Poncho (almost done!), Black Friday/Cyber Monday Etsy sale, my birthday, and more

Happy Black Friday, everyone! How was your Thanksgiving? We had a good time at my sister's. I ate too much, of course (that's the whole point of the holiday, right?). And yes, I did go shopping today, but only for about 45 minutes during my lunch break because I had to work. It was absolute mayhem (the shopping, not the work!), but I survived. :)

I'm almost finished with the poncho for my littlest niece! Here's a picture of how it looked a few days ago:


I'm now on the last row of the edging, and I still have to do the collar. Easy stuff. I should be done with it very soon. Then I get to start on my nephew's Chanukah gift, which is a surprise, so I won't be able to post it here! How sad. But hopefully, the payoff will be worth it!

I am really starting to worry that the ponchos will be extremely huge on my nieces. I'd forgotten just how small the girls are, until I saw them yesterday...I know they'll grow into them, but I want them to be able to wear their ponchos right away! I'm an impatient auntie. Well, I'll try to get a picture of them all poncho-ed up at our family Chanukah party on December 11, even if the ponchos are huge.

I have to make more stitch markers! I'm having a big sale over at The Smiling Turtle Etsy store for Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, and I've already sold a few. I'm selling the stitch markers at such low prices right now that I'm not sure I'm making a profit at all, but...My loss, my customers' gain, right?! I'll figure it out eventually! ;)

Right now, I'm offering free shipping on everything, plus a 10% discount if you enter the code CYBERMON at checkout. (Please note: that's CYBERMON, short for Cyber Monday. Already had a little confusion over that today.)

Here are some of the newer stitch markers that I've made:


I also have some other new flower beads to play with, so there may be more flower stitch markers in the near future. There may be some flower earrings, too. Hmmm.

My birthday is tomorrow! I'm so excited! I get like a little kid about my birthday. I don't get very upset about that whole being a year older thing. I just go, "Ooooh! Presents! Cake! Yippeeeeee!!!"

When I went to Stitch & Bitch on Wednesday, my friend D had baked me a flourless chocolate cake for my birthday! (I can't eat wheat, so flourless chocolate cake is my favorite treat!) What a sweetheart. She also gave me a card from the whole gang. 2 of them weren't there, probably because of the holiday.

My mom and grandmother gave me presents yesterday: a renewal of my subscription to Interweave Crochet, and a big blocking board! I have been in need of a blocking board for some time. I know you can make your own, but that would've been a big project to undertake in our not-so-big apartment. Also, I really needed a folding one. Maybe now, I will actually block things like my Queen Anne's Lace Scarf? We'll see! I'm still feeling a little intimidated at the thought of all those pins...

I've recently had items featured in 3 great treasuries on Etsy. Here are the links if you'd like to see them:
Goth-a love it! Black Friday Sale Items in Black!
Red ripe berry colors found on Black Friday
Gifts for everyone on your list

And I guess that's it for now! Please stay tuned.

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.

Seraphina's Shawl - WIP

Seraphina's Shawl - WIP
Originally uploaded by saintlex

I re-started the Seraphina's Shawl I'm making for my grandma. It was coming out all weird! This time around, I'm following the pictures in the original pattern, and it's making a lot more sense. I am getting close to the row where the pattern "ends" and you're just sort of on your own to continue it...I think I'm close to mastering it, though. At least, I hope I am. :)

This is working up a lot more quickly than I'd thought it would, seeing as how I don't get that much time to crochet per day. I would love to take it with me to S&B on Wednesday, but I think it might be too big for me to work on there. I don't know. I'm not used to working on big stuff at all--shawls, blankets, etc. Well, I did make a baby blanket at one point, but I don't think I brought it with me anywhere while I was working on it.

I think I will probably start my third (and last) poncho at the S&B. This one will be for the 3-year-old. It'll also be in Lion Homespun, in colorway "Antique." It's sort of a dark pinky-purple. I hope the girls won't be unhappy that 2 of them are getting blue and one's getting pinkish purple...Knowing them, they'll all want the pinkish purple color, since it says "princess" much more than blue does. Although, Cinderella wears blue, right? So there. :P

We're going to see my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew for Halloween. My mom and I are going trick-or-treating with them. (They'll collect the candy, we'll take it when they're done. Just kidding!!) Anyway, it should be really fun and really cute.

Finished poncho, Surreybelle Scarf, Seraphina's Shawl, and Noro Taiyo

Time for more photos! :) I finished the poncho for my 4-y/o niece. It looks really nice. I took it to Stitch & Bitch on Wednesday, and everyone seemed to like it. Not the best picture of the poncho, but this'll give you some idea of what it looks like:

It's made from Lion Homespun in colorway "Delft." I really, really like this colorway for my li'l niece; I hope she'll like it, too. I've been told that blue is her favorite color.

