FB Business page for my Ebay store!

Spent my day off from school creating an FB page for my Ebay store! Baby steps are good, better than no steps, I say! I looked into all the drawing apps available to come up with a banner for my FB page, and all the info online said that there are graphic designers to do that kind of work for me, but me being me, I always question...what is it that the graphic designer is able to do, and that I cannot do :D Plus, being cheap me, decided to putz around with different apps, none of which gave me a satisfactory result, so ended up going with my trustworthy PicCollage itself, and while not perfect, I am (currently) happy with what I was able to come up with. Here goes...

Go check out my FB page, and please please please, be so kind as to like it, or better yet, support a crafter by purchasing an item from my store :)

BERNAT SOFTEE CHUNKY BEANIE SKI HAT- free pattern!!

I bought a ton of Bernat Softee Chunky yarn for 99 cents each at Michaels, so of course, I had to find a suitable pattern for making beanies with it. I could not find a satisfactory one on the internets, so I ended up modifying existing ones till I was satisfied with it. So here you go, I am sharing it with you!

BERNAT SOFTEE CHUNKY BEANIE SKI HAT- free pattern!!

If making it in one color, you will end up using less than 1 skein of Bernat Softee Chunky yarn.

With sz K hook, Ch 4, sl st in 1^st ch to make a ring,

Rd 1: ch 2, 12 dc in ring, sl st to top of 1^st dc (12 dc),

Rd 2: switch to sz N hook, ch 2, 2 dc in each, sl st to top of 1^st dc (24 dc),

Rd 3:  ch 2, *2 dc in 1^st dc, 1 dc in next*, ** repeat till end, sl st to top of 1^st dc (36 dc),

Rd 4: You have to do 7 increases in this round- try to spread them evenly- ch 2, 2 dc in 1^st dc, 1 dc in next dc twice- repeat as needed to add a total of 7 dc, sl st to top of 1^st dc (43 dc),

Rd 5-10: ch 2, 1 dc in each dc, l st to top of 1^st dc (43 dc),

Rd 11: switch back to sz K hook, ch 1, 1 sc in each dc, sl st to 1^st sc. Fasten off, leave a 3” tail and weave in.

This will make a standard men's/ women's/ teen 20-22" head circumference size hat. I have several listed (also in team colors!!) in my Ebay store here, and also in My Etsy store!

Please leave me a comment if you try it out!!

Crochet Lariat necklace- FREE PATTERN!!

I crocheted a couple of Rose Lariat Necklaces, with a detachable rose brooch, listed here and here, inspired by a photo from http://pinkrosecrochet.blogspot.com/.

Since they did not provide a pattern, and I foresee myself making more of these, I decided to write down what I did to make my first one. And then, of course, I decided to share the goodness with the crafty interwebs! So here you go!

NECKLACE COLLAR

Ch 6, sc in 2^nd ch from hook, hdc in next ch, 2 dc in next 2 ch, sc in last (leaf made),

Ch 130, sc in 31^st ch from hook, ch 8, skip 8 st, sc in 9^th one ( repeat 9 more times),

Ch 25, sc in 2^nd ch from hook, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next 2 st, sc in next 20 sts (2^nd leaf made),

Ch 28, sc in 2^nd ch from hook, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next 2 st, sc in next 23 sts (3^rd leaf made),

Ch 28, sc in 2^nd ch from hook, hdc in next st, 2 dc in next 2 st, sc in next 23 sts (4^th leaf made),

Working back on the long part of the necklace on the “O”-shaped loops (shown below), we will be working sc-in to the loops, not individual ch.

5 Sc , ch3 picot, 5 sc in 1^st “O”, move to next “O” loop, repeat 5 sc, ch 3 picot, 5 sc, 9 more times,

44 sc in 30 ch end loop,

Working back on the other side of the  long part of the necklace on the “O”-shaped loops,

5 Sc , ch3 picot, 5 sc in 1^st “O”, move to next “O” loop, repeat 5 sc, ch 3 picot, 5 sc, 9 nore times, sl st into O-loop, fasten off, weave in the end.

I used a rose pattern (free one, of course) that I found online, but unfortunately did not pin, so I cannot share with you. 

If you do try out my pattern, I would love to hear from you, or you could even leave a comment with a link to your blog! As always, please keep in mind that I am not a professional crochet pattern writer, so if you do find mistakes, please just check with me, and I will try my best to help you out!!
If you would like to purchase one that I made, you can do so here! (Thank U :))

Wishing you all crafty times always!!

