Author: beverly

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Just A Few Hours

I needed a few hours to recover. Just a few hours after finishing the Lenny K Blanket scarf – crochet version.

Here it is and it is gorgeous. You can find the item itself or the pattern (which includes both knit and crochet version) in the designbcb shop.

Last time I said I didn’t know if I liked the knit or crochet version better. Well, for sheer looks, crochet version, but normally where crochet is faster than knitting, this ain’t the case for this scarf. The knit version seemed faster. But the idea that crochet takes up more yarn? Yeah, that part is true. This takes up all of two skeins of Caron One Pound and most of the third skein. I have enough left over to do a hat or maybe a normal scarf. But I was in a panic until I found the remnants of the third skein hiding in my stash. I thought I was going to be short and there was none in stock or available for shipping.

The end result is a blanket scarf Lenny Kravitz would be proud of. It weighs more than 2 pounds. I know because I had to send it off to its owner. This was one of 7 projects that had to be shipped by the 19th. I started it well beforehand but even so, I needed half the morning the day it was due to go. 

Want to have an idea of how much natural light flows into my studio? I took this photo with the lights off at about 8 in the morning. This room does interesting things with lighting at night as well. I am not even going to bother with figuring out why. I will accept, love and appreciate.

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Looking Back

I’ve been looking back at some old photos of things I made. Mostly I do it to free up some space. I eliminate them 100 at a time and it amazes me there are so many photos that I can get rid of them at such a rate.

I ran across this hat today:

These are the kind of photos that make me want to pick up my hook and create some magic.

And I am creaing magic with my needles and hooks. I’m excited about the things I am working on. I am letting listings in the shop expire and I’ve added some planner pages and stickers.

There’s some new patterns I’m working on. Looking back helps with the road ahead.

I am working on the crochet version of the Kravitz Blanket Scarf. The jury is out if I like the knit version better but the crochet version is coming out beautifully,.

I also have some stocking caps in the works and they are fun and beautiful. Some have already sold so I am working on making more. And there are 29 skeins of cotton yarn waiting for me to get to them and turn them into spring and summer accessories. I am looking forward to that.

I am hoping all these things turns my shop into a year round thing and not just for the fall and winter and I am also hoping the ready to ship and pattern sections become the bulk of what I do. That would make it easier as I get older. 

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Didn’t See That Coming

January was a great month and I didn’t see that coming. I missed my revenue objective by $6 last year and it was a not great year though it was a great month. January hit and more than an order a day came with it! I am so thankful and grateful and it gave me a taste of what I would like to happen year round.

I also ordered a huge amount of cotton yarn because I have an idea of spring and summer items I want to make. I think I have finished the yarn buying for the moment – my looking at yarn websites notwithstanding – and I want to go on a yarn reduction diet. Unless I need it for an order, I am going to work from my stash. 

The last post saw me making a Lenny Kravitz blanket scarf. This is Steve wearing it. I dropped it off to him and he was more than willing to pose. As we speak, someone else ordered one and I am doing the crocheted version of it in eggplant. I have both patterns written but not formalized. That’s something to work on.

Because January was something unexpected, I am going to be busy until mid-February. We will see if the good vibes continue into February. If it does, I’ll be able to say I didn’t see that coming, either. 

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As Promised

As promised, here is a pic of the Lenny scarf in progress. I will tell you, it’s way larger than when that photo was taken. I am just about ready to add the fringe. It is already 8 feet long. That’s 96 inches. Mr. Honey is 6 feet tall and when he draped it around his shoulders, it reached his mid thigh. That’s what I was hoping for. I don’t remember how tall Steve is but I don’t recall him being taller than Joe. Lenny Kravitz is about 5’9 and the scarf, which is 108 stitches with the fringe, comes a little past mid thigh. 

I am going to add a few more inches just to play it safe before I add the fringe. I did get some more of the Lion Brand Wool Ease and I was lucky enough to find it on doorbuster status. Picked up  more and I am now on ball eight. The fringe is going to really long. I’m not sure one ball will be enough to make it. It’s not very thick. Probably 2-3 strands each. The are more than 100 stitches across and I will probably skip every other stitch. Still a lot of fringe. I want there to be a lot but want it to be thicker than the photo. I think the fringe needs to have heft because the scarf does.

In the meantime, I have about 9 hats to make and I need to get on them, as promised, so they won’t be late. This last foot of the scarf has taken all day. I will be up a few hours more to get it all done. You will see the finished object just as soon as I show it to the buyer. He should have first look; don’t you think?

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Missing Things

I’ve been missing things. Some little things, like a good  thunderstorm that doesn’t knock over trees and powerlines and leaves the air smelling freshly washed. Some more important things like a church gathering where you can greet each other close up. Civility and not so random kindness. And prayer shawls like this one.

 I haven’t made many prayer shawls this year and no one has inquired about them this season. I haven’t found a substitute color that is as rich in autumn tones as this one and that may have something to do with it.

Autumn as a colorway is very popular which may explain why this hat is selling and being favored I’ve made three of these thing week. I just received two orders for different stocking caps. Stocking caps seem to be a big thing. I created a section for them in the shop.

But the most fun thing that has happened since we were last together was the custom order for a Lenny Kravitz scarf. You know what I’m talking about. Someone ordered a scarf like this one. I had to create the texture stitch and they chose a charcoal gray wool blend. I’ve been working on it a couple of weeks and it’s due to them in five days.

I am already afraid because the knit math has started. No matter how much I knit, it doesn’t seem to get past four feet and this thing has to be somewhere between eight and nine feet long. I originally got seven balls of yarn but I don’t think it will be enough. So I picked up four more yesterday. Certainly that should appease the knit math gods and they will let go of the inches and I can get on with it. I’ve already decided to do a crochet version as well. 

