Only 65 days until Christmas!!

Yikes! For real?!?!?! I didn't believe it, so I counted the days -- and it's true!! Only 65 days until Christmas!!

So what are you waiting for? There are loads of cute, fun, or functional items in my shop that would make great Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers. How about a stuffed, knit snowperson, a fabric bookcover for your favorite reader, or a smiling cotton coaster set? If you need to be a little more frugal this year, there's always the bargain bin, where everything is 25% off! I'll be adding some warm and cozy shawls, and pretty new jewelry items soon, too.

And if you don't see exactly what you're looking for, consider placing a special order. Any orders placed before Thanksgiving are guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas!

FO update

Today I have just a quick FO (finished object) update. I spent Thanksgiving weekend eating yummy food, hanging out with my husband's family, and knitting up a storm. The result: three finished wraps (and not a moment too soon!):
One, knit with gorgeous brown and orange variegated yarn, has been mentioned in this blog before.


This one, made with Skacel Sofa (I love how soft and yummy it is!) was to be a shrug, but suddenly yelled "caplet" as I began to knit.

And this tiny, soft, furry concoction, is a mobius wrap fit for a night on the town (what with it's splashes of glittery silver and all).

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.

Returning to the Curiosity Shoppe

Yes, I have had the honor of being asked into the Curiosity Shoppe's new current showing, beginning Friday (last Friday, that is) and lasting through the end of November. For now, they are displaying and selling some of my jewelery. It was hot off the jeweler's table, so I don't even have pics to upload; you'll just have to make a road trip out to South Street and see for yourself.

Curiosity Shoppe is located at 527 South 4th Street (which means they're just off South, on 4th).

And.... as far as I know now, they will be carrying some of my knit bears, the Smileville Bears, and some shrugs/wraps for the Nov/Dec 2-month rotation. It'll be a great chance to do some last minute holiday shopping!!

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!

Smile Creations Crafts's work for sale in Chesapeake City, MD

Yup, it's very exciting. My work is being displayed/sold at a shop called Vulcan's Rest in Chesapeake City, MD. My husband and I were wandering around in Chesapeake City a few weeks ago, and Dan found it (hooray for wonderful husbands!).

In addition to a huge selection of fiber, the owner likes to feature completed projects by local artists, and has thus turned her shop into a fiber and gifts store. If you happen to be there, look for my work. Some items she currently has for sale are:


Knit purses in several styles (pictured is one of them)

Crochet shawls (one in black/multi; one in shades of blue)
Knit jack-o-lanterns (just in time for the spooky season!)
Crochet flower pins - perfect to dress up a shawl, or to embellish a project of your own
Smileville Bears -- Molly (pictured) and Mac

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!

Black & White shawl

For all those whose sympathies reached me last week, when I had to frog an entire crochet shawl, I thought I would share the newly completed item.

This time, it is the right length (hooray!) -- about 27" from the top to the bottom point. It hangs just below my waist (and I'm on the tall side at 5' 8"), so I think on the customer it will be perfect!

The customer shared with me that she ordered the shawl for her cruise vacation. The first dinner on board is to be a formal affair, and she wants this shawl to match her little black dress! How exciting!!

The crochet frog visited me this week

And it wasn't pretty!

I received a special order for a black and white version of the shawl (pictured below), due for a black-tie affair at the end of the month. The customer asked if it could be about 4 inches shorter than the one she tried on, since she is slightly vertically challenged.


So I say "no problem!" I have the yarn already, and I had a long trip ahead of me -- a friend was married in NY City on Monday night, and I took the train to avoid traffic. And so, I crocheted the shawl and listened to the sounds of various screaming children on the train. Between train rides and a few hours in Urban Square Park, I managed to finish the shawl.

"That seemed quick," I thought to myself. But knowing that a steady rhythm can make things go quickly, I thought nothing of it. After all, it did take all my travel time, and there was a bit of it.

But alas, when I reached home (and was awake enough to compare the new with the prototype), I realized that the black and white shawl is about 16" shorter (not the requested 4")!!!! I can't figure out what on earth I did wrong. I must have just started out with too short a foundation chain, and not noticed, what with all the distracting train noises. So yes, you guessed it, the entire shawl was frogged. I'm not sure which is more annoying.... having to re-do a project that I was sure I finished, or having it take 2 hours to wind the ribbon yarn back onto the spools so it wasn't twisty. :(

Summer 2007 Knitting Contest

Since I knit all the time, but have a tendency to drop projects and begin new ones rather rapidly, I thought this contest, sponsored by Skeins Her Way, would be a great way to keep me on track this summer! Two women in my knitting group, reluctantMANGO and YarnMama, have already posted their knitting goal list for the contest. If you decide to lay it on the line and ante up a goals list for the contest, please be sure to mention my blog as your jumping point.

