A few new projects

It has been over 6 months since I wrote, again. I promise, I don't do this on purpose. I would just rather spend any time I have to myself creating, instead of writing. I have had a little more time to get other projects done lately as well, now that my older boys are in preschool and my youngest is big enough for Mothers' Day Out. It's only a couple of hours a week, but it's so nice to be able to be out and see the people, or get outdoor projects done during daylight and not have to worry about entertaining 3 little people at the same time.

In the 6 months since I last updated, we have had a flurry of activity around our house. We had a tree cut down in the front yard that was dead. We didn't want to pay for it to be ground (it would have been an arm and a leg), so we left a waist-high stump. My hubby added some mulch and stones around it last year, so we wanted to keep something there. I hope to plant some phlox and sweet potato vines around it/on it next year to make it look nice.

We also had an ordeal with our furnace flu, and ended up paying a pretty penny to get new duct work and flashing done there. I had to call the gas company twice and was afraid of the house exploding, but luckily it all worked out. We are up to code and haven't had any issues since.

My hubby's economical car's a/c blew up at the beginning of the summer, and with it just being a couple of weeks in, instead of paying more than the car was worth to fix it, we opted to buy a newer used car from my in-laws. This depleted our savings significantly, but we're steadily building it back up.

My clothes dryer stopped working on the 4th of July with a wet load in it, and a wet load in the washer, so we ordered a brand new one to be delivered a few days later. I bought that dryer 2nd hand over 10 years ago, so we felt it was okay to replace after many loads of faithful service.

We decided the boys each needed their own rooms, since the twins have basically shared a bed since birth. Our house has 2 bedrooms on the main floor and a 3rd in the basement, which we had to strip the carpet out of last summer when the basement flooded while we were on vacation. With 3 little boys, we always assumed the twins would be fine sharing a room downstairs (once they're a little older) and the baby would take the other upstairs room. This was all fine until the twins started getting upset at each other for every little thing, so we decided it best to try to split them up. Our utility room downstairs is larger than we probably need (we don't need to have it full of stuff, that's for sure!), so I thought it would be cool to have one of the boys move in the far end and partition it off.

We spent nearly all of July and most of August figuring out, painting, collecting items, and decorating the spaces to entice the little people to want to spend time in their new rooms. We moved them in a week before my goal, Blessing's birthday, and they were thrilled. It doesn't always work out the way we planned, but I think we are all much happier now that everyone has his own space. I will try to post a tour of the spaces after this week, which is jam-packed with projects while my hubby is on vacation.

Somehow, with all these unexpected expenses, you would think I wouldn't have had a dime left to buy yarn, but somehow I managed to do just that. I have been making Etsy orders, teaching lessons, and saving my fun money each month to buy more yarn and pretty patterns off Ravelry. I have been so busy trying to stay caught up that I've only finished a few projects this year, but the ones I have finished have been mostly big projects. Many of them have ends to weave in and need to be blocked, so I don't have official finished photos yet, but I will list the ones I do have photos of here:

Knit 29 dishcloths (not all are pictured here...)

 

Knit Cascade Heritage striped teal socks for hubby

Crochet brown beard for Etsy
Knit Gruffalo for Blessing's birthday

Oh help! Oh no! It's a Gruffalo!

Purple prickles!

Crochet viking hat w/ beard for Etsy x 2

I have a huge queue to complete before the end of the year (hopefully), so I will wrap up with a great big end-of-the-year post again this year to show them all. Some of them are gifts, so I don't want to spoil the surprise.

I reread several of my "recent" posts and noticed how I kept saying I didn't need more yarn. Well, I bought tons more yarn. I still have yarn coming that I ordered this weekend. I don't know if I'll be done buying yarn now (I should be), but I'm not going to make any more promises like that. If I buy yarn, I buy yarn. I'm not going to feel bad about it. My grandma keeps giving me donated yarn every time I visit her, so that's not helping with my goals, and pretty yarn keeps popping up on podcasts and sales, so I will not feel guilty for getting something beautiful that I like and will use to make myself a nice piece, or a gift for someone I love. That is all I'll say about that.

I'd like for it to not be six months before my next update, but it may be a month or more, with Christmas gifts, being in the middle of volleyball season (I referee), and the twins' birthday coming. I have many cool ideas to share with you, but they'll have to wait, because it's late and I have lots to accomplish this week. I'll try to take pics of the boys' rooms as I complete them over the next couple of weeks, so I can put in a tour of all the neat touches we did.

Until next time, have fun and be crafty!

Etsy update!!

I wanted to make this a separate post, so it didn't get lost in a longer one. My Etsy shop is open again!!

My best sellers and most profitable items are the Viking Hat and Removable Beard, and the standalone Viking, Dwarf Beard, so, at my hubby's suggestion, those are the only items I've listed. I also have the Viking Hat with Removable Braids, the Knight Helmet, and the single Viking Hat with Horns, but that's going to be it for a while. I will take orders for other helmets, and as I find time, will hopefully design other projects in the LARP realm, but for now, this is enough.

I would love to post the rest of my awesome creations, but there are so many sellers on Etsy, my hats and scarves get lost in the mix. I don't do a lot of advertising, I don't have a whole portfolio of these kind of items, and I'm a bit of a novice at sweaters and other larger items, so I don't feel comfortable charging what my time is worth at this point. If someone sees something on my blog they love and want it, I will definitely make a custom order for them, but I won't list those items routinely to sell.

I am excited for what this new revelation will do for my business. I hope that by posting only those items, I can become a bit of a niche shop, just catering to the novelty role-playing crowd. It will keep my costs down to not list every single item I have ever made, and give me more time to devote to making quality items for my customers.

