Tag Archive | for sale

Big Craftsy Mother’s Day Sale!

Starting May 11th through May 12th, a select number of Craftsy classes are up to 50% off. Click on the link above to get the deal.

Craftsy offers:

A wide selection of online crafting classes from the best instructors from around the world.
Watch your classes from anywhere, from any device with an internet connection.
Take them anytime you want, as many times as you want. Your access never expires.

Find your perfect class:

You can also try one of Craftsy’s free mini classes!

I bought the Curvy Crochet: Plus Size Techniques class by Marlybird. I haven’t finished it yet but so far, Marly is fun to watch.

P.S. – Craftsy classes make the perfect last minute Mother’s Day gift!

Click on the banner below to get your 50% off select classes

About these ads

Introducing The Not-A-Poncho Top Pattern

Dec4

Not-A-Poncho – Back

The Not-A-Poncho – Side View

Here is my newest pattern, available on Craftsy, Etsy, and Ravelry. It looks like a poncho but it’s not! I find ponchos annoying – they are always getting in the way when I wear them and they make me look like a lollipop with fringe on two sticks. The Not-A-Poncho has sleeves and a waist with ties that you can tighten for a more fitted look or loosen for a more poncho look. And it is a great pattern for beginner crocheters, super easy and fast. It can easily be customized to make it shorter or longer, slightly less easier to make it narrower or wider. But since it is already very loose and oversized, it will work for a wide variety of shapes and sizes without making any changes.

Not-A-Poncho FAQS

Skills Needed: You should already know how to chain, slip stitch, single crochet, double crochet and know which loop is the front and which is the back.

Materials: Worsted Weight Yarn, approx. 600-900 yards. Hooks H and J or size needed to get close to gauge.

Purchase The Not-A-Poncho Top Pattern At These Fine Online Establishments

Craftsy

Etsy

Ravelry

Now Available – Crochet Shirttail Top Pattern!

Sep3

Pattern Tester, MrsGillis

It’s been a long time in the pipeline, but it’s finally here – my Crochet Shirttail Top. The skill level is intermediate, however, I do have a beginner crocheter testing it and she is challenged but doing fine. She had problems with counting the beginning chain 3′s as double crochet’s. She kept forgeting to skip that first stitch at the begining of the row then dc in the top of the chain 3 at the end of the row. I remember those days – good times, good times… The pattern calls for sport weight yarn. MrsGillis, on Ravelry (pink top above), tested the pattern using Patons Grace. I used a chinese yarn that I bought on Ebay (see my post here ) for my top (white top above). It was listed as sport weight but worked up more like fingering weight. I was able to get gauge using Knit Picks Shine Sport. Another tester is using Bernat Satin Sport but is having a hard time getting gauge because it is working up more like dk weight. If you purchase a sport weight and your gauge is too big, I recommend making a smaller size top rather than going down a hook size in order to get gauge.

The Crochet Shirttail Top PDF Pattern can be purchased at the following websites:

Craftsy

Etsy

Ravelry

What Is On My Hooks

Aug7

I could not find a stock photo that depicts how I feel today but I am doing much better! I did The Work for a while and burned through some crazy thoughts that I mistakenly believed to be truth. Then I bitched and moaned to my husband and he helped me discover another silly story that I was telling myself that had absolutely nothing to do with reality and that silly story let go of me. As you can see, by the fact there is less grunting and incomplete sentences in this post, I am much less stressed today.

So, here is what I have on my crafting plate:

I am still in the pattern-testing stage for the X-Stitch Shirttail Top. My testers have been wonderful, finding typos, confusing instructions, and math errors. Someday, I will be a rich and famous crochet designer and be able to pay my testers cash but for now it’s just a couple of free patterns.

X-Stitch Shirtail Top

The recent stressful crap in my life has curtailed my crochet design creativity so I decided to make something for me! I am currently knitting Patons Grace Drop Stitch Top. You have to sign up for free on the Patons website to view their free patterns. I already had to rip out about 50 rows and start over again because I dropped a stitch on a row before a drop-stitch row and therefore, couldn’t just pick up the dropped stitch. This is why I don’t knit much.

I am also almost finished crocheting the shrug for my next shrug pattern. I just need one more skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease to complete it but I haven’t been able to find the time to drive the 20 miles to the nearest Joann’s to buy it! This should be a super easy pattern so I won’t need any pattern testing.

Crochet Pattern Testers Needed!

Jul16

X-Stitch Shirttail Top

UPDATE 8/5/2012: I already have the testers I need for this pattern. Stayed tuned for future announcements!

I really need a few experienced/inexperienced crocheters, who are decent at math, to test my X-Stitch Shirttail Top Pattern and some of my future patterns. As a form of payment, I would like to give my pattern testers 2 of my patterns for free - currently for sale and any future patterns – testers’ choice.

I need crocheters who can:

Check my math
Check my written patterns for typos, grammar and consistency
Crochet a different size than my prototype and model
Give general constructive criticism

I am not looking for perfection! I think beginners make excellent pattern testers because we crochet veterans sometimes forget what its like to be a newby. I figure 2 or 3 testers per pattern would give me a variety of help. I am going to put together a non-disclosure agreement that will need to be signed.

