Javanese Necklace

Meet my little friend - he's from Indonesia. More specifically, he's a handcrafted Javanese glass face pendant/bead made in Java, Indonesia. I made a necklace of him and a whole bunch of his little buddies for my Etsy shop. :-) You can find him here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19097656

There are some other views of him, but he's a bit difficult to take photograph. Because he's made of glass, I have to be really careful with the flash because the little bit of shine he has tends to give off a glare. I've also learned that it's really hard to photograph red! It could be because I'm not a very good photographer or I can use a new camera (or both) but it's taken me longer to photograph this little dude than it did for all of my bead crochet bracelets. :-) Well, once I start getting some cash flow I may have to invest into better photography equipment so I don't have to spend so much time on it. :-)

Please take a look at my etsy shop! I've updated a bunch of bracelets to show international shipping (now to Canada and the UK) and updated a lot of pictures. I've kept most of the older pictures because they show a little bit of detail that is lost in the newer ones... but you can definitely see the improvement! At least I see it.... :-) :-) But I know that there is way more that I can do to make them better. :-)

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year and best wishes for 2009. :-)

Take care,
Pinka

Twas the Night Before Christmas

...and all through the house we had wrapping paper everywhere! I waited until the very last day to wrap presents... and thanks to my Bunny for helping get them all in paper. :-) :-) I'm not one of those fancy present wrappers either so it didn't take as long as a person would normally spend on a present. :-)

My parent's are coming over with my son - thankfully they were able to take him for the afternoon so we could get everything picked up and cleaned. :-) :-) I just have to get Bunny's presents in paper and I'll be mostly done! :-) :-) No, really, I'm not done yet! I never get presents mailed on time for Christmas and still need to finish the presents for my best friend and her family and the in-laws.

With my poor Bunny in puffy cheeks from getting her wisdom teeth yanked out yesterday, it's going to be a nice and quiet Christmas for us. I'd feel really bad if I bake a turkey with her not being able to eat it, so we just went a little more crazy on the presents instead. :-) :-) So even if we decided to have turkey we'd only be able to afford turkey sandwiches! :-) :-) :-) My Bunny is worth it though. :-)

So, since I'm on the topic of presents, I do have a little present for all of you. A free pattern! :-) :-) :-) It's called my Scrap Happy Purse that I designed last year. I never did anything with it so I decided to give it to you all. :-) I'd love to see pictures of your finished projects so please remember where you got the pattern from, okay? :-)




Scrap Happy Small Purse
By Veronica “Pinka” Peck

Skill Level: Easy

Finished Size: 8” tall

Gauge: 14 sts/ 8 rows = 4” in dc

Materials:
At least 10 yards of various WW yarns (one color should have at least 40 yards). Will need enough to make base plus at least 16 rows
3 yards of a super bulky yarn that compliments colors
1 CD
G Crochet hook (or size needed to obtain gauge)
Tapestry needle

Base:

Rnd 1: With 40 yard color, ch 4, 11 dc in 4th ch from hook. Join with ss (12 dc)
Rnd 2: Ch 3, dc in same st, (2 dc in each st) around. Ss in 3rd of beg ch. (24 dc)
Rnd 3: Ch 3, 2 dc in next st, (dc in next st, 2 dc in next st) around. Ss in 3rd of beg ch. (36 dc)
Rnd 4: Ch 3, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, (dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Ss in 3rd of beg ch. (48 dc)

End yarn and weave in ends. Repeat for 2nd side but do not weave in ends.

Joining base to CD:

Using yarn from center, sew center of each base together through the hold in the CD with wrong sides facing the CD. Once the center feels stable, weave in ends.

Using yarn from 2nd base, sc both side of base together and around CD. Join round and change color.

Rnd 5: Dc in each st around. Ss in 3rd of beg ch. (48 dc)

Repeat rnd 5 and change colors at the end of each round to complete 16 dc rounds. If a taller purse is desired, keep repeating rounds but more yarn will be needed. Each round uses approximately 10 yards of ww yarn.

Weave in ends as you go to keep inside clean (and not have to do it all at the end).

Cut three strands of super bulky yarn, each approximately 1 yard each. Holding together thread them through top round either going through ever other dc or every 2 dc. Tie ends together in decorative knot.

Copywrite 2007. For personal use only please.

