Tag: crocheting

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The Temperature Blanket

My etsy shop has been blowing up this week due to a little share about the Temperature blanket. I discovered this while I was on the phone with my Mom on New Years eve first thing in the morning. I receive the Etsy cha-ching on my phone when I sell something on Etsy. The phone cha-chingd three times in the space of one 20 minute conversation. That’s odd I thought. Well, it went on all day and then I started receiving requests to make a blanket that I had already sold. (I hardly ever go back and make the same blanket twice.) The blanket patterns kept selling all day long, and all day the next day. My views were off the charts. I have had 27,000 views in the last seven days. Yesterday my views were 12,323. I am blown away. It is a beautiful thing. I searched all through my analytics to figure out where the traffic was coming from with no luck. Finally, I questioned a customer and found where all the traffic was coming from. Here is the photo that was posted on Facebook

The Temperature Blanket

I quickly wrote the pattern for this blanket and posted it. It is doing quite well for pattern sales. I was wanting to sell more crochet patterns and less finished items. It fits better with my life goals and family needs right now. I have found a friend that will be glad to crochet this blanket for you. She is my Etsy friend Christie at Luvncrafts. I am going to stay out of the middle of those negotiations.

All because RepeatCrafterMe shared my blanket photo with the thermometer attached to it. It is such a lovely thing to happen.

The blanket above is not a thermometer blanket. It is just a blanket using the same lovely colors as are pictured in the thermometer. I really appreciate the shout out by Sarah. I know it will be a roller coaster ride that will end pretty soon but it sure is exciting right now.

Thank you Sarah. You have made my day and quite possibly my year.

Thank you to all the lovely people that are buying my blanket pattern. I hope you make a wonderful thermometer blanket that keeps you and your families warm.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

Here are the links to the two patterns that will work well for this blanket.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/168162461/50-off-blanket-hand-crochet-blanket

https://www.etsy.com/listing/262182198/50-off-crochet-blanket-pattern-ombre

 

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Today is all about Table Covers

Today is all about table covers as I work to create table cloths for the craft show. I have a wide variety of  fabrics and textures to use and I need to figure out a way to use them creatively without buying anything new. My supplies consist of

  • burlap. real burlap bags that I have washed and dried three times
  • canvas …left over from sewing the slip covers on the couch
  • a white bedskirt that has eyelet ruffles and embroidery all in shades of white
  • white tulle left over from the wedding
  • off white and white muslin left over from a variety of crafts

I just need to figure out the most attractive fabric layout so I can stitch up these table cloths.. That is the challenge for today. We will see how it all goes together.

Today is all about Table Covers

Some bunting or banners would also work well in white and off white colors. We are working with neutral colors. We hope that these colors will stick in the background and all  the items to stand out more. The balance might be off color wise but I can’t tell until I lay out the colors and see.

I really don’t want to buy any more fabric but we will see how it looks when I’m done.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

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The Craft Show Countdown

The To Do list for November is big, huge, and overwhelming as I am in the middle of the craft show countdown. I have very few creating days left before the big show and I am writing things on my list as fast as I can and I can and trying to mark them off just as quickly. I can’t keep up with this list too. It is just happening too fast. Throw in homeschooling, home maker duties, parenting and spending time with Dale, the kids and my Mom and life is WAY to busy. I wouldn’t have it any other way and I am sleeping all night long (read that as worn completely out!)

The Craft Show Countdown

Here is the studio a week or so ago. I actually have cleaned it up last week and it looks pretty similar to this again. As soon as items are finished and tagged it moves upstairs. I do have about 40 projects in different states of completion that I need to just finish up.

The Craft Show Countdown

I am working on scrap ornaments and quilted bibs in the photo above and it tends to get really messy when I am working with little bits of fabric.

You can tell that I am sewing and working diligently. The list was at this point at 2 pm yesterday when I stopped to run to Lowe’s for home repair items. I got back to it later and was able to mark a few more things off my list.

