Knitting the Loom Way

I was so excited when a friend of mine showed me her Knitting Loom. The popular loom is Provocraft's Knifty Knitter.

I just could not believe that she could produce gorgeously knitted items without needles!

This was especially excited because I cannot knit for the life of me. I can get the basics, but ask me to increase or decrease a stitch or circular knit and I am at a loss!

Crochet has always come easier to me and most knitters are the opposite.

Well as soon as I tried out the loom she had I went out and bought myself a set!

I bought the set pictured above and immediately started thinking of all the patterns I could make with them!

I tried searching for Knitting loom patterns and found that there just are not that many out there. The ones that are out there I really did not feel like knitting up. I have already started a great cocoon pattern for baby and am super excited to get it up and (hopefully) free!

Anyone else have a loom set and just love it?

Newsletter Is Back!

Yes! Finally I will be able to bring back my newsletter! It will be much better than last time and will have better information and discounts!

Thanks to a new discovery that has helped me hone my skills and get rid of clutter I have been more focused than ever! This is great news for all my followers and customers. As some of you fellow business starters out there know, starting your business from scratch can be an exhausting and confusing task. I have been slowly working and figuring out what is needed and what I need to get rid of. I will be focusing on my blog, facebook and shop as well as only a few other sites that need attention.

All this mumbo jumbo really just means that you are looking toward a better and brighter future in The Crafty Tortoise world!

Newsletter will start as a once every few month venture until I get the hang of it, when it will hopefully become a once a month email.

So here is the link you will need to subscribe! Be the first to know about new items, discounts and information only revealed to subscribers!

SIGN UP NOW

New Designs Coming soon!

Sorry I have not posted for a while, but I have been busy.

I have been working on a number of new patterns for you crocheters out there! This is only a sneak peak though... I have a photo shoot today and will be so excited to show you photos as soon as I get them back!

Here are a few of my designs:

LION HAT

BUNNY HAT

BEAR HAT

I know my photography skills are sub par, but you get the idea! I am super excited to get these photographed by a pro and on her baby!

I am so excited to get these patterns finally made. They should be available at the end of this month. All will be 3 dollars just like all my other animal hat patterns.

These are not the end either! I have a sketch book riddled with hats that have yet to come to reality.

Blog Mention

I received a wonderful photo the other day from Stefanie. She is a photographer in Denver and takes the most beautiful photos! She purchased a pattern from me and sent me the photo she took with the hat!
Here it is:

She even mentioned me on her blog!

Go check out her site: www.myportfolionline.com

I just LOVED her photos and I know you will too! She crochets beautifully too!

Christmas Already?

Oh yes it is that time already. Time to get my holiday items out there! So far I just have some ornaments up... Hopefully by the end of the month I will have some great elf and santa hats ready to be purchased!

Check out what I have so far!

My new Monster

Some great creations start as something completely different. This little guy started as my attempt to make a snake hat. After much grrrrrs and urghs I accepted this little monster. I love him now! I cannot wait to see him on a little baby!

Some of the worst mistakes can turn into masterpieces. LOL

Key Fob Pattern

Key Fob Pattern

Measures about 4 inches when finished

H hook

Small amount of worsted yarn

1. chain 32
2. Skip 2 chains, Dc across
3. Fasten off leaving long tail

Fold over and sew together with long tail. Attach to key chain!

I love these! You can use up all those small bits of yarn leftover and they are great for Craft Fairs!

Enjoy!

Rag Rug Time

It is summer and the one thing I love about summer is color. Everything is so green and beautiful. It is so hard to be in a bad mood when the world is blossoming.

Another thing I love about summer is the time I have to crochet. I have just started to get into making rugs. My Doily Rug just sold and in honor of that I felt like I really had to replace it.

So I sat down and made some Rag yarn.

• Here is the tutorial to do so
• It is for a braided rug, but if you scroll down it tells you how to add fabric to create a long strand of yarn.

I made my rag rug yarn and here is what it looks like:I used a twin sheet to get enough yarn to crochet about 3/4 of the way through my rug.

• I would suggest to buy up a few sheets that coordinate. It is better to have too much than too little.

Crochet Rag Rug

Use S Hook.

1. make magic circle, hdc 8 into ring, join, ch 1.
2. 2 hdc in each stitch around, join, ch 1.
3. *2 hdc in next stitch, 1 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
4. *2 hdc in next stitch, 2 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
5. *2 hdc in next stitch, 3 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
6. *2 hdc in next stitch, 4 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
7. *2 hdc in next stitch, 5 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
8. *2 hdc in next stitch, 6 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.

