Never Ending Inspiration

There are times when I just sit around and twiddle my thumbs, wanting to crochet but not having any idea of what I might make.

Then I remember that I'm a member of a wonderful group of crocheters and can go to the Crochet for Life forum for ideas and encouragement to try something that I otherwise may not have or a simple pick me up (there's always something to giggle about there).

Life has been kind of busy for me lately. What with trying to plan a new direction in life, getting my son ready to start school next month, feeding my need to create, and trying to keep my shop and studio active.

As I type, I'm thinking of what I will crochet next and in which colors, who will wind up with it and how many I want to make.
I wonder if all crafter's minds are like never ending movie reels.

This month, C4L had a challenge which was to use granny squares or motifs for a project of your choice. IF you're a frequent reader, you already know about my "choice". You know, the one t hat didn't work out so well.

I totally switched gears and came up with this one, which I finished last night
It is a 100% cotton white, light blue, and ecru granny squares dishcloth.
I had planned a solid border for this one, but decided at the last minute to highlight the outside with just white, then finish it with a blue and ecru mixed simple scallop type edge.

I'm almost tempted to keep this one for a wash cloth, just because it looks like home, you know?

But!
Instead, I'll keep it around for memory's sake.

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Last but not least, I'd like to shout out a few of the members of the group- they're lovely people and I highly recommend checking them out =-)

Monet has some lovely stitch markers, fibers for spinning as well as knit and crochet items:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=44124

Sandy uses her blog to shares with us the many projects she's worked on. Just so pleasant!
http://www.sandyshook.blogspot.com/

Naida's got some cute stuffed toys in her Etsy shop as well as crochet patterns and stuff:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=12193

She's also got a nice blog here: http://yarnchick.blogspot.com/

Darlene's blog, in which she talks about 'A little bit of everything in my daily life and beyond' - plus she's got some cool quilts there too!
http://hounddogsnews.blogspot.com/

Mini mucks around on her blog which describes life in a kind of humorous way while adding a bit of sci-fi junkie along with a fair share of crochet, too.
http://minibooger.blogspot.com/

She's also got a few things for sale on Artfire.

Branded!

I haven't been posting or listing lately because i've been consumed with getting my brand together.
(I'm sure you noticed the new look of this blog, I've also tied it into my Artfire studio as well as my Etsy shop Banner. I know that simply changing colors doesn't equal a brand, but I think that these are some nice little steps to get me on my way. I'm hoping that this winter, I'll make enough sales to be able to purchase some custom stickers which will be added to my packaging. I also plan to send all orders out with my shop's colors used for packaging, too.
It's gettin serious! (FINALLY, right?)

I figured that since I already have 100+ items available, taking time to do this wouldn't hurt too much. I've been working on some new things to list while I've been working on this branding thing- they're not listed yet, but check em out--

I had a lot of fun making these hair clips. I think I've been working on them for a whole week or so. But that's because I've been trying to get the part that you don't see here just right. The bows are attached to small, rectangular hair clips which I've covered in a coordinating fabric.
I ordered lots of little clips and still have even more ribbon left, so you'll be seeing a greater variety of these in the future.

The yarn I used for this black and white set is called zebra. I originally got it to use in my favorite bag inspired bag, but since it didn't look like that would ever come along, and because the yarn was so soft, (and a nice break from using cotton), i decided that a hat would be a great little side project. The edge has a decorative finish that will also help it from stretching too much- unless your head is totally huge =-)

My last little FO I have to show is a black clothes pin bag which has a red and a beige button on it. I think it will be my last of the season.
It's a bit smaller than the other 2 I've made, but I'm sure that it will be able to hold the same amount of pins.
It's the perfect thing to help you go green. Let's use all this free wind and sunshine along with this nifty clothes pin bag to dry our clothes rather than those power pulling dryers, eh?

Almost a What not to crochet!

I'm going to give thanks to this Your Ugliest FO thread on ravelry for preventing my from making yet another Ugliest FO.

Here was my contribution to the thread.

I made this shrug a long time ago, hoping that it would give me something colorful to add to my Etsy shop. Fortunately, it did not.

In a previous post, I mentioned that I would be using this month's C4L challenge (using granny squares or motifs) to make a bag that inspired by my favorite all purpose bag.

I was hoping that I would be able to carry my creation with the same pride that I do when I carry the other, but after mapping out the design, i decided that i best turn around and or stop before things got any worse (i.e. assembled)

I think the colors are just too much. Next time, i think i'm going to do one huge granny square in a nuetral color, like off white and then try 'applique-ing' my design on.

If I weren't afraid of running out of time on this challenge, I would do it sooner rather than later, but i am afraid, so I'll save it for another day. =-(

Now, it's back to searching Crochet Pattern Central for granny squares that will arrange into something easily.

