Come on Christmas!

I've been crocheting non-stop lately. I need to make something new, hats and legwarmers are getting way to monotonous. I did find a nice chunky yarn that works up fast though, instant gratification always makes things more fun for me! I'm just out of it for now. This is the beanie that I made with the last of it!

I'm so ready for Christmas to get here! I'm itchin to give Dave his present and then show it off to everyone! I don't want to give anything away... but I worked on it with an amazing local artist who's almost like family to me and it was SO much fun! I had to wrap it right away to control myself from showing everyone. It's a good feeling to give a gift that has so much meaning, especially considering the gifts I gave in recent years that included lots of socks, underwear, and slippers.

My sis and I's Christmas of family from all sides and wayward friends is on for sure :) I can't wait! Come onnnnn Christmas!

Toot Toot!

Just in a toot-my-own-horn mood this weekend!
So this weekend sure went differently than planned! I thought I'd be hibernating and whining about having nothing to do again. Maybe crocheting till I feel like I have arthritis like last weekend. Instead I got to see Michelle and Bonnie and all the kidlets (missed you Liz!) and see a bunch of Dave's friends I hadn't seen in a while, made 4 online sales, a couple offline sales, been featured in 4 treasuries (that I know of), and featured on the front page of SearchHandmade! The treasury I linked to is all Kalamazoo artists so that's extra cool. Unfortunately the link is only good for a few days, but hey when it expires maybe someone else will feature me! Here's hoping! I'm up to 105 Etsy sales to 8 countries and 30 states! I've always loved selling my wares locally, but it's an exciting feeling to ship a pair of pants to Sweden, or Australia, or Germany, or whereever else. I just knew my Ninja Pants would be a big hit, I'm not the only one with claustrophobic ankles!! :) Now that I mention it, I really should go make some pants...

Recycled Sweater Stockings!

Christmas Christmas Christmas. Feels like it's taking forever to get here! I can't find our stockings anywhere this year! So in an effort to end the boredom of being stuck in the house all day and solve the missing stocking problem, I whipped up a whole bunch of them from some old sweaters. Recycled sweater stockings are pretty fantastic if I may say so myself! I haven't decided which one I want yet since I'm partial to that cabled gray one, but since it was Erin's sweater I figured she should get that one. See, I finally am getting into the giving and generous Christmas spirit! :) These were SO easy! I suggest hand sewing if you make them yourself. The machine tugged the fabric too much making it all weird shaped and I had to re-do some and block the rest.

My Christmas tree is officially up! Dave and I lugged everything upstairs on Tuesday before he went to sleep for the day. Yes 3rd shift is still a horrible, awful, evil shift. As I tried to hang the first decoration of the season, I noticed how dusty my dining room light was. With the first touch to clean it, it came crashing down! It shattered all around David and I and amazingly he didn't get a scratch. Someone is surely looking out for that little boy. I got jabbed in the thigh and considered going in for stitches. But by the time I was done cleaning up the huge mess of broken glass (that not only fell onto the table, but also into the toys and decorations) I wasn't bleeding too bad anymore and decided a nap was more in order. I've got a bunch of little cuts and my leg still hurts a bit, but I'm still shocked that David didn't get hurt. He was really good about staying on the couch for 2 hours while I cleaned up that massive mess too!

I've done a bit of an Etsy overhaul lately. New banner and avatar (that I made myself this time!) and some brand new and updated listings. Here's a little taste:




Oh yeah, it's legwarmer season! I've been making them non-stop! I hate the cold, but I love the legwarmers!

New Traditions, Legwarmers, and a Letter to Santa

Out with the old, in with the new! So after the unfulfilled feelings I had about my Thanksgiving celebration this year (not getting to see everyone, driving too much like every year, etc.), I marched my tiny-heinie over to my twin sissy's house and told her to clean that mess because we are having Christmas dinner there this year! I would have it at my house, but hers is bigger and closer for most that will be attending. I am truly grateful that she didn't tell me no. All I really want is family that can all get along and have a good time, to all be together for the holidays. Not so much to ask I think. So if people won't give me the holidays of the past, I will create my own traditions! I am anticipating the best Christmas ever this year and that is a much better feeling than the pulled-in-every-direction feeling I usually get this time of year. Enough about Christmas... it's still so far away I've barely begun shopping, haha!


These beauties kept me busy for about 3 days of snowy madness this week! I made them for a friend of a friend as a Christmas present to herself. Apparently she has left all artistic decisions up to me, so I hope I haven't let her down. They turned out so fantastic! I sure hope the girl loves them as much as I do!

I love love LOVE the color combination and the fit!

I altered the way I had been making the ties on the legwarmers this time around. I had been doing drawstrings before, now I figured a way to just build them into the legwarmer! Maybe this stems from my son's love of pulling every drawstring out of every hoodie I own, but I'm loving the new way. It looks so much cleaner to me. I've already had a few inquiries about custom legwarmers since I posted her pair as Reserved. I love doing custom orders! I'm about 1/3 done with another pair already!

I also think I finally figured out how to make crochet look ribbed like kntting can. This spawned a fabulous brand new legwarmer style/idea into my already project-filled brain. Hopefully it will stop snowing soon and I can dig my car out of the mountain of snow it's under and get to the store for some new fabulous yarn to bring my latest idea to life! Snow really makes me want to crochet for some reason. If only I had a fireplace to snuggle up next to while I work.

Dear Santa,
I haven't been THAT good this year... but I've been trying :) Please bring me yarn. Preferrably gorgeous, beautiful, handspun yarn like this one from Spazzy on Etsy. She has the prettiest yarn-y goodness in her shop. Ohhh the fiber gluttony! I want it ALL! That one's already sold but come on Santa, you're magic or something right? Hook. it. up. I would also settle for a gift certificate to that amazing yarn store on Oakland Dr., next to that restaurant I worked at... the one with the little white dog and the name I can't remember.
Thanks Santa!
Sincerely
~Delainie

Hiiiiyahhhhh!

Ninja Pants. I miss making you. Someone buy some. Seriously. I was at a point where I had made SO MANY pairs of these pants (over 200 now! I'm like a 1-woman sweatshop!) that I never wanted to make them again. Then I didn't make any for 2 weeks and I wanna sell some Ninja Pants. I wanna ship em off to their new home and receive lots of "I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Ninja Pants" e-mails. They're my fave e-mails to get. I'm hoping to offer my Ninja Pants in sweatshirt fleece in black, royal blue, gray, and maybe pink very soon! Christmas comes first... then I can obsessively buy fabric once again.

I wish I could just get a decent picture of these pants. I messed with the soft focus on this one, since you can't see the damn pants anyway, and while I think it's a neat pic, I don't think it'll sell any pants.

I've got some crazy-soft heather gray twill begging to be made into something today. What to do, what to do....