WIP - Enchantment Shawl by Hélène Rush

I got the yarn and pattern as part of a fabulous knit kit at my LYS, Yarn Junkees. They have a wide variety of knit kits available from shawls to hats to gloves to scarves. This particular shawl kit ran me about $53. Included in the charming plastic bag was the Knit One, Crochet Too yarn brand in Crock-O-Dye #564 Teal and Kettle Tweed #4435 Bamboo, the pattern (which is worth about $6 or so on its own), and the needles required for finishing this project. Each hank of yarn is worth around $25 each and the needles are about $10-ish. You really do get your money's worth with these kits. Not to mention it's the perfect way to pick a project when you're feeling a little indecisive or if you're new to knitting and want to give yourself a challenge.

You begin with the border working side to side as you can see in the WIP photo above. The lacework gives the impression that you're creating cables with the edge, but you're not. They do look pretty convincing though. Once you've finished the border, you pick up the stitches along the edge to begin working on the body. I'm a few rows in and now I'm starting to feel a little lost. There's some confusing phrasing in the directions that I'm having some problems deciphering.

The rows I'm struggling with are as follows:
Row 7: K7, *(k1 wrapping yarn around needle 2 times) 3 times, k7; rep from * across
Row 8: Using B, k7, *sl 3 wyib dropping extra wrap for each, k7; rep from * across

So, I guess I'm not supposed to knit those stitches? I'll figure this out, but for right now I'm stumped. I know that there will be some bobbles up ahead and I'm looking forward to those. From the picture of the pattern it almost looks like the slipped stitches are actually knitted in later which makes a lot of sense. So far, I have to say that this pattern is a lot of fun. I can't wait to start working on the short rows.

As for the yarn itself, I am beyond amazed at the color, texture, and ease. The first thing I noticed were the gorgeous colors of the skeins of yarn of the Kettle Tweed and Crock-O-Dye. The Crock-O-Dye is made with superwash wool, nylon, and silk. It's very soft to the touch and doesn't break easily. One of the things I loved about working with it is that when I needed to do the P2togs with the YOs in the pattern, the yarn didn't untwist very much making it easier to pull those stitches off without having to retry them over and over again. The Kettle Tweed is crafted using merino wool, baby llama, bamboo, and donegal. It has a crimped texture and feels even softer than the Crock-O-Dye. The blending of the earthy colors are even smoother. I'm totally falling in love with this yarn. The cable definition is outstanding.

New Photos!

The photo shoot was a success! I finally had a chance to get out and take a few pictures. My friend took the pictures and I modeled. It was still kinda wet outside, but it was a beautiful day for taking photos. This is just a taste of what I did. I have more photos on my Facebook and Deviant Art. 

www.facebook.com/magicineverystitch

www.branxnia.deviantart.com

Zombie Prom!

I will be selling my wares at the Zombie Prom in association with Indie South Fair. I can't wait! I've been making a lot of Valentine's Day things and hats for guys and gals in preparation for this event. I need to finish a lot of things before hand so I hope I get it all finished in time.

During December I sold a lot of Jayne Hats from Firefly. January I sold a Dr. Who scarf and so far this month I've sold four Harry Potter House scarves. Therefore, February is the month of Potter!

Ravenclaw seems to be the most popular of the four houses. Gryffindor is the second, with Slytherin third and Hufflepuff fourth. I've been thinking about making separate listings for each house and then the alternate first movie edition. I've been making these things for years I just haven't made the listings. 

I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but I really, really, really need to do a new photo shoot for Etsy, Deviant Art, Ravelry, Facebook and here. I feel like my business could be doing better if I had better photos up. It seems like every chance I get to actually take the pictures it's always raining, foggy, or the people who said that they would help can't. 

Classes are now on Fridays!

I'm going to start doing knitting classes at Hobby Lobby off of Atlanta Hwy in Athens every Friday from 3 pm to 5 pm. I did a demo last Saturday to get the word out there. I got a lot of people to notice me since I was sitting at at a table knitting, but most of the people who talked to me thought that I worked there and asked me where things were. I tried really hard, but only got three people to actually sign the sign up sheet. Several people said that they weren't sure if they could make it, but would try their best. They legitimately seemed interested, but usually it's a nice way of saying "no thanks". I would much prefer it if people said what they really felt. Telling me your opinion won't hurt my feelings. Pretending you care and giving me hope will.

I made a cute flyer for my classes! These will be at the front of the store, so it doesn't have the location on it. I don't really plan on having these flyers anywhere besides the inside of the store that I'll be teaching in.

I've been preparing for the con season that is coming up. Hopefully I'll do as well as I did this past year. Momo Con is coming up and unfortunately I didn't get accepted into the artist alley. Sukoshi Con is next month and they haven't even opened applications for the artist alley yet, but it's pretty scary since the event itself is so close. I've been getting ready for it just in case. AWA is a really big event and it takes all year to get ready for that.

I got a lot of stuff done today. I finished a lime green and black elf hat, a Knives Chau scarf, and a Jayne hat. One of the things that I wish is to actually have a Jayne hat or two available for cons. They're my best seller on my Etsy shop so I know a few people would be interested in buying one at a con. It would be ideal to have a Dr. Who scarf available as well.

Twilight Sparkle!

Though I am not a fan of My Little Pony, I will be making more pony hats. I have quite a few Brony friends and there are way too many people out there who truly enjoy the show for me not to make Pony hats for them. I've been doing the unicorn hats for years now so the MLP transition should be smooth.

I just bought the yarn for a Twilight Sparkle hat. I've been getting a lot of requests for her so she's next. I've got made to order Rainbow Dash hats up for sale right now on my Etsy shop.

Made To Order Rainbow Dash Hat

One of the criticisms I've gotten over my pony hats is that they don't have the cutie marks on them, which some people think is lazy. The reason why I don't do it like that is because these are meant to be worn as cosplays to make you look like the character, not to represent the character. The cutie marks go on the rear, not the head.  If you notice with my other animal hat designs, I never add a face to the hat. Your face is the face. 

I'll eventually get to the point that I can make the other main ponies as well. I occasionally get requests to do Pinkie Pie and Applejack, but I've yet to get a Rarity request. The ones I get the most requests for is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, so those were the ones I started with. 

[rant] I hate it when people request that I make a specific pony, or anything really, and then have no interest in actually purchasing it. I would rather spend my time and money making something that I know will sell than take random requests and lose that time and money. It really annoys me sometimes how people don't understand that I have to actually charge them money for my work and then they get offended that I would actually ask them for money for something that I made. It's like they forget that I am running a business. Or they try to play the friend card and I haven't seen them in years. My real friends are the ones who at least offer to pay. I try to work out deals for them because they understand.[/rant]