Patttern: Rio Dances on the Sand

I crossed out one pattern on my long list of patterns to complete and publish. I just finished and posted Rio Dances on the Sand onto my Ravelry Store. I also sent a copy to all the people who worked on the project for JayJay’s baby. (I hope I didn’t miss anyone!)

I keep saying that I’m going to do a mini rehaul of Crafty Diversions to include pattern sales on this site, but I don’t know when that will be. (Yikes! I’m a liar now!) In the meantime, Rio is available in my Ravelry store, and I’ll probably also sell it on my Etsy Shop, when I get around to creating a new listing.I decided to provide images of the pages of the actual pattern so that people can see how neatly arranged everything is. Of course, to protect some of the proprietary details, the images are saved in a very small resolution, and if necessary, I covered some of the images.

I also discovered (doh!) that I could put password-protected protections on the pdf files, including creating a password for people to open the file, and limiting access to the file, such as limiting the copying of images within the file. I’m definitely learning as I go. While I did not require passwords for the Ravelry sales, I have since required passwords to files I sell/send via Etsy sales. Also, now all my pdfs, including the ones available for free downloads have been secured with limitations on editing, printing and access.

Right now, I am working on a bunch of other patterns — some of which are essentially done, but I’m just waiting for good photos. I also have a hat I’m working on and hope to try again and submit to Knitty.

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Glad To Be Back!

I must apologize, for the blog disappearing act. The hubs had to upgrade some server stuff (stuff I don’t understand), so I wasn’t able to post anything for a while, nor were folks able to access the site. Thanks for all your patience and for blog readers/visitors who emailed me about your inability to access the patterns and for waiting.

The most exciting update that I have is that I FINALLY finished editing Twister and posted it for sale on Ravelry. I’m still working on adding more, but please do visit my Ravelry Pattern Store, where you can find Twister for sale, and some of my free patterns on a handy and pretty pdf download.

I also reformatted and added new instructions for the Yarn Swift on a pdf. The formatted pdf swift pattern is only $1.99 and contains an extra set of instructions for a lazy susan swift not available in the html version. Don’t worry, the html version is still available on this blog for free, but I decided to charge the miniscule amount for the pdf version because of the time it took to reformat (not to mention all the hours spent writing it in the first place), and hopefully, it’ll help pay for some of the website fees.

For non-Ravelers, I also posted Twister for sale on my Etsy shop. Hopefully, soon I will be able to figure out how to post the pattern for sale on the blog as well. I guess I have to learn really quickly how to do that.

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Stuffed

Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of stuffed that you get post-holiday. Out of control allergies + cold from flu shot = major cold. Boo! I thought that at least being in bed I could catch up on some knitting, but my head and chest is so clogged that I can’t really do anything requiring coordination and concentration.

I did have a nice holiday though. A friend from high school with whom I recently reconnected came over on Thursday night. Then, a bunch of friends came over on Friday for a dumpling / potsticker wrapping party. We even made the skins from scratch!

The one productive thing that I did today was to relist some stuff in my etsy shop. I’ve been severely neglecting the shop and have not posted anything new. I do have stuff, but I haven’t gotten around to photographing them. You’d think that relisting is simple, just clicking a button. It generally is, but I have been without internet for nearly 2 days! waaaahhhh! My wireless connection decided to go kaput and I’ve been trying to fix it in between naps to no avail. I’m not computer whiz, so I just now discovered and realized that I can plug my laptop to the network.

Anyway, I relisted some of my buttons:

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Hats and Headbands

Since I forgot to photograph the Hunter’s Orange hat that made for Linh’s husband, she took some for me. It turns out that Nick’s head is huge. I had already made it big, but apparently I erred.

Being a hunter who grew up in a village in Arkansas, I guess I half-expected that I’d get a photo of Nick posing. However, this photo really makes me cringe and uncomfortable, no matter how much I love Linh and Nick. That’s one large hunting arrow — too big for this former 10+ year vegetarian who still has problems eating some meat.

On a lighter note, my sister and her friends were sweet enough to model the reversible headbands they had bought from me. Thanks!!