Please enjoy and if you find something wrong or confusing, please email me! :-) :-) Here is the best email to use: pinka_m@yahoo.com

Happy Holidays!
Pinka
http://pinkap.etsy.com

Twitter

Okay, I feel so useless... I used to consider myself pretty good at different stuff on the computer.... I used to program in my past life! (as well as be an accountant on the side) But now with all of these pages like facebook, twitter, myspace... I can't figure any of them out!

I just joined Twitter (https://twitter.com/home) and I can't figure out how to find, add or have anyone follow me. If I don't have their email then I can't find them. I'm looking for other people that like bead crochet like me... so how do I find them? I started following a few people, but how do I get people to follow me? I just can't figure this stuff out. I think I'm getting too old for this stuff... it's sad that I need to get my 18 year old to fix my cell phone for me because I still haven't figured the darn thing out.

Am I really getting that stupid? I know that I'd rather do the dishes than spend 15 minutes on the computer (well, when the kitchen gets really bad) and sometimes I have no choice because the 4 year old kind of demands that I feed him every once in a while. :-) :-) So, how do I figure this stuff out without making my teenage feel like she wants to choke me for being so dense? Is there anyone out there willing to give me a brief tutorial? :-) :-)

Pinka
pinkap.etsy.com

My Etsy Shop

There! It worked! The button above is going to take you to my shop on Etsy! :-) :-) I've been learning a whole bunch on what it takes to get my shop noticed... and this was one of the things that I wanted to play with. Even though I don't have a 'following' on this blog, it's a good way to figure things out and play. :-)

I have 15 bracelets for sale right now, about 10 more to photo and post and have a necklace in the works. I have one necklace that I'm very tempted to put up for sale but I love it so much that I'm not sure if I should keep it instead. :-)



What made me fall in love with the necklace is the pendant... isn't it beautiful? If I do put it up for sale would someone really want to purchase this for $60? There is no way that I'd sell it for less - there was way too much work in there! It probably took about 3 hours just to string all of the beads - which is in a pattern - then another hour or two to crochet it. The pendant was not cheap, and even though I used up a lot of beads that I had purchased years ago, I know that they were not cheap. This necklace is made with size 11 beads! So it took lots and lots of stitches going around to make this. Hmm, I think I'm talking myself out of that $60 price tag - I think with all that I've put into it that I may be underpricing it. Well, I'll just have to think about it more... unless there is someone out there that is actually reading this and has an opinion. :-) :-)

Take care,
Pinka

After a long absense....

I'm finally back! I hope for a longer while than last time too. After suffering through the summer with not being able to do anything, I think I've finally found a way to knit or crochet without the same agony that I usually suffer. I've been working with bead crochet lately and I took some pictures today... so here they are to make their debut. :-)

This is only a small portion of what I've been making in the past couple of months, too. :-) :-) I've also made a few necklaces that I haven't photographed yet and even learned of a new technique that I found quite interesting. I'll have to post the story on how I found out about that when I post the pictures. :-)

So that's it for now... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my arm will hold up and I can post a little more often with some exciting new projects. :-)

Take care,

Pinka

Okay, so here it is! The top on the intended wearer. :-) This is my friend Maxine... and now that I see this on her there are lots of notes that I have to make for the next time I make a custom top. :-) :-) To begin with, the sleeves are way too long. They may work just fine on a super model - because they're all like 11 feet tall, but on us shorter ladies, we need much smaller sleeves to give it that 't-shirt' type of feel. :-)

The next note I'm making is the v-neck cut. I used a design software that used these dimensions for the cut and even though I was not totally sure of it on paper, I went ahead with it since I was totally doubting myself anyway. Now I know that I should have followed my instinct and made it much higher - by the looks if it, a good 6 inches higher! :-) :-)

The last note on this... give it to someone else to crochet. I'm afraid that this is my final adult size garment that I'll be able to make. As much as I enjoyed making it, my hands were in just too much pain to work on it as much as I wanted. Since I wanted to make this and send it to Maxine so much, I forced myself to work with the pain - and my gauge loosened up too much. So, the front (when I was in the most pain) drapes lower than the back, and it also ended up being a bit wider. Not my best work, I should have just calculated, wrote and giving it to someone with good hands to make. I can still work on the smaller projects which makes this difficult situation much more bearable and less depressing. I don't have to give up crocheting or knitting all together so I'm still happy. :-) :-) I have plenty of friends that would be willing to give me a hand for those larger projects so I'm not too worried. :-)

