10% Discount for Early Holiday Shopping!

Starting at midnight you can get a 10% discount at my Etsy shop!!  Use the coupon code CYBER12 when checking out.  The sale goes till Tuesday at midnight!
Check out The Pink Woobie on Etsy!

Shop Local Ohio

Have you been wanting to buy that perfect item that's been sourced and made locally?  Look no further than these lovely items for sale in my Etsy shop!  In this post I want to highlight the items in my shop that are made in Ohio.  I realize that Ohio is a big state, but when you consider buying yarn made in Ohio in comparison to yarn made in Turkey, I'd call that local.

Each of these items are hand-spun by me-- the Woobie. :)  I produced the yarn by spinning it with my drop spindle or on my wheel.  The wool and other fiber was purchased from several different local sellers, and was grown in Ohio.

I chose the fibers for the colors and texture, which created a unique item you will enjoy for a long time.

Currently I have only four Ohio made items in my shop, but I will be adding more in the near future.

1. Crochet Slouchy Hat- Hand-spun
2. Merino/Alpaca Fuzzy Beanie Adult Large
3. Raspberry and Cream Handspun Neckwarmer
4. Hand-spun Merino Cowl

PS. If you live in Columbus, OH you can contact me through my shop for local shipping options as well!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales

SALE!

Just wanted to give you a heads up!  On Thursday at Midnight I will post a coupon code for my Etsy shop!  It will be good through Tuesday at Midnight for you to save 10% off anything in my shop.  I'll be posting it here, on Facebook, through Twitter, and a friend is sharing it in her blog.  So lots of people will know about it and things may go fast, so be sure to check it out right away.

If you miss out, I'll be restocking the shop and hosting another sale in time for Christmas!  I'm also taking custom orders.  If my schedule gets busy I might have to stop, so get your request in early.

Links, Likes, and Love- 11/15

It's been quite awhile since I've done a Links, Likes, and Love.  A lot has been going on, but I wanted to share with you some things I'm a part of.

Links

• Make it Better: Craftalong for Sandy Relief- In response to Hurricane Sandy some folks got together and enlisted crafters to create warm things for those who are without electricity, heat, or homes.  I sent a package out this week containing some mittens I had made last winter, a few hats I whipped up, and a scarf I had been working on forever but didn't have a reason to finish.  The deadline for submissions is tomorrow, but I'll keep my eyes out for other projects incase you want to contribute.
• The Kick Start Your Handmade Holiday Shopping Giveaway- My friend Carrie is doing an awesome giveaway!  I'm thankful for her and her effort to encourage people to buy handmade this holiday season.  Hop on over and enter and you could soon be an owner of something awesome from The Pink Woobie!

Likes

• You!- I am so grateful for each one of you who keep coming back to read what I have to say.  Things are slow sometimes, but I still feel like I have a lot of important things to say, so don't give up on me.  It's only because I know some of you out there are interested that I keep writing.  
• The Weather- yes, it's getting cold but I own a lot of warm accessories from all the years of crocheting.  But it's been mostly sunny, and my body doesn't get overwhelmed like it does in the heat.  Many days this summer I hid in my bedroom with the AC cranked.  It's so nice to be able to go outside, take a walk, drink a coffee, without sweat pouring out of everywhere.
• My electric blanket- this goes along with the weather.  Although my body doesn't get overwhelmed as much in the cold, my joints and muscles do hurt a little more.  I'm combatting that with an amazing electric blanket that Ryan got me.  I highly suggest investing in one for anyone who might struggle with the cold.  I can't believe the difference it makes compared to a normal blanket.

Love

I'm not really sure this even needs words.  This is Popeye helping me with my spinning.  What a good cat!

Those Times I Forget I'm Chronically Ill

Today I wanted to share a little bit with you about what it's like living, working, and playing with a chronic illness.  More specifically I wanted to share with you those times that I forget I'm chronically ill.

Living in constant pain and fatigue isn't something that's easy to forget.  And trust me it doesn't happen often.  Things aren't always hard, or painful.  Sometimes it's just that dull reminder that I don't have the energy that I once had to do the things I love, or the nagging knee pain that I have dealt with my whole life.  And although it may sound like a good thing to forget you are ill, it usually isn't the case.  

There are two specific instances in which I occasionally forget about my illness.  On the rare day that my pain is low, or that I'm attending an event that I've looked forward to for a long time I can get caught up in enjoyment.  If you catch me on one of these days, I might even be dancing, loud, obnoxious, and generally smiley.  I've set my health issues aside for the time being, and have captured a small bit of my natural joy.

