Still See a Pattern?

Remember the snowman hat I talked about in my last post? I've made another one and listed it in my shop in my brand new Child Hats section. I'm planning to add some more hats there soon -- after all, why should babies have all the fun? I've also added the pattern to my shop, so now I have five of my original patterns for sale! I've expanded my pumpkin hat pattern to include a child size too.

The North Wind Doth Blow

It's snowing! It's not sticking, of course, but still, it's snowing! In honor of our first snow for the season, I thought I'd highlight some of the new winter hats I've been adding to my shop lately.

For adults, I just added this groovy hat. I call it the Purple Waves hat, not just because the yarn is purple and the pattern is wavy, but as a reference to one of my favorite books ever, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I crocheted this hat from a wool/acrylic blend that has a handspun texture, which means it has "slubs," or thicker parts in the yarn. That gives this hat a nobbly aspect that I think is extra fun.

Another adult hat I added recently is this black and burgundy cloche. A cloche is a close-fitting women's hat that's sort of shaped like a bell. They were really popular back in the Roaring Twenties. I made this one from satin-finish acrylic yarn, so it's extra soft. And it matches a pair of mittens that I made a couple months ago. Both mittens and hat are done in single crochet for maximum warmth.

And I'm adding some children's sizes to my shop! My first is this Jack-o'-lantern hat that's actually a larger size of the baby ones I already offer. This is big enough for a toddler up to about a ten-year-old. (I offer the pattern for the baby sizes here.) I'm going to be adding a snowman hat soon -- I made one as a custom order and it turned out so cute, I'm going to make more for my shop. In fact, I've got one started already. More about that when I list it!

Quick Feature

The Busy Moms Team did another publicity blitz these last few weeks, and today is my day, so BijouxDesignsForYou has a little feature about me on her blog, including a short interview...

"Death du Jour" by Kathy Reichs

I read Death du Jour so quickly, I didn't even get around to putting it in my sidebar here before I'd finished it. I'd say it was even more absorbing that Reichs' first book, Deja Dead. The characters are more fully realized this time around, and the dialog in most places was much more natural.

Once again, the story crept inside my head and stayed there until I'd finished the book, which is the main reason I read it in just a couple days despite it being nearly 400 pages long. That's pretty rare for me these days, with Daniel demanding so much of my attention, though it was normal for me back in my pre-parenting days. It was possibly even more creepy than Deja Dead, as it dealt with things like cults and some decidedly unnatural deaths. So if you're not a fan of creepy books or all those forensic crime shows on TV, you might not dig this.

Death du Jour focuses on a series of seemingly unrelated murders in Canada and South Carolina that Dr. Tempe Brennan ends up investigating more than her jobs as forensic anthropologist and professor would ordinarily necessitate. It involves more personal relationships than its predecessor, and we not only meet up with Brennan's daughter and ex, but also her sister and nephew. And her professional relationship with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan takes a more personal turn as well, much to my delight.

Reichs' descriptions are the most powerful aspect of her writing, something I admire since I often struggle when describing things in my own writing. Here's my favorite passage from this book: "The new flakes lay white atop the underlying gray, like newborn innocence on last year's sins." Good stuff!

Last Saturday

I've finally uploaded my pictures from the craft show I did last Saturday. We had gorgeous weather, sunny and in the 60s, with a breeze to keep it from getting too hot. And considering it was a smallish show (only 50 booths I think), we had fairly nice crowds.

However, everyone was looking at things, and few people were buying. The show ran from 10am-4pm, and I made less than $50. Considering my booth fee was $75, I was not pleased. But most of the other vendors I talked to had similar complaints -- people just weren't in a buying mood. Whatcha gonna do?

At least I got these nice pics taken of my booth, so if I decide to apply for a booth at more juried shows (next spring, maybe?), I'll have good photos to send. I have another show in a couple weeks, and one in November as well, so I'm hoping I'll be able to make up what I lost at this one between those two.

You Win! You Win!

Congratulations to Shore Debris, who won the set of three Halloween votive holders!

(I let my almost-2-year-old draw the winner out of a hat, which I figured was as fair as a random number generator, since he can't read yet.)

And thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway :-) That was lots of fun, and I expect I'll do another sometime, maybe something Christmas-y in a few months....

No Trick, Just a Giveaway Treat

This hereby kicks off this blog's first giveaway!

What am I giving away? These three spooky glass candle holders! They're perfect for tea lights or small votives. Each one is 2 1/2 inches tall, 2 1/2 inches across, and 9 inches around at the top. One is decorated with spiderwebs and a tiny spider; one with a black cat, a black witch's hat, the word "Boo!," and a ghost; one with the line from Macbeth's three sisters: "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."

The cool thing about these, as you can see from some of the pictures, is that when they're lit, they cast shadows of their decorations on whatever surface you set them on. These make a great decoration for a table, counter, desk, etc. Add them to a centerpiece or set them up alone, whatever suits your fancy. I sold these for $5 each at a craft fair last fall, so this set is worth $15, and it can be yours for free! I'm even throwing in three free Halloween-y tealights, the ones you see in the top picture.

You see, I'm going on vacation until the 23rd, so you have until midnight that night to enter. On the 24th, I will draw the winner.

How can you be that winner? There are three ways:

+ 1. Leave a comment here listing your favorite item from my store, www.huggermugger.etsy.com , and either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

+ 2. Follow my blog. Leave a comment here letting me know you're a follower, plus either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

+ 3. Post about this on your own blog. Leave a comment here with a link to your blog post, plus either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

This means you can be entered up to three times!

Enter by midnight on the 23rd! I'll draw the winner on September 24, announce who it is here, and contact them to get their mailing address. Then I'll ship these three candle holders to the lucky winner, and that will be that! Good luck :-)