FOs on parade!

I've got a bunch of Finished Objects to share with you. First up: my husband's scarf, made with Malabrigo Rios in Pearl Ten and Azul Profundo. It's a Seeded Rib Easy Reversible Scarf. Here it is in a not-quite-finished state, being modeled by our friend Pudgy the moose:

And here's the finished version (with sunlight streaming through the blinds):

It was hard to get a decent pic of the finished version because it's really long! Hubby wanted a long scarf. He's been wearing it constantly. We're both very happy with it!

Next up: my crocheted Quick Top-Down Mitts in Jill Draper Makes Stuff Hudson superwash wool yarn. I had this yarn left over from my Honey Cowl, and I was hoping it would be enough to make these mitts. It was, and I have a tiny bit left over! I've been wearing these quite a bit.

I finally finished my Dew Drop Cowl in Queensland Sugar Rush yarn. I will wear it in the spring. Here it is:

It looks really good after blocking. I should've used a stretchier bind-off, though. The pattern recommended one but I was too chicken to try it. Oops. Anyway, I blocked the heck out of it! It's definitely wearable and looks pretty.

Next, some jewelry. Here is a pair of earrings I made for my friend for Chanukah:

Sterling silver with black onyx and green turquoise beads, and the big round beads are fair trade wooden ones from India. They match a necklace I gave to the same friend a while back. I don't think I ever posted a pic of the necklace in this blog. I am going to remedy that now!

Here's a close-up of the clasp. It's a hammered silver toggle clasp and I really like it.

My friend had told me what beads she wanted in the necklace - I just had to put them together in a cohesive design. I hope she wears the necklace and earrings in good health. Honestly, I hope she wears whatever she wears in good health! She's a great friend.

And last but not least, here is a necklace I made with beads from Olga Manina's Etsy store that were bought for me for my birthday in November 2014 by my grandmother, who recently passed away at the age of 99. I miss her terribly.

I didn't get a really great picture - I would prefer to take one on a white background at some point so the colors in the beads are clearer - but this will do for now. I picked out the beads (my grandma had dementia and probably had no idea she was buying them for me - my mom was in charge of her finances at that point), but I still think of her and remember her fondly every time I wear it or even look at it.

Love you, Grams.

At long last, a WIP Wednesday post

I have some WIPs to show off today. First, the one I started last night. I am so excited about it! It's an Elder Tree Shawl. I'm using Malabrigo Rios in the Jupiter colorway, generously given to me by my mom last year. I have 4 skeins, and I doubt I'll use them all for this project, but I want to make this pretty big so I can wrap myself up in it and be all warm and snuggly. (Yes, I know it's lace and has holes in it. I'm sure it'll still be nice and warm.)

 
I'm using size 9 circs and alternating skeins - I've got 2 different dye lots going on here. My mom isn't a yarnie and doesn't know from dye lots, so she got me 2 skeins from one lot and 2 from another. I could've just used one of the sets of 2 for this shawl, but like I said, I want this to be really big, so I'm alternating and I think it looks great. I don't know if I'll want to use more than 2 skeins for this shawl, but I like having that option.

Speaking of my mom and Malabrigo Rios, I'm crocheting a pair of Basic Fingerless Mittens for her out of Rios in Azules. I've made one and a half so far.

She tried the finished one on and it fits, well, like a glove! ;-) These are turning out great. I love this pattern. It's my 2nd time using it. I plan to make myself a pair eventually. I have a skein of Rios in Bobby Blue waiting for me. Anyway, my mom's apartment can get very cold, so I'm glad to be able to make these for her. May she wear them in good health.

I'm also still working on the Clapotis and on my kimono sweater (which had been in hibernation for a while), but they don't look different enough from the last pics I posted of them to bother putting more pics here!

I finally got some hollow glass beads from Alisha White's Etsy shop. I have sapphire blue and emerald green and I know exactly what I'm going to make with them. I just have to get myself to actually do it!

My New Year's resolution was to learn how to knit hats and socks. I've got some Craftsy classes and a bunch of books. I've ordered some DPNs so I can make the socks the way the class instructor makes them, and I think I have enough interchangeable circular needles to try using 2 or doing magic loop. I do not have the smaller sizes for socks yet, but I already know I get hand and wrist pain from using smaller needles, so I may have to stick to making heavier socks.

That's it from me for now, but I have a bunch of FOs to show off, so watch for a Friday post...

WIP Wednesday: Croeso progress, Dew Drop Cowl, and a non-knitting FO

Hi all! Happy WIP Wednesday! Here is my latest Croeso progress update picture:

Oh I love this shawlette so much. You might notice, though, that in the top left corner is a little ball of yarn...that's all I have left of this colorway. I'm trying desperately on Ravelry to get a small amount of coordinating yarn to finish with since I am pretty sure that little ball doesn't contain enough yardage.

I know it's a stretch, but does anyone reading this have a small amount of any sport weight wool that might go well with this, that I could buy from you? I can't get another full skein of JDMS Mohonk anytime soon - it's very pricey. It's well worth it, but I just can't do it right now.

