12 Weeks Christmas - Week 2 Reveal

The Week 2 ornament is one of my patterns that includes a cute, easy to make, quick mitten pattern. What I love about small patterns like the stocking and the mitten is that I can fit them into a busy schedule with no problem. Within 5-10 minutes I have a completed ornament that I can give as a gift or add to my overflowing Christmas tree. As the weeks progress, the patterns will get slightly more time needy.

I have used tons of colors of yarn on this ornament and it still looks adorable.

Like last week, I used "Christmas-y" colors to crochet the mitten. Here's the pictures:

Hanging up.

From last year.

In the above pictures you can see two different ways to accomplish the handles. I did one as I was crocheting (the first picture). The second picture was an addition of the handle by adding yarn to one side and attaching it to the other after about 15-20 chains.

What is your favorite type of ornament?

Sarah

12 Weeks Christmas - Week 2

Week 2

Crochet Mitten

(http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/quick-mitten-ornament)

This little pattern is my own pattern that I offer free on my Ravelry page. Despite not being updated yet to the new format of my patterns, it has all the important information like materials and abbreviations. If you have any questions about how this pattern is written or if any instructions are unclear for you, please contact me at dandecreation@gmail.com. I will contact you as soon as I am able to help you!

Project Type: Scrap buster

Skill level: Easy/Beginners

Hook Size: H or I hook (I used H.)

Type of Yarn: Worsted Weight - I used Red Heart in Paddy Green, Cherry Red, Medium Thyme and Burgundy. 

Uses for finished product

• gift
• ornament for tree
• hiding small candies
• hiding a ring

Like the stocking ornament in Week 1, this ornament has an open top that allows you to hide small objects on the tree for a "Hide and Seek" game. Not only does this add a little more fun to your holiday, but after the game is finished, you have a beautiful ornament on your tree.

There are many ways to embellish this pattern. You could sew on sequins or other beads. You could use extra yarn and sew a pattern into the main colored portion.

Look for the reveal on October 13, 2014.

Sarah

12 Weeks of Christmas - Week 1 Reveal

If you are like me, the weeks leading up to the holidays equals tons of stress and busyness. So, my plan has been to create one thing for each week leading up to Christmas in hopes to have something done. I do have a large family who loves receiving homemade ornaments, so my focus is usually geared toward that. In Week 1, I provided the pattern for a cute little Christmas stocking from Daisy & Her Things as a way to kick off the 12 Week Countdown. It is an easy pattern that eases everyone into Christmas making mode. Boy did it deliver.

Great factors

• Easy pattern to follow
• Quick project
• Scrap buster with no purchases required (only due to having yarn already)
• Serves multiple purposes (gift, hiding small gifts, and ornament)
• In U.S. Terminology

Bad factors

• The pattern does not give many instructions for beginner crocheters. Some may not know how to read a pattern.

Are you ready to see the finished product?

Here you go!

Not hanging up

Hanging up, but not on the tree.

Obviously, it is much too early to put them on the tree for photos in October. As it gets closer to Christmas, I will take some photos of them on the tree and update photos.

How did you enjoy this Week's ornament?

Sarah

Share it Saturday - African Flower

While the day has been brilliantly bright with sun and color, our little home has been filled with miserable and highly frustrated allergy suffers! Our little town is situated at the base of the Smoky Mountains, so each Spring we are faced with waves and waves of pollen. I am not sure why I started to crochet African Flower Motifs, but I did.

This beautiful motif has been worked into many different shapes, but these colors scream out to me to be the sweetest and pinkest baby blanket! I have a two and a half year old niece that is going through some troubling times, so I might just create a toddler version and give it to her.

It is always surprising that I declared yesterday that today would be a lazy day, but I have worked on so much it cannot be constituted as a "lazy" day. I still have to step out into the cloud of pollen to water my veggies. At least the pollen has not kept away tourists. Gatlinburg is humming again!

What are you doing with your weekend?

Sarah

Throwback Thursday

It is that time of the week when I show something that may bring a little embarrassment or shame. Perhaps a bit of reflection and thankfulness that I grew, quickly. That I learned a little bit that affected my abilities and skill set. This week is none of that. This week I want to reflect on something that has been a part of me...since birth apparently!

In the 80's, I was born! My mother, who is also a crocheter, took my photos in a lovely crocheted set of a hat, jacket, and booties! I wish that I had the set for the future mini me, but I do not. What I have is a gift! A knowledge that my mother crocheted a set of lovely clothes for me that set my future in motion. The picture that solidifies that emotion of connection.

Here I am, all these years later, a crocheter would loves to give crocheted pieces as gifts and who makes things to sell.

Reflecting....just a bit,

Sarah

Throwback Thursday

It is that time of the week where I get to show an early picture or something as a throwback to older times! This week's throwback photo is:

Dolly

This was my second or third doll. It was for a friend's daughter who wanted a doll. It was relatively easy to crochet, but it took a while. Of course, looking at it 3 years later I know that I could and would change things like the eyes, the hair, and add more stuffing.

The important thing is...the little girl liked it. So I was happy!

