Snuggling under Blankets Making Blankets

Winter Blankets | Color Me Reckless

I always use the wintertime to work on new blankets for around my house, and to get a jump on wedding blankets for the year. It's the perfect time to work on something warm and snuggling, that keeps you warm as it grows. There is nothing better than coming home from work, freezing and exhausted, and curling up on the couch with a warm blanket on the hook and a cup of tea steaming next to you.

I like to have several blankets going at once, because I get bored with the same thing fairly quickly.  Even just mixing up the colors in a new blanket with the same pattern works to keep me interested.  And I like that when I get tired of blue and grey, I can jump into red and white.

Winter Blankets | Color Me Reckless

I just started a new blanket on Saturday.  It's an ombre corner to corner, and I absolutely love it.  I love the different hues of blues and I love how easy (and count-free) the pattern is.  While I love my ripples, counting each stitch so I know where to increase or decrease is frustrating after a while! It's great to be able to really zone out and let my mind conquer other problems.

Corner to Corner | Color Me Reckless

How To: Single Crochet Stitch

One of my goals for this year is to teach people how to crochet.  I've taught a few people in the past, and I am constantly attempting to teach Justin how to crochet.  So I thought, what better way to teach a person than by creating online tutorials? So here's the first one. The single crochet stitch (I'm using US terms since that's how I learned) is a basic stitch, and is used to go on a make other stitch patterns. I use it to make my dishcloths.  For this tutorial, I'll be illustrating with Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn and an H8 (5 mm) hook.  The abbreviation for single crochet is SC, so if you see that in patterns you'll know what it means! I'm starting with a foundation chain of 11 here.  I'll cover how to create a foundation chain in the next post.

Single Crochet Tutorial (US)

1. Insert hook through the first stitch.  You should insert the hook under the top loop, so you're going through the stitch in your foundation row.

2. Yarn over the hook. With the hook in your right hand, and the yarn in your left, wrap the yarn over the top of the hook, from back to front.

3.  Pull the hook back through the first stitch in your foundation row, giving you two loops on your hook.

4. Yarn over the hook, and pull the loop through both loops on your hook, leaving you with one loop on your hook. Repeat this process across the length of your project.

5. When you get to the end, chain one, turn your work, and get ready to start again! Insert, yarn over, pull through, yarn over, pull through two loops.

That's it! Now you can make your own dishcloths and get started on your New Year's resolution to learn how to crochet, that you didn't realize you resolved to do until right now. So go. Crochet!

What's in a Hook?

This is my very first crochet hook.  It's old - so old I can't find anything like it in the stores.  It's a Susan Bates 3.75mm hook, made from a solid steel (or what feels like a more solid steel than my new hooks). It's been passed down to me from my grandmother (I would swear to you it was my grandmother. My mother swears it was my great-grandmother. She's probably right, but my memory is somehow connected with my grandmother). I love this hook. I love the way it feels in my hand. I love the lightness of it.  I love the sharpness on the point of the hook which makes it easy to do intricate work.

I love that this hook has been passed down from one crocheter to another.  I love that when I use it, I'm adding to its repertoire of amazing projects. Maybe with each project or blanket I use it to complete, I strengthen a tie between me and generations of my family.

It's not just my grandmother (or great-grandmother) who I feel tied to.  On my mother's side, there are generations of crocheters too. Every time I pick up this hook, I'm reminded of that fact. My family has always been spread out all over the place, hours away from me.  It's hard to feel connected to people so far away. But this connects us.  The same need to create with my hands, to pick up a hook and bring something to life, flowed through them too.

But it's not just about how this all connects us. This hook also reminds me of my first projects.  It's how I started, making one long chain after another.  I made my first blanket with it back in college.  Not only does this hook hold the memories of my grandmother's past projects, now it holds mine too.

I love this hook.

