Crochet Goodies from Amazon

So yesterday Zazzle and today Amazon, continued sharing of things that are fitting anytime but especially during National Crochet Month. Today I found some items that are useful and fun.


Obviously you can't crochet without hooks. I wish these ergonomic handle were around when I started crocheting. Now I have duplicates of many sizes but I still want a set of these.

If you are just beginning a set is a good place to start. With many sizes you can easily change hooks as needed to get the fabric and drape you want from your work or get the proper gauge for a pattern you are making. Gauge is critical to ensure fit and yarn amounts required to produce your project.

Next item is a book known as a stitchionary to knitters and crocheters. I have this book myself and use it often. When I want to design a new project like a scarf browsing these stitches in a book like this can help you find the perfect combination of stitches for the look you want. A book like this will have solid stitch patterns and lacy ones. Beginners and old hookers alike can find useful information in a book like this.

There are many ways to mark important parts of a crochet pattern as you are working. If you are frugal you may use a bit of contrasting color scrap yarn. Paper clips or safety pins can be handy too. These can be used to make rows or repeated sections of a pattern to help you stay on track. They are used as visual markers to make stitch counting easier. If you have ever had to frog a project about half done because you see that 10 rows back you messed up ( not say that I have every done that, just kidding, all crocheters have ) markers may have helped if you used them in the first place. If you want to treat yourself these pretty ones would be nice.

Finally a couple fun items, a t shirt and a pop socket. I didn't know what pop sockets were until I saw my granddaughter using one on her phone. I you are a digital pattern saver a pop socket could be uses to prop up your phone or tablet so you can see your pattern. But if you binge Netflix while crocheting like I do it could prop up your phone or tablet so you can easily keep watching while creating.





Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

March is Crochet Month

Do you have an email inbox full of newsletters that get passed over most of the time. Just me? Oh really? LOL

Anyway I just found a newsletter today, the 19th of March, sharing with me that March is crochet month. When I found out I knew I just had to find some things to share with you that are about the craft I love the most, crochet. I am sure if you are in the mood you can find project or crochet alongs on Ravelry of many other places all over the web. Crocheting will be the focus for my posts here for the rest of the week. I hope to find and share some things you may enjoy.

Starting off is Zazzle.com. You now I have yet to type a word in the search box there and not come up with projects that make me laugh, dare I say spark joy or would fill a need, want or just gotta have it desire. The number of talented designers on that site is simple amazing.

For the word crochet I found a tote bag, a coffee cup or tea cup if you prefer, a pretty binder for storing patterns and a magnet letting the world know why you are a hooker.

Crochet Bag

by CRDesigns

I Crochet So I Won't Kill People Mugs

by MugLove

Trendy Vintage French Paper Crochet Pattern 3 Ring Binder

by NightAndDayDesigns

Crochet Balls of Yarn Magnet

by PsychedelicDoilies

Comments are always welcome! Do you crochet? When did you learn? What kinds of items do you crochet? Who do you like to crochet for? Do you do it for sanity like I do? Let's talk!

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

The Zazzle links here are affiliates that can earn me a small commission and earn you my thanks.

Perfecting Homemade Pizza

Now I am not claiming I have made the perfect homemade pizza but I found a dough recipe that I think gets me closer. The blog The Simple Dollar is one that I have followed for awhile now. This blog has tips on personal finance and frugal living and I have learned a lot from being a follower. A recent post was Saving Money with Homemade Pizza and Family Movie Night.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

This dough recipe was so easy! Basically stir it together and then leave it alone til you want to bake your pizza. Actually it is a bit more than that but the post is filled with tips and information. I used half white and half whole wheat in my dough and winged it on the toppings with jarred pasta sauce, mozzarella and feta cheese, and pepperoni.

I was very happy with my results and plan to keep using this pizza dough recipe. I do need to work on getting the dough more evenly spread out though. I am dreaming up other toppings to use. I like white sauce chicken pizzas so something like that will be in the line up. Jim likes mushrooms on his pizzas so one with lots of those is a must do. Most of all I love pizza for the bread and cheese and the idea of making my own makes me very happy.

I am wondering if investing in some pizza pans might be worth is. I baked this one on a cookie sheet because that is what I have in my kitchen now. I would like to do crusty deep dish pizzas. I have got links to some I am considering below. If I make a purchase I will let you know how they work out right here on the blog.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Etsy Favorite Finds on Pi Day

It's pi day! I am sure if you are online reading blogs like mine, on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook you will be seeing pi day posts. Some will be cute, some silly and if it is from this blog post some will even be useful or yummy.

This t shirt first in my line up of favorite finds is on sale for today only so you want to check it out in a hurry. The t shirt picture along with all the others are linked to their product pages for your shopping convenience if you are so inclined.

Happy Pi Day!

