To market, to market....

with an organic market bag! Knit from cotton, linen, soy, or bamboo, these convenient little bags roll up to store easily in your purse or trunk, and expand EXPONENTIALLY!! I have two in my trunk, and have been known to fit the result of an entire grocery trip in them: a couple 2 liters, oranges, a few TV dinners, box of cereal, cookies, bread, peanut butter, coffee..... you get the idea. The design allows the bag to stretch like crazy, but remain strong enough to handle the weight.

Here are a couple of the market bags I've knit so far. Tonight I'm starting another --- it'll be granny apple green with a stripe or two of green and white variegated yarn for a different twist.

Another market bag by Oat Couture

I paused in working on my Mythos sweater the past few days to whip up a Stow Away Shopping Bag by Oat Couture. It is by far my favorite market bag pattern and was well worth the pattern purchase, as I've made a dozen or so as gifts over the past two years. Not only does this bag expand exponentially when stuff is put inside, but when not in use, it can fold into itself like one of those parkas that you turn into the hood and snap in place. It's so cool and compact!

This time the bag is for Christine, a student and my neighbor across the street. She loves pink and purple, so off I went to Joann Fabrics last Saturday, to purchase some cotton yarn in those colors.

(Side note: I prefer to knit this pattern in cotton or linen. It just makes sense to knit a "tool" for organic living from organic fiber. I didn't always make that mental connection, so if you use Ravelry and check out some of the other market bags I've made, I used some synthetics and blended fibers. But now that I really thought about the whole purpose of these reusable bags, cotton or linen is all I use. Besides, it's good for these bags to be washable, too.)

So back to my original story, I purchased Lion Cotton in purple, and Sugar N Cream cotton in a variegated pink. I realized when I took it from the bag Sunday afternoon to start her bag that the Sugar N Cream said "Scents" on the label, because the yarn is scented like laundry sheets. Hmmm.... Novel, but a little strange. It wasn't a bad scent, but after knitting with it for an extended period of time, I got a bit tired of having that scent IN my nose all the time. I think I would pass on the "Scents" line in the future.

I decided to use the purple for the base/pocket, and the handles (which I made about 6 stitches larger than called for so Christine can put the bag over her shoulder if she wishes), and pink for the rest. But as I began the bag body, I felt rebellious and changed back to purple for a single 4-row pattern repeat, so there is now a stripe in the bag. I rather like it that way, and can imagine doing more 2-color bags in a similar fashion.

The bag itself always knits up rather quickly, which makes it the perfect project to grab when I'm feeling impatient (hahahaha) or recently unproductive. Three days after casting on, I have a bag! All that is left to do is attach the pink button to close the pocket, and tie off the yarn ends. I know it's often considered cheating, but I simply tie the loose ends into a knot (only on these market bags!). I wove in the ends on my first one, but within a dozen or so uses of the bag the ends were already slipping out (and I hadn't washed the bag yet). I don't want that to happen to someone who doesn't know what to do with ends. So I tie them; at least the recipient knows for certain that the bag won't unravel.

Now I remember why I prefer to knit.....

Lately I've been hit with a clean/organize bug. It's led me to pull out all my old started projects, no matter what the craft, and sort through. The ones I've acknowledged I'll never go back to, for whatever reason, I've let go; now they can't taunt me and make me feel guilty whenever I uncover them.

The ones that still have a chance, I've put into two large baskets (one for fabric, one for everything else). Every time I feel like working on a project, I've decided I have to pick from the basket. That in and of itself is difficult enough. Just last night I was updating some pictures of my FOs (knitted Finished Objects) on Ravelry (read: social networking for knitters/crocheters) and the next thing I know, I have inadvertantly found no fewer than 3 more knit projects I'm just itching to cast on! I even caught myself up in my craft room, staring at my yarn stash, debating which wool would be best for the cabled pidge I loved!

However, I shook myself out of new project reverie and headed downstairs to open my project basket for something to occupy my hands while watching the Viking/Jets game. Out came a small cross-stitch piece of a tiny teddy bear holding a stork sack --- a piece for a new baby. It's over halfway done. So I set out to make some progress.... and was quickly reminded why it is that I prefer to knit: because you can see progress! Granted, there are some knit projects that just never seem to grow (like the socks I blogged about the other day), but usually you can see something happening. On the other hand, cross-stitch grows at a painfully slow rate!