There’s no doubt this is a stash buster. Among the missing things you’ll have is yarn. Pictures to follow.

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2020 Be Like….

2020 be like, I ain’t leaving no one untouched. For me, I lost a friend in an officer involved shooting and we lost our nephew in a bad motorcycle accident. I’ve written about that nephew. He leaves behind four young children. 

There’s far too much to say and nothing to say about both those events. You can share things and then leave them alone.

Knitting has been done. Someone wanted to purchase a warm weather hat and they wanted it in the incredibly beautiful color purple. Look at it. Lush, rich and soft. The hat is made from Red Heart with Love in aubergine.

I’m looking at this color, and I am thinking cables. I need to make something with cables. I love this yarn – I love it better than I love this yarn by Hobby Lobby. It doesn’t have the color depths of ILTY and it costs $1 more but it has more yardage than ILTY and it is softer and fuller. Other than the two skeins I have, I don’t think I have a lot of it in the stash and there’s no reason for me to stock it. I have plenty of worsted weight solids but this is going on the list for the January yarn buy.

There are also some long stocking caps made and I think I have figured out how to take photos with my lightbox in the studio so I don’t have to try and cart all this stuff outside and work on the side of the building. 

 I think every one will be happy to see this year in the rear view. 2021 has to be better. Right? 2020 be like a very hard year.

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Since Last We Spoke

Since last we spoke, there have been some finishing around here. The shawls, infinity scarf and patterns are completed.

And here they are in all their neutral glory.. All of them made with Caron One Pound bought from JoAnn.

I love how they all came out and the person who bought them loved them, too. That’s always a nice thing. Now, here’s the difference between knitter and client. She had her husband came over and said I really made these in record time. It took three weeks. I started them August 18th and told her she could pick them up on September 10. Three weeks and I was ready to see the end of them! Don’t get me wrong. I loved the way they turned out – so much prettier than the photos. But i was ready for the infinity scarf – which was done in one day!

Just like the scarf, I had a hat in my shop I wanted to make again and didn’t see the pattern, so I made one up. It took me two tries but I have the pattern for The Boyfriend Slouchy and a new hat made with Charisma by Loops and Threads. I am sure you will be seeing those pics pretty soon.

Oh, and  since last we spoke, I did another long stocking cap in Cranberry Crisp and have another one started in Cherry Compote. Several folk in the shop have stocking caps in their carts and I don’t have enough yarn in those colors to satisfy them all. So I am making ready to ship caps so if they decide to buy, I won’t have to cancel an order. I hate when that happens.

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The Finish Line

I can see the finish line from here. The shawls are almost done. The pattern is done and up and running,too.

If you read the previous post, you will note the yarns are acting differently in terms of length. Well, that drama continues. I made the taupe shawl and darned if that thing didn’t come in shorter than the others. It’s still longer than the 60 inches – it’s 66 – but it fell short of the 70 inches of the others. Luckily, I needed a shorter one and that one can be it.

I am currently working the dark gray one and I can tell from the thickness of the color, it will need two skeins. The gray one here used two.. The medium gray is going to go full on two skeins. I will have some left over but I am predicting this is the yarn eater of the bunch. Once that one is complete, the black one is the last one and then I can call my friends over and they can see new place and pick up their Christmas presents, too. That’s efficiency. 

I have a order for an infinity scarf that makes things worse. It’s an original and I thought I had the pattern. Nope. So, I’m getting a pattern and an order and I want to get at them both. So, the shawls are beginning to look a little like the step child that ain’t going to the ball. Except we know how that story goes: not only does she go to the ball but she walks away with the guy and a crown. It will all be good in the end.

 

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Riddle Me This

Caron One Pound

Riddle me this, Batman. I am using Caron yarn to make all the pocket shawls. Caron Big Cakes were used for the pattern prototype. You can read about it here. 

For the ones that are in the order, I am using Caron One Pound. It was the one brand that had all the colors I wanted available and they are plenty big skeins. In the two previous shawls, I needed two skeins. So off to JoAnn I went and got the ten skeins I would need. Pretty, eh?

 I think so, too. I figured I would just leave them there and pull them as I needed them. I started with the light gray.  It is even more gorgeous in person. Here’s the thing: it took less than one skein – including all that fringe. 

What?

I know, right? I can’t explain it. And it’s even longer than the 60 inches I planned on.The yarn was plied differently than I was used to but it was still worsted but I had 71g left over.

OK, so I started the next one in the cream. I can already see this is more lush than the gray. I don’t have a problem with it – it’s going to be every bit as wonderful as the gray but I’m betting it will take more than the one skein to pull it off. But don’t you love how cushy it looks? Riddle me this, too: Just like the gray one, it is longer than when I did the original measurement and the sides aren’t wonky. It just grows. Knit math. I tell you. It adds and subtracts at will.

The pattern for this is all done and will soon make it’s appearance and you can experience all the Knitsville voodoo for yourself.

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Thinking About It

When I first started on Etsy, I would spend a lot time looking at these sweaters. I loved them. There was no chance of me making sweaters – I would have had to change the path of my shop. I could do it more easily now. But I was thinking about it. I settled on doing ponchos and had some success selling them. I am coming back to the idea of ponchos. That may be as close as I get to making sweaters – if you remember, I made the sweater from hell. I enjoyed but if I had to do it regularly, it would require a personality change.

But ponchos. Ponchos I can do.

The poncho on the left is available in the shop and has sold in the past. The one on the right has been sitting in the stable for a few years. I think self striping yarn would throw itself in my path begging to be used for this poncho. It calls for bulky yarn. Checked out some yarns and Premier Big Ombre seems right. I will have to order some. Thinking about it. I know. It’s on sale right now for $5 a skein. That is begging to be used.