A simple warm scarf

Before I show my scarf off, I'll just provide an update regarding my handmade jewellery!  I have made quite a bit of progress - although it won't seem so to some - I have created a website on which I just need to purchase the URL and upload photos, plus I hav an Etsy widget on there so people can go straight to my store if they like what they see - this widget will make it onto this blog when I start putting new items up for sale.  I have a Twitter acount which is ready to go, a Facebook page which is ready for photos, and I will be working on combining the two to save time on advertising and promoting - I hope I can use Tweetdeck for this and have it sent to my Facebook page!  I have designed business cards too, but I need photos of new jewellery which I plan on putting on the other side of them to give the cards a little bit of interest.  Other than that, I think it might actually be time for me to start experimenting with new techniques!  I can't wait!  In the meantime I have a book about "Web Marketing for Dummies" although I honestly feel I have read enough about that these past 2 weeks that I could probably write my own book about it!

Anyway, my latest knitting project is a scarf for a friend - this one is for Christmas so it needs to be warm in time for the January and February chill!  I LOVED this wool and I still have a ball of it left to play with.  It's SIRDAR Escape Wool Rich Chunky (51% wool, 49% acrylic) and I knitted this one on 6.5mm needles.  Not too big, not too tiny.  The colour is a really vivid blue from dark to light to dark again.  I want this scarf for myself but I have made it for a friend and it will be given to that friend, come Christmas!

This was just a simple double rib pattern, great to do in front of the TV in the evenings (which is when I usually knit) as there is little room for error, although I probably went wrong a couple of times, but its hard to notice really.  It's soft and of course it has tassels, I love making those!  Very easy to do with a 3 - 4 strands of wool and a crochet hook to pull it through.  Simple, soft and warm :)

Exploring my Creativity

Over the last few weeks I have been researching and reading up on running a small business and marketing, all the ins and outs of it.  I already have a store on www.etsy.com but I haven’t really been able to market it properly or sell a great deal of what I make.  What do I make?  Jewellery.  With silver wire and gemstone beads.  I currently have  a schedule which I plan on keeping to (hopefully...!) and part of my list of things to do is a blog.  Of course, I have this ‘Creativity Blog’ which I will use to post up the Jewellery which I make, but this will happen later.

Before I go ‘full steam ahead’ with my Jewellery, I plan not only to read up on everything I can find which is essential to run a small business, but in the meantime, I plan to blog about what I am creating in the meantime, and about me exploring my own creativity.  The aim of this is not only to make lots of things I can give away as gifts, sell to friends and family, online or at craft shows (the latter of which I have yet to do!), but I want to find out what I can do, what I am natural at, what I am terrible at, what I hate doing, and what I love doing.  I have no idea how long this process may take, but at the moment, the Jewellery business will happen after my exploration of Creativity.

So, let me begin by talking about my current crafting obsession – knitting and crochet!  I learnt to knit before crocheting and I can say I can do both.  But some things do elude me – I have tried crocheting a hat several times and I just cannot get the tension right for the rim!  I either end up with floppy, flat rims and a hat that just kind of sits on the head and easily flops off, or I go to the other extreme and end up with a beret sort of hat with a rim which is simply impossible to fit on anybody’s head.  I have, however, knitted a hat which was successful, although I haven’t knitted one since – this is something I will be pursuing at some point!

In the meantime, as you can see on my blog AGES ago, I knitted a few scarves, and although I have successfully crocheted a couple of flower brooches as gifts, I am mostly knitting – lots of Christmas presents!  But first let me show you my first crochet scarf.  This is a simple straightforward pattern combining three rows of 203 double crochet stitches, and a border of shells all the way around the edge.  I got this pattern from “The Happy Hooker” (Stitch ‘n Bitch Crochet) which is a book I cannot recommend highly enough if you want to learn how to crochet – because I learnt from this book!

In the book it looks a bit larger, wider spacing between stitches, but then again I always come out with something different from patterns because I tend to buy the wool and think about the pattern later!  I thought this scarf looked very pretty in pink and it has a slightly floral feel to it thanks to the shell border and the mottled pink colour.  A spring/summer or summer/autumn scarf I think.

Springing back into action

Wow.  It has been over a year since I last blogged about my creativity.....!  Well, certain things kind of distracted me really.  Stuff at work got to me too much and thinking about that kind of took over......

BUT.....I am ready to blog again, and I am hoping to continue blogging more often.  To cut a long story short, I took redundancy at work at the end of March 2011 and I feel fantastic!  I'm not too sure what I'm going to do but for now, I am enjoying being creative again, and being able to devote the time I want to it as well.  Not only this, but I am planning on creating and selling lots more handmade jewellery online, via my Etsy shop.  I had one set up for a while, but now is the perfect opportunity not only to play with my creativity but to see if it can make me some money!

So basically what I am saying is that I am back, I'm being creative and I am planning on not only sharing my creativity more often on this blog, but I hope to be sharing my experiences, ups and downs, along with some cheeky advertising and links to my Etsy store.  So keep your eyes peeled for more frequent posts.... :)

Siobhan x