November Charity - Close to Home (For Me At Least)

So I was agonizing over which charity to sponsor this month, there are so many out there and there are so many that I just wish I could give all my money to. I was contemplating which charity to support and I came across a pit bull at my local shelter that needs some sponsoring so that he can get neutered and hopefully transferred to a no-kill shelter, as it is particularly hard to place pit bulls in this area. So I have decided that 10% of all my profits this month will go to helping Brodie!



How could you say no to this face?!

Halloween and such!

Oh my poor blog, I have been neglecting it! But alas! I am back! And with pictures and stories of the time I have spent away!

Well, obviously, this weekend was Halloween. So, in keeping with tradition, I dressed up. Granted, I had no idea what I wanted to dress up as, and unlike my brother I had not been planning my outfit for the past three months (he was a hobbit by the way). But, I did come up with a very convincing, authentic character in about an hour's time. My beau was a cowboy. And he didn't even need to buy anything special, which surprised me beyond all reason. I had no idea he had acquired Ostrich Skin Cockroach Stompers (aka cowboy boots of one of the most expensive varieties), or the super tight, ass-flattening cowboy Wranglers, or even the very authentic western pearl snap shirt complete with mustangs embroidered in complimenting colors. And of course, the hat.


He did not want to be the only one of us going to my brother's party dressed up so shooed his mother and I away to search through her closet for acceptable costume materials. We found an old old OLD shirt that had been made in Mexico 50 or 60 years ago that had been her mother's, and turquoise necklace and a plethora of other necklaces in varying materials and lengths to layer. Also, a scarf in colors complimenting the blouse to wear on my head and my boyfriend had the perfect "I Am The Walrus" glasses to top off the outfit! I must say, I wish I could dress like that every day. But, sadly, I can't, and I will still try to get away with what I can, it helps that his very wonderful mom said that I could keep the blouse :) She really is a wonderful lady!

So I suppose this is a lot to read through, and I will keep the excitement of the ski swap for another post, hopefully tomorrows......

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

Yarns in My Shop!

I have decided to go through my stash and sell some of the yarns that still have labels on them. Here are the yarns that will be periodically added to my shop, my readers get a sneak peek!



A mustard yellow wool with black specs throughout the skein.



A gold colored 100% acrylic, 364 yards.



Bright, lime green eyelash yarn, 60 yards.



Fun Fetti, black eyelash yarn with bits of brightly colored ribbon interspersed, 46 yards.



Zitron Loft, 100% Merino, dark grey and brow, 100 meters.

So keep your eyes peeled on my shop so that you can grab up these wonderful yarns before someone else does!

New Rainbow Scarf in My Shop!

So there is a new super cool and uber chic scarf in my shop this morning!

But it is not one of my own, it was hand knit by the very talented woman who first taught me how to knit. It is 100% wool and would be a perfect staple accessory in anyone’s closet. And at only $37 this scarf is a total steal! Go on over there and check it out, you know it would make the perfect gift for anyone on your list or even yourself! Think of it as a reward for all that hard work you put into picking everyone else’s holiday gifts *wink wink*

New Scarf and Ear Candles?

So I finished another scarf today, along the same lines as the green one that sold on Friday. Instead of another green colored one, I knit this one in fall colors, shades of oranges and browns. What do you think?



Also, earlier today, my housemates were talking about these things that you stick in your ears and then light on fire! It is supposed to suck out all the wax and other ickies that accumulate in there. I did not attempt this, but my boyfriend did, he says it worked and he could hear much better.



Basically, what the device is, is cheese paper and parafin wax. The cheese paper is wound around a large paintbrush or something like it in a long funnelish shape and then dipped in the wax. When it is inserted into your ear it creates a vacuum and the fire on the other end uses up the oxygen in the tube and the ear canal and then it proceeds to pull out the gunky stuff inside your ear. It would work wonders for those with constant ear infections and the like.

New Scarf in My Shop!

So I just listed this recently finished Multi-Green scarf. Its very soft, very light, very cool! It is similar to my Multi Blue and Multi Red Scarves, but a little shorter and generally skinnier. Although the scarf is light, it still keeps the neck of its wearer just as warm as a heavy scarf would.



This scarf was up in my shop for maybe, an hour, and it has already sold! Needless to say, this has made me very happy and I just got back from the post office so it is off to its new owner :) Here is how I packaged the scarf before I shipped it. I included some business cards, a handwritten thank you, a flower broach and a discount coupon for the buyer's next purchase. I personally really like how all the colors coordinated, don't you?

Interview and Helpful Hints From CricketsCreations!

After reading so many of her forum posts and other articles and reading her advice to other team members in the Etsyknitters Team, I asked Celeste of CricketsCreations if she would pretty please do an interview and give us some insight into this brilliant and very kind person:

When did you start knitting?

I took an elective class when I was eight years old. From there, I
studied knitting books and tried out patterns. Now I design all my own
work and can get really creative!

What is your favorite thing about what you do?

I'm a color and texture junkie who also happens to be a Gemini...scarves are great because I get to play with all kinds of crazy combos and don't have a chance to get bored (I make 2-3 scarves a day, generally)!

What does a typical day look like for CricketsCreations?

Get up in the morning, shower and get dressed (I like to "get ready for
the day" even though I work from home). Then, I start working for Best
Friends Animal Society from my home office (which is also my home studio
for scarfin'). If you're curious about what I do for Best Friends,
please see http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/PostDetail.aspx?bp=5628.

On my breaks, I take a few minutes to do the following daily on Etsy:

1) Answer any Conversations (convos), relist sold items, send a note to
customers thanking them & letting them know when I'll ship their order,
renew popular scarves on Etsy, etc.

2) Scroll through the pages at http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php and
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_west.php looking for gold stars next to the
treasury title. A gold star tells me I'm in that treasury, so when I
see one I enter that treasury, click on each item and leave a comment.

About once a day, I feature one of the curators who's included me in my
blog at http://cricketscreations.blogspot.com/ (I wish I could feature
them all, but I'm usually in several treasuries at once).

3) Visit
http://www.majaba.org/heartsitems.php?userid=&submit=Submit&name= and
check for new item hearts (this gives me an idea of which items are most
popular and/or which to make sure I have plenty of in my inventory).

Once work at my "real job" is completed, I spend the rest of the day
shipping scarf orders (its' such a thrill!), remaking scarves which have
sold or creating/photographing/listing new designs.

I integrate family & friends...either visiting while I knit, or taking a
break from business to have dinner, see a movie or go for a drive.

If you could branch out to any other medium what would you choose to learn?

Lampworking and glassblowing! I'm utterly fascinated by chemistry, physics & other sciences and love the transformation of glass to works of art!

Are there any other tid bits you want to throw out there? Anything at all :)

Here's a link to my success tips:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5838121

Thank you so much, once again, for doing this. I really do feel that your wisdom and helpfulness is priceless and I hope to one day aspire to your success!