The craft fair blew chunks
Badly. There was 0 advertising done and nobody showed up. We had 2 booths which totaled $60 each, divided by 4 of us was $15 each. Our TOTAL booth made $10 (I made $8 extra when a booth-mate's daughter wanted the warbie - walmart barbie in frilly thread gown). That SUUUUUUCKS. I have the one at Jake's school this Saturday, and I've started talking about one coming up the middle of December - it's $107 for the booth, but its heavily travelled. We'll see what happens.
busy busy
It's been a little crazy here at work, sorry for not posting. Lets see, i finished up the angora scarf, its small but there was a know in the yarn that I couldnt hide so it got a little short. not TOO short, but I'm still marking it at $25 so there! I started a baby ghan that is 9 grannies in pink, blue, yellow, green and purple. It's pretty and I like the way it's coming out. Only 1 more square to put the purple on, and since it's a join as you go, that's all thats left. Should be done before amc is half over, with time to make some scrunchies.
Last night we had our Price Everything for the craft fair meeting, it was fun and went over... as usual. Everyone has such nice things, and we've all worked really hard to get so much ready. I hope all of us sell bunches of stuff!
The fair is this Saturday, and I'm thinking about taking a half day on Friday to get the tables at least set up, but only if i can con someone into helping me. I wont be able to lift the 6 ft table by myself! I am getting pretty excited about the show though, it will be fun and hopefully profitable.
I also have a show next weekend at Jake's school, a total of $45 out of pocket for the 2 weekends, which isnt bad seeing as how the last show i did was $40 itself! And sucked! Hard!
My birthday party is next weekend, I turn 30 on Tuesday and I'm pretty excited about it. My young friend from work is taking me to the mall to buy a birthday party outfit after work today. Should be fun.
After I finish up this blanket i'll go back to working on the Christmas ghan. It really does go quick and should have been done by now! Oh well. Cheers.
hurricanes and such
Ok, it's been 82 years since a hurricane went into the mouth of tampa bay, and I think its a little past due. Do I want a hurricane here - no. Right now I know they are predicting Ft Myers which is about 2 hours south of us, but more and more of the spaghetti models are putting it here - 3 days ago it was 1, last night it was 3, right now it's 6. At least it's slow moving and we will know where it's going with plenty of time to do something about it. I just wonder if school/work will be open on Monday - looks like it'll hit that evening, and you never know what we'll be feeling. Tuesday may be closed. Wednesday night is our pre-show crochet meeting to discuss pricing and set up of the booths. Our show is Saturday. I also have a show the following saturday, and I just found out that we have a new fresh market every saturday between now and May that booths are only $10-25 , so on my non-show weekends I can do that! I'm going tomorrow to see what all they have, and see if I think my stuff would go well there.
The angora baby dress is coming along nicely, I have 3 rows left on the skirt, then sleeves and neck ruffle, that's it. I'm not doing a flower, but maybe some ribbon on the bottom edge and sleeve edges, we'll see. Its SOOOO soft to work with and it's laying very nicely. Next up I think I'm going to make a scarf with it, and maybe a beret.... as long as the hook is bigger than the D i've been working with for 2 projects now!
angora goodness
After I did the little bows on the baby dress I felt drawn to the angora - just calling my name! I decided that since I already had the pattern for the layette with me that I'd start the dress in it. It didnt take too long last time, and came out cute. Downside - dryclean only baby dress. Upside - cuddling a baby in pink fuzzy angora goodness. It is so soft to work with, its like clouds or silk! I have choir tonight so I probably wont get a chance to play with it much, unless I stay up late watching ncis... hmmm.
Speaking of babies, I hear tell that my dh is somewhat ok with the getting pregnant in January idea. yippee. With lots of luck - this time next year I'll be putting my own little girl in fuzzy pink angora goodness - it wouldnt look too good on a boy!
Layette Done
Well, for the most part. All I need to do today at lunch is thread the ribbon in the dress and booties. I think it came out beautifully, and I am SOOOO glad it's over. Will I take on another task as daunting as this one? I'm going with no. I may make the little dress again without the not so pretty flowers, I kinda like the v-stitch that it's done in.
I got my Falling Yarn box from my partner today, it was very nice. I got this huge cone - 1 lb, 4.5 oz of pink fingering angora - it's absolutly beautiful... I've been petting it and making my coworkers pet it also - they think i'm nuts! I think I'll make a baby dress out of it - I know, a dryclean only baby dress? but its just calling out for it. And it would be a nice pricey addition to my crap to sell. Maybe I can make one for the fair - hmmm. We'll have to think about this! There's so much of it, I mean Ok, fingering weight - I used that on the layette I made. I used almost 6 1.75 (10.5 oz) oz skeins to make the whole thing. This cone has 20.5 oz. I could make this whole set and probably a sweater for myself with this thing! Anywho, there's also another skein of Jaeger Trinity - 50 gm in a coffee color. This is a silk/cotton/poly blend that is very soft but sturdy. I have no clue what to do with it. I have been saving some tan divine mohair for a toddler lion hat, maybe I'll use it with that. We'll have to see, theres not much so I need to make it have a big impact.
