When your output greatly exceeds your sales...

It's kind of discouraging. I won't lie!

My knitting output has ALWAYS exceeded my ability to give away or pass on the many items I make. My social discomfort usually means that unless the directions to send things to charities is VERY concrete and straight forward I won't even try. The potential for messing it up is too great and I just keep stockpiling while feeling faintly guilty that someone could be using the 17 beanies I knit 5 years ago if I was confident to send them somewhere where they would actually acknowledge they received them! Otherwise I worry about that too!

But with the toys I felt a certain amount of confidence. Unique handmade toys always resonate comfort to adults as well as children and the patterns I indulge in turn out DESPERATELY cute toys! I have had great success at different times, selling many bunnies but I've never managed to maintain the momentum.

I'm not a good self-promoter.

I don't have any money to put into promoting my goods.

And it's lovely to receive likes and kind comments from people on Instagram and Facebook about how lovely the toys are...

But no-one buys.

I thought I'd at least get nibbles at this time of year but so far it's been really quiet for months. 

I sold one custom order to America in October. $35aud. Not a lot for the last 3 months really.

I'm a technician. I know that. I love doing. I could make things till the cows come home. But I feel as exposed as a peeled prawn when I have to try and sell my things. I'm uncomfortable, embarrassed by the praise while slightly pleased but desperate to earn some money without exposing that desperation to the people browsing.

I'm not sure what will happen. I can't stop making things. It's a constant battle not to get terribly discouraged with my apparent inability to understand how technology and social media work together. But I'll keep plugging on...

...I'll cast on another toy project. And when I finish it, outfit and all, it will make me smile. Maybe someone else will feel that too when they see it in my shop....

...It could happen!

God Bless you all!

Dx

Sometimes my brain highjacks my body!

Recently, for some reason or other, my brain has become dissatisfied with the cellophane bags I put my knitted bunnies in when I ship them. They work fine since the bunnies usually travel in a postal bag.

BUT...their ears always get flattened.

See!

So I started looking at the lovely way other handmade soft doll makers shipped their toys and the idea slotted into my mad cataloging brain...

It said,YES! WE MUST HAVE IT!!

Pointing out that it was already 10pm, that there were dollies I was already knitting waiting had absolutely no effect. The hamster in my brain kept running madly in his wheel, loudly percolating ideas...

I WANT PRESENTATION BOXES FOR MY BUNNIES!

Yeah, great but we don't have any money. And even if we did we'd have to order them and that'd take time and...

WE HAVE CARDSTOCK. I BET WE COULD FIND A BOX TEMPLATE SOMEWHERE!

Yeah, probably, but...

HERE! ORIGAMI RECTANGULAR BOX WITH LID. EASY! COME ON! GET THE STUFF!

But the card's not big enough for the boxes we need to make!

...STICKY TAPE THEM TOGETHER! THEN THEY'LL BE BIG ENOUGH!

Not too professional looking but, hey! What do I know?...

MUST GET IT DONE! HAVE TO HAVE BOXES!!

And now I have boxes. 

Which are sweet but not nearly as nice or sturdy as I'd like but they're good for making them easy to find when people buy them. 

So I guess the crazy side of my brain wasn't far wrong. Even the little pics on the end of the boxes was a good idea!

I hope, sometime in the future that I sell enough of my bunnies and toys to purchase professional lidded boxes that could actually withstand the postal service because these wouldn't last a minute! But I guess I can fit them in mailing boxes now without them sloshing around.

And the Obsessive Ideas part of my brain is appeased and I can have my brain and body back and the hamster has curled up in his little house to sleep until the next obsessive idea come along and he jumps back up and gets back in his wheel. 

Ah well, life in my brain is never dull!

God bless you all!

Dx

Why I knit.

I LOVE watching the Sea! All that focused turmoil!

I began to knit often because it calms my anxiety, which needs nothing to activate. It can just sit there, in a state of constant percolation, but when I’m knitting and following a pattern I can zone out the sound of the constant anxiety and just enjoy what I’m doing. There are very few other things that allow me to do that.