If you have an idea for a helmet that I've not listed, please contact me and I'll do everything in my power to make it a reality. I am open to new colors, designs, and I want to list my "deluxe beard" in the near future, after I've made some adjustments to make it truly special.

Thank you for your patronage! I really appreciate your business, and you reading about my yarn adventures. Keep checking back for updates on my latest projects.

Busy week!

I finally have a little more energy, now that we're in 2nd trimester of pregnancy, and I've got 3 commissioned projects ahead of me! After cleaning the heck out of the house yesterday to hopefully get rid of germs, I had an Etsy order for another NJ beard! I've sold 4 beards/viking hats to East Coasters over the last 3 months! I've been working on an adorable baby boy project for my father-in-law's coworker for a few weeks, which should be done with photos to post soon. And today, I got an order for an infant jester hat!

Along with the cute projects I have for my own new little bundle, I'd say I'll be busy for quite a while! We finally have some antibiotics in tow to help restore our little guys and the weather has been ridiculously mild the last several days, so between spending some much-needed time outdoors and my current projects, I'd say I've got my free time used up. I don't mind, though, because the beards go quickly, the jester hat is knit, which I've been sorely lacking on projects lately, and the baby boy project has been fun to learn something new. I'll post pics of all when they're done!

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful weather and crochet something springy :-D

Change of Plans...

I've decided I have to stop trying to play catch-up with all my projects, both personally and professionally, so I'm just going to lay it all out there today and move on. The boys' project is still sitting untouched in my craft area, because I have been busy making these:

The Vikings are landing August 2016!!

We're expecting a new little viking this summer! Along with the fatigue of first trimester pregnancy, I've had 2 little, very active 2-year-olds to entertain and try to keep healthy. All 4 of us are trying to get over a nasty respiratory illness that has pretty much taken us out of all non-essential activities the last 2 weeks...

Except house-hunting. We are currently looking for a much larger space to accommodate our growing family, with room to spare, because we love entertaining our friends and family as well. Most of the shopping is online, but we have been to a handful of showings for places with a lot of potential. We just haven't found The One yet...

Christmas stocking in Red Heart very berry, I Love This Yarn white, Red Heart leftover green, Yarn Bee fluff

So, with all of that going on, I haven't even set foot in my craft area for the last month (my calendar still says "January"!), but I have been busy creating some beautiful items for our new little one that I would like to share soon, like the stocking pictured. And, of course, the rite of passage seen above to welcome him or her to our little family. Now that I'm a little farther along and into the "golden era" of pregnancy that isn't quite so exhausting, I might be able to make a little progress on the project, at least so I can get a decent amount of it done to give them. I will probably end up cutting out a lot of it to spare myself the time and disappointment.

Anyway, that's the exciting news for now. Keeping everything gender-neutral for now, and I'm not even sure I want to know what the baby is until he or she comes. I guess it depends how I feel at that appointment. Take care and God bless!

Exciting Times

Sorry it's been a few weeks; we've been moving! We moved from a 900 sq foot 2-bedroom apartment to a 1200 sq foot 3-bedroom over the last 2 weeks, and we're nearly done unpacking. A box here, a shelf there, and it'll all hopefully be done by Sunday evening. The great thing about our new place (besides the extra space) is that it'll have a room designated specifically for crafting and playing! The boys will have plenty of space for their toys where we can supervise them while we work on our projects. My hubby is in to constructing and painting miniatures for Warhammer, and we were always fighting over the limited flat area in our other apartment. I will have a table and closet and a beautiful pegboard to keep my sewing and yarn supplies, and he will have a huge shelf to store his things from little fingers, as well as a secluded work area.

The new place has gorgeous views of the pool (which is closed now), a grassy area with a rarely-used tennis court, and lots of trees, which we both love! You can't see anyone else on their balcony from our place, so it really feels like we're out in the woods or overlooking our own backyard. We love it!

It's pretty overcast today or I would post pictures, but hopefully when we get the craft/play room up and running I'll post a pic or two. In the meantime, I got an order for another viking hat and beard combo from Etsy last night, so I'll be working on that as soon as we get the boxes unpacked. I'm looking forward to sharing my project for the boys' birthday (which is coming faster than I realize!) with you, and wrapping that up in time to start on Christmas gifts!

Have a blessed day and enjoy your weekend! Fall is in the air, and time for scarves and hats is soon upon us!

Photo Shoot

These were some photos I took to update some of my Etsy listings. I may caption them someday, but today is not that day...

A Multitude of Items...

It's been a busy week! I've been working on several projects, and I've got some new ones that I haven't posted yet. These are all available on my Etsy site!

I've also been working on the dolman sweater I mentioned, and a really neat cabled rug for our entryway. I'm starting to love cable knitting! Pics to come...

Knit scarf with Lion Brand Wool-Ease bulky in light blue and cream; size 15 needles, ribbed 1x1 for 20 stitches

Viking hat with extra-long horns; I think I did an extra round in between each increase on the spiral to give them more shape. Wore this in the hospital with my boys!

My favorite little pilots in training :-D The weather's been so nice this past week!

Rainya boot cuffs and ear warmer in rose heather; Lion Brand Wool-Ease in worsted weight, H hook, per pattern

Mary Janes in Vanna's Choice pink poodle; per pattern

Feminine beanie in Caron Simply Soft gray and pink; per pattern

Waffle dish cloth in Lily 'n Cream cornflower; 10 x 11 squares, size H hook

For the Family

My cousin asked me to make him a hat for work, which turned out fine. When I gave it to him at Christmas, he told me his son wanted a viking hat with his school colors to wear to games and spirit days, so this is what came of that. I included a beard just because. What 12 year old boy doesn't want a beard?

If I had it to do over again, I would have made a black hat with orange horns, but I think he'll definitely get noticed in this. He got it in the mail today and loves it!