The Red Scarf Project

This year I've dedicated some of my time and yarn to a very special project that I'm rather fond of. It's called the Red Scarf Project. Basically, knitters and crocheters are invited to use various hues of red yarn to create beautiful, soft scarves for unisex college students. The students are foster kids putting themselves through school and may not receive such a kindhearted gift from a loved one. 

This year I have made three scarves to submit. I wanted to take this opportunity to teach myself some new skills and get rid of some extra red yarn I had lying around the house. Believe it or not, I still have some more. The new technique I taught myself this year was working short rows. You can see how I utilized this new technique in the scarf below:

I also converted a pattern that I've used about 20 times with a beret that seems to be a favorite among my customers. I took the cable panel and added a simple border around it. I plan on using this for future scarves to sell in sets with my berets. They look really lovely as their own accessories, so I can only imagine how beautiful they will look together as a dynamic set!

This year I came up with a clever little way to solve a couple of problems. One, I needed a way to keep the scarves folded. Two, I had such a small amount of each color left over that I really didn't have a lot of options as to what I could use that yarn for. So, I came up with the idea to make a coffee mug cozy to wrap around the scarves. This also presents a new gift to the student who receives this scarf. Not only is this a clever way to keep your scarf in place, but it also gives the student something to keep their coffee mug from being too hot or cold. And we all know how much college students love coffee. 

I've got some of my students making scarves as well. We're all writing letters with words of encouragement and shower them with some love for Valentine's Day. Next year I plan on getting involved much sooner. The range of time that donations are allowed are from September to December. This was a really fun experiment for me! I tried some new stuff and succeeded and tried some other things that didn't quite work out. I'll get it by next year though! 

New Dress Form

I just got this new dress form today! I've been wanting to get this for years. I named her Circe. <3 

I plan to take Circe with me to my craft market on the weekend and to have her pose for my Etsy listings. She's going to look great wearing my wraps and scarves. I'm really excited to start this new friendship! 

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.