The Crocheting Mom

Crocheting is a wonderful hobby.  It has come a long ways since my grandmother taught me the skill when I was 14.  It's not just about making afghans that adorn the back of the couch anymore.  There are so many reasons why I think that everyone should pick up the hobby.  I have 10 distinct reasons why I think YOU should crochet, if you don't already.  

Having a homemade business usually starts as a hobby.  Then you hear friends and family suggest you sell your items for money.  So you start up Facebook page and wait for the sales to roll in.  But they don't.  It takes a while to get your business to the point that it's successful.  There's only so much that family and friends will buy from you.  You'll need to get other customers.  One way to do that, is to start a blog.  Blogging is an excellent way to boost your business and here are the 5 main reasons why. 

I love my job.  Teaching is what I've always wanted to do. I feel so blessed I get to do what I love.  I don't usually have a lot of time during the holidays to make much, so these mini Christmas stockings are perfect for me.  I can make these in about 5-10 minutes each, so it's easy enough for me to make one for each of my students.  They get these and it makes them happy.  I think they really appreciate that I take the time that I take to make it for them.  I'm sure they like the candy I put in it too! 

You can't have a fully decorated house at Christmas without having those beautiful stockings hanging from the chimney.  I mean, it's in "The Night Before Christmas" after all.  "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care."  I really feel like crocheted stockings are more traditional.  They are the epitome of Christmas and can really spruce up your decor.  

I made a post a while ago about gift ideas for a crocheter.  You can find that  here .  For the original post, I polled many people in the crochet Facebook communities.  There were some great ideas that I, myself, would love to have.  This post, are ideas that I found that I think many crocheters would love to have as well.  Some are for fun, and some are to make crocheting just a bit easier.  I'm sure it's hard to buy for us crocheters.  We are VERY picky about which yarn we like, and everyone likes a different one!  We all have our favorite set of crochet hooks, and even our own favorite stitch.  I'm hoping that this post will make it easier for you to buy that special crocheting someone a gift that they'll love!

Anyone who knows me knows that Christmas is my favorite time of year!  It's just such a great time where everyone is in a good mood, even if they are a little stressed!  It's full of joy, happy music, generosity, and corny, but amazing Christmas movies.  What else could you want? 

When you make an item, usually you need to have that PERFECT border to finish it off.  When people in the crochet world hear the word border, many of them would think of just blankets.  But there are so many projects out there that could use these amazing borders, besides just blankets. 

You never know when you're going to need an applique.  When you going to need to add something to make you're project perfect.  Sometimes, when you are "finished", your project doesn't seem complete.  Maybe it seems a little boring.  Adding an applique adds so much more to your item.  It adds more personality and color.  It gives you're project that finished look.  Whether you need it for a blanket, a scarf, a hat, or the many other items you could need it for, having a list of great appliques is always handy.  And best yet, this list is of all FREE patterns!

My family has to deal with ALL my craziness.  I mean all of if it.  Between bouncing off ideas for school, and different suggestions for our family activities, they hear all my crazy ideas.  Not only that, they have to deal with my crochet craziness.  They listen to me talk about yarn, they put up with me writing about them from now and then on my blog, and they endure the many photo shoots I request of them for modeling and displaying my new products.   I wanted to make a post about how my children feel about what I do.  I sat down with each of them individually and asked them the same questions.  I have not changed what they've said.  I've always thought that children have the most pure minds.  They are brutally honest, and I love them for that!   ASHLEY (12) What do I do for my job? - You teach the young minds of 4th graders What is my favorite hobby? - Crocheting. What is your favorite thing that I ever crocheted for you? -...

I love when it starts to get colder, when the "ber" months are upon us (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovermBER, and DecemBER). It means that the holiday seasons are upon us and the cooler crisp air is coming.  The cold weather is great for warm accessories, and even better for crocheted items! This is the perfect time to start looking for scarf patterns.  Scarves can be the perfect accessory to your outfit, and keep you warm at the same time! 

