Supplies!

Supplies! We as crafters need supplies. Lots of them. Sometimes it's hard to find what we want. I've noticed safety eyes over 30MM are hard to find. I did find a person on Etsy who sells 40+MM eyes though. The account is GurumiSupplies and they have tons of eyes and even eye tools in different sizes.

I'm still trying to find super chunky and blanket yarn in a wider variety of solid colors. I'm not sure why they don't make as many sold colors in larger yarn but it's annoying. I don't really like ordering yarn online cause I can't see the colors for real and make sure it's the same dye lot. I have quite a few yarn shops in my area but they have the nicer stuff. I usually use softer acrylics cause I make mostly toys and utilitarian things. You can easily spot clean acrylic or even toss it in the wash machine which makes it great for toys and useful things. 

What is your favorite type of yarn to use? What do you usually make? Do you have problems finding the supplies you need or want?

So I Made Another Thing

I made a Plague Doctor backpack from BeautifulArtsnCrafts on Etsy. I used blanket yarn (jumbo) instead of the chunky yarn suggested cause I wanted an actual usable size. It did not disappoint! And the best part was it only took me about 9 hours. Aside from waiting for the 40MM safety eyes to get here. I'm going to make one iin doubled chunky yarn and one strand chunky like the pattern calls for.

This is the backpack add on but she has a pattern for just an adorable plushie too. Definitely check her out!

Revisiting Things That Make You Happy

 Ever get in a crochet funk? Just nothing appeals even though crocheting is the number one non-human thing you love? I do. When that happens I go back to my "crochet roots" for the things that made me love it in the first place. 

 For me that's amigurumi. I love making toys. I also love learning new stitches and patterns. It's always good to have skills to draw on in a craft, especially when you make something you've never tried before. If you've lost your crojo, try learning a new stitch or pattern of stitches. It usually opens the floodgates for creativity as you think of all the things you could make with the newly learned skill.

Have you learned any new stitches or patterns during Covid? Please share!

Crochet Tools

Do you use any tools besides the obvious hooks, needles, etc? 

I have a few crochet journal/log things but I found I forget to use them or just go through projects so fast it's not worth it to me to write it down. Also I feel like there's also a lot of info to fill out that I don't really care about. I almost never measure how much yarn I used for a project or what the exact yarn was.

They seem like a really good idea but I just can't get the hang of using them I guess. And I make a ton of smaller projects that can be done in an hour or two so it'll just fill up the log book with tiny things. Maybe I'll use one specifically for larger projects and just not log my busy work.

Do you have log books? Do you use them? Do you only use them for things that take more than a couple hours to complete?

Where Are You In Your Crochet Journey?

 Where are you in your crochet journey? It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been at it, it’s a journey that only ends when you stop doing it.

 I'm to the point where I really want to write more patterns. My only problem is I'd never try to sell them. But they'd still be helpful for me when making more items to sell. Lately all over the Facebook crochet groups I'm in I see posts about Etsy/Ravelry/where ever shops selling patterns that aren't theirs. They just steal them and say they wrote them then sell them. I will however sell the items I make from my patterns.

I also got some nail chips so I don't have to have cards on hand. I actually got mine from AliExpress for like half the price on Amazon from the same seller. These will make me memorable and save on resources. I've added a couple pictures of the chips below. You can link them to just about anything, Instagram, business page, Tik Tok, you name it.

This will be a weird year for me in my personal crochet journey. I'm going to venture in to selling and trying to keep up my blog. My health made it so I basically couldn't do much more than exist for the longest time. Now I'm getting back to what I want to do.

What are some of your goals? Where are you right now in your journey? Whatdo you want to do in the near future?

Finished!

 I finished him! It took about 24 days. He comes in at 36 pounds and 11'9" long. I highly recommend you check out OvertonFancies on Etsy. Some of the pattern is hard to follow but she's very responsive if you contact her. I'll be making her Celeste and Torch this year too. I can't wait.

As for this little guy, I took him to my crochet group at the library to finish up his claws and a friend helped me bring him in (I'm n the blue sweatshirt). I had no idea another friend was taking pictures. We sure got some looks! It was also a challenge getting in the elevator.

Update!

 So this is my project as of now. I'm working on the head and face and it's killing me but I love it. By the time this goes up he will already be done and maybe even his unicorn sister. But I wanted to share the process and progress of such a big project. I want to encourage you to not give up on things you're making that may not seem like they'll ever come to fruition. Take your time, take breaks and take pride. You'll get there and it isn't a race.