Round Two

Sweaters turned into gloves, waiting to be crocheted.

It seems that I am a sucker for punishment…at least the kind that’s self-inflicted. I took a leap of faith and decided to hop on board the art/craft fair train, signing up to do two more in the next eight weeks. At first I found myself in a near panic and feeling very stressed about it, albeit excited. I mean, come on…I only get a few hours (at best) each night to craft. (Long gone are my lengthy days spent holed up in my studio cranking out work…and cranking up the music late at night.) I wondered how in the world I will ever be able to make enough inventory in time.

First draft on an iPad cover. Michael made me an iPad template out of cardboard. He’s such a team player.

Then I stopped for a moment and took a breath and I realized this: the only pressure I am under is that which I put on myself (as my parents can tell you…I’ve always been my own worst critic and am usually too hard on myself). Instead, I’ve decided to just take it easy. Yes, I will be sewing and crocheting and printing like mad until the first fair on Nov. 2nd, but as long as I am enjoying myself and the process, then that’s all that matters. If I have 10 items to sell or 30 items, it’s not going to define me or what I do. So, I’m not going to focus on the number, just on getting there. I am still working through this idea of turning what I love to make and do into something bigger…I don’t dare say the word, “business” because that just sounds too final. It’s a journey and I’m the only one in charge, for now. Besides, there is still dinner to make and laundry to fold and noses to wipe and stories to be read and fun to be had with my little guys. They’re my number one job and I know this time with them at home will come to an end much sooner than I’d like…maybe I’ll embrace the idea of having a “business” by then. But not yet.

Snowflakes anyone?

Since I most likely won’t be blogging too much in the next few weeks, I thought I’d do a quick catch-up on some of the things I have made in the past couple of months, besides fingerless gloves.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Levi started Kindergarten last month and he needed to have slippers to wear in his classroom. I crocheted and felted a pair of slippers for him that turned out quite nicely… for my first time felting, that is. I felted one at a time, because I was not sure how much they would shrink or how exactly to shape them. It was a fun experiment. The sweetest thing about it is that Levi showed them to his teacher on the first day of school and exclaimed, “My mama made them for me…they are homemade!” I loved that.

I’ve been trying to recover our couch pillows for close to a year now. It’s just one of the home projects that keeps getting put on hold for some reason or another. I managed to finish a couple and that’s at least a start. I envision my whole couch to be covered in crocheted pillow love and Nanny blankets. On this pillow, I incorporated a piece of cashmere from one of the felted sweaters I use for the gloves, into the design and just crocheted around it. It’s so soft and warm…it has to be my favorite one so far.

Levi asked me to crochet a pillow for his stuffed dog that he sleeps with. So now his dog Basil, has his own little pillow too. The green one was a last minute switch…taking an old project and turning it into a pillow instead. And the colorful mandala piece is in the works. Maybe I will pick it up again after the holidays.