New! Etsy commissions and Instagram

Finally back home again, my little one is registered for school, and I think I've finally got a handle on all the craziness that has been happening - in order to keep supporting my donations project, I've opened up a few commissions on my Etsy shop.  Click here to view the listing.  Additional options and materials are also available, but I may have to buy the yarn, so I can give you a price quote upon request.  My Little Visitor pattern is for sale both on Etsy and Ravelry.  I tested the pattern five times before publishing, so it should be accurate.  Thanks to all of you for your support through everything, it has meant a lot to me.

Please note: my shipping estimates are ballpark, just in case something comes up.  I should really be able to get the items done sooner.  If you need them within a certain time frame or anything like that, please let me know.  I can also do smaller items, including your very own Little Visitor, for $15 plus shipping - send me an e-mail and I'll let you know what I have available - some of these are pre-made and ready to ship.  Every purchase from my shop helps me continue to purchase supplies for my donations project - feel free to share these links. :)  If they sell out, don't worry, I'll be re-listing soon.  I just want to make sure I have plenty of time to focus on my donations, since that's my main objective.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Summer!  Apologies for the slow updates, I hope to have more time to blog (and craft!) now that my son will be back in school.  You can also check out my Tumblr for more frequent updates, answers to crafting questions, and re-blogs of interesting craft-related things, as well as a few personal updates and gluten free recipes. :) I've posted some pictures from our recent family vacation as well ~ I try to keep this blog more streamlined, so be sure to check over there for more details!

I've also joined Instagram, where you can find some of my photos.  My username there is giveastitch if anyone would like to follow me.  I would love to see more updates from you, so please let me know if you have twitter, pinterest, tumblr, or any other sites that I subscribe to (there's a list on the right hand side of the page).  Just message me if I somehow missed following you back.

See you all soon! <3

Opportunities Abound :)

Okay, by "abound," I really mean I have one.  But it seems like an abundance to me!

Sometime soon I'll be taking my items to show at a local shop, and hopefully I'll be able to sell some things there, which will be less of a hassle than selling online.

So I'm working on a new page to add to the right side of my blog giving links to all the amazing people who have allowed me to use their designs, I would really appreciate it if you guys would check them out - most of them offer free patterns, tutorials, all kinds of great things, so really! Check them out! :)

I'm also finishing up my last few donations to take to the hospital, so hopefully I'll be able to get that appointment set up shortly.  So excited ~ it feels amazing to be working!

PS - here's a rundown of all the amazing people who have helped me along the way, while I'm working on my master list:

Stilfel & Capra is a wonderful "art and ornament gallery" (I couldn't have said it better) near where I live.  Theresa was kind enough to help me find some local shops that might be interested in consignments.  Thanks a million!! If you're ever in the DC area, be sure to stop and pay them a visit, and leave plenty of time to look around (you'll probably end up staying longer than you plan to).

Amigurumi Credits:

LucyRavenscar gave me permission to use her adorable little amigurumi patterns to make items for sale-they're the perfect size!  Visit her blog at this link.  She has the most amazing patterns for sale in her Etsy shop, I can't wait to try them.

Many thanks to Mohu store for letting me use the adorable bee pattern!  The blog, the store, it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen, seriously... I squee every time I see a photo come up on my Tumblr dashboard.

Planet June has some adorable patterns, and thank you so much for allowing me to use them, they're so cute!  Definitely go see these, guys, she has free patterns and some for sale as well, and they're perfection.  I hope I can do them justice!

Josephine Wu is allowing me to use her designs, too, thanks so much!  I'm sure you've all heard of A Morning Cup of Joe Creations, I can't even tell you how cute these patterns are - I made the Levi the Baby Bear to donate a few weeks ago.  Here's a link to her Tumblr page! You can also find some of her patterns (including the bear!) in Zoomigurumi, one of my favorite amigurumi pattern books.

Credit for Baby Patterns

Many, many, many, many thanks to Teresa Richardson (aka Crochet Geek) for giving me permission to use her patterns - not only has she saved my bacon when I needed to learn to make baby things quickly, she also (unknowingly) taught me many of the crochet stitches I know over the last several months.  Check out her website for patterns, tutorials, basically anything I've ever needed to know about crochet, I've found here.

And more thanks are due to my newest friend in the crafting world, Cynthia (here's a link to her Etsy shop and her Ravelry designs) - I can't wait to make more of her things, expect to see photos up on my Tumblr soon!

~*~

I've met so many amazing people in my crafting escapades, I can't even tell you guys how much knowing you all has meant to me, how many of the items I've crafted wouldn't even exist had you not inspired me, how much the encouragement and support means when I'm having a bad day.  E-hugs to you all, and I'll see you around the web!

100 Follower Giveaway & Pattern Launch!

I'm selling my first pattern on Ravelry, starting today!  And to celebrate 100 Tumblr followers, you could win a free copy of the pattern! 

Anyone following me on Tumblr is also eligible to win one of the dolls I made to test the pattern.  The rest of the dolls will be sold on my Etsy site once the givaway ends.

Check out the giveaway!

Click here to purchase the pattern on Ravelry for $3.  If you follow me either here or on Tumblr, you can send me a message and I'll send you a coupon code for $.50 off!

I'm really excited about this, I hope it will help me keep my project on track.

Look at these little faces!

Looking and Learning

Right now there are a few things going on.

