I was a little busy today.. I finished a hat, Put the finishing touch on another and double checked to make sure another was felted lightly enough for what I wanted.
the results are
a purple beret a wool hat both for a friend.. and a special order for another friend..

The purple beret and the felted hat... yes already spoken for.

The wool pumpkin hat for my friends pumpkin.
I hat to figure out how to make a thick stem, I ended up stuffing it.
I think they turned out cute.:)

blueberries on my mind. or your head

I finished the blue berry hat. It turned out so cute!
Im working on a peach one. But I know I need to work on the shawl I started.
I love the idea of the fruit hats. I know I need to get a few pumpkin hats done for October.
Im trying to figure out a way to get a lemon hat done..getting the shaping right will be hard but I think it can be  done.
It will just take some patience.
I used my kiddos head for a fitting. and I think it turned out awesome.
She wants a few hats for herself so for the Holidays maybe..
so here is my modle

Miss lady showing her annoyance that the door is open and there is a screen in her way. 

 Oreo waiting for my yarn to jump from my bag or basket.. patiently.

Now using driect check out

So I'm really happy.
you no longer just have to use pay pal, or send a money order thought he mail with etsy..
they now have direct check out.
this is good for most people.
I'm hoping it increases my traffic a bit this winter.
I know some folks dont like using paypal.

I like it because I don't have to wait too long to get money into my bank account.. but the down side? fees are higher overall from etsy.
not only is there a transaction fee bu a fee on the Direct check out. both are higher then those of using pay pal and etsy transaction fee combined. 
but its the cost of doing business there.

I think that adding another form of payment is good it gives another option.

so yes now I'm using direct check out. :)

Its in testing again...

The cupcake hat I had made earlier this year.
Its now again in pattern testing. I had to fix a few things. now one of my friends who also crochets is going to test it and tell me if I made anymore mistakes.
Yes I do make mistakes. More then once I had to frog ( or pull apart) a half a jacket because I didn't get the gauge right. That was a pain BUT the jacket is done and hangs in my closet.
I have also had to redo pieces because I used the wrong sized hook half way through.
Serves as a reminder to me not to crochet really tired.

there are times I wonder why I dont write out my patterns then I start and remember that its a total pain in the tush.. I have to test and retest  and make sure its just so if it is not a super simple pattern.
this one is not.

OH my awesome sister gave me Yarn for my birthday. Not just any warn , hand spun from yarn producers on Orcas Island. she also told me I'm to make something for ME not for anyone else with it. She knows me well.

 anyway that is what is happening now..

Fruit hats

So I made my niece a cute hat out of a tangerine yarn I had.. and thought I should add a stem and leaf and viola a tangerine hat.. Then I thought wouldn't it be fun to make one into a apple or a peach Oh how bout blueberries?
and my brain wouldn't stop.
So I made a granny smith hat- its now listed in my shop. 
both made from scrap yarn. which makes me happy that I use up my stash a little.. then I have a excuse later to get more yarn. 
and my daughter liked it so much I was asked to make a peach for a friends birthday gift..
 I didn't get pics but it was adorable.

 My nieces tangerine hat above..
the granny smith hat below ...

next in line a blueberry!

oh yes " a yarn" is many things.. young child many things..

I was putting my big girl to bed..
and she said mom tell me a story.
I said you mean a yarn ?
she said  "mom your mind is always on yarn. "
"A yarn is another way of saying tale. "

I find it funny not only do writers and story tellers spin tales.. but fiber artists spin yarns.. jkust like the writers of the world.
Each yarn if hand made I'm sure has a tale. I know when I do pick up my drop spindle it does.
how I picked out the fiber to spin.. where I chose and when I chose to spin..

When I crochet all my pieces have a little piece of my day in it.. Be it a way to calm down from the business of being a working mom and wife or being able to let frustration out in hooking.. or being able to just let my hands create.
IF I make a custom piece I'm in work mode and it goes fast.
IF Im in gift mode a lOT of thought goes into the piece.

IF I'm in design mode I try to write it out as I go.. I may even succeed at getting it written and edited..
 but each piece has a story behind it Each thing is a yarn in and of it's self.

Hey cat stay out of my...

yarn bag, basket and stash.. and keep your sister out too.
Yes I'm talking about my two lovely fat playful cats.
There are times when I find my cats find my Yarn much more entertaining then well anything else;
especially when it is moving from bag to piece in progress.

Oreo seems to be the one who prefers a direct approach and then there is lady.. she likes a sneak attack.
mom gave me 3 giant cones of yarn each well over 2 lbs.. they where wrapped in a large plastic bag.. Lady would try and pull down the side of the bag very gently trying to to make too much noise.. failing badly as I woke to crinkle crinkle crinkle more then once.. I finally took the yarn of of the bag and put in near my stash til I can figure out what the heck to do with it.

This is when they are not trying to annoy and ambush each other.. in a playful fat cat way.
Sorry lady you had to have a bell  added on to your collar; you had a unfair advantage cuz Oreo had one and you didn't. had to level the field a little.

Just a warning to my cats... stay out of the bags and no one gets squirted with the spray water bottle.

and I finished a few pieces in the last few days.. just need to get pics..