2nd Shop at etsy

Due to a recent critique I received on my main shop I decided to try my hand at opening a 2nd shop over at etsy.

CatheavenCrafts will be my knit and crochet store. While CatheavenCreations will feature my papercrafts and misc crafts. I will test this out for a bit and see how it works out. If after a few months I don't notice a significant change to my main shop then I'll combine my shop again.

It will take a bit before I get the 2nd shop up and running due to the fact of deadlines that I have.
Please feel free to stop by both stores and take a peek.

Combining my love for crochet and paper

So the other week I asked some friends what they might like to see if they were to receive a box full of handmade samples. Thank you to all who answered. After many days of brainstorming trying to figure out how I can easily make something that would incorporate my etsy shop and what I sell I came up with this idea.

I took my love for crochet and combined with my papercrafting and came up with this new take on the matchbook note sets that people make now. To advertise I used my business card as the cover page. In the future I will be making some new sizes and styles which will be up over at my etsy shop sometime in the near future. I'm a little iffy putting them up on etsy only because I checked over there and I haven't seen (or can find) this idea up there. I shall see though. I think these would be great to carry around in your purse or bags. They'd also make great and useful gifts in party bags. Drop me an email if you ever need some.

I'm pretty excited about them. They actually aren't as quick as i had hoped they be but they're quicker than knitting a dishcloth. I'm very happy with them! leave me a comment about what you think of them!

Something a little new

Okay I know that my blog is mainly dedicated to my knitting and crocheting. But I've been introduced to beading by my friend and I'm SOO addicted. Over the weekend my friend and I made these really pretty earrings. I still need a lot of practice but hey they are wearable and I love them. I'll have to get a pix of them up here soon.

Yesterday I received these cute little flip flop charms. So i sat there trying to decide what to use them for. Ideas were a bracelet, stitch markers, zipper pull or pendant. Well I don't quite have all the materials yet to make a lot of these items so I settled on making some earrings. I was very happy with the end result. I think these are SOOO cute!! They are for sale over at my etsy shop.

Woo Hoo new hat

I posted about this hat over at my etsy shop blog, CatheavenCrafts but I know that others read this blog mainly. I got the knitting and creating bug last night so I decided to try and sit down and design a simple baby hat. Here is what was the end result:


I'm pretty excited and can't wait to try and design some more. I'm hoping to add a little crochet mix into these knitted hats. These will be great for the cold weather which is coming up. I should have more hats in my etsy shop shortly.

Taking the Etsy Plunge

So i've decided to take the Etsy plunge. I'm always making items so I figured why not try again in this world of selling my crafts. I did try about 3 years ago but I was very new to my craft and to the world of selling. I've become a lot more advanced and felt that it might be the right time to try again. SOOO I've opened up a shop. It's called CatheavenCrafts It's very tough starting out because etsy is full of wonderfully extremely talented people. I'm in awe at some of the items I see. I've already received some favorable feedback to my shop and I've also received some less than favorable feedback. I've only been on etsy for 2 weeks now. I honestly almost thought of just chalking the whole thing up. But alas I posted a thread on Ravelry and the wonderful people there said to just keep at it.
I also have a blog dedicated to my etsy store and items. You can find it at CatheavenCrafts here on blogger. I will dedicate that blog strictly to the shop. This blog will still remain my "baby" and I will continue to update it.
So stop by and come browse around my shop. Even if it's a little bare.

County Fair Win

scarf w ribbon
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

This year I entered two items into the County Fair. After last year I really wasn't expecting I'd win anything. I entered 2 items into the fair this year. My moondance stole and my lace scarf.

On Saturday night I attended the fair with my family and friends. I was anxious to run to the home arts dept and see how I did, but I wanted to wait until my friend got there. Luckily I didn't have to wait long and as soon as she got there we all headed over.

