pink elephants

Today I reopened my etsy shop with a new finger puppet: the pink elephant. It was nice to have a vacation and go over my stock. I'll be listing things occasionally as I finish them. I have a few other puppets that I have never listed before. I'd like to list one new puppet design a month. I have one ready for February. It's time to start planning for March.

I don't really have anything planned for Valentines items, but I might list the couple I have left from last year. I don't want to make any more conversation hearts unless I design a new pattern. I've had my fill of that one.

Macy's Made It Awesome

I don't usually enjoy any part of the Macy's parade, but this year was super special.
This video wasn't made at my house, but this is what my brother and I sounded like when it happened. Then I had to explain Rick-rolling to my father.

In more sewing and knitting related news, when my holiday is over I am going to unveil some new hooded scarves and bags. My next show is on the 17th of December. I have a couple new finger puppets planned, too.

ten sheep

tensheep
Originally uploaded by hairycarrot

I got my first Alchemy order on etsy, and it was great! A person wanted 10 sheep for Sunday school, and they all fit in one envelope.
This is the new version of the sheep, and I like them so much better than my original version. They have more detail and a definite pattern. These things are key for me liking a puppet I make. I want them all to be equally interesting.

How to crochet

How to crochet
Originally uploaded by hairycarrot

I was asked to demo crochet at I Made It Fashionable, a local roving artists' market. This installment was held at the brewhouse, and focused on fashion. There was a fashion show in the theatre, tables in the front gallery, and we had 4 demos in the side room.
I shared a table with Sara, between us covering knitting and crochet. EJ set up the popular shrinky dinks recycling station, and there was a lampworker making beads.
The event was, as always, incredible. The turnout was great, the venue was great, and people had a great time. Plus, someone had a tiny dog.

I brought finger puppets and skirts, and demoed crochet in a circle, since that is the basic concept for finger puppets. I made hats, using larger yarn and hooks. I got to teach one person crochet. People tend to look at it as "too difficult" but I'm also not the most outgoing person in the world. I could probably harrass more people into trying it, but I would feel mean. It's really not hard. I swear.

boy am I behind

I never think about his until I am no where near a way to update.
This month has been very busy. I had excellent sales from etsy, which is pretty good since I only have small items. Now that I'm past my December rush, I can focus on making other things which are fun. I want to make stuffed birds. My stuffed crochet animals are mostly only creepy looking. We'll see if that can change. My bunnies were so absurd that I labeled them zombies. I once sold a fairly ugly frog with button eyes. He was square. I guess if I made him nicer, I could sell more. He didn't have to be ugly, but the yarn was just disappointing.
I got my new spindle in the mail and spun up a little bit of yarn. I have to get on that fast because I have people I want to give it to soon. In fact, I wanted to give it to them in the past. Past due.
I found my crochet hooks! This made fulfilling my etsy orders much easier. I had listed some puppets I couldn't find from moving, but I won't specify which ones. I was surviving with an H, but didn't want to send out some of my products. Luckily, I found the rest and got to remake my dissapointments before shipping.
I have some new designs that are almost ready to go up. The unicorn was waiting for me to find the hooks, so it can be realised along with its breathren. This will not be the last.
I'm almost finished scribing some patterns. I have several finger puppets, and a sweater or two. Ravelry is pretty interesting. I'm not terribly into it yet, but I don't follow patterns that often. You won't find me making Clapotis, even though I have alpaca just for a scarf, or knitting Fetching, even though fingerless gloves are useful. When it comes time to use up my yarns, I'm just going to make things on the fly, like I usually do, and maybe write the directions down.
Knitty is a pretty impressive phenomenon. All these people are contributing patterns, which are destined to be available for free, and they are wildly popular. Ravelry makes this even more interesting. People have access to excellent patterns for free. Then you can go to Ravelry and see how many people report making it.
I pledged to do a handmade holiday this year. I'm number 6185. This way I got to shop tons on etsy and every time a package arrived, it was like Christmas.

I'm in a treasury!

Someone likes my finger puppet enough to showcase it in a Cthulhu treasury. He was a great challenge to crochet, because I didn't want his wings to overpower his body. I also had to make sure his tentacles didn't make his head a weird shape.

I Made It 3

I Made It 3 was today. We did fairly well. This show is well publicised, and therefore much more pleasant to be at. We were on the risers in the theatre part of the Brewhouse. They warned us that the lighting would be lacking. Even though the lights were on and you could see, everything had an eerie glow to it.

I am excited to go to the next one. I'll try to make new things. We'll have our cool weather tops, and hooded scarves. I don't intend to bring any skirts. Finger puppets are questionable. It depends on whether or not I can make some spooky ones.

Success!

I just sold 10 finger puppets, all at once.
I love making my little animals, and now I have to hurry up and restock before next week, when I will be at a craft show.
Then, only a week later, I will be at another craft show. Oh, and I forgot to send the check. I know what I'm doing Monday!