deal of the Day. On the odd chance that I get an order/conversation notification from Etsy (or Facebook, let's be honest), I get pretty excited. The other morning I saw that I had received a conversation from Samantha of desTroy letting me know that my Morning Fog Mitts had been featured in her blog, The Experts Agree. As a fellow San Franciscan, she obviously values the importance of portable layering pieces all year round, but gals all over the place are finally finding themselves in prime mitt-wearing-weather.

Despite today's gorgeous, no-gloves-needed, autumn weather, I'll be spending the rest of my day off cranking out gloves for a bulk holiday order, doing laundry, and of course, a lengthy catch-up call with Mom.

7x7

I've been tied up lately with work and settling in to the new apartment, but I'm looking forward to my third holiday season with K.M. Knits. Thinking that 1) I'm going on my third holiday season with Etsy and 2) how I'm lucky enough to be going on my third holiday season with Etsy is really a wonderful thing. Earlier this week, I was thrilled to learn I was being featured in San Francisco's 7x7 in their Glamwatch section. This article included local artists that were offering unique, but still inexpensive pieces.


Although my one-year anniversary of moving to San Francisco came and went over a month ago, there was something amazing and humbling about being recognized as a local artist. To think that some spur-of-the-moment gloves I came up with using some random scrap yarn while watching The Office reruns and drinking Flavia instant coffee in my friend's dorm room would ever go on to in any remote way be connected to San Francisco's 7x7 magazine is mind-boggling. I feel honored, lucky, and very thankful.

Moving Sale!

In honor of my sister and I (hopefully!) moving out of our apartment in the lovely yet very foggy Richmond/Seacliff district come October 1st, I have decided to put my entire stock of Morning Fog Mitts on sale. Get ready for winter and save a few bucks in the meantime! (But feel free to send good thoughts our way as our apartment hunt continues...)

morning fog mitts // gray and navy

morning fog mitts // lettuce green and cream morning fog mitts // emerald blue and gray

I Gots Me a Flicka

Although it was a long time coming, I expect I have still have a long way to go. I'm not entirely sure what people do on Flickr necessarily, but I'm excited to be a part of it all. For now, I'm using my new Flickr account to provide customers looking to build their own gloves a way to view color swatches, button choices, and samples.

Watching slideshows of all those cute little circles make me glad I spent many delirious hours creating them and them editing them to make their colors look as true to life as possible.

Prepare to get your mind blown. Click here to see my Flickr page!

Introducing... Alpaca

I posted two new items in the shop today which I'm excited to say fall under a brand new sub-category of gloves: alpaca!

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LUXURY line // alpaca gloves (red and plum) $32

My love of alpaca dates back to what I consider to be my first legitimate and break-through knitting project (following 2+ years of dicking around making up scarves and ridiculous hats). It was a gigantic triangle shawl from Greetings from Knit Cafe, made from Blue Sky Sport Baby Alpaca. Although it was incredibly tedious and took months to finish, I love, love, loved it and I still do. It was the first project that required me to turn my back on Michael's and shop at a real big girl knit shop. I was instantly hooked on alpaca's incredible softness, warmth, and drape. Working with such a luxurious fabric made for an entirely different knitting experience. There was no going back!

Anxious to do something with some alpaca I had stashed, I worked up a variation on my traditional fingerless mitts one evening while watching some undoubtedly terrible TV. After several tries, I came up with a picot edging in scraps of merino wool that I was happy with. There they were, my brand new sub-category.

Welcome to K.M. Knits, little glovelettes.

"Summer" Promotion!

Since the promotion I ran last summer with the lovely Kim of At Sea Level was such a success, I was excited at the prospect of another run this summer. Her incredible coin purses and clutches made from 100% recycled plastic bags became free goodies for K.M. Knit's customers. It was a way for me to help myself get through the slower summer season while at the same time promoting another seller (who I came to know and love!) and getting her name out to a different group of Etsy buyers.

Kim also runs an Etsy shop under the name Midnight Design Studio.

I scoured Etsy one afternoon in hopes of finding another potential seller to collaborate with and thankfully I lucked out! I came upon a shop called Ornametal, and fell particularly in love with Lauren's Rubber and Silver Bangles. She was able to turn around an order of 15 for me within a couple weeks and I am finally prepared to offer them away! As long as I keep my promise not to steal any for myself. I may have overshot my "summer" promotion deadline thanks to my work overload and vacay time, so "farewell to summer" promotion it is!

One bracelet free to the first 15 customers who purchase 2 or more items from my shop. Those who participate will also receive unique Ornametal coupons available only to K.M. Knits customers!

Upcoming Updates

Although it doesn't seem like it from the lack of shop updates, I've been a busy bee. While my poor camera is off in some warehouse having who knows what done to do to get it up and running again, I've been expanding my collection of accessories in order to stage a "grand reopening" after the Renegade Craft Fair is over.

What's in store? (No pun intended. Alright, who am I kidding? It was intended.)

1) More luxurious mitts.

I find so much joy in wearing and working with fine materials that I'm considering shifting my focus away from acrylic gloves and moving it more toward 100% merino wool. Acrylic has been great because it is easy to care for (machine wash and dry), perfect for those allergic to wool, and affordable. But the wool I've found is more durable (less pilling), softer, stretchier, more breathable, machine washable (!), and most importantly, gorgeous.


Although my cost of materials increases four-fold, I really think they are worth it. Because of this, they will run $32 compared to their $24 acrylic counterparts.


2) Expanded selection of Morning Fog Mitts.

I've so enjoyed wearing and making my OWN Morning Fog Mitts that I've put together over a dozen new color combinations. I love how versatile they are and how they help pull an outfit together. Plus they're surprisingly warm! And as I found out last week, they are even bar night approved.

3) An actual kid's collection!

I've been making tons of adorable, itty-bitty kid's gloves, but without a model to show them off, what's the point? I've secured a possible baby model and I hope to get that collection up and running before summer ends.

4) Eco-happy cotton gloves.

Although I'm pretty much cold most of the time, I do have to realize that it's summer most everywhere else. I'm brainstorming ideas for organic cotton gloves that are very light and worn for style over function. Think garden party-esque.

5) New pictures.

Easily the most important, but most daunting task. Item photographs are incredibly crucial, and I know I have a lot of work ahead of me figuring out which direction I want to take. Although I don't enjoy having to be my own model, it has been much easier than working around someone else's schedule. Plus, until we get actual curtains, I'm sure I'm amusing my boring neighbors.

Morning Fog Mitts

I love the weather of San Francisco almost as much as I love complaining about it. But since cool-weather accessories like fingerless mitts and cowls are my favorite things to cook up, I've been getting busy. My timing is obviously a little off as July is right around the corner, but I'm posting these mitts regardless. For all the folks out there still fighting chilly breezes and cool nights, today is your day! For everyone else, I'll see ya in the fall.

Shopping? These hand crocheted mitts are listed here.

100% merino wool
hand wash, dry flat
$24



Making a pair for yourself? Free pattern is listed on Ravelry (search: Morning Fog Mitts from K.M. Knits/Katelyn Cowan). If you're not registered for Ravelry, the PDF is available from Google Sites.

They use only a small amount of worsted weight yarn (don’t tell me I’m the only person with random Malabrigo leftovers all over the place) and can be worked up in no time. A perfect beginner project for newbies (and experts with fabulous taste). Work them up over a couple episodes of evening trash TV and face tomorrow morning’s cruel fog lookin’ fancy and fresh.