• By now you should be seeing a pattern. You continue to increase until you get a rug the size you want.
• If your rug starts to get wavy unravel a row and skip to the next row (example: if on row 5 my rug starts to get wavy I would unravel and instead crochet row 6)
  

It is as easy as that! Enjoy your rug!

Facebook Page Giveaway!

This is my first (hopefully of many) Facebook Page Giveaway.

I am giving away a pair of my Fingerless Gloves in your choice of color (and obviously size)!

This giveaway starts now July 15th and ends July 31st.

To Enter:

1. Visit my facebook page and join/like it
   
2. Participate in any of the Discussions (one entry per Topic)

Head over and start participating! The more you participate the more your chances increase!
Winner will be announced on my Facebook Page on August 2nd.


Good Luck Everyone!

More than one comment on any one discussion will not count towards multiple entries, but is welcomed.
I am not responsible for unrecorded entries due to computer or internet problems.
More entries does not guarantee you will win, it only ups your chances. Winner/Winners will be chosen at random.
This giveaway is open to US and International addresses.
Prize will be mailed to the Postal Address received after contacting the winner/winners. I am not responsible for prizes not received due to postal problems.

New Hand Warmers

I have a great new product for Women in my shop. These hand warmers and beautiful and perfect for the fall and winter ahead! They fit wonderfully, and will soon be offered in varying sizes including children!

I love this eggplant color too. It looks awesome with my tweed coat (I love rich colors in the winter). I have been working on other colors as well and they will soon be up in my shop so keep your eye out!

Also I may even put up the pattern once I get it perfected!

What do you think? What colors would you like to see these in?

Consignment in Brooksville, IN

I have been super super busy this last week and I am so excited to tell everyone why. I was contacted late last week by Kimberly Meadows. She is a photographer who is opening a boutique/studio in Brookville, IN. Which is only about 2 hours away from my house meaning I could go and see my items in a store! (hopping up and down) Anyway, She contacted me and asked if I wanted to Consign at her store. Honestly I did not know what to do. I was so excited, but knew that I had to do this the correct way and research the heck out of consignment. Well, I did my homework and decided that this opportunity was right for me. I whipped out my crochet hook and worked away getting 10 hats done for the shop!

Some info about the shop. It is called Studio 714 and is at 714 E Main St, Brookville, IN 47012. Please if you are in the area stop by! The Grand opening is July 16th at 10am. At 5pm there will be a live fashion show and live music! If you are in the area you should totally stop by and take a look at her shop. Along with my items she also has jewelry, sculpture, cd's, art, and other great items made by local artisans!

Great News for Pattern Lovers

I really do have some great news for those of you who love my patterns! If you have been following you know that during the month of May I had all my patterns on sale. They were all just 2 dollars per pattern! That is cheaper than a gallon of gas! During this month I had over 40 pattern sales. That is more than one a day! This sale was such a success that I have decided to re price my patterns.

This new price is still lower than my usual 5 dollars a pattern, and with the addition of my Spring Child-Adult Size hat and my Baby Bee Hat that is some great news!

The new price is....... 3 dollars!

In progress is the pattern for a new Watermelon Hat!

Over 150 Sales

Let's Celebrate!

I have been selling like crazy... well it feels like crazy. I have over 150 sales (jumps for joy), and have been keeping over 60 listings in my shop.

I took a second to think about the things that I have been improving that I think have helped me achieve my goals:

1. I have kept over 50 listings in my shop and kept adding to them!
2. I had a pattern sale that was extremely successful (thank you all of you who participated)
3. I have been advertising on Project Wonderful consistently.
4. I have been continually renewing 4 random items a day.

I continue to try to improve as much as I can. I just bought my domain name: www.thecraftytortoise.com and I now have a photographer that is using models to take some fantastic photos of my items!

Technique Tip of the Day

Tip of the Day

This technique is for crocheters making a bowl or hat. It does not matter what hook or yarn you are using.

• When making a circle, increasing each round will create a flat circle that will just keep getting larger each round you increase.
• Stop increasing and just crochet around, 1 stitch in each stitch, to make a bowl or hat.
• There is no need to decrease.
  
• This technique will create a very smooth, gradual bowl like curve and is perfect for hats.

Use this technique to make your own hat or bowl without a pattern, or to create your own patterns!

New Pattern!

SPRING FLOWER HAT PDF PATTERN

You spoke and I listened. You wanted a great adult/child hat pattern and here it is!

For those of you who have drooled and gasped over my Spring Flower Hat there is good news! You can now crochet it yourself!

I just added my Spring Flower Hat to my wonderful patterns and for 3 dollars it is a great buy! You get the pattern for 3 different sizes (Child, Teen and Adult) and the pattern for the flower!

It is available on my etsy site, or via ravelry.com download.

Visit my ravelry.com site, or www.thecraftytortoise.com to get this new pattern!

Happy Spring!

LLC as easy as 1-2-3

Good morning everyone!

I have been reading a lot of information about owning and running your own business. One tip that is always recommended is getting your LLC. I hear it over and over again and was worried that it would be a really hard and scary thing to do. Well I finally really looked into it and decided to give it a try.
I found a online form through Indiana government sites. I filled it out and surprisingly it was not that confusing to fill out. Just my name, address, and some other info that I knew the answers too! It cost me right around 90 dollars. (I was looking into online companies that were going to charge me 200!)
I submitted the form and figured it would take a few days or weeks knowing government. To my surprise I was almost immediately emailed my confirmation!
I am now officially "The Crafty Tortoise LLC"

Oh... for those of you who don't know LLC means Limited Liability Company and is a must have for any company who sells items.
I urge anyone who can to get your LLC and become legal with me. It was so simple and easy. I wish I would have done it a long time ago!

If you live in Indiana here is a link for you! Click here to Register your Business!

My First Treasury!

I just made my first treasury using etsy.com. I absolutely love treasuries, but thought that I would never get to make one. That is until they introduced Treasury East! Now you can easily make your own treasury!

Here is the link to mine!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c051365c42b6d91317a5654/going-green

Make your own and post your link in a comment! Lets all make treasuries today!

Crochet Along: Finished!

Remember this project I started in April, well this should show you how tortoise like I really am sometimes.

So we were crocheting this great throw seen here below. I used a dark blue red heart yarn from my stash. Talk about stash busting! I used up 4 skeins with this bad boy, not to mention I had to open a 5th!



Alright..... So apparently I am not good at Crochet Alongs. This blanket took me a long time to do. Ok... well not exactly. It took me less time than I thought, I just beat around the bush and then crocheted it up in a week.

I have a horrible photo of it in the beginning stages:



And I have a lovely photo of what it looked like when I gave it to my Grandmother!


Overall I really liked this pattern. It was very easy to memorize and didn't take too long to finish. I think a better yarn would make it look WAY better, but I liked the way it turned out. It is definitely a small throw. I think it would even qualify as a baby blanket. It measured only 36 inches square when I finished it. I used an L hook and crocheted it VERY loosely. A larger hook would not be a bad idea for this project!

This was a great project to get those Post stitches from rusty to perfected!

Now I need to go work on the sweater I have been taking FOREVER to make! Have fun crocheting.

Giveaway Winner of a Hair Accessory

And the winner is....

Angel~A
Contact me at thecraftytortoise@gmail.com to collect your prize

Flower Hair Accessory Giveaway

I figured it is about time to have another giveaway! It has been a while since I have done one and I have some new items out.

I am giving away One Custom Flower Hair Accessory of Your Choice!

Here are some examples of some already in my shop!

Spring Flower Hair Barrette

Cream Ivory Flower Headband

Forest Flower Hair Barrette

These Flowers are just fantastic! I love them and they look great in your hair too! And if you win you could own one for free!

Alright now down to business!
This Giveaway starts May 13, 2010 and ends May 27, 2010. I will announce a winner within 1 week of the end date. I will contact the winner and have them decide on their custom flower hair accessory.

To Enter:
All methods give you 1 entry

1. Visit my shop and chose your favorite item. Comment to this post telling me what item you like. (only do this once)
   
2. Follow my Facebook Fan Page Comment back here telling me you became a fan (only do this once)
3. Start following my Twitter. If you already follow be sure to leave a comment telling me. (only do this once)
   
4. Tweet this:
   

@craftytortoise join the giveaway and win! http://thecraftytortoise.blogspot.com #contest #giveaway #blog #free

You can Tweet as many times as you want as long as it is the above phrase.


Good Luck Everyone!

More than one comment on any one post will not count towards multiple entries, but is welcomed. (only 1 entry per blog post)
I am not responsible for unrecorded entries due to computer or internet problems.
More entries does not guarantee you will win, it only ups your chances. Winner/Winners will be chosen at random.
Winner must live in the United States of America to qualify for this contest.
Prize will be mailed to the Postal Address received after contacting the winner/winners. I am not responsible for prizes not received due to postal problems.
If you wish you can add your email address in your comment to make it easier for me to contact you in the chance you win.
Following the Blog is also advised. This will keep you in the loop and show you my latest posts.