Kameron’s First Blanket (From Me!)

I’ve been working on this blanket since a few weeks or so after Kam was born, so for at least 9 months or so. I think I underestimated a bit how much less time I would have for things like this once I became a mom. I still love crocheting, but most days if I get to at all, it’s in 5-10 minute increments!

 

Now that I’m finally finished with this one (as of Sunday night - I was determined to get it done by the end of the weekend), I’m excited to also to finish my other in progress projects and get to some new ones!

I’ve got a 6-Day Kid Blanket that I’m working on for myself. Look up Betty McKnit’s website for the free pattern. It’s pretty easy and fun to do. It can be resized to whatever size you want to make! There is also a Facebook group that just has people who make this blanket, and they’re all (including the creator of the pattern) willing to help out if you have questions along the way. It’s also a great place to get color way ideas. It’s where I first saw the yarn I ended up buying for mine. 

Once I’m finished with my 6-Day Kid Blanket, I might make some in baby blanket size to sell in my Etsy store. It has been long abandoned, though not forgotten, due to sheer lack of time to dedicate to it. That’s something I would like to have back underway by next year at the latest. I have plans for lots of new things to make and sell - new hats, shawls, blankets (baby-adult size, hopefully), hand warmers, and maybe other things yet to be imagined. Due to the aforementioned sheer lack of time, I’ll probably just make things and sell them as they’re finished rather than doing many made to order items. I’ve experienced how quickly those can pile up, and I just don’t have the time to dedicate to solely making 20 hats in one week to ship out. That time crunch was sometimes an enjoyable challenge (and other times a stressful one) pre-baby, but now I’m not interested in getting myself into that. I can pretty vividly imagine how that would end up. Yikes.

Etsy - Writing Challenge, Day 3

I mentioned a few days ago that I wasn't sure if I was going to keep my Etsy shop or not....

I've thought about it a good bit since then, and I've decided that I will.  For now, at least.  It's just easier if someone wants to pay with a card rather than cash, and I can send receipts through it too, even if they're purchasing something in person as most do.  I don't get many orders that require shipping, but it makes that simpler too.

The first ever baby blanket I made for a friend's little boy last year.

I don't do a lot of sales throughout the year unless it's a random blanket here and there for a gift someone wants to buy.  It gets a little discouraging, but on the other hand, it's a nice break after I bust my butt to make tons of stuff leading up to Christmas.  The past couple years I've made so many messy bun hats and criss cross hats.  But having that little flurry of activity has been a nice little way to help me recover from gift-buying during the holiday season.

Messy bun hat

Messy bun hat

 (Though I wouldn't argue if you browsed my shop. ;) )

I've gone through and taken inventory of what I have that is still on my shop, so what is listed available on there actually is available (pay attention to whether it says they're already made or made to order though).  I have some stuff in stock, but the rest I'll be making to order for now.  I might make some more stuff up as we get into fall, but I always end up stuck with a bunch on hand because people who order want specific things, so I probably won't do too many pre-made items.  I'm likely going to end up tossing some stuff into a yard sale sometime soon just to get it out of my spare bedroom!

Baby blanket made at a friend's request earlier this year.

So, the shop is primed for fall/winter/holidays.  One more thing off my to do list!  If you're interested in anything there, please let me know!

A Cold Winter's Night

With the cold weather setting in, it's made for some perfect evenings sitting at home with Darryl watching TV (right now we're watching Fixer Upper on Hulu) and crocheting. 

I feel a little like an old lady saying that, but you know what?  Who cares.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm a homebody.  Clearly I am not ashamed. lol

We live in a house that was built in 1938.  It needed a lot of things when we bought it, a lot of which have been addressed, but things like windows? That's going to take a bit longer to save up for, and all but maybe one need replaced.  So we put this plastic stuff up to help seal in the heat when it gets cold, but this year its been so warm up until now that we haven't put the plastic up yet.

Cue huddling up under blankets while the fire roars (gas fireplace+fan+ceiling fan heats the whole downstairs pretty well!).  I came home today and found one of our cats, Leo, huddled in a ball on the rocking chair next to the fire, with his fur fluffed up more than usual (he's a fluff ball to start with).  He ended up moving into the recliner with Darryl, who put a blanket over him and they snuggled together. No one else was quite that cold, but for some reason Leo just wasn't a warm kitty earlier.  He's fine now though - huddled up a cushion away from me on the couch.

In my case, I've been working on a blanket for us to use, and it's going to be really warm.  How do I know?  As I work on it, it covers my lap, and doubles as a functional blanket even though it's only a little over a foot long so far.  Yay!  It's also going to be really pretty, so I can't wait until it's done.  Not sure who's going to use it more - Darryl or me. 

..........I might have to make a second blanket.

Autumn is Almost Here!

Is anyone else excited for fall yet? I've been loving this cooler weather in the mornings and being able to wear my pull overs a little bit now. I was really excited when the weather warmed up earlier this year, and while I'm not excited for the later prospect of snow, I'm SUPER excited for some cooler weather! (Don't ask Darryl's opinion on this or you'll likely get a 10-minute rant on how cold is evil.)

In light of cooler weather, I've also started making some cold weather stuff when I'm crocheting. I started on a pair of wrist warmers last weekend, and while this pair is going to be for my mom (late part of her birthday present), they're super easy to make, and I plan to make a few more of them that will hopefully sell.

Last year, hats were my big thing at the very end of the year. This year, I really haven't sold all that much. Granted, I've been focused on a lot of other things, so I haven't been "marketing" on social media very much, and that obviously doesn't help. Instead, when crocheting, I've been trying new things, new patterns, new types of products, so I can maybe expand and get a little more variety going. 

