The Shtick I Do

I was away this past weekend. Did I leave my yarn at home? NO! (duh) I took it with me - well some of it, it might take a U-Haul trailer to get all my yarn to travel with me. I had a few hours of down-time and although I was surrounded by a lot of other women, I managed to get a small project completed. It took about an hour and a half and that includes interruptions and three restarts. Our water was in a cooler full of ice and that means a damp bottle. Not to mention the condensation while you're drinking. I hate that. Really, I do. I even use napkins at Wendy's around my drinks. People look at me funny sometimes, my family has gotten used to it so they've quit staring (mostly). This is a quick pattern and useful when made in 100% cotton yarn. I used Lily® Sugar'n Cream® and a size H crochet hook. Now I didn't write a pattern as I was doing this, I was really trying to get this finished before I had to go back to the seminar so I could use it! Here...

Have you ever gotten a specific request from someone? For example, you're crocheting at a library, park, etc and a lady approaches you about making a Hello Kitty hat for her 5 year old granddaughter. Sounds easy enough, right? We've all seen the posts and blogs and pics of other Hello Kitty hats our fellow crafters have made and sold. So what's the big deal? Well I'll tell you. When someone asks for an officially licensed product to be hand made by you, you have a responsibility to approach the company that owns the license and ask permission to make the said object. Why? They own the rights of that specific product and they can (and sometimes will) come to you with a document from their lawyer demanding that you stop making that product. You would be stealing if you continued to make and sell their product. I made two Angry Bird hats for my boys last year. Could I be approached by their lawyers? Sure, but I didn't sell them and I made no profit nor did I ...

Do you ever look around the internet and wonder why people pay the prices they do for the things they buy? Oh sure, cars and homes, computers and phones and other electronics are all expensive. Even the "cheap" ones aren't really what I would call cheap.  The other day I was browsing through Etsy and came across some crafted jewelry, so of course I go down that virtual aisle in the Etsy store. Some of the items were amazing and their prices were as well.  Take this ring for example, very nice and it has a pretty nice price, too. Still, it looks like it's worth it. Now I'm certainly not one to belittle a craftsman a proper price for their work. Supplies, time, overhead for a shop, planning and design. It all has a cost and when you're a small operation you can't offer the same pricing as a huge, impersonal conglomerate. I completely get it, I really do.   Now since I can't make a ring of this quality myself, I would certainly buy it if ...

  Oh, so you noticed that my page went from brown to pink? Give you three guesses as to why . . . and the first two don't count. That's right, Breast Cancer Awareness month. There's no shortage of charities or causes that people can support. I have two that I help and that's Breast Cancer Awareness and the American Diabetes Association . If I can offer a little help to an organization that's looking into treatments and cures for diseases that impact me personally, then by-golly I'm going to do it! As anyone that reads my blog will notice, I usually post on Thursdays. This one is an extra for October. Below you will find some links to crafts that you can do and donate to charities for auctions and such. Every little bit helps. By the way, these are links to crochet items and they can be done in the color of your choice for whatever cause you choose to support.   Slouchy Hat w/Ribbon     Scarf w/Ribbon Pattern   Awareness Ribbon There ...

As Christmas looms ever closer (how'd you like that yarn-ish pun?), I find myself feeling pressed for time. I have so many projects that I want to complete, things I've seen that I want to try and more and more ideas keeping leaping into my brain! Oh my word . . . what's one crocheter to do? Well, you work on your projects the same way you eat an elephant; one bite at a time. The photo below shows something I finished for myself a couple weeks ago, I'm wearing it as I type. It's a simple poncho made with 3 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun that my mother gave to me. I wish I could tell you which one I used (I think it was Mimosa). I can tell you that the chemo caps got delivered and were an instant hit. The center has a designated drawer they use to hold the caps they receive and before the bag was unpacked 3 caps were claimed. A lady was tearful as she took a cap in the WVU colors of blue and gold. My husband tells me I did a good thing . . . I'm goi...