Crocheting Star Wars Episode 2

Earlier I talked about and attempted to share a Periscope broadcast of my crocheted Star Wars figures that I made from the Lucy Collin book my husband gave me.  (I am slowly figuring out how to use Periscope and save the videos.)

Well, I just wanted to show you pictures of all of them done.

Yoda

Stormtrooper

C3PO

Princes Leia

Wicket the Ewok

Luke Skywalker

R2D2

Han Solo

Darth Vader

I have not yet done Chewbaca or Bobo Fet.  They are on the list but probably wont be started until the fall.  I have a lot going on right now with my new Etsy store so the purely entertaining crocheting will have to wait a bit.




Thank you for letting me be apart of your day! Did you know I have an Etsy shop? Well I do and there I sell handmade home decor. Come on by and check it out.
                                   

Crocheting Star Wars

If you follow me on instagram you have seen that since Christmas I have been crocheting Star Wars figurines.  My husband bought me a kit from Costco that had a book by Lucy Collin and enough yarn for two characters.

I of course immediately bought some yarn for the rest of the characters and have been slowly working through the book.  The book is quite well written and all the characters are the classic ones from the 1970s.  My kids are huge Star Wars fans  and so they love to play with them after I complete each little guy.

I would love to share pictures, but I seem to have deleted the ones on my phone and can't figure out how to transfer my instagram photos over to blogger and since I am not in the mood for a complete photo shoot, you will have to settle for a video.
I recently shared about all of my completed characters in Periscope, so if you want to check out the 'live action' explanation, click HERE.


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My First Craft Bazaar!

I have been sharing with you some of my research and work on figuring out how to sell some of the stuff I make.  Making is very much ingrain in me.  It is part of who I am and I have been sewing and crocheting as a creative outlet and a stress reliever for many years.  Making for others was quite a challenge.

WithoutDirections

I needed to approach the process differently.  Instead of creating simply to please me, I needed to also incorporate thought about what would please others.  Since I sew for a pre-teen girl, this is not an entirely new concept, but the scale in which I thought certainly changed.

Being that this was being advertised as a 'spring' bazaar, I thought I should make the colors quite light and spring like.  I also was drawn to fabrics and yarns that had elements of the new Pantone colors of the year; serenity and rose quartz.

WithoutDirections

My oldest daughter got in the act too. She made some bag charms out of her collection of beads and small plastic animals.  She actually sold two and when we have a garage sale later this year, she plans to set of a table with her charms to see if she can sell more.  She of course gets the money from her work.

I intended for the aprons to be my main items.  But I ended up only making six.  They still were my most expensive item and they certainly are pretty.  I used my dress form to display one and I think that did class up my booth considerably.

reversible apron

Surprisingly, the baskets were the items that I had the most fun making.  I found it to be incredibly soothing to continually stitch around each basket.  Work has been quite stressful and this was the perfect way to relax in the evening ... it did not even feel like work.

nesting merino wool baskets

My mother even sent me a few things that she thought would round out my display.  She made quilt pieced snack mats (a mini version of a place mat for a cookie and coffee) and some micro-bowls (a 100% cotton fabric bowl to place your dish in for a quick re-heating in the microwave; a bowl shaped hot-pad),

Snack mat/ Rug mug

So how did I do trying to sell all this loot?  Well OK.  I did not have a lot of traffic to my table, but I did make a few sales and a lot of people seemed genuinely interested.  And frankly I had a blast just chatting it up with the people walking by and the other vendors.

So what now?  I am not exactly sure but I had enough fun that I am sure that I will figure out another way to sell my goods.  Of course I will let you all know once I have figured it out.

***UPDATE:  Well, I had been prepping to open an Etsy shop but was a little nervous about being ready so I didn't yet commit.  But hours after posting this I decided to jump in so I now have an Etsy shop.  I will be taking it slow, but who knows what will happen.  I will at least learn a lot.


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Baskets and Sales Tax

Hello there!  It has been a long time since I have posted here.  I needed a bit of a break.  I still post at Sew Cool for the Tween Scene once or twice a month and definitely am still reading other people's blogs and enjoying seeing everyone's creativity.

So why am I writing this?  Well this month I am doing something a bit different for me.  I have been sewing and crocheting for a long time but it is almost always for my family or for the occassional gift.  Lot's of people say "you could sell this" but I really have never believed them or I don't think I could sell enough to really make it worth my while.  I did not really want the pressure of a business.

BUT, and you knew the "but" was coming, our church is having a craft bazaar and the fee to participate goes to support our youth and children's programs.  So, I thought I would make some stuff and then sell them at the bazaar.  And since I have a limited profit motive at this time, I figured any profit I make, I can give over to the church in addition to my table fee.  How's that for motivation?

So, I have made some random stuff that I am not sure will sell but has been fun to make.  And I have learned some things about a hand-made business so that I can be all legal for my one day show.  I thought I would share some of my 'product' and some of those lessons this month on the blog because who knows, one of my 10 readers may just want to know this stuff.  :D

The first thing I learned is about sales tax.  Nebraska, where I currently live, has a 5.5% sales tax and some municipalities have an additional amount.  I looked to see if craft bazaar or hobbyist that occasionally sell things are exempt.  Alas, they are not.

"The Nebraska Department of Revenue would like to remind sellers making sales at craft fairs, art shows, flea markets, trade shows, and similar events of their obligation to collect and remit sales tax on sales of taxable merchandise sold at these events."

