Crocheted Flower Power

Being a female crocheter doesn't necessarily mean I'm girlie. There are girlie aspects to me, but often I find the colors of yarns and styles of crochet patterns I choose are not super feminine.

That said, when my friend Tammy asked me to look through my stash for a couple of beanies for two little girls, I was a bit flummoxed. I had beanies for kids, but nothing little girl specific--and definitely nothing anyone would call girlie.

Enter the crocheted flower! Make any beanie, scarf, sweater, bag or anything else a whole lot girlie-er with a couple quick, cute flowers. I'll have to post the patterns later, because I sort of made up these particular flowers on the fly :)

A somewhat blurry photo of a happy customer.

February Craft Fair Prep

My next craft fair is supposed to be in February. It's something my friend Dana was invited to--a kids and parents kind of thing. I have to make sure my inventory reflects the interests of the crowd that will be there.

My ideas for new items to offer include:
- baby hats with ribbons
- wrist warmers
- bracelets
- bulky yarn infinity scarves
- hacky sacks

All of these should be pretty simple to create and still be attractive to kids and parents. I'm also going to make my usual beanies.

The item I'm most excited for are the hacky sacks (or foot bags). They bring me back to the days when I would rock climb and camp in the mountains in Colorado. After climbing we would all hang out, drink beer and play a game of hacky sack. I wasn't very good, but it was still fun.

Crocheted foot bags - I'm going to create a theme for mine. Cat heads? ;-)

New Year's Crochet Projects

There are dozens of projects I want to finish in the first month of this year alone.

I've started with a slouchie beanie I've tried to start at least three times before. None of the yarns I tried seemed right. Now that I found the right yarn, it turns out I don't have enough of it. Unfortunately, I needed to order the yarn from the Webs online yarn store, and their deliveries take weeks instead of days.

Urban Revival Beanie

While I wait for my skeins to arrive, I'm working on last year's Mystery Crochet-Along afghan. As I finish the pieces, I realize that the afghan isn't going to be as big as I thought. It's really more of a throw than a blanket.

I am interested in learning to block. The only reason I haven't done it yet is because most of my projects have been hats and scarves that didn't need blocking. This afghan requires a lot of blocking,

2012 Waverly for Bernat Crochet-Along

Finally, I have a whole bag of buttons that need fingerless gloves. I have one set that I'm three-quarters of the way through, and a ton of yarn to make more little wrist warmers.

I wonder what everyone else is working on...? Time to peruse Ravelry.com ;)

Xmas 2012 Crochet Gifts

For the first time, I actually finished the majority of handmade gifts I wanted to make for the holidays. 

Starting with the cute little purses I made for my nieces. I went with pinks and purples for Audrey, who has a bit of a girly streak. I used bright, fun colors for Jane who is constantly curious.

San Francisco Purse Pattern

For my nephew Jack, I made a monkey backpack. His mom says he's going to use it for the lunches he takes to school.

Monkey Backpack Pattern

For my parents, my brother, and my brother's girlfriend I made scarves in the colors of their favorite football teams. Go Pack! ;-)

Sideways Stripe Pattern