Okay. So I had a busy weekend this past weekend. Cousin's wedding on Saturday then work on Sunday..... Tiring weekend. Thankfully I had Monday off to get some much needed shut eye! Since I had the day off, I decided to work on the Christmas Shawl that I've been making for the past few days. One and a quarter skein later, it's well on it's way. Hopefully it won't need all three skeins that I bought, but just to be safe right? Just like Mom always said "Better to be safe, than sorry." But when I'm done, I'm thinking of having drawstrings on it, or a button and having it tied together that way. Still trying to figure that part out. But here's an updated picture of it to show everyone: Almost there! Hopefully it doesn't take to much longer! I can't wait to finish this puppy! I do have to admit, I LOVE the colour of the yarn. And you will never guess what the name of it is called.... Give up?.... Mistletoe! Once I told my dad, he had a bit of a chuckle. Seems suiting. Since it's a Christmas yarn. Any who.... I will keep everyone updated when it's complete.... and what I decide to do to tie it together so it won't fall off.
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Just so we are all clear, Red Heart is my go to yarn/crochet hook brand. I love their products because it's durable, easy to work with and will not fray at any point in the project. Another thing that I love about them is that with each skein of yarn that you buy, you get a free pattern (I'm sure they just call it free, but it's included in the price of the yarn. Tricky bastards!) But the one thing that I DON'T like about them is that with their larger skeins of yarn, they don't even provide the name of the colour as they always do with their regular sized skein. Why bring this up? The yarn that I posted about earlier (The GINORMOUS blue one) had no name on it for the colour! I absolutely love the colour and now that I have no idea what it's called. I tried to look on the website to see if there was a way to input the dye lot number to find out the colour name, but nope! No such thing exists. Now I COULD spend a few hours looking on the website to look for it. But that would just be a little to crazy. And I'm beginning to be a crazy crochet lady. And I'm okay with that. I just hope that I find out at some point the name of that colour so I can buy it again.
Insert groan here...... Two presents that I consider done enough that I can cross two people off of my Christmas list are also the two presents that I have on my work-in-progress list (In future posts, I may reference work-in-progress as wip, just FYI). And the two people that are on my work-in-progress list...... are a couple (my mom's sister and her husband). I have ALMOST finished their presents. To the extent that I need more yarn to finish it...... Really? Really? REALLY? Just when I thought I had enough yarn to finish it..... I don't. Sad realization made today. At least I can cross one name off from my work-in-progress list now.... My mom. I can't wait to finish it for her. She's going to absolutely love the present that I'm making her. Remember the BIG ball of yarn that I posted a picture of earlier? Yea, the blue one?? Well, I still have a bunch of that left, so I'm going to be using some of that for my mom's present. Then again for my grandfather. Two birds.... One stone. Well..... In this case, four presents..... One ball of yarn. Score! And for all those crafters out there, you know how when you're using up some yarn and when you're almost done, it just looses it's shape? Three presents in and it STILL hasn't lost it's shape. Well, we'll see after I'm done the third one of course, but it still hasn't lost it's shape. And I only had the "guts" come out once. And to clarify, I refer to the bunch of yarn that comes out as a glob/ massive amount of yarn after you pull out the yarn from the center as the "guts" of the ball/skein. Not to make it sound gross or anything.... Although Halloween is coming up soon..... Hmmmm. Perhaps that it's appropriate for me to say guts? Maybe? No? Not really? Meh. Oh well. Already said it. So. Two more works-in-progresses (wips) and two more actual presents to make. Then off to do some arts and crafts for the labels of the presents! YAY! About time! Hehe! Almost there guys and gals..... Almost there.
Two point in this post! Reader beware!!! Point one: I made my first sale...... And point two: 14 down, three to go! (In case if you're just joining this blog.... I'm making Christmas presents for my family)
So.... A little while ago, I made this hat and scarf for my sister's boyfriend. After a while, I showed it to my mom and she and I agreed that the colour was a little to feminine for him (For any guy really!!). So I decided to keep it for a little bit and think about who to give it to before I decided to sell it to someone else. Thankfully, I didn't post it on Facebook for someone to buy it between this point a few months ago to about two or three days ago when my mom approached me the second time regarding the hat and scarf. When my mom approached me the second time regarding the hat and scarf (She completely forgot about the scarf!), she wanted to know if I had earmarked them for some one or if it was up for sale. I told her that I hadn't earmarked it for someone yet and wasn't thinking about selling it until I knew for sure if it was for someone yet. She then asked me if she could buy it from me. Being the beginner entrepreneur I guess you could kind of call me, I told her that she could. And before I could ask why, she told me that she had one of my cousins still to shop for that lives just outside of Chicago. I happily told her the price, wrote up her receipt the next day for it, and was on my merry way to print out directions for my cousin (or her mom, my mom's little sister) to follow when she washes them. Now, it's just the waiting game until Christmas (or shorty after) to hear about my cousin's reaction when she opens it. And now off to my second point of this post.... Three more presents to go! Finally! It's about time!!! This time, I'm using some left over yarn from a present that I've completed the other day. Well, to be honest, three, since I got enough yarn to do at least three hats made out of the yarn that I will be using for the next present that I will be using. Now the question is.... Should I make a hat or a scarf out of the yarn that I have left??? For all those crafters out there that know how to knit and/or crochet, you know EXACTLY the spot where I am know. You have something in mind, but you're not exactly sure what to make, or you're torn between two projects (maybe more) but you're not exactly sure if you have enough yarn to pull one of them off or not? I'm in that boat right now. I know that I have enough yarn for the scarf idea. It's just if I have enough for a hat that's troubling me. And I'm not about to go out to Walmart or Micheal's to get another skein of yarn if I run out. Hmmmm. The great debate! The ultimate debate if you could say. Post a comment below (Or on my Facebook page!!) with your thoughts. I know what you are all probably thinking. That's one BIG thing of yarn. Am I right or am I right!? You're absolutely, positively...... right. It is pretty big. It was even bigger believe it or not. Not much. But still bigger. It's a grand total of 593 meters..... that's the equivalent of 649 yards!!! For those who enjoy football (American football that is), that's the equivalent of JUST under 6 and a half football fields. (American football fields are 100 yards. Another trivial pursuit tidbit for you!) I was actually debating with myself if I should post a picture of this ball of yarn. But I decided to since it hasn't been made into anything yet. So far, it's made one hat. Just one single hat. And it STILL hasn't looked like I made a dent in it yet. If it has, it's very VERY minimal. I still have one person I know for SURE that I would make a present for out of this yarn. I won't name any names, obviously for the sake of said person reading this at any given point. Thankfully, I'm almost done my list of people who to make for (My work-in-progress list is now at two people, and I still need to make presents for 4 people) with almost EXACTLY three months to spare. Don't worry folks, I'm working on taking pictures of the gifts as I go along and will post them up online after Christmas and I know that everyone has opened and enjoyed their gifts.
