As Time Goes By

It's been almost a year since I blogged here last. I'm amazed anyone is still following here! Well, surprise, surprise -- I'm back!

The past year has been crazy busy. We bought a house and moved into it in August, about 6 months after our previous move. I'm still not unpacked. Why? Because I had a baby in December! The last time I blogged here, I didn't even know I was pregnant. Wow.

Due to the arrival of baby Abby, I considered closing my Etsy shop. Taking packages to the store with three kids in tow is daunting, for one thing. For another, I've been wanting to narrow the focus of my store for a while now. Or give it a focus for the first time, lol. A couple years ago, I mused in this post about whether or not having lots of different kinds of items in my shop was good or not. I've decided to try selling only my original crochet patterns. No journals, no canteens, no ready-made crocheted items. Just patterns. So far, it's been working well! I've added several new patterns recently, and am working on lots more. Stay tuned here for details, because I plan to keep this blog going once again :-)

To close, here's one of my new patterns, modeled by my new baby:

Huggermugger Hats, Babies, and Friends

At last, I've created a hat worthy of the title Huggermugger! Ever since I opened shop, I've been wanting to make up a hat pattern that I could call the Huggermugger Hat because wearing it felt like a hug for your head. And I've finally done so! I have four in my shop at the moment, all adult/teen sizes, but I'm working on making a child size.

The Huggermugger Hat is crocheted from two strands of yarn held together, so it's extra thick and extra warm. I'll be adding the crochet pattern to my shop soon as well.

In other news, I'm 36 weeks along in my pregnancy today. I had a midwife appointment this morning, and the baby is head-down, in perfect position for birth, so I'm praying it stays that way. I haven't really mentioned being pregnant much here, and that's because there's rarely anything to say -- I'm having a very ordinary, normal, uncomplicated pregnancy, so what's there to write? I've gained 26 pounds so far, the baby's growing nicely and has a strong heartbeat, and I'm pretty much ready for it to arrive any time now :-)

Speaking of baby arrivals, my best friend Julie, who runs the Etsy shop This Cosy Life, had her third child this week, a healthy baby girl. Hooray!

Up next: another giveaway! Don't touch that dial ;-)

Busy Moms: New Hope Beading

Remember that gorgeous lavender jade bracelet I featured a couple months ago? The one my husband surprised me with on my birthday? It came from today's featured Busy Mom shop: New Hope Beading.

While that particular piece of jewelry is now mine-all-mine, there are plenty of other lovely things in that shop waiting for you to fall in love. Go see for yourself! And go here to read a quick interview with Caroline, the mom behind the shop.

Happy Birthday, Bard!

Today is William Shakespeare's 445th birthday! It also happens to be my 29th birthday. So to celebrate, here are some of my favorite Shakespeare-themed items from other Etsy sellers. Most of them revolve around Hamlet because that's my favorite of his plays (to say the least).

This Hamlet journal comes from the Immortallongings shop run by Elizabeth E. Schuch. Her tender portraits of various Shakespearean characters adorn everything from journals and bookmarks to cards and jewelry. I bought two of her Hamlet bookmarks a few months ago, and I adore them! I'm seriously considering buying this journal with some of my birthday money because it's just so delicious.

Probably the best-known phrase from Hamlet -- and perhaps any of Shakespeare's plays -- has to be "To be or not to be, that is the question." This quirky necklace from Reworkd displays the phrase in an original way. It would make a great gift for someone who loves Shakespeare, Hamlet, or even typewriters.

Another well-known line from Hamlet adorns this groovy pendant from Lpjewelry. The reminder to be true to yourself would be a cool gift for a graduate, don't you think?

This necklace displays one of my favorite Hamlet lines. It's a bit existential, perfect for any deep-thinkers out there.
And finally, this nifty bag from Hamncheezr is a useful way to display your devotion to the Bard's immortal prose. I've never seen anything like it on Etsy -- this is truly one-of-a-kind.

Happy birthday, Shakespeare! You made our language so much richer, I can't imagine what it would be like without you.

Under the Lilacs

When I was a girl, I read every one of Louisa May Alcott's books I could get my hands on. She wrote quite a few besides the Little Women series, you know. One of the ones I liked best was Under the Lilacs, and as I was thinking about it this afternoon, I decided to blog about some pretty lilac and lavender things I've found on Etsy recently.