For a slight change of pace, I decided to pick up a project that had been hibernating for a while--the Surreybelle Scarf (pattern available as a free download on Ravelry). I brought it to S & B with me. I started working on it again, and quickly realized why it had been in hibernation for so long! First of all, the yarn is a real pain to work with. It's Cherry Tree Hill Zebra Caribe, which is made of a few strands plied together, and it's very, very splitty. Second, I'd been crocheting really tightly when I was working on it before. Like, serious hand-cramp tightness. When I started working on it again, I found that I no longer crochet that tightly--but in order to match my old gauge, I had to. OUCH. It sure is pretty, though:

I just hope I can get myself to finish it!

And finally, I'm trying to make Seraphina's Shawl for my grandmother for her birthday/Chanukah present. It was really, really difficult for me starting out. I printed out the directions from the link above, this version here, and the errata. Good grief. I got very confused. Now I seem to be doing OK, but it's still pretty hard to tell what I'm doing, since I'm using Lion Homespun again (I have so much of that stuff!) and it can be hard to tell if I'm crocheting in the right place (especially when it says to crochet into a ch-1 sp, since it's not always clear where those are!). I've made it through the 4th row:


Also, I tried to crochet some fingerless mitts with the gorgeous Noro Taiyo I have, and was incredibly disappointed in the yarn. I encountered some problems and had to frog, and this yarn is VERY difficult for frogging. It tangled, and it even broke in some places. It was awful. I've checked the projects others have made with it on Ravelry, and they seem to have done OK making all sorts of things...But I may wind up having to do something really simple with it, since I can't do anything with it that I might have to frog, since frogging it might just not work at all! *sigh*

Drool-worthy sheep-free yarn, poncho update, and other thoughts

I created a treasury on Etsy of really nice, non-wool yarn from various sellers, for those who have wool sensitivities or anyone else who's interested. Bamboo, silk, cotton, and more. It's all variegated, and the colors are beautiful. Click here to see.

I finished the poncho for my 4-year-old niece last night! I am so excited. It turned out really nicely. It's almost perfect, except for maybe one mistake which only I know about...Oops, guess the secret's out now. ;) There were a lot of mistakes in the first poncho, but I think it still turned out well, I just hope it'll be OK with wear. (I also hope they'll wear these a lot! But who knows?)

Now, on to the poncho for the 3-year-old. I had planned to make it in a turquoise yarn that I bought that isn't Lion Homespun or bulky weight, but now I'm reconsidering. I'm not very good at modifying patterns (ha, that's an understatement--I've really only done it once, and that wasn't on purpose!). But if I don't modify the pattern with that yarn, it'll come out really weird and possibly won't fit. Meanwhile, I've got some nice dark fuchsia Homespun I could use...I think I'll probably just do that.

I've been thinking about the shawl I'm going to make for my grandmother. I don't know if I should make it in the olive green Homespun that I already have, or buy another color. My goal was originally to use up what I already have, since I have a heck of a lot of Homespun; but that's not working out so well! Anyway, I don't know if she would wear green. But I can figure that out later.

S & B tomorrow! Woohoooo!!! I am going to bring along the poncho I just finished, and maybe I'll bring some of the stitch markers I make just to show off.

Update, with lots of pics!

Time for a big photo-heavy update. First, here's my finished poncho for my 6-year-old niece:

And a close-up of the scalloped edge detail (also, you can see the color of the yarn better here):

And a picture of the poncho-in-progress for my 4-year-old niece:

And, last but not least, I've been making stitch markers again (these and others for sale at The Smiling Turtle):

I am very happy with the way the first poncho came out. I'd started the second one with a smaller hook, but then had to frog it and re-start with the same hook size as I'd used for the first one, since it was coming out too small.

I got to go to a Stitch and Bitch last Wednesday! I just found out recently that it meets down the street from where I work. Sweet! I had so much fun meeting people and crocheting. I plan to go back as often as I can (probably almost every week).

I have become somewhat obsessed with Noro Taiyo yarn. Here's a pic of the 1 skein I own:

It is so beautiful! It is telling me that it wants to become fingerless gloves. Unfortunately, it's also telling me that it wants to be a scarf and a hat. NEED MORE!!! Heehee. Luckily, my birthday is coming up... ;)

I bought it (and some Lorna's Laces Honor and Queensland Sugar Rush) at Fresh Purls in Providence, RI when I was there visiting some friends for Columbus Day weekend. It's a really nice store, with very helpful and friendly saleswomen.

Guess that's it for now! I'm glad I got some good sunlight for picture-taking today.