hi again!

With the recent additions of my Etsy shop and new Instagram account I figured I should probably reintroduce myself to those of you following!

Hi! Welcome, and thank you for coming to visit!  My name is Christine and I am the owner and creative behind Ruby & Ana in Stitches.  I started this blog a few years ago during a time where I felt the need to express my feelings and had the urge to begin sharing some of my work and the activities that keep me sane.  I am currently a full time working professional in the fashion industry, a knitter (hello long subway rides!) but most importantly a (newish!) momma to a beautiful and happy little girl.  Here are a few things you may not know about me…

1. I love yarn.. (duh..)
2. I am an old child (cue stubbornness!)
3. Introvert!- I am most content curled up on my couch with a glass of wine, movie and current project.  it is more healing than a day spent with loved ones (sorry friends)
4. I LOVE to run!  Its one of those few things that if I’m truly pissed off that can calm me down.
5. Secretly wish I was a mermaid… hey we can all dream

I recently made the small (ish; wait not really…) decision to reopen my Etsy shop with more of a focus on handknits and patterns.  While it is a work in progress it is the step towards a direction I have dreamed of going for a very long time… (more on that later…)

So, I am so glad you stopped by and hope to see you all again soon!

XO; Christine

to give a helping hand.

I recently had the opportunity to help out a fellow knitter by offering to test out one of her patterns, and I am in LOOOVEEE with it already.  This knit is a bit of a challenge for me as well as I am stretching my wings and attempting some fairisle/ 2 color knitting AND a proper sweater.  The end result you will probably see on my little one in a few months…

The pattern calls for sock weight/ fingering yarn and before I went out to buy a new skein) I found an unused skein of yarn hiding in the bottom of my yarn basket (what a shame, I know!)! So this sweet little knit is being created in a lovely skein of Madelinetosh TOSH SOCK in color Astrid Grey. {Insert heart eyed emoji here…..}

The knitting is simple but beautiful (I love simple knits that become wardrobe staples) and I’m looking forward the the challenge of colorwork! But until then I’ll be found on the trains as your neighborhood subway knitter plugging away on this little beauty…

cleaning house.

I’ve been recently thinking on some of the best ways to get my knitting, writing and Etsy shop more traffic and one of the first things that came to mind was changing my Instagram account back to a public account.  While I used to have it set up as public I recently decided I needed a private place for me.  That being said I was finally able to set up an Instagram account solely dedicated to just to knitting, Etsy, etc!

Please feel free to find me on Instagran @rubyandanainstitches…

Until next time….

Labor of Love.

On this chilly Monday morning I took the next step in growing my Etsy shop…. I’ve posted my very first self written pattern! It truly was made out of a labor of love… I welcome you all to check it out; if your like me and are a knitter in need of a fun little project for a little girl the Chasing Windmills pattern is available for purchase! But if not you can always check out my listing for a custom order…

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RubyandAna

You did what?!

Oh hi again! After debuting my New Years resolutions yesterday I decided to actually spend some time last night working on my Etsy shop and I actually was able to clean up some of my listings! And it feels GOOD; like really good to know that my products are a little easier to browse. Will that help to make more sales?- hopefully, but for now I will continue to add more product and occasionally reevaluate how my listings look and read to make sure it is easy for my customers to make a purchase they are interested in and feel good about. And you dear reader; take a look! Maybe you’ll see something you like for your little one or a friend…

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RubyandAna

Happy Thursday world.

Thoughts on New Years Resolutions.

Happy New Year! While many pronounce their resolutions on the last day of the old year or the first day of new; I decided to sit on my ideas for a bit. Typically I do not make resolutions and when I do my tendencies are to keep them broad. This isn’t because I don’t think I’ll keep them but more because I want to be realistic. For example you won’t find me saying that I want to start and stick with a weekly gym routine for weight loss… instead I’ll say I want to work on being healthier; more mindful eating, work out when I know I’ll have the time because it’ll feel good- not because I resolved to HAVE to.

This year though I have some goals I want to try and push myself to achieve because I haven’t been feeling my best in some aspects of my life. Making them public is a little scary but I feel it will make me more mindful of actually achieving these goals. So here we go, my resolutions for 2018!

For Myself

-Be more mindful; of myself and my feelings and what I need to do when everything around me is too much. Which brings me to…

-More fitness! Since having our daughter it has been much more difficult to squeeze in a little yoga or a run on my own. Both of these things help ground me so much and release a tremendous amount of stress… even once a week I need to give this time to me so I can be more present for hubby and our little one.

For My Work

-grow my Etsy business. Right now I have very few listings and I feel they are a little rough around the edges…. so I want to clean them up with more specific info where needs and better photos.. I believe so much in my work right now and want to share it with the world! This would also mean working on my knitting…

– FINISH MORE PATTERN WRITING! Would you believe I have several patterns started but they still need finishing touches?- smh, enough of this half finished procrastination!- finish up some existing WIP’s. Now this one is a bit trickier as I have some big projects on my needles (2 bigs ones, one fine gauge sock project and one what seems like never ending twisted rib). If I could finish two before the end of the year I would consider this a completed resolution- and at the very least I need to make progress on all 4 projects. Something is better than nothing right?!And finally, blog a tiny bit more! This is by no means a source of income and is more therapeutic but it would be nice to give myself a little consistency…For My FamilyThe resolutions I have with my family are ones that I will not share; mainly to maintain our privacy but like in other aspects of my life I want to strive to strengthen and maintain those relationships that matter most.To those lovely souls who take their time to read my thoughts, THANK YOU and the Happiest of a New Years to you and your loved ones. Cheers to 2018!