The first is this beautiful lavender jade bracelet from NewHopeBeading. Isn't it breathtaking? I love silver jewelry, and while I don't wear bracelets often, I definitely would wear this one. I completely adore it.

I also love these Corrie hoop earrings from SilverSunshine (and I love her store name too, don't you?). They're simple and a little playful, and those lilac and aquamarine beads make me think happy Spring thoughts.

Finally, this isn't precisely lilac or lavender, but opals always look slightly purple to me. This silver dragonfly from WaveJewelry makes me yearn for summer, when I could wear open-necked shirts to show it off.

Well, those are the three pretties I've marked as favorites lately. Any of them would be a great addition to your spring wardrobe -- or mine! My birthday's coming up, after all.... :-D

Scrumptious Scrunchies

I've added something new to my shop: scrunchies! You know, those decorative hair elastics people use in their ponytails or braids. Prettier than a plain band, but still very functional and useful. So far I've listed two, one orange and one grey. I'm kind of trying to make them in colors you don't see made into scrunchies as often. There are lots of pretty pink and purple and blue and yellow hair accessories out there, but so many of them seem aimed at younger girls. I want to list things that adults would like too, that are in colors adults wear. Not that girls/tweens/teens wouldn't like these too, of course :-)

See a Pattern?

You know my cute little sun hats for babies? I made up that pattern myself, because I couldn't find one I liked. I've gotten lots of compliments on them, and I realized other people might like to make them too. So I am now offering my pattern as a pdf file in my store!

It's really six patterns in one, because it contains instructions for three sizes -- 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12 months -- as well as two brim styles: flat or ruffled. All for only $6.

This is a simple pattern that even newer crocheters can do -- if you can chain and do a double crochet stitch, you can make these hats!

Back at the Ranch Jewelry

I'm a cowgirl at heart, didja know that? John Wayne is my hero, I love horses and the outdoors, and not much makes me happier than a good western movie or book. So of course I love the western-themed jewelry sold by Back at the Ranch. I'm particularly fond of this "Don't Mess with Cowgirls" necklace -- isn't it awesome? There's a matching bracelet listed separately too.

Back at the Ranch also has a blog that features lots of other western artwork. If you're a misplaced cowgirl like me, check out both shop and blog.

Bright Baubles Scarf

Yay! I got pics taken of my scarf yesterday and uploaded it to my store -- check it out! I love this bright purple yarn, it's sport weight, so fairly soft and thick enough to be warm, but has some fun play to it. I got two small skeins of it on clearance a month or so ago and wish I'd picked up more, because I'm in love with it. I may have to be selfish and use what I've got left to make something for myself :-)

Anyway, the scarf's not just purple, it's got lines of different neon colors, and a multicolored neon fringe. The fringe might be my favorite part of this scarf, because I knotted the different strands together to give it a lattice look.

I worked the scarf in double-crochet Vs to match the look of my Bright Baubles hats, and of course, it's made from the same yarns.

Sunshine on My Shoulder

After four days of gloomy, wet weather, the sun has returned! Okay, it actually returned yesterday, sort-of. It wasn't raining, at least. But today it's full-on sunny at last.

I'm not usually bothered by an absence of sun, but it was so yucky that I couldn't take Daniel outside. And the four days of gloom just happened to coincide with four days when my husband was gone on a business trip -- Daniel and I about went stir crazy! We went to the mall twice just so he could play on the little playground there and I could see something besides the white walls of our apartment. And I couldn't take photos of anything to list on Huggermugger, so I kind of fell behind there too, even though I finished a new scarf days ago.

But it's sunny today, so as soon as Daniel went down for his morning nap, I started snapping pics of my scarf... and my camera battery died. So I put it in its recharger and plugged it into an outlet in my kitchen... and the battery fell out of the charger and under the washing machine! Ack! I finally fished it out after wasting lots of time I could have spent writing for Nanowrimo... and now, of course, it's hours and hours later and Daniel's awake and I haven't had a chance to finish my photo session. Sigh. At least I got to take him out to the playground today!

So I guess I'll list another address book that I took photos of last week. The scarf will have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe it will be sunny again.