greetingarts

more crafting in multiples

I know I haven't been the best blogger lately, but it's not for lack of crafting.  I've been picking up some knitting work for a few shop owners, and the orders have kept my fingers very busy for the past few weeks.

 
Here's a stack of thick, luxurious 100% Peruvian Highland wool bulky berets I knitted for a boutique owner.  I made eighteen in all, and guess who purchased three of them?  Lenny Kravitz!  Really!  He bought eight total, but three that I personally made.  I thought that was kinda cool, but my kids had no clue who Lenny Kravitz was.

I hope I can pick up more work like this on a constant basis. The pay is quite reasonable and while it does cut in on my own crafting time (there are babies on the way, holidays and birthdays coming up, charities to knit for, members of the family to accessorize!), I love being able to contribute financially to the family while doing something I enjoy and not taking away any time from my kids and volunteer work at the school.

Now I might move on to some practical sewing.  Like, putting on patches and repairing split seams.  The little people around here seem to be really rough on their pants...

 

47 hearts in a heartbeat

With both kids in school and class sizes increasing, I thought I was going to be in a bit of trouble with handmade class gifties for parties and things this year, but we got Valentine's Day all taken care of with no problem.

Jessica will be handing out 25 origami hearts, but instead of lollipops, ours contain miniature heart crayon/pencil thingies I bought at the after-Valentine's sale at Target last year.  I love how the heart looks like an oversized jacket and the smiley face pokes out of the top.

Rebecca decided on Friday after school that she wanted little crocheted heart ornaments like these, so I got out some small balls of yarn leftover from making socks and toys, used the pattern from Little Birdie Secrets (so darn easy to remember!), and made 20 in less than an hour.  The tags were die cut with my good old Sizzix.

 
And of course a little something for the teachers, plastic wine glasses filled with Cherry Cordial M&Ms and Valentine's ribbon.  I'll show you what I made for the kiddos some other time, for now I have to run off to help out with two classroom parties!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.  May there be lots of love in your life, today and always.

not a Laker's scarf

I recently finished a scarf requested by one of the office workers at Rebecca's and Jessica's school.  It's not a Laker's scarf, though it certainly could be... the colors are the same. 

 
It was made in her daughter's high school colors, and she loved it.  Now a bunch of her high school friends want one, too...  It was simple enough to make, on large-sized needles, a k2, p2 rib, but the color changes were annoying since they couldn't be carried up the sides, and all the yarns were different weights and brands and it was just a bit odd to knit up.

 
I guess I'll have to get over it or figure out a better way to make it, if I've got more orders coming in.  Even Rebecca wants one, since she'll be attending the same high school in the future.  Yikes!