So, falling yarn is done, next is the scrunchie swap. And since I have 80 million already done for the craft fairs - this will be easy! I know I know - cheating. Oh well, maybe I'll wait to see what sells well at the fairs and send them that.
getting stuff done
Lets see, last night I finished up the scarf and my little boy was very disappointed that it wasnt for him! Could it be longer, yes, but I figure it will probably be for a kid so I was happy with it.
At lunch I finished the jacket to the layette (minus the appliques). Now I need to remember to get some buttons next time I am at either hellmart, michaels or joanns. I also need to see if I have any ribbon for the dress and bonnet (which I havent started).
My partner in falling yarn received her box and was thrilled! Most of it was de-stashing, but I did buy a couple of the yarns that she asked for. I'm glad she was happy with it, and now I am anxiously awaiting my box. My partner said she sent it Tuesday I think. Hopefully I'll have a great present when I get here on Monday!
Travis and I are going to see Serenity tonight. He's informed me that I am not old enough to bring my crocheting with me. RUDE! oh well.
have a fantastic weekend.
I have sleeves
I finished the sleeves to the baby jacket, and 1 frilly sleeve edge yesterday at lunch. I also finished 1 flower aplique, that leaves me 1 frilly sleeve edge, the frilly bottom edge, 1 flower aplique, 2 leaves, a bootie and a bonnet. Progress I suppose, but UGH this is taking forever.
In other scarf-related news I am now almost half done with the shells scarf in burgandy & grey - school colors.
Barnes & Noble Angst
So I belong to a little website called mypoints.com where you can earn points on things you buy online, and by reading (or at least opening) special junk mail. These points are then translated into gift certificates, I've earned about 22 $10 gift cards to various restaurants in the 3 years I've belonged.
Anywho, I decided to go for a $20 B&N gift card instead of my normal restaurant last time, so that I could feed my crochet book addiction...and if you order online you get points for that too :). S
o I ordered My scarf book and "Hip to Crochet" since the gals in my crochet group rave about it. The scarf book came in wonderfully, but the Hip to Crochet came used from an outside vendor (hippo books suck!). I got the book quickly enough, but it had 18 missing pages. no bags, no sweater, no slippers. Mad doesnt even begin to describe it. I put it back in the package with a note on the packing slip saying I want my money back - all of it including the shipping cost. This was on 9/20. It's been over 3 weeks and I've sent them 5 emails, only 1 of which has had a response. Did they get it back? No clue, it went first class back to them (thanks to my office's nifty mail machine it wasnt my dime) so they should have had it say 9/26 at the latest. I even sent an email to B&N informing them of their outside vendors BAD description of a book. The note I had gotten back from Hippo was nice (after my 3rd not so nice email to them) saying that when the book was received by them they would make amends. That was dated 10/4 - well after they should have already gotten it. 2 more emails asking them AGAIN if they had gotten it, and this morning I went off. My email started "well the last rude email I sent seemed to work, so I'll try that again". But, at least I've got my points!
Thirty and stuff
There are exactly 21 days left until I turn 30. I have always been excited about birthdays, and this is no exception. 11/5 is my party and although I've had nightmares about no one showing up, it looks like it's gonna be a blast. I really hope that I get my yarn winder, and of course gift certificates for yarn wouldnt be frowned upon! Yesterday at lunch I finished the 1 sleeve and started on the other one, but didnt get very far, i'll work on it more today. I went to Michaels yesterday on the way home and picked up the pink to finish up the scarf (which I did last night), I also got some off white simply soft and a celery green skein of that red heart $6 yarn (b something I think - bliss maybe), and used my 50% coupon. I think it will make a beautiful scarf! So I finished up the twisty scarf and it came out very cute, I made it longer than it called for, and I think thats a good thing. Hopefully it'll sell. After I finished that, I wanted to do another one in the school colors (burgandy & grey), and I had half skein each of SS and went to work. It's another pattern from my scarf book, it's supposed to be alternating color rows of shells, but I'm doing 5 rows in burgandy, 5 rows in grey, etc in the same shell pattern. There ends up being 3 shells in 1 row, 1/2 + 2 + 1/2 shells in the next, etc. It's pretty and more boyish than the last one I did, and kinda Potterish! I got about 6 sections done by the time Vegas was over and went to sleep. Tonight's choir practice so I dont expect to get a lot done, but we'll see, I usually watch NCIS & Commander In Chief tonight, but choir requires that I tape NCIS. We'll see how tired I am and how much I actually watch. I also feel like I'm starting to get sick, which isnt good! Happy crocheting.
scarves and stuff
I gave the scarf to Jen and she liked it. Hopefully when it gets cooler she'll love it. I did tell her about the cd I tried to find and she laughed - maybe i'll either make her a copy of mine or find it on amazon for Christmas. During the game yesterday (Bucs Suck!) I had worked a little on the layette, but got sick of it and decided to make another scarf. And of course the only yarn in reach was the leftover over half skein of pink simply soft. I ran out 3/4 the way done, so guess i'll need to make a hellmart run. This scarf is ch a bunch, then 2 dc in each, turn, then (dc, ch1, dc, ch1) in next and (dc, ch 1) in next, all the way across, then turn to back loops and do it again. It's very twisty like crepe paper streamers. Its more fun than functional! After that I did work a bit more on the baby jacket, the skirt is finished and 1 sleeve is about 2/3 done. I'll work on it at lunch today, maybe I can finish 1 sleeve.