I can keep my hands busy instead of fidgeting about or getting bored. I can remember as a child, when being chided about reading at the table when having a meal that I’d try and explain that my brain was bored. My mind would wonder about like a balloon, with nothing to fix on while my hands got on with the mundane business of eating. My hands being occupied wasn’t enough. I needed something to engage my brain as well. Knitting answers both of those needs. While the motion is mechanical there are things to think about. What stage am I up to in the pattern? What will the next stage require? How does it look? Do I need to change anything? 

My brain is never quiet. There is a CONSTANT monologue going on in my head. If I don’t fill it with something to occupy itself with it will fill it with something else...which often isn’t healthy. My anxieties will flood in, my worries for my type 1 diabetes, the fact that I don’t work, that my dear Hubbie has to support us both. I worry about my adult children, especially the youngest who has Aspergers Syndrome and struggles daily with issues due to that. If I don’t fill my mind with something that gives me a little joy, eventually the other thoughts fill it instead until I’m so overwhelmed I just want to disappear.

So...I knit. It’s seems pretty benign but it has given me at least a little hope that I can be productive doing something that is positive to me and can give someone else a little tangible moment of joy for themselves. 

And for that, I am grateful!

Dx

Finished my new Dollies

I recently found a new toy pattern that I'm really loving, almost as much as Little Cotton Rabbit by Julie Williams ! My new friends are the Oak Folk by Sandra Magalhães , her Etsy shop has a name I don't understand because I think it's in Portuguese but her patterns also come in English. And they are WONDERFUL!

First Dolly I finished from The Oak Folks

As you see, I even managed to knit them while I was on our 5 week caravan holiday up to Exmouth and Karratha. And I immediatelly fell in love with her! So I had to do another one!

Second Dolly! So much fun!

So now I had two! There were so many ideas percolating in my brain by then. The most prominent one was "I can't wait to get home so I can have access to ALL my stash and ALL my needles!" You don't realize how difficult it is to get knitting tools outside of a fair sized city! The holiday was nearly over and we came back to Perth and visited Darling Daughter and her Hubbie and of course, the precious grandchild...Eugene! A busy 2 year old. Who would be better to test the Dollies? So I gave him a go...

He LOVED them! In the end, I let him have them and he terrorises his mother now by wrenching off their bonnets and insisting that she puts them back on again! (Fortunately, he hasn't found out that the shoes come off too!) They more than stood up to the rigors of being pulled, squished, having their little faces crushed against each other as they kissed each other and being stood on, rolled on and carried around by an arm or a leg. And they are such a versatile toy for a small child.

Thus encouraged, I decided to knit some more. So I ddecided to knit two more dollies once I was home with my stash.

New Dolly 1 and New Dolly 2!

With tan and white cotton I made up the bodies and I used the same technique for the eyes as I do with the bunnies. They sit better in their little faces than the ones on the pattern. And I was used to working them too after all this time! Nice. Then the fun stuff, Dressing them!

Dolly 2 in Blue!

 I decided to dress Dolly 2 first because I'd already decided what colours to use. The bonnet is an old baby acrylic, the cardigan is part of a reclaimed jumper that I'd unravelled and knit held doubled. The rompers are a free ball of yarn from a knitting magazine pattern that I never used and the shoes are an old ball of baby yarn with an angora blend.

Cardigan, rompers, bonnet and shoes. All removable!

 I was very happy with how she turned out. The colours worked, the textures were nice and soft. Easy enough to wash with a bit of care...Brilliant. Okay, onto Dolly 1!

Dolly 1 in Red and Orange

 I decided on rich autumn-like colours. I love the different hues of the orange parts especially. The cardigan was difficult because I wanted a particular golden yellow colour but I didn't have any acrylic in it. So in the end I used a cotton/rayon blend I had and it was just what I wanted!

Cardigan, romper, bonnet and shoes are removable.

