Our May flowers are blooming in our yard! The roses and irises are in full bloom — the roses always bloom around the first of May and Mother’s day. These roses (pictured below) are by our front porch, and the scent of them fills the air as you walk up the path. They really need to have some care but time has been scarce here.
May Flowers
Yarntopia Update
Do you remember the Use Your Stash Challenge? I’m still working on reducing my yarn stash. The last several projects have been using new yarns, but I am still working diligently to use up the yarns I have stored in Yarntopia. Keeping the studio organized and clean has always been a huge problem for me. The quantity of yarn and the quick stash-and-hide I have been doing these days has played havoc and created chaos in the studio. The stash-and-hide is to keep the grandkids out of the all the pretty yarns. I’ve spent some time cleaning in there this week, and I have been working on some new patterns for you as well. The aqua baskets in Yarntopia (see photo below) are a new purchase; they help to hold the overabundance of white and red yarn that seems to have added up over time. This picture (below) actually makes it look better than it really is. There is yarn in baskets all over the studio waiting to be crocheted into projects. I just happened to buy more over the weekend, and it has sparked some pretty new projects which I can’t wait to show you.
Future Plans
Summer is almost upon us, and with summer comes planning for fall and winter. I have been looking to see what interests me. Scarves, fingerless gloves, and hats are part of the future plans–and possibly one more afghan (the yarn jumped into my basket this past week, so I had to start it). The photo below is a little stash busting pattern that I am working on currently. I love the concentric circles that seem to be one stripe of each color. It will change as it gets bigger. Little crochet experiments have been happening left and right but not much pattern writing the past few weeks.
Shop Update
I am re-working old patterns into a new format. This makes them easier to read and follow. The patterns (in this new format) take fewer pages to print, too, which means less ink. A true bonus and savings! (It is such an improvement that I wanted to rewrite every pattern all at once. Looking at some of the patterns made me want to do a total rewrite on several, and then I started thinking, If I can’t do it perfectly then why try at all? … What kind of crazy perfectionism is that?!)
We decided on a middle ground. Only the new editions are available in the blog shop.
This matters to you if you want to be sure to get the newest format. If the pattern is offered here in the blog shop, then you know it is the updated edition. We are also adding the updated patterns to the other shops as we have time.
There are also some very exciting things happening here in the future. I am not quite sure when I can show them to you, so I am waiting–anxiously.
Free Button Flower Pattern
Speaking of May flowers, the updated button flower pattern is available in the shop. It is free, and you can download it here.
Talk to you later,
Karen