Knitting When Tired

Oh knitting when tired or distracted! All knitters and crocheters know what can happen during a situation like that. You think you know the pattern and then discover that you missed something critical and have to undo all your progress. I missed an increase in a very long row last night. (insert my sad face here) I tinked (tink is knit backwards) it this morning and now am ready to do the row correctly.

This pile of yarn all scrunched up on its circular needle is going to be a gift for my daughter in law. Green is her favorite color. She went through a double mastectomy earlier this year. Her dreaded BRCA Gene caught up with her. I want her to have what my granddaughter called a shoulder blanket before she learned the word shawl. I hope she sees it as a hug from me whenever she wears it.

I had every intention of having it done by the time we got to their home, I didn't make it. I will finish and mail it to her from home.

Back with more again soon.

Take care and stay cozy!

Shawl, Crocheted, Given Away or Sold

I think I may be safe in saying that many knitters and crocheters, including me, have a favorite thing to make. Me? I love making shawls. The idea of a handmade item hugging your shoulders and adding a bit of warmth or covering sun kissed skin on a cool summer evening is exactly what being cozy means to me. 

The first one of the pictures here is of a shawl I made and gave away. The last 3 are of shawls I have sold on Etsy. The light blue and the white one were sold to the same person in March. It felt so good to send them to a new home and I hope they are being used often.

Not many buyers leave reviews and I get that. For many online purchases I don't leave reviews however, on Etsy I always leave one. I know how it feels for a small business on Etsy to get some kind words sent your way.

For the dark blue fringed shawl above my buyer left this 5 star review-

"Gorgeous and comfy! Quick shipping too! Awesome seller!"

I have more shawls coming. Some will be cute sparkly accessories and some will be cozy, squishy, warming  shoulder blankets. (That is what a granddaughter called them when she was very young and didn't know the word shawl.)

PS If any reader is an online seller, in the comments share your most heartwarming review you have received. Would love to hear from you.

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

Progress!

A couple days ago I shared a picture of a previous knitting project. It showed the pattern, Pine Forest Baby Blanket by Ingrid Aartun, that I was going to be knitting again in new colors. I have a few inches done now in the blackberry colorway by Caron in Simply Soft Worsted which to my eye is a lovely old fashioned rose pink color. I will be doing another in the blue in the picture and Caron calls that color Blueberry. Finishing these gets 4 skeins out of my stash except for the little bits I expect to have left over. 

I have plans for the scraps too. I want to make some neutral colored hats, black, gray, navy and brown, with accent stripes of my leftover little bits from these blankets and so many of my other projects. I don't think I will ever run out of things I want to make. Most creative types are like me I think. Let me know in the comments if you always have a list of projects that will last longer that your expected lifetime like I do. I would love to hear from you!

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

Newest Infinity Scarves

Here in Jackson there is a chill in the air. The nights leave a layer of frost on everything. It is that time of year when having a soft scarf around your neck can go a long way to keep you comfortable.

My newest listings are perfect for keeping you cozy. These scarves were knit in a medium weight very soft yarn. The colors are as soft and pretty as the yarn.

You can see these and more styles of scarves, both traditional and infinity, cowls and more in my shop.

http://cozy.zibbet.com

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 I sell - Zibbet
I blog - A Cozy Life and Group2020
I pin - cozyatoz
I socialize - on Google Plus and on Twitter .

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Becoming Cool

I am feeling a bit like Barbara Mandrel these days. Do you remember her song I was country when country wasn't cool? I discovered that the new trend in decorating is called granny chic. You know it is in when it makes the morning news shows. I have lived and loved granny chic way before it was chic or I was a granny. That is just the cozy type of person I am.

Kind of reminds me of a day in a craft store years ago getting a pair of knitting needles. The young clerk taking my money said, "I think it is so cute that people still knit." I imagine her a few years later in a knitting group of young women because knitting became cool again.

All I have to say now is long live crocheted afghans and potholders. The frugality and simple pleasure of creating your environment with your own hands should never go out of style.

Awaiting the Storm

As I sit here waiting for the brunt of the coming storm that the forecasters predict will break records it occurred to me that having something soft and scrumptious to curl up in would be wonderful. The backyard is full of puddles and the worst of the rain and wind is yet to come.