Thanks for going back with me

Sarah

A Quiet Day here

As night has just come for us here in East TN, I am listening to the sounds of the bugs and enjoying the peaceful feeling one can have at the end of a day. Today was quite different than yesterday. There was no scrambling around. No errands. No preparing projects or seeds. There was no shoveling dirt or cutting my finger on rocks. No traffic except for the occasional car heading home. Just a chill in the air, bugs singing their songs, and a crafter contemplating her next project.

It was a peaceful day and evening. In this day and age, it is difficult to imagine someone having a day like this...or the very simple truth of realizing the day, enjoying it, and being thankful. Yet, here I am tonight enjoying it.

For a crocheter, not picking up her hook in a day seems like a hypocritical move. It's like a human needs air, so shall a crocheter need yarn and her hook. This comes a day after buying 6 new skeins of yarn - 5 of which are beautiful and "Spring-y."

One issue I seem to be having is making decisions regarding the selling of my products. For months I have been struggling with whether I should or should not sell. Anyone who has faced this decision will tell you - it sure is a difficult decision. I live in a very crafty-artsy area. There are many different types of artists within 20 miles of my location and a huge stretch of road that loops back to Gatlinburg with tons of these artist's workshops and shops!

How does one compete with that? Correction: How does someone like me, with no workshop or shop, compete with individuals who have been working years on their brands, their shops, and building their workshops up with the best equipment?

Well...I can't! That is what got me down. I sold my tent. I sold my big table. And all I have is my product, a yellow queen sized sheet, and a 5 foot table. I was down. I was frustrated with myself. And a lot of what was happening was out of my control!

So when I started to see a meme that talked about how long it took to create a brand and build a small business, I started questioning my decisions. Everything around me and everything that was happening seemed to be something else that was building me back up - a video on building brands, other crafters telling me how long and hard they worked, seeing the determination to continue, and repeatedly seeing that meme...in MANY places.

What can one do if all the signs are saying "YOU STOPPED TO EARLY. JUMP BACK ON THE PONY AND RIDE INTO THE WIND?"

Well...you listen of course! So tonight, I am attempting to create a plan to get myself back into the game. We are adding products that have nothing to do with crochet like beauty products and soaps. Maybe candles? Just on a small scale at first. I am not quite sure how it will end...or if I will end up failing again; however, I do know that like all the great little businesses out there who have carved a name for themselves, I will continue to fail until I succeed!

Wishing you success (even after repeated failures)

Sarah 

Where I live

I was beginning to think as I reflected on the veggies we planted today about how my location is a bit of a mystery to the reader! Now, normally I would love to keep that part of me hidden. But, in the scheme of the coming year, I wanted to mention where I live.

Nestled in the valleys of the Great Smoky Mountain is a little town most people just drive through to get to a tourist spot. Each little home are individuals who more than likely had ancestors that grew up, thrived, and died here.  Here...well that is in Cosby, TN.

This beautiful area is home to some of the most diverse plant life (causing major allergies) and also where I call home. After 8 years living a more nomadic life with my sailor of a husband, we settled back down in the place I have always called home. Each morning we wake to see mountains in the distance. Animals weave in and out of the National park. Deer hop across the road. And we live in a more tranquil environment with beauty abounding.

This past winter was a bit more bitter and brutal than it has been in a while, but I am sure happy that I can get out and try to grow more. We usually do not get out to enjoy this amazing view due to tourists and traffic; however, we sometimes grab a creamsicle and head up on the Foothills Parkway to take in the breathtaking views!

Have you been to East TN?

Sarah

The Essence of What I do

There was something weighing on my mind last night and the last few months. Something large that seems to be pushing at my soul. It's about my life, my passions, and about my business. I have struggled like many other small business owners in this economy. I have struggled with other crocheters undercutting my prices or offering the same items. For months, the struggles I faced trying to build up a reputation as a good designer and as a good seller seemed to bring me down further instead of uplift me. The fear of not succeeding weighed me perhaps the most.

What if I spent all this money and no one buys?

What if I upgrade this and redo that with no interest?

What if my customers have no interest in my patterns or items?

As months went by, those stones in my basket became heavier and heavier to bare. I continued to doubt myself. I changed this thing and that thing to increase business. I offered deal after deal with not one bite.

Through all that, I continued to see a quote about how long it really took to build a business and a brand. How many hours, heartaches, struggles, changes, and frustrations it took to build a worth while business....

Last night, it dawned on me.

I do not crochet, craft, or write because of other people. I do not sell items. I do not sell my time, my materials, or even a bunch of yarn knots made with a metal hook. I make and sell memories. I make and sell a connection between two people that will last a lifetime. I make and sell heirloom ornaments and dolls...that will withstand more than a few weeks of play at Christmas time. I make and sell that smile exchanged between two people....and the hug...and the heartfelt gratitude.

Most handmade sellers do the same. When you factor in the fees, the listing amounts, the time, energy, material costs...even the gas to get the materials, some of us barely break even trying to keep up with trends and the "best" price.

Well, no more! I want to maintain the very essence of why I do what I do - the memories, the hugs, the laughter, the smiles, the connection, and the heirloom that touches more than one generation.

So thank you, for sharing that with me. It means more than you know!

With lots of love,

Sarah