Edited to add: Yarn problem solved! Hooray!!!

Also, while I'm asking questions, here's one for anyone who has knit a clapotis: any idea why those who have made it on Ravelry have used such drastically different yardage? I've checked out several projects using just 1 specific yarn, and people have used anywhere between 4 and 10 skeins. I'm having trouble figuring out how much yarn I actually need for the pattern, since the pattern itself says I'll need more than I have but the projects would have me believe otherwise.

On another note, I've realized that the smaller size needles I use, the more my hands hurt when I knit. Right now I am also working on a Dew Drop Cowl - here I am posing with it at the latest Stitch & Bitch:

I'm using size 10 needles for the cowl. My Croeso shawlette is knit on size 4 needles. The difference is crazy - I don't need my wrist braces while working on the cowl and I have almost no hand and wrist pain. When working on the shawlette, I need the braces and I need to pace myself much more and stretch a lot.

Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to finish the cowl because it's a great project to bring to Stitch & Bitch! It's just stockinette except for a few eyelet rows. Great mindless knitting. I still managed to mess up the first eyelet row while working on it at S&B, so I have to make sure to do the eyelets at home! LOL! Most knitting is not truly mindless enough for me to work on it while talking, but straight stockinette or garter I can do.

And here, as promised, is an FO:

I made the little mookaite heart earrings on the left to go with the "Angel Pig" on the right. These were gifts for my second-oldest niece's birthday, which just passed (ohmygosh she's 10 - where does the time go?!). I hope she likes them. We weren't able to give the gifts in person because my sister and her family are camping, so we had to mail them. My hubby picked out the piggy and helped me choose the heart beads. The earrings are sterling silver (posts, headpins and little round beads - all sterling). I like to use the good stuff. ;-)

Not sure if my niece ever wears dangly earrings. These are very short dangles, so maybe she will wear them. She is very athletic, so I didn't think big dangles would be such a great idea! I made sure to use post earring findings so they'd be less likely to fall out of her ears.

I am almost finished with a secret crochet gift project. More on that in 2 or 3 weeks when it's been finished and received...

Hello out there!

Happy New Year! I realize it's been a really long time since my last post. I was crocheting up a storm for a while there, and I'll try to post about that another time; but now I've returned to my other passion: making things with beads. The Etsy store is open again. Here's a little sample for your viewing pleasure: I've been making loads of stitch markers. The spoons are my latest. They are a nod to The Spoon Theory, a wonderful article by Christine Miserandino about living with a chronic illness. Spoons have come to symbolize awareness of diseases such as lupus and fibromyalgia, which affect many, including some close to me. I plan to make spoon earrings soon, and maybe some other spoon jewelry if the customers want it. Also, snag-free spoon stitch markers just for knitting are in the works. (I may yet try to do snag-free ones for crochet, too...Keep an eye out!)

I've also been working on selling a bunch of things on eBay (click here if you'd like to see). I'm selling my father-in-law's amazing collection of vintage hand-carved pipes--he hasn't smoked since the 1970's and has no place to display them, so it made sense to sell them. They are worth a look at my eBay items just to see the beautiful craftsmanship. I have a new admiration for pipes now! I've got 3 up for auction at the moment, with many more coming in the next few weeks/months. Also available are a vintage 1980's Lando Calrissian (Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back) action figure, unopened; and a few other items.

There are 2 knitting projects that I want to start: a Cloudsoft Cowl with some amazing Filatura Di Crosa Superior yarn in a gorgeous lavender color that my mom gave me over the summer, and a basic garter stitch blanket using Yarntopia Treasures Bulky Cotton Chenille in the "Turtle" colorway (not pictured, but it's got green and purple and oh boy is it yummy!). I want to start the cowl at Stitch & Bitch so I can get some help, but I think I'll start the blankie on my own. I just hope I'll actually do it soon. I've been so busy with the Etsy and eBay shops and various other life stuff.

I now have a Facebook page! Please go "like" it if...well...if you like it. ;) I post Etsy and eBay stuff and some other fun things including cute turtles and funny stuff that's relevant. Please remember to "like" each update so they'll keep showing up in your newsfeed. Thank you!!

And that's it for now. Time to drink more coffee and make more stitch markers!

Working with wire, a little crochet, and maybe a little crochet with wire?

Sorry I've been absent from blog and Twitter land for a while. I've been going a little crazy with some family and work stuff, so my hobbies have had to take a backseat to brainless activities like watching TV when I've had the time, because I just haven't felt up to creating much.

I'm planning to come back with a vengeance as soon as I can, though. ;) I had another wirework class last Sunday with a very talented instructor, and I plan to practice a lot of what I've learned with some copper wire I bought. In all likelihood, I'll eventually be making some copper wirework jewelry to sell, since copper is both pretty and affordable. But I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual. First, I must practice!! I've also taken out several books on wirework from the library, so I've got a ton of different ideas floating around. Just gotta harness them. Wish me luck. :)

I do have a small problem, though: I really, really need a good pair of flush cutters for cutting larger-gauge wire. The only ones I have now are good for cutting 20-gauge and above, and I really want to work with some 16- and 18-gauge. But I can't, for now, because good flush cutters cost money and so do the groceries, and it's not really hard to decide which of those we need more. I may eventually cave and just use the plastic to buy some flush cutters, but it all depends on what I can find.