But really, in Nebraska at least, it is not too hard.  Here, you fill out a Form 20 and apply for a tax permit.  Then, you will have to fill out a Form 10 to actually pay the tax.  I called the Department of Revenue and the lady that talked to me was super friendly and helpful.  And, they do not charge any registration fees!  Now, if this was going to be an ongoing business venture, she recommended registering as a business, but as a sole proprietor doing a small scale enterprise, she said it was not required.

So what am I selling?

wool baskets

One thing is crochet baskets.

I made several small ones out of blue merino wool.

pink basket

And some out of man-made materiel.

little pink and lavender baskets

I used this pattern ... and looked at several other free ones online and then adjusted them to my needs.

I know I like them and think they are a fun storage idea for small stuff.   What do you think?   If you can crochet, I recommend making a few ... if you can't would you buy one (not from me, but in general)?

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silly little crochet whale

I have been doing some more silly crocheting.  This time I made a whale out of some scrap blues.  I found the pattern on Ravelry and it is free so go here to get it.  The pattern is super easy and even the most beginner hooker (one who crochets) could whip one of these guys out in an afternoon.  It actually also comes with a pattern for a little sailor hat and life ring.  But I did not have the white yarn to do those.

First, you construct the body of the whale and then skinny it off into a funny shaped end.  And then you stuff it and close it off.

Next, you make the little tail fin pieces.

Then  I simply had to attach the tail pieces to the end and embroider the eyes.

So what to do with a crocheted whale?  Have a silly photo shoot!  I got out some of the kids' bath toys and had some fun taking pictures.

Isa loved it and plays with it regularly.  I think this would be a cute gift topper for baby shower gifts.  Or, crochet it in white for your literature lover ...

Any silly crocheting going on out there?

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I crocheted a petit four!

The a couple weeks ago we (Major Moma and family) were wondering around at garage sales looking for winter gear for the kiddos. We just don't own what it will take to get through sub-0 temperatures.  During our search, we came across a house where a lady was getting rid of her stash of fabric and yarn.

 I felt like I hit the jackpot!

My husband groaned.

This was not what we were in the market for.  But how do you turn down a good deal on fabric?  So, I was allowed to pick up a few things... 3 plastic grocery sacks of fabric and one of yarn.  Plus, I got a gallon zipplock bag full of little balls of yarn all in different colors.  It was clearly all the left overs from various projects that she could not bring herself to throw away.

Those leftovers gave me an idea.  While looking around on Ravelry.com, I have been collecting patterns for all sorts of silly amigurumi.  I never really knew if I would crochet them up ... but they were so fun looking.  And I did not think I could get myself to buy yarn for something so silly.  But, I could use yarn leftovers that I paid $1 for.

source

The first one I decided to make was the Cherry petit four.  The original pattern calls for sport weight yarn but since I was using scraps and they all were worsted, that is what I used.  And, I was using random colors, so I just picked out some as close as I could.

 I did not have enough of the raspberry, so it is not as tall as it should be and the shape is thus not quite right.  And the red cherry does seem to clash a bit.  But that is not my fault.  See, M was here visiting and I asked her opinion if I should use the raspberry with the red cherry and she said it would look fine.  And considering I have a horrible track record with picking colors and hers is very good, I trusted her.

I had the most fun with the whipped cream.  All those fluffy curls just made me giggle.  And the cherry and the leaf just turned out perfect.  

Even though I have never made anything like this, it worked up really fast.  I was done in an afternoon of chatting and having tea with M.

Now what am I supposed to do with it?  The kids love it.  So I figure they can use it as play food.  I am sure I will make more.  Why?  Because it was fun.  Terribly useless.  But fun.

Have you ever crocheted food???  What do you craft that is silly?

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School Girl Socks

When I (Major Moma) bought the sock yarn for the socks I posted about HERE, I had my eldest daughter in tow.  Since I was in a sock yarn buying mood, I let her pick out some sock yarn too.  She picked a very pretty variegated yarn with green, blue, and brown.  It is by Sockina Color.  It is 75% wool and 25% nylon which makes it one hundred percent washable!  No shrunken wool socks for us.

I used a pattern from the September/October 2010 issue of Crochet Today! magazine.  My friend lent me this magazine and later let me just keep it as I left Germany with unfinished socks. (Thanks Gin!)   

Socks on a plane

Abi really likes knee socks so I automatically gravitated to the School Girl Socks pattern.  However, they were sized for a 6 year old and not long, skinny footed 9 year old.  So, I had to adjust the pattern to fit her feet.  

 

This was way easier than it sounds.  I am not an expert hooker (yes, that is a technical term :D ) and yet I could easily make the necessary adjustments.  First, I lengthened the initial chain so that it fit across my kid’s toes the way it did on the girl in the picture.  Then, I followed the instructions with my longer/wider sock.  When I got to the heel, I made the foundation single crochet chain long enough to stretch around my daughter’s foot.  Basically, from there I just had her try on the sock every couple inches to make sure it fit.  There were some points when I had to unravel and adjust, but it was easier to fit her than I anticipated.  Along the way, I wrote down my adjustments so that the second sock would not require fittings.

I stopped the sock at the point she requested, so it does not go all the way up to her knees.  She is quite happy with them and they should be very comfy and warm come this fall.  The last stitch used is actually an alternating of back post double crochet and front post double crochet.  This created a ribbing and a really nice finished edge.  I highly recommend learning this stitch if you don’t know it already.

Do your kids like knee socks?  Have you tried the front/back post stitches?

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