Working on Princess Hats

This is what I've been working on this week, Princess hats! These are based on ideas from last winter, where I was working on jacket and hat sets while dreaming about possible colour combinations. Now I've been able to make a few of different colours, one of each of the 6 sizes these are going to be available in, from premmie size up to one that fits a 10 year old child.

these hats will be available in 6 sizes from premmie up to a child of 10 years

This hat pattern is based on the design for the Pink Plum hat, which I shared on this blog as a free pattern back in March last year. That one is for a size 00, or a 6 month old baby. The patterns for these new hats are different, but based on the same design. This time I've put my mathematical hat on and worked out the patterns for 6 different sizes. Now I just have to write them down, that might be a job for next week. In between packing for our big move next month!

closeup of the tiniest flower on the Forest Princess hat

I'm planning to enlist the help of a couple of little girls in my family to wear a couple of these hats so I can photograph them. I do hope they can help me out, because I do think these absolutely need real-life models!

Princess hat stack!

Because the Pink Plum hat is one of my most popular free patterns on this site, and because these new ones are different, I hope to be able to share these on Ravelry as soon as I can commit them to a PDF file. Please do let me know what you think of these, I'd really appreciate hearing your comment!

My First Pattern Is For Sale!

I have just managed to work out how to add a PDF pattern to Ravelry. I decided to put my frangipani flower pattern there, because my friend Hazel and her friend both tested the pattern and said it was ok. I only have the pattern listed for $1.35, because it is my first pattern after all! (I did put it up 50 cents, and there was a 35c fee!) The flower has just 3 rounds so I certainly didn't want to ask for much, this is really just so I can learn how the system works. I wonder if I have to pay American tax? I don't have to pay Australian tax because I don't earn anywhere near enough!

the pattern for these frangipani flowers is for sale for just $1.35 from Ravelry

white and yellow frangipani flower

Nothing Wrong with You

This evening I'm having another 'issue' with a particularly rude person that occasionally appears in my life. Do you have one of those? Thankfully I've managed to keep my exposure to this horrid individual to a bare minimum, unfortunately I'm unable to rule it out completely! I made this quote to help myself remember that when this person is so Very Rude to me, it shouldn't shake my self-concept. It really is Their problem, not mine!

there's nothing wrong with you!

Spring Blooms Garland

I made up some cute flowers to sell as embellishments in my online shop, along with some leaves which I made following the pattern from Easy Makes Me Happy. But I couldn't help myself, I felt I had to make something with them to show what could be done with them.

Spring Blooms garland on a white cot

Spring Blooms on a single bed head

So I joined them up to make a "Spring Blooms" mini-garland. This one is not as long as the "Love Grows" garland which has leaves as well as hearts. This Spring Blooms mini-garland is only one metre long, and is intended to be used a decoration of smaller places.

my own flower pattern, with some leaves from Easy Makes Me Happy

Cute 2 Round Flower, free pattern

This flower is very similar to another flower, my tiny two round flower, but it is slightly different. I wanted a 5 petal two round flower to quickly make up for my online shop and needed something cute and funky, so this is what I came up with! I hope you like it, please let me know if you do <3

cute 2 round flowers made into a spring blooms garland

Cute 2 Round Flower (US terms)
1. 2 ch, 5 sc into 1st ch, sl st into 1st sc
2. sl st into next, (2 ch 1 dc into same 2 ch sl st into same sl st into next) repeat for 5 petals, pull yarn through to back and tie off at the back of the flower

cute flowers with leaves for sale in my online shop

What Needs Pruning?

I made this quote while thinking of my mother-in-law Freya and a dilemma she is having. I drew the picture years ago, its a chalk pastel, it stands for "love".

what needs pruning?

This is about the hard times I've been through, times that forced me to make some really tough decisions when I had no other choice but to change. I was unhappy and tired of hearing myself complain about the way things were, I knew I was the only person that could fix and change my life. Change is never easy, but sometimes that aching tooth just needs to be pulled! Or that tree needs to be pruned! Whichever way you look at it, sometimes our lives are so full, its like a dinner plate with way too much food on it. You need to scrap some off to see what you have left and find out what you really, really want to keep, when forced to make the toughest of decisions. Picture and words by me! (lol)

Planet June's Great Dane toy

An old friend from school, who is a Great Dane fan, asked me if I could crochet a dog designed by June Gilbert. When I first saw it I thought 'no', but then I decided I should give it a try anyway! I purchased her Great Dane pattern from Planet June for $5.00 and set to work!