Looking for a local shop that would like to sell my crocheted items. I can do amigurumi (and am stocking up on miniatures to sell at some point), or commissions, whatever the shop is missing, I can make! I've already got permission from some of my very favorite amigurumi designers to use their designs to make things to sell! So excited! If anybody knows of a shop that would be willing to take my items, let me know. Everything comes with a tag that lists materials, gives credit to the designer, and has links to my sites so every customer will know their purchase benefits a good cause.

Also currently learning to knit. Off to a rough start (especially my fingertips!) First amigurumi is in progress though, and the first piece actually came out looking ... pretty normal. Think I need better needles though and I definitely need some double pointed ones. Knitting needs fancier tools than crochet, it seems. And sturdy hands, which... I do not yet have. Determination will not fail me though!

Thinking about signing up to teach a crochet class locally, it would give me a small amount of money to get knitting tools with. These little knitted animals must be added to my donation list, they're so soft and cute!

Hope you are all well, please don't forget to post about your crafts on the Crafts for a Cause page. Everyone seems to be shy so far ^_^ I would love to get to know everyone better!

I'll post again soon. Have a great rest of the week!

What's happening ~

This is one of my ongoing projects : making the written pattern for Sophie the mouse.  I plan to have it up for sale in my Etsy shop sometime in the near future, since it has become necessary to raise funds to continue my donations project.  I'll be selling the dolls I make to test my pattern if you don't want to bother making one yourself.  I've also designed a tiny bunny amigurumi that I'll be selling a few of, each one will come with a little home (I'll post photos when I've finished the design for those).

Donations project is coming along, I've finished 12 now and have the thirteenth ready to start when my migraines stop cycling. I'm so excited!! :) I've sorted out materials for 14 & 15 and made tags for them, so hopefully I'll be able to deliver this whole lot soon!  So many amazing patterns out there and I am determined to make an entire zoo's worth and then some!

Don't forget to check my Tumblr for more frequent updates - I prefer to keep this blog "cleaner" and more specifically donations-related, Tumblr has a lot more general crafting, questions answered, personal posts, etc, and I post pictures of my finished projects (donations, gifts, all of them) when they're finished. I know some of you get e-mail updates when I post here, and I don't want to spam you too much ^_^

Thanks to all of you for continuing to read this - I've gotten more support on this project than I would ever have hoped for, and I'm so grateful!

You might also be interested in Crafts for a Cause if you're on Google+ - it's a small group for now but I hope it will keep growing! Don't be afraid to share what inspires you, it's often contagious and that's the sort of bug we all hope to catch. <3

Now Pinterest!

So many neat places to find crafting stuff - finally made a profile on Pinterest!

This is me :)

Nothing much on there yet, I think tumblr will still get most of my attention, but maybe when I get the hang of it?  Anyway I've added it to my profiles on the "around the web" tab over there ----->

just in case you need it later :)

Tutorial: Braided tails that won't come loose

This is probably going to be my simplest tutorial yet - crafters rejoice, because it could be for knit OR crochet projects! Woohoo!

Here we have a fine example of a polyester-puffed pachyderm.  

Let's rewind a bit.

Here are the pre-assembled pieces.  The legs are the important part.  Before assembling your critter, make sure each leg has a long tail attached.

If you prefer to sew your animal together with separate threads, use a separate piece of yarn to sew each leg on.  Trust me, this is important.  These four yarn ends will eventually become the magically anchored tail!

When your animal has its limbs attached, use your hook or yarn needle to pull the tail ends of yarn through the "back end" as seen in this photo.  Make sure they all come through the same place.  In this tutorial, I needed extra yarn to sew one of the legs, so I had to make do with only three.

Ideally, you use the shortest length to tightly wrap at the base of the tail, so the other three pieces of yarn are pulled snugly through.  This will stop the braid from being pulled back into the body.  Once you've wrapped the yarn, simply tie a knot at the base of the tail (try to keep it underneath so it doesn't show) and tuck the yarn end back inside the body.  (If you end up with three pieces, skip this step).

Braid the three remaining pieces of yarn.  At the base of the braid, use the longest remaining thread to wind tightly at the bottom, this will keep the braid from coming unraveled.  Tie a tight knot on top of the wrapping.  Using a yarn needle or your hook, carefully weave the end of this thread back up through the braid, and pull it into the body so the end is hidden.  This keeps the braid extra secure.  Fray if desired.

If the third yarn end is too short to weave back through, that's okay - a knot really should hold pretty well.  It sometimes makes one of the three strands stick out a bit, as you can see in the photo on the left, but it's not obvious unless you're looking for it. :)

Notice that if you leave a long tail at the end of each leg for this purpose, you don't have to go back and weave in any ends later - just make your tail and you're done! This is also much easier than making a chain stitch tail, which can look awkward and be tricky to sew in place securely.  Bonus, it holds the legs on tightly and you don't have to worry about them getting loose or falling off.

To make a thicker tail or to make one without using yarn ends, cut six (or nine, or any multiple of three) lengths of yarn in the desired color and at the desired length.  Use your hook to pull them through two stitches that are centered on the back of the body.  Separate into sets of three, braid, and tie off as described above.

Please let me know if you have any questions or anything is unclear with this tutorial, I'd be happy to help!  My Google+ comments for my blog seem to be broken, but I do receive e-mails if you comment, and I'll respond by e-mail and fix anything that needs to be edited.  Thanks!!