So, on that note, I better go rest the hands for a bit before picking up the crochet hooks again. I'm working on a sweater pattern for a crochet-along that I've been asked to host and I'm totally excited. I'm making a small version of the sweater so I can hammer out the pattern details then will ask for one of my dear friends to help with the crocheting. :-) I don't want to get into too much detail or show any pics - even though I'm just dying to - but there are quite a few super talented crocheters out there that can take one looks at my little design and crank out a pattern and garment in a week. I know that the competition is fierce out there, but I can't go any faster than this so I can only hope that nothing like my little sweater turns out somewhere else in a few weeks. :-)

Take care,
Pinka

All Done!

I finally finished!!! And here it is - all done. Now the person that this is going to has more shoulder than I do so it should fit her a lot better. But I have to tell you that I love the way this top feels!!! I didn't really want to take it off. I'll have to eventually make myself a top out of Bamboo one of these days. :-)

I have a few other pictures... the front completed, the back completed and the sleeves. I also took pics of the assembly process... you can actually see that I pinned the pieces before crocheting them together! :-)

I'm not sure if you can see the pins, but I pinned the front and back together first, then crocheted them together. I then took each sleeve and pinned them in place making sure that one didn't hang differently from the other. It took a bit more patience, but I didn't have to rip anything out afterwards. :-)

I was a little dissapointed with myself because I really pushed myself to get this done - and pushed myself beyond my limiatations. I should have taken an extra week of two and not tortured my arm but instead I ended up with a fron that had a bit of a wider gauge than I had anticipated. So I had an extra 4 inches on the front. I just hope that the person that I'm giving this to can find those little clip thingies that can be clipped to the back to reduce the width those few inches. I have to say though, that the looser gauge felt even better than my original gauge. :-) I may have to do the loosy goosy gauge for my own top if and when I get around to it. :-)

I'm off to take more pics of some of my other projects... including some natural dyeing from I class I took last weekend! :-)

Take care,

Pinka

My latest work in progress... I'm making a top for my friend out of South West Trading Company's Bamboo in the color called Sahara.
I have to tell you that I just love the drape that I got for this top! This project is being crocheted instead of knitted and it still feels so good... and best of all sexy! :-) I'd love to personally feel this fabric against my skin - it's soft with a cool touch to it and just feels so good. You understand if you've ever worked with SWTC's Bamboo before. :-)
Pictured is the back of the top with the front kind of scrumpled up at the left below the skein. I can't wait to finish this and hear how well my friend likes it. The color is awesome, but just not a "Pinka" favorite. I love bright colors and never seem to get bored... but for some reason I'm having a little trouble picking this up to finish it - as much as I want to get it completed. The colors are just not exciting for me so I find myself getting a little bored at times. So, in the mean time, I'm playing with other yarns and swatching for my next design and project. :-)
So, the big question is... will I be able to get this completed for next week? I sure hope so!!!! :-) Don't have too much more to go and the back always seems to be the largest piece so the rest should go pretty quickly. :-)

Take care,
Pinka

Lookie! Lookie!

Look at my newest sock! :-) I know that you can't see much in this tiny picture, but the good thing is that this pattern is available for free at www.soysilk.com! :-) Just click on patterns from the top menu, then free patterns will be available as an option on your left side. :-)
This sock is a crochet sock - only the 2nd in the South West Trading sock collection, and has a really cute 4 leaf clover edging. I know it's after St. Patricks day, but I was on vacation last week and didn't have access to the computer. :-) :-) Yeah, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. :-) :-)

I really was on vacation last week - went to visit friends and family in CA and had a great time. My son learned how to play miniature golf and had to play every day we were there. He was a pretty good student too - he got a hold in one in his first game. :-)

Okay, I didn't mean for this blog to be about my vacation so I'll keep ya hanging there. :-) What I did want to talk about was needing to sprout more hands! :-) I'm in desperate need for test knitters and crocheters! I actually need more crocheters than knitters, but anyone who can do both would be awesome. I've hand picked a few people close to me to help me already, but a few cannot work with wool unfortunately, or do not work with sock weight yarn. So I have a call out for at least a couple more crocheters to help me with my latest project. Anyone interested? :-)