A puppy designed by June Gilbert from Planet June

I know I positioned the head wrong, the mistake I made was sewing on the muzzle before checking how the head went onto the body. By that time, I had already spent over 4 hours on this toy and decided it didn't matter as long as it was finished! If I ever make another one, I will position the head better than on this one. But who has a spare 5 hours? Not me at the moment!

Besides the mix up of the head position, the pattern was easy to follow and well laid out. Perhaps the instructions for attaching the pieces could have occurred in a different order, straight after the pattern for each piece. The photographs included were useful and helped a great deal. Button eyes were recommended, but I simply embroidered eyes on in a similar way to the nose.

"I was meant to be a Great Dane but I look more like a Dachshund!"

Spending 5 hours making a toy for my 2 year old son is not something I usually have time for, so this was a one off. I suppose I could make more if there was a demand in my online shop? The sale of the pattern allows me to do so, if I wished to sell these dogs. I could offer custom made dogs to match their  favourite pets, like mini-me's for canines!

"Please Love Me!"

But what would you charge for something that takes 5 hours to make? And this is not the kind of pattern you can easily memorise and work on while you watch TV. I have to sit at my pc and study the pattern. I can not imagine even the most keenest of Great Dane fans being willing to pay enough to pay for the time!

What do you think?

A Successful Sale!

I've very happy to report that my "Love Grows" mini-garland sold within 30 minutes of the charity event starting! I've since deposited the money into the fund-raising account, and I feel very privileged to be able to participate and contribute in this way.

my new packaging, which reflects my pink and natural theme

I'm now wondering if I should make more of these garlands to put in my online shop? I have so much work to do, and with moving house next month, precious little time to do it in! While Thomas slept yesterday I managed to find some time to update my banners, do you like the new look?

I did some research on how to have a cohesive shop and am thinking I really want to continue with the pink theme with natural tones like brown paper, cane and wood. That's just what I have here in my home that I think makes the items look nice, anyway. It really is hard to try and turn this hobby into work. I don't earn anywhere near enough to call this a job, and now we are getting a mortgage its even more important. So far, I've earned about half of what I spent on yarn! I really must remember not to buy any more!!!(lol)

From Madeit with Love - Love Grows Garland

I just listed this "Love Grows" mini-garland in my madeit store for a charity fundraiser. I had originally planned to have it in my shop in time for Valentine's, but the fundraiser was all the prompting I needed to get it finished.

fresh from my crafting basket is this "Love Grows" mini-garland which I made for a charity fundraiser

I started by making the hearts using my favourite heart pattern from Suzie's Stuff. Next I did the leaves from Easy Makes Me Happy. The most tedious task was sewing in all the ends of 9 leaves and 8 hearts. Then I finally joined them together with green chain to make a vine of growing love!

you can drape garlands on your favourite things for decoration, like on this piano

There are 15 chains between each motif, and the loops at each end are 20 chains. I went back along the chain with sl st to reinforce it. The loops at each end allow the mini-garland to be tied up to display.

1.45m long garland with loops at each end so it can be hung up to display

The fundraiser is for a charity raising money to help a family who recently lost their mum in a tragic car accident. Tammy Boorer lived in Toowoomba which isn't far from me, and she was a fellow crafter on madeit, so this story made it especially sad for me so I decided to participate in the fundraiser.

The simplest toys are the best!

I just wanted to share with you these pictures of Thomas playing with a simple toy last week - one very large box!

This box is the perfect size for him to play cubby-house or jack-in-the-box, and it didn't cost us a cent!

Growing Stevia in Brisbane

Stevia is a plant native to south America that has been used as a natural sweetener for hundreds of years. I first found out about it when a box of stevia satchels came in my shopping as a free sample from Coles online. Brisbane's sub-tropical climate is perfect to give growing this a go, so I went to my local Bunnings store and picked up two plants for $3.50 each!

I recently bought 2 young stevia plants from my local hard-ware store

I haven't actually used it in any cooking yet, but the young leaves are sweet to taste. Apparently we can dry the young leaves in our dehydrator and grind them into a powder to use like sugar. Stevia is very sweet but only has a fraction of the calories of sugar, and what's more, its easy to grow. That's food for thought!

My Very First Cotton Boll

I'm so very excited to report that my first cotton boll split open today, and here is the photo to prove it! My husband gave me cotton seeds for our 2nd anniversary last October, and just in time for Valentine's Day they have produced the first cotton!

my very first cotton boll split open today

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this now, but I will find out! This is all a new learning experience for me, but I will share my adventures with you as I go along. Apologies for not posting much this month. I usually post about 4 or 5 times a week, but I've been very distracted these last few weeks with house hunting. I hope very soon these cotton plants will be able to move from pots into the ground of my very own garden!