Tag Archive | crochet

Crochet for a craft fair

I’ve gotten some good feedback about the upcoming craft fair, so I’m feeling much better about it, thank you! I’ve decided to leave my prices as is: they’re more than fair, and I’d rather hang on to my projects than sell them at cost or just above cost. If I don’t value my work, how I can expect a customer to value it, right?

With that in mind, I’m trying to think of a few fast projects I can make before the show. Hats seem to be a popular suggestion, so I’m aiming for three of the Princess Anna-inspired hood. I’m going to try to make at least two sets of owl hats, matching ones for girls and 18″ dolls. I’ll sell them separately, though. If I have time after that, I’d like to make another newsboy like this one. I really liked how the yarn and pattern worked so well together.And then, if I have any *more* time (I’ll pause here for the laughing to subside. Okay? Okay.) I want to make some boot cuffs. I made some last winter and not only were they fast, but they were super cute and very popular. These were my faves. I think that’s all I can even dream to finish in the next two weeks, and I know, that’s stretching it. But a girl’s gotta dream. And if I focus on these projects only, I should be able to get a lot done. I can crochet a lot faster than I can knit. Now, I’ve got my yarn, my hook, and my wrist brace…I’m ready to get going!

Prepping for Craft Fairs (Oh no, the panic!)

Sep25

I’ve gone and done something silly: I signed up for a craft fair next month. You’d think that would be a good thing, right? It is, of course: I’ve got a nice stash of lovely things I’ve made that have no home. And I’d love to make a bit of extra cash for the upcoming holiday. But as soon as I sent in the registration form, the panic set in.

What if I don’t have enough items? What if no one wants to pay my prices? Should I lower them a little bit, just to get some sales? Should I raise the prices on my very best items? What if I don’t sell anything? Maybe I need to make some new things just for the show, and if so, what would sell? The craft fair is an elementary school fundraiser, so I expect to see a lot of parents and grandparents who might be inclined to buy cute hats for their kids. That means the owl hats and Princess Anna hoods could be popular. Those don’t take too much time to make, and I’ve got the yarn, so now they’re on my list to make…in the next OH GOD TWO WEEKS.

The show is October 11. I knew that all along, but this is September. I thought, “Oh, October, that’s ages away.” Guess what I just now realized?? It’s not. And then do you know what comes after that? Christmas! That’s right! And I’m nowhere near done with my holiday knitting (although I did cast on for a gift last night). I need to knit all the things! Right now!

So yeah. Panic time in my head. I think I’m going to step back for a moment and make a cup of tea. And then I’m going to make some hats.

These owls are ready to leave the nest

Sep24

It’s a cool, gray, drizzly day, and I’ve spent the morning with my fancy crochet hook, finishing up an order. That makes two that are ready to ship out tomorrow! Now the dog is impatient, so I’ll step away from the yarn and take him for a walk. When I return, I’ll be switching back to knitting to give my wrists a break!

A new hook, and still more hats

Sep23

I’m all about the hats, can you tell? I’m working on filling orders, which means more owl hats emerging from my hook. I’ve been crocheting so much lately that I splurged a wee bit on my last trip to Joann. I had my coupon but there was nothing I really *needed*. Still, you can’t let a 50% off coupon go to waste, right? So I decided to try out a new hook. Almost all of my hooks are the metal Boye books that I bought when I started crocheting. They’re fine, but I found that when I added a finger grip, they were even better. Well, I went all out: I bought a Clover hook with the cushioned handle. I use the H size the most so that’s what I bought.

I LOVE it. It feels lighter in my hand, it’s warm, and my fingers don’t have to grip so tightly. I’m definitely adding these to my wish list.
This is what I’m doing with my new hook. One more pink owl hat. She looks creepy because she has no eyeballs yet. I need more 3/4″ black buttons. I’ve got two boxes of buttons but not two black that match. So a trip to Joann is on my agenda today.

Until I get the buttons, I’m working on a brown baby owl hat. It’ll get a matching mom hat too.