More later.
updates and stuff
Lets see, I finished the pink scarf this morning, and it was a good thing. Lemme tell you a story.
When I was 13 I had a best friend named Jennifer. We sang together and wrote songs together and were generally connected at the hip for a few years until she moved away to an aunts house to go to school and I moved to OK for no apparently reason. Every once in a while I'd head over to her parents house to inquire how she was doing and actually saw her once or twice after we moved but thats it. A few years ago I started thinking about my 30th b-day party (coming up in 4 weeks) and got very nostalgic and looked up EVERYONE I could think of from my past - old boyfriends, friends, everyone. She was SOOO MIA, that I had given up. Then last year I had stoped at the grocery store and I hear from behind me "Brandee Mitras!" Course I had been Fondren for 5 years, but turned around anyway, to find Jennifer and her little boy Landon - and she has lived less than a mile away from me for a few years. HOLY SHIT!! We exchanged numbers and met up a couple times after that then lost touch again after the hurricanes. She called me a few months ago and we have gotten very close, we joined choir at church together, and I've been trying to help her with her Mary Kay thing. ANyway, today's her birthday and I had the most awesome idea for a gift for her - the Debbie Gibson cd that we used to sing to when we were kids! 3 stores later I gave up. I tried to think of something else to give her, and my brain failed. Oh wait, pink scarf... Mary Kay... that's it! So I finished up the scarf and wrapped in tissue with a chain crochet bow and handmade card. Hopefully that'll do it, but I will tell her my original idea... maybe amazon will have it for Christmas!
After I finished that scarf I did another one for the Craft fair at Jakes school in their colors. It's pretty, and I just need to finish up the tassles, I'm 1/3 done with them.
Current Project List
Because I dont have NEARLY enough UFO's I started another project last night!
Layette for Tony & Nette: That's the pic I posted last, it's coming out very pretty but because it's fingering and a d hook it's taking a while and I'm getting sick of it. I have about half of the skirt done and I need to do the sleeves and flower appliques for the jacket. The dress is done and 1 bootie is done but I need to wash it because it looks like part of the skein got something on it so there is an almost offwhite throughout the bootie, if it doesnt come clean i'll have to make another one. Then is the other bootie, and bonnet which I have to change the pattern for because there is a big ugly bow on the back.
Christmas afghan for jake's God Parents: I havent done SQUAT on this since I got back from the keys. once the shows are done and I have more time to make gifty things I'll do it - promise!
Baby granny for a gal at choir practice - I gave it to her last night and she was thrilled.
The scarf. I got this scarf book from B&N and there is this cute one color not too difficult scarf that I decided to start on because I didnt want to work on the layette or afghan. I picked up the only skein within reach - pink simply soft. I had another skein in my stash so that's what the scarf is in. It's a nice pattern, very open and feminine, but not very warm...which is fine since we're in Florida! I dont know yet if I'll keep it or try to sell it. Maybe i'll try to sell it and if it doesnt go i'll keep it... yeah, that's it.
The Christening set: I ONLY HAVE HALF A BOOTIE LEFT AND I DONT WANNA DO IT!!! I hate thread, and it's a giant pain in the ass! I have to finish 1 bootie, then add the ribbon to the booties and bonnet then I'm done. I really REALLY need to finish it, but I havent decided if I'm gonna sell it or put it in the fair. I'll have to think on that.
In half an hour I leave for home then Disney for a cast scavenget hunt thing, and I think i'll bring the scarf for the hour drive. I love working with the SS, I just want to rub my face in it!
Falling Yarn: I signed up for this and my "from" pal has contacted me about some yarn she has that she may be sending, but there are 2 people that it looks like are my "to" people. I sent an email to the chickee running the swap on Monday but nothing back yet. I cant afford to send to 2 people! I'm so confused. Oh well, i'll keep waiting. Cheers.
Updated layette photo
Here's how far I got as of lunch today - all the dress, 1 bootie and half the skirt of the jacket, no sleeves. Oh, and I had gotten some Joanns Confetti yarn in blue to make slippers for my MIL for Christmas, and that stuff is a PAIN to crochet with!!! And even worse to frog... which I had to do like 4 times, and when I tried the first one on, it kept slipping off... so now I need to TRY to find the end I wove in to frog the whole thing, maybe it'll make a nice purse. UGH!
