Something to Share

I feel the need to share this wonderful blog I discovered. It's certainly not your average blog, either. Each post is done as though it's written down as a traditional journal.

Portrait of a Penguin follows the adventures of Drake Cook, a brave penguin and his explorations that lead him to the Kingdom of Byrd!

I've been reading it for the last couple of weeks, and now things are really starting to get exciting!

This creative approach in blogging is brought to you by the creative force behind Geek Central Station who's entertaining blog posts I've been following for quite some time. You go girl!

Check out both the blogs, for adventures and laughs!

Creation Alert!

So what did I do with the fabulous yarn I bought from Handspun by Uli?

I made this whimsical pointy hat!

I will be sticking it up for sale on Art Fire this week! (I've decided to use Art Fire instead of Etsy. The vibe seemed pretty good there. You don't have to sign up for an account to buy something, and if you do sign up for an account, you can sell things for free, or upgrade if you want to sell lots of items in your store. They don't take any commission from you, so it seems like a pretty good deal if you ask me. If you do decide to join Art Fire, please list kraftyCat as your referer. Thanks!

Anyways, I loved working with the handspun wool - and it ended up being the perfect yarn for this style of hat! (And yes, that is me doing the modeling of the hat.)
I added some strands of alpaca yarn to the tassel to make it a bit fuller, and matches the handspun quite nicely.

I also found this fabulous pattern on Ravlry last night, and I LOVE it - now I just need to actually make it, instead of sitting and staring at it and wondering how it would look on me :D I'll probably make it in other colours, since I don't actually have many bright colours in my stash right now, but I do have a nice collection of buttons to use, so that will definatly be handy for this!

For those that don't know, Ravlry has an amazing assortment of patterns, many, like the above, are free, and easy to get at.
The site is still in beta, but it is free to join, so head on over (and if you like, you can add AmiKay as a friend :D ).

Amigurumi World!!

I just received my copy of Amigurumi World, and I must say it's very cute :D I love the little bunny and the lion, I think they're my favorites right now.

I will start working on some projects from it this weekend, and put up some pictures of the end results! (One of my managers actually requested a Hippo...though that will require some creative reworkings of the basic pattern.)

It's a bit late at the moment, however, I was excited about the book, so I wanted to share it!

I have more stuff to share as well, but I will put that up later when I'm more wide awake. :D

Fibres West was a Blast!

Yesterday morning I spent the day surrounded by fiber, yarn, quilter, lace makers, weavers, knitters, sewers, and all sorts of crafty people!
It was so wonderful!
I spent around $100 on beautiful alpaca wool, some amazing handspun yarn (see right), and I even bought a drop spindle kit, so that I can learn to make my own yarn! (huzzah!)
The handspun was from a very nice woman, (and her sweet daughter) and her Etsy shop is the Knitters Nook and you should definitely check her out!

I bought some Baby Alpaca yarn, spun in Peru, and it is sooooo soft! It's from Mirasol, and money from the yarn sold, goes to the funding of a school in the region of Puno.


There were some beautiful llamas there, from the Langley 4H club as well, so perhaps I will look into buying some llama fiber in the near future.

Right now I'm trying to figure out the drop spindle, and so far it seems to be going pretty well. The Kit I bought was from Nancy's Knit Nacks. The DVD that comes with it may not be professionally made, but the instructions are easy to follow, and understand.

I watched through the video once before trying, so I would be familiar with everything before trying to spin myself, and I found doing this was very useful.

All in all, the morning spent at the fibres fest was wonderful and fun! I hope they run it again next year, as I will definitely go again.

And now, back to spinning :D

Wrist Cuff Pattern

This is a very basic pattern, and is good for the beginning crocheter. This is the first pattern that I have written, so I hope it is clear and understandable.

Materials needed:
Small amount of worsted yarn, colour of choice.
2 buttons, approx 2 cm each.
3.25 (D) crochet hook

1. ch 11
2. Turn and sc in second st from hook. Sc in each st across. Ch 1 and turn.
3-34. Sc in each st across, ch1, and turn. (You can decrease rows or increase rows, for the size of your wrist. This amount was slightly big on my wrist, however, I have really small wrists.)
35. Sc in first st, chain 2, skip 2 sts, sc for next 4 sts, chain 2, sc in last st. Ch 1, and turn.
(Where the chains are, are for the button holes. Adjust the chain's for the size of the buttons, and the stitches around them accordingly.)
36. Sc in each st across. Fasten off, and weave loose ends into the previous sts.

