I've Been Busy

Sorry I haven't been around in Blogland but I had this box of crochet to deal with. I had made lots of things but nothing was finished off. No buttons, trimmings or ribbons. It took me as long to decide which buttons to put on which garment and as to trimmings and ribbon - even more decisions. What I thought would take me an afternoon to finish off has taken almost 2 days. In future I will finish each one off before I move onto the next. It was all a bit overwhelming.

Thanks to Eadaoin I am nearer to opening my Etsy shop. I have got it set up but I need a banner for the top of my page and of course to take some lovely photos to show things in their best light. It will definitely all come together before the end of this week. Pricing is another nightmare. Anyone who knits or crochets knows that you never get paid for your craft. I could never add up the hours it has taken to make each thing and charge by the hour. It's just a question of researching what other people are charging for similar items and costing mine out and seeing if it is feasible to charge the same. Luckily for me it doesn't have to be a full time job. I just want to make some extra money so that I can buy nice yarns and patterns. That doesn't mean however that I am willing to work away for hours for next to nothing. If things don't sell then I will just shut up shop and continue to crochet for family and friends. If I don't try then I will never know if I can do it.

I have been bidding on lots of patterns on Ebay and buying lots of patterns on Etsy. As a lot of them are PDF files then they will only get seen once I print them all out or crochet them up. Once again my printer ink is running low. The refills don't seem to last 2 minutes and my printer has a fit if I try to use anything other than the real branded inks. The last time I changed them ( all branded inks) it took me over an hour to get the printer to stop saying that it didn't recognise my inks.

I did get a new set of inks but I have already used the blue. I love the brightly coloured buttons that I bought from Ebay. The old pattern is a knitting one for a change

I will have to find something to use these lovely buttons on. Once again though they are a bit girly.

These are some patterns that arrived by post. I love the long dress. I have ordered 3 more hippy style long dresses.. Hopefully I will get time to make a couple for me to wear in the house in the winter. With fuel prices  going up so much I want to keep warm and a long woolly skirt will be just the thing. Worn over leggings or a full length under slip it will keep the draughts out when I am sitting watching TV and crocheting in the evenings. The other three styles are a bit more substantial than this one and one has long sleeves. The baby patterns are 3 examples of  matinee jackets in fine yarn.

These two magazines have arrived but I have only had the time to quickly browse them. Not much is leaping out at me in either one of these. I noticed that there was a copy of Crochet today for sale on Ebay so I think that someone else shares my opinion and has decided to sell their copy.

This is the pattern that I got into a bidding war on Ebay to try to win it. The price was just getting silly for my purse but I did so want this pattern. A lovely Internet buddy Maureen sent me a message telling me to stop bidding as she had a copy that I could have. I do have some great friends that I have met through the wonders of the Internet. What made Maureen and I laugh was after I dropped out of the bidding another lady pipped my rival to the post and got in a bid with seconds to spare. Whoever she was finished up paying £18 for the pattern! I couldn't wait to start it so here is the beginnings of the jacket in blue and white. My crochet items are mostly white or pink and girly so I wanted a few blue items to try and balance it out a bit more. There is not much in the way of good patterns in crochet for boys. They are all a bit plain. I may have to knit some things which will really slow me down. I will have to put my thinking cap on. I have now taken to keeping a notebook and pencils by the bed as when I try to sleep my head is whirring with good ideas of designs to crochet. If I don't sketch them right away then I can't sleep for ages and once I finally fall asleep I have invariably forgotten the ideas in the morning.

I haven't done much of anything today despite getting up bright and early. I think that it's time to get a coffee and resume the blue and white crochet. I do love crocheting the old patterns which is why I am buying so many on Ebay. I love old patterns and it is so exciting to get some 'new' old patterns.