A pair of earrings from my Etsy shop were just featured in this Etsypreneurs Team Treasury! Yeehaw!! Many other beautiful things are showcased there, as well. Please take a look.

As for the crochet, it hasn't gone anywhere since my last Stitch & Bitch, 2 weeks ago (I couldn't make it to last week's S&B). The next one's tomorrow, though, so I hope I can get some good crocheting done. The shawl I am making is going to be beautiful--the tiny little piece of it that I have made already is--but I do not know when/where I will possibly wear it. I haven't really been a shawl person in the past. Maybe this one will convert me, though...Who knows?!

I'd also really like to try crocheting with wire. I have a specific project in mind: I have a beautiful pendant that I bought from a jewelry artist a few years ago (unfortunately, I don't remember her name or have a way of tracking her down). It's a sterling silver crocheted wire circle with a larger-gauge wire frame, and a few beads toward the middle. I should take a picture of it so you can see what I'm talking about.

I want to learn how to make pendants like that one. I may have to figure out how to make it myself, though, since I haven't found anything like it since I bought it, much less anything like it with a tutorial. I've seen instructions for crocheted wire circle pendants, but none of them have frames, and I don't really like the way they look without frames. I do not know if the artist crocheted the frame onto the pendant (which it looks like she did), or how.

South Bay progress and a 3-day weekend!

I did, indeed, start the South Bay Shawlette. Here's what it looks like after today's Stitch & Bitch:

I would link to the pattern, but the Lion Brand website keeps redirecting me to its sign-in page when I try, and if I link to it in Ravelry, you have to sign in to Ravelry. I think it's silly that you can't even see what the finished shawl looks like without signing in somewhere. At least you can see my version here. ;) (And--hey wait--I guess I did just link to it on both sites. Heheh. You just won't be able to see the pattern and/or finished product unless you're logged in. But you're welcome to click!)

Yes, that is one of my handmade fuchsia butterfly stitch markers marking the middle stitch of the last row. I have one set of those that I've kept for myself. That's right, I only have one set of stitch markers. Period. I will build up more of a collection as I sell more, and can afford to keep some more of what I've made. I do think I will need a set of coffee beans!

By the way, I can make jewelry to go with any of these stitch markers. That's right, you can match your stitch markers! LOL! Seriously, I keep meaning to make coffee bean bead jewelry, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I've seen what some others on Etsy have done with similar beads, but what I'm envisioning is a little different.

I have a 3-day weekend coming up, so I hope I will get to spend some quality time with the yarn and bead stashes! And with my hubby, too. But he's busy working on his dissertation a lot of the time.

I'll be visiting my grandmother tomorrow. Grams has just moved into an independent living facility. Things have been...interesting. I haven't seen her new place for myself yet. I hope it's better than she thinks it is. :-/

If you've made it this far, will you please do me a favor and go to my last post and tell me which yarn you think would make a better Sera Lace Top? Please help! I need some input! :) Thanks in advance!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yeah, I know, my last post was titled "Valentine's Day." A little redundant. But today, it actually is Valentine's Day, so I am wishing you a happy one. My husband and I will be exchanging small gifts later this evening, and I have no idea what he got me, so I am really excited! I won't say what I got him, either, since he doesn't know yet. ;) Maybe I'll tell you in my next post if any of you are curious!

I still have no projects on my crochet hooks (well, except the ones that are hibernating, and most of them will probably stay that way at this point). I have, however, spent some time on Ravelry lately (I'm smilingturtle on there, and I welcome new friends). I'm hopeful that tonight, I will start work on a South Bay Shawlette using my Yarntopia Rayon Boucle in the Arizona colorway.

That is the yarn of which I have half a skein wound, half a skein incredibly tangled (wahhh!), and 2 unwound skeins. (Is that right, or am I supposed to call them "hanks" when they're not wound yet? Yarn terminology is a little confusing to me.) I'll start with that wound half-skein and see what happens. I'll probably have to wind more, and I hope it won't get tangled again!

I also really want to start a Sera Lace Top for myself. Actually, the South Bay Shawlette is also for me--I'm being selfish for a bit! Anyway, I haven't decided yet whether I want to use purple Tatamy Tweed or NaturallyCaron.com Spa in Ocean Spray. The tweedy yarn might look weird in such an open pattern, but it might also look really cool. And I've been wanting to work with Spa for a long time. This is going to be a tough decision. What would you do? For reference, here's a pic of my Tatamy Tweed:

And here's a pic of the Spa, courtesy of NaturallyCaron.com:


What do you think? Which would make a better Sera?