To the Start of Something New

I like new. I like when something finishes and something new can begin.  I like new notebooks, new books, new yarn stashes, new projects.  I even look forward to finishing a bottle of shampoo so I can start the new bottle.   It's not the fact that it's new that I like. It's not the fresh scent or the crisp pages that I like.  I like that it means a new start.  I like imagining how I'll fill the new notebook, or what the new yarn will become.

It's like a new year. The whole year is filled with possibilities.  This year could be anything! Something amazing could happen, and this year could be the start of something great.  I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, but I just love the promise and hope that something new brings.

So here's to new projects, new adventures, and new friendships this year.  And new life to old projects, old friendships, and steady adventures.

What's your hope for this new year?

The End of My First Craft Show Season

Wow. When I started doing shows this year, I had planned to do two shows.  I did a total of five, and I wish I had done just one more. I can't believe I managed to do something, and even look forward to something, so far outside my comfort zone! By the end of the year, I really enjoyed talking to people and selling them on my products.  I've learned a lot! Here are some of the lessons I learned:

1. Don't Get Discouraged.

It sucks a lot when people keep passing you by, and no one seems to be interested in what you're selling.  You put your heart and soul into this, why does no one want it?? Cue panic/freak out.

But it's ok.  My first market I did, no one bought anything until the very end of the show, and then it was just a small item.  I was so discouraged.  I was embarrassed, I was heartbroken.  I couldn't believe that I had worked that hard just to have the world throw it in my face as another failure.  (So I'm a bit dramatic...) Why didn't it work?

Simply, it didn't work out because that was not the right market for me.  That market attracted a lot of lookers, and lookers mostly want pretty things like jewelry.  They are not likely to buy a crochet washcloth on the spur of the moment. And that's ok. It just means that my market is more people who are there to buy with a purpose in mind. My job is to sell them on the fact that my item meets their purpose.

It takes time to figure out what the best shows and markets for you are. And the only way to figure it out is to try a whole bunch of different ones!

2.  Don't Be Afraid to Talk to People.

Talk to everyone. To customers, to the people you meet on the way to the bathroom, to your fellow vendors.  My favorite show, I talked to two fellow vendors that I had never met before.  One was a potter, and one was a crocheter as well.  From the potter, I learned amazing things like how to sell to stores and how to keep doing this forever.  From the crocheter, I got so much encouragement.  She was so excited to see another crocheter there, doing something different and being so young. It was awesome.

The people around you want you to do well.  Your fellow vendors want to help you learn to sell. Don't be afraid of them! Don't be afraid to ask them questions about how they got started and what they do now.  You never know, maybe there will be a partnership there.

3. Be Confident that What You Do Is Good.

I can't tell you how many times, I freaked out the night before or the morning of absolutely sure that my stuff was no good and no one would buy it. It is good, and people do buy it.  I still have a lot of things to learn, and skills to refine, but I love my work.  It's bright, it's fun, and it's practical.  And there are people are out there to buy it.  Maybe not at this show, but maybe at the next one. Or maybe people will start to recognize you and tell their friends. If you are confident and talk to people, they will remember you. And that's huge.

This is so hard for me to remember.  I tend to get very down when my items don't sell, and then I don't want to talk to people and then no one wants to buy from the sulky girl on the end.  Be confident.  Or at least fake it.

4. Keep Trying.

Your first few shows might suck, but then maybe you get that awesome show.  And it makes all the hard work and disappointment worthwhile.  Sometimes it takes a while.  My very last show was my absolute best.  I more than doubled my table fee, and it was fun! Now I know that that kind of show is probably my best bet, and I need to do more shows leading up to the holidays.  I only know that because I did all those other shows first!

5. Lessons Learned.

After each show, write down what went well or what didn't.  What did people seem to like, and what didn't they like.  This will help hugely in preparing for the next show.  When you have a good feel or sense of what people want, you can sell it better.  And that's the point, right?

I've learned so much this past year.  I'm so excited to look ahead to the next year.  I want to do even better than this year! My goals are to do 7 shows, and to have more pillows and home decor items for show.  This little hobby of mine will keep growing and it will be amazing.  One day.