I have some scrappy afghans of my own but if you find yourself often in the same situation and don't knit or crochet I thought I would show you some of the best I think artisans on ArtFire have currently for sale in their shops.

From the shop Craftshoot-

This next one in a stunning red is from Elleellee.

Now really how could you not feel cozy wrapped in this lovely color from

Thunder Mountain?

I will tell you that not only do I admire the workmanship in these pieces but I certainly appreciate the difficulty of photographing a blanket and making it look good. I think these talented needleworkers have managed both. Don't you?



This post is part of the BlogFire Guild biweekly blog carnival. You can read more posts showcasing the outstanding knitting and crocheting found on Artfire by going to the guild blog on Friday, January 22nd.

LazyT Crochet

If you are part of the EtsyBloggers Team you know that each month a new member is chosen to be blogged about by all members. It is a member perk and a wonderful way to give a fellow Etsy seller a boost.

This month we are sharing with you the shop and blog of LazyT Crochet. I have to say that being a knitter and crocheter myself I would say that I could make many of the things in her shop myself. I want you to know however that thinking this way does not stop me from admiring the design, colors and materials chosen for the beautiful and useful creations you will find in the Etsy home of LazyT Crochet.

A splendid example of what I mean is the hat below. The color is beautiful and the pattern stitch and textures of the different fibers create something that would make anyone happy to wear through the winter and be sad to pack away at the end of the season.


Maybe warmer colors are more your style? Look at the piece below. It is a lovely coral color done long, wide and fringed. This versatile shape can be used as a scarf or worn as a shawl or wrap when you need to keep your shoulders cozy and not just your neck.

The LazyT Crochet blog is filled with articles on the work of this very talented fiber artist as well as fun posts on food, friends, Etsy and other topics that cross her mind. When I last peeked she had 100 followers of her blog. Are you one of them?

More Confidence

It is great to have sales. It lets you know that someone out there appreciates what you do. It gives you the confidence to risk a little more and put up more things for judgement and hopefully sales.

In keeping with these new found good feelings I made some changes and added some things to two of my shops, the one on Etsy and the one on Silkfair.

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New to Etsy are these two scarves. Sometimes I get my hands on a yarn I enjoy working with and like to see what variations I can come up with. I have done four scarves all together with this yarn so look for two more in the shop very soon.

The scarf on the left is narrow and the variegated yarn was combined with a solid black worsted weight.

The scarf on the right is about 8 inches wide and only uses the variegated boucle yarn that goes from a deep black to silvery gray to white and back to the black.

Both of them are very soft and light but still would add a bit of comfort to your neck and shoulders.

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Technorati Tags: etsy,scarves,knit,black scarf,boucle scarf,silkfair

Who Am I?

Not sure why I feel the need to write this tonight. The thoughts are just running around in my head so I thought I would make them visual. Bear with me and feel free to comment about this post or share your own story as a crafter, artisan, or artist.

After many years of selling at craft shows and festivals, I decided to sell online. The craft shows took their toll on me. The setting up, tearing down and weekends away. I was lucky most of the time to have good partners to share the load with and time spent with them was enjoyable. I never even came close to making a living at it and that was never my real goal anyway.

I did meet someone at a show in San Diego that liked the thread crocheted angels I was making at the time. She would order them 300 or so at a time once or twice a year to finish by stiffening and decorating them to sell in her own booth at shows. That level of production kind of took the fun out of it. I was happy to get the money but my hands ached and I was doing those things in my sleep to get the orders done and still have time to create for my own shows. That is not a joke either. There were times when I started crocheting, kind of dozed off and woke up to cut the thread on a finished angel with no memory of the middle part of the process.

So who am I? I would call myself a serious hobbyist. I have an overwhelming need to create. I have been this way as long as I can remember and can't imagine life without something for my hands to do. My abilities are a major part of what defines who I am. These projects and ideas wind through the rest of my life and bind it together somehow. Creating somehow makes me more than the wife, the mother, the daughter, the whatever. Not that any of these things aren't important or have their own rewards but I don't like to think about what I would be like without that little bit more.

