I'm crazy for crazy sweaters.

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"My name is Meredith and I have an obsession with crazy sweaters." 

"Hi Meredith..."

Is it weird that this page is basically my Christmas wish list this year? I think my swan sweater needs some company. 

So for all of the friends and family who don't know what to get me this year, basically a $465 pear sweater is all I want. ;)

My Thanksgiving Break via Instagram

These are a few snapshots of my wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. No class, no papers, and minimal knitting. I tried to give my hands a rest after the insane Jingle Bash prep. 

1. Sporting my woodland creature rings from Urban Outfitters around town.

2. Chopping up sage for the mini pumpkin and goat cheese pies I made! They were delicious. I highly recommend the recipe.

3. My beautiful apple pie that almost never existed! I tried to be extra prepared and make the dough the day before Thanksgiving. However, when I took the dough out of the refrigerator, I looked down to find a crumbled mess. Disaster!!! So I high-tailed it to the grocery store, bought more ingredients, and whipped up a mighty fine pie in record time. Whew. 

4. We always decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and not a minute before. These pretty ice skates are my favorite ornament on our tree! 

5. I put together a snowflake garland DIY that I will share with you soon!! 

6. I wore some pretty awesome houndstooth tights and oxfords (both from Target!) yesterday to brunch with my family. I've pondered the idea of doing outfit posts for the blog, but just the thought of it makes me so nervous!! Eep! 

I hope all of my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families! 

I am thankful that I had the time to relax after the Jingle Bash and gear up for final exams. 

So much time, and so little to do! Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. (Gotta love Willy Wonka, right?) ;-)

The Blush List - Golden Yellow

Lately, one of the only colors I can think about is yellow. I even made myself something yellow from my shop (finally!!), one of my granny square cowls! ;-) Here are some of the golden yellow goodies I discovered this week. 

Knitting // Fair isle slippers from Toast 

Crochet // Crochet hexagons by Valerie 

Etsy // Bird brooch by Depeapa

Style // You can't go wrong with Audrey Hepburn and a yellow coat. 

Art // Have Mercy Hand - screen printed poster by Jordan Grace Owens

Food //  A breakfast cupcake...?? I'm in!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Can you believe we are less than a month away from Christmas? Yikes!! I only have two weeks left of class, so you better believe I'm burning the midnight oil on multiple papers at the moment.

What did you do this weekend? Who did a lot of Black Friday shopping? ;)

I have so much to be thankful for...

- My family. We are a tight-knit (pun!) group. We love each other, annoy each other, and are always there for each other.

- This. Sometimes I don't know what to call it. My small business. My blog. My hobby. My passion. This little sliver of the internet that I can call my own. There are no words to describe how much it means to me.

- You. Each and every one of you. Each comment and email, they all mean the world to me. I know I don't always respond in the most timely manner...but I can never thank you enough for the time you take to read and comment on my silly, sheepish musings.

- Netflix. "Wow...how very sentimental Meredith." Haha. Silly I know, but gosh I love Netflix. Maybe it's more expensive and they try to change it up every few weeks, but there is something so comforting about having every season of Lost, Dr. Who, Parks and Recreation, Psych, and The Office at my disposal. ;)

- College. Sometimes Most of the time, I complain about reading and writing papers, but all in all, I am very thankful for the opportunity to go to college. I never ever want to take it for granted.

- Blog friends. I feel extremely blessed to have so many amazing, albeit far away, blog friends. I would love more than anything to just hop on a plane, grab a cup of coffee, and spend the day with such sweet ladies.

- My every-growing-ever-shrinking-always-changing-confidence. Somedays I'm up, somedays I'm way down, but I'm starting to realize that it's not such a bad thing. I am who I am. So what if I have to repeat myself a few times because my voice is so soft. So what if my face turns red when I chat with the cute barista at Starbucks. I can only do my best to get rid of my fears and be as comfortably confident as possible.

These are just a few of the many, many things I am thankful for this year. If you make a similar list on your blog, I'd love to see!

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Items + Black Friday Free Shipping

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I am so excited to have the Etsy shop fully stocked for the holidays and chilly months ahead! This Friday and Saturday, all items marked "Ready to Ship" will have Free Shipping from 12:01 a.m. CST on Nov. 25 through Nov. 26. This offer is open to international shoppers too! :) Also, with your purchase, you will receive a 10% off coupon for orders in the month of January.

I hope all of my American friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families. That is exactly what I plan on doing. I can't wait to take a break from studying and knitting like a mad woman for the Jingle Bash. My hands will be making pie dough this afternoon, a welcome break from all of this month's creating.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? I hope it is filled with love! :)

Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash 2011

From set up to clean up, I had the best imaginable day at the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash. My mom was the perfect assistant and we kept each other calm during the hectic moments. I loved setting up a booth for the first time using my diy chalkboards and fun lighting techniques to show off my knit and crochet pieces. I used this dixie cup light tutorial for the lights behind me and a few extra strands underneath the mesh baskets for a space saving glow. All in all, I could not have asked for a better first craft show experience.

I know I've said thank you about a million times, but THANK YOU so much for stopping by my booth on Saturday! I loved getting to meet so many awesome people. If you couldn't make it to the Bash, thank you for sending your sweet words of encouragement via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram...etc. I felt your love from around the world and it truly meant the world to me. ;-)

It's official...now that I have one craft show under my belt, I'm already itching to do another! Maybe I should get through final exams first...

"Extra Yarn" by Mac Barnett

"On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, 

where everywhere you looked was either white of snow

or the black of soot from chimneys,

Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color."

"And when Annabelle and Mars went

for a walk, Nate pointed and laughed

and said, 'You two look ridiculous.'

'You're just jealous,'

said Annabelle.

'No, I'm not,' said Nate." 

