A Week of Firsts

I first embarked on this journey to have fun and get rid of my hobbies. I mean that in the best way possible. As fun as it is to play with yarn, you can only have so many scarves before they need to come off the crochet hook and onto someone else's neck. A little funny to remember this, "Early Halloween" post, not that it is Halloween. :)

As I build up my inventory they are carefully folded and stored in a nice little box in the closet. I don't know what will become of this Kwid Creations endeavor, but it got a whole lot more exciting this week! Because it is a week of firsts. How I feel right now:

[Source]

First 1st- Custom order. From my sister! She asked if I could make a tree skirt for her Christmas tree. It's a pretty big project and a little more complex than a scarf. But I am up for it and I am excited that she trusts me enough to do this for her. I should probably be a little more confident if I am going to sell my self as a successful person!

and my second 1st- ORDER. I logged on to Etsy this morning and saw I had a little [1] on my dashboard. I have learned the hard way that this can come from someone just favortie-ing or like-ing an item in your shop. So imagine my surprise and glee when I saw it was an ORDER. Like someone actually gave me money for something I made and listed.



Obviously I had hoped for sales, but how over-the-moon happy I am about it is a little surprising. And really fun.



Even as I type this I am grinning like a dumb idiot. I can't wait to get this order shipped and see what else is in store. (Pun intended)

Dia de Los Muertos Scarf

As cliche as it is, I am super excited about my latest crochet project. It's different from all my other products. It's a Dia de Los Muertos/ Halloween scarf!

I found this skull motif on Ravelry a while back, made by over 200 people! I've never done an applique-type project like this before so I was up for the challenge. Temperatures have finally and hopefully permanently dropped below 95 degrees so that means time to start thinking of Fall things.

Along with warm temperatures, it wouldn't be Halloween in southern California without Dia de Los Muertos!

Day of the Dead = calaveras, bright colors, and pan. 

And since I can't include bread, I stuck to the first two and imagined up this Kwid creation.

I can't believe that Halloween is THIS WEEK. I figured I better start working on at least one project for the holiday. It took me a few days to work out the skull pattern. I did some tweaking until it worked for me. Again, check out the pattern here, I love the versatility! 

It was so much fun making this scarf, choosing the colors and making accents like the moustache and rose.

Rosette pattern here.

And moustache pattern here.

I decided to join the scarf head to head in the back so that when it lies around your neck, the skulls are right-side up.



The attention to detail really sets this scarf apart from any other scarf. It is such a fun and unique piece. I can't wait for it to find a new home for the holidays. Get it now in my Etsy shop! 

Happy Haunting! 

KC Quote Whenever #1

If you are familiar with my personal blog, you will know that I have a ... er... "segment" called Quote Whenever. It started out as Quote Wednesday and because no one, not even myself, can tell me what to do, I changed it.

I thought it would be a fun thing to continue on this blog, with a more specific focus. Today is "throw back Thursday" and a perfect day to start this series with this quote from Adventure Time.

[Source] 

"Dude, suckin' at something is the first step to(wards) being sorta good at something" -Jake the Dog

Why I like it: 

Because it is true! Creating, no matter your medium, begins with suckin' at something. We tend to see finished products and think that it comes purely from talent, or luck. Some of it may, but most of it comes from patience and practice. 

My finest and favorite moments of accomplishment come from when I really really worked hard on something. Getting my PR in a cross country race, surviving my econometrics class, finishing a tough crochet pattern. They all came with practice and persistence, albeit some of it forced. 

I recently found this scarf stuffed in my sister's old dresser drawers at my parents' place. I can't remember when I made it. Probably sometime in early high school. 

Before YouTube was exploding with helpful tutorials and definitely during dial-up internet- I made this scarf. Armed with only some basics, little kwidling embarked. I remember my young mind thinking it out. How would I change colors? Secure the ends? Make a fringe? And I made something that I was pretty proud of. 

After I finished the scarf I didn't stop there. I figured I could probably make a hat too! I had no idea what I was doing, but I did my best and worked real hard. I remember the feeling of shock. I had created this with my own brains, my own trial and error. 

Of course, looking at it now I just throw my head back and laugh. 

But I remember I shouldn't be so critical. I had to suck at crochet before I sorta became good at it. It is a continual process. The more I realize that, the better I will get and the better my products will become. 

What is something that you have seen yourself become better at through practice? 