OMG -- endless smilies!!!

You would think that a blog called The Smile Spot, for a business named Smile Creations Crafts, would be unquestionably all about smileys.

And I am. Don't get me wrong, I still adore the little round cheery faces.

But if you knit with me in the Tuesday night knitting group, you will recall that I was rather sick of crocheting them. After 16 sets of yellow smiley coasters in about 6 weeks, I was crochet-smiley'd out. It was a scary realization, actually, and made me question my smily-ness.


So I have remedied my anti-smiley sentiment . . . with a rainbow of smiling coasters! Smiley cotton coasters are back in my life (and my shop!) and better than ever in a rainbow of bright happy colors! Yellow (yes, I had to make a few), red, pink, blue, lime, purple. And instead of dictating what type of smiley day YOU'RE having, I offer you the choice. Now when you purchase a set of smiley coasters, you can customize your set by selecting which colors you want included. Same price, new options. A nice way to start the summer, don't you think?

On cooler weather and current projects

Jacket weather took me by surprise -- being pre-occupied makes you much less aware of your surroundings until shivering sets in! But this morning felt so crisp and fresh..... It makes me want to cuddle into a warm sweater and sit on my balcony and knit. I'm thinking a nice soft blanket. I don't have a pattern in mind yet, and most likely I won't select one but just knit as I feel, perhaps some random striping. I have nearly 2000 yards of lovely soft wool in ice blue and chocolate brown. A surprising color combination, but they are beautiful together!

Some projects other than the blanket I feel coming on are pending first:

• As the holidays are fast approaching (ack! where does time go again?!?), I will be working to stuff and "dress" some knitted snow men and snow women. I'll also be making sure to have a wide selection of warm and cozy scarves and hats for the winter months. Some will be posted soon to my website (I hope!).
• Another important current project is a dog blankie. I received an order last week for a custom "quilted" blanket for a dog, and just bought fabric for it last night. The request involved chocolate brown and rust fabrics -- the rust has tiny ivory dog bones printed all over!
• Finally, I will be sewing together some more paperback book covers/carriers. I still have some cut and ready to go, but had been waiting until after a few craft shows to actually assemble them. Now it's time -- stock is getting low and there are more shows on the way! The covers make great stocking stuffers, but we'll discuss cute stocking stuffer ideas a little later on.

I've been up to...

finishing several projects. Yippee. You know how much I like finishing (NOT!). But... the closer I get to my first show of the year (right now the one at the VA Hospital on June 6th), the more I have been thinking "I need to finish some of the items I have started."

So here are some pics (as most are still works in progress):

several fabric and knitted blankets

a slew of paperback book covers in various fabrics

a herd (??) of bears --- Smileville Bears, that is --- preparing to be stuffed and assembled

Smiling coasters and a new retail opportunity

I have created something totally new... A smiling coaster! Recently I wanted to make something for a friend of mine... something that would make her smile even when her day was rotten. And so I picked up a crochet hook and a skein each of yellow and black cotton, and created a smiley!

Thing was, her smiley turned out a little big (kinda a smiley on steroids). Now that I had calculated out the pattern stitches, I wanted something a little easier to fit on a desk... so I shrunk the smiley just a tad, and now I have a smiley, perfectly sized for a coffee mug or glass of iced tea... (this pic, by the way, is a VERY good example of why you should never take important pics with a cell phone!)

Bad pic aside, I will be adding some of these happy little circles of absorbency to my Etsy site soon (just need a day or two to make some more and take better pics), so stay tuned. Also, my mom suggested that I expand my smiley idea to make an "emotional" set of coasters... four coasters, each with a different expression. The variations may take a bit longer to figure out, but I'm working on it. I think we'll have angry, surprised, and sad to the happy smiley, but who knows? Once I'm happy with the emotional lot, I'll post their pics here, too.

And before I say goodnight, an FYI (that explains the other half of my subject line for today) --- The coasters will make their first "show" debut in June at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Elsmere, DE. The VA Hospital has set aside a space on the second floor (outside the canteen) where selected vendors can sell their goods. I have been working with the manager for a while now, and just today got confirmation of 5 selling dates (I'm going to try to add more later). As of now, I will set up "shop" at the VA Hospital on the following dates: June 6, October 23 and 24, November 5, and December 18.