I recently wrote a post about the newborn outfits and patterns I used for my son 5 years ago when he was a baby.  You can see that post here .  When I had my first child, I hadn't crocheted in 10 years, since I was 15, and then when I had my second child I had only recently retaught myself how to crochet.  Therefore, I only made photo prop outfits for my son.  I wish I had done it for my daughters, because there are so many cute outfits out there. There will be no more babies in my future, but I thought it would be fun to collect a list of cute outfits.  Hey, if I have any friends or family who want one, I'll have place to start myself!

Nothing beats FREE right?  I agree.  I'm a lover of a good deal, and you can't get any better deal then FREE.  So I have put together a list of the best Free Halloween patterns out there.  

There are people out there who LOVE Halloween.  I'm more of a Christmas girl myself, but I can see the appeal for Halloween.  When else do you get a chance to pretend to be something else.  When do you get to dress up and be completely out of the norm, without anyone batting (see what I did there?) an eye.  One thing I myself love about the Halloween season is that it's the start of the Holiday season!!!  There's nothing better than the "ber" months (September, October, November, and December).  They are full of fantastic weather, great holidays, schools, football, and just a great sense of togetherness.  

Mid summer we found out that we would be in fact going back to school in the Fall!  This greatly excited me.  I know it is a hot topic right now on whether or not we should be sending the kids back to school or if we should start the year with elearning.  I'm not sure if its the right thing to do or not, all I know, is I'm eager to get things back to normal.  I feel like at least trying to send the kids back, even if it's under different terms, at least we're going a step in the right direction.  We'll never know if we can go back to "normal" if we don't start somewhere, right?

  I have never done a sale like this before, so I wanted my dedicated readers to know about it!  I am selling all my patterns on Ravelry for one low price of $25!  All you need to do is enter all of my patterns into your cart, and use the code: allthepatterns. It will automatically update your cart to show the new price.  This deal will save you over $200.  

School is here!  And whether you are in person, or elearning, this time of year always gets me excited for the Fall. With the start of this glorious season, my children always start asking me about Halloween and discussing what they want to dress up as. I have been dreading having this conversation with them.  They LOVE Halloween.  They love going trick or treating with their friends.  My oldest loves being able to run around the neighborhood without the boring adults.  My littles love seeing all the costumes and seeing how much candy they can get.   This year, though, will be different.  The droves of people that come to the neighborhood will be slight, if any at all.  I'm not even sure if the town is going to officially allow Halloween.  Even if they do, I'm sure not many people are going to want to partake in it.  I know I don't want my children going from house to house, getting candy from the hands of people I don't know. ...

Crochet memes are always fun.  So fun that I'm doing a second post about them.  You can see my first post here .  There's really no explaining that needs to be done here.  If you enjoy crocheting, most likely you enjoy the memes about crocheting.  So, just sit back, sip your coffee, and enjoy!

In one of my previous posts, I talked to you about the blogging books that I had been reading.  After I read those, I wanted to switch gears a bit, and I picked up some books on teaching.  After a long haitus of being a stay at home mom, I am ready to get back into teaching again.  While it's been hard to find a full time teaching job, I'm excited to at least get into substituting in the district.  

Did you know that when you type in "Advance Crochet" on Etsy, there is a whole section of patterns that come up?  I sure didn't!  Some times, once you've learned all the basic stitches, have learned to even create your own patterns, and are slightly bored with the same old stitches, you just really want to challenge yourself.  This was how I was feeling so I went searching on Etsy for some fun projects! 

I miss doing craft fairs.  I mean I REALLY miss them.  Luckily, I did many of them when I was just starting out, and when I was making my business into what it is today.  Craft fairs are hands down, one of the most important things to do when you are trying to make your crochet business succeed.  You can learn so much from something that seems so simple.  And if your not looking for these small clues, you may miss them.  So I have compiled the top 5 reasons that you should have a craft fair, and what you should be paying attention to when you do.                                                                                                     

I could talk about craft fairs all day long.  They are so much fun and I would recommend them to anyone who sells things that they make. When I was doing craft fairs, I would look forward to them for months.  I mean, how could you not when they are your most profitable days and you're out in your community talking to people.  Usually when your talking to the community on these days, they are telling you how talented you are and how amazing it is what you do.  How could you not like hearing that for a whole day?? 

