Tag: craft sale

Travel, Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Kananaskis And A Crafty Week

Iris Rose

I had a great week, how about you? The weekend craft sale was great but very tiring. I don’t handle the stress of anticipating what, if anything, will sell so I am glad that I have this one under my belt.

Before I show you last weekend though, I forgot to post last week about DD1’s birthday weekend away to Kananaskis in the Rockies. It was a special birthday so we all got together at a lovely hotel and had a great time in the pools and just generally enjoying the fresh air and great beauty of the province that we live in.

I was at the Springbank Art Club craft sale last weekend and really was very gratified by all of the lovely comments on my work. Sales were good and I have a clearer mind on what I need to focus on for the future. I should know better than to say something like that. It is always a curse!

I didn’t make any of my critter hats for the sale as I was restricted from competing with other vendors that also make hats. I did have my grandkids visit wearing the hats that I featured last week and had a really strong response so I have been busy this week making more for my next sale, Etsy Foothills, in Okotoks on November 24th.

And now for a whine, just a caution for those Canadians who order yarn from Europe and the UK that is shipped through DHL. I paid for courier shipping from the Wool Warehouse (great online store and great customer service) and was dismayed to be told by DHL that before they would deliver my parcel, I had to pay $18.45 to clear customs on top of the fee I had already paid for shipping. The value of my yarn was $58.00CAD, shipping was $21.00. When I have had parcels of greater value delivered by Canada Post, there is no custom clearance fee or duty. I suspect that DHL is charging a blanket fee whether there is duty to be collected or not, holding your parcel hostage.

I won’t be ordering from Europe or the UK anytime soon if this is how shipping is handled. Regular post is an option but I waited nine weeks for an order shipped this way from England to Canada. It is too bad that one giant company can ruin the business of smaller ones in this way.  Thanks for listening and I am off the soap box.

Have a happy week with lots of pretty yarn on your needles and hooks!

Knitting

Craft Sale Critter Hats

Iris Rose

Okay, I am officially losing it. A couple of weeks ago, I thought that Wednesday was Thursday. Yesterday, I thought Thursday was Wednesday. For those of you that wait with bated breath for my weekly blog post, I apologize for being a day late but not for being a dollar short.

I have been ramping up for the big Springbank sale this weekend. It is a new one to me and I am always nervous before a new sale. I had everything ready two weeks ago, that is how worried I am. Silly I know but so totally me. I have four bins of toys and one of kid’s sweaters so I think that I will be good for products.


I have been working on some cute hats for the next sale on the 24th. I made one for DGD2; she put it on and wore it all weekend. I would say that it was a hit. I forgot to take a photo but there is no chance that I will get it back! She had asked for doll clothes a while ago and I had fun with those too.


DGD1 saw the new hat and asked very shyly if I could make her one too. Of course, if I make her one I need to make her younger brother one too which is never a hardship. I really love it when one of the kids or grandkids asks for me to make them something. I feel flattered and privileged.


Anyway, here are a couple of the hats that I made. The are based on my free Tiger Hat pattern that you can download here. DH says make some for sale so I am hard at work! They only take a couple of hours to make and I really have fun creating them so it is a win, win. Plus, I can use some of my SABLE stash so I guess that makes it a win, win, win project, my favourite kind.


Have a great week and don’t feel guilty if you start a new project or two; I know I will be starting at least that many!

Knitting

Monsters In The Making

Iris Rose

Well I scooped an extra day this week by thinking that it was Thursday last Wednesday and posting a day early, oops!

This week, I have been continuing to make stock for my craft sale. I am almost (and that is a big almost) ready. I finished all of my Sugar Cubes for now and have moved on to Monsters. I had a bunch of fun with these as you can really use your imagination to make them each unique and as colourful as possible.

This toy is a great way to use up those fancy fluffy yarns that you bought as irresistible and now wonder what the heck you are going to make with it.

 

 

My pattern for these is free on Ravelry for now and is not a difficult pattern to make. You do need to have some knitting skills though to increase and decrease. I would not rate this as a rank beginner pattern.

I am going to continue my toy making for one more week and then it is time to inventory and ticket for the first sale. I am going to try to squeeze in a couple of more kid sweaters as well, good luck on that to me!

I started making a poncho with Hobbii Twirls yarn and I am not loving the way it looks. The yarn is really nice to work with. It is soft and has a nice stitch definition, but I somehow expected it to be more gradient than it is. You can see stripes in the work where the colours have changed. It may be that this is just the nature of this style of yarn. I own a cake of Whirl but haven’t used it yet. I hope it has gentler colour transitions.

Thank you for following my blog and have a happy crafty week!

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Cuteness Overload

Iris Rose

It is Thursday again and I have some cuteness to share with you this week. I am still plodding along with the craft sale stock but finally feeling like I am making some head way.

Before I show you my latest, however, I have a complaint to air. I use Aveeno Ultra Calming face moisturizer and bought a new bottle last week. Now I know that I bought the spf30 instead of the usual spf15 but really, half the size for the same price? It is scent free but the new one smells so strongly of plastic that I wonder what is leaching into the lotion from the container. Time for a new product, I think.

Now for my Sugar Cubes, based on the free rabbit pattern that I published here on my blog earlier this year. I am having a lot of fun making these. They are simple and don’t take a lot of effort to knit. The eyes are crocheted and the pattern for those is included with the bunny pattern as well.

If you want to make these for yourself, follow the bunny pattern but cut back on the number of stitches and rows. I cast on 30 stitches and knit twenty rows with a smaller needle (5mm) to make the larger of these cuties. The little one is 20 stitches and 15 rows. Icord arms and legs with a fuzzy foot and they are ready to cuddle!  I really do need to find a better photo background than the underside of my LK150.

Thank you for supporting me by subscribing to and reading my blog. Have a fun and crafty week with skeins and skeins of untangled yarn.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Toys For Sale

Iris Rose

I have been busy making new stock for my craft sales over the last few weeks and really having a blast creating them. I had been feeling a little stressed about managing my stock, but I think that I will be okay once I get through the load of knitted and crocheted but not sewn yet pile.

 

I decided to try production style creating again even though I hated it last time I did this. Hey, I like it this year! I found that doing all of the planning at once, all of the knitting or crocheting at once, making the noses and eyes, well, you get it, is really working for me. I feel like I am accomplishing so much more and that I will actually be done by the deadline. I sort everything into separate bags and, once the bag is empty, I start on the next one. I am actually having fun!

 

I have a bag of monsters, mini monsters and little square animals yet to be sewn. I had a bag of topsy turvy dolls and another of roly poly animals that I have finished except for two. I am on a roll!

Here are a few of the little things that I have made. First up are more topsy turvy dolls, because DH thinks that they are cute and will sell (I do too!), that are based on a Jean Greenhowe’s pattern.

 

Next finished are some roly poly animals that are really popular. These are based on a Barbara Prime pattern called Pookies.

 

I hope to get a few more things sewn up this weekend, Thanksgiving here in Canada, and will be well stocked for early November.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Regardless of where you live, have a fun and safe weekend with lovely yarn and easy crafting.