The Crochet Side

Hello strangers!

I’ve been awfully quiet lately, I know. I’m letting a few things slide lately–things I shouldn’t–which has left me feeling pretty poor about not having enough time. I have a sneaking suspicion this is all a part of being an adult. When I was a kid, the days were long and glorious. The only time I got fussy over time was when it became too dark out to play football in the streets with the boys, and my mother (football nut), who loved that I was playing any kind of sport, called me in for the night. Now, at 28, unenthusiastically zipping across time to 29, the days are shorter. There’s never enough time to do it all. Work, school, crochet, design crochet, dye yarn, dye fiber, podcast, edit podcast, spend time with family, take dog outside, try to keep the dog and cat from killing each other, breathe…

That last one lately has been difficult.

Then recently I decided that, with it being National Crochet Month (Happy March!), I should participate with, and send samples to, Phat Fiber. I discussed this a bit on the last episode of the podcast, but here’s a snippet of what Phat Fiber is about (lifted from their site)…

Phat Fiber is a mystery box of awesome samples for the yarn and fiber enthusiast in us all. With a focus on the independant artisan, this box is a super grass-roots treat for the senses. When your box arrives, chock full of samples, expect to be overwhelmed with the sight and feel of artful yarns, bits of roving, small batts, stitch markers, original patterns, valuable discount coupons and much much more. Inside, you could find anything that yarn and fiber enthusiasts would love…even an herbal tea or two! Phat Fiber seeks to bridge the gap between talented online artisans and consumers hungry to support the independent small business.

So, there’s this box that I wanted to be a part of. It’s March, and I wanted to send in samples for both fiber-lovers and crocheters. I felt very rooted to the idea of getting crochet out there, celebrating what I love about it, and reaching as many people as I could. This is what I sent in:

I rushed taking that photo as I was trying to get them into the shipping box and mailed, so the mini skeins are blurry. All very sad. That’s representative of at least 24 of the green/olive (Horned God) mini-skeins, 30-ish of the pink/yellow/orange/white (Apple Blossom) mini-skeins, 10 mini rolls of the pink/yellow/orange/white (Apple Blossom) roving, and I think 60 crochet patterns for a wristlet/cuff pattern. Horned God is a sock-weight yarn; Apple Blossom yarn is a delicious baby alpaca, silk and cashmere blend lace weight; and the Apple Blossom roving is a baby alpaca and merino blend. So. Freaking. Delicious. I really wanted to keep it all for myself.

I think, all told, I spent about 50 hours putting it all together. It was, with complete honesty, more involved than I thought it would be. I had hoped to get the business/discount cards printed for me, but didn’t have the time. I ended up printing them myself, which was painful. There were rewarding moments, too, though. When I would punch a hole in a card that had a logo I designed on it, I’d smile. When I would squish a little 0.4 oz roll of roving into its bag, I’d pet it for the last time and sigh, knowing that it would end up being loved. When I printed dozens upon dozens of pattern postcards, I knew that it was a great representation of what a crocheter could do with less than 40 yards of lace.

There is pride in what I did, what I sent. I just don’t think I can do it two months in a row like I was hoping. Not enough time, not enough energy. I’ve promised myself I will do the May box. That should give me plenty of time to slowly work up, and work on, the samples. I need to repeat the mantra “I don’t need a box, I don’t need a box, I don’t need a box”. If I don’t need a contributor’s box, then I don’t need to push myself to send 50+ samples. No one is forcing me to contribute, I just want to.

Maybe for May I’ll come up with a new pattern.

Oh, speaking of the pattern. The wristlet/cuff is called “Mrs Dalloway”, named by a good friend of mine who is much better at that sort of thing than I am.

That’s Mrs Dalloway. She’s a flirty, party-throwing kind of girl. She doesn’t mind if you just wear one, or if you want to jazz it up and wear two–one for each wrist. Make sure to click on the photo to see a larger version.

The pattern was free to those who purchased a Phat Fiber box, and for those who signed up to find out more about the secret site. For everyone else, I will be offering it up for sale at a low price. It’s available at Ravelry already, and will soon be available here on The Crochet Side.

And if you’re interested in that kind of thing, you can see some of the new dyed items that I’ve just listed at the Etsy shop for The Yarn Side. You read it here first (well, outside of Twitter, but I don’t think anyone reads those anyway)! I’ve moved all of my fiber stuff out of my Etsy shop for my patterns, and into it’s own store. The Etsy store will eventually make way to a new website. It’s up, but not functional, and doesn’t have any pretties. It’s pretty much a holding place right now, sad to say. One of those things I’m going to have to find time for at some point.

Regardless of my inability to manage my time efficiently, how are you? What have you been spending your time on? Crochet anything lately? Dye something? Spin something? Listen to something fantastic or interesting? Come give me something to read; I’ll put whatever I’m doing on hold for a few seconds to find out what you’re up to. :)

A new pattern for you all! A quick new beanie that can be completed in an evening or over the weekend. I loved coming up with this, and tweaking it as I went to see how best the front brim panel would flip.

I hope you’ll click on the “Patterns” link in the above navigation and take a look.

For those who’ve noticed that the Jules pattern hadn’t been listed on there, then let me just say that it’s there now as well. ;)

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new design.

The Jules is ready for y’all! If, for some reason, you need to be reminded of what Jules is, here you go:

 

You can purchase it at Ravelry, via Etsy, or by clicking below:

So, I haven’t heard anything back about my design submissions that I sent to IC a few months ago. Which is fine; I understand the process, and I can’t imagine how many submissions they did receive.

