The Creative Side of LadieAnn

Cold Projects

2012-01-22T07:13:00.000-05:00

On a recent thrift store excursion I came across one of those famous blue tubs full of yarn; in fact there were two tubs. I quickly scouted them out, selecting a couple of really soft skeins, a couple of gray skeins, and a few colorful skeins of yarn. In all, I ended up with a lot of burgundy and gray. It wasn't planned that way, it just happened.

Now, as we get closer to Virginia Beach's 'cold' season I feel fully stocked and ready to take on some cold projects...you know, the ones that keep your lap warm! As if I was yarn-poor to begin with - Ha! No, I had plenty of yarn on my shelves before I found my last goodies.

Out of this fresh stock I have already created a lovely crocheted mauve short scarf. (I love short scarves because they are warm without a lot of fussy bulk when stuffed under your coat). It's simply row upon row of double-crochet. I must be getting pretty good at judging distance now; the scarf ended up exactly 5 inches wide! It's also 52 inches long - a perfect coat accessory!

And I found oatmeal colored yarn. I don't have a clue what kind of yarn it is. I found two short fat skeins with no paper sleeve on them. But when I touched them, oh, my! I don't remember the last time I found yarn this soft!

I briefly thought of making a scarf out of one skein, but instead I made a crocheted toboggan hat with a turned up brim. Good decision...this is one of the softest, warmest, comforting hats I've ever made! This one is made with rows of double-crochet to make it as pliable as possible. The brim can be turned up or left down. It's color makes this hat idea for anyone, male or female to wear. As shown in the photo the head opening is 11 inches across; the hat is 7½ inches high and it's sporting about about a 1¾ inch brim.

Both items are now available through my LadieAnn Toboggans Plus store.

LATP is hosted on Weebly. Get your own store today by clicking http://www.weebly.com/link/5Fdamg

2nd Time Around Weebly Style

2012-01-15T06:32:00.003-05:00

Hello Sale! Yes, I'm pleased to report that I have had my 2nd sale from my LadieAnn Toboggans Plus store on Weebly! This is really something, especially when I stop to think that unlike pre-fab venues my store is flying solo. It's not attached to Twitter or Facebook, there are no testimonies or recommendations lining the sidebar. The social interaction is not there at all...unless I make it happen myself.

Orange Knit Toboggan - Sold!

This is having a store almost from the ground up. I say almost because with Weebly you do have elements to use, a few tools in your arsenal. If you know how to drag and drop then Weebly is a piece of cake. Ecrater, Bonanza, Addoway - all pre-fab. Just list and load. You don't have to do much more except throw in a logo and banner and you have a store.

On Weebly there are a couple of ~~drawbacks~~ challenges to over come. You get drag and drop for only one payment element. To add a second or third you have to manually create a buy button using html. Not a real biggie, but more of a time eater.

The other problem, if you will, is that you have to be responsible for uploading your own items to Google. There are a zillion people who do it everyday so it's not impossible, just a learning curve. Actually I found this to be a challenge that I enjoyed. I was determined to not have it 'kick my butt' and eventually figured it out. I think of it as an asset to be able to do my own uploads, or at least to know how.

But other than that I really like using Weebly. They have tons of templates, lots of tools, the staff is quick to respond to questions and take the time to answer you fully so you understand.

Now here's a real plus - there are no fees unless you decide to get the Pro package. Yes, I went Pro. And Weebly Pro gives you 2 years for the price of 1 Pro year on Addoway. I really like that! I highly recommend Weebly to anyone who wants to try their hand at doing their own site, whether it's a store, a family site with photos and videos, or just a blog. They have taken the 'difficult' out of everything! Do stop by LadieAnn Toboggans Plus to see what I mean!

Yarn Bombers

2012-01-13T06:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard of Yarn Bombing? Me neither! Not until now...

You will have to translate this page, but the pictures are worth a thousand words.

http://madeculture.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/e-i-lavori-a-maglia-riempirono-le-citta/

When and how do they do it? I'd love to be there and see a transformation!

How can we use this for inspiration? Flower pot covers is the first thing that comes to mind and I'm sure it's nothing new. There must be something. If you have a brainstorm and have a great idea please let me know.