Here goes, my summer 2007 knitting goals:
1) Finish knitting my first pair of socks EVER! The cuffs are done; I'm moving on to the heels tonight.
2) Finish knitting the first item I've ever started for myself... a simple bandeau/tube top in raspberry Silky Look (Sirdar).
3) Finish the two knit purses that I have in various stages of incompletion.
4)Find a cute ribbon yarn pattern for little girls (preferably a shrug or wrap) and knit using some Anny Blatt yarn from Heaven (it was gifted to our group by an avid knitter who passed away).
5) Teach my mom how to purl, increase, and decrease using her Knifty Knitter looms.
6) Learn entrelac knitting so I can finally work on the shrug I promised my sister when I first learned to knit!
7) Knit and felt a purse using Lion Brand Wool. I bought the yarn, now to get brave enough to knit for felting!!

This may not seem like an ambitious list compared to others -- I am always thinking that I should be doing MORE -- but I am trying to keep in mind that I also crochet, sew, cross-stitch, and make wreaths. I'll keep trying to fight perfectionism!

New artist rotation at the Curiosity Shoppe -- and I'm in it!

This post isn't really about a craft show, but it has to do with my schedule just the same.

See, just off South Street (on 4th St) in Philadelphia, PA, there is a cute little shop called the Curiosity Shoppe. Every other month, they select about 30 artists from the local area to feature in the front portion of their store.

And my work will be in that store beginning on May 25th (Friday!) until the end of July. I just met with one of the owners today, and dropped off some of my items. Please, if you are in the area, stop by the shop and look around! Peter and Hannah (the owners) are doing a wonderful thing by giving us artists a place to show our work.

Some of the items I have in the rotation are:
Smileville Bears
Crochet shawls (such as the one in this post that I donated to a benefit auction)
Funky jewelry (kinda like this, with shells and edgy designs)
Crochet flower pins (like the ones I showed in this post)
Paperback book covers

I want YOUR opinion!

I have been steadily working on the crochet shawls and completed three more. No, I haven't photographed them yet; I'm waiting for life to slow down a bit as the last few days have been nuts. Maybe I'll ask my husband to take a few pictures of me modeling them tomorrow. They look ok on skirt hangars as far as color and pattern goes, but the hangar is not so hot as showing off size, which is important since I created three basic sizes: small, medium, and large.

Now, about the feedback I'm requesting. I recently knitted a thong (yes, a thong!) from really soft cotton/elastic yarn (Cascade Fixation... yummy stuff!) I threaded ribbon through eyelet holes around the top; the ribbon ties in a bow in the front, so the sizing is truly adjustable from about a 4-5 to an 8-9 (I'm in the middle of that range, and it fits fine). I was a little worried about how comfy it would be since I don't like how most 100% cotton yarns feel, but lemme tell you, this one is nice! And since it's 97% cotton and 3% elastic, the finished piece has some nice give.

So now that I've described my new product idea..... I want to know what you think! Vote below now.

Should I sell knit thongs in my store?
	Yes
	Maybe
	No
pollcode.com free polls

Always double check your dye lot number!

Any knitter/crocheter knows how important the dye lot is in making sure your project has consistent color and look.

So, being a good knitter, I took the skein label WITH me when I went to Michael's tonight. I needed one last skein of Incredible yarn to finish my second shawl (like the one in Saturday's post, but a different color). Luckily, Michael's was not only still having their sale on Incredible, but they still had the right dye lot. I bought 2 skeins, just to be safe. Thought I was being wonderfully proactive with that move. And I managed not to walk through the rest of the store, too. Just walked in, found the yarn, paid, and walked out.

Got it home.... and here is the kicker. As I placed it in the knitting bag, I noticed another skein that looked EXACTLY like it. Same dye lot, too. Then I opened the separate bag where I have the nearly-complete shawl..... and realized THAT has a different dye lot. I bought 2 additional skeins of the wrong yarn!

Guess it's my own fault, since I purchased the Incredible yarn in about 5 different colors (I love the shawl and want to make several of them). When I pulled the label out of my knitting bag to go shopping, I must have pulled out the WRONG label. Consequently, I STILL don't have the yarn I need to finish the 2nd shawl, and I have 2 extra skeins for one I haven't even started yet!

*SIGH* That's it, I'm going to go start a 3rd, in a totally different color, and hope I don't make the same mistake twice!

TGIF?

TGIF..... Fridays are supposed to be exciting days, right? The end of the work week, date night, major league sports games, and all that good stuff. Well, when you work from home, every day is pretty much the same. I mean, I create all week long, not just Monday through Friday. And while I like Fridays 'cuz they mean my husband will be home with me for the next two days, they're otherwise not so significant. Obviously, since I'm blogging at 9:30 on a Friday night. LOL

However, I'm very excited this Friday, actually, because I just finished the first in a series of shawls I'm crocheting. This is big news, as I'm not as comfortable with crochet as with knit. But it turned out really cute, as you can see from the pics. This one features a small crocheted rosette "button" to hold left and right together... so the shawl doesn't slip off as you move around.

It was created for my store, as most everything is these days, but I think I will be donating it to a good cause. (Don't worry, if you like it, there will be more appearing at smilecreationscrafts.etsy.com soon!).

Anyway, back to the good cause. Yesterday I learned about the tragic death of Louise Capriotti (sister of a fellow knitter from the University of Pennsylvania), and the orphaning of her two children. The family is holding a benefit event on February 10th (see louisecapriotti.com for info) --- I will be donating this shawl to the silent auction.