Sew the buttons on the end without the button holes, one on each side, placed appropriately for where your button holes are on the other end of the cuff.

Note: You are free to use this pattern as you please, but please do not copy it and publish else where. You may link back to this post if you want to share it. If you choose to make this pattern, and sell the result, please provide a link back to my blog. Please do not sell this pattern.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day Headband 1
Originally uploaded by kraftyCat

I made a headband, and a little wrist cuff to match for St. Patrick's Day yesterday. It was so easy to make.
It's made me realize how many different things there are out there that I could potentially make and sell on Etsy.

I'm heading to Fiber's West on Friday morning before work, with my Mum, and I'm sure we're going to have tons of fun! And I plan on bringing back loads of handspun yarn! (Or at least as much as I can afford and like :D)

Goals for the week and weekend:
Figure out shipping costs for the store
Figure out store policies
actually put something up for sale.

And now, I have apple sauce simmering on the stove and must go, toodles!

Handspun Yarn and Fibreswest

When I was a little girl, my parents were friend with an older couple. The wife was a very talented artist, who painted, knit, crochet and, hand spun yarn.
I remember she taught me a little of it with a drop spindle and how fun it was.
Today while I was browsing the web, looking at all the fabulous hand spun wools and yarns out there, I could not believe how expensive they can be sold for!
$25 for an amount of yarn, that, if it were machine made, would sell for maybe $5.
So, I decided, maybe I should try learning how to make my own yarn!
I am not about to drop $400-$600 on a spinning wheel, mind you, so I will try to make my own drop spindle, and try spinning some that way.
I do believe the Langley Weavers and Spinners Guild has some educational classes every once in a while, so maybe I'll see if I can attend one to learn more.

While I was doing research about hand spinning, I learned about Fibreswest, which is an Expo out in Abbotsford, BC, for knitting, crocheting, weaving, etc, etc.
It's next weekend, but if I can make it, I definitely want to go check it out. It looks like it should have lots of interesting things going on - and best part is, payday is the 20th so I'll actually have some money to spend! Yay!

Hats! Cup Warmers!

I've been working on different types of hats, and seeing how well I can make hats that aren't slouchy beret styles....I started working on a pattern for a cloche...except I used some bulky yarn for it, and it came up more like a rasta hat - but it's very comfortable, and I made the area around the ears all single crochet so it would keep the ears nice and warm in the cold weather. I'm making one for one of the managers at work, since she's moving on to a new store that's opening, and since she's my favorite of the managers we have now, I thought it would be a nice gift for her. And I'm using the Alpaca yarn from Bernat - so nice and soft!

And I came up with a simple cup warmer! :D The Boyfriend says their slightly too big for his Tim Hortons cups, so I may adjust the size a little. I will see how they work on a Starbucks cup today. Maybe the current size works well for Starbucks, and a smaller one would be good for Timmy's?

Also working on some scarves to sell in the store later, maybe I'll do some sets. I'll find a pattern for some mittens and make sets with them as well maybe.
I'll probably make some shawls and wraps as well, since spring and summer are coming, so scarves and wintery hats aren't going to be so desirable. :D

I'm thinking of getting the shop up and and running this weekend. I just need to figure out shop policies and shipping rates and I should be all set to go! :D

Hello Wide World!

Well hello!
My first post on Krafty Cat!
I am curious to find out how well I can keep up with this blog. I've started other blogs in the past, and been relatively unsucessful. However, I'm creating this in conjunction with the launch of my Etsy store, so that I can show of works-in-progress, and share things that are happening in my life.
The Etsy store isn't quite up and running yet, but it is on it's way. I just have to work up the courage to actually try listing something!
I'm starting with a few hats that I've crocheted, and we'll see how those go.
I'll post again when I've actually fully launched the Etsy store :)
Wish me luck!