Lucy

2012-01-07T17:18:00.001-05:00

I have been meaning to share this link with you. I believe this blog is one of the most delightful I have ever seen. Because the author does a lot of crochet work I decided to let you in on this fabulous site:

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/

Attic24 is written by Lucy, a lovely lady, mother and wife in the northern part of jolly old England. I must say that, in addition to doing terrific and inspiring crochet projects on a regular basis, I almost feel a get-away vacation spirit when I read her posts.

Lucy's view of her little corner of the world and life in general is exactly what I wish I did in my life. It's like putting on the proverbial rosé-colored glasses. I'm sure, like Jimmi Hendrix's song says, when she sees a rainstorm she must think, 'just let the sun take a holiday.' No matter what her circumstances, good or bad, it seems as if the sun shines brighter by her observation of it wherever she and her little brood go.

I get a kick out of stopping by her house through her words to see what the latest project is, where she has taken her little peeps to explore, or if the snow is falling. Lucy has surrounded herself with color and by her blog, shares it with others.

She's on typepad, so I keep up with her with updates through my Google Reader feeds.

If you haven't met Lucy yet, you really should. Learning to see the world as she has shown me to be possible is on my To-Do list for 2012.

Starting Fresh

2011-12-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

With the new year comes that new beginning feeling. I am pumped for the next 3 months when it is the coldest here. On my last thrift store excursion I found a new skein of lavender yarn. Gosh I love lavender. Someone once told me that lavender is the one color that looks great on EVERY body! I think it's true too. No matter who they are, their skin tone, hair color, whatever...lavender looks great.

I recently sold my short lavender scarf and now I'm ready to make another or two, or a hat, or I don't know. I just know it will look cool in lavender.

I like short scarves. I'm short so there's not a lot of room in my coat or around my neck for one of those fancy 'long-as-as-fence-post' scarves people make these days. So when I make a short scarf I figure I'm serving all those people who have similar needs as I do. My shorties tuck nicely into my coat, keep me warm and stylish, without looking like I've stuffed a sausage casing.

So that's my plan. Get through Christmas, get through New Year (we don't go anywhere anyway), and settle myself down somewhere with my pjs on, my hot chocolate close by, my lovely yarn and favorite crochet hook...turn on a nice movie I can follow without a lot of looking and enjoy my moment.

I hope you have plenty of good moments in the weeks ahead too!

Small Projects

2011-12-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

Yes I do like saying sold as mentioned in the previous post. Lucky for me, I got to say it again. This past week I had not one but two orders for the same hat. Well, to be honest, one order never went all the way through but the other one did and the Knit Christmas Toboggan Hat is now long gone. I do hope the buyer enjoys it during this Christmas season.

I have not been too awefully slack in keeping up with my crochet projects lately. In my downtime moments from decorating and shopping for Christmas and working with my Eccentric Thrifter store I have been creating little things along the way.

I started knitting a red and green scarf on my loom last month. I quickly changed my mind and instead, ended up with a headband - a nice and warm headband that works especially well if you have a coat with a hood on it.

And I continue to make cotton crocheted washcloths from the large bolt of cotton that I bought last summer and have a nice little stack of them now. Hmm...maybe I should start wrapping up some tiny gifts in them!

Have a good Christmas and stay warm!

Love Saying Sold!

2011-12-01T09:32:00.001-05:00

I love it when something sells, something I made with my own two hands. It is such an affirmation that other people appreciate what you did and that they like it enough to pay money for it.

Yesterday I sold my first hand crocheted topper towels. It was a set I created with new towels I bought from Dollar General in NC.

Yep, they're gone now. It's kinda stupid, but in a way, I hated letting go of them. They were my first real ones I made after my first experimental one. These turned out nice. I'm sad and glad. But there's no denying, I love saying they are "SOLD!"

You can find more handmade items by Moi at LadieAnn Toboggans Plus

Doing the Red and the Green

2011-11-25T16:06:00.000-05:00

Today, in the quiet moments that occur after Thanksgiving I decided to start another project. I had a couple of piece of skeins of red and green so thought I'd give a red and green scarf a try, since Christmas is right around the corner.

