Finished Christmas Gifts

I have several finished Christmas gifts to share. Yay! And I finally believe that I will be done with things in time. Yay again. Even though I don't think that the people I've made these things for read my blog, I'm not going to mention who they're for--just in case.

Here is a crochet ripple throw I've been almost done with for quite a while--as usual, it was weaving in the ends that was taking so long. But I've finished now. I based it on this pattern, but I used bulky yarn--Lion Brand Jiffy. I was worried about the colors together while I was making it, but now I think they look really nice.


This is a Calorimetry knit from my hand dyed superwash merino yarn. (It's a headscarf to keep your ears warm in case you don't know what I'm talking about.) I think it came out really well and I guess I'm a bit surprised since I don't generally think my knitting is that good. I'm probably going to make one for myself as soon as I have some time. (Maybe out of the Annabel Lee colorway.)


And this is a crocheted squid toy for my cat, Scamp. I made it from this pattern with a few minor alterations. I stuffed the pointy top of the squid with the yarn ends and nothing else and sewed across the middle to keep the stuffing and catnip in the body. I was worried about stuff leaking through the bigger stitches of the top. Such a fun and cute pattern--I may make one as a Christmas tree ornament when I get a chance.

More Customer Photos

In the last week, I've gotten a couple more convos from customers with pictures of the things they made from my yarn and felt beads. I love seeing what people come up with.

First, more from Strawberry Anarchy. She has made two more creations using my felt beads and promises more to come. (She bought lots of beads.)

A cute little felt flower brooch:


And this odd and adorable little doll:


Both are for sale in her Etsy shop.

And Jennifer sent this photo of the lovely scarf she knit from my superwash merino yarn. It looks super cuddly.

Repeatable Colorways

I've been meaning to post about the fact that I now have repeatable (named) colorways of some yarns in my Etsy shop. Yay! I will still continue to dye some yarns in a more haphazard way because I enjoy it, but I'm coming up with more colorways all the time. So far, they are Eternal Sunshine, Tangled Up in Blue, Harvest, Sliced Avocado and Annabel Lee, which is below. (I sold my only skein at the craft show on Saturday.)


These colorways can be dyed on any of the yarns I carry--although the color may not look exactly the same, depending on the fiber content of the yarn. I also have several more colorways in the works.

The Cutest Doll Ever

I've been buying a ton of gifts on Etsy during the past few weeks and I wanted to share one. I'm not worried about the surprise being ruined since the recipient isn't even two yet and so probably won't be able to find my blog by himself.


How cute is this doll? I bought him from dmollison on Etsy--she has tons of adorable dolls and stuffed animals. This particular one is named Gregory and is made from angora blend socks and stuffed with organic wool. So sweet. I've been looking for a doll for Chris's nephew (more or less mine as well) for about a year now because I wanted to be ready with the perfect one as soon as I thought he was old enough. I think I've found it. :)

A couple of weeks ago, I started having back pain and yesterday I finally went to the doctor to have it checked out. And apparently I have sciatica--which makes me feel really old somehow. Probably no big deal, but it's made it a little hard to get ready for my craft show on Saturday. On a happier note, that pesky hole in my eardrum decided to finally heal up which means no surgery--yay!

Holiday Craft Extravaganza

Only about a week and a half until the show. Yikes!

Etsy Purchase and Customer Creation

I just bought these two adorable little zip pouches as Christmas gifts from oblinaknit on Etsy.


They are just the cutest little things and so well made. I'm still trying to decide if I will keep the blue one for myself and find a different gift.

I always ask everyone I sell supplies to on Etsy to send pictures of the finished items if they feel like doing so. Strawberry Anarchy just did. She bought a bunch of felted beads from me a while back and used them to make this very colorful and creative necklace.


She has lots more beads so I await more fun creations in the future. It's so exciting to see what people have made out of the things I made.

