Been on hiatus!

Well, I am back.  There has been SO much going on with little time to think and organize or even consider blogging!

What have I been up to since my last post?

My little business has come in handy.  At the end of last year I started a little business which includes many facets:  stitch markers, pattern designing, repairing various items, knitting for sale, and crocheting. 

I make stitch markers for our local yarn shop.  ((On a side note I was saddened to see some of the ones which haven't sold are starting to tarnish - I am going to have to look for better quality findings, I think.))

As you may (or may not) know I also have an affinity toward tiny and wee socks ... and I don't mean the size to fit babies, I mean the size that will fit over a finger - decoration only.  I was asked if I would be willing to come up with some patterns and perhaps teach once a month and do a mini sock of the month club for the local yarn shop.  Although it's a fabulous idea, I have yet to finish enough patterns for twelve months.  I have some great ideas, just need to bring them to fruition.  However, I did finish a couple whale patterns and a lattice pattern, and I have one on the needles to represent our ever-present rain. 

Last year I made a "brain hat" for Daryn for either birthday or Christmas and he wore it to a scouting event and a woman went ga-ga over it!  He had also worn it down the street to visit with our neighbor (and doctor) friend.  Well, our doctor friend had to have one, and then this other lady (whom we did not know but works for neurology somewhere) had to have one as well.  So, I made some brain hats and sold them!

Then the outside "fix-it" orders started to come in.  One was a red cashmere (store-bought) sweater, another was an "antique" afghan, and then a child's sweater with a hole, and another brown cashmere sweater, and then a gentleman's wool pullover, and the latest, a wrap a woman had made and at some point decided to make into a poncho - but didn't have a hole for her head!  That was a reconstruction piece!  Most of the ladies at the local yarn shop do not like doing this type of work at all; with that in mind, they call on me and there you have it, a mini knit repair business is tacked on to my little business.

Now, I still have one more thing to add on!  Ian and Evyn have been invited to dance with the Vashon Dance Academy.  Vashon is an island reached only by ferry, a 10 minute ride - but costly one.  The school is putting on a production of Cinderella but they haven't any older boys to play the part of prince.  While sitting there last Saturday the owner saw me crocheting a bun cover and she got all excited, as she has been consistently telling her girls to net their hair.  Would I be willing to sell them there?  (SURE!)  How much are they?  (I DON'T KNOW!)  Obviously, I didn't screech those responses to her - it was that booming voice in my head!  I said, I would love to make some and I'd be happy to bring them with me, but I didn't know how much to charge at that point, so I left that question unanswered.  I figured anywhere between $8-$10.  Daryn looked at them and said $12, and my friend at the yarn shop said - go with Daryn's price!  (I always underprice  myself.)  So, there you have it, I have been madly crocheting/designing beaded bun covers since last Saturday.

And why, pray-tell, was I working on one in the first place?  Amber's dance group and the competition teams are gearing up for their Spring Showcase and Silent Auction.  This is when we can put 5 items up for auction to raise money for our little dancers.  Last year Amber and I made beaded bracelets and earrings and each piece was under $10.  She didn't bring in nearly what the others were able to bring in, which was by hundreds!  I mean, let's face it, I don't know anyone in a welding shop that can make elegant coat racks or fire pits; I don't know anyone who runs a small plane or helicopter business who will offer up a ride.  I make things, and nine times out of ten, no one honestly appreciates handcrafted items and what it takes to make them (time-wise or skill-wise).

This year Ian is offering up an hour and a half tap lesson and the owner of the studio is giving him the studio rent-free for it!  I'll have to find out what that generally goes for - perhaps $25 and start the bidding there.  Ian said he'd mentioned it at the studio and several individuals are interested in the private lesson.  I hope there is a bit of a bidding war (ha-ha) so we can get a little something for it.  Many privates generally have a $10 studio fee, and then the choreography fee (which can be $75 or more) -- so upwards of $100.  I don't see that happening, but sure would be delightful!

Then a very nice woman at the yarn shop was talking about some bags she had made and how she offers them up for the kids at the school where she works when they need auction items.  Her purses can sell upwards of $60-$80 in specialty/novelty shops.  She has donated two to Amber with a suggested starting price of $20-$25.  Daryn thinks maybe starting at $25 of $30.  Now, to be honest, I THOUGHT she had said beaded bags ... so when they turned out to be knitted and felted bags (purses) with some novelty yarn in one and crocheted butterflies on another (both with handsome handles, by the way), I was a bit disheartened.  I can't seem them going for that amount, but that's possibly because I know I could easily make one.  So, we shall see.

That leaves me two more items to put up for auction.  Now, remember, I said I had already been working on beaded bun covers last Saturday.  I thought I'd put together a grouping of 3-4 beaded bun covers, package them as one, and start them at auction value of $25.  So, I was crocheting away on one of these when the owner of the Vashon Dance Academy saw it in my lap. 

Today I finished my seventh one.  I only had seven colors.  I'm going to have to mix and match my thread and beads now to make them look different.  And, although it looks like I'm being very creative, I'm not.  I am using a booklet for crocheted snowflakes to design the centers and then adding the netting.  Pretty inventive if I do say so myself.  I did find one pattern and the woman had written that she gets some of her inspiration from doily centers.  I figured, if you can use doily centers, why not the center of snowflakes???

And there you have it.  My budding business is wide and varied.  Time to grab up my size 6 steel crochet hook (used to be Grandma Helen's) and a ball of crochet thread and a tube of beads and start another bun cover!

Ta-Ta!