finished: custom crochet mother/daughter slouch beanies

Hello, Friday.  I've missed you a lot this week.  Please come again soon.

As we move on toward the weekend, I want to show you some photos of a mother/daughter(s) hat set I made this week:

The children's hats

The hats come in three sizes: adult, 10-year-old, and 3-year-old, and were created with Red Heart Shimmer.  If you haven't had a chance to work with Shimmer yet, I really encourage you to do so.  It's so soft and pretty, plus it drapes beautifully.  It's been perfect for making my slouchy hats, so I jumped at the opportunity to make more for a custom order.

In making these hats, I found this great hat sizing guide.  Instead of telling you how many inches around someone's head is (thus leaving you to figure it out for yourself), this chart tells you how big to make the crown.

I may whip up a few more of these this weekend in preparation for an upcoming craft show.  I now have less than a month to refill all my stock.  I'm not sure how this will be possible, but at least I'll have more items to show you :)  And possibly some new patterns to share, as well.

Have a fantastic weekend!

my new "sharp crochet hook"

What a beautiful day.  It's raining and disgusting outside, I have a busy many hours ahead of me, and I woke up to my cat puking, at which point I realized I had the most massive sinus headache ever.  EVER!

The past week or two have not been the best for me, and it seems like my streak of bad luck is going to continue; however, there are a couple things that have made me smile during this hideously awful time.

Like this Sharp Crochet Hook I received to review in the next couple weeks:

And the fact I was able to take this photo on my new iPhone 5 (don't worry - there's a ridiculous story behind how I almost didn't get that, too, thanks to UPS not doing their jobs).

I'm excited to play around with my new toy this weekend.  Sounds like a trip to the Dollar Store for some Halloween-themed towels is in order :)

finished: crochet ribbed headband with flower

The week is almost over, which means I'm thisclose to enjoying a weekend of craftiness.  As long as I get my homework done timely, anyway, but that's my goal.

But before that happened, I wanted to show you pictures of a new headband I listed in my etsy shop:

It's a very simple crochet ribbed headband made from Mary Maxim Starlette in Light Willow, which I had left over from all the Christmas stockings I knit as gifts last year.  It was sitting in the craft bag I took with me while visiting friends last weekend, and I wanted something quick and easy to whip up while we chatted.  This was a great, mindless project that I can't wait to try in other colors.

It's topped off with one of the Leona flowers I've been making a ton of lately.  They're really fun, fast, and versatile; I want to put them on everything!

I'm going to add this to my list of patterns to write down and publish (and it will probably be free because it's so darn easy)!  So keep checking back.  It won't take long for me to write it down - really, it's that simple and quick!

Hope you're all having a great week and can look forward to a fun weekend of yarn :D

i "pumpkin" fall - hanging crochet sign and painting

If you thought I gushed about fall too much in my previous posts, then you're probably not going to like this one, either.  Because I made a sign that says, "I Pumpkin/Heart Fall".  And it's now hanging in our hallway.

I found the free pattern online here and made it my first seasonal challenge in my new group "Yarn Challenge".  If you haven't seen the description on my Facebook page, I'm inviting all fiber artists to take part in monthly and seasonal challenges.  I provide the pattern and ideas; you provide the time and supplies.  It's a great way to not only bust your stash, but to make some items you may not have made before and challenge yourself with new projects.  You can join Yarn Challenge by clicking here.

It was much faster to make than it looks.  I think I completed the whole sign in about 2 hours - maybe a little more.  And I even got to practice my embroidery which, as you can see, I haven't done in awhile.  I love my sloppy chain stitch, I guess.

This past weekend was crafting day with the girls, which is where I started working on the sign.  Our boys decided to go golfing, but we wanted to do something that was actually fun.  So we packed up our crafts, picked up some pumpkin coffee and munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, and headed down to the action.

For the most part, we painted wooded pieces all day - and it was awesome :)  Here's what I made:

Ghost "BOO" door hanger, purchased from ACMoore in 2007.

Painted pumpkin and witch hat magnets.

I started the ghost door hanger back when Hubby and I started dating - in 2007.  Five years later, I finally painted the rest of it and hung it on our front door.  The little pumpkin and witch hat, I turned into magnets.

It was such a gorgeous weekend and we had a great time sitting outside painting our fall crafts.  So much fun that it put me in a mood to keep painting; I had to hit up ACMoore yesterday to buy yarn for a custom order and I walked out with $20 of wooden items and paint.  I smell divorce papers in my near future.

Today is once again a beautiful fall day.  I wish I could sit on our porch and keep painting fun Halloween tchotchkes, but that will have to wait until next weekend.  In the meantime, I have plenty of custom order to enjoy and keep busy with.

Hope everyone else is enjoying the season as much as I am!

PS: My iPhone 5 left China yesterday and is due to arrive on Friday.  Color me happy!

finished: custom knit black headband with maroon flower

Hi-ho, hi-ho, to another week we go!

After a few days of gorgeous fall weather, we're sadly experiencing some rain and chilliness in my neck of the woods.  When I woke up this morning and saw a wall of grey, I decided it was going to be a pumpkin coffee day from Dunkin Donuts.  Life has been grand ever since.

So as I sit here sipping my autumnal treat, I thought I'd show you some photos of my latest completed custom order:

My customer wanted a black headband with detachable maroon flower.  I had a fun time making this because I don't usually get to mix up the colors and I thought they looked great together.

I also used the cable cast-on this time around instead of the usual long tail cast-on.  I had been having issues with the cast-on side being too tight, especially now that I use the super-stretchy bind-off.  Now, both edges lay flat and even, and it's even a little stretchier.  Woohoo!  It just stinks that it takes a little bit longer to do.

In other news, I got another custom order yesterday and have now surpassed 100 orders in my etsy shop.  The start date says 2007, but I didn't really start selling until sometime in 2009.  I consider 100 orders a huge milestone and want to push myself further once classes are over.  I swear, I'm diving in head first in the new year.  Lots of new products and ready-to-ship items will be coming your way :)

Aaaand, if you'd like to order something custom, now's the time.  I just redid my order form.  This year, I may close down custom holiday orders early just so I can get everything done for my personal gifts.  We'll see what happens!