I know it looks a lot like day-glow, but in person this is actually turning into a really cool-looking scarf. You can see that I am doing it on a long oom. I have't used this particular loom in a long while, so I thought I'd freshen my skill-level on it... sort of like use it or lose it stuff.

I have no idea what the finished product will look like; no clue even to how long it will be. I'll just keep going until I run out of yarn on one of the colors. Will keep you posted.

Happy Thanksgiving and on to Christmas now!

What's Brown and Gray and Gone?

2011-11-21T15:56:00.000-05:00

Today I had my First sale in the Weebly hosted LadieAnn Toboggans Plus store. It was my brown and gray hat and yes, it was pretty exciting. It was a little bit 'deer in the headlights too. Today when I went in to process the Google Checkout order I was taken to the new Google Wallet page instead. NO transactions or sales showed up, but a quick search showed me a shortcut to the sales page and everything went ok.

Then I had to quickly go make a better image of my logo and create an invoice to use it on. I've got pre-made invoices for my Eccentric Thrifter and Cabana Threads stores, but all my other hand-mades had sold through ET and not a separate venue. It all turned out OK, if I do say so myself.

One thing about Weebly is that there is no inventory control. I've written to inquire about it. Maybe I missed it. I left the ad so the customer could still see it, but made it so no one could buy it again and put a SOLD sign on it.

I always tend to think about those 'first' people who plunge into a new store, not really knowing if it's good or bad. I guess that's where feedback and integrity come into play. I do wish more people would take the time to leave feedback, but these days folks are usually just in a rush and never think about it. But luckily, after all this time, I'm pleased to say that I guess I have enough good feedback to make me worth a shot. I know I do try very hard in everything I do.

Yes, this nice warm toboggan hat is gone, but there's more where that came from. Stop by LadieAnn Toboggans Plus and see for yourself!

New on Networkedblogs

2011-11-13T06:17:00.000-05:00

I just signed up this blog site on Networkedblogs. Then I did a search on the word "crochet" in the blog directory. I was stunned at how many blogs showed up! Of course you can only get about 20 blogs to show up at a time. They go from the most followers down to the least. I figured I'd be the very last one since I just signed up.

As I went along any blog title that caught my eye I clicked to open in another tab while my search results list got longer and longer. I must say, there are some creative titles out there! Here's some other things that caught my eye:

Believe it or not, there were only 2 blogs with 2 followers each!
I saw only 1 that was listed twice - with a dot com and without.
I saw the word "Ramblings" as a descriptive term. Who on earth will ever search on that?
There were a lot of Wordpress blogs, but I think that those Blogspots way outnumbered them!
There was one on weight loss and diet. Now how did that one get it there? Maybe I should mark it to follow later. I could probably use it!
Those with only 1 follower started at number 1085.
There at #1419 was a blog with 17 followers - oops!

FINALLY, there is is - my very own The Creative Side of LadieAnn blog at number #1442.... And I was right - the VERY LAST BLOG ON THE LIST!

And NO FOLLOWERS! I really need some followers!

A Good Old College Try

2011-11-11T18:01:00.000-05:00

My oldest daughter is one of the biggest Virginia Tech fans around. She graduated from there in 2004 before going to seminary for her Master's. Such a smarty - I should listen to her more often.

She had told me that I should make hats in college colors. At the time I thought it was a hint, as in a Christmas gift for her. But now that I think about it, it's not a bad idea. So today while I was sitting in the car awaiting Hubster as he did his errands I finished up the VT hat I'd started a long time ago.

I'd had about 4 rows of orange up top, but today I took all of those out, back to the burgundy purplish top section. I really did almost redo everything from scratch again. You can tell I sat in the car a long time (lots of errands) because when I got home all I had to do was finish adding the last row of orange. I wanted that so that when you turn up the brim it added the extra stripe.

It didn't turn out too bad, if I do say so myself! Now, I wonder if it will actually turn into a Christmas present after all...remains to be seen...she'll be here for Thanksgiving. I bet it doesn't last until December!

