Hi! I'm Ali. I'm married, a mom to our wild two year old little boy and our sweet baby girl, and a NICU nurse. I'm also a knitter and a sewer! I'm addicted to trying to do everything myself :) This is just a little bit about ME, why I decided to start a blog, and a look into my little indie business Ali Bali Green!
So, I've never had a blog before. Why do people blog? I just didn't get it. I've never really imagined having a blog before either...not until I started my little indie business (enter Ali-bali Knits and now re-branded to Ali Bali Green). Then I started thinking, "Hmmm, I wish I had a place to explain that more," or I see something really inspiring and think, "I wish I could share this with someone!" What better place than a blog. It is definitely NOT a place I will be airing super personal, stinky laundry. It is a place though that I will share my story. Specifically the story behind and the growth of Ali Bali Green. But where to start??
My story of Ali Bali Green starts with the story of ME....clearly right? I married my high school sweetheart, Ben, when we both finished college.
We moved to beautiful Bloomington, IN to start our life, leaving all of our family and friends in southeast Michigan. I started work as a night shift NICU nurse and Ben continued his schooling in biochemistry. A year passed, well almost, and we were a little surprised to find out we were expecting our first little bundle :) Monte Theodore was born in May 2010 and this is when I feel like my life really began!
I went down to working part-time nights in the NICU and at the same time was a stay at home mom with our little man during the day. I LOVE being a momma. I'm convinced that it doesn't get much better than this! After a couple months of adjusting to our new life with Monte, we started using cloth diapers (due to an incredibly persistent diaper rash). I'm pretty sure it was all a big snowball from there into the world of natural/attachment parenting. I'm a cloth diapering, breastfeeding, baby wearing, baby food making kind of momma, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I think organic is best and should be a way of life, not just a luxury. I love being a hands on momma and love to put my hands to work :)
In September of 2010 I thought, "How cool would it be if I could knit Monte a hat for this winter?!" So I walked myself into our little local yarn store and asked if someone would get me started. Linda showed me how to cast on, the knit stitch, and the purl stitch, and sent me on my way. After Monte went to bed, I spent hours practicing.....I was addicted! I soon learned to knit a hat by watching videos and reading tutorials and was soon making up my own patterns. I found an incredible certified organic cotton yarn and started using it for EVERYTHING. It came in fun colors and my pile of baby hats was growing. I NEEDED to give them away. Here was one of my first hats that I gave to my niece Sadie....
This hat sparked some interest from friends and family. I was repeatedly asked, "Can you make my little girl a hat like that?" After only a couple months I jumped in head first and opened a shop in Etsy called Ali-bali Knits in January 2011. My fingers were furiously knitting non-stop. It was mostly for family to start, then friends, then friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends.... Here are some of my first Ali Bali originals!
When I design a piece, I design it for a certain baby or toddler in mind. I go off of their personality and I love to use fun contrasting colors, and always, eco-friendly yarn!
In March, I finally sat back and realized I was completely disorganized and there was so much that I wanted to do and to expand on....but I just wasn't able to due to being so backed up on orders (not such a bad thing though!) I joined a blog based class called Indie Biz 3.0. This came at the perfect time and was incredibly inspiring and changed my thought process a bit. I started thinking that I wanted to put more time and energy into growing my little business.
I went on a little leave to organize my thoughts....and now....I'M BACK! I'm back with a name change to Ali Bali Green. I love the name "Ali Bali." It is the name my family called me when I was little. It is spunky and fun; it is exactly what I want this little business to be! I wanted to open my umbrella and encompass EVERYTHING I potentially want to do with my little indie biz. I love little people :) and I love natural materials and being GREEN. I wanted to expand to more than just knits! I have some new designs for knits...
...and since I've just taught myself to sew, I'm coming up with some more products to launch soon! I'm so excited for what is to come and can't wait to share it with all of you :)