After this set, I have two hats and two scarves to make, and then I’m caught up with orders. After that, I’ll probably get back to my Christmas knitting…and a wee bit of selfish knitting!

Princess Anna crochet hats, and some mittens

Sep22

Finally some FOs to show off! I worked hard last week on a proofreading job, but I had some yarn time too, and over the weekend I finished a few things. A friend posted a picture and link to a Princess Anna-inspired hat for girls from a blog called Over the Apple Tree, and my MIL asked for four of them for grandkids. How could I say no? These hats are too cute! The hat pattern originally came from Vallieskids and is flexible enough that it will fit a wide range of head sizes. The girls are similar ages, so I just sat back and cranked out four hats all the same. Then I had to learn how to crochet embroidery for the green stems, and it was a lot easier than I expected. The hard part is making them all look the same. The flowers came from my favorite flower pattern, called the Fabulous Flower. I could have done the smaller one to make it more like the original blog post, but I rather like bigger flowers.

I also had a request for a hat and mitten set, so I got to do my first pair of mittens! I’ve done fingerless gloves before, but never a whole mitten and a full thumb. Well, it was a piece of cake. And since they were for a young girl, they knitted up so fast. I did a whole mitten and most of the second yesterday, and this morning I finished up the thumb. I loved making these. I think mittens might be making an appearance this holiday season. Both the mittens and the hats were made with Caron Simply Soft. I love how it feels, and that it’s machine washable.

Swiftly Winding Yarn

Sep17

Sadly, I don’t have any FOs to show off. No new WIPs, not really even much progress on current WIPs. It’s true: I have not had much time to play with yarn the last several days. But I do have some yarny things to show off! See, my birthday was last week, and thank goodness my family knows how much I love yarn stuff. So yay, I got the set of interchangeable 16″ circulars, whee!! As much as I love knitting hats, I think I’ll be using this set a lot. And I got several new books, which already have patterns marked with post-its, and notions like small mesh pouches that are great for organization.

Those are all awesome, but not the highlight. I also got the best thing you can give a knitter or crocheter. No, not time, that’s difficult to wrap. I got a ball-winder!! I already had a swift, a cool Amish-style swift that my husband made for me for Mother’s day, and it helped my yarn-winding a lot. But I didn’t realize how well the swift and winder would work *together*. It was amazing. All I had to do was sit and wind. So much fun. I must have wound eight skeins of yarn that first day, plus another three or four the next day. I love to watch the swift spin, I love to see the ball grow on the winder, and I love love love the final product! It’s fabulous. I think it will live on my dining room table for the next several…forevers. And another cool thing about it: the yarn stacks neatly when it’s wound, so maybe my stash will condense a bit and I can fit more on the shelves!

Newborn Owl Hats

Sep8

I can’t stop making these character hats! Can I just say how much I love the Repeat Crafter Me blog?? Sarah is the creator of the blog and it’s her basic owl pattern that I keep coming back to over and over. It’s just genius, how simply it’s designed and how she’s included variations for sizes from newborn to adult. I also love that she’s so generous to share the pattern with crafters like me. So here’s a big thank you to Sarah. She does a ton of fun, unusual projects, so be sure to check out her website.

Now, on to the hats! I got an order for two newborn hats, one in pink and one in gray. After a quick trip to Joann for some super soft gray baby yarn, I made two owl hats in one day. And I cannot tell you how much I love them. Why is it that things are so much cuter when they’re little? Check them out:

And using the wine glass as a hat stand? Yeah, that was Repeat Crafter Me too. Genius, I’m telling you. If you’d like to see other things I’m making, or contact me about making something for you, you can find me on Facebook too.

Finally, here’s the guy who was trying to help me take pictures. He’s cute, but not terribly helpful.

Hello Hats

Sep2

Today is Tuesday. Right? I’m feeling confused, having come off this long weekend. It was productive for most of us. My husband worked on our patio project, and though we still have a ways to go, it’s encouraging to see it progress. For me, Labor Day weekend meant watching the US Open, which of course includes playing with yarn. I finished another Christmas present yesterday and I’m quite pleased with it.

