It’s been a long time… 29 August 2009

Okay, so I admit it. I’ve been a naughty, naughty blogger and I haven’t given myself the time to put something here. Either that or I’ve been purposely avoiding it like the plague. But I have had a very busy and crafty two months, which may have resulted in my neglect for my lovely blog!

I recently stumbled on a local knitting group through Ravelry.com and I’ve been having a blast getting to know some other ladies who I share a common interest with. I was nervous the first night I went, but everyone was so friendly and helpful and I’m so glad I found them! Plus it’s nice to have a knit group only a couple of miles from my front door. So if you’re ever in the Mechanicsburg area and it’s six o’clock on a Wednesday and you’re so bored that you don’t know what to do with yourself, stop by the Panera’s on the Pike and check us out. Fun times are certainly guaranteed…even if you only crochet like me!

Speaking of only crocheting, I recently signed up my mom and I for a beginner’s knitting class over at Yarn-Love. I think it will be a great opportunity for us both to get back into something we’ve only previously dabbled in. My mom crochets as well, so I think it will be a fun and easy class for us both. Plus it never hurts to get a (probably) free meal from mom for four weeks! I think this may flash her back to those college years…

So I promise, promise, promise I will get off my lazy behind and post again in a couple days so everyone can see my project progress. I finished my lovely springy sweater, but it doesn’t fit! It’s okay though since it’s so pretty! I’ve also banged out two stuffed octopi, some more dishcloths, and a gorgeous lacy spring/fall scarf. I’m currently working on a fall sweater on which I only need to finish the sleeves and the edging, and also a nice clapochet for my mom. Feel free to stop by and check out my progress on Ravelry.com in the meantime. My user name is ChezShea.

Until next time, happy crafting!

What a Crazy Week! 28 June 2009

Well I’m finally back here doing what I should be doing…blogging! It’s been quite the crazy week filled with visits to the dentist, lawn mowing, a class at Yarn-Love, seeing my aunt from Phoenix and a yard sale! Phew!

I have to admit that one of the highlights of my week was taking the clapochet class over at Yarn-Love. I was lucky enough to get some one on one attention with my wonderful teacher, Veralynne, although I felt bad because there wasn’t much for her to teach me. So I got off to a great start and had finished about a third of my clapochet before I left that evening. I finally finished it last night and it’s absolutely gorgeous! I used Brown Sheep’s Lamb’s Pride yarn (an 85% wool, 15% mohair mix) in the colorway Strawberry Smoothie to make this project. Here’s a lovely photo of the finished product:

Our yard sale this weekend was also a huge success, although more for our junk than for my crocheted goodies. I knew going in that it was not necessarily the best venue for selling my wares, but I did manage to sell three bath scrubbies. I also may have future interest for other projects from two ladies that stopped by throughout the day. I think that interest alone made showcasing my goodies a huge success.

Also, I have recently joined Ravelry, a great knit and crochet community and you can find me over there under the username ChezShea. If you love everything knit and crochet, then this is certainly the place for you. I know I’m addicted!

Although it’s short, that’s about all I have for now. I leave you with some pictures of my current in progress projects. Until next time, happy crafting!

A super cute, almost finished amigurumi octopus. All I have left to do is stuff this little guy and he’s done!

The beginnings of a springy sweater tee. This is being worked from the bottom up.

Much Love for Yarn-Love! 10 June 2009

Hey all! I’m back from a great weekend full of fun at Hersheypark and crocheting! I stopped over at Yarn-Love in Hummelstown on Friday night and I had an absolute blast. I met a lot of wonderful women who love their craft and who share my passion for everything yarn based. I enjoyed seeing all of the knitters there and loved that they appreciated me as a crocheter. I think I was the only person actively crocheting while there, but I did talk to some ladies who crocheted in addition to knitting. All the knitting talk did get me thinking about dusting off the old needles and taking up knitting again. I think if I would refocus myself on the basics that I could make a lot of beautiful things.

I did get to start working on a cute amigurumi octopus while I was at the Yarn-Love stitch night. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of it right now, but I’ll be sure to add one here once it is finished. One of the ladies saw me working on it and let me check out a great book called Amigurumi Knits that she had brought with her. It had so many cute patterns and I loved how something that was originally a crochet thing was so easily transposed into a knitting thing. I’ve had that book in my mind since Friday night and it’s another reason I’ve been thinking of picking up knitting again. So who knows, perhaps you’ll be able to read about my re-adventures in knitting here soon!