I changed the pattern of the pixie bonnet a bit because I didn't want the different stitch patterns on the original. I wanted a smoother, less chunky look. So I just garter stitched the front and did the back shaping in stocking stitch. It worked just as well and matched the rest of his clothes very nicely!

Dolly 2 and Dolly 1...what next?

So, now, much satisfied with myself and thinking on everything, I have only one more question. Would it be worth while knitting some more of these lovelies and seeing if anyone might like to buy them. I'm still doing the Bunnies but everything has been very quiet for months and I'm starting to get despondent again. I can never seem to keep the momentum going!

I guess I'll have to wait and see. Maybe play around with seeing if the Bunnies can fit into the Oak Folks clothes. That could be fun!

God Bless to All!

Dx

Back and just as anxious!

And here we are again!
Another attempt to make something out of nothing!
I don't have a lot of resources. My anxiety and social awkwardness are such that Craft Markets and such have never worked well for me. Unfortunately, I've developed such a good mask of quirky cheerfulness, people don't realize the agonies of anxiety and fear that churn away just underneath.

I like making things. Lovely things. Comforting things. Things that make people smile.
Unfortunately I really struggle with the kind of self belief one needs to promote myself and my products. I suck at selling!

Goodies on my Etsy Shop
www.etsy.com/shop/danie17

So here I am, again trying to put together a facebook page with my knitted toys and goodies in it. I still have my Etsy shop, which occassionally has many sales and I'm so happy but then long droughts where I think "I am never going to get enough momentum to keep this thing going."

Little Dolls
www.etsy.com/shop/danie17

But despite all that, I keep knitting. Because it makes me happy. I feel deep satisfaction with each beautifully turned out bunny or doll.

A lovely custom order for a lady's mother to hold while she has chemo.
A little friend to be there with her through it!

I don't get that sense of deep contentment with anything else in my life, although I am blessed with a loving family, children who are grown and building their own families and still get to see often. I have a wonderful life!
And a lot of mental health issues due to possible Aspergers. And type 1 Diabetes.

My lovely Mother. Dad died this February.
Mum is the loveliest person I know!
 

My wonderful Hubbie, who puts up with a lot!

So I'll keep plugging on, knitting and doing my best because after all is said and done, what else can you do?
I am thankful. The Lord has blessed me more than I can fully appreciate. And with his help and all those He's placed around me, I'm sure I will do much!

God Bless to All!
Dx

A Pleasant Time

I've been enjoying a bit of company lately while youngest son, Jordan (who looms over me alarmingly!) has been spending the week here with us. Saving some money and eating free food! I'm more than happy to have him. Hubbie's quite often pre-occupied with work or training and there's no-one else to talk to but the dogs and the cats. So I have been enjoying it greatly!

He even was good enough to join me working with polymer clay!

His water lily was so nice too but he discovered that if you roll the clay too thin it really does compromise the stability of the whole thing and sadly the middle petals fell apart. But I have pictures to prove it was beautiful!

I've also finally discovered a way to use the clay that I like. The pendants and the large disc have given me renewed hope that I might actually like using polymer clay. I've finally used up my pendant trays so now I'm wondering how to proceed...ordering more is NOT an option. 

I'm still making progress with the combo yarn beanies and the Monty Python cross stitch. 

I've finished up the last beanie using the blue combo yarn...

...And I finished the third line of characters on the cross stitch. Only one more line to go!

Still busy, still compulsively crafting!

I find it sometimes really discouraging to think of how many completed projects I have stored up, jewellery, tatting, knitting, various crafts that I have no use for. I will never wear all the things I make. If I were a bit more like everyone else I might. My mothers has hundreds of earrings and wears many of them because she likes social occasions and is both gregarious, cheerful and outgoing. 

I am not. I'm just an overly anxious introvert!

Social occasions fill me with an underlying wave of panic and anxiety that I can usually disguise adequately enough when I have to but invariably leave me washed out and exhausted afterwards. It's lovely when people compliment me about the things I make, but sometimes I question what point there is in me constantly churning out various crafts when all it does is cost me money. I feel a bit like a crazy crafting ant. Constantly creating things I have absolutely no aptitude to convert into anything useful. 