On the forums at places like Etsy there are always folks who talk about being a business and being professional. Those words kind of leave me cold. I have no problem with the fact that they fit very well with some. They just don't fit me. Does this mean I don't care about providing good service? The answer to that is a resounding no. Because my need for creativity drives my life, sending things off to be appreciated by someone is very important to me. I make what I am inspired to by the cloth or fiber on hand and trust me I have a lot of inspiration around here. Over the years I have learned that if I am patient someone will come along who likes it as much finished as I did making it, whatever the "it" is at the time. When that happens I am happy to communicate and ship in a friendly and timely manner.

I don't expect to get rich selling online either but I want my creative drive to support itself. I like to spend the money on new ideas and better tools with a bit of "just for fun" spending money as well. I try to make my pricing a win win thing for both me as a seller and the buyer. I know that for knitters, crocheters and hand quilters a reasonable hourly wage is extremely difficult for most to get and I accept that. I do however want to get a decent return on my investment of materials, fees and costs of being online and something for my time. If that happens then my creativity isn't a drain on family resources and I can keep going.

Speaking of going, I think I will for now. If you have read this whole wordy post please share your thoughts. Let others who come along, and me, know what it is like for you and what drives your life and provides sanity and satisfaction.

Why oh why?

Why oh why do I do what I do? First of all what I do falls in the category of needle arts - knitting, crocheting mostly with bouts of quilting, tatting, embroidery and needlepoint. It all comes with a love of making something from simple tools and a bit of string.

I run that Barbara Mandrell song through my head sometimes "I was knitting when knitting wasn't cool." About ten years ago I was in a craft store buying a set of needles probably to start a new project and the size I wanted was in a closet with a UFO on them. Anyway, when I went to the register to pay for them the young clerk(late teens I think) said to me "I think it is so cute that some people still knit." Within a couple years everyone discovered knitting and she was probably a member of a Stitch and Bitch Group.

My first memory of something knitted was a pair of slippers from my grandmother one year for Christmas. It was the first time I realized the value and beauty and in a way honor receiving a handmade gift brings to life. I thought it was so wonderful that you could take yarn and knitting needles and create something that provided comfort and warmth in other words coziness. Now you see the reason for my shop and blog names.

The start of my knitting began on the front porch of a neighbors house. Sylvia and I were in about 5th grade and she knew how to knit. My mom didn't know how and the slipper grandma was in Kansas and I lived in California. Anyway I got my hands on a small skein of Red Heart and a pair of needles and she patiently got me through it. Casting on, garter stitch and binding off and I was hooked. I was going to make the world cozy with blankets, potholders and slippers. Never mind that she was right handed and I am a lefty by the end of a couple afternoons I could knit. If by any chance in this crazy internet universe she should ever read this, thank you Sylvia Lerma who lived 2 doors down the street in Oxnard.

My first big project was an afghan. I bought a skein of every color the local drug store had. This was in the days before the big super saver acrylic monsters. I think it was about two ounces which was just enough for a square of knitting before I got bored with a color. I made garter stitch strips that I later crocheted together with black yarn to make the blanket. I think my mother still has that afghan in her home more than 40 years old now and last I saw it all in one piece.

Over the years knitting is a craft I have picked up and put down. I picked up other skills and techniques through books always having to reverse all the hand references in the directions. There is always a knitted UFO somewhere in my life and it has been that way for about 40 years. I don't see this ending anytime soon either. As long as my hands and eyes hold up I will continue to learn and create.

Sources of Inspiration

I have more than one book I turn to when looking for inspiration. The book depends on what I want to do that hour, that day or that week. I collect reference books for knitting, crochet and quilting. I use them when I am feeling bored with what I am doing. Going slowly through the pages of this type of book, with my stash of yarns and fabrics in mind can lead to lots of new ideas. My oldest "craft bible" is the red Knitting book published by Abbey Press. I bought this book more than 30 years ago when I wanted to do more with knitting than garter stitch. It is starting to fall apart but I still love it's patterns, pictures and accurate instructions. It has followed me through getting married, living on Guam, in Vallejo, San Diego, Murray, Stansbury Park and now Apache Junction. With all the moves there was never any thought that this book would be given away with all the others I thinned out each time I needed to pack.

I also make use of some of the newer books in my collection. I have 2 of Vogue's Stitchionaries and I have found them to be a lot of fun. As you can see here I am using the chevron rib to make the red scarf that may end up in my Etsy shop. Then again I may just keep it for myself. Everyone needs a bit of power red in their wardrobe. I haven't finished it so I haven't decided. The pattern is a 16 row repeat so it is a bit more complicated than I usually do but the resulting texture is very pleasing and worth the effort and concentration I think.