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Reader's Digest Condensed Books Vol. 3 1993

There were four great stories in this volume of Reader's Digest Condensed Books. One was a thriller, one a love story, one a humorous who done it and one a charming story of a gruff old widower finding love, friendship and a sense of purpose.

I am leaving affiliate links to each of them from Amazon below as stand alone copies. Most are available in a hard cover or paperback. A couple of them have kindle editions and a couple can be found on Audible. My own collection will be headed to my donation box for the next thrift store drop off trip.

By the way I am wondering today how you find time to fit reading into your day or do you even try? I have found that the best time for me is about 45 minutes or so before I turn out the light to sleep at night. I have found that reading before sleep helps to clear my head of all those nagging little details of the day and what is coming tomorrow.

So, when and what do you like to read?

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Black and White Art on Zazzle

Yesterday where I am in Arizona it was gray and cloudy all day. The rain started overnight and is supposed to be around until tomorrow morning. At home in Wyoming a long snowy winter is dragging its feet and not giving in to the springtime that everyone is waiting for. The beauty of these times can be found in details and a lack of color.

In this mood I did some window shopping for black and white art on Zazzle and found some things to share with you.

Black and White Highland Cow Poster

by AlemiGifts

Statue of liberty in fog poster

by Shutter_Hill

lion pencil art lion roar black and white poster

by RedSamurais

Country Barn Clouds in Black and White Poster

by dmboyce

See anything that appeals to you?  I like them all and all the different feelings each image evokes. Can't pick a favorite here and I see no reason to try.

The links in this post to Zazzle are affiliate links. If you purchase something after clicking a link here I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you but you have my gratitude.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

#jeardesus

Christmas gift, Jear Desus tote

Sometime last fall on a knitting blog I saw a video that had me laughing so hard, well lets just say I'm old, ok? The YouTube video was of a young man named Brandon Farris learning how to knit. His struggles with those 2 sticks and learning the basics took me straight back to when I was learning knitting. 

I shared Brandon's You Tube channel with my daughter and she became a fan too. Together we watched this young man knit, crochet, take painting lessons from Bob Ross, bake and generally share his life with a smile on his face and an occasional "Jear Desus" when frustrated. A smile most times except for that one time when he cried looking at televisions in Best Buy.

When I learned knitting and crochet I didn't have the great video tutorials that are all available for free online. I had to learn from books, hopefully ones with not just words but good pictures. Some books were better than others and some I still have after more that 40 years of needlework.

Brandon discovered patterns in books and tried reading patterns to create an afghan with well placed holes in it for his Grandpa.  You will want to see how it went in the video below.



There are lots of ways online to see what Brandon is up to and it all starts with his You Tube Channel and you can find him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and sign up for a news letter if you are so inclined. Why would you do any of this? You would watch and follow and sign up because Brandon Farris says "You deserve to laugh"

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Have you heard this news about Zibbet?

Zibbet has announced that it is doing a major remake of the way their site will work in the handmade, vintage, supply ecommerce world. In Etsy's shadow when they began in 2009 along with the likes of Artfire, Silkfair and so many forgotten others and trying to get a marketplace that was vibrant and functional and filled with busy happy sellers up and running was extremely hard.

In 2010, I think I have the year right, I showed I believed in the site by putting my money where my mouth is and bought a lifetime membership for $100. I helped them when they needed it and through all these years with all the changes they have honored the lifetime promise to me and they still are. At the very least I can share the news of what coming with you.

Now about that news. Zibbet will still be a marketplace with a Stitch website attached to your marketplace shop. The new platform they are building goes beyond those basic places by being able to sync in real time and manage inventory listed on multiple selling channels. Of course the plan is to start with the place most handmade folks like me have a presence and that is of course Etsy. I think the last update I saw said that being able to add the Etsy sales channel along with the Zibbet Marketplace and Stitch sales channels should happen in a couple weeks.

Here is how it is all being explained on the Zibbet Blog.

Keep your inventory in sync automaticallyAs mentioned, keeping track of your inventory across multiple channels is not only time consuming, but also prone to error. Zibbet will keep your stock levels in perfect sync by tracking every sale you make and automatically updating your inventory everywhere you sell.

Make product changes onceYou’ll be able to list a product once and publish it across everywhere you sell, all from Zibbet. If you need to make a change to your listing, such as updating a photo, title, price etc, you can do this all from Zibbet. And, the best part? You only need to do it once and it’s updated everywhere.

Manage orders in one place

When you make a sale on any connected sales channel, the order details are automatically imported into Zibbet. You can manage and fulfill orders from the one place, instead of having them scattered across so many different places. 

Personally I never could handle the details of having listings in multiple places. I am a worrier and was always afraid a one of a kind item would sell from two sites at the same time or that if it sold in one place I would forget to adjust inventory in another place. Having one central place to manage and track all inventory could fix all that.