Obviously I'm still a bit blue at the moment. On Friday I'll be driving Jordan back to Perth. 

I think I'll even miss the continuous talk about movies and famous Directors...

Ah well.

See you all later

Dx

Late! So late!!

But I couldn't think of anything really earth shattering to share since last time so instead I've decided to be quick and brief.
I have been knitting like a machine with my combo beanies. I'm really starting to use up all that combined cone yarn I turned into more knittable 8 ply weight yarn. I made some headway on the lace socks but unfortunately knit holes in my fingers so I've had to put it aside for a bit. And I finished the first character on the third line of my Monty Python Cross Stitch.
All on all, pretty productive week I thought!
See you all later
Dx

Okay, I may have knit a bit too much this time...

I know, shocker, huh?

I've finished all these beanies over the last 2 or 3 weeks. I've used up all the Moda Vera Bouvardia ball I bought on a whim and loved watching the colour change as I paired it with the dark grey of the combo yarn. I thought it worked really well. And it feels gorgeous!!

And as well as all that I've also finally packaged up the beanies I need to send to my niece and youngest son. All nicely labelled and wrapped up ready to trundle down to the post...on Monday.

So, after I'd finished the last Bouvardia beanie I thought I'd do some more of the sock I've been slowly working my way through. I'm knitting up the extra gusset stitches after doing the heel and that's really not that interesting. And they're on 2mm needles. And there's a certain amount of tension because the gauge is firm.

Alas! I have knit HOLES in my fingertips! I'd like to pretend that this is a new thing but my family will loudly refute that claim. I OFTEN knit holes in my fingers. Indeed, I even fashioned a couple of finger thimbles to wear to counter this very thing! But I forgot and by the time I remembered, the damage was done! My skin splits where there's been constant friction and pressure and there is NO PAIN quite like the pain of poking yourself in your open, abused flesh with a pointy metal needle!

So I thought I'd better give the knitting a day or two off to give my skin a bit of time to think about what it's done and get back with the program! I mean, damn it! I have stuff to knit!!

In the meantime I've finally gotten out the paracord I bought when last in Albany and looked up all these instructions for paracord bracelets I'd been saving on Pinterest. I had even bought the right clips for it too! The hardest part though was figuring out what to do with the left over strands when you got to the bracelet end. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to tie a knot (Tried that. Looked clunky. Didn't like it.) or somehow slip the cords behind the back. In the end, that's what I did. It took the broadest wool needle I had and a pair of pliers but I managed it!

They look pretty good, don't they? Well worth the experience and now I can thing of heaps of other applications and really wish I'd bought more colours. Bother!

And last of all, I finally finished 3rd character 2nd line on my Monty Python cross stitch. After not really picking it up at all for over a fortnight, I thought resting my fingertips would be a good time to pick up a sewing needle instead.

There he is! Slightly underwhelming but you can't have everything. Next is the Green knight. But we see how I go with that tomorrow maybe.

So there you are. Manic knitting resulting in physical harm brings on a Paracord experiment and leads on to Dogged Cross stitching!

Yes, that pretty well describes my week.

See you all Later

Dx

Better late than never!

We're away for the Anzac day weekend. Hubbie was lucky to get the public holiday's off so we came back home to Albany to enjoy family time together. Hubbie at his parents with our dogs and his sister visiting and me at my parents place while my brother and his family were staying here as well. We've had a lovely time!
We went and saw the Anzac march, spent time with my bright, active little 5 year old niece, enjoyed ribbing my brother and girl time with my mum and Kim, and a great time (I hope!) was had by all!

I have done a lot of knitting. I'm churning out beanies like it's going out of fashion and using up quantities of cone yarn combo yarn. I gave David and Kim a beanie each so that's  two off my hands. Now I have to make one for Mackenzie, the lively 5 year old. I'll be posting it to her when I've finished it but they had to go home today. I'll have it ready no doubt by the time I arrive home in Kellerberrin tomorrow.
It has been a lovely weekend all round!
Really lovely!
See you all later.
Dx

Okay,...I think this time I've got it!