I’ve also finished up some of my dishcloth sets and without much further ado I will let you check them out in this wonderful picture (which is not so wonderful…I took it with my phone and the colors aren’t quite right…I’ll try to add a better one later!).

So for now it’s back to work on my amigurumi octopus. I hope to have pictures up this weekend. Until then, happy crafting!

Oh how the time is flying… 4 June 2009

Well, I have really lost track of time now! It’s been a crazy month complete with overindulgences in hockey (Lord Stanley, how I love thee…) and busy weekends unfortunately filled with time used for things other than crocheting and jewelry making. But I’m finally starting to get back on track!

I’ve been crafting like crazy for the past two weeks now making mostly dish/washcloths for our community yard sale on June 27th. In addition to all of the extra goodies and clothes we’re trying to get rid of, I thought it would be a great idea to get my name out there by selling some of my wares at our yard sale. Our development is home to a lot of wonderful senior citizens and I know that the dish/washcloths will be a huge hit. I’m also going to be setting aside some time to make some more earrings in the hopes of selling those as well. I feel like the yard sale will be a great way to kind of dip my toes into the sales water. It will provide a great flow of potential customers and a comfortable sales environment (no fear of the lady in the craft fair booth next door having stuff that I worry looks ten times better than mine!).

Also, I’m really looking forward to attending my first First Friday at Yarn Love, a cozy little yarn shop located on Quarry Road in Hummelstown, PA. I’ve wanted to attend for the past couple of months but life has gotten in the way. So I’m very excited and will be sure to report back here on a surely great experience filled with crafting and meeting other knitters and crocheters! So if you’re in the area, be sure to stop in with your project! They will be open until 9PM.

I will be sure to post some pictures of my dish/washcloth sets and some other goodies in my next post. I’m also hoping to talk about a great swap experience I just shared with a fellow etsy-er. So until then, happy crafting!

Vegas Vacation! 5 May 2009

Wow it’s been a while! All it took was one little vacation and I’ve jumped the tracks (or so to speak!) with the whole blogging business. It seems I’ve jumped the tracks on the whole crafty business a little bit too.

So we had a wonderful vacation out in Las Vegas. It was chilly, but we still had a great time gambling and going to see Elton John, who is perhaps the best performer I’ve ever seen. I didn’t forget about my craft while we were there either. I found some beautiful natural stones at the Rainforest Cafe that I’m hoping to use to make some pendants. I just need to do a little practice work with my wire wrapping so that I can make the stones look their best.

I also did some crocheting, and I was fortunate enough to be able to sell one of my bath scrubbies in flight! I can’t even begin to describe how important it is to have others see you doing your craft. A little crocheting was all it took to create great conversation with my two aisle mates and create a sale that hopefully creates a customer for life! I was so pleased to be able to hand out business cards to both of them. I’m hoping that it will help generate some interest and possibly some business.

But since that time I’ve been a little lacking in creativity, mostly because I haven’t had a lot of time. I’ve had some stuff going on, but I still wish I would’ve tried a little harder to set some time aside for myself to be creative.

So I’m ending with a question for everyone tonight. What do you do or what do you suggest to overcome the lack of time or just the lack of creativity in general?

Until next time, happy crafting!

Baby Time 1 April 2009

I’ve been working on a beautiful crochet project of a baby blanket with a matching hat from the Stitch n Bitch book “The Happy Hooker” since late Sunday. I had made this project about two years ago and it came out nicely using the Red Heart soft yarn. This time I decided to use Lion Brand Babysoft yarn because the color selection was much better for what I was aiming for.

I started off with the hat and realized the yarn was a bit too thin for the look I wanted. So I doubled up the yarn using the inside and outside ends of the skein. The project came out beautifully by doing this, except when I went to make the braids for the blanket I realized I didn’t have quite enough yarn! I’ve been mulling over what to do since I wanted to give this set as a gift tomorrow night. I asked the girls at work what they thought and they said it looked great without the braids, and they wouldn’t have known they should be there if I hadn’t told them so.

So here’s the finished product. I think I’m going to leave the blanket braids out and call it a lesson learned (meaning next time make sure I buy enough yarn!!!).

Now I’m off to work on some jewelry. Hopefully I’ll have some posts to show off my new creations in a couple of days. I wanted to add some of my new jewelry and some bath puffs to my etsy shop today, but I need the sun to come out of hiding so I can get some nice pictures of the items.

So for now, happy crafting!