Product Update: Accent Pillows

Lately I've been big on making pillows out of my pile of scrap yarns.  It's ended up with some beautiful pillows with lots of gorgeous colors, which I love.  But I wanted to start making something that was simpler, that would be more of an accent rather than a focal piece.  (Ok, I had two skeins of this beautiful purple yarn and it was the perfect amount for an accent pillow - you caught me!)

But I love them.  I love how simple they are, how quick they work up, and how soft to the touch they are.  I'm already planning to make a few more to go on my guest bed.  They'll match the blanket that is currently a work in progress and buried somewhere in my closet.  It will be great.

For now, these sweet pillows are up in the shop!

Apple Picking and Canning

A few weekends ago, Justin and I took advantage of the fall-like weather (ok, it was fall time of year, but it was 82 degrees, so not so much fall like temps) and went apple picking.  I failed at bringing along the camera for this adventure, but it was tons of fun! This was the best apple orchard we've been to - Hartland Orchand in Markham VA.  We had a lot of fun picking the best apples, and ended up with a bushel of apples, a gallon of cider, a pumpkin, and a jar of honey.  Not a bad haul if I do say so myself!

Back home, I got started on the applesauce making.  This is one of my favorite things to make - it's delicious and fairly easy to make.  Last year I made a small  batch just in time for getting my wisdom teeth out and it was heavenly to eat.  This year, I decided to try canning it.

Since it was my first time canning, I had to guestimate how many apples would make a batch.  This is the part where Justin got bored and went off to play Destiny.  This batch took 4 hours to cook because I did not cut up the pieces small enough.

I loved the canning part though! So cool to dunk them in the hot water bath and then hear the lids popping as they cool.  The house smelled so good as we went to bed - it was like fall had seeped into each corner of our bedroom.

The final product! So proud of this first batch.  We made a second batch with cinnamon, which is my favorite.  I still have a ton of apples to use, so there will be more applesauce to come!

What’s on the Hook

I've had a few projects on the hook lately.  Some were frogged and discarded, other have made it on to WIP status.  Here's peek at what I've been working on:

Couch Blanket

I'm in love with this blanket.  I have tried three or four different variations, frogging it each time.  Now it's about half way done and I really like it! I'm hoping the rest goes quickly because I have a great idea for the border to work up.

Baby Blanket

This is such a sweet blanket.  The hearts make it perfect for a little newborn - wrapped in love.  You can find the pattern here and here.  The second link is the original pattern, and the first is a re-write of the pattern that I found easier to follow. I can't wait for this one to be wrapped around a little one!

New Soap Savers

I've been hard at work designing new products for the holidays! These are the first off the hook.  A bit smaller, more compact, and with tighter stitches.  I found that the old soap saver bags stretched a bit, so I'm hoping these won't as much. So far my tester is working beautifully! Once I have these all made and I'm satisfied with them, I'll be putting the other ones on sale, so watch my Etsy shop for those!

Pillows

I've been making these sweet little 12" pillows to sell.  They are the perfect accent pillow, and I've been making them with chunky yarn so they work up quickly.  This one will be another 12" one made with the scraps from the other three.   You can find the other pillows in my Etsy shop!

Learning to Spin

On our anniversary trip out to West Virginia, we stopped at a local yarn store and I took the plunge into spinning! I've been thinking about it for a long time now, and talking to the woman at the store (who was spinning alpaca wool right there in the shop) made it seem like the right time to leap.  She even gave me an impromptu lesson!

Here's the beautiful wool I bought to spin with.  The brown is wool, and the white is Alpaca.  The woman at the store was spinning the white alpaca, and tore off a piece for me to try my hand at it.

I should point out that I'm not spinning on a spinning wheel - I'm learning to spin using a drop spindle.  It's the same idea as a spinning wheel, but instead of powering it with your feet, you get the spinning motion for dropping the spindle.

It's tricky. It took me a few hours just to figure out how to do it right, and I'm still not sure I am.  But my yarn did get better and more controlled toward the end of my wool.