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In Recovery

Just when I thought I was finally nearing the end of my recovery from Aubrey’s wedding, I got hit with some crafty deadlines.

First of all, the wedding, veil, and flowers all turned out fabulously. Of course, the bride was glowing, gorgeous and flawless. We were all relieved and elated that the famously klutzy bride did not fall or trip on the uneven grounds of the nature preserve — not once! Whew! Seriously, this is a lady who trips on air on a flat level surface. However, the bride did not lose a special Aubrey touch: She lost her garter, which slipped off her leg somewhere, and she lost an earring, which she later found with a flower from her bouquet inside her bra.

Above: me and Linh. I don’t have any photos of the gorgeous arrangements. I hope Linh blogs them soon!

Above: The knitters! It was really nice seeing some of the knitters dressed up for a change. We rarely see each other looking spiffy and not covered in yarn and fiber fuzz.

Soon after the wedding, I realized that I had an upcoming deadline for a contest that I wanted to participate in. Did I ever mention that I’m trying to do something for an Etsy contest? I had originally planned on entering the 3 maximum allowable entries per person, but it looks like I will only be able to do one before the June 15 deadline.

As I was planning out the contest entries, the author of an upcoming book on recycled sweaters contacted me about some of my project/idea submissions. She and her editor liked the things I submitted and they requested that I send them finished projects and descriptions ASAP. So I spent the week after the wedding getting the projects finished and mailed off. In all, I think I sent in about 6-7 projects. From what I can tell, it appears that the book will be some sort of anthology of projects from various crafters/artists. Hopefully, they will select at least one of my projects.

Wish me luck on both (I think the Etsy contest is a longshot though.)!

Things finally appear to be slowing down a little from the recent flurry of miscellaneous crafty activities. Maybe now I’ll have more time to devote to knitting and spinning. I haven’t done much of either. I had been making great progress on a double knitted hat and was near-ready to decrease. Then, I realized that my image was not right. I failed to check as I knitted and knitted. What’s more is that I lacked foresight in planning the design image, so I ended up with a backwards design on one side. *sigh* That’s the Zen of Knitting.

Not having time to knit also means no time to spin — I still don’t think I have more than 6 yards of the alpaca lace I started nearly 4 weeks ago. I DO have some new spinning-related news though! I will keep you all in suspense until I can photograph the great news. 😉

Well, before I get to do more spinning and knitting, I do have to do more sewing. I need to make more headbands for the shop. In the next couple of weeks, I will also be making more of my Fortune Cookie purses (like this one I made for Aubrey) for the shop and for two custom orders I received at the wedding.

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If Only for a Moment

I woke to this morning to find one of my items featured on the front page of Etsy. Unfortunately, being on the front page can last from a few hours to 1-2 days, and I think mine was a few hours. It’s no longer on the front page, and I failed to capture the image. Darn! Here’s the image of the collection that was featured though:

Lately I have been sewing away, not just in Aubrey’s sweatshop, but also in my own. I’ve spent the last 2 weeks designing and tweaking a couple of purse patterns. I made one for Aubrey, but I forgot to take photos of if before giving it to her.

These two bags below are for my godmother and my stepmother. I decided to let them decide between the two of them which one they want:

I’m call the first design “Gigi” and the second one “Fortune Cookie.” I currently have another “Gigi” in the same striped outer fabric but with a fun martini print lining in my etsy shop.

I also made these 2 headbands for the shop, but of course, I also made 2 additional ones for myself to wear. 🙂

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Dalai Llama

Unfortunately, that’s not his name. His name is Cinnamon, and he’s a bonafide camera hog. Cinnamon (right) is one of several llamas that Aubrey’s future mother-in-law has on her property. The news on the grapevine is that Cinnamon and all his friends are due for a haircut soon. You know what that means, right? Llama fleece and fiber to play with and spin!! Lots of fiber! The other llamas are pretty friendly as well, or so they seem. I was a little wary of making any sudden movements, because getting spat on by a llama is certainly not on my to-do list.