It's snowing...

How cool! I was working in my little room upstairs, and had to take out the camera because..... there are fat puffy white flakes falling from the sky!

Perfectly fitting, since this morning I was working on some snowpeople. Thanks to my mom (who knits snowperson bodies and then gets really creative doing the hats and scarves), I have a whole slew of snowpeople to assemble and stuff! This particular group is headed to the Vulcan's Rest in Chesapeake City, MD, where some of my handcrafted items are being displayed for sale. The one wearing a green & brown hat is a bit different. Knit in yarn slightly shaded with pinks & lavenders, this snowperson looks like the sun is glistening off of her snowy body.












If you'd like one of my snowpeople to brighten your home and heart (they are guaranteed not to melt!!), click here to order on my website. You can also purchase in person at either the Vulcan's Rest Fibers, Chesapeake City, MD, or the Mansion House Christmas Shoppe, Bear, DE.

100% Texas Wool

So it says on the label for Solana, this gorgeous 100% wool worsted weight yarn I bought from Brooks Farm. I love this colorway (thanks, YarnMama, for finding it!). This yarn is so soft, but as we stood in the booth fondling the yarns, I just couldn't seem to find the one that spoke to me. All the colors were pretty, but the one perfect one in which I could find inspiration..... It was elusive, but YarnMama (who has a great eye for color!) pointed out this one, which was half-hidden toward the bottom of the rack. Perfect!



Shepherd's Wool (by Stonehedge Fiber Mill) was another YarnMama find. The people in the booth weren't very welcoming (didn't even say hello), but their yarns were very well priced! YarnMama braved the chilly ambiance purchased anyway. When we were looking at our new stash on Saturday night, I realized that I was a silly, silly girl not to snap some of this soft wool up! So I went back on Sunday, and this time the people in the booth were pleasant. Perhaps they were very tired on Saturday by the time YarnMama and I reached them! Anywho, my color choices were Misty Blue and Milk Chocolate. They are destined to become a striped shawl, based on what I learned in my "Shaping Shawls: Triangles and Trapezoids" class.

This is the way we bake our wreaths, bake our wreaths, bake our wreaths...

...so early in the morning.

I have no idea what nursery rhyme or children's song goes like that, but I remember is singing it in the mornings with my mom: "This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth..." What that has to do with making wreaths, I will never know. I cannot explain the strange connections my brain makes, especially when I still feel sleep deprived. (I've figured out why, by the way, but that's a story for another day, maybe.)

I realized that I don't have many wreaths ready for the winter holidays, and so undertook the first step: inserting pinecones into the wreath frames. This is sticky business indeed; all the sap from the pinecones gets EVERYWHERE! And it only comes off with nail polish remover, at least as far as I have learned.


Once the pinecones are nestled into the frames, we bake them for several top-secret reasons! :) Although I love the way they look when done, this step is the stinkiest!! I try to do it only when Dan isn't home, so he won't wrinkle his nose and remind me how much it smells (as if I could forget!). I open all the windows on the first floor (the cats love it and go nuts, trying to sit in each and every window!), and turn on the fans. It'll still take until dark to get rid of the heavy pine-y odor. I wish I could take a picture of the thick smoke that's filling the downstairs right now!

Getting to all the wrong things

Ever find that some days you're really surprisingly productive, but not with regard to ANY time-sensitive tasks that you may have on your plate?!

That's how yesterday felt to me. I have a booth at a festival, Newark Community Days, on Sunday. I need to get some things organized for it. I'll be selling some of my hat/scarf/fingerless glove sets (but they all need to have my clothing label sewn inside). And since I designed a new way to tag my items for sale, I need to re-tag every item I'm planning to bring to Community Days. But instead, I did other stuff.

It's not as though what I worked on WASN'T important ('cuz some of it was). I mean, I updated my supply inventory, and worked to finish a crochet purse that I've had on the back burner for awhile now. And I made the eyelet shrug grow another 2.5". Althought updating my stash and FOs on Ravelry probably doesn't fit into "important..."

*sigh* Today is a new day; maybe it will bode better for the imperative tasks (I REALLY don't want to spend Saturday doing that stuff! Our pool is still open and I want to use it!).