I have about 5 projects that I've swatched up and am in the process of writing and have yarn lined up for about 15 more projects. I just don't have enough hands to get all of the projects done. :-) That's a good thing, eh? My brain is working way faster than the fingers - but then, it usually does. I hope to get some project pictures up here pretty soon before they get published so you all can take a peek. :-) Of course my photography skills are really bad so I know my pictures will not look as good as the professional ones that are used for publication. :-)

I'm looking forward to have my kids start school again next week. Having them home as been wonderful but painful at the same time. Trying to keep them occupied while I try to 'work' has been a challenge... but they're just so gosh darn cute I can't help enjoy being with them. I it will be nice to get something done. :-)

Okay... I'm going to stop my incoherent babbling and try to get something done.

Pinka

Grumble, grumble

Yes, I'm not happy right now. Yeah, I'm still my happy go lucky self, but I just read a really interesting post that I totally agree with but need to disagree with at the same time. It's about teaching and how larger venues disrespect their teachers by paying them so little - so that it's actually costing the teacher to teach there. Yes, I totally agree here because it's true - I've experienced it first hand. ...and yes, I did teach a few years ago before my son was born - and at a pretty large show. I'm not that much of a nobody in the crochet world. :-)

The two years that I taught were dreams come true to me... this is where I start getting to the disagreeing part... I was teaching what I love to do - and teaching at a national conference. Sure, it was not covering all of the airfare, barely covered the hotel and meals, but it still helped cut down the cost than if I would have gone there without teaching. I enjoy teaching so much that many times I teach for free... I know I'm going to be blasted for saying that, but that's how I am. I get distracted with other stuff going on in my household to pump out dozens and dozens of designs each month, so I haven't had enough to submit to magazines, books or anything like that. When I do manage to get a little design together, I almost give it away to the yarn company that provided me the yarn. :-) I know that if I just sit down and get all of my ideas into designs I know that I can make a nice little business going here... and believe me, I have LOTS of ideas that are pretty unique. I wish I could show you my ideas books - filled with swatches, notes, stitch instructions and such. I was able to fill 4 of these notebooks with ideas when my son was a newborn. :-)

So, going back to the national conferences...

Unfortunately I got turned down for all 7 of my class proposals for this summers conference - it irritates me a bit because when I saw the list of classes that were accepted, there were a few that I personally would have taught someone to do for free - it's too simple and basic. But maybe that's what they wanted? Who knows... all I know is that I feel rejected. But even still, I'm sad because it will be yet another year that I will not be able to see some of my friends that I've made at those shows. Is being short paid as a teacher worth this? For me it is!!! :-) I'm wondering if anyone is going to remember who I am when I finally get to go to one of these conferences again. That would just kill me... "Pinka who?"

The blog that I read is by a very well known designer and teacher who can pretty much name her price and people will pay. She's a very talented woman and I can only wish to get the same kind of luck that she's had in the designing and teaching world. I respect her very much and would love to meet her one day. But she was talking about how she can make more money by teaching at smaller yarn shops and can get her bills paid. All I can say about that is WOW! I wish I could make enough to support my yarn habit! :-) If I tried to teach at any of the local yarn shops (and I don't have many out here), they'd just laugh me out of the shop. And this is that they know me! Can you imagine if I tried to approach any other shop?!?!?! I'd be a joke to them or they'd accuse me of prank calling. :-) :-)

Am I bitter about this? Nah... not that much. I like being a stay at home mom right now and look forward to working my way up to being able to get many of my crazy ideas in my little books 'out there' for other to see. :-) And if I ever become a 'known designer', I think I may still take the loss to go to one of these larger conferences because unlike teaching at the smaller yarn shops, these larger ones are good for networking - yeah, I've met many people at past conferences that I now consider friends... and I'm pretty sure that if I asked them for help in getting my designs published or teaching, I'm sure that they would be happy to help. I just haven't done that yet because I'm happy right now being a nobody. :-) :-) :-) I live in a world filled with Lego's, Thomas the Train, Spider-man and Sesame Street - and I wouldn't want to change any of that. :-) :-) :-)

Your 'nobody but happy' friend,

Pinka