My current swatch/design that I’ve planned on submitting is…well. Okay, I have a swatch done. I kept it on the smaller side (8″ wide by about 7-8″ long) so that I would have time to make a full piece, photograph it on a body, and forward it with the swatch. I may either send the swatch alone, or not submit it for the Spring issue.

I’m so in love with the yarn, but I almost feel like, even at Sport weight, it may still be too heavy for this garment. Perhaps it’s because Spring, to a Florida girl’s mind, equals Summer, and both equal hot.

Also, I wanted to use a lovely cotton blend so that it would breathe, but the cotton is already growing in the crochet-ribbed section. I’m thinking that maybe I should knit the ribbing instead, but would that turn some crocheters off? Which group would be the majority? The group of crocheters that don’t mind a couple of inches worth of knitting, or the group of crocheters who are either anti-knitting or don’t know how to knit? And do I take that risk, as a designer, to incorporate it?

I already am using a size E (3.5mm) Boye hook for the Sport weight, but maybe I should reduce it to an even smaller hook? C (2.75mm, I think) or D (3.25mm)? The body of the top is in an H (5mm) Boye hook so the stitch pattern can move around and be lovely with the drape.

I need to think about this more, but I also need to ship the swatch soon if I’m going to do that. The only problem–if I decide to go with a smaller gauge, then I’ve already submitted it with the wrong gauge yarn. How unprepared does that make me look? Eek!

Perhaps I’ll just keep this one and put it out myself?

…but I’m not satisfied with anything I’ve attempted.

This post might be long, so here’s a list of what I’m likely to mention: podcast, life, money, life, dyeing, side-businesses, selling an already-crocheted Buckle Cloche hat.

I’ve recorded the next podcast episode at least 5 times now. I just deleted the raw recording of the fifth take. I don’t know if I can do this stupid episode again, but it has a lot of good information! I’m going to have to reshuffle the order in which I discuss things so I don’t sounds mechanical. I’ve memorized so much of what I’ve wanted to say, that it sounds like I’m reading from a script. So much dislike.

Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t just be best to put the podcast on hold until I could have a recording buddy. I don’t think my personality transmits when I’m alone.

To keep my head from exploding, I’ve been coming up with a few ideas, or being sucked into a few of Caryn’s. Almost all of them are good, but not anything I/we can do at the moment. Not having the extra money, or money at all, to do what we need to do to push our creative endeavors is harsh. It feels like I’ve been waiting forever for the e-mail telling me when my interview for this job I want will be. The company is notorious, I’m told, for taking their time finding the person they want to hire. When they do decide, however, the speed kicks in and everything’s a go. I’m just waiting for a lousy interview! It doesn’t help that I’m looking at the last $20 of my paypal account, my Netflix account is suspended for nonpayment, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be down to chicken noodle soup and rice sometime this week. The credit card and grocery store accounts are nearly maxed.

We’re waiting on a check to arrive for some freelance work I did, as well as a check for a book cover Caryn sold (a Joy Fielding novel!). When those come, the pressure will be let up some, but that won’t be for another week, likely two. It’s the not knowing about anything that’s driving me crazy.

I’m desparately trying to reign in the desire to deplete my Paypal account in order to sate this need I have to purchase roving. I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about dyeing roving to sell as a sort of side to my side-business. I love colors and playing with them and getting messy. Do you know what one of my favorite past times was when I was a kid? Fingerpainting. I kind of look at dyeing roving and yarn as a grown up way to fingerpaint. Maybe I wouldn’t necessarily paint with my fingers, but it would be similar, and, I think, just as fun.

Another aspect that I’m considering is jumping on Caryn’s idea of doing some crochet resin pendants. She’s going to be making more pendants of her photographs (and I think she’s going to do the crochet heart one that I posted a photo of in a previous entry), but this time underneath resin. So we were discussing layers of resin with lace doilies or hearts or whatever. It sounds like a blast, and a perfect little addition to my Etsy store. If I could figure out a way to set-up a store on here, without doing a mass amount of coding, then I would. For now, though, Etsy can do most of the work, and I’ll just link to the listings.

Which reminds me…I had a custom order fall through. Nothing negative, just bad timing for the woman who requested the hat. But, it leaves me with a hat just lying around, and it’s not exactly something I would wear. Not in Florida, and not in the colors the custom order required.

I was approached by a lovely woman who had a buyer wanting a Buckle Cloche. Instead of poaching my style, she sent her customer my way, post-mailed me the yarn and buckle, and I crocheted the customer the hat.

It’s in a black wool, but there’s a silver metallic sort of yarn carried along with it. The buckle is a small silver square. It’s not a buckle I would have chosen, but custom means custom, and it was already purchased.

If any of you would be interested in this hat (photo below is a link), please visit the Etsy shop and purchase it. The hat will fit 20-22″ circumference heads. Your purchase would not only help me out financially, but it would also get the hat off of my mannequin and out of my house.

On the previous episode of the podcast (ep 5–Title? What Title?), I mentioned the idea of my publishing pattern booklets or pamphlets. I’ve seen a few designers do this before, and it dawned on me that this is actually a fantastic idea. Each could be a small pattern selection, ranging skill level or type, and be a printed publication. I might need to discuss the idea with a friend of mine who has a small press, see if she’s interested, but it could be completely do-able. Even if it’s not a direction in which said friend wants to take her press, there are places I can take the product to that will either print-on-demand, or I can print small runs with.

What do you think? If I were to put small collections into hard-copy, would you be interested enough to purchase any? Were they to be good quality (and I wouldn’t put them out if they weren’t), would you be willing to, for lack of a better phrase, pimp them to others?

What say you?

Also, what kind of designs would you want to see? What would interest you the most?

I’m open to all ideas.