Crochet update

Now that was a long stretch without a blog update. I've been extremely busy though and felt the need to update. The most recent being some of my yarn bombed chairs are being exhibited at the Jennifer Harwell gallery. I love the way that she has them displayed in the front of the gallery. I've also been taking in custom orders and preparing for the Craft Bazaar (18 days from now). I don't feel as prepared as I should be, it's definitely crunch time at this point. Oh...last month, my friend Tracy and I did a yarn bomb in support of Race for the Cure. I can't get enough of the yarn bombing. My aunt (2 year survivor) has one of the larger pieces I made, and my mother and grandmother also rescued a piece as well. The rest were gone by the end of the weekend. I did get a few pics. I have realized that I haven't created any new designs all year. There actually were a couple of designs created that ended up jotted down in a composition notebook. So eventually, I am hoping to have them typed up, tested and available at some point. I will admit it is liberating to create something completely artistic, with no rhyme or reason and no rules to adhere to. I'll try to update with better pics soon. I'm really glad to see the weather changing, this is my favorite time of year. For those of us who knit and crochet, its the busiest time of year.

FREE PATTERN OFFER !!!

If you are here for the free pattern offer, here's how it works...very simple.
For a limited time, I will offer ANY PATTERN IN MY ETSY SHOP FREE WITH A $10 PURCHASE from my husand, William's shop!

Here's what you do. Any purchase made, simply include your pattern selection in the NOTES TO SELLER, or an Etsy convo. Your pattern will be delived via email (email provided in Etsy invoice) in PDF format. Limit one pattern per person, not including pattern bundle ($5.99 value only).

I'm still enamored by the buttons he creates and feel lucky to have them at my choosing (usually). This is perfect for this time of year! You could shorten your Christmas list by making the Ziela Cowl (offered together with the Uchenna Cowl), and select hand crafted wood buttons to make them even more special. The toggle buttons below are by far my favorite type for the Ziela cowl:



Or, you could select a beautifully hand crafted set of hair sticks, which are also nice worn as a shawl pin. This would go perfectly with an extra long Amarachi scarf handmade by you.



There are hoop earrings...



and stud earrings...



cufflinks...



rings...



all types of buttons...





shawl pins...



hair forks...



barettes...



Something for everyone!

Preparing for another yarn bomb. A bit last minute and only a week to prepare! This one has a color theme, which is kinda nice because all of the smaller pieces seem to go together as one large piece. Even though this is already a busy weekend, I'm trying to make as many in the color theme as possible since Friday we will assemble everything. I can't wait to see how it looks together with Tracy's pieces...hopefully pretty amazing. I've had to put a few things on the back burner to get this finished by Friday. I'm under a deadline to finish some yarn bombed pieces for a gallery showing next month, just glad that the largest piece is covered and only needs a little embellishment, but still a lot of smaller projects still undone. I'm a little worried about it, good thing I work well under pressure. I'll be able to make up for lost time next weekend, a serious marathon planned, new audiobook downloaded and looking forward to it. As far as today, it looks like I'll be out of the house the entire afternoon, so not much will be done as far as crocheting. The possibility of having some photos taken (which desperately needs to be done for the Etsy shop)is promising though, so not a total waste precious down time on my last day off before the event.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chair-y Bomb!

CHAIR-Y BOMB


"NESSIE"



I know an update is long overdue...my hands are still busy stitching, so that's my excuse for the lack of blogging. My mother's bedspread is still unfinished, but at least she has decided that she wants a Queen sized bedspread instead of King since she has finally decided to downsize her bedroom furniture. This time of year I'm usually trying to get as much inventory as I can get done for the Fall season, my Etsy shop is empty except for patterns right now. It seems that whenever I prepare to work on inventory, another commissioned job seems to come up. So glad I really enjoy the work, especially around this time of year, which is usually pretty slow when it comes to crochet items.

I've done a couple more yarn bombing projects lately. On May 23rd, "Traci" (the accomplice) and I yarn bombed the front of the YMCA for a health fair. They really seemed to enjoy it and actually brought tables out front (which I had never seen them do in the past). There are actually a few pieces that are still out front, including the bike rack cover that was inspired by the Loch Ness Monster. The last piece I did was the child's chair "Chair-y Bomb" for a church benefit. I was told by the artist who commissioned me (and many other artists to paint or decorate chairs which were all auctioned) that my chair brought in the most $$$. We are discussing future yarn bombing projects for the very near future.

Lastly...I'm somewhat reluctantly getting into the photography props game as well and recently got a few professional photos of my first pieces. It's difficult for me to enter this field because of the sizing questions and then taking photos that are effective (without using any of those creepy life sized baby dolls). Still tweaking a few patterns, but I think I'm off to a pretty good start. There is also a new shrug pattern close to completion also. Stay tuned!

My hands have been busy stitching, finishing up the last of my custom orders just a few weeks ago. I am now trying to focus on the gift I had intended to finish by Christmas, (so many custom orders prevented me from working on it much at all) my mother’s specially requested king sized bed spread. It’s a little more than half done at this point, and so beautiful. I wish I could keep it for myself. She also requested pillow shams…we’ll see. There are A LOT of squares still left to be completed…all the same color. I’d like to finish this so I can have complete creative freedom and hopefully get a few new patterns done for this coming fall. When I have a big project like this that I’m trying to complete, I like to listen to audio books along the way. The last couple I listened to were re-visits of a couple of old favorites that I had actually read many years ago, so I purchased them on cds and listened from my mp3 player. I’m presently listening to a book I’ve owned, but haven’t taken the time to read (my text version is 1,138 pages), from a favorite author. Stephen King’s It. Based on the customer reviews, I had to get it and make this my next long listen since it was FINALLY available on audio. The narrator (Steven Weber) is superb! And I’ve heard some truly awful narrators. I’m about half way into the story right now, and I already know it will be a new favorite.

Other than that, I finally finished preparing my flower beds for spring. I widened the front bed and created another on the opposite side using the lasagna method. I also used hypertufa stones to border the beds. Since my Rosemary plant is flourishing, I plan to plant a few more favorite herbs in front along with some perennials. I'm pretty excited about selecting them. I also created a raised bed in the back/side of my house which I intend to use as a salad garden. I'm a little nervous about the "critters" that I may discovery, but I am arming myself with some gardening weapons and working on my courage also. Looking at all my little sprouts inside just aching to get outside in the new bed is helping. I want to see them thrive. We'll see how it goes.

Snow Day Sale - 15% YAY!!!

What a rare treat I have today! Snow fell on Alabama…and ICE, so NO WORK TODAY…yippee!

William and I were ill prepared for the storm because we had been immersed in a home renovation project that took a while longer than expected. A newly renovated office (laminate floors, paint, new desk, etc.) and new floors in the kitchen.

This is the first morning that we were able to sit at our new workspace, clad in pj’s and sipping hazelnut coffee…the beautiful snowy view from the patio was like the reward for all the hard work.

I my giddy-snow day-hookey day tone, I suggested him… “You should have a snow day sale today”. He chuckled, and I think he dismissed me because he continued doing whatever it was he was doing. I reminded him that he never paid up on the bet that he lost wherein he stated LAST MONDAY, “This floor will be done TODAY.” He sheepishly looked at me again. “You owe me…AND you had ALL WEEK and still didn’t deliver what you promised on Monday”. So…long story a little shorter, my husband will be providing 15% off your purchase of tree branch and exotic wood buttons today . These buttons look so great on hand knit and crochet items.

His shop can be found here: http://www.oruaka.etsy.com.
Please use Coupon Code JAN10SNOWDAY to receive your 15% off today only!