The Craft Show Countdown

 

Yarntopia is also getting much slimmer these days. So, I can tell that I am making progress on using my supplies. I do wonder if it is actually smaller or does it just look that way since some of the yarn is in different project bags.

It is 16 days to the craft show and I am in officially freak out mode. I would also call it a creative frenzy, I think hubs would call it chaos. Today I paint the displays to make sure that everything looks fresh and clean!

The Craft Show Countdown

I’m almost finished but the paint is still wet and it looks like it might rain. It seems I take three steps forward and then two steps back.

Everyday has several jobs and life keeps happening so for today I am going to work on doing the important not the urgent. Taking time out for family and life is so much more important than prepping for a craft show. I keep reminding myself… over and over… again… Family comes first, family comes first, family comes first.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

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What Did I get done in October

 

Last month I listed everything I got done day by day for the Christmas selling season and in preparation for the craft show. It helped me keep track of how I was doing and how much I had left. I always feel that I am not doing enough. This will be like a food diary; a true picture of how much I was getting done to prepare. I still have my to do list for the month.

  1. Make Menu and Grocery list
  2. sew buttons on cup cozies 
  3. Stiffen  all crochet ornaments
  4. cut out Tardis baby bibs
  5. cut out flannel baby bibs
  6. sew flannel baby bibs
  7. sew 37 cup cozies now cut out 
  8. Sew Tardis baby bibs
  9. add ribbons to all ornaments
  10. Crochet 4  men’s hats
  11. Crochet 2 Women’s rose hats
  12. Crochet 5 Granny Stripe Scarves
  13. Crochet 5 Granny Square Scarves
  14. Crochet stars
  15. Crochet hearts
  16. Sew 10 superhero capes
  17. Sew 10 aprons
  18. Cut out 8  aprons
  19. Organize my side of the maker space
  20. Sew 6 flannel baby blankets for crochet trim
  21. Sew pillow cases for crochet trim
  22. sew 3 craft show aprons
  23. Sew 20 burp cloths   I’ve currently sewn 16
  24. finish owl hats that need eyes, wings and beaks
  25. Sew tags on all the scarves and hats
  26. Anything else I can think of!

Oct 1.  Thursday

  • Sewed, topstitched and buttoned 57 cup cozies
  • Sewed eyes on Minion 6 minion hats, and 1 ninja turtle hat
  • Did the hand work on 7 heart ornaments

Oct. 2.  Friday

  • 20 minutes posting on Hootsuite

October 3 Saturday

  • Posted on Hootsuite

October 4 Sunday

  • took the day off and made cake!
  • listed 3 items on Handmade@Amazon

October 5 Monday

  • Listed 24 items on Handmade @Amazon
  • sewed patchwork bibs yellow 6 they are ready for batting and backing!
  • shipped order
  • dropped off hat…

Tuesday

  • sewed 10 patchwork bibs  (lots of work but they are really cute.)

Wed.

  • Crocheted 2 hats 1 teal and 1 copper

Thursday

  • Cut threads and finished quilting on patchwork baby bibs
  • Sold two adult blankets and 1 baby blanket

Friday

  • listed 10 baby blankets on Amazon/handmade

Saturday! Tons done today.

  • Figured out the craft show display
  • started painting some of the craft show display pieces
  • watched more of the Influence/Impact summit.
  • we have watched about 10 of the interviews so far and the knowledge we have gleaned is incredible. I love the fact that it is free!

Sunday

  • Cut and pin Burp clothes
  • watch Influence and Impact Symposium
  • Crochet head band
  • work on crochet triangle scarf/shawl

Monday October 12 Columbus Day

  • Iron and sew burp cloths
  • I put the tags on and cut the threads
  • Finished three blanket scarves
  • watched Dave Ramsey on Influence and Impact
  • Started crocheting a hat
  • wove in the ends on the teal hat

And THEN the week happened….

Saturday and Sunday

  • worked on displays and floor plan for the craft fair.
  • Spent time with family and enjoyed the weekend.
  • Date night on Friday night and went to the Vintage Market Fair, twice! Once on Friday and once on Saturday.
  • I had breakfast with friends, lunch with my Daughter in law and Dinner with Dale. When I told him I had eaten every meal out. He said not to get used to it,  but we had a great date night.