I often live for these nights! I will talk your ear off if you let me, and unless I tell you (which I often do) you would never know I struggle with my health on a daily basis.  Then morning comes..... and I again remember that my body is not as strong as it once was.

Regardless of the night's activities or alcohol consumption I'm "hungover."  My head pounds, my throat hurts, my legs ache.  After one of these "good nights" it often takes me 3-4 days to recover to my normal daily activities.  No matter how careful I am the only way to avoid this feeling is to not go out at all, and that sucks.  As much as I hate the phrase "suck it up" when it comes to pain, somedays that's just what I do.  I suck it up, enjoy myself, and know that for the next week things will be slow.

The second instance in which I can "forget" about my chronic illness is sometimes the hardest.  As you know I've been working on building a business very very slowly over the last couple of years.  It started as a hobby, became a cute idea, and now is at the point where I'm actually (almost) making money.

Before I started all of this, I had no real idea about the crafting business.  I understood the production part, and doing what made me happy, and I knew it would be a lot of work.  But I wasn't familiar with the craft blogging world, Pinterest didn't exist yet, and the majority of people I followed on Twitter knew nothing about crafting.

Starting from scratch, I'm learning slowly, and well.  It turns out I'm pretty good at a lot of things.  However, as I build my crafting business, form relationships with other crafters and bloggers, and attempt to make myself known I get overwhelmed.  I often feel as though I'm not "doing enough"and that everyone is getting ahead of me.

When the stress is really high, and I feel like I'm failing it's because I've forgotten that I have a chronic illness.  I'm attempting to function like a healthy average person in a world of overachievers.  To begin with I've never been an overachiever, but I'm also operating at a much slower pace in my daily life than most people.  This is when I need to remind myself of how far I've come, and how well things are going.  That DESPITE my chronic illness I'm still succeeding.  This is really easy to say, but oh so hard to remember.

So I thought by sharing with you, I might remember to cut myself a little slack from time to time.  Also I'm sharing this with you so you might understand a little bit more about others with chronic illness.  I'm a pretty open book, but a lot of people who struggle do not share their struggles with others.  If you can learn a little bit of what I'm going through, hopefully you can help be supportive to others.

And because I hate leaving you without a picture of something that I'm working on, here is a full bobbin of yarn that I spun last night.

Frugal Foodie Mama

Hi Woobie friends!

I wanted to share a friend's blog with you.  Carrie at Frugal Foodie Mama and I are collaborating on some good things month.

I met Carrie when she was still living in Columbus, but we've stayed in touch through that wonderful magic of the interwebs.  She writes about food, motherhood, her attempt to be a more eco-responsible family, and she's a great supporter of small handmade businesses!

I'd love for you to jump on over to her blog and check things out.  We'll be doing a give-away together later in the month and I'll let you know about that here!

Busy Bee

I haven't blogged a whole lot lately and there is really no excuse for it.  It seems that when I have the time to blog I find other things to do.  I think being on Twitter has seriously changed my blogging habits.  I'd still like to get on a more regular schedule but I'm not going to stress about it, and it's not my top priority.


Anyway, I wanted to let you know what I've been up to over the last few weeks.  I wrote about my cold, and following that I had a serious Fibromyalgia flare.  It seems to happen this time of year, everything becomes pretty painful and I feel like I have to drag myself around like I'm wearing cement shoes.

Despite feeling so crappy, I was able to get a lot accomplished.  I am now an officially recognized business with the state of Ohio.  I've registered my business name, and obtained a vendor's license.  Now the book keeping begins, so far things are going ok, hopefully I don't screw up anything too badly.  If anyone has known me for long, you'll know I'm seriously bad at math.  Thank goodness for computers.

I've also been seriously busy making items for my Etsy shop.  I try to finish one item a day.  It doesn't always happen, but I've been pretty productive.  Be sure to head over there and check out what I've been doing.

Besides the business things I've been doing I've also started physical therapy for some pain that I've been having.  I've had life long knee pain, but my hip has gotten particularly bad in the last two years, and the tendinitis in my shoulder is not really improving.  Hopefully some strengthening and stretching will help.  Really want to get back to my yoga, but it's been pretty uncomfortable with all the pain.  Soon I hope.

So, that's what is up with me.  Just wanted to update you all.  If you are interested in hearing from my a little more regularly you can check out my facebook page, where I post pictures and status updates about how things are going.  Also for all my facebook fans there is a giveaway going on that you have till Wednesday to enter.  You should check it out. :)