Quilting, like knitting and crocheting, has been a part of my life for a long time. I got started on it by watching Georgia Bonesteel's PBS series. I have a few of her books. Her one block at a time method fit my life at the time with apartment living and three small children. I also made use of the "Quilt in a Day series when I helped a Navy wives group make a raffle quilt each year to help support communities events for kids like a breakfast with Santa Claus. I have shown in the top picture my latest quilt block book. Just looking through it puts me in idea overload.

I know the blog carnival topic was "Craft Bible" but I am a Gemini with crafting ADD so I just have to share more than one. Thanks for reading. If you want to read more posts on this topic from other bloggers you can use the blog carnival link on the left to take you to them.

Everyday Companion

This guy is always a big part of my day. His name is Patches and he follows me through the house and lays down whenever I stop to do something. Even as I am writing this he is in the doorway of the room ready to go for whatever we do next. Maybe you can tell he is a great listener. With his one up one down ears and a tilt of his head I get positive reinforcement from him every time.

More seriously I think, like a lot of crafters and artists, that the inspirations come from all of our environment. Color and texture impressions come from all directions. I think we take a lot of this in without actually realizing it. It can be as simple for me as seeing the clothes for a new season on display in a store or the piles of fabrics or yarns in your favorite store.

One of my favorite things to do is spend an afternoon or evening going through my collection of knitting, crocheting and quilting books and magazines. I really don't do it very often because I would go into idea overload. They are great however for planting the seeds for new projects with colors, shapes or stitch patterns. I keep notebooks around for jotting down ideas as they come to me. Flipping through these notebooks can help me make new lists of ideas.

On a final somewhat silly note, one of my biggest pushes to create comes from housework avoidance. After all if I am spending an afternoon on an idea or project that may eventually be for sale online or at a craft show that is work right? To me it is and that certainly beats dusting or folding laundry in my book.

It's Been A Week

It has been a week since I posted Tristan's Birthday. I have no silly excuses for why I haven't posted I just didn't. I would walk by the computer and think, "I am not going near that thing." It (the computer) has a habit of sucking up hours of my day and then I feel guilty for not getting anything more constructive done.

I did quite a bit of knitting this week. I was trying out ideas that had been floating around in my head. These were just little product and pattern ideas that you need to try to see if they work. Some of the ideas did and some didn't. In the end I came up with pattern stitches and sizes that I am happy with.

In an effort to get away from so much mass produced stuff in our lives I was thinking you need to start with the basics. What is more basic than being clean and shiny? So thinking along this line, I have come up with some pattern ideas for cotton wash cloths and dish cloths. I know these aren't new ideas but if we are going to get away from mass produced it will take a LOT of knitters and crocheters to make these things.

Enough for today.

It's About Etsy

Going through knitting blogs about 2 years ago I ran across a mention of a website named Etsy. I wish I could remember the name of the blog but it has disappeared from this old lady's memory. After that mention I checked it out and fell in love with it. I have crafted one thing or another for as far back as I can remember - knitting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting - anything with a needle, hook or thread. I did a little tole painting in there somewhere too as well as leather work. I started doing craft shows off and on in the early 1980's in San Diego, Ca. With a move to Utah I started doing craft shows there as well.

With the growth of the web I knew someday there would be a place for crafters and artists. I checked out site after site never quite finding a place that felt comfortable. Then one day surfing the blogs on a lunch break as mentioned before I found Etsy. It was wonderful to look around. The site design was and still is made so the products are the stars. Everything on the site is made to show off the creations of artists and crafters. The community spirit in the forums is amazing. The range of works this site has attracted is so wide as to be unbelievable.

Please if you value handcrafted work of any and all kinds check it out. You can look at individual sellers, shop by categories, check out what has just been listed or sold and see little user created mini galleries called treasuries. Where else can you find an arts festival 24/7/365 around the world with not hundreds but thousands of vendors?

Thanks to the people who created this place. The world needed it.

Let me, and everyone else you know, hear what you think about Etsy after you check it out for yourself.

Summer Knitting (or Crocheting)

 Update 8/8/13 The picture I had here of some beautifully hand painted yarn is not available because hopefully the lovely yarn sold. However the shop I talk about is still on Etsy with even more handpainted yarns and finished items as well.