IMPORTANT!

If you are interested, please do the following:

Follow my blog and read it regularly.
When I post a “Pattern Tester Wanted” post, comment on it and let me know or email me at deedum36 at gmail dot com and I will get back to you.
You will have to inform me of your desire to test a pattern each time I put out a request.

So, I need pattern testers for my X-Stitch Shirttail Top. Go here for some pattern details.

I Need Some Cuteness Therapy. How About You?

Jul15

Yesterday, on Crochet Concupiscence’s Tweet site, there were links to some cute, Japanese Amigurumi sites. I especially liked this Japanese commercial. I love looking at Amigurumi and other kinds of crochet and handmade dolls, but I don’t like actually making them. The tight crocheting hurts my hands and I don’t enjoy sewing the pieces together.

Here is some cuteness to balance out the heaviness from yesterday’s blog post. I tried to make the pictures click to the websites but it didn’t work. I will try again later:

Toadstool, yeah!

Tiny Sock Monkey

Doll from CrochetMe. Click on pic and keep scrolling down. Loads of cuteness!

Hello Kitty makes me happy! Pattern book on Etsy

Here’s some Mochimochi:

Stackable Cats

Teeny, Tiny, Candy Corn. Click and scroll down but don’t forget to look at the other stuff on the page!

Look here for more knitted cuteness: Mochimochi Land

Get Thee Over To Craftsy!

Jul11

I just joined Craftsy about 3 months ago and its already one of my favorite new websites! Here’s an excerpt: from the home page:

Welcome to Craftsy!

We’re a community of people who love to make things – learning from, inspiring and helping one another.

A list of what this website offers:

Online video courses, ranging from 0$ to 39$, in Cake Decorating, Food Craft, Gardening, Crocheting, Knitting, Holiday, Jewelry, Paper Crafts, Quillting, Sewing, Spinning, and Weaving.
“Craftsy Workshops are tutorials from amazing designers that include the pattern, instructions, and step-by-step photos. And, the BEST part: you’ll never get stuck…just ask the pattern designer for help!”, $11.99 to $15.99.
Patterns, free and for sale. This is my favorite part of the website. The listings are very clear, the pics are big, and your purchased pattern is downloaded from their servers. If you want to list your patterns, this place is way better than Etsy and Ravelry because there are no fees, listing is fast and easy, and THERE ARE NO FEES! Craftsy is where I sell the most patterns.
Project listings, just like on Ravelry.
A Blog
A Page called, “Deals”, with listings for yarn, fabric and assorted supplies. I haven’t explored this yet.

The entire website is clean and easy to read and navigate. Lots of stuff but not too busy! Check it out! Comment below if you find anything cool over there I need to know about.

Coming Soon! X-Stitch Shirttail Top

Jul9

: X-Stitch Shirtail Top

This is my newest pattern-in-progress. It is shorter in front, longer in the back with my favorite x-stitch pattern up and down the middle. There is very little shaping – just at the back on the side panels. It is crocheted with a fine/sport weight yarn and the pattern will be for sizes extra small to extra large. I was going to have the pattern go up to 3x but that was just too much math for my puny brain!

I wore it all day yesterday and it slowly grew longer on me as the day wore on. I am not sure if it was the yarn I used (it was a bamboo, soy blend yarn that I purchased from an Ebay seller in China, the label was in Chinese so I could not verify it was what they claimed it was), or if it is because I tend to crochet loosely. Crochet does tend to stretch if it is hanging and this top has 6-8 inches of ease so it hangs. I once knitted a tank top out of 100% bamboo yarn that grew while I was wearing it. After repeated washings, it shrunk a little and seemed to get sturdier so it stopped growing.

I am not sure what skill level this pattern is. It is deceptively easy (writing the pattern is NOT easy!), but I have been crocheting for so long that I am out of touch with what it was like to be a beginner!

Angel Sleeve Cover Up as a Dress

Jul8

My one and only pattern tester, MrsGillis, modified my Angel Sleeve Cover Up and made a dress out of it!

Here’s the link to the Ravelry Page. As you can see, she omitted the increases below the sleeves and the sleeves themselves. Looks great!

Crochet Fashion Pattern Inspiration

Jul3

For years I wanted to design crochet fashion but fear kept me from doing it. First of all, I have no knowledge of fashion design. Second of all, I always thought of myself as not being original or creative. And then, something changed inside me – whether it was menopause, age and experience, or that extra cup of coffee everyday – I suddenly felt more assertive, more willing to take chances, more willing to fail! Around the same time, I had a minor epiphany: how many people in this world are truely original? All artists derive inspiration from somewhere, and I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. That worry I had about not being original was keeping me from realizing my potential originality! Finally free to be the derivitive artiste I was meant to be, I started looking at fashion not as, “Why didn’t I think of that”, but as, “I can copy/crochet that”!

Now, every knitting pattern I come across is a potential crochet pattern. All my favorite shirts, sweaters, blouses in my closet are potential crochet patterns. That cute, oversized sweater at Kohl’s Department Store? A crochet pattern. Here are some things that are inspiring me right now. Some are closer to becoming a crochet pattern than others: