Bellydance zill covers

Many of my fellow dancers have been working on zills or finger cymbals, but the common complaint is the noise level at home - spouses/roommates/significant others, children, animals and neighbours sometimes need to be protected from the volume. So I started on a quest to make some covers for my shop- the first ones were lovely in gold or rainbow but they were made from cotton and it didn't take long for a corner to get worn out leaving a hole.

So I have switched to hemp, and these have proven very popular, especially thanks to a wonder dancer called Jordan who is from Vancouver but spent a year plus in Suhaila's school in California.

I made a couple in 6 strand- I bet they will take YEARS to wear out, if they ever do!

Dancers like colourful things, so rainbow was still a popular request. Here are my latest, in a 3strand hemp - softer and finer, but still very durable

Charity Crochet Project

This weekend I was busy crocheting 7 cup cozies to help out a friend. She's a volunteer at the Greater Vancouver Zoo and had made a stack of cozies to be sold to raise money for animal care. Except, she came to work the other day to found out several of the ones she made had been stolen.

She was so upset, I offered to help her out and make some too, to replace the stolen ones. Here's my collection:

The giraffe, elephant and monkey come from Repeat Crafter Me's Animal Alphabet . The fox, I can't remember where I found the pattern and I made up the tiger and the lion by copying a photo on pintrest. The lemur was completely made up by me.

I sure hope they don't get stolen again.

Plans for 2016

I've decided to phase out the baby items for 2016 and focus more an ladies' accessories, but that leaves me with a box full of brand new items - should I have a bulk sale? Should I donate to a hospital or charity? I haven't quite decided yet.

One part of having an Etsy shop is reviewing favourite items. Two items that have been favourited multiple times are the bunny slippers for a rabbit:

 (sold one pair) 

And this mermaid tail (not yet sold): 

It's still early in the year, and I'm playing around and experimenting with what I can make and sell which would be a reasonable price for you to buy and worth it for me to make. I've made some slippers that took so much time, I really should sell them for $60+ but not too many people want to pay that for slippers. Just like knitted socks, most people only knit them for themselves or family members and the yarn itself can easily cost $25 and that doesn't include the knitting time. I get plenty of requests for leg warmers - but again, the time to hand knit them compared to the cost people pay just don't match up

I guess that's the million dollar question for any artisanal business, isn't it?

Green Three Season Wristers

Here's the second pair of fingerless gloves that I recently finished. These are the same pattern as the blue ones, but they are made from a very different yarn. This yarn in 75% wool and 24% silk - they make a very nice 3 season glove and are actually fairly dressy too. They are perfect for coastal climates like Vancouver , or the Pacific Northwest (or Amsterdam, or.... )

They are also currently in my shop:
:

Indigo Wrist Warmers

I recently finished these very warm, 100% Peruvian highland wool wrist warmers. They are made with a bulky yarn and are very nice and toasty. And don't fret, if you live in a climate where it's still a little too cold right now, you can layer them over some gloves until it warms up for you.

I am very pleased with the colour - they are not just a regular 'navy' blue - they are more of a deep indigo, similar to the colour of brand new dark jeans.

If you are interested in them, they are currently in my shop:

Adorable Halloween Bat

I just finished this sweet little bat, I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately he took almost the whole weekend to make (lots of fiddly little details) but now that he's done, he was so worth it!

Do you want one too? Just drop me a line

Sunny Bunny Amigurumi

I can't sell this one because the pattern's author doesn't allow it, but I still had to make this adorable bunny. And I gave her a wading pool to lay in. She's ready for the next heat wave. Yes we needed rain to slow down our forest fires burning, but come on sun, come back to us - we're ready

If you'd like to make one for yourself, here's the link