The right day, I mean!

I'd have done this yesterday but we went to Perth so Hubbie could do some swimming in a proper sized pool undercover instead of in a 2/3 sized pool subject to the nightly temperature plummet that only the wheatbelt can deliver! Not quite cold enough for ice but, By Gee! it feel like it!!

A productive day was had by all. We got to hang out with the sons, eldest cheerfully and carefree as usual and youngest burdened with the stupidity and foolishness of the world in general...but specifically his older brother. These two board together if you can believe it! I was forced to note as we sat down to eat lunch, youngest glowering at sniggering eldest that there were times I could not believe that they came from the same womb! More sniggering from oldest, faint smirk from deep and thoughtful.

I have a tooth in the front giving me hell at the moment making biting anything before chewing it nearly impossible and consequently didn't eat enough lunch to match up with my insulin (I've been an insulin dependant diabetic since I was 14...so it's been a while!) and energy expenditure. Meaning I became uncomfortably low in blood sugars while at a shopping complex and had to be herded to a table at a cafe while hubbie bought a hot chocolate for me, and the boys made sure I didn't fall over before I sat down. I hate feeling helpless! And stupid!

SO! anyway, since I'm a disaster on legs stumbling from crisis to crisis, on to the things I'm actually good at. CRAFT

So far these are the beanie's I've knit with the combined yarn I made up with my various op-shop finds. The first one I knit with 3mm needles. For the white yarn you see in the second beanie this was way too small. The fabric I knitted up was like a slat of wood! So I unravelled it and the next beanie I knit after the first one is the blue and black one and I used 3.75mm needles. This particular yarn combination feels lovely, cosy and warm! But I wanted to use up the white/grey stuff and since it could only be classed as chunky, I went up another needle size. Even knitting with 4mm needles the beanie is quite firm, but not so much that it's uncomfortable. It's also bigger than the proceeding two and youngest son has already put his hand up to give this a home...once the weather obliges of course.

Now I'm knitting another beanie using the same chunky white/grey yarn but on 4.5mm needles. Using another chunky yarn I have in my stash so we'll see how big this one turns out. These are all using the same beanie pattern I got for free on Ravelry. Garter Stripe Beanie by Terhi Montonen. It's absolutely fabulous and makes such a neat folded beanie when you're not wearing it.

And of course, the ubiquitous Monty Python cross stitch. Still plugging along with the three headed giant (I think that's what it is anyway.) I am enjoying putting the stitching together but I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it's done. I guess I'll worry about that when I get there. After this guy there are two other characters on this line and then I can start the next line! Onward and upwards! 

(Or downwards, really, in regard to the cross stitch anyway!)

The weather is finally beginning to turn around here. The nights are definitely cooler. We can even sleep under a doona at the moment without feeling smothered! And the farmers around our district are starting to get the paddocks ready for the next crop. They first sign of this is usually burn-offs of last years chaff and trash out in the paddocks. As we were driving back from Perth last night it looked like the place had been invaded by small dragons. Ribbons of fire running down the lines of chaff up and down the paddocks. Really impressive looking but I couldn't capture how awesome it looked on my phone. But this was the best I could get. 

I love fire, it's colour,and warmth. Mind you, only tame fire. Wild fire is entirely different beastie and not at all nice. Every summer we're reminded of that here in Australia.  But at pre-seeding time, fire is just another one of the tools of the farmers. Useful but only under certain circumstances.

Today is another day

And more hours to put craft into to keep fidgety hands busy!

It does puzzle me why I can sit hunched over a cross stitch or drawing up a picture or nutting out a new technique I've  never tried knitting before for hours! But when I have to tidy a bathroom or hang out laundry...blimey! It suddenly takes on the proportions of some enormous, insurmountable chore, sucking all the fun out of my creativity and rudely breaking in to my own little world. It's so inconvenient!

So what have I achieved so far this week?

