Finished Orders

Oh the many orders I have to complete... here are some that I have finished.

Thanksgiving hat for Chloe

 

Christmas Snowflake hat for Chloe (also made one for Hallie and one to make)

 Macho Man Beanie for Jamie

 Aviator hat for James (matches his son's)

 Hello Kitty hat for Claire

 Sock Monkey hat for Campbell

 New ribbon and labels for packaging.

Of course, I finish one just for another order to be added, but hey, I cannot complain. I probably still have around ten orders to do before Christmas.
Wish me luck!

Save the Ta-tas!

In honor of breast cancer awareness month, my friend Lindsey asked me to make her a few items, one being a scarf. We decided the “With Hope” scarf by Red Heart would be a great choice. Along with the scarf, I am making her fingerless gloves and a hat to match. 

 
So far, just the scarf is done, but it did turn out quite well. Being a long scarf, she will be able to wear it many different ways in order to keep warm. 

 
A simple scarf with a beautiful arching pattern that holds much meaning, I am sure she will continue to wear it with pride throughout these “cold” months in Georgia. 

Customer Order Form!

If you would like to order something for Christmas, this is the time! Just fill out this form and email it to me at themotleysunflower@gmail.com. These are custom orders, so please include an idea of what you would like. Just click on the link below and download the original file to fill it out!

Order Form

Thank you for your orders! :)

Picture credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/syddelicious/2167135939/

Hookn' Like Crazy

Well, it has been a while. School is taking over my life a little more everyday, even more so now that we only have a month left in the semester. So much to do, both for school and crochet. I signed up to do the CCIP Crochet I Teacher Certification class. I have not even gotten a chance to get started on my assignments for it, but I have six months to complete it. Then I will be interviewed over the phone, and hopefully become a certified crochet teacher! If so, I will be able to teach classes on my own and also at places like Michaels. Should be interesting.   

Other than that, I have just been trying to keep up with all of this school work. I have so much due this week including tests since the semester is quickly coming to a close. It has gone by so quickly, but it has been a good semester. A busy one, for sure. Lately, I have been crocheting a good bit for people I know at home along with making a few things to sell online. I finished my “Brandi Scarf” a couple weeks ago and this weekend I made some matching “Brandi Fingerless Mitts” which turned out super cute. Along with those, I have been making baby and kid hats like crazy. Right now I have four more kid hats to do and four adult hats along with another pair of fingerless gloves. On top of all of this, my sister announced that she would like a set of three (hat, scarf, and fingerless gloves) by this Saturday. She is crazy. 

Baby hats... only have made a few and never any booties. But, I did make and sell a matching pumpkin hat and booties last weekend to my cousin for her little three month old girl. Turned out super cute after many trials and errors with the booties. My first sell!

Also, I made an aviator/bomber hat for our youth minister’s son’s second birthday. He looked absolutely adorable in it. I was afraid it would not fit his little head, but it turned out to be a perfect fit. Now his dad wants a matching hat and his mom wants one that is the same style but brown and tan. 

Right now I am working on a Thanksgiving hat for another two year old from church. I think it is going to turn out cute. Its all of the fall colors with earflaps and a little flower on the side. After I finish her hat, I have another Christmas one I have to make for her and my cousin’s little girl, two sock monkey hats, the adult aviator hats, an adult beanie, and the rest of my friend Lindsey’s breast cancer awareness stuff. Oh, I made her a scarf... which I need to get pictures of. Also going to make her a matching hat and fingerless gloves.

First Package, what do you think?

Oh, where has the time gone. All of these things to make on top of a BUSY week of school.
Wish me luck!

Cables Galore!

Yay! I finally finished another crochet project this semester. Let me tell you, it is hard to work some crochet into my college life, especially now since I switched to an art major. Crochet and drawing projects? I do not think so. College has to come first. I mean I do have to pass my classes no matter how much I wish to crochet. I told Mama recently that I was just going to drop out of college and crochet my way to fame. Psh, if only life worked that way. Only the lucky few get to actually live off of a job they are in love with. Maybe one day.

Anyways, I found this great pattern on Etsy by KnotSewCute for a matching cable tam and scarf. Took a bit longer than the hats I have made in the past, but you have to make time for perfection! Crocheted cables look pretty fantastic, I must add. It is very easy to trick someone into thinking it was knitted. Only the crocheter knows the truth.