I want to start the Shawlette first, since I may be able to take it to Stitch & Bitch on Friday if it turns out to be easy enough to work on while talking. :) I'll just need to have enough of the yarn wound for that. *gulp*

On the beading front, I have been making Purple Butterfly Stitch Markers. I am selling them in my Etsy store and donating 20% of the cost of the item (not including shipping) to the National Fibromyalgia Association. (They have not endorsed my product in any way; I'm just doing this on my own.) One of the symbols for fibromyalgia awareness is a purple butterfly, and fibromyalgia awareness is a cause close to my heart, so I thought this would be a good idea. I have sold some already, and I have 2 more sets for sale in the store now and will make more soon.

I also took a wire work class on Sunday. It was a lot of fun! I finally have the right sort of hammer for hammering wire, and I finally got to actually hammer some. It was exciting. I also learned to make head pins with curly ends, and brushed up on how to make briolette wraps. The instructor tried to teach us her way to make wrapped loops, but I am afraid that I'm stuck in my ways with that one, so I'll just continue to do what works for me as long as it still looks pretty and consistent!

There will be a second class in 2 weeks, and I am really looking forward to it.

And that, my friends, is my long Valentine's Day post. I hope you are all having a wonderful day full of chocolate. Mmmm, chocolate. (And if you don't like chocolate...I still hope you're having a wonderful day!)

Insert witty title here

Once again, "real life" has been interfering with my crocheting and beading adventures. *sigh* I keep planning to do more interesting crochet stuff, but I'm still just making that one darn scarf for the children's hospital. If you're on Ravelry, you can check out the pattern here. It's called "Skinny Cabled Scarf." Lots of front and back post double crochet, making a reversible cabled pattern. It's pretty cool, but it takes a while. I've also pretty much only been working on it at Stitch & Bitch. The other ladies have been stitching up a storm, so we may actually make our goal of two dozen scarf and hat sets by Valentine's Day, despite my delinquency. :P

Don't know when I'm ever going to start that baby hat for my family friend's grandson. Maybe when he's about 2 years old? OK, now I'm just being mean to myself. I'll get to it eventually--and I'll make it big-ish, and he'll grow into it. I hope that's a good plan. Anyway, a baby hat shouldn't take me too long to make. (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that.)

Meanwhile, since I last posted, I've made a bracelet to match that cool green ceramic bead necklace. Here's a pic:

I plan to list it and the necklace soon. I also made a bracelet to match the unakite necklace. It's a little long, since I wanted it to have a clasp to match the one on the necklace, and I didn't want to make it too short. After all, I can always shorten it for a customer; I can't lengthen it without re-stringing it. But I'd be willing to do that for a customer as well, of course.

I've also made a whole bunch of stitch markers. I made a set with a Valentine's Day theme, a set with Czech flower beads in 3 different colors, and some purple butterflies, among others. They'll all be listed in my Etsy store soon. Here's a photo of those Czech flower bead markers:

These can also be 3 pairs of earrings, if you'd prefer! I actually had a customer order 6 coffee bean stitch markers because she wanted 3 pairs of coffee bean earrings. The lever back earring hooks are great. These stitch markers/earrings are much cheaper than what I usually make, because the head pins are base metal and the lever back hooks are silver plated. I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to my jewelry-making materials, and will usually use sterling silver or gold filled for jewelry before I'll use "base metal" (confession: I don't even know exactly what that means, besides inexpensive!) or metal plated. (Though I've been thinking about branching out into copper and brass.)

I've also been doing a lot of soul searching when it comes to the jewelry business and how I want to run it and what my goals are. I've been reading loads of books and websites. I bought a book called The Handmade Marketplace the other day, because I'd been reading it in the bookstore and thought it was helpful enough that I wanted to own it. Thanks to the book, I finally understand the concept of "branding," which I really didn't before.

I also need to contact my accountant (she doesn't even know I've started a business!) and make an appointment with a SCORE representative.

Also, I bought a really cute little Sony Vaio laptop for the purpose of watching beading and wire work tutorial videos while I'm actually working on said beading or wire work. I got a very good deal on the computer. Because of the layout of our apartment, my desktop computer is not anywhere near my jewelry/stitch marker workspace, so watching tutorials on that would be useless unless I had a really good memory--which I don't. ;)

And now I must bid you adieu so I can go do "real life," non-crafty things. Boooo.

New adventures in necklace-making, other business goings on, and a little crochet

Thought I'd start out this entry with a nice big pic of my smiling face. (Yeah, I probably should've put on some make-up, but my husband didn't give me much warning before he took this!) And what's that around my neck? Could it be...a brand new handmade necklace using fabulous green Israeli ceramic beads? Why, yes, indeed it is!

(If you look closely, you'll notice that I'm also wearing my own personal pair of Bali sterling silver puff bead dangle earrings.)

The ceramic beads are handmade and hand-painted by needy elderly people in Jerusalem, and I buy straight from the organization that employs them--it's a total win/win scenario, because they get the support they need and I get really interesting and completely unique beads to work with. I have a lot of these beads to play with right now, in a variety of different colors. It's very exciting.

