Stitch Witch

The other day I mentioned something about doing some research on the benefits of joining the ranks of Etsy. After much thought and consideration, I have decided that I do, indeed, want to start up my own Etsy store, and also that I am going to document the trials and tribulations and unexpected joys that come from this process!

I’m really kind of stoked about this venture, because it combines everything I love with the ability to make some potentially excellent income for my art.  Yarn-good.  Creativity-good.  Writing-good.  Money-good.  What’s not to love about this new project, I ask you? Phase 1 began yesterday, with my 2nd visit to Etsy.  I’ve read several online articles touting the joys and benefits of selling through this innovative site, as well as a write up about the original founder, in the recent issue of Inc. magazine.  I’m intrigued by young entrepreneurs and how they develop successful startups seemingly right out of the gate!  So yeah, I’m willing to give it a try!

I spent some time reading through the registration process, and the seller FAQ’s, just to get an idea of how to start formulating my store.   As with any new business venture, it’s imperative to give the following factors some much needed consideration:

• Effective and catchy business name
• What exactly am I going to offer?
• What is my overhead?
• How will I market my store?
• Pricing
• Customer service-policies and procedures

Those are just a few of the things that I need to sit down and take stock of…..but right now, my Chili is almost done, so I’ve gots to go start some grilled cheeses and feed the hungry masses before they take it upon themselves to delve into cannibalism or some other heinous feeding practice

I’m not sure in which direction Part 2 will go, but if you want to follow along with the creation and development of my soon-to-be-fabulous Etsy store, please make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed, or add me to your blog roll. Also, if you or someone you know if part of Etsy or if you have ideas, do not hesitate to contribute!  

Happy Sunday, Faithful Yarnies!

Truth be told, I owe my love of all things threadly to this beloved gem of crocheted wisdom.  Thread crochet work was one of the first variants that sparked my interest, and pretty much where I learned what to do.

 This wondrous publication served me well through all the issues that I was able to get my hands on!  But, alas, as the art of thread is waning, so too died off this magazine.  Now, the only way to get your hands on a copy is to hope, pray, and chant that someone is hoarding a collection somewhere and has decided to sell the prized possessions on eBay, or elsewhere online.

If you, too, were once a fan of Magic Crochet, here’s one such place that still has a few copies left: Crochet Doiles.com

eBay is quite a good resource for finding old publications that contain some of the better and more original patterns for thread, aka Filet, crochet.  Just hit up the site, and type “Crochet magazines” or “thread crochet” or “filet crochet” into the search engine.  If you’re just looking for patterns, and don’t really have a hankering for a highly collectible, frame-able work of art, then you can snag some pretty sweet deals!

In addition to all the tasty morsels of patterny delight, you can also get some EXCELLENT deals on threads and yarns, however, here is where you’ve gotta do your homework, and know your medium!  Ask questions, get proof of things like:

• dye lots
• actual colors
• damage or fading
• age and condition

If you’re buying 30 balls of thread for a large and engrossing project, you certainly don’t want to end up with water or smoke-damaged threads, or some that’s faded from sitting in a store window.  Also, when buying the colored threads, remember that the older yarns are definitely NOT as colorfast as today’s fibers!

See the royal blue thread in the midst of this pic?  I learned the hard way that the color likes to stay with the hooker and will embed itself in skin, nails, and even clothing, when working with it for long periods of time!  Today’s colored threads are pretty colorfast, and don’t tend to wear away like those of old, however, I wouldn’t wear white when working with them!

Stay tuned, faithful yarnies.  Tomorrow, I’m digging up some research on the makings of an Etsy venture.  We can all learn together!

Today, on this sunny, breezy fall afternoon, Every Witch Way brings you the ultimate resource for all things yarny and spectacular.  From eco-friendly and exotic fibers to luxurious merino wools and exquisite hand-painted strands, you’ll be hard-pressed to surf away from this site with an empty yarn bag! 

I bring you:  The Yarn Market

Enjoy!

In the world of Crochet!

Is it just me, or are these not creepy?

Brought to yarnies worldwide by our friends at Lion Brand Yarns, this is the latest ‘craft’ that you can create and enjoy with all your friends and fellow voters.

Here is where I veer off course!  Who decided, or better yet, who got paid to present these finger puppets of doom to the world?  I wanna know, because if someone can get paid some really good cash to invent and advertise this level of creepiness and pass it off as cute and playful, then I wanna sign up.  I shall create the world’s first Bin Laden and Hussein finger puppets.  Or, how about a Kim Jong-il finger puppet? Hitler, even!

I’m sorry, however, I truly believe that politics and yarn make for some most strange bedfellows, and never the twain should ever, ever meet!   My fiber art removes me from the ridiculous, depressing, and downtrodden world of politics and other assorted crap; therefore, why in the WORLD would I ever want to create FINGER PUPPETS from my beloved stash of yarn?  Why, I ask you?

Perhaps some will find me “unpatriotic” for my vehement loathing of this particular craft, and to them I say:  “Whatever wraps your yarn around your fingers”….Maybe black SUV’s with mirrored sunglass-bespectacled, suit wearing agents will pull up in front of my home, and I will have to don my tinfoil helmet once again, but you will never convince me that political finger puppeting is the craft of the future!

My fellow yarnies, we not only need change for the ‘middle class, we need change for the ‘yarn class’.

 PS:  Don’t forget to vote!  If you’re not sure where to go, read this.

and crochet too….