Zucchini Cable Scarf

I love to give credit where credit is due. Even if I change the pattern a little bit, or a lot a bit. Sometimes patterns are more in-depth and detailed, other times it might just alternate two basic stitches.

This scarf pattern combines two simple stitches but introduces textures. I changed up the pattern a little bit, and used a different cabling technique. You can find the free "Amazing Crochet Textures" Craftsy class here.

What do you think?



I love the deep forest green color and soft and chunky yarn. As I was working on the Etsy listing I was having trouble coming up with a name for it. All my buzzwords had already been "used, thick, cozy, soft, chunky..." so I headed to a professional. Teo. He's always clever, and came up with a name right away.

Kwid's Zucchini Scarf!



I love it! Zucchinis remind me of summer gardens and fall soups and breads. Now the weather is finally cooling off you can wear and enjoy this extra-large, super cozy Zucchini Scarf.



Buy it for yourself, buy it for a loved one, it is unisex so you can even share it.



And thanks again Flamingo Toes blog for the pattern & ideas.

C2C Christmas Character Graphghan

Ahh, the blogosphere! The biggest small corner of the world wide web. It is so fun to always be able to stumble upon new blogs. Just like I did with Sarah Zimmerman's blog Repeat Crafter Me. The blog is truly wonderful and she has spectacular free patterns. She recently released 9 blocks for a Christmas Character Afghan.

And as with most projects made with yarn- I couldn't wait to get started. The only things was... I had no idea how to do the technique it utilized- "Corner to Corner" (or c2c) crochet. Well! That has never stopped me before, so why would it now?

[Source]

Crafting and creating are made so much easier by the aforementioned internet. I hoped on over to The Crochet Crowd website to find a wonderful tutorial for c2c, commonly used for "graphghan" projects like this. After some trial runs I decided there was no time like the present and I got to work. 

Between my lovely 1990s floral couch and (never-ending) quilted headboard fabric (finished! Read about it here), there is a lot going on in this picture. Over half-way done with the square and you can see my method for keeping track of my rows. I printed the pattern and slipped it in a sheet protector so I could use a dry-erase marker to denote progress and direction. Much more difficult than I originally thought.

And... just like that! The Santa square is complete. It needs a little blocking for sure. It isn't perfect but for my first try it's not too bad. I will just have to keep at it. But for now: 

Merry Christmas in October!

Cube Infinity Scarf

In crochet, it doesn't take long before you are itching to zoom past the basics of single crochet, double crochet, etc. You want to grow your skills and really "wow" people. This free pattern, coincidentally from a blog titled Grow Creative, does just that.

"Cube Infinity Scarf"

Each row is a different pattern but before long you get the hang of it and it is so interesting to see it coming together so fast. The pictures did not turn out great because I cranked out this project as a birthday present for a friend. But the blue color of the scarf is absolutely breathtaking.

Sometimes I see yarn and it "speaks" to me. Well, this yarn immediately reminded me of my good friend from Grenada, maybe because it matches her perfect blue eyes?! 

I hope she enjoys the scarf, and her happy birthday!

Lite Brite Scarf: Faux Broomstick Lace

When I look for patterns online I try to find a balance between challenging and do-able. I had seen and saved this broomstick lace pattern, but it looked a little tricky. Then one day I rolled past a "Faux Broomstick Lace." And since "faux" often = easier, I knew I had to check it out.

Still, I put it off. Then, with trepidation, I approached.

Pattern: Faux Broomstick Lace by: A Southern Lady's Ramblings

I did a double take.
       Only 250 yards?!

Triple take.
            Only 2 rows and second repeats?!

Quadruple take. 
                  ONLY ONE STITCH = single crochet?!

The pattern truly was a simple as it sounds. The trick is to use an over-sized crochet hook (check!). Then you stretch and the loose stitches pull tight so you get the faux lace effect! Pretty neat. You can see my during and after pictures below.



The scarf was about 9" wide and shrunk down to 4" wide while it was only 50" long and stretched out to a whole 90" long!! It was like magic, and an absolutely dreamy way to use this ahh-maazing yarn I got that is softer than a baby cherub's locks.



I have named it the Lite Brite scarf because when I modeled it with my black t-shirt it totally reminds me of afternoons spent playing with the Lite Brite with my siblings.

Because the scarf stretches so nicely you can wear it a few different ways.

Like two loops:



or three!:

Now comes the hardest part.... listing it in my shop! I am having a hard time letting this one go!