I absolutely love this new necklace, which I finished last night. The larger round beads have silver glitter on them, and the smaller beads don't; the smaller ones are a slightly different shade and are textured. I've put fair trade greenish pearls (I say "greenish" because some look pretty green and others look more like peacock pearls) on either side of each of the ceramic beads. In between the ceramic bead and pearl combinations are Japanese seed beads in black, dark rainbow and silver. The seed beads make a nice asymmetrically colored design, which I think is spectacular, not that I'm biased. ;)

I finished the necklace off with sterling silver round beads, sterling crimp ends and a plain sterling silver toggle clasp.

It will be for sale in my Etsy store once I've taken good pictures and figured out what the price should be. Pricing is always a little tricky. It's very mathematical--I don't just pull my prices out of thin air. I have to figure out the costs of all the supplies involved and other expenses incurred in making each piece and listing it on Etsy, and then I have to multiply that amount by a certain number and hope that will make me a profit. Definitely lots of hope involved.

I also have a really gorgeous unakite and sterling silver necklace that I will be listing soon. It also needs to be priced first, but at least I already have the photos. I had never worked with unakite before. The more I looked at it, the more enamored I became with the gemstone's color combination of moss green and coral.

Here's a picture of it:


In other Smiling Turtle news, today I shipped off 2 sets of stitch markers to Chile (a woman ordered them for her aunt who lives there), and I will soon be sending a set to Minnesota. I've also had items featured in 2 treasuries (links below):

I'd Rather Make My Own Gift, Thank You Anyway! by PlainJane4 (A cool DIY-themed treasury! Right up my alley!)

and

My hearts a flutter by glamourpusscouture (Hearts and butterflies! Um, also sorta right up my alley.)


As far as my crochet goes, not much to report. OK, nothing to report. *sigh* Most of my creative energy and time is going toward beading at this point. I have yet to start that baby hat I wrote about. My Stitch & Bitch group is working on hats and scarves for a local children's hospital. I started a scarf at our last group, but got really bored with just a simple single crochet pattern, so I'm trying to figure out a good stitch or pattern for a kid's scarf (gotta be unisex for this).

I looked on Ravelry for kids' scarf patterns, but couldn't find anything that fit the bill. (I wouldn't know how to modify an adult pattern to fit a kid--I don't know kids' sizes that well, and I don't really know how to modify patterns.) I should check Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet, which I have at home.

Any suggestions from my stitchy friends? (Crochet only, please!)

More stitch markers and some gemstone necklaces

I have been making a lot of jewelry and stitch markers lately. Not so much crochet...I do need to finish my friend's scarf for next week, though! Yikes! Well, OK, I don't have to, I just would like to have it finished by the next time I see her. Better get crackin'.

I made a whole bunch of stitch markers last night, including a special order for a set of 6 coffee bean stitch markers and a new set of hummingbirds and flowers stitch markers. I also made some with larger Czech glass purple flower beads, but I haven't listed them yet. And I listed the little flower stitch markers I'd mentioned in my last post. The picture came out looking like it was on a blue background, which is weird since it was on white; the colors of the markers look pretty true, but I will probably try soon to get pics that are not so blue-looking.

I made some labradorite goodies recently. I love labradorite; it's one of my favorite stones. It's generally gray, with a blue or green "flash" to it. This is a necklace I made for myself:


And with the leftover beads and some beading chain, I made this one to sell:

(The picture above is the same necklace as the one below, just wrapped around 3 times so you can see the beads a little better.) I wouldn't mind keeping this necklace for myself, either; but I'm going to try not to be greedy with the labradorite! The necklace is a little more than 20" long. I've been into long-ish necklaces lately (I probably would've made it even longer if I'd had more beads to use).

After finishing that one, I made a necklace with some lovely unakite beads. Here's a picture of that necklace in progress, in my "studio" (ha ha):

I had just started stringing it when I took the picture. As you can (maybe sort of) see, it's got unakite cube beads and oval beads, separated by little sterling silver spacer beads. It came out to be about 20" long. I took a chance and used a clasp that isn't silver, but that I thought went with the feeling of the piece. The only sterling silver toggle clasps I have are very small and plain, and this is not really a small and plain necklace, in my opinion.

I have the day off tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to working on that scarf some more and maybe making some more jewelry (I'd love to make a unakite bracelet to go with the necklace! And maybe some earrings?!)

Secret-ish projects, dieting, and more gifts

Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I am still working on a secret crochet project for my nephew, so I can't post much about that...other than the fact that I am now going to have to frog it for the second time! At least I won't have to frog the whole thing this time.

Had fun at Stitch & Bitch today. It was just me and D. Good thing we enjoy each other's company! ;) It's always nice to have someone (or a group of people) to hang out with during my lunch break, and it's especially nice to have someone (or a group of people) to crochet with!

I'm also working on a beaded bracelet for my cousin's daughter. She's either a tween or a teen, I'm not completely sure of her age but I think she's around 12ish. I tried to make it like another bracelet that I'd just sold, only shorter with an extendable chain closure; but I didn't quite have the right beads, so I'm making it a little different. It's pretty. Rose quartz, amethyst, lepidolite and silver beads. I will take a pic when I'm done and post it here once I'm sure it's been given to her (she won't be there for our Chanukah party/my grandma's 95th birthday party, so I'm sending it back to her with my cousin). I hope she will like it!