The Marvellous Vest is all done and put away. I dusted off the Monty Python and the Holy Grail cross stitch and have actually managed to progress to the next line of characters! The light issue still remains so I can only do it during the day, so at night I knit.

I'm knitting a pair of socks with a lace insert with some yarn I dyed about 2 years ago but I still don't have a pic of those so I'm keeping them as a surprise for later when they look more like socks.

Also I realized I had accumulated a large number of left over cone yarns with ridiculously thin yarns on them that I really couldn't use in their present state. So I dragged them all out and combined a lot of them to make useable yarn for beanies. I must say, so far I am very pleased with the results! Much better than I'd expected and since they're almost all acrylics, they should be easy to wash. I'm going to see how many I can make and then I'll donate them to my local charity.

So there you have it. Does anyone else suffer from excessive creativity and nil enthusiasm for useful accomplishments?

Maybe it's just me :)

See you later!
Dx

Today is another Day...

...And onto other projects!

But before I do, I have to cover the wonderful Alcott Vest. Wonder of the Shetland Islands and their glorious wool and bright colours! Ahh, I could wax lyrical for...well, longer than I should but I'll get it out of the way since I'm sure you are all sick to death with the thing!

 Here is the vest pre-blocking with the amazing steek stitches behaving like arm and neck interfacing's, as they are supposed to!

And here, TA-DA! is the completed blocked AND worn Alcott vest.

To say I am pretty pleased with it and myself is a gross understatement, but there you go. It is shorter than I would really like but that just means I have to be good and stop tugging at the bottom because it isn't actually too short at all! I just like wearing things too long! But now, I swear, I will no longer bore everyone with my creation. It is beautiful and wonderful and,...and everything, but I will desist...

I swear!

But I have been good! I immediately got back onto the cross stitch poster I've been making for Eldest Son, the mad Monty Python fan!

Look! I finally finished the first line of characters! Don't ask me who they all are supposed to be because I've never watched The Holy Grail that I can remember. And besides the first character on the left who I assume is a character played by John Cleese, I've got no idea of the rest!

But I have realized again why I put it away. I can't do it at night! I just can't see properly and so at night I knit. Another pair of socks using up some of the yarn I dyed a couple of years ago so it's nicely variegated (unintentionally but it's still nice) in a rich crimson that fades in and out of blood red and then petal pink. Very nice. I'll get photos of it soon but I keep forgetting to during the day and by the time I'm doing it, it's night and the light is terrible! Oh well. First World problems.

So there we are. I'm still toiling away on the second line of characters and again questioning my sanity in choosing such fine cloth gauge (muttering to myself, about strands of thread, bad light, constant blinking to try and focus...mumble, mutter, whinge...) and knitting a hole in my finger with my pointy 2mm circular needles so I can knit two socks at once...

Because I can!

Is any one else keeping their hands out of mischief with crafts? What sorts? 

See you all later!

Dx

I have a Cushion!

We went to the city to pick up youngest son to spend the Easter Break with us and while we were there (and the shop's were open too. And absolutely EVERYONE was on the road!) I went to Spotlight and bought a cushion insert! Oh joyous day! Huzzah!!

Back, with flap opening

Front, and looking so pretty!

So I am pretty stoked with that! Pretty, pretty, pretty!

And other than that worrying at the back of my brain (The cushion's not finished until it has a cushion insert! Must get cushion insert!!) I have been busy with my Alcott Vest. I am getting closer to the first stage of actually finishing the vest, by completing the knitted body. 

See the lines of colours? They are my steek stitches. I have three, two armholes and the v-neck. When I've reached the length I want I am going to bind off the shoulders together and then...I am going to CUT the middle of the steek stitches and pick up stitches to do the rib stitch rows around the armholes and the v-neck. How awesome is that??

I must confess I am both excited and worried and really hope I don't screw it up.  But I really want to master this great technique so I am boldly going where I have never gone before!

Has anyone out there master any craft techniques that both excited and scared them?  Tell me I'm not the only worry-wart out here!

See you all later!

Dx