A for Effort

The new year and new projects have started. I am still on the prayer shawl run (10 and counting) but I have also added a cute newsboy cap to the mix. I have made four of them already (they take about 6 hours.) None of them are fit to sell.

It is cute, isn't it? There some work that still needs to be done the finishing part and I have to scale down the patter cuz I think it would darling as a kiddie hat.

They take a remarkably small amount of yarn. (I can probably get three out of a 350 yard skein) and the brim will stay in shape if you use a smaller needle and double it up so I won't need the plastic that's in this sample. Using the same pattern with a different yarn (all the same weight) will still cause the gauge to change. Caron yarn makes them run bigger. Red Heart makes it stretchier (I had some left over from long ago. Can't tell you the last time I bought some on purpose) Hobby Lobby probably works the best. (Note to self - write the Hobby Lobby folks and tell them to stop raising the price of I Love This Yarn - It's gone up at least 50 cents in the past year. If it goes over $3/skein it's no longer a value over Caron by the Pound.)

How about this for a little piece of irony? My first sale of 2010 was of an afghan I made almost a year to the day it sold. Remember this afghan? It sold to a repeat customer. Someone who bought the red feather and fan afghan - again almost a year after I made it. I'm glad they have gone to a good home and it just goes to show how you shouldn't give up. Trying is the key to both success and failure. Failure and trying again is a key to success.


Speaking of which, we got the final approval for the Craft Cafe and I am working towards a March date which means I have about two weeks to build the website and another week after that to get the word out to crafters and suppliers. It will be a new venture for 2010. One that am prayerful about because it can be so rewarding for everyone involved - including me. Please add to your prayers that it will be a successful venture.

I have to go eat something. My new regime says I have to eat a small meal every three hours. I was on the same plan a few years back and it was very effective. Then I stopped and that's why I have to start again. I eat this way for six days and I have one day I can eat whatever the heck I want. That day is Wednesday and believe me, I am looking forward to it. I already have the thought of what I am going to have that day. In the meantime, I will go have my meal and then get back to work on the prayer shawl that is on the needles. If I work really, really hard it may be done today as well.

I love knitting!