As I mentioned, I recently sold a bracelet from The Smiling Turtle Etsy store. It was the only bracelet I'd listed. Amethyst, rose quartz, and silver. I am very happy that someone bought it, and I am also very aware that I need to post more bracelets! (Including the one from my last post!) I've decided to include a little insert with it about who made it and where it was made, the metaphysical properties of the gemstones, etc. I will probably start doing that with all of my handmade jewelry, or at least the gemstone jewelry. It's work, but it's fun work, and it's something I think people will appreciate because I know that I appreciate something like that when I buy a handmade item or receive one as a gift.

Meanwhile, I have put myself on a "bead diet" (I bought waaay too many beads last month). We'll see how long I can keep this up. I am determined not to drive us into debt with my addiction...but...the shinies...they are so tempting!

I'll still be getting little presents in the mail for a bit, because the beads I ordered from Israel haven't arrived yet, and neither have some Swarovski crystal cubes and assorted other ebay purchases.

Ohhh, also, we had a little Chanukah celebration at my in-laws' house last weekend. Guess what they gave me? YARN! And sterling silver beading chain! And they stuffed us full of pot roast and latkes and gluten-free brownies! How awesome are they?!

I am having such a crafty Birthukkah season. I love it.

That's pretty much it for now. And I thought I wouldn't have much to write! HA!!! :)

Jewelry preview - not yet listed

Here are a few things that haven't made it into The Smiling Turtle Etsy store yet, that I just wanted to show off.


This is a choker made from pink Czech glass coin beads and purple Czech glass fire polish teardrop beads, with some fair trade Bali silver beads. It has a teardrop and Bali bead dangle on silver chain, as well as a silver chain extender on the end of the choker.


Jade and fair trade Bali sterling silver necklace and earrings. The necklace has a fair trade Thai silver rose pendant in the middle.


Light jade and Chinese crystal earrings and bracelet. (There was a necklace, too, but it was sold before I got a picture of it!)

Click on any of these pictures to see larger versions.

Poncho=done, and a birthday full of yarn and beads (and food)!

Well, my last poncho is done. OK, not really, I still have to weave in the ends. But it's 99.9% done. ;) I am worried that my littlest niece will be totally swimming in it, since it seems to be almost as long as she is tall! *gulp* I'll find out on December 11. Here's a picture of it without the collar, since I hadn't done the collar yet when I took this pic:



My birthday was on Saturday. I had a wonderful day, thanks to amazing friends and family and my incredible hubby. I got lots of phone calls, e-mails, and Facebook wall wishes.

My husband got me yarn for my b-day, and lots of it! It's all cotton bamboo from Yarntopia Treasures. Here is a picture of the various colorways:



The one on the left is called Electric Blue, the middle one is Posiedon (their spelling mistake, not mine--sorry, part of my job is editing, I can't help it!), and the one on the right is Dreamcatcher. He got me 5 skeins of Electric Blue, and 1 each of the others. The yardage is pretty good. About 420 yards per skein, fingering weight. Not sure what to do with them yet, but I will figure that out when I'm not so tied up with Chanukah projects. :) Love, love, love the yarn!

My in-laws got me a subscription to Stringing magazine, which I like to use for beading inspiration. One of my friends got me a rice cooker, which we desperately needed (and are, in fact, using right now!), and a book called "Crafting Jewish." My sister made me 2 gorgeous pairs of earrings. Lots of loot for me.

And then there are the presents I bought for myself! My husband and I went bead shopping on my birthday. First, we went to Beads of Westchester. I hadn't been there for a while. I bought some nice things--a bunch of Swarovski bicones in cool colors I hadn't seen before, a strand of green magnesite nugget beads, some pretty blue fossilized something-or-other beads (I had them write down the name of it and then I lost the card they wrote it on, of course!), some faceted onyx rounds. The ladies there were very nice, and it was an enjoyable shopping experience.

Then we went to Michaels. Not such an enjoyable shopping experience. I bought some more Swarovski bicones (at slightly better prices) and some Swarovski flower beads that were on clearance...or so I thought. They were with the clearance beads. There were many of them with the clearance beads, carefully organized. There were many other beads on clearance as well, and almost none of them were marked. My Swarovski flowers were also unmarked. When we checked out, the saleswoman insisted on charging us full price, without so much as sending another employee over to look at the clearance section. Grrrr. I bought them anyway, because I am a sucker for little Swarovski crystal flowers, and because I am not so good at being frugal.

After that, we went out for dinner to a local Argentinian/Italian restaurant. The food was amazing. My husband had fettuccine bolognese, and I had paella. The paella had lots of lobster in it. I was so happy! Then came dessert: a big cappuccino, and tartufo. Ohmygoodness it was heavenly.

The holiday sales are over in my Etsy store, unless I decide to come up with another one sometime soon. Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale was relatively successful. Not bad, really, for a shop that doesn't have a heck of a lot of items in it yet. The stitch markers have definitely been the biggest sellers. I made some new ones yesterday, but I don't have pictures of them yet, so I'll just have to keep you in suspense.