It took a bit to find where the knitted/crochet items were. All the entries were squished into these glass cabinets. Finally we spotted my entries. At first when i saw my items I thought well another year with no ribbons, BUT alas we spotted a red ribbon hanging underneath my lace scarf. I was so happy but disappointed at the same time. I had really hoped my moondance stole would of gotten something. The judges moved my moondance stole into the same category as my scarf so I am not sure if that had any effect on the outcome. Either way once I got over my disappointment I was happy to at least win something. Julianne was happy for me that I won. Thanks to Julianne I was able to get my entries entered this year as she dropped them off to me. Big hugs to her!!! (now i'll find out if she really reads my blog. haha)

This year the displays were just awful. Beautiful handknit and crocheted blankets were folded so small that you couldn't really get a good gauge on the pattern. Other entries were so jampacked into the displays they were missed. I still don't understand the judging that goes on at the fair. Some beautiful intricate items didn't win yet typical everyday patterns won. Maybe it's the stitch definition or the neatness of the stitches which the judges judge on??? Either way there were some beautiful entries this year.

I am proud of my scarf and I hope to work on my skills to someday either receive a best in show or at least a first place ribbon. Guess we'll see next year.

The cutest octopus you'll ever see

0801080051
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

Okay so maybe I'm biased about it being the cutest octopus. Alysia has been on a fish obsession lately so I decided to make her this cute little amigurumi octopus.

I love crocheting because I don't need to think and it's pretty fast. I had this little guy done in about 2 hours.

Alysia loves it and has now requested a bright pink one! sigh project list never ends!

My first cardigan

0723081112
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

It sure has been a year of firsts for me. With my weight loss I finally decided to tackle a cardigan for myself.

The pattern was from Knitting pure and simple. I LOVE this brand of patterns. The instructions are extremely clear and precise and makes the knitting so much easier.

This cardigan was like marathon knitting. I had this sucker done in 5 days. I was knitting for over 8 hrs a day on this. I got so sick of stockinette stitch i wanted to scream. The yarn was so nice to work with. It was done in TLC Cara Mia. Sadly this yarn is discontinued. Guess when I saw the clearance tag I bought a ton of it way back when.

There are a few eye hurting mistakes but being that i was the knitter I notice it a lot more than the everyday person.

Over all a successful knit and I really enjoy wearing it!

First Lace Stole!!

Woo hoo I FINALLY finished my first real lace project. I am so proud of this project. I learned so many new techniques. I learned how to do a provisional cast on, lace edging knitted on, blocking, and the big one reading and understanding charts.

I stayed up until 3:30am one night finishing it and also blocking it! I just HAD to have it done.

I would of had the stole done sooner but I was sidetracked by baby making projects so it was a 2 in half month endeavor. I really enjoyed the yarn which I used. It was Misti Alpaca lace weight yarn. For it being so thin it provides quite a bit of warmth.

Overall this was an easy pattern to work. The lace pattern was just on one side and just a purl row on the other side. I never did get around to memorizing the chart like i've read some people are able to do after so many repeats.

I finally used my Blocking blocks. I have to say that it was a great investment. It made my life so easy. Winning the extra set from Ravelry at Stitches West was a big help also as I used 2 extra blocks from the set.

I'm "hooked" on shawls/stoles and especially lace now. The satisfaction I got from finishing this item was wonderful.

Stash busting kitty bed

snuggies and dottie in new bed
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

So I've been trying to use up my stash of a gazillion tons of acrylic yarn that I have. I was browsing Ravelry and saw this great pattern for a cat bed. SO heck with 3 cats what better way to use up some yarn.
The bed is made with Caron yarn and a bunch of misc fun fur I have. The kitties LOVE it. The problem is is that it isn't big enough to really hold all 3 cats at once. I may just have to bust out another one later on.

Pictured is Snuggles and Dottie lounging in it.

Baby Gifts

So it's baby season here in my neck of the woods. I made this blanket for a friend who is due with a baby girl this month. I had so much fun making this blanket for her.

blanket for sherri
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

Here is another part of the gift. It's a little kimono sweater. I TOTALLY love making these. they are so fun and so easy. I hope they will work good for the new mommy.


I also made a little blanket/bunny toy for the new baby. This turned out so soft. I loved it. I plan on making a few more of these for my sister and another friend of mine who just had a little boy.

