Reavers Socks

I finished the PDF for Reavers sock pattern that I started last week. The socks turned out so cute but I had so much trouble photographing my feet! Taking a picture of your own feet and getting the pattern in focus is a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. I think I got a few good photos finally.

I need to get my website updated and get the pattern on Ravelry for download. I'm going to charge $4 even though I should probably charge more since it was so time consuming to get together. Next I'm planning on a Cylon themed sock pattern. Here's where you can find the pattern: http://www.christinamariepotter.com/reaverssocks.html

Trying this again.

I promised myself months ago that I would not abandon my blog again but that's exactly what I ended up doing. So here is yet another attempt to keep this blog current. My etsy shop has been keeping so super busy that's part of the reason I haven't found the time to blog anything. Lately I've been on a Firefly inspired sock yarn binge and yesterday I added some Firefly themed spinning fiber. If you're not aware of Firefly it's an old TV show that was canceled before it finished it's run and then they made a movie. You can find episodes on Hulu if you're interested. Because I love my Firefly sock yarn so much I'm working on a Reavers sock pattern. I don't normally design sock patterns since there about a bajillion trillion million patterns out there but I have been on the search for a perfect pattern for the reavers sock yarn I dyed up and couldn't find it. The first sock is almost finished and as soon as it is I'm going to post the pattern up for sale. Also I recently moved all the patterns I have for sale to ravelry.com so they will be much easier to access now. I had a few people complain that the other PDF download site was difficult to use so I decided to switch to ravelry. Here are some photos of yarn that I have for sale http://www.christinamariepotter.etsy.com/ :

Mr Oogie Boogie

My daughter is obsessed with the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. We bought a copy of the collectors edition that was just released and have watched everyday since. I put the movie on the watch the first time and wasn't sure if she would be scared or not. I thought I would see how she did and if she seemed bothered by it I would turn it off. Well, she is in love with it! Her favorite character, Mr. Oogie Boogie, yes, the bad guy! This morning I went in to get her dressed and she was drawing on her chalk board. I asked what she was drawing and she said, "Mr. Oogie Boogie." It just so happens that a few days ago I bought some of that new Bernat glow in the dark yarn to make her a toy out of. I have been looking at patterns trying to come up with something that I thought she would like. I had something like a butterfly or a bunny in mind but this morning I realized that I should crochet her a Mr. Oogie Boogie. What could be more perfect, Oogi Boogie glows in the dark, I have glow in the dark yarn. So I spent my morning making up a crocheted Oogie Boogie, I didn't have a pattern of course because it's a licensed character. So the photos are of what I came up with, and yes, she LOVES HIM! I tried to get a photo of him glowing but my camera wouldn't focus on him in the dark even though he was glowing really well.

New Sock Yarn

I've been playing around with some new sock yarn I purchased and did a couple halloween colorways

Spinning Fiber Crazy!

Yesterday we started to pull out the Halloween decorations and for some reason that made me decide that I HAD to dye some fall colored spinning fiber. I had the best time coming up with color combos to dye. I dyed the last of my merino and about 2/3rds of the corriedale I've had in my stash for ages. Next I'll break into the 5 pounds of undyed superwash merino that I have in waiting. I am excited to dye the superwash it is THE softest spinning fiber I have ever purchased. I have some of it undyed up for sale on etsy.com but I am planning to dye some too. the thing I love about dying fiber is if it doesn't sell then I get to spin it up for myself. So here's the colorways I came up with, 2 of them (fall leaves and halloween) sold in the first few hours I had them posted:

Here's my etsy shop link if you are interested in purchasing:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5941743

My New Spinning Wheel is Here!

My new wheel arrived today and I just finished putting it together. I absolutely love the way it looks! My husband told me he will finish it for me but it sure is lovely just the way it is. It's just the right size for my house especially considering I already have one wheel taking up space. Thee wheel got here hours before I expected it to, when I opened the box I laughed when I discovered magazine pages in polish used as stuffing.

Then I found the wheel wraped up and ready to assemble.

So I spent about an hour putting it together I am not really that handy so I was really happy with how easily it went together. All the pieces fit so nicely and the craftsmanship is so nicely done. I know my husband will be impressed with it when he sees it after he gets home from work.

I bought a second spinning wheel!

So after thinking about it for a month I decided to get myself a new unfinished Kromski Minstrel. My husband is going to finish it for me after it gets here. I'm so excited to get it! It comes in the mail tomorrow so the UPS truck will probably get it here around 4:00 in the afternoon. It's getting here in the nick of time too because I broke one of the pieces on my Ashford traditional yesterday and had to order a repalcement. One of the little plastic pieces that holds the flyer cracked and my husband can't fix it. I called my local spinning wheel/weaving/yarn/roving shop the myers house today and ordered the piece. My wheel is an older model so I'm not surprised that it broke since plastic gets brittle as it ages. I remembered after it broke how all the information about the Kromski's made a point to mention that they don't use plastic parts. When I read that I was like "Okay, so, I don't care if they use plastic or not," now that statement makes more sense. But at the same time I'm not upset that the plastic piece broke, like I said it was old. SO tomorrow is the day my new baby arrives! I'll post photos after she gets here!

I've decided to pick this up again after abandoning it for over a year. I have had more designs come out in Interweave Crochet. The next one being published is in the Winter issue. I also now own a spinning wheel! Something I've wanted for many many years and I finally broke down and purchased one 3 months ago. I absolutely love it and am already thinking about getting another one. I love spinning almost as much as I love knitting and crochet.

I have started hand dyeing and selling yarn on Etsy. It's fun to try new things and put them up to see if they sell. I've been specializing in hand dyed Watermelon stripe for awhile. I even did a watermelon sock yarn club that is about to finish up.

Just getting started.

I noticed that a lot of other published pattern designers are on blogspot in addition to their website. So I decided to set one up myself. Like my heading says my name is Christina, and I love knitting and crochet. I didn't realize how much until a few years ago. I have a pattern coming out in the Spring issue of Interweave Crochet Magazine (on newstands April 10th) make sure you look for it.