My hat turned out well, took me about ten days to make (so says Ravelry). Of course, I rarely worked on it during the school week, mostly just on weekends. So in all, hmm... maybe eight hours of work? More or less. I need to start keeping up with that better and set time aside for crocheting in general. So, eight hours of work for one hat made with one skein of ten dollar yarn.

Speaking of yarn, I just love this yarn. I bought it when I took my crochet class in Cocoa Village. Ten dollars for some oh so colorful yarn, not to mention soft. Yes. I bought two skeins of it that day, never regretted it either. This yarn is by Marks & Kattens, their Big Trend family. The yarn I bought is color 405, which is a mixture of blues, greens, purples, pinks, and reds. Also, it is made of a wool and acrylic mixture, so it is really soft and warm. Fell in love, yes. So much so that I ordered three more skeins online. :D

I decided I did not have enough to make the matching scarf, so, of course, I ordered more of this wonderful yarn. Now I am making matching fingerless owl mitts, you know, with the cables that make an owl on the top of your hand. Love owls. So far I have made one, but have not had the chance to put the button eyes on yet. Pictures soon!

Cannot wait for the rest of my yarn to arrive so I can get to crocheting on my scarf!

Step Away From the Books!

Well, after almost a month of being away from the blogging world, many things have taken place. For one, I moved back into the dorms and started college for the fall semester. This is my second year at GSW, and so far this is the busiest semester I have had. I ended up changing my major to Art and minor to Professional Writing, basically the exact opposite of what I was doing the previous year. Now I am taking beginning drawing, art history, intro to professional writing, yoga, British literature, and computer applications (online). Busy? Yes, indeed. I feel like all I do is go to class and come back to my room to do homework. No time for crochet! :( Hopefully once I get further into the semester and work some amazing time management skills, I will be able to start crocheting again. I guess my plans for doing craft fairs are just going to have to wait for another time, because there is definitely no way I would be ready in time with this class load. 

Other than college, I have did finally make my owl pillows and took pictures for all to see! They look great on my futon in my dorm room, and they match my blanket, making them even better. If someone that had never met me saw my room, there is no doubt they would know I love owls. They seem to be taking over, just the way I like it.

Also, I did start and finish one crochet project the first week of school. I crocheted myself a yoga mat bag since I was planning on taking the group classes in the morning. Then I ended up actually taking the educational class. Two birds, one stone. Now I will have my PE out of the way. The yoga mat bag is made out of 100% U.S. grown cotton, which is surprising since nothing is made in the U.S. anymore. Anyways, the yarn, I love. I plan to use it again for sure.

 

Well, hopefully once things start dying down around here, if they ever will, I will be able to start some more crochet projects and teach myself to knit! I bought myself a “teach yourself to knit” kit from Walmart. Super excited to break it out, whenever I get the time.

For now, back to the books.

It's Official...

I now have business cards! After slaving away on the computer, making, remaking, deleting, and all that good stuff, I finally finished making them today. I must say, they turned out very nice. Of course, I had to be all OCD about them, making everything just perfect, that's why it took forever and a day. I just could not decide on which flower to put on them: normal sunflower or colorful sunflower that I had made online with Aviary. Even my sister could not help me decide. Complete toss up. I could not handle it, so I did not use either one. Instead, I crocheted up a little motley sunflower and took pictures. Then, I went through the painful process of taking out the background so it would just be the flower and not some white background square. Finally, they were finished, after copying and pasting each item on each square; nothing can be simple, I swear. 

Also today, worked in my room some, getting ready to move back up to college. It is actually starting to look better. I’m not afraid to throw things away anymore, gosh, such a pack rat. Get that from my mother, has to keep item that touches her life. Maybe, just maybe, it will be completed to perfection by next Saturday.

By the way, check out One Sheepish Girl blog and enter her giveaway! It is her birthday month for her blog, etsy, and herself. So check her out! I love her stuff, hopefully I will win something and you will too!

You're Sucha Square!

Concluding our lovely beach trip, wishing it was not now over, I worked on squares. Gahlee, seems I cannot finish one project before I start another, oh well. Instead of working on my blanket, hat, or hook case I decided to start working on my future crochet project bag. Made of sixteen separate squares, it is really simple to make. The squares are about five by five inches, cute little squares with eyelets. I’m making eight with the purple and green yarn centers outlined with white, and the other eight will be the reciprocal: white center with purple and green outline. Figured it would give it a nice contrast even though I’m really only using two different yarns. Also, it will match my hook case! Kinda was the plan, have all my crochet stuff matching. 