If you discover that freeforming isn’t your thing, you can still make use of all those remnants, and skeins of yarn that you bought (but can’t remember why)!  The Knit One, Save One campaign is part of the Save The Children organization and is dedicated to providing hats or caps to babies worldwide who are in need of the simplest elements in order to stay alive. 

Babies need warmth.  They just came out of an incubator with the ultimate warmth (their mother), and still need at least an inkling of that precious heat to thrive. We forget that the tools and baubles and trinkets that we are bombarded with on a daily basis are no where close to readily available in third-world countries.  I hate the term “third-world”, because quite frankly, we ALL live on this one planet…..and when do you ever hear anyone speak of a “second-world” country?  Seriously!   All ranting aside, you may seriously want to consider donating even just an hour of your time, and your scraps of yarn.  One cap is one cap, and it will cover one tiny little head.  

When you visit the Knit One, Save One page, you’ll have access to the Action Kit which gives you more information on where your caps will go, patterns for knitting and crochet, and other ways that you can participate in this life-saving program.  Give it some thought.  

Then go here.

Image Credit:  http://vhanna26.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/24/cable_baby_hats_finished.jpg

(sweet work, go check it out!)

Monday, October 20, 2008, Every Witch Way is utterly tickled to bring you Free-Form Crochet resources to explore. Creativity awaits!

Free Form Crochet

Milner Craft’s Free Form Knitting and Crochet

Minding my own business one day, browsing through the yarn department at Hobby Lobby, low and behold the most fascinating instruction manual SHOUTED at me from it’s wire cage.  Being a fan of art that runs the gamut from Abstract to Impressionist, I was thoroughly intrigued by the crocheted sweater that graced the cover of this manual.  There was no rhyme.  No reason.  Just utterly exquisite, shimmering swirls, paisleys, flowers and more, fashioned from metallic fibers galore!

What’s more, it wasn’t the gaudy chic-free melange of cheap, Super-Saver acrylics, it was a highly-educated form which clearly had taken hours upon days of thought to construct.  No, this was something worthy of a page in Vogue!  Worthy of an exhorbitant price tag, and yet easy enough for any mere mortal crocheting creature to create!

So what is this divine art form?  Free Form Crochet.  Furthermore, such a talent is possible within the realm of knitting, as well; however, I have yet to explore that possibility!

Free Form Crochet is something that can be done with a plan in mind or just on a whim.  It’s the ultimate of ‘green’ crocheting practices, as you can utilize every scrap of yarn you’ve ever held on to at the end of a loving project.  Limited only by the color wheel and your imagination, Free Form Crochet can set you free from the mundane day-to-day baby blanket blues, and open up new doors of yarnesque creativity!

This is so something that is cranking around in my fibery brain, and I’ve got designs coming out the ying yang, and a boatload of scraps to start with, so pay attention loyal yarnies, someday you may see what I come up with!  In the meantime, if you or someone you love does this particularly splendid type of artwork, please feel free to share, gloat, and provide some pictorial renderings of your works!

Image Credits: 

1.  http://www.maggiescrochet.com/bmz_cache/2/26196c2bb4e7f6cbdc5a2ce81ec3dd08.image.150×196.jpg

2.  http://whitneykrueger.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/16/picture4_2.jpg

3. http://www.jeneratoronline.com/AmatureCouturePics/Bjork.jpg 

If you itch to display your artistic bent to the world whenever hooking in public, I’ve got just the tool for you.  Hand-crafted, uniquely shaped and painted hooks and needles abound.  Swell to look at, even if you never leave  your living quarters!  Check this out!  

Exquisite Hand-crafted Crochet Hooks & More!

Today, I’m introducing a new feature.  Anytime you see my purple lil face, you’ll know I’ve got something highly educational-like, and utterly informative to show you.  Generally there’ll just be a link, and perhaps a small blurb about what you’ll be seeing.  And for your added pleasure, you won’t have to remember which post you saw such glorious information on, because all future Every Witch Way posts will be contained within the confines of the magnificent Every Witch Way page, which you can get to by clicking on the title on the top menu. 

Without further ADIEU, today, October 15, 2008, I bring you our very first Every Witch Way item.  Enjoy! 

How To Organize Your Yarn Stash

There’s just no way for me to put into words how Vogue, and Vogue Knitting magazines make me feel.  I’m the fly on the wall.  I’m the one you can walk right through, and I don’t make any kind of impact on too many people.  But when I look at the photography and art and design that leaps off the pages of these publications, it takes me to a different place, one where I don’t exist, and I’m just surrounded by the ebb and wonderous flow of fabrics and yarns. 

 So, my obsession with Vogue Knitting reached its peak last year, with the release of their 25th Anniversary edition, when mine eyes first laid sights on this picture:  

Never before had I beheld such an incredible delight for the color gray!   Oh My!  Thusly so enamored became I, that I went immediately to my nearest supplier, and picked up a ton of skeins in a similar shade (well not really, but when you need a fix, you take what’s there, right?).   I am head over heels for this sweater.  This picture, even.  The whole thing is just simply smashing, from the serpentine cabling to the deep pewtery hue and the ruffled skirt!!  Come on? There is just no perceivable way for anything to go wrong when looking at this photograph, and dreaming of being snuggled inside that luxurious grayness!     

If you’re feeling the same kind of vibe from this beloved work of art, you can pick up the pattern HERE