Lace Knitting and Other Projects

0505081607
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

Well it's been awhile since I've been able to sit down and actually blog. I've been busy with a multitude of projects.
I am trying to work on reducing my stash size. The Stash group on Ravelry is a great motivator for me. I've been working on lots of baby items, which i can't share just yet.

The big project that I have undertaken is the Moon Dance stole written by Melanie Gibbons. This is my first venture into chart reading. Let's just say that chart reading and I didn't get along so well initially. I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out just how my increases and decreases were going to happen. I emailed the designer and asked on ravelry how this is done. Responses were few and finally I just couldn't wait any longer. The best advice came from a friend of just knit it as it reads. So off I went and the rest is history. This pattern is pretty easy but the results are coming out beautiful. With this pattern I also learned how to use the provisional cast one. So easy!

I am enjoying this stole immensely and can't wait to get it finished.

Ariana's cropped Jacket

Woo Hoo I finished Ariana's Cropped Jacket. I'm pretty darn proud of it! It turned out a lot better than I had expected it too. I did have to perform "surgery" on it as when i bound off the shoulders I had the seam on the right side. So i had to pick it apart and re-do it on the wrong side. Thankfully it worked out fine.

The yarn used was Plymouth Encore bulky weight. Color was a dark blue.



Thankfully I had some buttons in my stash so she picked out the ones she wanted. They are frog faces. They look like the Sanrio character Keroppi but in blue.



Overall not a bad project. I love it!

Mason Dixie After Dark Nightie

0402082138
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

IS FINALLY DONE! It was a fun and easy project. The yarn has a wonderful soft feeling and lovely drape. Holding this project up I thought it might be too heavy but having it on it really isn't. The one thing i didn't like was while i was working with the yarn. The only way I can describe the feeling is like dumping a lot of powder on my hands. I can't say I'd work with the yarn again anytime soon.

Overall I'm proud of the project!

Baby Blanket

blanket for jeana
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

I originally started another blanket for a friend but the yarn just wasn't working for me. So Katherine over at Cottage yarns was showing me a blanket that she had done. I fell in love with it.
So I started this on a Friday night and had it done by Sunday night. It was quick and it was easy. The result is wonderful.
I really enjoyed this project. I also love the yarn that I used. I am already planning another one for my youngest daughter!!!

Multiplying Bunnies

12bunnies
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

I found this cute very easy pattern on line to make bunnies. Since Easter is right around the corner I asked Ariana if she'd like me to make bunnies for her friends. Well that resulted in one dozen bunnies!

The pattern was very quick. From start to finish took about 2 hours. The more I did the better the bunnies looked. It took me awhile to figure out how to fold the bunnies correctly.

Project was fun and I did enjoy making them. Not to mention I was using my stash yarn!

First real attempt at Lace

shawl 3 3 size 6
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

This is going to be my first shawl made out of laceweight yarn. It is a KAL in the Beginning Lace group on Ravelry. The pattern is called Blue Jeans Lace Leaf Shawl
I have had to start over a few times because I was having a small problem with the stitch count. When I finally got going I realized that it seemed awfully small compared to others. I was using a size 4 needle. I frogged it and moved up to a size 6. I like it a lot better.
I'm having a lot of fun with this pattern and with lace. The yarn is Malabrigo lace. I can't wait to finish it!

First Shrug

On Saturday I finally finished my shrug! Ugh this project goes right up there with my dad's afghan of taking forever. It was a very easy pattern but very boring. It is my first wearable that I've made for myself in all the years of crocheting and knitting. I am quite happy with it. Here is a picture of it with Ariana modeling it.




Here's the back of it. I lightened the photo up to see the back easier. Ariana didn't fix the collar when she put it on



And here is the side


Overall I love this shrug. I wore it on Saturday and kept my arms nice and warm.

Stitches West

This was my first Stitches event that I have been able to attend. I almost didn't make it as I was down with the flu and an awful cold at the beginning of the week. Saturday arrived and even though I was still slightly stuffed up and a tad light headed I made my way down. My friend, Julianne, came along with me for her first Stitches experience.