You can see that it's still kind of choppy and un-even.  But I figured out how to make different weight yarns and learned how to control it better. So I call it progress.

And I'm hooked! I can't wait to buy some more wool roving to keep trying and learning more.  A whole new world is open!

Color Me Lately: What's on the Camera

So I took August off from blogging.  It was great to get away, have some opportunity to relax and not worry about the blog. But now I'm back to work! I'll be doing this series a bit in the future.  My goal is to work on my photography skills a bit and get used to taking the camera with me everywhere. Here's a bit of what I've been doing in August:

We went to visit my grandparents in Puerto Rico.  This was taken on the shore at a nature preserve near Humacao.  I love the color of the water and the rawness of the beaches.

This was on top of a battlement constructed during World War II in Puerto Rico.  It was a good climb to the top!

Beautiful flowers in my grandparent's backyard.  Husband was lizard hunting while I snapped photos of the the flowers.

On our way to our anniversary trip, we stopped at a yarn store! Beautiful store, and a wonderful owner.  We chatted for a while, she taught me how to spin a bit (more on that soon!), and then we visited with her alpacas! So fun.

Final anniversary location: Harper's Ferry, WV.  I loved this little town. It's well preserved and each shop has some interesting facts about the town.

Overall it was a great month! Lots of good travels and time spent with friends.  Definitely worth taking some time off the internet!

Introducing: The Hip to Be Square Quilt

I'm so pleased to introduce this beautiful blanket!

This is the blanket that inspired this post on frogging, as I had made almost the whole blanket with hexagons, and then decided to rip it out and start over! I love the way it came out - I love the variation on squares, and the colors.

This was made as a wedding blanket for two sweet friends getting married this summer. I'm so excited to see what they think of it! (Slash incredibly nervous...).

As always, this blanket will be up in my Blanket Portfolio for you to check out whenever.  You can also order your very own Hip to Be Square Quilt by using the custom order form.

My First Pillow!

This pillow took me about one week longer than I thought it would, because I kept getting bored with the monotonous rows of hdc for the back! But I think the simplicity of the backing really makes the front that much more fun and bright. I love the way they work together.

It's made from leftover Caron Simply Soft yarn from any number of projects over the years - some is from my very first blanket (fitting, don't you think?), some if from a baby blanket for a friend, and some is from the multiple wedding blankets I've made for dear friends.

I'm determined to clean out this basket of old yarn - It's meant to be my project basket, but as been sitting as yarn storage for over a year now. I really want my basket back!

I'm thrilled that this pillow came out the way I had envisioned it.  I've already started on my next pillow (using some squares that were going to be a blanket and will now be a pillow!) and am excited by the possibility of adding these to my repertoire. For now, this one will be up in my shop.

Color Me Lately

Lately I've been trying valiantly to reduce the number of works in progress I have sitting around the coffee table.  It started as a need to clean up the living room [my craft room is under siege at the moment by spare furniture from the bedroom. Anyone want a box spring?] and that blossomed into a need to clean out my work baskets. But I'm pleased to say that this has resulted in several new items going up in the shop, and some beautiful new works are being created [because of course I hated what I had started on months ago!].

Here's a peak at what's on the hook lately:

New Wedding Blanket

This is one that I have started over three times now. Nothing seemed to fit! Finally I stumbled upon a project I had started with this stitch, tried it out with these colors, and now I'm in love.

New Baby Blanket

This one isn't planned for anyone.  It's mostly a way to work on this new stitch, and so far I'm....eh about it.  I like the stitch and I like the color, but I'm not sure a whole blanket will work well.

New Pillow #1

I really like this one! Aside from some frustrations with miscounting every few rows, I really like this stitch pattern. It's made from my big store of scrap yarn, and I'm loving the color combos.

New Pillow #2

These squares were originally going to be a huge blanket for our bed, but I got bored. So I'm giving them new life as a pillow and I really like the way it's turning out! I'm excited to finish it up and get it all put together!

Summer Traveling? Take Color Me Reckless With You!