I have to say, I am a bit disapointed in myself for this project failure. But! on the bright side, I am one step closer to making the bag I invision AND I stopped myself from making another horrid crocheted... thing

Broken Hooks, Crochet Flowers and Granny Daughters

A long time ago- perhaps more than a year, I bought a size c Crochet Lite hook from Michael's. I think the only reason I got it was because it was on sale, so I had not used it until recently. ( Its design doesn't fit well with the way I usually crochet)

But when I did decide to finally use it, it broke after a few minutes! I guess I should have been a little cautious of the small size and clear plastic, but when I realized that I could crochet in the dark with that thing- it was on!
It's not TOTALLY broken, but I could just bend it back and snap it off right where the one part starts getting narrow again.

I'm kind of disappointed, but what can I say- there are other hooks in the sea.

In other news...
I've been working on this pair of clips for about 4 days now. I'm wanting to cover some toddler clips and place the bows in the center, as I did with my 4th of July Clips, but I didn't consider the fact that the fabric that I'll be using to cover the clips is way lighter than the denim I used on the others. So, gluing won't really work as it kind of darkens the fabric and makes it look all yucky.

I grabbed the color scheme from a popular kid's clothing website. There are quite a few cute tops for toddlers which include purple, pink, and white along with other colors.

The colors are a bit off here

I have some polka dotted (along with a lot of other cute girly) fabrics that I purchased in a pack of remnants from the lovely ladies of bstep401 on Etsy.

Rather than struggling to find a way to get the regular, triangular shaped hair clips into a cover that still looks decent, I ordered some rectangular ones which will hopefully be easier and quicker.

Along with that, the crochet group I'm a member of, C4L has started a monthly challenge and this week's theme is Granny Squares or Motifs.
We are supposed to crochet anything that uses squares or motifs and requires some assembly.

I've decided to go with using a bunch of Granny Daughters (about 46) and assembling them into a shoulder bag.

Because this is still my favorite bag ever, and I wanted to make something fashioned after it, I decided to take the challenge to create something using the bright pink and blue yarn I for this purpose. I also had some zebra yarn(to use for the strap), but used it up on a hat and scarf set.

With only12 squares made so far, I still have a long way to go, and need it to be done by the end of this month, but I'm sure I can and will do it. I can't wait to have something to show for the idea finally!

Put your Clothes Pins in a pouch!

Being outside inspires me to make things that would be useful while lending a bit more of a homey feel to the surroundings.

Despite the fact that we reach triple digits here in the LV, I do enjoy sitting out on the back porch alone with either a good book or some yarn.

My latest outside work is this green, blue, and white Clothes pin Pouch. It's the perfect way to bring those scattered pins together, keeping them organized in one regular spot.

I love sun dried clothes, don't you?

I'm usually scrambling around for clothes pins when I go to hang out my laundry.

I guess it took me a while to realize that I'm a crocheter who loves making practical things, but I finally got it! lol
I very much enjoyed making this little clothes pin pouch, which can be hung open or closed on the clothes line.

There will be more colors coming soon, so be on the look out!

To Dye

I think that in my last post, I mentioned that I would be researching inexpensive dyeing methods and reporting back here in the next post.

This is that post.
(It's been a while, I know, but what can I say- this whole blogging world seems foreign after a few days away)

The browsing of blogs about dyeing turned into my browsing about spinning and eventually, my interest in plying yarn.

I did do so.With fibers that I found here on Etsy

Because I was overly cautious about spinning the single plies, my first yarn of this type has a few breaks in it. I read that there is such a thing has having too much twist, so I relaxed a bit on it and wound up with less than enough.

In this picture, you can see the single ply yarn before I took it off the spindle. I layed that gray worsted weight yarn across it to give an idea of how thin i spun it.Forgetting that this worsted weight yarn is 4-ply, I was expecting to come out with a nice weight, but instead came out with around a sport/DK kinda thick thin yarn.

It's totally fine! I'm still going to dye it using my chosen method of FOOD COLORING!

While kool-aide appears to be the least expensive, at about $.25 a pack, it's not quite what I'm looking for. I'd like to do a hand painted type of deal, but from what I've read, Kool-aide has to have water added to it, left to sit and osmos (heck yeah, that's a word!), and yadda yadda too much.

This blog, Pea Soup of the Day, which is about life, yarn things and a whole bunch of other stuff made my mind up. I've fallen in love with the knitted strawberries! and the cute kid totally helpd too. (not to mention the clear pictures, viberant colors, and easy to follow tutorial offered there)

We Swam For My Birthday!

It seems like I've been away from my computer for forever, even though it's only been about 6 days.

My birthday was on Monday- I turned a whole 25!

We cooked good food, had some drinks and swam for hours. Here are some pics from the party, collage style =-)

I'd been wanting to braid my hair for the longest time, and finally got that done for my birthday. You can believe that I've brought my love of yarn into my look, loving it every day- my hair was done using black Red Heart yarn. It's super light, natural looking and just love able.
I.
Love.
Yarn! lol

Next post, i'm going to be talking about yarn dyeing options.
I've got some undyed wool that i'd like to give some color to, and need to research which is a effective method while not spending a whole lot of money. (I'm guessing kool-aide will be the winner, but we'll see)

AND!
I've created a personal blog which is still blank, but can be found here 'Nisha does!'
I'll let ya'll know when I've started blogging there. I'm still looking for a nice layout template that fits my personality, so if you have a favorite free site for that, please share!

☺