I had an idea of what I was looking for and who I wanted to see. First on my list was the Ravelry booth. Ravelry is the new online knitting/crocheting forum out there in cyber space. It is the best thing to happen to this craft. As soon as we walked in the door I was running around trying to find the booth. Once found I was oohing and aahing over all their items they were selling. I was so excited to see they still had tote bags for sale. I picked up one for myself and one for my friend, Louise. There was some mad text msg-ing going on. I also picked up BOB pins and another Ravelry pin. They ran out of their "Hello my name is" pins. But it's alright I was happy enough with my purchases and glad to help Ravelry out.

In one word Stitches West was overwhelming! Julianne and I were like "OMG this place is so big". I did tons of yarn browsing. My interests this time to a convention was lace and socks. I fell in love with the vendor, JOJOLAND I found a new yarn that i have just fallen in love with and I can't wait to try some of her other yarns. Also the patterns are exquisite. I picked up 3 of her patterns. I can't wait to try it out. I also got to check out another raveler's yarn. Creatively dyed yarn I didn't pick up any yarn at the show but I am definitely going to order a couple skeins from her. Her colors were absolutely stunning! I also checked out WEBS. The whole area was so busy that it was hard to walk in but I was able to do some browsing. I picked up a lace weight alpaca/wool blend yarn there. I am now just debating on which shawl to make first with it!

And to top off this wonderful Stitches experience I found out tonight that I won a prize in the Ravelry passport game. GO ME! I won the knitters block from Article Pract! WOO HOO! I couldn't believe it! Thank you to Ravelry, Article Pract, the other vendors, and Julianne (for helping me do my passport).

Overall it was a wonderful experience. I was pooped at days end but all I can say is I can't wait for next year!

First fingering weight socks

alysiasock
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

Here is my first attempt at using fingering weight yarn for socks. Boy oh boy did it feel like i was knitting with toothpicks! i did get used to it and it really wasn't that bad.

The 2nd sock was just a nightmare. First i knit the cuff part too long but I didn't realize it until i had done the heel and started the gusset. I was so mad. I started madly frogging then told myself to just put it to the side for a bit. I didn't frog the entire sock so that helped saved time. For some reason i also had trouble keeping my stitch count right. Bottom line i couldn't wait to finish.

These socks came out a little pointer at the toe than I like. But I think that's because I was doing the kitcheneer stitch wrong. Oh well they are a hit with Alysia. She loves them.

The yarn is Regia sock yarn. I won't buy this color again because I wanted more stripes. Then of course the colors of the stripes didn't match...

oh well live and learn.

A Dog tale

Last night I took a break from my knitting to just veg in front of the computer playing World Of Warcraft (aka WoW). Hours and hours of mindless questing does a knitter/crocheter good sometimes.

So instead of sharing a project with you today I decided to share a story with you. I am sure that any knitter/crocheter who owns animals has been through what I've been through. So let's start off with me showing you my adorable doggie. This is my youngest dog, Sadie, in the house.



Isn't she just adorable? There's not a naughty bone in her little body.... HA!!! Yes I am sure you can hear the laughter radiating from my house right now. Miss. Sadiekins (as i call her) loves, LOVES my yarns and needles. She's victimized a few skeins of perfectly brand new skeins of yarn already. I've salvaged some of them and others are still sitting in their lovely mess.

On Tuesday night I left my project on my table to check on dinner. I come walking down our hall and what do my eyes see? My skein of yarn halfway down the hall with my project attached!I was yelling and waving my arms, looking like a typical nut. Thankfully my project didn't unravel as it was on dpns. A few minutes later I sit down to start working on it again when I realize I can't the 4th needle. With a sinking a feeling I realized that Sadie must of taken off with it too. To my dismay she did.

Here is what I found on the floor.



This is one of the things that can make a knitter just cry. Luckily the set had 5 in it so I was able to finish my project. I've come to the conclusion that:

Cute dog + yarn/needles (knitting) = could be diaster.