I don't know about you, but I've got all my summer travel planned for the second half of the summer -  a short trip to see family in Puerto Rico and then a short anniversary trip to Charles Town, West Virginia. I'm super excited for both! But I'm also excited about this new summer item I worked up. Meet The Shower Scrubby.

I make a super sweet soap saver bag that I absolutely love. But not everyone uses soap! So I originally worked this up for people that wanted a smaller washcloth for shower gel. And then I realized how great for traveling it would be! A small, scrubby washcloth that fits neatly in your toiletries bag? Perfect!

I'm thinking about adding a little handle on a version of it so that it says on your hand in the shower. What do you think?

If you're looking for great travel items you can check out my Etsy shop - these new Shower Scurbbies are there (more coming soon!) and my Face Scrubbers are also great for travel. Pack just one or two face scrubbers for your vacation rather than worrying about taking cotton balls or buying cotton balls when you get there!

From now until the end of summer (August 31, 2014), use code TRAVEL14 at checkout for 20% off your total purchase.

AND share a picture of you with Color Me Reckless item on your travels on Facebook or Instagram, and you'll be entered to win a gift certificate for the shop! Just snap a photo of the item, tag Color Me Reckless and post! Please only post your photo once on Facebook OR Instagram - not both. Posting twice or on multiple sites will disqualify you from the drawing.

Learning to Value Your Work and Price it Accordingly

PET PEEVE ALERT!! Seriously, this is something that bugs me to no end.  I can't count the number of times I go looking around on Etsy doing price comparison, or looking for packaging inspiration, or just looking at what other people are doing, and I see beautiful crochet work priced dirt cheap.  Yesterday I saw 61 items priced at $3.00. Not $3 each, $3 for all 61 items. It has to stop. Here are some really good reasons why pricing your work that low isn't a good thing, even though it might help you get sales.

1. It disrespects your work.

When your work isn't priced according to all the time and skill that went into it, you are sending the message that your work doesn't matter to you, that it didn't take skill to create, and that you don't value your work. Crocheting takes time, it takes planning, it takes an understanding of color play. You created something that you think is good enough to sell to other people, so why don't you value that? Make sure when you price your work that you value your time and energy. Take into account the cost of the yarn, and the amount of time it took you to create the item. Think about fair labor - even minimum wage, entry level jobs have a minimum wage.  However sucky and exhausting working in fast food may be, that companies values its employees time. Shouldn't you? When I go looking for an item on Etsy or on another handmade marketplace, I'm looking for something special, something handmade, and something that clearly had a lot of love put into it. I don't want crap I can buy anywhere. I'm willing to pay for handmade, don't assume I don't know what I'm looking for.

2. It makes you look like a factory.

When you don't price your work well, it makes it seem like you don't care about your work at all.  If you don't care about each handcrafted item, why should I as a consumer? Why should I buy something handmade, when even the artist doesn't value the product? And frankly, when I see things like 61 items for a total of $3.00, I start to wonder if it's all really handmade.  I know how much time goes into crocheting an item, and I know how much yarn costs. There's no formula that would make that price legitimate. Handmade businesses are not the place to use price as a means of competition. Sure you want to be in the same price category as your competitors, but this is not the place where dirt cheap prices win. Handmade items for pennies each hurt both you as the business person, and me as the consumer. You're losing money by not valuing your work, and the consumer starts to believe that's how much crochet work is worth.

3. It makes crochet seem cheap and easy, not a skillful talent.

Not everyone can crochet, and crochet well. It's a skill and a talent. When you price your crochet items dirt cheap, hoping to get buyers, you are hurting everyone who crochets. You are pulling down the value of crochet in the marketplace, and you are making consumers think that crochet is worthless. Stop.  Value yourself and your craft, and price accordingly. Remember that you are more than just a lone seller, you are a part of a marketplace, and your actions impact the whole market.

It's all economics.