So my last post was about me complaining... or whining..... maybe ranting..... whatever you want to call it, about me making a total of 17 presents for my family for Christmas this year. I'm happy to report that I finished one more today!! Well two.... because one of the presents that I counted yesterday was a work-in-progress (well, three yesterday were a work in progress, now down to two). So now I've done a total of 11. 6 more presents to go... who knew that I would be kinda.... maybe.... sorta excited to finish the rest. Finished one HUGE skein of yarn today for one of my presents. And for those who aren't exactly the crafty kind here's the www.dictionary.com's definition of skein: Skein: a length of yarn or thread wound on a reel or swift preparatory for use in manufacturing.
There's four other definitions of skein. But I doubt you want to know what it's called when a flock of geese is called when they're in flight or a succession or series of similar or interrelated things...... Well.... I guess I just told you two of those definitions. Who knows. If you're going to play some kind of Trivial Pursuit game, that might come in handy. Anyways. It's good to finally use up some of the yarn that I've been holding onto for several months..... Since June/July...... Maybe even May..... I know, I know. What the heck is this girl thinking about holding onto yarn for several months....?? Right?..... Well, to be honest, I WAS going to use it for Christmas presents.... And now I have! Which is REALLY good on my part. Now I got a new skein of yarn that I'm going to be using for at least one present that I know of for sure. I know that I get an idea of who to make a present for with the rest of the skein. I mean.... The skein is flipping HUGE!!! (Pardon my French for the word "Flipping"). But I do have to admit. I AM on a role now I think. I just think that I needed to get over that little bit of a hump that I had for the past couple of presents that I had to do. Now I'm on the final stretch. Don't worry boys and girls, ladies and gents. I am going to take pictures of each present before I give them to the designated person on Christmas. With that being said, DON'T hold your breath thinking that I am going to post them within the next couple of days. Just like I said in my last post, I'd rather the person see the gift in person before I post it up on here on my slideshow page... Just in case the person sees the website and does a little snooping. Which I wouldn't mind in any other circumstance.... But this case.... A little snooping by accident would be kinda be a blown cover.... Think of it as kinda like a spy...... Once s/he has blown their cover, it's adios amigo!! (And that's as far as my Spanish ability goes, sorry peeps!) So, slowly but surely..... I WILL get all these presents done on time. Person by person, their names are getting crossed off. One less person to make a present for. Just 6 more people to make things for. Just Okay, okay, okay. I have to be brutally honest here. It's coming the end of September. School's back in for many students around the world. We haven't had Halloween or Thanksgiving yet. And I'm talking...... Christmas???? I'm just as *shocked* as everyone who is reading this. Shocked being the operative word. But I do have to say. I've started back in the summer to make sure that I am getting the presents done on time. Not only am I making presents for my parents and two siblings... But I'm making presents for my aunts, uncles, cousins, AND both of my grandparents that live within the GTA. That gives me a grand total of 17 people!!!! And at 10 people in... I'm starting to question myself. Believe you and me, I have been asking myself.... "What the HECK have I gotten myself into????" a lot lately. And when I say a lot.... I mean A LOT!! But I've made it 10 people in (and that includes my two people that are a current work in progress!!). I can't quit now. Just 7 more to go. I wish I could upload the pictures as I go along once I complete each one. But for the sake of the people that I am making the presents for, I'm saving them until after I know that each one has received their gifts this year. I do want to make this clear. I enjoy doing this for my family because I know it will show them how much I care, love, and appreciate them. Even if I do get on some of their nerves some times.
So let's back track for a bit. 10 presents down. 7 more to go. I can do this. I'm doing this because I want to give something EXTRA special this year. This is why the heck I'm doing this!!! First official post...... Quarter nervous..... Quarter curious..... Half amazed. I started my Facebook page on September 14th, then started to work on the website a day later. I'm excited to start this next adventure in my life. To find a way to make a little bit of money from something that I love to do. I'm soooo incredibly excited to start sharing something that I love to do with the world. I hope that things work out with me and this venture that I am partaking in my life right now. Heck.... I might even post some pictures of the gifts that I make for people and/or pictures of orders that people want me to make for them. If you have any questions for me about anything, please let me know through the contact page!!!
All the best, Natalie |
AuthorNatalie lives in southern Ontario in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). She loves to crochet, read, and spend time with friends and family. Archives
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