It is now Monday again, the 19 of October!  :0)

  • 3 headbands finished
  • 1 scarfy shawl or shawly scarf
  • 1 sweater/poncho in reds/pinks/brown
  • crocheted/finished three hats, black/white, red/white, black/white, rust,
  • finished one owl hat

Tuesday October 20

  • Crocheted three hats
  • sewed tags on 30+ hats
  • took inventory of hats completed and tagged 67 hats total

Wednesday

  • wrote blog post
  • working on crochet hats
  • posted on hoot suite

Thursday October

  • Tagged and inventoried hats
  • put belly bands on cup cozies
  • sewed 10+ coffee press cozies
  • sewed hot pads

What Did I get done in OctoberThe guinea hens stopped by our house this morning.

Friday

Dale picked up d rings for me… they were the wrong size

Saturday October 24

  • cut out 10+ aprons and linings
  • Sewed 2 aprons
  • sewed 4 pot holders
  • cut apron straps
  • sewed buttons on 8 coffee press cozies

Sunday October 25

  • Did absolutely nothing for the business.
  • Switched all the kids beds around in Preparation for Thanksgiving.
  • Cleaned and vacuum the guest room and closet.

Monday October 26

We are getting close to the end of this month. I am doing a bad job of documenting my work. I am getting loads of sewing and business things done.

  • I got Square up and running again on my phone. It allows me to accept credit cards
  • cut out linings for aprons
  • cut out baby bibs
  • sewed 14 baby bibs
  • Set up Hootsuite for the week
  • sewed buttons on 3 coffee press cozies
  • received the order for d rings…. they were the wrong size
  • ordered more d rings online
  • crocheted one baby bow tie

Tuesday

  • top stitched 14 baby bibs
  • cut out baby bibs
  • sewed bow tie baby bibs
  • added snaps to baby bibs
  • Total number of bibs finished today (
  • cut out capes (
  • crocheted man’s hat

What Did I get done in October

Wednesday

  • sew capes
  • sew aprons
  • cut out superhero capes

Thursday

  • Finished 12 capes with tags
  • Sew ties on aprons
  • Take a huge long nap followed by going to bed early and sleeping all night!

Friday the 30th of October

  • sew aprons
  • iron aprons
  • Compassion village
  • family game night with homemade pizza! The pizza was great and we started a new game. It was hugely funny or we were being silly.

What Did I get done in October

October 31st

Here we are right at the end of the month. I did get more done than I thought I did. I am starting a new list for November and I will get that posted soon.

Talk to you  later,

Karen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Being Boss

  • Sometimes being self motivated and your own boss is an issue. This week I am doing a good job of being boss. I feel the craft show looming down on me. I am so worried that I won’t have enough stock that I feel like I am working overtime. Taking time off to play or be social is truly hard for me, so I tend to work all the time. Then I face burn out.

If I look at my work as play then my attitude is much better. So, this week while playing. I finished up these colorful and fun hats. I love them.

Being Boss

I sent my daughter in to yarntopolis (my yarn storage) to pick another color for the same style hat and she picked light blue. They are so much fun to crochet. The colors change all of the time and that makes it quick work. I have also been busy hand sewing the  tags on a bunch of the crocheted items.

Today, I am cleaning in the makerspace and getting the next round of sewing organized. I am waiting on some supplies but I will sew pot holders and coffee press cozies today. I also need to do cut capes out so I can get them sewn. All this planning is overwhelming but I am using my Kanban board as a reminder of what needs to be done, what is in process and what remains.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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Crochet Service Projects

Crochet Service projects are a great way to help others and it is the season to think of others. If you are unable to get out, you crochet or knit then there are many things you make to help others.

Here is my list, it isn’t everything that is out there in the crochet or knitting universe but it will get you started.