Yeti Gloves

I finished my 2nd pair of fingerless mitts tonight at my local SNB group (ACKD) tonight. Woo hoo! I used Joann's angel hair yarn. I must say that i will NEVER use this yarn again. Granted my mitts are extremely warm but I can't stand the "hairy" look my mitts have! I swear when I finished the first one the other night i was like "OMG I HAVE A YETI ON MY HANDS!" (Okay don't ask me why I thought of a yeti but I just did.) So I promptly took my scissors and trimmed off as much of the excess "hair" that I could. Of course I was ever so careful that I didn't "accidently" cut any of my stitches. But honestly it doesn't look much better. *SIGH* So these will be home mitts that i will wear when no one else is around. Take a look below and see if you can see what I'm seeing



Now that I am comfortable with dpns I plan to try and another pattern and another yarn. I'd like to try one with cables and a nice soft yet warm yarn. Leave a comment if you have any suggestions!

Busy busy busy

I've been on a knitting roll lately. I finally decided that it was high time that i learn how to knit on dpns. I've tried them before and it just led to disaster. So why would I subject myself to that torture again? I wasn't going to let a simple 3 or 4 needles defeat me. Plus I wanted to be able to say that I CAN knit with them. So off I went. I successfully knit my first pair of fingerless gloves on dpns. I realized that after I did the first one that I had knit it "inside out" Sigh....so I spent an hour trying to figure out how to correct this. I finally figured it out and was able to do the 2nd one correctly. I must admit that dpns aren't as scary as I thought they'd be. They were actually fun to use. I don't mind using them at all. Here's a pix of one of the completed gloves.




So after the success of my first pair I have already cast on and completed one for a new pair.

Tonight i was on a roll. My youngest enjoys "Play" cooking. So i decided to crochet her a cupcake. I used a pattern off the internet. Next time I make it I will add more rounds to make the base higher. I may look into trying to "wing" one myself. Alas it was a hit.



And here is Alysia cooking it.


It's been a busy fiber night.

Completed Wallaby

wallaby
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

So here it is! My very first wallaby! I was so excited to finally get it done. I had this all knit up in 4 days. Would have been 3 days if I didn't run out of yarn. This was my first sweater that i worked completely in the round. I REALLY really like working in the round with all st st. Easy peasy!

I did try to get Alysia not to want the hood just so that I could finish it up but she wanted the hood. I am glad that I did do it though. I really didn't have too many problems with the pattern. I've read that a lot of people had trouble with the pouch. I read through some tips and had no problem at all. My only problem really was the underarms. It was hard for to visualize how it was going to work. Finally I just buckled down and said to heck with it and did it.

The yarn was a lot of fun to work with. It's very warm also. Judging by the expression on Alysia's face I say this wallaby was a hit!

Wonderful Wallaby

So I've finally jumped on the "wallaby" bandwagon. I decided to make one for my youngest. I am using Plymouth encore colorspun. Fun yarn to work with. I started on Thursday and would of been finished tonight if I hadn't run out of yarn! OH I've never had this happen before and boy does it stink. And to boot a lot of yarn stores aren't open tomorrow so I may just have to wait until Monday to pick just 1 more skein of this yarn. Sigh!

I've been having a lot of fun with this pattern. It did take some getting used to because of how "wordy" it, but by dissecting it into pieces, along with some internet help, I was able to get through it. I'll be posting a picture as soon as it's done.

My papercrafting has taken a back seat for the past couple of weeks. I hope to start working on a few projects this week.

Well off to work on some socks since I can't finish the Wallaby.

First Pair of socks COMPLETED

sock
Originally uploaded by Catheaven.

Woo Hoo I actually finished my first pair of socks and I didn't go crazy. I actually finished last Saturday but haven't a had a chance post them here on my blog.

For the second sock I actually was able to keep it on the needle to do the heel, gusset and instep. I don't think I did it correctly though but it worked. Still need to work on learning things but I am very proud!

Literally I was jumping and down when I finished it! Now i am on a sock addiction! They are just so fun! Not overly complicated and hey I finished a pair in less than a week!!

