Crochet

I have been experimenting with complementary items that I can sell at craft shows.  Last year the item that was very popular was the crochet bath puff.  I just couldn't make them fast enough.  I have been crocheting them all year, so I have a stock of them for this years round of Christmas craft shows.  They are crochet out of cotton yarn, and they are to take the place of the scratchy nylon ones that you buy at the store.  The big advantage is that you can throw it in the wash and it won't fall apart. 

I have been experimenting with different ways to sell them.  I came up with this idea. 

So the top part is the crochet bath puff, or as my significant other calls them, bath scrunchie, then the bottom part could hold had made lip balm, a small soap, lotion, lots of hand made miniature goodies.  The idea was that it looked like a cupcake, hopefully that comes across. 

New project

Since all the knitting is finished on the messenger bag, I am free to start my next knitting project.  I have been excited to start this one for a few months now.  The pattern is from Craftzine, That Girl Summer Jacket.  I signed up for the newsletter, and when this got sent to my e-mail I knew I had to make it. 

The yarn that I'm using was purchased on our vacation in Chicago, Loopy Yarns.  I chose the Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton/silk in the Berry Wine color way.  I am using Addi Turbo circular needles, I have just fallen in love with Addi's.  So I don't own a yarn winder, so I attempted to roll the yarn into a ball myself.  It turned into a bit of a mess. 

It took me all evening to fix my mess.  Then I bought 4 skeins, so I will have to do this 3 more times!  I should have had them wind it for me at the store.  Now I know for next time. 

What is so cool about this patter is that it was free, ;)  and the next there are so many variations.  The advantage of knitting it from the top down and on circulars is I can try it on as I go, so that's pretty exciting, I have never made a sweater like this before.  I can't wait to wear this to work, I sit under an air conditioning vent, so all summer so far I have been freezing and wearing an ugly sweater. 

I casted on the collar, it knitted in seed stitch, I don't have a lot of experience with this, so I keep messing up the rows.  It's supposed to be knit one purl one, then the next row you are knitting a stitch that was a purl the row before.  I am used to knitting ribbing, so this is taking me some time to get used to.  I just love the colour I chose, I am hoping to get this knit so I can wear it for the weddings I am going to in October. 


So excited!

Knitting

I have been knitting a messenger bag for my boyfriend, it seems like forever, but in reality it has been a few months.  I am knitting it out of Bernat Felting, which I have never used before in the Storm Cloud colour way.  This is going to be a felted bag, which I have also never done.  The pattern is from the book Bag Style by Pam Allen and Ann Budd. 

I liked a lot of the bags in this book, so I picked it up.  My boyfriend is always really encouraging, and loves all the crafty things that I do, he flipped through the book and asked me to make him this bag.  He liked the idea of being able to custom make what ever he wanted.  His request is to make extra pockets on the inside.  The only issue I have with knitting this is that it is miles and miles of stockinette, and because the bag is being felted, everything gets knit twice as large, then shrunk down in the felting process, which makes the knitting take forever.  I have posted the pictures before the felting process. 

This is the back, front and flap.

This is the gusset.

My boyfriend saw that I was getting tired of knitting this, so he asked if I could teach him how to knit.  So, since this bad is simple, I got him to knit what is in the picture above, the zipper bands, and the extra pockets he wanted.  It went very well, his gauge is a lot tighter than mine, so hopefully after it gets felted and blocked the whole thing looks like it should. 

I will take more pictures after this has been felted, I'm hoping that that goes OK. 

Pedicure

It all started off with such good intentions.  I was at work, and this person came around selling promotional packages for a spa.  I was under the impression that it was a new spa, and this was their way for getting the word out, but you know what happens when you assume...  It was a really good deal, and the other ladies in the office were buying them, so yes, I succumbed to peer pressure as well and I bought one.  The package consisted of a manicure, pedicure, massage and facial for a very small $ amount.   It had an expiry, so I thought I should use up the pedicure while the weather was still warm enough so everyone could see my toes.  Yesterday was my day off, so I went.  I had booked a spa pedicure, there was a few extras, the main one being a pedicure that lasted an hour.  I couldn't find the place, so I was about 15 minutes late, I felt bad.  I offered to reschedule, but they said no, no they would take me right then, she was having a conversation with her co-worker in another language, so I wasn't quite sure what was going on.  Unfortunately I have to keep calling her she, not to protect her identity, but because she never introduced herself. 

So I got in the chair, I think the chair was a massaging chair, there were controls, but she didn't explain how it worked, so I didn't want to risk it.  Then it was silent.  I followed her instructions, lift your foot, put it back in the water, and so on.  The foot bath was very nice, it had a neat water flowing down thing, which was very nice.  She did not attempt to make conversation, I tried, and that is where I found out that it was not a new business, she had just bought the business from someone else.  And that was the last bit of conversation there was, well, with me.  It was very quiet, there was no music, no magazines to read, just me staring off into space, waiting for her to be finished. I should clarify, it wasn't totally silent the whole time, there was a sound, it sounded like the roof was leaking.  There was no water dripping into the room, but my esthetician had to get up in the middle of a procedure and investigate.  A few minutes later the esthetician took a phone call, apparently she was capable of conversation, just not with me.  Then the other esthetican had a client come in for laser hair removal.  I have never had laser done, and now I never will.  This women yelled and yelled in a completely silent spa.  It was humorous, the whole absurdity of it. 

My toes got painted, a colour I had chosen before hand, that part is all my fault as you will see in the picture.  I didn't think it would turn out so fluorescent pink.  I assume I was to sit in my chair and wait for my toes to dry, because she got up and left and didn't come back.  I didn't realise that part of the hour long service was sitting by myself in a room for 15 minutes.  I had neglected to bring flip flops, she graciously gave me some disposable ones, I thought that was standard practice, but there I was again, I was assuming.  I paid, left a tip, and left. 

I went shopping later on that day, in sandals, and got complements, so I guess it can't be all bad.  I have had pedicures many times, I have never had an experience like this.  I didn't think I was a spa snob, but I guess there was a reason for the good deal, you get what you pay for.  I apologize to my regular spa for cheating on you.  Lesson learned.   

Now the debate is, do I use the other 3 treatments...

Rainy Sunday

Well, I wanted to take some new pictures today, or even yesterday, but the weather has not been with me.  It is dark and over cast, threatening to rain, not good when you want to take pictures outside. 

Welcome!

Hello everyone!  Welcome to my blog.  I am not a writer, so please bear with me.  This blog will be a place for me to share what I am working on.  I mainly make hand made soap using the cold process method, but I do a few other crafty things as well.  Currently I have caught the knitting bug and have been making various items.  I will be posting pictures of some of the more recent things I have made. 

Christmas craft show season is also coming, it usually creeps up on me, so I will try and stay on top of it this year.  I will post pictures of what I am making for the various craft shows I am participating in.  More to come later today!