I've said it before, COVID ruined our summer plans!  We had plans to vacation back east to visit family.  We had the girls signed up for sport camps all through the summer.  And we had plans to throw in some day trips such as the pool, the Children's Museum, and the Zoo.  ALL of those plans were canceled.  All those fun summer days, were just a sad memory of what could have been.  Now my children can't seem to find ANYTHING to do but be on their electronics.   Well we had to put a stop to that! 

Going to craft fairs are important for your business.  There are many things that you learn from being out and about with potential customers.  Because of how important they are, you really need to make sure that you go about it the right way.  There are lots of tips and tricks I've learned about setting up for the perfect day at a craft fair.  If you follow these, then I am sure you will be successful. 

My path to teaching was a long one.  Most of the time, from what I've seen, it's not super hard to get into the profession.  Often times, you can get offered a position at the school where you student teach, or at least get a recommendation from your principal to a school in the same district.  What happens when you're moving around though?  My husband was in the military, so I wasn't in one place for long during these important years.  

My husband and I have been married 15 years on July 26th 2020.   15 years!!  To some, that may seem like a short time, but to us, we're proud of that number.  15 years later and we are blessed with 3 amazing children ages 12, 8 and 5.  I want to celebrate this milestone with everyone!  Therefore, I am offering 50% off all my patterns from July 21st-July31st.  The code for this is:  HAPPYANNIVERSARY Here is my Ravelry Store:   https://www.ravelry.com/designers/the-crocheting-mom

My daughters both have June birthdays, and this year they turned 12 and 8!  Where has the time gone?  With everything going up in flames this year, and everything closing, we had to cancel our summer trip back to Rhode Island.  We can't do many of the fun things we would've done such as birthday parties, The Children's Museum , the Indianapolis Zoo, or even the public pools.  We wanted to get the girls something that would get them outside.  We wanted it to be exciting for them and something that (GASP) they could do together! 

We all love crocheting, and we all love yarn.  We love looking at yarn, feeling yarn, daydreaming about yarn, and most importantly trying to figure out how to get MORE yarn!  Crocheting wouldn't be crocheting without yarn.  So it is absolutely essential.  Yarn can get pricey though. If you're not careful, you can accidentally spend your whole grocery budget on yarn.  OOPS!!  I have compiled the best ways to get your yarn cheaper.  Cheaper yarn, if you sell your crochet items, means a bigger profit.  So read this list carefully and try out some of these ideas! 

We are a very competitive family.  We play at lot of games in our household, whether it's card games, board games, mind games or physical sport games.  Playing games as a family is fun, and I think it brings us together.  When we're playing games, we're not locked into electronics, doing our own thing away from the rest of the family.  When we're playing games, we're all together, using our mind, being creative and having fun being with each other.  Games are fun, and are a great family activity. 

As my kids get older, I worry about them actually wanting to have crocheted items.  When it comes to school items, the ones that I usually see are ones that aren't really useful for kids these days.  I have seen some great ones though, and wanted to put them all together in a post. 

I love doing craft fairs.  It's so fun for an artist to actually be out and interacting with her future customers.  Being able to talk with them, and see which items they gravitate towards is so useful in my business.  I can see, and hear, first hand, their thoughts on different products.

This is my third, and most likely last, installment of ice pop holders.  I say that, but if my kids ask me to make another animal or item, I could probably be persuaded!  I have made a unicorn and mermaid for my younger daughter, a dino and giraffe for my son, and finally I made a basketball and "wolf" for my oldest daughter.  I put wolf into quotes because that is what I intended to make.  When I finished, everyone agreed it looked more like a donkey than anything!  LOL.  I debated on whether or not to redo it for the sake of this post, but I thought otherwise.  Even people like me, who love to make patterns, make mistakes.  I wanted to show that even mistakes could be a little happy accident!  It can help you create new things!  I try to embrace the mistakes and learn from them.  Now if I ever wanted to make a donkey, I have a good starting point!

