what i've been doing

i've made this round blanket for my guy's great aunt and uncles first great grand child. It's due around valentine's day, but i like to get everything out of the way ahead of time. I picked a neutral color to fit a boy or girl. the blanket's about 45" across and is the color of vanilla pudding. the pattern called for yellow, but i needed to buy 2lbs og yarn for the blanket so i bought two 2lbs skeins of vanilla pudding colored yarn 10 skeins of yellow. The fewer yarn changes, the stronger the blanket. All in all, i spent about 14 hours on the blanket b/c the pattern caused me trouble when it came to the border. I spent 6 hours on everything that wasn't the border and 8 on doing and re-doing the border. I finally got it all worked out and i'm happy with it.

Pic 2 is a granny shawl i made myself. I'm always cold now. It's a large granny square sewed to 2 half grannies. This is in an off-white color. Sorta like the vanilla pudding, but less yellow. I made this while on the way to indiana in the car. It's a good lapgan or wrap. The long end measures around 6'

this is a navy blue scarf done in tunisian crochet (which is a hybrid of knitting and crochet). I then used some left-over yarn from the shawl and cross stitched JILLIANSWAY in script from a victorian sampler i own on it. It looks like a snow storm until you really focus and see the lettering. This is meant as a fashion scarf.

I am currently making a tunisan scarf in various shades of blue based off a washcloth pattern. The problem with tunisian crochet is that all patterns are either stritcly beginner or so far advanced that it isn't funny. Several of the shawls and afgan patterns i've found consist of having 5-8 skeins on yarn attacked to the project at the same time, making it hard to move. if my scarf works out, I may write a few patterns to sell on etsy.

I'm being paid to make a stuffed animal for christmas, so that'll be a day. I am also making MissM's halloween costume, and that should take 1-2 weeks. click here to see what i'm making. It's the fairy wings and dress. I have the patterns, i need to go buy the materials and get started. I'm going to make the wings first, so if I run out of time, she'll have that part.

I've also considered selling my doll clothing patterns on etsy if i can get them copyrighted. i see alo tof people selling patterns instead of products on etsy, and that's SMART. It doesn't take too long to author a pattern, but it can take ages to make something tangible to sell.

You know if I ever have a "real" job again, I'd like to do three things:

1) teach people to crochet, and not just using the official terms, but telling them it's okay to hold the hook differently etc. Holding the hook is a lot like holding a pencil or a fork, it's silly to think that there's only one way to do it, and yet people DO insist there's only one way.

2) Add plain speaking tips to patterns. Instead of just reading the instructions like r2 sch 4 (dc in same sp) *c4 sk next dc ch4 dc in same sc* and on and on, I'd give that, but then i'd make a note "yes, this pattern ends up a square eventually, but starts out a circle, so it's going to look really funky right now. That's okay. At r9 it really comes together, hang in there." and other helpful tips throughout the pattern. Seriously, with some of this stuff you have no idea if you've funked it up until you get to the end, and if you have, it's like shooting in the dark trying to fix it.

3) Write patterns and translate diagrms to ledt handed crocheters. As i get older, the more i refuse to conform. I'm a left-handed person, I LIKE being left-handed and that's the end of it. Almost half the world is left-handed, but it's just assumed that everyone is right-handed. I'd love to take some righties and plop them down in a home/office where everything is made for lefties and see how well they survive. There'd be more left-handed products on the market ASAP. Most left-handed people I know are able to over-come and adapt better. I can use my right hand for almost anything, and I can use it pretty well, almost seamlessly, but it feels off like I'm wearing my shoes on the wrong feet.

When I really started to crochet for real, I had major issues with the fact that all stitch dictionaries, patterns, and diagrams are written for righties. I have to spend a lot of time looking at diagrams and flipping it around and stopping between rows and comparing notes while thinking of how the mirror image of the diagram should look to see if I've funked it up or not. Also, learning new stiches isn't easy when they're all taught for righties. Many of the books and patterns that do give helpful hints along the way are sure to say "okay now that you're on the right side, work left" etc.

I want to write a book on crochet from the left filled with left-handed stitch diagrams and how to turn right-handed to left, left-handed pointers and pictures and descriptions on how to do various forms of crochet and related arts (picot, tunisian, crochknit, loom etc.) as a left-handed person.

Will it sell? Mayvbe, maybe not, but I'd love to have that guide.