Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Best Laid Plans

Well, I had planned to finish up the 2nd Rainbow Boucle arm warmer glove on Sunday, while watching my sports. I ended up having to run a bunch of errands, and it did not get done.


So, I figured I could finish it up Monday morning/afternoon, since I did not have to be anywhere until 5pm.


Wrong again. A couple of small family emergencies came up, interferring with my knitting time.


From the picture above, taking just moments ago, it is almost halfway done. At this point, I am planning on finishing it up today.



Unless life gets in the way.


UPDATE: Here they are!!!!


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15759957

Sunday, September 28, 2008

I ♥ Sundays!

I really love Sundays, especially this time of year. You see, I am a huge racing and football fan. So Sundays consist of having a game/race on the TV while I sit in my recliner chair and knit/crochet. Hubby leaves for work in the early afternoon, and the kids are generally off with their friends, so I have peace and quiet to work on whatever I want, while watching whatever I want.

Today I will be finishing up the 2nd arm of the Rainbow Boucle.

Have a good day everyone!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Rainbow Boucle Arm Warmer Gloves


This is the next Arm Warmer Glove that will be listed. It has been made from Sensations Rainbow Boucle Multi.
At the top of the arm, it's blacks with slight streaks of purple. At about 2" fromt he wrist, the black turns to a black with blues and purples mixed, getting lighter until you reach the rainbow colors. This yarn is extremely soft and warm.
Because this yarn is so "poofy", the top ribbing does not pull in like standard ribbing. As such, I am adding elastic thread through the ribbing section to increase the grip.
This pair of arm warmer gloves should be listed by Monday, Septmber 29th at our Etsy store. http://www.fullhousecrafts.etsy.com

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Oh wow!


I am so overwhelmed to the responses I have received about these arm warmers. I have made one tweek to the base design - otherwise they are ready to go.
A pair in the same Caron Simply Soft Heather Grey should be listed tomorrow. Blood crimson, neon pink, bright purple, camo, and what can only be described as black with streaks of bright rainbow colors are all in the works. Each will be the same basic shape, but with variations in the arm pattering so that each pair is unique.
Each pair takes roughly 12-16 hours to make, so expect a pair to be listed every few days. As always, if you are interesting is something in particular, we welcome custom requests.
UPDATE: here is the direct link to the Arm warmer gloves in grey heather:

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Coming soon...


I have been diligently working on a new line of items today. They are arm warmers, but instead of stopping at the wrist, they go all the way down to the fingers like a fingerless glove.



I always work up a sample before I go with a design. This allows me to correct errors, make needed changes, and improve the design before I invest too much time and money.




These are some pics of the sample. I'm making a second one for my daughter to wear, as changes did not need to be made.



Look for these, in different patterns and colors soon!




Thank You!

For everyone who has left comments, thank you.

Looking back over them, I wanted to take a moment to respond to a few.

I love making things for family, friends and charity. That is why we opened the Etsy store - we use the proceeds from the sales to purchase more supplies to make more items. Since we opened the store last May, we have worked through over half of my yarn stash, and now we must start replacing what was used.

We make a lot of specialty items because, well, they are difficult to find. Take the wheelchair blankets, for example. They are made to work perfectly for those in wheelchairs. We price them as low as we possibly can - just a buck or two over the cost of the yarn - so that they are affordable to anyone who needs them.

Things like my Dad's socks...you've heard the story. He would not have thought to ask someone to make them to fit his ankles; nor would he have thought to look at an on-line store to purchase them. He would have just dealt with what he could get in a package at the local store.

My kids love items that I make. They constantly have a "wish list". Which, of course, makes me feel good. Not to mention that when a teenage girl wants what you make, it means that you still know something about style. :)

A recent comment stated that they like how I show works in progress. That made me smile. I often gets calls, texts, emails, IM, etc which start with "Whatcha working on?" I started taking pictures in process to answer those questions. Those people now check this blog to answer that question.

It's also instructional - both for other crafters and those that have never crafted in their lives. Such as last week. I had just started a sock, and had it with me when I had to sit some place for 3 hours. My Dad watched me knit for that time, and actually saw the tiny size of the needles, how many stitches it took to make a noticable difference in size, and so on. He has a better appreciation of how much work goes into a pair of those silly socks.

So, thank you again for the comments. Please feel free to leave questions, and I would be happy to answer them.