"Things began to change 

in that little town."

"News spread of this remarkable girl who never ran out of yarn. 

And people came to visit from around the world, to see all the sweaters 

and to shake Annabelle's hand."

Could this be the perfect book? I think so. I found it via Where the Lovely Things Are and I couldn't wait a single second before I shared it with you!

"Extra Yarn" by Mac Barnett is filled with cozy and colorful illustrations by Jon Klassen. I just love the watercolor look of the knit stitches. The book will be available for purchase in January and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!! Too bad I can't ask Santa to bring me one for Christmas...

Now I'm heading out to dinner with my special helpers from yesterday...mom & dad. ;-)

One craft show down...

...and hopefully many more to go. 

Before I crawl into bed and sleep for a few days, I just had to say thank you to each and every person who stopped by my booth today. You have no idea what your sweet words mean to me. I almost cried each time someone said, "I just love your blog!". Well, I just love you!! ;-)

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all of the amazing support. I never could have made it through these past few months without it. You helped me make it to this day and I can never thank you enough. 

Today was absolutely magical. I can't wait to share more pictures with you next week. 

Now it is time for sweet dreams of one of the sweetest experiences in my life. :)

DallasMADE - Visit My Booth at the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash!!

In case you haven't heard...I will be selling my knit and crochet accessories at the Jingle Bash this Saturday!! I can't even describe the variety of nerves I have been feeling this week. I've never experienced anything like this before, but all I can do is try my best and have a lot of fun. :) Plus, I am so thankful to attend such an amazing event with such talented artists around me at my first craft show.


Just look at all of the crafty goodness to be found at the Jingle Bash this year...

• Over 60 handpicked artists selling a variety of unique goods
• Free DIY crafts
• Two full bars
• Tunes spun by the in-house DJ
• Photo booth by Etsy Dallas, benefiting a local charity, DFW Rescue Me.
• Free admission
• Tons more shopper space! 

• 50 free Bash Bags for the first 50 people in line! (Be sure to look for my bows!) 


If that doesn't sound like the perfect holiday shopping experience, I don't know what does. ;) 


I am just so excited to set up my booth on Saturday morning! If you are in the area, I hope you can stop by and say hello! If not, I will definitely be tweeting pictures throughout the day. Thank you so much for all of the support this past month! You have no idea what it means to me. Well, I better get back to work. I seriously can't believe it is almost here!! Eeek! 

Staying Sane in College - Guest Vlog Post by ♥elycia

I am so excited and thankful to have the super sweet Elycia here today! She was kind enough to help me out as I work on some big projects for class and finish prepping for the Jingle Bash (FIVE DAYS!!!). Take it away Elycia! :-)

Hi everyone! 
I'm elycia from the blog ♥elycia and I am so happy to be here today to lend Meredith a hand. I think Meredith is so so adorable and awesome and I'm sure you all agree :) I thought I would share a few tips vlog style on how I stayed sane in college/university. So without further babbling, let's get to the video so that you can really hear me babbling.



Thanks for having me Meredith!


Thanks for being awesome Elycia! And yes that last bit did stress me out...just kidding! ;-)


I hope you all enjoyed Elycia's tips and general adorableness as much as I did! I definitely need to make good use of her advice as I tackle this crazy week ahead. Have a Happy Monday! 

This and That #5

A little This & That...

- This: Fall has finally arrived at my doorstep.
- That: It feels a little silly sometimes, but I write notes to myself during class and when I'm studying to encourage me to keep going. Does anyone else do this? I'm always surprised how much it helps. :)

So this morning I put in my contacts, did all of my makeup, and then for no reason at all I took out my contacts and started washing my face like I was getting ready for bed. Oh boy...

...The "What day is it? What time is it? Where am I?" point in the semester has arrived.

How is everyone else doing? If you are equally stressed out, I'm sending happy thoughts your way.

DallasMADE - Where to Craft in Dallas

Once again, I'm happy to show off my city's creative side with another DallasMADE post! This week I wanted to share some of the best places to learn a new crafty skill in Dallas. 

Oil and Cotton // This cool, neighborhood spot is the perfect place to take a class and try something new. The owners and instructors, Shannon Driscoll and Kayli House, opened their doors in September 2010 and have been a fixture in their community ever since. They offer a wide variety of classes taught by local professionals. From week long craft series, like DIY silkscreen printing, to a crochet holiday garland workshop, Oil and Cotton is full of variety! Just take a look at their jam packed calendar!

Make Shop & Studio // Another local favorite, the Make Shop & Studio is located in the popular Bishop Arts District. They offer a huge selection of classes, like sewing and embroidery basics. Also, they have an in store shop carrying all things handmade! 

Shabby Sheep // No surprise here, but this is my personal favorite crafty place in Dallas. Remember when I went there and bravely confronted my fear of being a blogger in public? Well, inside this adorable little cottage, the ladies of Shabby Sheep offer classes ranging from beginner to experienced. They also have a lot of fun events, like their knitting club and movie nights, where you can sit back with your needles, some really awesome people, and enjoy the craft together.

So if you ever make it to Dallas, make sure you stop by these awesome places for some crafty inspiration!

Staying busy...(and colorful)

I'm just over here...staying busy and knit-knit-knitting away. For your sake, I wish life was a bit more interesting at the moment, but this is pretty much it. Days filled with lots of knitting, reading, packing up orders, more reading, and writing papers.

Sometimes when I'm sitting here, knitting a long cable scarf and watching Dr. Who, I wish I was doing something a bit more adventurous. You know, like getting out there and taking on the world one crazy sweater at a time.

But...preparing for this craft show in addition to finishing up college is a different kind of adventure and I'm doing my best to enjoy each stressful step along the way. (Only TEN days to go...!!!!!)