What I've been up to

It's been a crazy time around here. I've been packing up our house and trying to sell it while the hubby is looking for a job in Seattle. There has been a whole lot of stress in our house because of it but it'll be all worth it after we get moved out there.

Another big change for us is my best friend and I are stepping away from our crafting businesses for a little bit and focusing on our newest venture...our soap company. We've both worked together on pretty much everything so we figured that we might as well just start a business together ans since both of us have been wanting to add soap making to our skills we were like "why not?" and that was the birth of our newest project. We will be starting it online and at craft fairs/farmers markets and our goal is to eventually have a physical location. Once we get things started I'll let all of you know.

I do still plan to add more patterns and tutorials to this blog as I go. Life just gets a little hectic around here and I forget to take pictures as I craft. Procrastination has me doing quite a bit at the last minute too. If there is something you'd like me to do a tutorial on just message me and I'll see what I can do to get it posted for you.


Peace, Love and Happy Crafting,
Crazy Crafter Kitty

DIY Tie Holder

Today I'm going going to share with you a great cheap easy way to hang clip-on ties. I don't even know why I didn't even think about this until now.

What you'll need is a hanger and binder clips from the office supply section in most stores. All you have to do is put the binder clips on the hanger and then clip your ties onto the cthe clips. Like I said, really easy. I really didn't need to tell you how to do it. The pictures explain it all. I used a child's hanger since these were my kids ties. You could hold ties on the front and back since the binder clips have 2 looped wires for opening them.

Peace, love and happy crafting,

Crazy Crafter Kitty

Huge news update

If any of you follow me because you saw/met me at Nebraskon then you'll be pretty sad by this news but it is really exciting for me. I'm moving to Washington finally. I'll be heading out there late June or early July. I'm still doing my art exhibit in Marshall, MN January 22nd to March 1st of all on my costume work. Anyone in the area around then feel free to check it out. For Nebraskon people Team Cat won't be making it to Nebraskon again unless we make enough each year to afford the trip. What's cool is we plan to go to Sakuracon as artists as soon as we can. I'll keep you posted on the move.

Good news bad news time

Well since most people pick the bad news first I'm going to start off with that. The Cat Girls/ Team Cat won't be in Artist Alley at Nebraskon this year. Between it being my hubby's big 30 bday and all the stuff I need to get done by then it's just not possible for me to make enough stuff to sell to even cover the cost of the table. It just wasn't in the stars for this year.

But the good news, I should say great news, is my local newspaper did an article about the cosplay work I've done and now the local art center want to do an exhibit of my work. That's the stuff needing to be done before Nebraskon. I'm really excited to be recognized as an artist and have a whole exhibit done on my work. It's really great seeing your work getting appreciated after a lot of hard work.

Now comes the good news for you guys. I'm taking requests for things to make before Nebraskon next year. It can be anything from plushies to costume pieces to accessories. It can be sewn, knit(which will cost more), embroidered, sculpted, etc. I'm able to make a wide variety of items since I have so many hobbies. Just list some things and I'll see what I can do to make them a reality. I look forward to seeing everyone soon.

Peace, Love and Happy Crafting

Another convention come and gone.

Well, it's that time again. Team cat has finished Anime Nebraskon in style and we're winding down before we contemplate adding another convention to the roster for next year. I did pretty well this year. not as well as last year but still good enough by my standards. Nebraskon was a lot of fun and I met some pretty cool people, got to talk to a couple of people I already knew and even got to chat with some people I didn't get the chance to last year. I seem to be making all sorts of friends in the convention community and that's pretty cool. This year Nebraskon put the vendors in a different room that had more access for setting up and tearing down. It was on the other end of the convention hotel but I liked it because it was seriously just down the hall from our hotel room. No long walks for me this year. I didn't like the fact that since the pool area became a walking path people took it to mean "PARTY OVER HERE!" Yeah talk about a pain in the but hearing loud music and rowdiness when you are trying to unwind from a day of working. We were approached by a few other conventions asking us to come to there con and we're thinking out doing the one in July that's also in Nebraska.

In other cool trip news we found a gr eat all you can eat sushi place that is now going to be a new tradition every year. It's on the other end of Omaha but well worth it. I'm already looking forward to going next year. Along that line I am reminded I need to actually post my stuff on etsy unlike last year. I also need to work year round instead of waiting last minute and not having any time for anything but crafting. I'm going to start getting my life and work straightened out more so I'm not so rushed or stressed because this year was so bad that I got a cold sore a week before the con and my left eye was almost always twitching because I was majorly stressed. I'm also going to start making more things with my embroidery machine. Might as well make some really cool things with it since I paid so much for it. Oh and I also plan to get a hold of the person who runs Italy Ava here in town about them selling things for me too. I figure get my name out there enough and soon this will become my full time job. I don't even know what else to say right now but I do know that I have to go and get some other stuff done so I'll keep you all updated soon.


Peace, Love and Happy Crafting.

Devious Winter Pattern

Devious Winter

By Jessica Portner

Materials:

Size US 35 needles

Super Bulky yarn (I used Link by Berroco)

1 Large Button

CO 4 sts (I usually use the long tail cast on but you can do which ever you prefer)

Row 1: K all sts

Row 2 and all even rows: P all sts

Row 3: K2, YO, K2 (this yarn over will be the button hole)

Row 5: K2, YO, K3

Row 7: K3, YO, K3

Row 9: K4, YO, K2tog, K1

Row 11: K2, SSK, YO, K3

Row 13: K1, SSK, YO, K4

Row 15: K3, YO K2tog, K2

Repeat rows 9-15 a total of 3 times (obviously doing the P rows on the WS)

Row 33: K4, YO, K2tog, K1

Row 35: K2, SSK, YO, K2tog, K1

Row 37: K1, SSK, YO, K2tog, K1

Row 39: K2, K2tog, K1

Bind off.

Abbreviations

CO: Cast On        Sts: Stitches        K: Knit        P: Purl        YO: Yarn Over

K2tog: Knit two together        SSK: Slip Slip Knit        WS: Wrong Side/Back

Big news

My local yarn shop moved locations. I helped on Sunday and Monday early morning to get it ready to open on Monday at 10am. The Purple Iris Yarn shop got in a new yarn called Link from Berroco. I'm making a sample for the shop as well as making a new pattern for it since there is only one pattern I know of for it. I'll be sure to post the pattern up  for all you wonderful people. In further big news Anime Nebraskon is creeping up on us. In two months I'll be selling my crafts in Nebraska. I hope to see some of you there. Until next time...


Peace, Love  and Happy Crafting.