I know, I know. Those three words send shivers of fear and loathing down your spine. But if you are selling your work to consumers, you better know a little something about valuing your work. I can't tell you had sad it makes me to see people who clearly think their craft isn't worth what it should be.  Recognize your talent! 

And because this post was a bit light on actual crocheting, here's a sneak preview of a blanket that's almost complete!

On Frogging

Oh frogging. There is something exhilarating about frogging a project and starting it over.  So soothing to be able to start it all over, get a fresh start. But let me explain.

What is frogging?

Frogging is the act of ripping out a project (get it? rip it rip it. ) and starting it again. Often this happens if I find a mistake in it somewhere, or if I want to change some part of it. Rarely do I rip out the whole project and start it again. Especially when the deadline is a month away!

But this time, I did.

Remember this hexagon blanket?

I liked it when I started it, but as I got to the point of putting it all together, it just didn't work. I tried to keep going on it, keep sticking to the vision I had at the start, but it just sat there in a corner. I didn't want to work on it at all. I would pick it up, do a hexagon, and then put it down again for a week. I realized that I was just trying to get it finished as quickly as possible. Not the way I wanted this project to go!

So I frogged it. Ripped out the whole thing. And  now it's becoming a new design that I like so much better!

The blocks are big, so the whole thing won't take too long to put together, meaning that I will be able to finish the blanket on time. And it will be easy to connect since it's all squares - no hexagons!

I'm now energized about the project - wanting to pick it up at all hours, not wanting to put it down again. I love this feeling! I can't wait for this project to be done to be able to see it all together.

A Beautiful Day at the Brewery

On Saturday, we went to a Beer Fest in Frederick, Maryland.  The day was sunny, warm, and absolutely beautiful - the perfect day for trying out new beers.

And try we did! Every beer we tried was delicious. I loved how different each beer tasted.  I've never been a big fan of beer (I prefer cider to beer - I like the lighter, crisper, taste of the fruit), but these were all delicious!

I even got to meet some spinners at the festival! I watched a group of women spin the wool from the sheep on the farm. It was so rhythmic and soothing.  The woman I spoke to told me a bit about the process, and now I am definitely interested. It seems like the next step in being a crocheter - learning how to make the yarn itself.  I see a new hobby in my future...

New Blanket Palette!

I'm so excited to start working on a new baby blanket - and even more excited to be making this blanket for a dear friend of mine! I have been planning this blanket since they got married almost, and am THRILLED to finally be able to bring it to life without jinxing anything!! Here's the color palette I've chosen:

Any guesses as to what it will look like?

Buying the yarn soon...just a few more sketches and I'm all set to start working!

Catching Up

This week has been one of catching up. Catching up on watching video lectures, catching up on my daily blanket, and catching up on being creative. But it finally feels like I'm getting somewhere - like I'm getting back to the parts of being creative and learning that I enjoy.

I had a dentist appointment on Wednesday, and I forgot to take my book with me for the waiting room.  But I had my sketchbook, so I took it out and started sketching. And not just rough sketching out shapes and sizes, but adding in the shading, trying to work out color patterns in black and white. And I loved it! I felt so inspired by it - I hadn't realized how long it's been since I did sketching like that.

And that simple sketching for 15 min in the dentist's office made me so excited to come home and work out things 'in real life.' I started working up these new potholders, using the corner to corner method I love so much.

It feels like a new start! I don't feel like I can only make these items I'm going to sell, and I don't feel limited at all. And I love this process.

Also - I finally finished up my placemats! I'm so proud of these - I even made the label all by myself with no help from Photoshop Wizard Husband.

On the Hook

As I shared last week, I've been pretty busy lately! But thankfully, the craziness has slowed down a bit, and I am able to get back to hooking up things I love! Here's a look at what's on my hook this week:

The first of this year's wedding blankets! I love the pattern I created for these hexies and the way the colors work together.

And because I can't just work on one project at a time, here's another!

Catching up on a crochet a day project! This started as a part of the crochet mood blanket, but quickly became just trying to do one square a day.  I'm only 60 some squares behind?

What's on your hook?