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! 

Tiny Tina Cosplay WIP #1

So, I've made the decision to make a Tiny Tina cosplay. I'm super excited to do this and I have plenty of time to get this done. If you're not aware of who Tiny Tina is, she looks like this:

So far I've got the knitted top part of her shirt completed.

Not the best picture, I know, but it's the best I can do right now. I'll be sure to get better pictures once the costume is complete. I am really happy about how this has turned out. I completely improvised the pattern and it turned out to fit perfectly! Yay math! :D

The next part of the costume that I'm going to work on is the orange knee-length pants. I've got the orange material and matching orange thread and I'm ready to go! After I finish making this costume I'll have to dirty it up a bit. She's filthy!

I've got the wig ordered, but it's on backorder right now so it'll be a while before I get it in the mail. I also ordered a wig stand to attach to my table so that I can style it to look more like Tina's hair. I'll probably make my own pink ribbons to go in the wig. I can't wait!

This is the style of wig I got from www.arda-wigs.com:

I got this wig in platinum blonde. I can't wait to see how it'll look in person. I've bought wigs from Arda before and I've never been disappointed.

Anyhoo, back to creating!

Buttons?

My mom told me the other day that one of my relatives wants to give away a bunch of buttons and ribbons. She then asked me if I wanted them or not. I gave her a look as if to say, "Duh" and she said "Oh, right. Why did I even ask." Then she wondered about whether or not I'd like them or not. I told her that it didn't matter because whatever I don't like I could just sell on Etsy or Ebay. She nodded and told me it was a good idea.

So, basically where I'm getting at is that I may come into possession of some buttons and ribbons. If I decide not to keep them then I will make them available for people to buy online. I was thinking about making some "Mystery Grab Bags" because those are fun! I have no idea what these will look like, but I hope that people will be into them!

This will help put me one step closer to my goal of how I wish to run my business. I'm so excited! :D