A Week in the Life of BHS

Okay, let's start off with the name, Ball Hank n' Skein - a few things to be said here: (a) balls and hanks and skeins are all units of yarn - in my mind, a ball of yarn is what you see the kittens playing with in Goodnight Moon; hanks are the twisted up yarn you see in nice yarn shops that need to be made into a ball to be used; and skeins are the elongated balls of yarn that you see at big box craft stores.  Those skeins are also in nice yarn stores, but you never see hanks in big box craft stores.  However, I've also heard that skeins can be any of the above - it's just a generic way of referring to a unit of yarn. (b) I practice law too and I thought it would be funny to have my own little yarn law firm - however, I'm thinking that no one except for my wonderful boss got that joke.  Oh well! (c) nicknames are forming - I'm starting to call this little crochet thing I got going here BHS - my cousin on the other hand refers to it as Ball Hankey. 
Next topic.  My week has been absolutely insane.  Good insane, but insane.
We went to the coast to see my cousin who was visiting from Virginia.  She's the kind of cousin who is really like a sibling. It was so great to see her but the visit was too short and I miss her already! We had visits from Aunt Gin Gin and Rey, we saw Aunt Mantie Mel, Johnny and cousins Sam and Kate and Zoe and Mikey and Katie, we stayed with Aunt Nanny and Harry and had so much fun with all the little cousins!  We also had visits from Uncle Earl and Doreen.  Just tons of family love. 
When I got back from coast I came home to some absolutely stunning pictures of my teal and pink cotton ankle tab baby booties that were taken professionally by Jessica White Photography.  Here are some of the lovely shots.

Is she not the cutest little punkin you ever did see?!?!  And the booties look great on her too.  So fun.

Then I started a new design.  I crocheted just a ton of little baby booties to felt.  I am loving, I repeat LOVING the way these little felted baby booties are coming out.   Here are some pics.



Note lovely tomato plants in the background!

This idea was not mine.  On Etsy, I just started finding all this cool stuff that I love that I can't afford right now, so I messaged a bunch of shops to see if they were interested in trading.  A few shops responded and I am in the process of doing 2 trades.  One of the shops requested a felted version of my ankle tab booties.  So glad she did because they are fantastic!  They are so soft and warm and fuzzy and cute and flexible and oh my goodness, I'm just nuts about them.  Stay posted for new listings and maybe just maybe if I can garner the strength, a pattern.

Wow! What a week.

Itty Bitty Baby Booties

I finally got the newborn baby bootie pattern out.  Its a pattern that I now have for sale on Etsy and Ravelry for $2.  Seems to me I've been working on this little pattern for ages!  It is really very simple so I'm not sure why it took so long.  I have a new found respect for those amazing crochet designers who seem to have another brand new fabulous pattern with multiple sizes out ever other week or so.  My pattern just has one size!
Here's the process I went through:  I made about 5 pairs before I felt like I had a good prototype.  Then I wrote out a draft pattern, made another 2 pairs with that pattern, fixing it along the way.  Then I sent it out to get it tested - this was an invaluable process that helped me not only with the stitch count and finding little glitches, but also with appropriate formatting, and terminology for UK and Australian crocheters.  I was lucky to find an incredible tester (who happens to have a great blog!) who was kind enough to take incredibly detailed notes.  I then completely redid the pattern with the tester's notes in hand and finally made one more sample with the final pattern.  Yeah!  Not done yet . . .
Then, I took a few of the best samples and took them to my cousin's house to get photographed.  He's a fabulous photographer with an awesome camera and a great Etsy shop full of beautiful artwork and handmade tables.  (Little plug for cousin Mikey!). 
Finally, I got the pattern up and running on Ravelry and Etsy.  Then I immediately sold 2!!!  Woot!  I was so excited I listed 5 on Etsy thinking that it was going to be a bonanza . . . luckily it wasn't because after all that I found a typo!!!  Grrrrr.  Long story short, still got 5 for sale on Etsy and I've grossed $4.  Still worth it in my opinion for the experience alone.  However, I think I'm going to stick with free patterns here for awhile . . . much less stressful. 
What a learning experience.
If you'd like your own fabulous newborn baby bootie pattern, you can purchase it on Etsy here or through Ravelry's instant download here (you do not need to be a member of Ravelry to purchase). 

Bootie Pattern Progress

I am still working on the newborn baby bootie pattern and hope to have it up and running by next week.  One of the highlights of getting this ready has been seeing the results of the pattern as it is tested.  Thank you to Emma way down under in Australia (don't you love the internet?!?!?) for quickly making the ankle style bootie and providing extensive and insightful notes to this newbie pattern maker!  I absolutely love her results . . .  the colors are so cute!   Stay tuned for more.

Country Kitsch Gone Overboard!!!

For awhile now I've been obssessed with bright rainbowy colors and I tend to blend colors from opposite sides of the color wheel (unintentionally!).  But this time I think I've taken it a bit far.  Here's a mini quilt I made with a crochet border that is, shall we say, country kitsch?!?!?

However . . . I LOVE IT!!!  I think this is really an expression of how I feel right now.  There is no other place I'd rather be than right here in beautiful Portland with my incredible family with a day job that I love and a crochet hook that never ceases to amaze me!  The grass is green right here!

Trinity Infinity Cowl Pattern

This is a very simple pattern for a cowl that is made entirely with the trinity stitch.  I love the trinity stitch because it provides a very drapey and fabricky feel with an interesting texture.  I made this cowl with an alpaca silk blend, Debbie Bliss Andes, for an amazingly soft and luxurious feel. 

Yarn: Approximately 550 yards DK weight yarn.  For soft and scrumptious with some sheen, go for an alpaca silk blend like Debbie Bliss Andes.

Gauge: 10 trinity stitches and about 8.5 rows equals a 4 inch square.

Hook: I

Finished Dimensions: 7 inches wide, 60 inches long.

Trinity Stitch:  Insert hook in last stitch of previous trinity stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, pull through stitch, yarn over, pull through all four loops on your hook, chain 1, trinity stitch made!  Here are two great tutorials to help you out: Yarn Tomato and Crochet by Teresa's Video Tutorial.  Tip: Your first trinity stitch of each row starts in the last ch 1 of previous row, not in the last sc (this took me forever to figure out!).  And, the last "insert hook, yo, pull through" of each trinity st should be in a previous row ch, not in a previous row trinity st.  (If what I just said makes no sense to you, just follow the tutorials above!).  Your trinity stitches should look kinda like squares stacked on top of each other, not on diagonals.

Pattern:  Ch 37

Row 1: sc in second ch from hook, ch 1, work trinity st across row, sc in last trinity st. ch 1 turn.

Row 2: sc, ch 1, work trinity st across row, sc in last trinity st, ch 1 turn. 
Row 3 to end: Repeat Row 2 until the piece measures about 60 inches.  This will allow you to wrap the cowl around your neck twice easily without being too baggy.

Finish:  Weave in all your ends.  Whip stitch ends of  piece together (for a mobius wrap, twist once before stitching together.  And you're done!

And the WINNER IS . . . . .

Drumroll please . . . . . TIRABARALLA!  Thanks to all who participated and supported me.  My first month on Etsy was fun and relatively successful.  I'll definitely keep it going for the near future.  Keep checking the shop for more products and hopefully a pattern or two!