Starbursts Washcloth and a Cold Dog

2011-10-31T08:21:00.001-04:00

I saw this cute washcloth recently on AllFreeCrochet. So I went to the actual blog by Sarah to see what she had to say about it. http://bloomingpatterns.blogspot.com/2008/04/little-starbursts-dishcloth.html Unfortunately it looks like Sarah is no longer doing her blog. I would have loved to 'follow' her blog. She keeps things simple with her end results being terrific.

Now that the weather is turning off Abby likes my very old, soft, comfortable 'blankey' made back in the early 1970s. I think Hubster had a hand in her being wrapped up so well.

I guess I'm going to have to make a few more sweaters for her....cold weather is just getting started. The other day when it was rainy and nasty outside her sweater came in handy on her trek to do her business. When I took the sweater off of her it was wet and cold, so it served the purpose for which it was intended and kept her little, practically hairless belly from getting cold.
(In the photo above I don't know what her problem is - she just woke up not 30 minutes earlier. It's too early to get sleepy already)!

Abby Likes It

2011-10-21T07:27:00.000-04:00

Abby loves her new sweater. I left the strings hanging at the top so I can use them like a drawstring, enlarging or tightening as needed.

For the Golden Child

2011-10-15T16:28:00.000-04:00

I finished my 2nd dog sweater the other day. This time I used tan and white yarn, working them both at the same time on my largest loom. I must admit, I was glad that I'd written how I made the leg holes in a previous post. (One of those if you don't use it you lose it moments).

Here I have lined up both holes so the yarn is not a distraction and you can see easier how it came out. Since I was working from the 'inside' I actually started on what appears to be the lower left corner. The first stitch is always the hardest and therefore there is a stretching of threads that I have not been able to avoid yet. But I'm working on it :)

No, this time I didn't take a photo of Abby wearing it, but suffice it to say it was a little easier to put on and off , especially since she's gained some weight since joining our household. The colors match her own fur coat beautifully and she absolutely loves wearing this! I swear she was smiling!

A Larger Size

2011-10-08T19:02:00.000-04:00

I've begun making another dog sweater, this time in a larger size. Abby, I'm afraid has been getting too many treats LOL! That and her fur has grown back out (we assume she was shaved at the pound).

I am so glad I wrote my notes on the LadieAnn blog when I made the arm-holes last time. I had no clue what I did before until I re-read them. Let's hope they make sense to me LOL! Will let you know if I have to make adjustments.

Toboggan Hats Logo

2011-09-22T08:40:00.000-04:00

What do you think of my new logo image? Made it with Photoscape using one of my own hat photos. It will be used on my various social sites as a link to my handmade hat department on Eccentric Thrifter.

Right now I have washcloths, towels, and a few other things besides hats in my handmade section. I'm thinking I should just stick to hats online and sell the rest at local craft shows. You know, some things are just better off seeing in person. Any thoughts?

Today Google kicks in more requirements for adding items to their Product Search results. I'd like to be able to say mine are all showing when people search Google for products I own. Since I'm not necessarily a rocket scientist I decided to delete my labor-intensive Weebly site that I'd made for my handmade items (and the one for Hawaiian shirts too). It's just not worth the hassle of having to figure out all the stuff needed to upload your own data feed...not when eCrater does it for you. I loved the look of that site I'd made, it worked well, and I was getting visitors but my stress level was climbing. C'est la vie.

Abby's Sweater

2011-09-14T08:11:00.005-04:00

I did it, I made my first ever doggie sweater! And yes, she likes it!
I made it using both tan and black threads of yarn on the Red Knifty Knitter loom.

Doing the leg holes was a little difficult for me. I actually had to undo my first 2 attempts and put the threads back on the posts, which is never easy. From the top of the loom (with the extra tie-off post) I counted down both sides and started my "leg hole" on post 7.
I worked the first two posts (#7 and #8) as normal, pulling back thread over front thread. Then I removed the remaining thread on #7 and put it on #8, so that there were 2 threads on #8 again. Now that #8 had 2 again, I then worked that again down to 1 thread, worked the next post #9 and repeated as before. Always working with 2 posts together, and moving the remaining thread on the first to the second. (I think).

Here's a view that really shows how the loom knitting ended up. There's a lot of "give" using the loom, so the finished product stretches really good while still offering a snug fit.