This past Thursday, hubby and I went to a Galaxy game with JayJay and her spouse, and my friend Linh and her spouse. It was in the middle of a sudden cold windstorm, only we were all too stupid to bring a jacket. If it weren’t for all the freebie t-shirts, we would’ve frozen. It was a nasty windstorm that knocked out the power in many areas. We really could’ve used a llama fleece for warmth! While the boys enjoyed the game, the girls without the sexy David Beckham to oogle, turned our attention to knitting — well, as best as we could with our frozen fingers. JayJay and I both worked on baby hats, and Linh (right) worked to finish her very first knitting project, also a baby hat.

Halfway through her visit Linh decided that she wanted to learn, so of course, I was more than happy to oblige. She wants to be able to knit clothing and accessories for her future children. She’s a pro already– here stitches are all pretty even and she really only dropped a 3-4 times. Not bad for a first time, especially working on dpns!! And as you can see to the left, Linh resorted to wearing her unfinished baby hat due the sharp winds. Good thing wool is stretchy!

As far as my own recent crafty endeavors, this past week, I made 3 baby hats for my inventory stockpile for future craft fairs. I’m otherwise stuck in between knitting WIPs. I ran out of one of the yarns for my entrelac stole, so I can only admire it in its unfinished state for now. I’m also working on a lace stole for a friend, and am attempting to write my first lace panel design. We’ll see how that goes — it doesn’t seem very promising at this time. If I am itching to knit, I guess I could always try to tackle the many old UFOs….nah!

In shop activity, I also recently listed these:

Left: Reversible fabric headband featuring different Asian prints on either side. Right: Fabric -covered buttons

Left: Fabric covered keychain with a genuine Indonesian batik fabric. Right: A fully lined and stabilized wristlet clutch with 2 interior pockets.

Left: Another Liana kit in Hot, Hot, Hot! colorway. Right: A Dye-No-Mite Surprise Yarn pack. I’m offering people a handpainted yarn package deal If you buy, what you get will definitely be at least 25% less than buying it separately. Details here.

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Surprise Visitor

A few days ago, I received a call from my friend Linh at the same time I was about to pick up the phone to let her know that I’d be sending her the baby booties she commissioned me to make as a gift for her pregnant sister-in-law. Her response? “Don’t bother sending them…I’ll pick them up in a few days.” Huh? She’s in the Windy City! As it turns out, she and her hubby decided to take a month-long road trip, with southern California as their primary destination. I love it when my good friends come for a visit.

Today, Linh and I dragged her hubby with us to a massive fabric store. Then I helped Linh, who has no sewing skills, execute a prototype for dressing a vase for a wedding she’s doing. There was lots of hammering and grommets too. Tomorrow, I will be “forcing” them to go to my knitting group with me for a little while so that we can get the yummy gelato made daily at a local cafe. Yum! Also, Linh will be offering her expertise and creativity to assist Aubrey in figuring out wedding florals for Aubrey’s pending nuptials.

In crafty news, I picked up my entrelac scarf/wrap again and am making steady progress (prev. post). I’ll have to remember to take a progress photo and post. I’m also nearly done with a swatch of the sunspots lace in Barbara Walker‘s 3rd Treasury for the Walker Treasury Project (WTP). The WTP is such a great idea, so I volunteered to do 4 pattern swatches for the WTP, but I haven’t even finished the first one. Kind of sad, isn’t it? In my defense (not a real defense, more like carelessness), I’ve had to undo many many rows as I worked the swatch. It’s definitely not something you can knit mindlessly. Well, volunteers get 3 months to finish their swatches anyway, so I have 2 more months to complete all the swatches. I also donated some stuff for the WTP contest. So if you are thinking about signing up to do some swatches, you should do it this month!

Today, I sold a couple of items, but it seems that my customers were having problems with PayPal. Weird. So, technically, I haven’t gotten paid yet. I also finally just got around to posting these fabric buttons in the shop. The purple flower one is from a genuine cotton batik I bought in Indonesia. The yellow flower one is from an Asian print fabric. I will be posting some needle cases later this week as well.

Project: Baby T-strap booties
Pattern: A modified mary jane
Yarn: Valley Yarns, Goshen in Ballet Pink; 48% Peruvian Cotton/46% Modal/6% Silk; 92yds/50g
Needles: US #6
Notions: 4 pretty little buttons.

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