Etsy FAST Trunk Show Today

The Etsy FAST Trunk Show is today at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn. And also online in the the Treehouse at the Etsy Virtual Labs from 6-8PM EST. I'll be at the online event--although I don't know exactly what will be going on. I do know that there will be a live webcam feed from the Trunk Show at the Labs and a bunch of Etsy FAST members will be there to chat and answer questions.

In conjunction with the Trunk Show, Etsy has picked a front page of Etsy FAST members and my paisley felted clutch is on it!

New Clutches

Here are some of my new clutches. I've been meaning to start needle felting designs on them for quite a while now and I have finally gotten around to it.




(The top one is already for sale in my Etsy shop and the others will be for sale shortly.)

I like how they are turning out and I think I will be making more of them--kinda combines several things that I love to do.

Skull Cuff and Craft Show Info

I finished the skull cuff I was making for Chris's cousin.


I think it came out pretty well--especially for my first time knitting with beads. I hope Lauren likes it.

I am doing another craft show on December 8th in Royal Oak. It's another Etsy one--held by the Michigan Street Team, MICE (Michigan Independent Crafters of Etsy). I have only half of an eight foot table, so I'm a bit worried about fitting all of my stuff. Hopefully we will work out something amazing for a display by the time I need it.

Christmas Gifts in Progress

I've finished the red and white felted slippers I was working on and unfortunately the red felt has contaminated the white--it didn't bleed, but red fuzzies have embedded themselves into the white all along the lines where the colors meet. Argh.


I've never attempted to felt white before since most white yarns will not felt because of the bleaching process--so I didn't know that this would happen. They also came out too small for pretty much any adult I know. If I had bothered to make a gauge swatch, I might have not had that problem. Oh well, I'm chalking it up to experience and making a new pair. No white this time. And I'm planning to use a different yarn altoghether.

I'm also currently working on a pair of the same slippers for Chris's dad. I'm using the yarn I usually use to make my clutches and purses (Patons Classic Merino), so I feel a bit more hopeful about these. And if these come out too small, I'll be more likely to find someone they fit--like me perhaps.


I dyed the lighter brown since I couldn't find a color I liked for it--it came out exactly like I wanted so yay for that anyway.

I'm also working on another knitted project--a beaded skull wristwarmer for Chris's cousin, Lauren. It's from the book Stitch and Bitch Nation--the pattern is called The Bead Goes On.


It's my first time knitting with beads (or needles this small), but I think it's going very well. I'm doing it with white beads because I had them on hand and I wanted to get started.

Shameless Advertising

As I mentioned before, my Etsy street team, Etsy FAST (Fiber Arts Street Team) is having a trunk show at the Etsy Labs on November 16th. From now until then, many of the Etsy FAST shops are having sales--including mine. Currently everything in my Etsy shop is 15% off the price listed.





Check out the other shops participating in the sale by going to the Etsy FAST website.

Happy Halloween!

Since we didn't have a Halloween party this year, we went over to our friends' house to watch a movie. But I couldn't not dress up at all, so I made myself a little costume.



Horns! They are crocheted from this pattern and they are super cute.

Buy Handmade

Etsy is starting a campaign to get people to buy handmade gifts this holiday season and part of it is a pledge to buy handmade located at the Buy Handmade website. I just signed it--you should too. Of course, I will be making some of my gifts myself, but I suppose that means I am still supporting an independent crafter. Tee hee.

My Etsy Street Team, EtsyFAST, is having a trunk show at the Etsy Labs on November 16th. There will be events throughout the month to go along with it, including a sale that many of the members will be involved in (including me!). I guess the easiest way to explain would be via our press release:

Let fiber keep you warm during the Etsy Fiber Art Street Team sale, trunk show, online events … and all year round!

Who: The fabulous independent spinners, knitters, crocheters, weavers, felters, and fiber artists of Etsy.com, your place to buy handmade!

What: A giant event, online and in person, celebrating all things handmade and fiber!

When: Sale in online shops from Nov. 1 - Nov. 16. Trunk show date is Nov. 16, online and at Etsy Labs 6 - 8 p.m. EST.