Distracted by instant gratification

Or something like that. The eyelet shawl, which is finally about halfway done, is feeling like it's the slowest project this side of the Mississippi.

So I'm taking a break... of sorts... with several quicker projects. I cast on for a novelty scarf the other night. I'm going to alternate bright blue/glitter and black sparkly yarns. They are both Anny Blatt, and were part of the yarn gifted to my knitting group a few months back. The most fun thing about this project (so far) is that the light bulb went out while I was knitting, and during the thirty seconds it took for my eyes to adjust, I looked down at my lap and noticed that the scarf was glowing. Turns out the blue Anny Blatt has glow-in-the-dark specks in it (the glowy parts are the ones that look cream/yellowy in the pic). Cool!



Then last night I cast on for a custom shrug in Rhapsodie. I'm really enjoying this yarn. It doesn't split, it's soft, it makes big stitches, and the color variations are quite pretty. I chose a simple basketweave pattern for the shrug ... to make it interesting without detracting from the yarn itself. Got nearly 6" of the shrug knit last night while watching old Friends episodes. Gosh how I miss that show!

Stitches East Homework ..... DONE!

Yup, that's right. I'm celebrating, cuz all my swatches are DONE!! And (this is a bonus), I was able to use leftover yarn pieces for the swatches. I had some acylic on hand, and no idea what I was going to use it for; these swatches were the perfect solution. Now I can leave the swatches knit so that, paired with my notes from class, it'll be like having the class whenever I have a question.

What did I need to swatch? Not all that much, I guess. I needed four different swatches for my first class (Friday morning) called Rolled Endings. I'm looking forward to this class, and learning some cool new ways to cast off projects.
Then I needed one swatch on DPNs for my third class (Saturday morning) called Build a Better Bag. Can't wait to learn some tricks for making bag-shaped bags, and having them be sturdy without felting. Nothing against felting, mind you, just a) haven't done it yet and b) don't want to do it on every bag, obviously.

Now I'm ready to start on a custom shrug request. The recipient simply requested the color (orange) and left the pattern up to me. Oooh, fun! I found the perfect yarn at the LYS sale recently: Plassard Rhapsodie in orange/brown/pumpkin. I can't wait to start on it. Now to my pattern dictionary to find a nice pattern to show off the pretty colors!

Of eyelet shawls and potluck dinners

The two things that are most top-of-mind right now: eyelet shawls and potluck dinners.

My current project, a pretty eyelet shawl in pink Ocean yarn, feels like it's finally moving along. I've been working on it for a few weeks now (although I must confess some of my time has also been distracted with other, shorter-term projects), and I've today reached the halfway point. Thanks to having no shade in my backyard, I staying inside to avoid a sunburn and watched several episodes of one of my fave TV shows, 24, while knitting away. Here are some pics of my progress.



As for potluck dinners, the LYS, Stitches with Style, is sponsoring a knit and eat tonight. Who knows what I'll eat -- it's all up to what my fellow knitters bring. But it promises to be a fun night. I made a baked macaroni casserole, which I believe is one of my all-time favorite pasta dishes. So simple, so cheesy, so YUM!

Free-style crochet

I have embarked on a new and interesting journey... free-style crochet. There is no pattern, not even in my head, for this new project. Just the ultimate goal of having a shawl/wrap. Each row I figure out a different crochet stitch to use. I want it to have a nice combination of solidity with airy openness.

It began with a ball of Plymouth Yarns Eros, a pretty ladder ribbon yarn in blues/greens which was a free gift at the WWKIP Day last month. I attempted to create a poncho with this yarn using the pattern that was gifted with it. However, I had a doozy of a time trying to knit with this ribbon, I guess because the pattern called for quite a few yarn overs, and it's difficult enough to knit in the proper places with the ladder, let alone with several loops of it all smooshed together on the needles.

So I thought, "Self, why don't you see if you can crochet with it?" And since crochet uses up more yarn than knit, I thought it would be a good idea to add other yarns to the mix. And so my cool colors free-style wrap was born. I added minty green Filtes SAS Kim yarn and some royal blue shiny cord/ribbon yarn (not sure what it is; it was an unlabeled part of the stash gifted to our knitting group). The contrast of colors is really pretty neat, and I'm pleased so far, but I won't be able to tell if it's really worked out until I'm done.