I ordered some beads from an organization in Israel, and they shipped out today! They are ceramic beads made by needy elderly people in Jerusalem. I am happy to support this wonderful charity, and I hope to make some really nice things.

I have so much jewelry that I've made, and so little time to get it all listed! It won't happen before the holidays, for the most part. D'oh. I will do what I can, though.

My new light box, leaf earrings, stitch markers, and poncho progress (or lack thereof)

I did, in fact, start the poncho that I mentioned in my last blog post. I'm still not finished, though. I haven't had so much time to crochet...I've been really busy with the Etsy store. I'm still trying to master the art of taking good photographs of small stuff like earrings and stitch markers.

I made a light box a few days ago:


It ain't pretty, but it does the trick. I bought 2 desk lamps--1 for each side--and my pictures are coming out a lot better. I used this tutorial to make it. I can now take photos during non-daylight hours, which is nice.

I bought a whole bunch of props yesterday, so we'll see what I come up with. ;) I've already taken photos of earrings on gift bows, which was fun. I can really only do that with the smaller earrings, though. I also took a lot of photos of earrings hanging on a wine glass (but you can't really tell it's a wine glass from the photo), like this one:


And yes, these earrings will be for sale very soon (I just need to take some more pics, calculate a price, write a description, and all that jazz).

Here's a photo of the inside of the light box:


Like I said, not pretty, but it works.

I also made new stitch markers this weekend. You can check them out in the stitch markers section of my store. I've got new butterflies and some flowers. I also re-made some that sold. I'm running out of certain beads, so some of the markers may have to be "discontinued" soon, unless I can find more somewhere.

I'm hoping to finish the poncho this week. I need to start my nephew's gift, and make something for my sister and bro-in-law. I'm lucky our family's Chanukah celebration isn't until 12/10...Chanukah actually starts this year on December 1! I'd really be scrambling if we could get everyone together during the holiday.

Finished Seraphina, my studio, and a piggy friend

Henceforth, I have decided to combine my crochet blog and my handmade jewelry blog into this blog. It's time to consolidate. Hopefully, those who enjoy reading about my crochet won't mind also reading about my beading endeavors!

First, some crochet goodness: I finished the Seraphina's Shawl for my grandmother!



I am so, so, sooo happy with the way it turned out. What an awesome pattern. I hope she will love it. It's my present for her for both Chanukah and her 95th (!) birthday.

Meanwhile, I've also been hard at work on my beading. I made some new stitch markers - some new Heart Bumpies, and a cute flower design using clear glass "tulip" beads, green seed beads and purple seed beads. The latter aren't listed in the store yet. I'm running out of the beads for the Heart Bumpies and the Butterfly Bumpies; can't seem to find inexpensive, small bumpy beads anywhere. How depressing. So the next 3 or so batches may be the last.

I read somewhere that blog readers might like to see pictures of a crafter's studio. Well, mine consists mostly of our ottoman (and the floor around it)! My bead stash is usually kept in my husband's office, which you don't want to see. Just trust me on this one. Anyway, here is my "studio," complete with our friend Abbey the pig:



Abbey is shown above modeling some earrings that I made the other night. She's such a good model! See below for more proof of her modeling potential:



Here she is wearing one of my polymer clay pig pendants. We just couldn't resist. America's Next Top Piggy, here she comes.

Abbey is one of a bunch of stuffed animals who usually sit next to me on the couch while I'm beading or crocheting. She is a Lubie.

I need to get started on my next poncho! This one will be for my 3-year-old niece, using Lion Homespun (what else?!) in colorway "Antique." It's sort of a dark purplish pink. I hope I will find some time to start it tomorrow.

swap swap swap swap

I have a TON of stuff to swap. As far as yarn goes, it's just the Nature Wool and a skein of Lion Wool Print in Majestic Mountain; but I'm also trying to unload a ton of jewelry-making supplies.

If you want the details, please click here. :)

Successful yarn shopping in RI, and my new jewelry blog

yarn from Yarns at Lace Wings in RI
Originally uploaded by saintlex

While my fiance and I were in RI, we found this amazing yarn store called Yarns at Lace Wings. Oh my goodness. They had really nice yarn, at prices I could actually afford! I went bonkers, as evidenced by the photo. ;)

The purple tweedy yarn in the box is Tatamy Tweed. The photo didn't quite capture the color, which is a gorgeous mix of warm purples. I got enough to at least make a shrug. :) The other yarn in the box is Debbie Bliss Cathay. It was on sale, so I bought all that was left in these 2 colors! Should be enough to make something nice and stripey. In fact, I'm kind of wondering if the spiderweb cardigan would work in 2 colors, since I think I have enough to do that. We'll see.

Outside the box: the sparkly stuff on top is Berroco Jewel FX. I got 2 skeins of 2 different colors (more sale yarn, so that's what they had). SHINY! To the right of that is this AMAZING rayon boucle yarn that my beloved fiance bought for me (in a very sneaky manner, I might add!). I don't think any photo could ever do it justice. It's made by Blue Heron Yarns, and I think the colorway is called Sandstone? Anyway, I will have to figure out what I want to do with 212 yards of it. I want to make something I can wear, but 212 yards isn't enough unless I do a scarf or shawl (which I might), or mix it with another yarn.