Where: Etsy Labs, 325 Gold Street, 6th Floor, Brooklyn NY 11201 , and also online at Etsy and EtsyFAST.

Why: Warm up your November with our great fiber artists! Great sales on items for the holidays, supplies, and more! Interact with our members, learning more about these products and techniques! Buy handmade.

How: Check EtsyFAST for more info, and be sure to visit us during our sale and show Nov. 16!

A Finally Finished Object

Back in June, I posted that I'd finished the round ripple baby blanket I was working on except for weaving in some ends. Well, I've just finished weaving in the ends.


So, perhaps I can manage to get it to the baby I made it for soon. I'll let you know how that goes.

Christmas Gifts and Other Projects

I'm getting started on Christmas gifts. I don't know how many gifts I'm actually going to get around to making but I'm going to try to make a few. To that end, I've joined a Holiday KAL-CAL and I'm donating a skein of yarn as a prize. Fun. I haven't actually finished anything and posted it there yet, but hopefully soon.

The very first Christmas present I'm working on is a pair of felted slippers for Chris's stepmother, Gail. And they're knit. Gasp.


I'm using a Fiber Trends pattern --Felted Clogs (AC-33x)--and it's pretty easy. I've done several things I didn't know how to do before I started this, which is pretty exciting. And since they're felted, my mistakes probably won't be noticeable.

I bought a set of adjustable circular needles partly because I needed new needles for my felted slippers. I got the Boye Needlemaster set and so far, I like them quite a bit.


(Two of them are currently in my slippers, so that's why some are missing.)

I also recently crocheted these little drawstring bags for a friend's little girls. (They aren't a Christmas gift, though.)


When we were in North Carolina, we bought little wooden hearts for them and I made the bags to put them in. Normally I would never make them something all the same color, but I wanted them to match the hearts. So I put initials on them. I think they came out pretty cute.

Ravelry

I got my invite to Ravelry yesterday. So excited. For those of you who don't know what Ravelry is... It's a community for people who do things with yarn (crochet, knit, spin, dye) to talk about everything related to yarn and also keep track of projects, stash, tools, etc. I know that's not a very good description, so if you want a better one, try here. I am loving it so far, but I think it's going to take me quite a while to get integrated there. I need more time! Anyhow, I'm woolygrasshopper (I thought it was funny, anyway) on Ravelry since grasshopper was taken and grasshopperhandmade was too long. In case you want to say hi.

I Was Tagged

I was tagged over three weeks ago by Umme Yusuf who posts at the crocheting message board I belong to, Crochetville. I really meant to get to it, but I am slow and forgetful. But I am doing it now.

The Rules (which, being me, I will not completely follow):
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

1. I have one sibling--a younger sister.

2. I adore science fiction books/short stories from the 60s-70s. I think that comes from having so much of it around the house growing up. (My dad is a bit of a sci fi geek as well.)

3. I am self taught at all of my crafty endeavors. I never seem to know anyone who know how to do what I want to do so I just blunder through until I figure it out. I don't know what I would do without the Internet.

4. It's a family joke that I was almost named Marigold Zucchini because of my father's love for marigolds and both my parents' love of zucchini.

5. I am a bit of a perfectionist--always have been. According to my mother, when I was 3 and learning to write, I used to make my Zs backwards and I would cry every time. (I think I've finally got that down.)

6. Halloween is my favorite holiday (and fall is my favorite season). I love dressing up and all of the decorations. We usually have a Halloween party just so I can dress up and make fun food and decorate.

7. I love watching bad movies--especially bad sci fi. A recent favorite: Battlefield Earth--hysterical.

8. I was a smoker for about 11 years (off and on) and I've now quit for almost 2.

Well, I guess that's it. That was difficult. I'm not tagging anyone since I don't know enough people and it's been so long.