Anyway, that's my story. Abby likes her wardrobe and is ready to whiz outdoors during the winter months.

I Have Begun

2011-09-09T16:58:00.001-04:00

I have finally decided to start working on a doggie sweater for Abby. I have done about 6 inches using the red loom knitting hoop. I'm using 2 strands of yarn, one in tan and one in black. They look really good together.

My problem is trying to figure out if I'm using the right size hoop. We measured Abby to be about 20" around her widest section. The circumference around the hoop is a little over 20", but I swear...it sure does look small.

I may end up with a sweater for a fat chihauhau instead!

Crocheting Upswing

2011-09-02T10:31:00.001-04:00

I have been doing a lot more crocheting these days. During the hurricane I got quite a bit done. I'm into making these hats now. I've been thinking about looking for an upcoming craft show too. It seems like selling crochet is something that is best done in person. When you look at something online, you never quite get the full impact of how an item is made.

When Melissa came home from Florida she saw my first cloche I made and tried it on. You can tell from her smile that she really liked it!

I sure wish she lived closer. I also think having a like model is a big asset to selling, especially online! Here's some of my recently completed projects. They do look better in person!

My First Cloche

2011-08-09T16:51:00.004-04:00

According to Wikipedia: The cloche hat is a fitted, bell-shaped hat that was invented by milliner Caroline Reboux in 1908, became especially popular during the 1920s, and continued to be commonly seen until about 1933.^[1] Cloche is the French word for "bell".

When you get down to seeing all the styles of crochet hats there are online some folks kind of stretch the definitions a bit. So to make sure I had to look it up first.
Yep, I made myself a bonafide Cloche hat! It looks like a bell, doesn't it? And it was the first time that I have used the V stitch. And it was the first time I've added a scalloped border to anything.
I'm telling you, for my first time at these I am feeling pretty good with myself! I was surprised at how fast it went once I got 'in the groove.' It was totally easy to make.
I am going to name this the Florida Cloche Hat, for my oldest daughter, Missy, who lives there. She moved there after marrying a couple of years ago. Now you must understand that she is not a fan of Florida and its hot weather, especially after spending the last few winters at school at Virginia Tech and in seminary in Richmond, VA. No Sir!
Since Florida started seeing some significant winters since she moved there, Missy finds it rather amusing that people aren't prepared for cold weather. Now remember, Missy loves all my crochet hats and has been one of my strongest encouragers for me to sell them; I've made them since she was little and we couldn't keep any around because everyone liked them and we kept giving them away. When Missy got older and wore a hat to work in the cold regions people wanted to buy them. (that's how all this selling got started).
So Missy came home telling me about Florida people needing some hats that weren't real thick and heavy, but just enough to do in a pinch, I was all ears.....hence the name Florida Cloche Hat.
She'll be coming home in a week or two; I guess I'll get my real feedback then. Who knows? You may end up seeing a retraction on here! But I like it myself, so I'll probably keep on with them. What do YOU think?

Had a Ball

2011-07-20T11:15:00.004-04:00

Yesterday Abby, our new terrier was being ignored. Hubster and I were both busy in our own little worlds; we each heard Abby as she ran back and forth in the hallway. She was having a ball.

All of sudden I hear Hubster shout, “This is not good!”

Little Abby had found my X-Factor bag left on the bed from where I’d snatched one of my plastic loom needles (we were threading yarn on a bamboo curtain earlier). I remember Abby coming to sit longingly beside my desk, trying to get my attention, but I was in the middle of writing an email. When I later heard her running it was as if in the distance, so preoccupied I was. Next time I hope I take time to notice a lttle better than I did. What a terrible parent I am, ignoring my little fur child like that.

She was having a ball, all right! She was having a ball of my new Sugar n Cream yarn! It was new too. When we looked in the hall she had carried it up and down the hallway. The long lines of yarn zig-zagging back and forth told the story. Oh well, I was going to use it for a dish clothe anyway. Guess I'll start on it now.

We’re Back!

