Learning to Knit in the Round and Other Short Stories

So this last week I learned to knit in the round.  Since I am new to knitting it takes me longer to make things with knit than other projects.  To make a short story even shorter, my husband's hair is too short for the cool fall we're having.  He asked me to make him a hat.  Asking specifically if I would make it in knit.  So I went forth, found the proper color of grey that he requested and sat down with my knitting friends(we meet once a week, it's great! I recommend having knitting friends), and they taught me how to knit in the round.  It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be.  So, I completed his hat on Wednesday.  He hates having his picture taken so here is a picture of me testing to see if it's long enough to start decreasing.

When that was done, I was all excited to make another.  And so I made one for my nieces(I have five of them).  This was the last Christmas project for nieces.  She likes tie-dye but is extremely uninterested in "girl colors" except purple.  So, here's hat two:

I also have a 12-year-old baby sister.  She is just the best!  I know I spoil her, but I feel like the more fun and love she gets the better.  Especially if she's getting something that took me hours or days to make.  I knew she'd enjoy one too.  I don't have a picture of the finished product, but I did put the work in progress on my cat's head.  He wasn't as amused as I was.

He looks a little like he's high and annoyed.

I also completed the Light box for taking photos of my things.  However about ten minutes after completion the above pictured cat lept onto from another piece of furniture and destroyed it.  This it the last and only picture of it.

It took a few good pictures before it's untimely demise.

The above picture is the stock of meeples I received in the mail recently.  I will be making different things out of them.  It'll be pretty neat.  Tomorrow I get to drill holes in some of them.  They're destined to be something great.

See you next Monday!

A Week of Projects!

As promised, picture of the finished afghan throws for Christmas.

I worked on these for two of my nieces.

But then my cousin told me about a benefit she was working on for one of her friends,  My cousin has always been eager to help others and is a pretty awesome person overall.  Her friend Lisa is a wife and mother of two.  She recently found out her breast cancer had metastasized to her bone and liver.  So her friends have been working to raise money so that she could take time off from work to spend time with her family and rest.  If you'd like to learn more or find out how you can help click here.So when she told me she was shaving her head if they reached their donation goal I was excited for her.  Then she told me she'd really like a Cabbage Patch Wig.  After some deduction I found pictures of the cabbage patch she had as a child.  I made a practice one(that will go to my baby niece) and it fit pretty well on my cat.

 

Then I made a big one, for real.  Turned out really well.

They haven't reached their donation goal yet, but in the mean time Lisa told my cousin that she wants to wear the wig to her last round of chemo.  So this is her in the wig.

I've been working on further projects.  For the benefit I donated four dozen cupcakes and eight dishcloths.  They sold really well.  I am pleased.

I got a little carried away with stuff this last week.  Made booties and a short brown haired wig for a friend's baby.

And completed a knit scarf for my sister-in-law.

That's all from last week.  This week I am tackling the organization of my yarn stash.  I have a plan, and hopefully it will work out.  I have also been commissioned to make four more wigs!  Pretty cool.  should be awesome.  

Starting a Sole Proprietorship For My Crafts

A few months back a friend of mine asked if I could be a vendor for a fairly large event.  Heroicon  is a table top and board gaming convention being held in Decatur, IL.  The proceeds go to a local charity called Games For Troops.  Please follow the link if you're interested in learning more in either of these things.  The Games for Troops charity is really awesome.  They buy and mail off board games to troops who are away from home, it helps to give them something to do in their off time that doesn't include watched the sides of their tents move in the wind.

Back to the beginning.  I decided to take him up on the offer and have since been making a lot of things for this event.  Albeit, I could be making more, I don't want to burn myself out, so I'm pacing myself.

I recently looked into the legalities of being a small business.  Without getting into too much legalese or boring you to death, I decided on being a Sole Proprietor.  I wanted to be an LLC, but in Illinois that cost is about $500.  And since I'm doing more of a hobby-type thing versus establishing a regular source of income, I have decided that I don't want to waste my money on that.  I can't be guaranteed that I will even make enough money to cover the cost of becoming a company through the LLC.

After I decided that, I needed(and still need) to do a few things.  One thing is: deciding on if and how I might take Credit Cards.  I may be alone, but I very rarely carry cash on me.  I am so used to the conveniences of my debit and credit cards that I take for granted not everyone can take those.  Which is why I looked into a system that could help me.  You may have seen them, they're called The Square, or Square Register.  I started looking into this and after reading the extensive terms of use I signed up.  Near the end of my sign up, it then offered to mail me a square, even though I haven't purchased anything.  So, when this arrives, I will let you know how well this system works!  The interface is pretty handy and it will keep track of all purchases and history, so that will be a lot of help.

The next thing I will need to do is create a business plan and an operating agreement.  The first outlines what I plan to do and how I will attempt to sell or make money, the second defines how I will run my business as a whole.  I may not NEED to do these things.  But I feel that it will help me to organize myself.

I have looked into it and if I want to run my Sole Proprietorship by my name I don't need to do anything.  However, I have a name for my "Company" and I have to go to the County Clerk's office and fill out some paperwork then pay the $11 fee.  THEN I will have to pay to have the announcement published in one of the local newspapers for three days a week for three weeks(another $16). So that's pretty easy.

As for my recent Crafting situation I have completed yet another afghan throw and I learned to knit and have made two scarves.  Currently working on some fingerless mitts for a few nieces.  I need to figure out what team colors my nephews like so that I can make them all something as well, they're big sports fans.  Pictures for finished projects coming soon.