Etsy at the Market

Well, I--with Chris's help--survived my first craft show. (My first craft show for my own crafts, that is. I used to help my mom with hers from time to time.) And it was fun. I didn't sell much, but I did make back my table fee (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and I met a bunch of very nice people. I'm really glad I did the show and now I feel much more prepared for the next one. Plus, since I didn't sell very much, I have tons ready for Christmas and all the sales I'm going to make in my Etsy shop. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

Craft Show Tomorrow

My very first craft show is tomorrow in Ann Arbor, MI. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I have quite a lot of stuff ready--maybe not everything I wanted to have, but I'm sure I have plenty. So we will see how it goes. I will be taking everything out of my Etsy shop until I get back, just so I don't sell something at the show and on Etsy at the same time. And I will hopefully be posting all about the show sometime next week. (Now that I don't feel so rushed.)

Teaching Crochet

While we were on vacation, I taught my friend Emily to crochet. It was my first time teaching anyone and it was really hard at first. (I suppose it didn't help that we were in the car while I was teaching her.) But I think I did okay once I realized what I needed to show her. I'm self taught so I really don't know how people teach other people. I don't know if she'll continue to do it now that we're home, but I gave her the yarn (bright yellow left over from a rainbow ripple blanket, lucky her) and hook she was using so she can keep going if she wants to.

Avocado Yarn

While on vacation, we had this absolutely gorgeous avocado. (It was so pretty I had to take a picture.) I offhandedly said I'd like to dye a yarn in those colors, not really thinking about it. Well, the other night I got it into my head to try it and I'm thrilled with the results.



I think I'll work a bit more on this and then actually make a repeatable colorway instead of all of the one-offs I've been doing. Now I need a name. I can't call it Avocado because there is a color avocado and I don't want it to be confusing. This skein will be for sale in my Etsy shop soon--if I can manage to part with it.

Vacation

Here's a picture of me on vacation in North Carolina--crocheting, of course.


I'm holding my pattern between my knees in an attempt to keep it from blowing away. It was probably far too windy for me to be sitting out there and crocheting at all, but I wasn't going to sit inside where I couldn't even see the ocean. I didn't spend too much time working because I was on vacation, but I do enjoy crocheting, so I did do a bit. However, even though I really wanted to, I did not take my yarn and hook to the beach. I thought that might be a bit too much. Or more importantly, it might get sand in my work.


This is my latest clutch for sale in my Etsy shop. I crocheted some flowers out of handpainted merino and sewed them to the front. Until now, I've only used storebought appliques. I may do more of these.

I'm Back

Well, I'm home from North Carolina and pretty much in full panic mode about the craft show. We got back at about 4:00AM yesterday morning and I'm still not quite settled in yet. So I will be posting more soon, but I wanted to make a quick post about my needle felted heart pin being on the Etsy front page yesterday. !!!


And I actually got a picture. I don't think I was up there very long, but still it's very exciting. So, a big thanks to Maple of North Star Alpacas for putting me in her lovely Treasury.

Recent Etsy Purchases

I wanted to show off some of my recent purchases on Etsy. Technically, I suppose I should say trades since I traded for all of them--I may become obsessed with trading if it's always like this. These were my very first trades and all of them were just wonderful--not only because of the amazing products, but because of how nice all of the sellers were.


This is a necklace and earrings from Groovy Glass Girl that I gave to my sister for her birthday. So gorgeous--I love glass jewelry. I almost couldn't give up the necklace, but somehow I made myself do it. I may have to get one for myself in the future, however. It was (almost) worth it because my sister adored them both. (Also check out her blog.)


This is one of several notecards I got from Menta. They are just so cute and I can't wait until I need to send someone a card. She also does the same picture in lovely prints--as well as many others.


And this is a necklace from Design by Sabreena--which is also for my sister. (That one will be for Christmas, I guess.) It's adorable and so light, which will probably make it really nice to wear.

Please don't judge the quality of the products by my pictures--I guess it's good I don't make jewelry because I can't manage to take decent pictures of it.

