The In-Between Days

This cute little jellyfish is available on my Etsy page as a pattern or a finished piece.

I spent last weekend updating my Etsy shop, hours of photography, posing things, uploading, cropping, and all the whatnot that goes along with internet business. Fyi, I am not a photographer. I crochet things. Until I can crochet pictures of what I make and invariably create a tear in space and time, I will have to find ways to alter my crappy pictures.

I need to be independently wealthy so I can pay someone who knows what they're doing to take pictures of my stuff.

I seem to have wandered into a creative slump. I've made two things since Craft Lake City, and one didn't turn out, which I haven't had happen in a couple years. I've updated my Etsy shop, looked into teaching certification, and been invited to other craft shows, but I haven't been producing new things. Am I pressuring myself too much?

Is it even worth worrying about?

I want to do this for a living (consider this a declaration) but I need to stop pressuring myself on a constant basis. I am not a big-box retailer. Selling three things a day at this point is miraculous and I need to remember that.

Who would've thought crafting would be hard? Which craft event do I pick? What kind of yarn gives me cred? Why did my wee kitty pattern look like a fat not-so-wee cat? Grr. Too many questions.

I have a hard time with the in-between stages. One thing ends, and I flail for a bit, waiting for some sign that it's time to work my butt off again. I can be alarmingly all-or-nothing. That being said, I woke up this morning with the urge to make a list (I like making lists) of what I need to get done and when, so I can make decisions about what direction crocheting will take me the rest of the year.

So, dear reader, enjoy your weekend, make something lovely, and check back to see what neat little thing I will post for you next.

This Not Crocheting Thing

So I told everyone, after Craft Lake City, I'm not crocheting for a week. In this week, I made a pillbox hat and a little cat doll...

Needless to say, I don't possess the ability to stop crocheting.

This time, it wasn't my fault! I went to visit my parents, I didn't take yarn or hooks, and my mother presented me with a skein of yarn and a hook, telling me she wanted to try her hand at it, but decided it wasn't for her. I lasted a whole day avoiding it, but I knew there was yarn nearby, and I succumbed to it's call. I take my drugs in skeins, yo.

When we got home, I had a whole night to relax, and without a second thought, raided my stash and made a kitty.

So this pillbox hat turned out awesome, but I will need to make it again with a smaller hook and more than one color of yarn before I take a picture. I got the idea at Craft Lake City- I made these cute little round makeup bags with zipper openings, but for some reason, people shopping my booth kept trying to put them on their head, thinking they were pillbox hats. I would walk over, unzip it, and they would say "Ohhh!" like I had revealed some secret to life. To me they look like little pouches, but to the general public, they don't. That got me thinking that maybe I could make a cool pillbox hat, and now here we are.

Next on my list is taking pictures of the remaining pieces to post on my Etsy page. Make sure you check it out soon...

And Now for Something Completely Different

Craft Lake City came and went. It was a big blur of crafty activity, and now I'm sitting here, not crocheting.

Um.... I forgot what to do if yarn's not involved.

I'm sitting here, as stated earlier, and all I can think of is taking pictures of stuff for etsy, planning my next projects, looking into the next craft event, and making something for myself. What is wrong with me?! Did you know that watching a movie doesn't require yarn? And that I can cook things?

Yeah, I need to reboot, as it were.

Come to Craft Lake City

It's nearly here! The pressure, oh, the pressure!

Please come and visit the hook'd booth and support all this insane work I've been doing.

That is all.

WOO!!!!

Ten Days and Counting

Craft Lake City is ten days away.

I am currently crocheting through some massive hand issues. Who would have thought that crocheting for six weeks straight would mess you up? Geez. I have made, to date, 123 items for this event. My goal was 220, so I think, even though I won't make that goal, I've made a freaking lot.

I would like to take a moment for a rant.

I have been crocheting everywhere I have a spare moment, which has, obviously, attracted attention from quite a few people. The most common comment is "Oh, you knit?" Now I know I shouldn't bristle every time I hear this, because not everyone knows the difference, but I do. Here are some snarky comebacks I thought of, but didn't say.

"No, luckily for you only knitting uses the stabby needles."

"What? What is knitting?"

"This is a hook, fool."

"No. Will you teach me?"

"No I don't knit. Learn your yarn crafts!"

Okay, now I feel better. Maybe putting this out into the ether will rid of me of the need to snarl at people who say that.

On that note, please visit my booth for hook'd at Craft Lake City (in SLC) on August 14th, from 2-9pm, or I shall taunt you relentlessly.

Okay I won't. But please come anyway!

Holy Crochet, Batman

Getting ready for Craft Lake City is turning me into a hermit.

I think I've said, about a hundred times now, "I can't go, I have to crochet." Does that seem weird to anyone? And why does it seem like everyone wants to hang out lately? And why am I even typing, when I should clearly be working? It's because I wanted to share, folks. That is why we blog.

Today I took a little time out to have coffee with my best friend. The coffee shop had the new issue of Slug Magazine, so I grabbed it. They are, after all the ones putting on Craft Lake City. I was idly flipping through while we talked about baby names (for her, not me), and there was an ad for the festival, and right at the bottom, my name was mentioned. Nothing huge, but I let out a little squee when I saw it.

And then I realized I should go home and make more things so I had stuff to sell at the festival. Duh. So I came home, but I had to put my excitement out on the intertubes.

That's all. Wish me luck.

Craft Lake City 2010

Sooo....

I was chosen as an artist for Craft Lake City! It will be August 14th from 2-9 at the Gallivan Center....downtown...in Salt Lake...this year.

This will be my first large craft event, and after I got over the excitement of being chosen, I realized that I have seven weeks to make a booth's worth of yarny goodness. Crap.

So, after I'm done lollygagging here, I have lots of planning and lists to make. I like to make lists... I have also already decided that what I don't sell at this event will get posted on Etsy for sale, so it's a win-win.

I will update here as I decide what I will be vending, as it were. I've already decided that the kokeshi doll is a yes.

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Yahrrrrn!!