You can also check the Crochet Guild of America for their list of crochet for charity. http://www.crochet.org/

Crochet Service Projects

If these don’t have a chapter or donation center in your area, I am sure that there are local charities that will be glad for you to help. The local homeless shelters will be happy to accept scarves and hats for their donations. Women’s shelters will often accept donations of slippers, hats, and blankets. Local hospitals may accept premie hats, and blankets. You do need to be sure and contact them before you start. They may have rules on what they can accept or the type of yarns used. Our local women’s shelter will only accept donations of blankets if they have enough for everyone currently in the shelter. Be wise and make sure that they can actually use what you are wanting to create.

Crochet Service Projects

There are so many different ways that your stitching can warm and comfort others. Don’t get discouraged thinking that you can’t help others. Blankets and yarn items have been used for comfort for years. Keep up the good work!

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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The Sampler Blanket

I made time to block the sampler blanket this week. If you are following me on Instagram you will notice that I have also started putting a border around each square.  Here are some befores and afters of the blocking process. If you have never steam blocked acrylic yarns you really should try it. It does a great job of heat setting nice straight edges and giving the granny squares their final shape.

The sample blanket

 

They sure look all wadded and out of shape. I started blocking them on my ironing board a few at a time.

The sampler blanketThey started looking so much better. I don’t always block my granny squares but these desperately needed it. The sampler blanketI used a ton of pins and my steam iron. I was really careful not to touch the iron to the yarns as it would melt. the squares all turned out to be about five different sizes when I was finished blocking them. Which was a nice surprise. The sampler blanketThis was going to be one creamy sampler blanket with no other colors but I just couldn’t leave it alone. Here is one with the borders that I am putting on each square. It will be much easier if I end up with squares that are all about the same size.The Sampler Blanket

 

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

 

 

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July’s to do list

I am already writing July’s to do list. Yay, it is the first week of July and I am on a roll, actually I am on the couch resting my knee as it is not happy with me today.

I have hit a wall on being creative these days. I am tired and grumpy a lot of the time. I hate taking pain meds as they tend to drug me up. I have been up since early today and it has taken quite a bit of energy. I have spent  huge amounts of time on Pinterest yesterday and today but I am not inspired to do much. So this to do list may be shorter than normal.

Here is what I have been working on and what I hope to finish this month.

My organization to do list. We have accomplished more than is shown on this photo. It is a much shorter list now.

July's to do list

 

My sampler blanket

July's to do list

 

I hope to finish about twelve to 20 crochet hats. I want some to look like these but I also have some new designs running around in my mind.

I am also wanting to finish my quilt before I have surgery.  It is at this stage right now. July's to do list

I have quite a bit of quilting left but if I work hard on it a couple of mornings I might get it finished. I have several patterns that I want to write. There is this granny square blanket pattern that I want to write. That is a ton of work for the next two weeks in July. We are still in the middle of changing around our den to a maker space.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

 

 

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Sampler blanket / Makerspace

This week I have been working on the sampler blanket / makerspace. While cleaning up the yarn mess to create the makerspace, I came across these blocks I started from my Sampler blanket. I haven’t really forgotten them. There has just been a huge amount of other stuff that I have had to work on. I am blocking them today and I have to admit that they are beautiful!

Sampler blanket / Makerspace

I thought that they would be ok, but they were so wonky that I  needed to block them. I block on my ironing board and use my steam iron. I am sure to never touch the iron to the acrylic yarn. This sampler blanket is reminding me of doilies. I love the taupe carpet color behind these squares. It makes the sampler blanket look so clean and lacy.

Sampler blanket / MakerspaceBefore blocking….

After blocking they are a much more uniform size and the edges are straighter. This will make joining a much simpler job.

Sampler blanket / Makerspace

We are creating a makerspace. What is a makerspace you ask?  well, it is a space where you can make stuff. We have a spare room right now that was our den but as hubs needed a bigger workspace and I needed a brighter workspace, we are creating a makerspace. We both love creating but not the same things. This space will be an area where we can be together but working on different things. He is into electronics, engineering, gizmos, gadgets and 3-d printers. I am into sewing, yarn, painting and artsy craftsy stuff. So we are moving furniture around, sending some off with grown kids as they move on in their lives and getting rid of others. We no longer need a huge room for 8-10 people to watch movies or play video games. We do need a place where we can all gather and make cool stuff.  Our kids are rather techie/creative types, one a programmer, one a mechanical engineer, one a digital design artist (studying), and one into sewing,  So we really do need a space where they can all create!