So far it's 53" -- which is just about as long as I'd hoped. I began with the green, then went into Eros, and just now started a row (or two, who knows?) of the royal blue. This is how it looks so far:

Wreaths... and yarn in the heat

Since it was blazing hot here in DE yesterday, I decided to put away the yarn and work on door wreaths.

I had received a custom order for two wreaths to match some silk house flags, and worked first on finishing those. Here they are, each with the flag they're to match. The wreaths are basically the same (they had to be since they'll both be up at the same time), but the bows are different colors and designs, and placed differently.






Then I thought I'd work on some wreaths that I had planning out awhile back, but never actually assembled. However, despite the heat, the call of yarn was too strong to resist, and I knitted anyway. I spent some time on the raspberry Silky Look bandeau top I've had in the works for awhile and got it nearly done. All that's left now is the finishing (uh-oh!).

I truly seem to work in spurts... I'll prepare a project, but then get bored of all the prep work (or finishing work, as is the case for some knit/crochet) and put it aside until I'm in the mood for it again. *sigh* Is there a 12-step program for procrastination? LOL

Also, I found (or re-found, as I knew of it before, but lost the URL) the blog site for Keet, a fellow local artist like me who has items currently on display at the Curiosity Shoppe. You should check her out if you get a chance -- she makes really nice quilts and whimsical framed mini-quilts.

Blueberry Cannolis

You may ask what blueberry cannolis have to do with Smile Creations Crafts, my website, or anything crafty. The answer is: NOTHING!

However, yesterday I had a booth at the Hammonton Red White & Blueberry Festival in Hammonton, NJ (the blueberry capital of the world!). It was a GREAT event -- the weather was sunny and perfect (and not too hot), there were TONS of people in attendance, and they were selling the YUMMIEST blueberry cannolis!! And that's what blueberry cannolis have to do with it. :)

In crafty news, I will also have a booth at Newark, DE's Liberty Day celebration on July 4, and hope to see you there. I also pray for good weather; I am hearing some nasty rumors about increased humidity causing thunderstorms.

I am putting the finishing touches on some new, never been sold at Smile Creations Crafts items for the event, including a cute little teeny-bikini, and some beaded halter tops. Here is an example of the halter tops.

Back to my knitting roots

Today I visited University of Pennsylvania, to knit with the women who taught me to knit a few years ago. Every so often I try to join them in their weekly Thursday knitting circle. It's always good to see them, and share our projects.

This time I was able to show them my FINISHED first pair of socks!! Yes, you read that right... the pair of socks I've been knitting for a gift are done. And just in time, too. No final pictures, though, until the recipient gets to see them and try them on. I'm crossing my fingers that they fit, as I didn't have actual foot measurements and kinda went by the average length, etc for the size shoe the person wears.

After showing off the socks, I began working on a cute little crochet halter top. It's a bright sunny yellow --- a yarn called Scooter that's a cotton/rayon/nylon blend. Tiny shimmery nylon threads are twisted with the fibers and give Scooter a luminescent quality. I may not have enough of the yellow Scooter, but I have some skeins in a really sweet denim color, so I may do the edging in the denim; we'll see.

Pre-occupied -- with a database

Hello! Please forgive me as I've been lax in posting ... and may continue to be for a few days. I invested in a software program called Craft Manager that is designed specifically for craft business owners. It promises to help track my inventory and supplies and give me lovely reports to help keep on top of my business. I am thrilled to death, and of course, really into getting all my data in and settled and making it work. I have 30 days to determine if it will do all I need for it to do. Wish me luck!

Update on yarn stash organization and sock project

Thanks to Craft Critique, who included me in their special "Organizational Carnival" June 13-14th.

An update on said yarn stash organization:
Those of you who read the original post know that I had a serious shelf mishap a few weeks ago as I began organizing my office area, (including my yarn stash!).

Thanks to a handy husband, all is well. :) It turned out that the shelf hangers that came with the furniture were not strong enough to hold all of my yarn! So my husband got super-duper hangers and fixed that problem. Now the yarn divider is at eye-level (the better to admire my pretties) and the ribbon yarns (of which I have a ton!) and project left-overs are on the bottom shelves.


And the socks I'm knitting are well on their way. Both have heels now, and one has been worked all the way to the toes! I have two weeks left to finish (they are a birthday gift)... can I do it?