I also wanted to let everyone know that I will be going out of town for about a week and a half starting tomorrow. We are going to the gorgeous Outer Banks of North Carolina. It seems like such a bad time to leave since my craft show is in only a few weeks, but we take this trip every year and I'm not planning on missing this one. Hopefully, I will manage to relax even with the craft show looming. I am taking some things to work on, so maybe that will help. I will be back on September 16th.

New Hats and Social Networking

Well, I'm still frantically trying to get ready for the craft show at the end of this month. And I'm still feeling like I'm never going to have enough stuff ready. I'm trying to be calm. (I'm not very good at it.) I've been crocheting these children's hats for the show. The picture needs some work for when I list them on Etsy, but I guess you can see what they're like.


I also just made this kid's hat. I love the tassels. I just think it's so fun--I hope you can tell how adorable it is from this picture.


I've been meaning to mention the social networks that I recently joined--We Love Etsy and Indiepublic. I'm still feeling my way around, but I'm having fun with it. I need to do some work on my pages, but I think it's going to have to wait until after the craft show because I just don't have time. Still it's fun--if you like Etsy or are interested in independent art and design in general, you should definitely check it out.

grasshopperhandmade.com

I thought I'd write a short note to let everyone that I've registered grasshoppperhandmade.com. It just links to my Etsy shop right now, but I'm still super excited about it. (Plus, now no one can steal it out from under me.) Eventually I will get a website set up, but I really don't have the time right now. So, anyway... Yay!

Banner and Bracelet

I've made a new banner for my Etsy shop since I really hated the old one. It's not really that different, but I took out the part I hated--which was the background color behind the text--and still managed to make my shop name legible (which was why I had the background on it in the first place). You can see it at my shop or here--as soon as I figure out how to add it.


Above is a stainless steel bracelet my grandfather made for my grandmother. Her name was Ruth--I hope you can read it. My grandfather worked in a machine shop, but also had a garage full of woodworking tools and was a wonderful carpenter. (I've got a family full of crafty people.) I adore this bracelet--partly because it rocks and partly because it makes me think of my grandfather and my grandmother. Eventually I may post some pictures of my bookcases, my jewelry case and other things he made for me, but for now I wanted to share this.

Circular Rug "Pattern"

I've been asked to share my pattern for the crocheted t-shirt rug I posted about in my last post. I'd be happy to share, but I don't really have a pattern--I just crocheted a basic circle in half double crochet. Just in case that isn't something you already know how to do, I'll write it out as a pattern. (Hopefully this will be understandable--I normally only make notes for myself, not for other people.)

Basic Circular Rug Pattern

For the one I posted about, I cut the t-shirts into about .75 inch to 1 inch strips (by cutting off the sleeves and seams and then cutting each piece in a continuous strip around the outside edge) and used a Q hook, but that's certainly something that could be changed.

Round 1: Ch 2 and crochet 8 hdc into the first ch, sl st in first hdc to join
Round 2: Ch 1, 2 hdc into each st, join
Round 3: Ch 1, (hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next) around, join
Round 4: Ch 1, (hdc in next 2 st, 2 hdc in next) around, join
Round 5: Ch 1, (hdc in next 3 st, 2 hdc in next) around, join

And just continue on increasing in this manner until your rug is big enough.

I hope that's helpful, but please feel free to ask if something's not clear or you need more information. (And that goes for anyone--even if you weren't the one who asked for the pattern.)

I didn't make it to the Michigan Fiber Festival over the weekend. We were going to go on Sunday, but my boyfriend, Chris, had a terrible headache and it was raining fairly hard. We thought we would probably just be miserable and since it's a pretty long drive for us, we decided not to go. I'm sad I didn't get to go since I had been looking forward to it for months, but I'm sure it was for the best. There's always next year, I guess.

Finally Spinning

Well, I can hardly believe it, but I have finally gotten around to spinning some of the roving I handpainted ages ago. (And then had predrafted for another age.)


I think it's coming out pretty well. As I believe I've mentioned before, I'm a very beginning spinner (even though I've been learning for about a year and a half now--I just don't practice enough), so I don't expect too much, but still... I think I like it.