In a search for orange to fit a blogging theme this is what I found. To me this Etsy seller jirbydesigns has captured the essence of summer in a color way she calls Fruit Punch. In this color grouping you can get anything from wool to silk to fun novelty yarns like a ladder or eyelash.These colors could take you from summer to fall with a fun wrap made of the ladder yarn to a pair of cozy socks knitted from the wool.
In her own words from her profile in her Etsy shop jirbydesigns explains where her inspiration comes from."I started selling my own line of handpainted yarns in the fall of 2004. I have developed my own colorways based on the nature that surrounds me both in Virginia and coastal North Carolina. I dye my yarns by hand in a small studio at my home. I handpaint the yarns in small quantities using Gaywool Dyes."
For more sunny, wonderful, amusing and very orange themed posts check out this blog for links to others in the Etsy Bloggers Street Team.

Fearless Fibers

I hope to start using the Etsy Mini to feature an Etsy Artisan several times a week. Take a look at the first one-Fearless Fibers.



In her own words on her first etsy anniversary-

"How lucky am I to create something that I love and to be able to sell it to those who not only love it also, but with whom I share a common passion in the love of knitting and all things fiber? Every day, I get notes from customers telling me about the things they’ve made with my yarns. They send me pictures of their finished projects. I hear about how much their sister or mother or best friend loves the gift they knit for her. We share an occasional laugh or knitting tip or story. They actually thank me for doing what I do. Imagine that? They thank ME when it is they who deserve my deepest gratitude (which they also have!)."
As a lurker for months and a slow starter on Etsy, one yarn seller has always had my attention. As a "feels like" life long knitter and crocheter I love looking at yarns. Fearless Fibers has always had beautifully dyed yarns in her shop. The selection of weights and fibers is impressive as well. I can almost always tell without seeing the name when her new listings scroll across on Time Machine 2. That is a wonderful way to start browsing the site for that "gotta have it" random kind of shopping by the way.

Listing a New Scarf Today

I did manage to get some pictures taken of a new scarf. As usual I thought I might spend about an hour taking pictures but it turned into about 4. I am very pleased with the scarf and this picture so it was worth the time. As soon as I get it listed (sometime this afternoon) this scarf will be available in my shop cozy.etsy.com.

I think folks should remember that this photography and listing process is all part of the time it takes to have a product for sale as well as the time it takes to create the product itself. Very few crafters are making anywhere near a living wage making handcrafted items. I think this is especially true for needleworkers like knitters, crocheters and hand quilters.

It's Tuesday

Yesterday my oldest daughter turned 30. If you ask her she will say she's 29. I don't know why because at each birthday I was always happy to have made it that far. I does seem like a very short time ago she was the age of her daughter(9).

As for my crafting-yesterday I finished the knitting on a shawl I designed. I think it turned out very well. I still have to get the ends woven in. The next step would be to photograph it and then get it listed on Etsy.

Because I always have something to do with my hands when watching TV I started my next project. It is a very thick and warm scarf made from Homespun. I am using a broken rib pattern and will fringe it when the knitting is done.

Can't Sleep

It has been hard to get to sleep this past week. I find my brain filled with plans and details for unfinished projects and things I want to do. I have a million ideas for new projects to list on Etsy. I also have a few personal projects that I need to do. If my daughter Cindy ever reads this - yes that means the runner for your desk and the gold shawl.

At times like this I have a terrible tendency to go in too many directions at once. The result of this is usually even more half finished projects. I have at different times kept little notebooks around. I used them to jot down designs and ideas for thing to knit, quilt, crochet or sew. It kind of helped me to let go of the idea until I was actually ready to try it knowing it was written down and was available for me later.

With the new year fast approaching I guess it is a good time for this kind of thinking and probably what caused it anyway. Time for some realistic goal setting.

First Time

I don't know where this writing will all lead but I'll see how it goes. I envision this blog as a way to chronicle my work, in progress and completed, and ideas. I would like to grow as a crafter and designer and maybe this blog will force me to get things done to have something to write about.

I have begun to list things in a shop called cozy on etsy.com. I am finding the photography part of it hard. I think it will take much more practice with the camera and some better editing software. My plan is to come up with my own designs in knitting, crocheting, and quilting.