I never thought I’d get into making these character hats. I thought they were fussy and fiddly and would require so much detail work that I’d hate it, but I’m having a blast with them. Sure, the finishing isn’t my favorite, but seeing it all together makes it worth it. Here’s hoping my niece still likes Hello Kitty by the time Christmas rolls around!

Once that was done, I needed another project. I’m going to visit a friend with a new baby this week, and for the baby shower I made a wee pointy elf hat. Since the baby has a big sister, I thought I’d take her a present, so last night I made another elf hat.

I’m feeling pretty good about my Christmas knitting now, so I might even be able to take a break and work on some selfish knitting for a bit. It’s September…surely cooler weather is just around the corner…I need a new hat for myself, right?

What do you want in a Local Yarn Store?

Aug21

We did a little yard work on Monday, and today I woke up with two little spots of poison ivy on my arm. Of course. It never fails. Whenever I do yard work, I get poison ivy. Doesn’t matter what precautions I take or whether we can see any where I’m working. It just happens. Fingers crossed that it’s just the one spot and the calamine continues to do its job. Then I had a blog post half-written this morning before I realized I’d already posted about that topic (the purple crochet fedoras). Shoot. That was my big plan for the morning. Instead I’ll go down and cast on for the Honey Cowl again with my Madelinetosh.

My brain is a little preoccupied, I guess. I found out the other day that one of my favorite LYSs is moving. It will still be in the metro area, but it’s farther away. It leaves the area on this side of the state line with just one LYS, and not a great one. There are some positives, the best one being that it’s a 3-minute drive for me. It’s a big store and they have good prices. They’ve been there for years and years and it seems like the customer base is much older. The ladies who work there don’t always take kindly to younger crafters like myself invading their space. It is not a welcoming store. It’s not really a friendly store. I like to look at the yarn but I’d never want to just sit down and hang out there. And that’s what I want in my LYS.

So this news started a little voice in the back of my head talking, poking me about opening my own LYS. I’ve thought about it, dreamed about it. I have a vision in my head of what it might look like. It’s fuzzy and shifts, but it’s there. Certain aspects stay the same. I have ideas of promotions I would do, groups I could host, how I’d arrange the comfy chairs for crafters. I’ve already thought about what types and brands of yarn I’d want to carry to distinguish myself from the other LYS, but I think the atmosphere would be the biggest variant. Knitters and crocheters are such a friendly, community-oriented bunch that I think we flock to places that encourage it. I *want* to encourage it. I want to foster it and be part of it.

My husband and I have talked about creating a shop together, one that would allow us both to showcase our creations and help others create. He dreams of building custom furniture, and a yarn store could easily also be a showroom for his sample pieces. We have a name picked out, we’ve looked at available buildings…every For Sale or For Rent sign in our little downtown area catches our eyes.

Right now I’m dreaming. I’m even yearning a bit. But it’s not time yet. My kids are busy, and aren’t old enough to drive themselves to their various activities. I still want to be there for them, help them be active in band and theater and music and whatever else they dream of. I have some other family stuff going on, too, stuff that wouldn’t allow me to easily take on something as huge as my own store. I have a puppy who would eat the house if left alone all day, every day. We haven’t begun to write a business plan yet, something that definitely needs to happen. We need to do some research, start compiling numbers and working out the details. But I think this could happen. I think this could be our future.

It makes me wonder, and I want your feedback: What do you look for in a LYS? What compels you to go there again and again? What do you like and not like? What do you wish your LYS had or did? If you could have a dream LYS, what would it look like?

Silk Yarn from India

Aug19

My husband got home this weekend from a two-week work trip to Bangalore, India. For the most part, it sucked. A lot. I’m not used to being a single parent to our two kids and rambunctious puppy, so that was stressful. Plus I missed him. I didn’t think I would. I thought I’d be all “Oh yay I can do whatever I want!” and I kind of did, but…I do that anyway and he never cares. So that part was the same except I didn’t have him around and I didn’t like it. But enough mushiness. Because he’s home now, and he came home with presents! The best present ever: YARN!