My first GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment to win a FIREWORKS mandala!

When the scrap yarn vase runneth over, time to make mandalas!!! And that's what I did. My pattern of choice being the "Fireworks" mandala by ZootyOwlcards!

I was on a roll, have made about 6-7 of them so far, and decided to have one of them be the prize for a giveaway! 

 Each mandala is fairly large, roughly 19" diameter, made with all acrylic yarns, ends securely weaved in :) I will be listing them on Ebay pretty soon. In case you don't win the giveaway, and still want one, swing by my store to snag one!

 This is the one you will win, leave a comment and I will contact the winner by email to get your mailing address. Rafflecopter will pick a winner randomly for me :) Giveaway is limited to USA residents only, since I do not wish to ship internationally! Good luck, and keep on crafting, World!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Finishing up my first year as an empty nester!!

I made it through my first year as an empty nester, and I have to say, it wasn’t as bad as it’s sometimes made out to be :) I sure had my fair share of trepidation before my younger one was about to leave, but I’m pleasantly surprised that I did not have too many days of melting into tears or feeling sadness. Here are some things I made an active effort to incorporate/ change during this past year…

1.     Grew my hair! After 15+ years of having “chicken feathers” 2” hair, I decided to let it grow because now I can actually have time to wash it, tie it, style it (??)….going great so far, but maybe one day, I will just get fed up and go back to chicken feathers. My older one was like “Mom, do you realize that this is the first time in our lives that you actually have longer hair than either of us!!”

2.     Started wearing dresses! I realized that I never took time to try on dresses, and just ended up wearing tops over capris all through the summer for so many years. That needed to change, and I’m glad that I’m trying out new things. My goal of sewing more for myself also helped contribute to this cause.

3.     Did more sewing for myself, and my daughters! Made 2 velvet dresses for myself this winter, and a fit-and-flare dress for my younger daughter, shared here. My new goal is to use up all the fabric I purchased at the LA Fashion District in April 2016 by December (which is when I go back to LA). You can see my haul video here!

4.     Attended more events at the Teachers Union, and participated in Teacher Forums. Got an article published!

5.     Went to my school’s Prom. I used to chaperone Prom all the time when it was part of the teacher contract, but 7 years ago, the Union negotiated to make it optional (and paid), and since then I never found time to go do it. So it was an empty nester goal, and now I feel that it might become an annual event!

6.     Became part of a knitting group, and attended a weekly session almost every week. I don’t knit, I normally crochet, and they’re OK with that. I might actually attend my first ever knitting/ crochet retreat with them Jan 2017!! Yay for that, since I might have to wait till I retire to attend one of the Crochet cruises, hosted by The Crochet Crowd (they are all scheduled during the school year).

7.     Went back to my Saturday yoga group.

8.     Cleaned out my kitchen pantry, and also my linen closet. Cleaning/ organizing is not my forte. /my kitchen pantry probs got claned out after 11 years (which when we moved into the house)….nuff said!

9.     Blogged fairly regularly (???)…questionable much?

And finishing up today's post with my latest completed project, a blanket with nice flower appliques sewn on :)

The pattern is a variation of this, and my blanket is listed for sale here!
Looking forward to summer vacation now!
Keep on crafting, world :)

Another sea theme blanket, and a refashion!

 Here are my new (and almost new) finishes. The sea theme blanket is made off of a picture I found on Pinterest- no pattern for the appliques, I just made them along by looking at the photo, plus I used a basic ripple blanket base. The blanket is listed here in my Ebay store RetirementFunned.

 My next project is a refashion, because!!! Refashioning is the thing to do!! So I had this sheer skirt from Christopher & Banks that I wore maybe once...Inspired by so much refashion on the Internets, I decided to use this brand new tank top (I would've never worn it), and join the two together to make a cute shift dress. Awesome!! Now, I have a wearable piece of clothing that I love! I wish I had taken the time to show you a picture of me wearing it, but you just have to take my word for it I guess. It looks great! And all it took was about 20 minutes!

Here's another cute thing to look at...Pinterest-inspired of course! My crochet goldfish!

I just winged the goldfish. Realized it was getting too big for my tiny jar, had to make the fins quickly, so yeah, the fins are not anatomically correct, but shh shhh, we won't tell the biology teachers that :D
Take care, world! Enjoy the warmer weather, if you are in a cold place like Minnesota (like me!), and keep on crafting!