Other sales channels could be, they say will be, added. I have no idea how big these guys from Australia are dreaming but I would think they may want to add Ebay and Amazon Handmade for a start. For now I am anxiously awaiting the Etsy connection.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Photographer Randy Nyhof

Since I first discovered Etsy in 2006 I have enjoyed browsing the site for images, products or art that make me say "WOW". The shop of photographer Rand Nyhof is filled with many images that fit my concept of wow. I think a quick peek at this shop will convince you of the same thing.

I share an image in the tweet below and it got lots of attention and rightfully so. Don't you agree? If you visit the shop feel free in the comment to share what images impressed you the most. I love to hear from any readers that are out there.

What an amazing photographer! Randy Nyhof is on Etsy right here >> https://t.co/M0hSTSSNNk

To go directly to this print for shopping and information go here >> https://t.co/0MJ09Gv94n#etsyfinds #photography pic.twitter.com/fIWyP7VN4n

— Kathy 🌻 (@CozyAtoZ) February 21, 2019

If you want to know more about this amazing photographer/artist you can start with how he describes himself in the about section of his Etsy shop.

Making images was something that has fascinated me since I was a child. After changing majors several times in college I eventually graduated with a degree in art (Specializing in Painting and Drawing). My involvement in photography started my junior year in college and I became known as the photographer on campus. The college I attended had no degree or courses in photography so I am basically self-taught as regards to the mechanics of photography, the ascetic valves I learned from my art experience and looking at a lot of what was considered good photography. For over forty years I operated my own photography business. I photographed weddings, families, seniors, underclass school children, commercial product photography. I gained renewed interest in fine art photography with the new capabilities that digital offered. After showing my work in local shows and being published in national and international publications I decided to offer my fine art photographs to a wider audience. That is why I am now here on Etsy.

Some other stunning images from a shop with over 400 5 star reviews that has been active on Etsy since 2010 that you should, yes I mean you really should, go check out right now. Find your "WOW"!

Posts like this one are not compensated in any way. I just like to share great things that I find on Etsy or other handmade sites. I hope you enjoy them and I also hope it might have a benefit to the artisan that I share with my readers. 

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Reader's Digest Today's Best Nonfiction 2002

Five very different stories kept me up late reading. This collection from Reader's Digest didn't really feel dated even though it was published in 2002  and most of the books included were first published in 2001.

In this book I got to read and enjoy the following.

• Jack A Life Like No Other by Geoffrey Perret
• A Smile As Big As The Moon by Mike Kersjes with Joe Layden
• Every Breathe You Take by Ann Rule
• Saving Milly by Morton Kondracke
• Coming Back Alive by Spike Walker

Picking favorites among these or any books is like picking favorite children, it depends on the day, just kidding. I love getting lost in all kinds of books and my favorite was the one I just finished. You might enjoy these too and I am putting Amazon affiliate links in this post for you below. Those of you using a reader like Feedly (which I use myself) may have the ad code stripped out. Come to the website for the links if you are interested. Shopping with my links could mean a small commission  for me and gratitude with no extra cost to you.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Shamrocks on Zazzle

Do you think of St. Patrick's Day when March begins? I do. I love the lovely green of springtime that it brings into my world. I suppose it does help that I am a bit Irish among other things.

I checked out Zazzle for shamrock items and was amazed at the range of things you can find to bring this fun yearly holiday into your home.

I found an article from 2010 on the National Geographic site that tells the story of this holiday. The article says that St. Patrick's Day with traditions of wearing green, the symbol of the shamrock everywhere, green beer and rivers and parades is an American invention. In Catholic Ireland it is really no different than any other saints day.

Now how about some of that stuff I found on Zazzle? Well here you go!


I thought this sticker was so pretty!


Wear your shamrock with a message of love.


Not sure if there is time to order invitations for this year but there's always next year and you are now proudly planning ahead. LOL

As for me, exercise is done, breakfast and getting dressed are done, podcasts are playing in the background, blog post is nearly done. The rest of the day will be working on listings in the Etsy shop. I will probably share more about those here later in the week.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Sharing Thanks Received

For the last several years I have knitted or crocheted a blanket for the first baby born at my hometown hospital each year. Usually I get a printed form letter from the St. John's Auxillary thanking me for my donation. This year was different and special. I got a hand written note from the auxillary and a note from the family. My blanket is in the picture wrapping baby Noah. It was nice to be personally thanked and makes me want to make more blankets for more babies.

Little things like a thank you can mean so much.

I think I need to make a conscious effort to say "thank you" more myself to those who cross my path.

Happy Monday! I have exercise done, breakfast done, this post nearly done, will be starting on returning retweet favors with retweets of my own soon

Etsy shop is open again. A little sample of shop offerings is below and in the sidebar.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!