That’s right, my fabulous husband found a company in Bangalore called Silkindian that creates specialty, luxury silk products, including handpainted, handspun yarns. (They also have machine spun yarn, custom yarns, fiber for your own spinning pleasure, silk fabrics and knitting needles.) Not only that, he convinced his driver to go out of their way to find this place so he could buy me yarn. That was difficult since apparently not many women in Bangalore knit for fun and the driver couldn’t figure out why Alex would want to go to this place.Silkindian’s wall o’yarnMohammed poses with some of his offeringsAlex and Mohammed. I like these guys. They provide yarn.

Yarn yarn yarny yarn for me! I have no idea how Alex picked but pick he did, and he picked out a lot more than I expected. Probably more than I would have allowed myself! Look what I ended up with:Let’s take a closer look, shall we? Obviously it’s all silk. My favorite is two skeins of Roving Silk, a worsted weight with 200 yards of variegated purple in each skein. Gorgeous.I got three skeins of this worsted Duke Silk Yarn, and these are the softest skeins of yarn I’ve ever touched. They’re heavenly. The colors are so rich too. Truly, this photo does not do the yarn justice.Two more skeins of Roving Silk, again in worsted. (The man knows what I like!) It’s a really pretty combination of colors and I can’t wait to see how it knits up. I’m thinking they’ll be a shawl, maybe with an edge of the lilac Duke in the previous picture.Another Duke Silk Yarn, 225 yards of worsted, in two of my favorite colors. I adore pink and green, especially together. Just one skein of this. What will it be?This Duke Silk is a gorgeous rainbow with purple and teal and olive and salmon and mint. Mmm. The colors are brighter than the picture shows. Multicolored yarns are my favorite way to do colorwork! I think this will make my new favorite cowl.More multicolored but these are pastel, and a bulky weight. 115 yards in each, so I’m glad I have two! Maybe a hat and mittens? They’re soft enough that I’ll love the feel against my skin.These are my “outside of the box” yarns. The purple is a sport weight, thinner than I usually use but 350 yards of it! I’m excited to branch out and see if I can make a pretty spring shawlette with it. The green isn’t labeled but I’m pretty sure it’s a DK weight. I just have no idea how many yards are in it, so I’ll have to find a great flexible pattern for it. I do love the subtle variations in the greens.Whew, are you getting tired yet? I am, but I’m not done! I have four more mystery skeins, already wound but lacking any labels. I’m pretty sure they’re worsted weight. Three are these marvelous rainbow skeins. I haven’t weighed them yet but I will, which should give me a basic idea of how much I have to play with. And one little random skein of pink and brown which will make a darling hat, I think.

Now look at these little beauties! Alex knows how much I like a little sparkle, so I’ve got two skeins of this yarn with some shimmery gold woven through. No labels but they look/feel like maybe a sport weight. They’re not as silky soft as the worsted & bulky yarns, but they feel light and bouncy. I’d love a shawl from them, I think. Do I work the colors separately or together? Okay, we’ve reached the last bit of yarn, and these are the most unusual. They’re the recycled silk skeins. They’re cheaper than the others, not as soft, and there can be a lot of variation in thickness throughout each skein, but they’re fantastic nonetheless. The colors are still so bright and vivid, and more than any of the other yarns they evoke the feeling and personality of India. I’m saving these four to make a purse for myself, and it will be a treasure!That’s the end of the yarn, but not the end of the presents. Alex picked up a lovely pair of knitting needles from Silkindian too, a 14″ set of size 8 with nifty ends. I’m already trying to figure out what pattern I can make to use them.And finally, I got a silk pashmina in shades of fuchsia, purple and teal with stripes and polka dots: all my favorites in one article of clothing! I’ve already worn it and LOVE it. (This wasn’t from Silkindian.)I know. I’m so terribly spoiled. I quite like it that way. If you’re jealous of my yarn, check out the Silkindian’s website here or find him on ravelry here. What I have is just the tip of the iceberg!