A long time ago, I made my daughter a wall hanging name plate.  Problem is, she used to be 5/6 and still into girly colors.  The name plate was pink and purple and that is definitely not her style anymore.  She wanted a new one, for her new room, that was red, black and gray. 

I'm a mom, and I desperately want/need to work out.  I say want, but the need part of that is much stronger.  If I "wanted" to work out, I would.  I wouldn't complain, or find excuses, I'd just do it.  Well no time like the present right?  Working from home, kids are getting a little older, slightly more time on my hands.  This is THE PERFECT time to start up again!  Right?!?  

I'm an elementary teacher and it's what I love to do.  I'm so happy that I chose this profession, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else.  I used to substitute a lot and I would often get put in the younger grades.  One of my favorite books to read, was the "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" series.  They are fun books that all students love.  Because of my love for these books, I have written a few different parodies: 

When my son was just about 10 days old, we had an amazing photo shoot done at our house by our friend and our children's babysitter.  Before he was born, though, I scoured the internet for the perfect photo props for him.  I hadn't done this with my girls, and I'm pretty bummed about it.  I would have loved to make a variety of girl photo outfits for them.  At least I was able to do it for my son though!                       

Crocheting is life, am I right?  Well, it was for me before I became a teacher a few years ago.  In between spending time with my family, taking care of my house, and trying to still be social with others, I crocheted.  Crocheting for me though, wasn't JUST crocheting.  Crocheting included perusing Pinterest for new ideas, creating patterns , taking pictures, doing edits, writing a blog, taking care of all my social media sites and more!  It kept me BUSY.  And I loved it.  

This is the second part in my 3 part series about updating my basic Freeze Pop Holders.  If you haven't heard of them yet, they are toddler (and adult) hand savers.  Holding those freeze pops are so cold on those little hands.  These freeze pop holders are the perfect solution to that.  My children love them, and have used the same 6 or so for 2 years now.  Two years later and they are still in great shape.  My kids wanted some new ones though, so that when their friends come over, there were more color options, and enough, for everyone.                                                                                                  

A couple of years ago I had designed, and published for free, a pattern for a basic Freeze Ice Pop Holder.  It's simple, yet super useful.  My kids NEVER eat an ice pop with out one now.  It keeps their little hands from getting too cold.  I probably made 6 or so for my own kids, and we still have most of them.  The only reason we "lost" a few was because they accidentally get thrown away, or left outside. I wanted to make some new updated ones, so I decided to make some that fit their personalities and were their favorite things/animals.  First up, my son.  He's all boy through and through and he loves many things.  I decided to make him Dinos (which he told me later that I picked the wrong colors) and giraffes (one of his favorite animals).

COVID-19 has really giving us a lot of time that we were not expecting.  I'm so used to only being able to sit down and relax for maybe 45 minutes a day.  My days are usually filled with teaching and then driving my kids around to whichever activity they had that night.  It's such strange concept that we "HAVE" to stay home.  I mean seriously, I would often have to fill my gas tank up twice a week!  I filled up my tank 5 and a half weeks ago and I JUST filled it up this morning!  That's crazy!! Anyways, I've had a lot more time on my hand to spend with my children, husband, work on the house, and of course, crochet!  Soooo..what am I crocheting??

It is now May and Mother's day it just a week away.  Have no fear though!  I've found the perfect projects for you to make your Mom!  Being a mom myself, homemade gifts from your babies, no matter how old, are always okay in my book.  It shows that you are actually taking the time to think about her, and not just buying whatever you see on the store shelves.  It is made with love.  Most of these do not take too long so you still have plenty of time!

Wow , time flies when your busy! I can't believe its been 2 years since I've written on my blog.  Since I've rambled about my thoughts.  Since I've shared my love of crocheting.  But it happened.  I lost touch with the art of expressing my thoughts through the internet.  I'm back though, partially thanks to this quarantine, partially thanks to work slowing down, and partially thanks to me missing this.  I have lots of ideas and thoughts I want to share with all of you.  I'm excited to hop back in to the world of typing and blogging! So, where have I been for these past two years you ask?  I've been teaching, becoming a chauffeur for my kids, handling the house chores, and just being as present as possible for my husband and my children.