My FIRST SOCK!!!

I have wanted to try socks for I don't know how long now. But I always avoided them because I can't seem to master DPN's. So the other day my friend Louise was talking about the magic loop way. (She's using this technique to do her daughter's sleeve on her sweater). She was raving about how easy it was. So of course this got me quite curious. After a few troubled starts I was finally able to figure it out. THANKS LOUISE for all the help!!!

So jokingly Louise says "Oh you'll have a sock done by next week". Well I finished one sooner than that. I started last night and wah lah it's done. I did run into quite a bit of problems in understanding the whole heel and gusset area. So i ended up putting the stitches onto dpns and working these areas this way. Then I put them back on my circular and finished them using magic loop.

Okay so I'm overly excited on finishing ONE sock. Now the test will be can I make the 2nd sock to look like the first one???

Here are some pix of the sock. It's done in Plymouth Yarn Encore orange. The pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple Beginner pattern. This pattern was recommended to me from Cottage Yarns. Great recommendation. Thank you!!!


Ariana holding the sock



Ariana wearing the sock!!! Yes it fits!!!


WOO HOO! Stay tuned to see how the 2nd one turns out!

Christmas Tag Swap

Here are my Christmas tags which were made for a swap I was in. I made 15 of each design. Funny story with the snowman tag was that I was working on these late at night. I'm just glad I didn't have anyone call the police on me as i was setting 30 eyelets at past 2am in the morning. I still use the old fashioned way so i was hammering away. Stamp was from a CTMH xmas stamp set. Cutting out 15 stamped snow man was no picnic!

I loved this gingerbread tag. I found a really cool BoBunny 12x12 scrapbook paper with all these gingerbread men/women on it. So I cut them all out and attached them. I just love the color of them. So cute!!!

Cards

These are the most recent cards for the December
swap I did for my sis in law's CTMH swap.
"thank you" was the theme.















These gift card holders were inspired by Hollister's design. Took me awhile to get it how I liked it. I really like the overall results.

Altered Post it notes

I wanted to give some type of little papercraft item to my Mother-in-law and sisters in laws for Christmas. So I came up with this. Altered post it notepads. It took me awhile to figure out exactly how I wanted to keep it closed. But I ended up not making slit to attach. I just made the top longer than the paper by a tad. That way if they so choose to use it again with a new post it pad they can.
Stamps used: Baroque Stamps CTMH

Altered Tin

When it rains it pours huh? Yep back again with another project. As mentioned I love the idea of altering items. So here is my first "band-aid" tin. This was also made for my friend Louise. She is also a knitter like me so I knew this would be a great project. It's a small little tin for her to keep track of her different needles. FUN FUN FUN!!!!








Here is what the inside tabs looked like.

Altered Notebooks

So my newest interest is altering items. I had seen numerous altered notebooks, tins, etc. I wanted to try and see what I could create. And wah laa...

This was my first notebook I did. It was made for my good friend Louise for an Xmas present. It took me quite awhile to get it done but I was very happy with the results. Let me see if I can list some of the items used. I'm not very good at keeping track of these things.

Cat stamps are from Hanko Designs
"Louise" was stamped from CTMH Homestead Alphabet
Ink is CTMH star spangled blue
Liquid Glass was put over all the letters but the "O". I put a window circle from CTMH over it.

I was so thrilled over this that I made a 2nd one for another friend.


I had a difficult time in finding a way to get her name to fit on the notebook. I finally ended up cutting letters out from a Sizzix alphabet. She loves dogs so this was her theme. Stamps are from CTMH Uptown Girls. All other items are from places I can't remember where I got it from.
I plan to do more of these this year. Will probably be trying different type of altering of notebooks journals through out the year.

Xmas dishcloths

Dishcloths are always fun to give as presents. I especially love the ones with designs in them.
The first one is a gingerbread woman. The second is a frog. They were made with Peaches n cream /Sugar and cream. Both on size 7 needles. Patterns came from Knit-Wits Heaven