It will contain:

  • a largish table for group work  or cutting
  • 4 chairs for the table
  • 3 -4 sewing work spaces
  • Storage for yarn, fabric and other soft stuff
  • Tool storage on wheels
  • 4 roller secretarial type chairs
  • Mats for the roller chairs
  • a cell phone docking station for all the phones
  • wifi access
  • several outlets
  • a 3-d printer
  •  a fire alarm/smoke alarm/co2 detector
  • lots of counter space
  • a couch or some comfy chairs for people to hang out in
  • good lighting
  • all with a industrial type- 50s era style (this is subject to change)

I think we can put together a reputable space without spending too much money.  We will use what we have until we are sure that working together in one room is actually going to work out! Here are some links to different maker spaces that I found.

http://spaces.makerspace.com/

https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7095.pdf

http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/a-librarians-guide-to-makerspaces/

 

We have also set some ground rules, of what can be done in the makerspace. One of the prime rules in our makerspace is no woodworking or spray painting. These both have the potential to damage the machinery in the room.

I will be updating soon with photos of the Sampler blanket / Makerspace.  I hope to include some photos of the creation of the makerspace as we ordered some chairs for the space. I am so excited to see how they look. We almost never buy new things. Our budget and family has prefered the upcycled, recycled, used furniture look. We haven’t bought new furniture in quite a while.

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Use Your Stash Challenge…14 – 17

I know that you are probably wondering where I am in the Use Your Stash Challenge! Have I been hiding, or have I simply forgotten about the Use Your Stash Challenge 2015! The truth is neither, I have been hard at work on this challenge. Here are some new things that I have made using supplies that I already had on hand.

This giraffe is number 14

Use Your Stash Challenge

 

His friend is number 15.

Use Your Stash Challenge

This is number 16.

Use Your Stash Challenge

This baby blanket is number 17.

Use Your Stash Challenge

So, I have been working on it but the items are more complex and take more time! It is great as they also use up more supplies! This is the last post I made in the challenge.

I have started a couple of new blankets but it is taking longer than I expected to get them finished.

Use Your Stash Challenge Use Your Stash Challenge

 

I have been looking at some ideas that will use up more of my fabric stash. The Use Your Stash Challenge is making me think about what I can do to use up what I already have. I feel a bit guilty as I bought some yarn yesterday in order to work on a new crochet blanket idea.  I gave myself permission to buy if needed. The purchase is within the rules I set.

Here are some cool ideas I found on Pinterest.

This i

Use Your Stash Challenge
http://thesewingloftblog.com/create-scrap-binding/

This is a brilliant idea and while I found it on Pinterest I am not pirating any one else’s idea. I can use my scrap binding on anything I want!

http://www.howdoesshe.com/easy-diy-road-for-toy-cars-made-out-of-your-old-jeans/

This is also a brilliant idea. I would add hook and loop tape to the back since we have carpet on our floors.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5d14f8180102dt0k.html

These are wonderful. I used google translate and the meaning is never quite right but I think the photos are enough direction to be able to make these scissor keepers.

This pot handle pocket is along the same line and just as simple.

 

Use Your Stash Challenge
http://www.sameliasmum.com/2014/02/pot-holder-pocket-week-2152.html#.VPTT3_nF-So

 

These bunnies are so cute and a perfect Spring time sewing project.

 

 

 

 

http://733blog.com/2014/03/scrap-fabric-bunny-softie-tutorial/

 

Just a few ideas to get your creativity flowing! Winter will soon be over in my part of the country. Well, at least it will be in the 70 degree range next week. We do have ice and some snow forecast for this week. We still have snow in the yard from this weekend.

Talk to you later,

Karen