I've also been working on crocheting this rug out of strips of old t-shirts.


(I know that it looks like navy, gray and black, but the navy is actually black--just different t-shirts.) I made one of these rugs out of fleece a year or so ago and never made any more. Last night, I decided I had to make some more, so away I went. I have a huge collection of old t-shirts, polyester dresses and fleece remnants that I've been saving to crochet into rugs and it's about time I work on using some of them up. Besides, I think they'd be nice to sell at the craft show I'm doing in September.

Well Loved

This is a picture of Isabella (Bella for short)--who is the daughter of friends--at her first birthday party. What a doll. I crocheted the blanket in the picture for her before she was born and now I am told that she can't take a nap without it. Which is just lovely. It totally made my week.

Boxes of Fibery Goodness

I've been ordering lots of supplies for this craft show I'm doing at the end of September and today I got several packages. And I love getting packages.


This is merino roving which I am going to use to make felted soap. Isn't it gorgeous? I almost want to just keep it in a basket so that I can admire it and pet it, but I suppose I'm going to have to use it. (The soap to felt came today as well.)


And this is a box of wool for felted clutches and my new purses.

I'm still attempting not to panic about not being ready for this show. At least I have some of my supplies now so I can make a more concerted effort to get more stuff done. I just feel like I don't have anything ready--which isn't completely accurate. My Etsy shop has pages of items and I have other stuff here in varying stages of being done. I remember my mom doing this before every craft show that she did, so I guess it runs in the family--but that's one thing I'd rather not inherit, thank you very much.

Felted Handbag Prototype

I've been trying for ages to come up with a felted purse (handbag--not clutch) design that I like. And I think I have (almost) finally succeeded.


Since this is the prototype, it does not yet have handles. And the finished ones will have some sort of embellishment on them--probably embroidered appliques. Except for the size and a slight adjustment to the flap, I like it. Which comes a quite a shock to me since I didn't think I'd ever make one I like. So now I'm making another one, which I hope will be exactly what I wanted. And then I will make many many more for sale--as soon as I get the time.

The 2nd Detroit Urban Craft Fair (DUCF) is on Saturday, August 4th, which is this Saturday. I highly recommend going--I went last year (and will be going again this year) and thought it was great. I will not be in the fair this year, but I'm thinking about trying to get in next year. Let's see how the show in September goes and then I will think about it.

Kettle Dyeing

I've started dyeing yarn slightly differently than I had been doing it--up until now, all my yarns for sale have been handpainted. (And I will continue to handpaint yarn--I'm just adding a new technique.) I now have one yarn--a silk and merino blend--for sale in my Etsy shop that was kettle dyed and I have a few more that need to be wound and then put up for sale.


The yarn above was me making another attempt to use my black dye. I don't know what it is about that dye, but I think I'm going to try another brand as a commenter suggested. The yarn did come out pretty, though.

When I was dyeing, I had some leftover dye in the pot (not when I was using the "black"), so I threw in a few silk scarves to use it up.


I have had these scarves for quite a while now--back when I was dyeing with Kool Aid, I was planning to dye them as playsilks for a gift. They didn't dye well with Kool Aid, but I think they are lovely now. These (along with the others I have not yet dyed) will be a gift for some child (not sure who yet, since none of the ones I know are quite the right age for playsilks) and I am also considering making these to sell. Once I get some more time, that is.

International Sales

I sold the clutch that is my avatar on Etsy yesterday.


I'm thrilled to have sold it, but I'm also a little sad--and I don't know if I should change my avatar or not. I had been thinking about changing it to a skein of yarn, but I'm still not sure. (I will probably eventually make another clutch like the one that sold.)

I posted a while back about adding international shipping to my Etsy shop and it seems to be starting to pay off. My last two sales were international. (One of which was the clutch.) And hopefully there will be many more. I had been so scared of sending things out of the country, but it really is much easier than I had expected. The only thing I don't like about it is that I have to actually go to the Post Office, rather than sending it to work with Chris (who is a mail carrier).