Off to my knitting!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Last pair of socks



So, I went on a short trip with my father last week. On our way home, I got him to stop at a yarn store, and found some funky sock yarn on sale.



We started talking about the socks I make him, and he told me that he had enough funky socks once I finish the ones one the needles already.




So, here's the last socks I will be making for him. One sock is complete, and I will update the pics when the second one is done.




Update - Here they are. The completed final pair.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Some new items for the store.
These are finely knitted baby caps, sized newborn to 6 months.
They are made with Caron's Simply Soft yarns,
The one on the left is meant for a boy, with deep blue and red random stripes and just a touch of eyelet for an interesting design.
The one on the right, while a cap, is designed to look like a bonnet. With the deep emeral green base, rose ruffle, a cream satin ribbon, it's still very girly without the mandatory pale pink and white traditional coloring.
More bold color baby items to come.


Monday, September 15, 2008

Dad's favorite socks

So, I shared a few pairs of socks I made for my father the other day. He wanted wild socks to wear with his sandels. Not only wild, the had to be soft with a looser ribbing than the standard store-bought sock. Neither of the two previous pairs were wild enough.

I also made him orange and white striped - like the Cat in the Hat, with off-setting stripes, where the heel and toes of one were orange, and the other sock white.

Still not wild enough.

So, I brought out my bag of soft yarns in sock weight, randomly grabbed a ball, knit a few rows, the blindly picked another. I did this a total of 13 times. These socks were the result.



They are his favorite pair. And he wants more. Well the winter holidays ARE coming....

Saturday, September 13, 2008

still working...

Still working on the Etsy store updates.

However, I convinced my father to "model" some of the socks I have made him. These are the tamer of the ones I have made for him.




He demanded to be paid for the modeling. I told him that the socks WERE the payment!
He's a kick sometimes.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Shhh! It's a surprise!

We are doing a shop revamp - changing the look, the sections, and adding new stuff. It should be done by the end of the weekend.

In the meantime, I want to share some items from Etsy sellers also in the greater Portland, Oregon metro area.

Cofy is a sweetheart. http://www.etsy.cofygirl.etsy.com/ She does wonderful felted knit items.














Purple Daizie is another great person. http://www.etsy.purpledaizie.etsy.com/ She has some cute jewejlry, but her drawings are absolutely amazing!




Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Variation




I am currently working on a variation of the Blue Rose.


In this case, I addached the second color in a different location, so that two full rounds of petal stick up, instead of the single round in Blue Rose.




The center flower is done with two strands held together - one strand is a light rose, the other a medium rose, to give added depth to the flower.


After 8 rounds of green, I picked back up witht he two-tones rose colors.


I'll post an update when it is complete.



Update: Here it is, completed.




Monday, September 8, 2008

A love-hate relationship


I have a love-hate relationship with sock. I love making the first sock, but always suffer from SSS (Second Sock Syndrom) witht he second one. And I have yet to learn the technique of doing both socks at once.






I am trying to finish up the second sock in this set so I can move on to other projects. These socks are a gift for a friend of the family.


I am actually a bit father than this pic now. I am almost to the toe decrease, which means that I should be done with them today.


I hope!



Update: They are done! Time to start something new.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Friday, September 5, 2008

Blue Rose afghan






The afghan is almost finished. I have just started on the edging.






The edge color is a silvery-grey. You can see it better in this close-up. It will be more noticable once the edging is completed.
It should be finished tonight, and listed on Etsy tomorrow, when I have sunlight to take better pictures.


Busy day

Got a really busy day today, not a lot of time to post.

However, I did want to take a moment to ask everyone to please check out the Blog Roll to the right of your screen, and take a look at some fantasic blogs. Most are crafts related, but not all.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

New projects



We have several new projects in the works around here. Currently I am working on a crochet afghan in shades of blue with a light floral motif.




The afghan is worked from the center out, with a rose in the center. As the rest of the main body is done in a double crochet, it should provide lots of warmth. It's also an odd shape - instead of a circle or square, it's an octagon.




In other news, my teen son is taking Art this year in school. I am curious to see what he comes up with.


Update - the afghan has reached 22" across. Sorry for the lousy picture!






Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Back to school

It's that time again. Kids heading back to school.

I cannot believe my little ones, my babies, started 8th grade today.

Where has the time gone???

On the other hand, that frees up my days. I get more quiet time to work on things.