I was asked at a family reunion in August if I could make a trivet (basically a hot pad, for those like me who didn't know what a trivet was) for a teapot. I tried a few different patterns before finally finding one I really liked that was suitable for what she wanted, and this was the result:

Isn't it cool? It's called wiggly crochet, and I got the pattern from this blog: http://www.mooglyblog.com/wiggle-it-crochet-trivet-dishcloth-set/

I'm going to sell them for $10. They're super thick, and a lot of yarn goes into them, so $10 is right on point for money spent on materials x3 (the commonly used formula I use to price all of my products - and actually, that's rounded down a little from what the product of that formula actually is, so it's a good deal!)

I also have a few scarves and hats left from last year that I can sell right now if anyone is interested. Messy bun beanies, criss cross hats, my scarves (pattern entirely my own, which I'm really proud of!)....and I'll be adding to those collections over the next month or two. I have a bunch of Red Heart yarn I need to use up and get out of my office so I can sell the products made from it and make money to buy more yarn! I try not to buy much unless I've been selling too (tight budget over here), and as previously mentioned, selling hasn't been a big priority this year up until this fall.

I'll post more as I get more done and take updated pictures of what I have here! Happy almost fall, everyone!

Messy Bun Beanie!

Hey guys! Remember that messy bun beanie I mentioned I was working on?  Well, I finished one!

They are only $10, and you can order one here.

Also, I've added a button at the top left column of the blog that you can click on to easily navigate to my Etsy shoppe and a page that has a widget for my shoppe, showing many of my items for sale. I hope you check it out - you might find something you like!  There are lots of cool things that I have available that would make great gifts!

Have a wonderful day! :)

New Etsy Release - Purses!

Hey guys! I have a new creation in my Etsy store.  I came up with the design for a purse about a month ago and have been working to streamline it a bit, and I finally have it to where I am happy with it.  I actually had a few sold before it was officially listed on my store!

I'm making them to order, so all you have to do is choose your color and whether you want handles or a shoulder strap.  The set is $20 and includes the purse, a medium-sized pouch and small-sized pouch for storage within the purse.

What do you think?  Comment your thoughts below!  I look forward to hearing your opinions and maybe making you a purse!

The Latest Scoop

Well, here I am.  It's been eight months since Darryl and I bought our house, and I never did update on it!  We have done so many things, and we couldn't have done most of it without help from our family and friends.

Darryl and his best friend successfully put down flooring in our spare bedroom, master bedrooms, and office, and they have some ongoing projects involving the flashing and a project surrounding the stairs, all of which had problems we inherited from the previous owners but will be able to be fixed by us.  In the past few months, we've finally gotten most of our decorations and pictures hung on the walls and placed where they are for the moment, and while it fairly quickly felt like home anyway, it definitely feels like a home more than ever now.

I have already decorated for Christmas!  I couldn't wait!  The first time decorating my own house was super exciting.  I didn't do much, and we still might put some lights up outside, but the tree and some knick knacks we both had are around the living room. We're definitely not talking Griswold lights outside, but I would like to have them on the front and maybe back porches.  I don't know. We shall see what we come up with. This will be the first time I've had my own house to decorate however I want, and Darryl isn't a big Christmas person, so he's already completely handed the reins over to me in that department.

I started an Etsy shop for the things I've been teaching myself how to crochet.  It's called The Crafty Crochet Shoppe (CraftyCrochetShoppe)  It's a learning experience figuring out how to market the stuff and keep up with it, but I'm bumbling through.  I love to crochet and learned how a little over a year ago and have been teaching myself new stuff constantly.  Pinterest and YouTube and other blogs are a great source of help and are how I've taught myself everything I didn't find in pattern books.  The past few months I've been coming up with my own stuff that didn't come from a pattern, and that's been really cool!  The site link is here and I also have a Twitter for it (@CrochetShoppe1), though there's not anything really on the shoppe's Twitter yet as I'm still deciding how I'm going to go about the content of its Twitter feed.  Another place you can see shop updates and browse some of the products offered is the shoppe's Facebook page.

Criss Cross Hat - $10

Boot cuffs - $6

Hexagon Coaster - $2

Mesh Dishcloth - $6.50 

I also am working on restarting my Fiverr business, but it will have a little bit of a different vibe than it did before.  I'm still going to offer proofreading services, but I'm also going to be offering spreadsheets and things to buy for budgeting and anything else I come up with.  I'm a huge budget-er because I'm on a really tight budget, so I have tons of spreadsheets that I've come up with to keep track of everything from my checking account register to payment schedules to an actual budget showing monthly and yearly income vs. expenses.  I'm still putting it together, but all of that and maybe a few other things will be in one workbook available for purchase for $5.  Once purchased, the workbook will be able to be downloaded in either Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel format.  They work the same way and will be pretty much identical - it will just be your preference of which one you want to use.  I'm a total geek when it comes to this stuff - just ask Darryl - so I've been having fun the past couple of nights tweaking it and coming up with other ideas that people might want.  Hey, here's an idea - if you have something you think people might be able to or want to use in that same vein, comment below and suggest it!

My Fiverr also has a Twitter - it's just getting started as well (@JPriceOnFiverr).  I'll be posting content related to what my gigs are about on there - I just tweeted my first Tweet for that account the other night!

More to come, but this is just a start to my updates.  I have quite a bit of content ready to post, so look out! :)

Don't forget to post your Fiverr gig ideas! 

And if you have anything you'd like to see on the Etsy site, let me know that too! I can find patterns or come up with my own for just about anything, or if you simply want a different color of something that's already offered, I can do that too!  (And psst...If you're on this blog, you're the first to know...I'm working on coming up with a ponytail beanie like the ones that seem to be all the craze right now...it will be available very soon!)