To the right of the Blue Heron yarn is Berroco Boho Colors. I have been drooling over this stuff since I first saw the Java Jammie pattern on the Berroco web site. :) I don't think it was on sale, but I want my Java Jammie, goshdarnit! ;D The light green yarn directly to the left of the Boho Colors is a ribbon yarn by Artful Yarns. I'm a little confused about what it's called. The price tag covering the labels says "Cinema 193" and "Norman Bates." The dark green yarn directly below it is a ladder yarn, Berroco Mosaic FX.

Finally, the yarn in the plastic bag is an adorable eyelash yarn from Sweden called Funny, made by Pelsgarn (or is it the other way around? I somehow doubt that the company's name is "Funny," though).

I also bought some pretty buttons and some stitch holders, not pictured.

Then we went to Joann. Boy, was I askin' for it. :P Needless to say, I am now beyond broke (gotta love credit cards). I bought the box in the picture there, and I found the yarn I'd been looking for for the Snuggly Scarf! It was indeed Corinthian, and they had 5 skeins that looked just like the one I'd bought to make my scarf. I snapped 'em up. A pic is somewhere in the near future; right now, my camera's batteries are recharging.

I also bought a lot of beads. I used to make a lot of jewelry. Then I stopped. Now I've started up again, mainly because I am tired of wearing the same old stuff. ;)

If you'd like to see the beaded earrings I've been making lately, please head on over to my handmade jewelry blog at smiling-turtle.livejournal.com.

I also moderate a community over on LJ about fair trade/ethically made beads and jewelry supplies, which I started a long time ago when I first realized that most beads are made by people working in the worst kinds of conditions. If you bead and are at all concerned about such things, hop on over--I just posted a list of suppliers of good fair trade beads. It's a good start, even though the list hasn't been updated in a long time (but I did check the make sure the companies are still around!).

black crocheted flower brooch with Czech fire polish beads

black crocheted flower brooch with czech fire polish beads
Originally uploaded by saintlex

Here's the flower brooch I made to fasten the sash for my bridesmaid outfit for my friend's wedding, which was last Saturday. It was a big success (the flower, AND the wedding!). :D


I made the flower with Caron Simply Soft in black, using a pattern from the Lion Brand web site. I sewed the beads on afterward, since I had a limited amount of time to make the flower and didn't think it would be so great to experiment with bead crochet right then. I used Czech fire polish beads. At first, I thought they looked too much like little bugs; but the full effect wound up being very nice. I'm sure I'll get to wear it again, especially if there's any sash-fastening going on. ;)

Back to work, baby blankie, and a request for flower patterns

My Meez is knitting at the office. *giggle* I've been sick for a while, but I made it in to work yesterday afternoon and will be doing the same today. I won't actually be crocheting at work, but my Meez can get away with it. ;)

I am almost halfway done with the blanket for the new baby. It's a very easy pattern, but it takes a while. It will be a very warm blanket, which I guess will be more useful in the winter...though it would also make a good playmat. It's nice and thick. It's going to have a hood, but who cares if it's a hooded playmat? It's all good.

Tomorrow, my fiance and I are heading out to RI for the wedding of one of my best friends, in which I am a bridesmaid. Before we go, I need to have made a black flower brooch to fasten my sash (our bridesmaid outfits have cute sashes) and a pair of earrings to match the necklace I'm going to wear. The earrings will be easy--I already know what I'm going to do--but I don't know about the flower. *gulp* I've never tried one of those before. I'm not even sure which pattern I should use. I'll be using Caron Simply Soft, and I want a flower that will be about 3 inches in diameter.

Any suggestions for a pattern that would yield that result?

I'm gonna sew beads onto it afterward (I'd start crocheting with beads, but I don't want to do that with a first attempt, since I won't really know how it'll look till I'm done).

I had to miss last night's KUTI meeting. I'd had every intention of going, and then it turned out that the air conditioner repair guy could come fix my A/C sometime around 7 PM, and I had to go for it 'cause it's been HOT in my apartment. I stopped in at our meeting place at around 6:15 and didn't see anyone there yet, though evidently there was a group member in line buying her dinner. D'oh.

It's just as well that I didn't see her, though, 'cause I would have hung out and talked for a little while...and meanwhile, the A/C guy was already at my place! He'd forgotten to take my cell phone number with him, so he was there waiting when I got home at about 6:30. He did a great job with the A/C (and didn't charge much!). YAY!

My mom, wearing birthday scarf and birthday earrings!

our favorite scarf configuration
Originally uploaded by saintlex

Look, it's my beautiful mother, wearing...the birthday scarf! Yes, today was the day. Not her birthday yet, but the day we celebrated, since her b-day is in the middle of the week.

I made her earrings, too. They were made with sunstone and gold-filled beads. It all looked so good on her!







Here she is workin' the scarf-as-sash look:


Here she is with little ol' me, wearing the scarf loose. It looks pretty this way, too:


And finally, the earrings, for your viewing pleasure: