Epic Fail

You know those moments when you just sit back and accept failure. Sigh, well I have been having a lot of those lately in my pattern making. I have never been more frustrated in my whole career. It has been all I can do to keep from screaming, burning all my yarn and melting down my crochet hooks for the mere amusement of it all.

If you can't tell I have been in a rather (pardon my language) pissy mood.

I blame my ridiculous idea of "trying something different". It sounds great on paper, but once you begin it is a frustrating, bumpy ride that I was just not ready for. As my husband would put it "I wore roller skates to an ice rink." I just was not prepared.

To fill you in even further:

So my brilliant idea was to try to design diaper covers (they look easy enough). I have SO many GREAT ideas for different designs that I just had to start on them! (think coordinating with my hats!)

So I got my hook, my yarn, and my notebook and started away! I thought I was doing well, I had some measurements and some idea of how to start the pattern.

I probably got about 1/3 of the way through and decided I had made this WAY too big. (we are talking about 4 sizes too big!)

So I went with it. Changed the size in my mind, then it ended up being too small. My measurements were off, and the thing looks distorted, not what I had in mind at ALL.

Grrr... I have been tweaking and restitching, and unraveling for about a week and I am still no where near the outcome I was looking for.

So what to do now?

Start over, and I mean OVER. I am throwing everything away, all my (bad) covers so far, and the so called pattern I have created that does not work AT ALL!

Ahh... that feels better.

I am sure many of you have felt this way before, something that seems like a wonderful, gorgeous idea in your head, doesn't come out just right.

What did you do?

Custom Color Giraffe Hat

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner! For about as long as I have been doing Giraffe hats (over a year can you believe it!) I have been doing pink ones for friends of mine who really wanted something more feminine for their expecting baby girls. I had never thought about putting pink giraffe hats in my shop until a friend of mine nearly insisted!

She was so insistent that I was convinced that if she wanted them so did others! Finally after I received a professional photo of one of my pink giraffe hats I finally listed them!

HERE IS THE LINK

Not only can you buy a pink giraffe hat, but you can buy one of any color you would like! All my colors are listed and you just pick 2 of your favorites!

Check it out!

What is color would your giraffe hat be?

NKS Photography Contest

Remember those super cute photos I got from a friend of mine?

If you don't let me remind you.

Well she (NKS Photography) is giving away a Photo session for your child age 1-12, and I am tagging along.

In honor of her awesome contest I decided to add a hat to the winnings. The winner will get to choose any hat from my shop (up to 4o dollar value) for free! You can't beat that!

Check out her facebook page and enter in the contest HERE!

Pattern Giveaway Time

It is that time of year again. Giveaway time! I took a poll on my facebook fan site and you all decided that you wanted...

Patterns!!!

I am giving away 1 of my original crochet patterns to 5 lucky winners!

Here are some of the patterns I have available:

Think of all the hats you could make with one of these patterns! Winner will get to choose their free pattern from any pattern available in my shop!

Alright Now the details:

Giveaway starts NOW (April 6, 2011) and ends April 30th, 2011.

I will announce the winners no later than 1 week after the end of the giveaway. I will contact the winners and get their choice of pattern. The winner will have 1 week to get back to me or I will choose another winner and so on.

To enter:

All methods give you one entry.

1. Visit my shop and choose your favorite pattern. Comment on this post telling me which pattern you like. (do this only once)
2. Follow my facebook fan page and comment on at least one facebook post. Comment on this post telling me you did this. (do this once)
3. Start following my Twitter. If you already follow be sure to leave a comment telling me so. (do this once)
4. Tweet this:

@craftytortosie join the giveaway and win. http://thecraftytortose.blogspot.com #contest #giveaway #free

You can tweet as many times as you want as long as it is the above phrase!

Good Luck everyone!

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 on Earth to qualify for this contest.
Prize will be emailed to the email address received after contacting the winner/winners. I am not responsible for prizes not received due to internet or computer 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.