So far, I have made six squares with the white outline and almost finished with the seventh. Once I make eight, its on to the white centered squares! 

I’m thinking about getting a light purple fabric to line the inside of the bag and hook case just to make sure everything is secure inside. Would not want any hooks or needles falling out, would we? That would also give me some practice with the sewing machine I bought earlier this summer. Still have not been able to really practice on it except that first time, the day I opened the box. Haha.

Now that I’m finished with my online classes, I have two weeks before going back to school. Two weeks of crafts? Maybe so, hopefully. Two weeks of work? Ugh, yes. Two weeks of cleaning and packing? You betcha! Hopefully I’ll be able to work some running time in there along with all those too. Gotta get back into the swing of things!


Back to reality.


Oh yeah, I picked up the book Crafty Superstar by Grace Dobush Friday night. Been reading it and planning to open up an Etsy shop within the next couple months hopefully. Wish me luck!

Photo Credit:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=164382081405&set=a.431391151405.229028.164380741405&type=1&theater

Loops on the Hook

As my second beach project of the week, I’m making a shell stitch crochet hook case. My hooks and all their friends are in desperate need of a home of their own, so what better time to make one! I must say, I came prepared for my vacation of laziness. Not only did I bring my current afghan project, but four other balls of yarn “just in case”. Luckily, one of those skeins happened to be a colorful mix of purples and greens, not to mention super soft. So far it seems to be the perfect choice of yarn for my hook case. The blending of the purple and green colors with the shell stitch really makes for an elegant, yet simple design. Cannot wait to see the finished product!

Also, I worked more on my crochet along afghan today. I guess you could consider this my third project of the week. I was able to finish up my first square’s edging, and I started, finished, and edged my second square of baby cables. It turned out really well, better than I expected. Once I block everything, the squares will look great and certainly will make for a lovely afghan. Being a large project, I may be working on this into my old age, but at least I will finish it, working square by square, stitch by stitch.

 
Speaking of my crochet along class, after my class I just had to take a look at all of the yarns in the store. Of course, I had to buy something. Ended up spending another thirty dollars, oh well. I purchased two skeins of a colorful yarn that is somewhere between medium and fine weight. Planning on finally making myself something, a slouchy hat and matching scarf. Should be eye catching for sure with all those colors. Along with my yarn, I bought my first bamboo crochet hook, size G. Could not wait to use it, so, needless to say, I used it today. Haha. 

Another square, more shells, and maybe a hat tomorrow!

Crochet Along

Today was my crochet along afghan class at the local shop Knit and Stitch in Cocoa Village. of course, I would be the only one to sign up for the class, but hey, more attention for little ole’ me. This afghan was probably the best one for me to be taking a class on. Each square of the afghan has a different cable stitch, ultimately teaching me 63 (holy cow!) cable stitches. Considering the cable stitch is one of the only things I have not attempted yet, by the time I’m done with this project I will be an expert!

The majority of the people at the store are knitters, hence “Knit and Stitch,” but they do teach some crochet classes. Luckily, I was down here for this one. I had never been in a specialty yarn shop before until now. At this store, people come in all day to knit their on latest projects with the assistance and company of the store workers and friends. Its great to know there are places like this where you can just come in, sit, relax, and crochet until your heart is content. Wish there were places like this back home! Might end up going back tomorrow night for open table night, who knows.

Back to crocheting!

Sorry for poor quality pictures. Taken with cell phone.

Sandy Stitches

As my first project for my beach trip, I made a crocheted slouchy hat for my friend’s birthday present. I had gone to Hobby Lobby on the way to the beach in search for my owl fleece, and I came across a pattern for a hat. Well, after I bought the yarn it turns out the pattern was for knitting, which I’m not well versed in at all. So, I was in search of a new pattern. After hours of searching the World Wide Web, I found one by Donna Rutledge-Okoro on Etsy. Simple, yet cute, I just had to buy it for myself. Full of excitement over my new find, as soon as she emailed me the pattern I got to work. Needless to say, I was finished before the night even had a chance to be young. I even added a cute little bow just to spice up the cuteness a little bit more. 

I know I’ll definitely be using this pattern again, for myself of course! Its about time I make a slouchy hat for myself... keep giving them all away.

I got my sister to model the hat for me, as painful as that was for her. I must say, the hat looks good on her. I’m sure she will be asking for one soon enough.
Now on to a new project!


P.S. I will be going to a crochet along afghan class tomorrow at the knitting shop in Cocoa Village. Should be fun!


Thanks to Donna for the great pattern!