2011-07-07T07:29:00.003-04:00

After much thought and deliberation I decided to reopen my blog for the Cabana Threads store. But alas, you may know that when you delete a blog, unless you undelete within a certain time frame then you cannot get the name back. So now the address for the new blog is cabana-threads.blogspot.com with a dash, instead of just cabanathreads.blogspot.com. Not a biggie, I guess, but who knows? Maybe it will end up being a good thing.

Anyway, I’ll be featuring some of the beautiful Hawaiian shirts that are available at Cabana Threads and hope you will be a frequent visitor!

Gone to the Dogs

2011-07-01T17:43:00.001-04:00

Just one, really. We adopted a sweet little terrier mix a couple of weeks ago, just as cute as she can be. So guess what I've been working on in the crochet department....

Right after we got her we stopped by AC Moore and picked up one of those One Pound skeins of burgundy red yarn. I'm making Abby her very own little blankey. Just a single stitch number that will be nice and warm for her when it starts getting cold. But Lordy, me...I have just the worse trouble determining length on things...

I chained myself a rope that looked to be about the right length and started crocheting. Next thing I knew the doggone thing (no pun intended) was almost wide enough to go on my California King Size Bed! Oh crap! I'm gonna need a couple more pounds of this stuff!!!

So I pulled it all out and restarted. The bad thing is that you really can't be sure until you get about 10 rows in, exactly how it's going to play out. Even my restarted blanket has expanded itself to where I could cover myself up; it's still a bit wide. I'll probably put it in the washer and dryer later and fur it up some and shrink 'er down a bit in the process.

Oh well, at least it will be warm! God help me if I decide to tackle a doggie coat!

New Horizon

2011-06-11T09:54:00.003-04:00

I'm going to get serious about making these washcloths. I mean, why not? They are fast, easy projects that travel well (aka doctor offices).

So with that in mind I purchased my first 'spool' of cotton yarn yesterday from Wal-mart. I figure this way I will have plenty on hand to do sets. Seems like I'm always doing onesie-twosies of everything. Now that I've finally conquered the non-square squares, (where you stop to check your work only to find out that you've been going sideways on one side), I figure I can get some serious work done. I can always use the ugly ones myself - even ugly, they still do the job!

On my horizon is something I'd never thought I'd be doing. Yesterday I found myself looking up those cutsie little doggie sweaters. OMG! Who knew I'd do that?? But this past week we decided to adopt a sweet little terrier mix from a local SPCA. I've never had a little dog before other than an outdoor working beagle or two. This new little girl will be a live-in companion and we will want her to have the best style, of course.

OMG! What am I saying? What am I doing? Yep, I'm gonna try it! Gosh, but those patterns look hard to me! You gotta remember, I'm used to making squares...washcloths and afghans....and round things, like hats! This will be my first dog trick. If you know any easy way to make one, please - bring it on!

Crochet vs. Knitted? This should be a no-brainer. Hmmm...let's see... lots of crochet experience (howbeit, round and square), vs 1 knitted scarf that took me months upon months to do. Gosh, but those knitted doggie sweaters look so much better! This may come only with huge amounts of prayer, if at all! So at this point, bring on the CROCHET patterns or my dog may freeze to death waiting!

Hey, maybe I'll find one for the Knifty Knitter round looms? That even sounds easy!

Anyone Need a Wash Cloth?

2011-06-04T14:42:00.000-04:00

My friend at the local store told me she's planning to hold an artisan fair at the store later when it cools off. She wanted me to know so I could be making some of her favorites - crochet wash clothes.

So these days I am never without my trusty bag of yarn when I head out. You never know when Hubster will suddenly decide he needs to stop at Napa or Home Depot. And doc appointments? You don't even have to ask!

When I try to get fancy with them, no one likes them as much. Everyone likes my plain ol' simple crocheted cotton square with it's nice tight stitches. I can't help doing tight...it's natural for me. Sometimes I get things so tight I can't get the darn hook to go through. Then I have to put things down, relax a bit and come back later, with a looser attitude.

I'm still amazed that no matter where I go someone will ALWAYS ask me something about what I'm doing. I no longer think of waiting rooms as quiet places full of people trying desperately to pretend that they are the only ones there.

So I'm being productive this summer. With little projects that sense of accomplishment happens quicker, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.