Posts Tagged ‘tips’
Help for sore wrists
As knitters and crocheters, we use our hands (and wrists) a lot... and it's not uncommon to read about developing painful wrists as a result of doing needlework. In this post, I want to share a couple of simple moves that I just learned- designed to get the fluid in your wrist joints moving, and alleviate some pain. I, personally, have had a [...]
Why yarn labels can be deceptive…
Let's say that you're in the yarn shop, looking for a yarn. The gauge of your pattern is 5 stitches to the inch. You see these two labels (pictured below). You may be inclined to think that the first yarn is perfect (because the gauge is exactly what your pattern says), and the second yarn is the wrong yarn... ...and, you'd be wrong. [...]
Tackling Search Engine Optimization
This little post on Search Engine Optimization is part of my 'business of design' series... I apologize if you're a casual crafter and I've bored the daylights out of you... but come back tomorrow for a knitting/crochet- related post! Everyone who runs a small business spends lots of time on the actual product itself (in my case, designing and [...]
Configuring your site for your customers
Over the weekend, I took a long, hard look at how my website was organized... and gave it a mini-overhaul. Today, I'm going to discuss a couple of the changes that I made, and why I think doing a similar analysis is important for anyone running an online store. I began designing amigurumi about 2 years ago, and I had about 15 patterns when I [...]
Too tight foundation row?
For some amigurumi pieces, you'll need to crochet a foundation row, instead of working straight out from a circle. An example is when I was crocheting the leg of Gordon the Flamingo. Sometimes, when you begin with a foundation chain, the stitches in the chain can be too small, making the top of the leg (shown at left) look a little anemic. [...]
Selecting the Marketing that’s right for your business
A blog. Facebook. Twitter. When you're running a crafting business, all of these social networking sites, external sites and even your own site are forms of marketing. However, you need to be careful about how many you sign onto. Here are my two rules: Only take on a new form of marketing if it's something that you have time to do [...]
Using a Nostepinne (replacement)
In this blog post, I'm going to show you how I used a sunscreen bottle to wind beautiful balls of yarn! When you purchase yarn that comes in a hank, you'll need to wind it before using. You can usually wind your yarn at your local friendly yarn store when you purchase it... however, if you want to wind your yarn into a ball at home (maybe [...]
A finished Clapotis and some tips
Just the other day, I finished my claptois, a wonderful scarf/wrap pattern by Kate Gilbert available as a free download on knitty. Clapotis is a wrap that makes use of dropped stitches for a great finished texture. It's a very popular pattern (over 14,000 people on ravelry have made it), and no wonder! The pattern is easy to remember and it's [...]
How to work with two yarns at once
Some patterns (particularly those for items which are going to be felted, such as Gerry the Bear, at left) require you to crochet or knit holding two yarns together at once. I often get asked about the best way to work with two yarns at once. So, in this post, I'll talk about the pros and cons of three different ways of working with a double [...]
Cuddly Crochet Blog tour: day 14!
Ready to learn more crochet? Head over to Pepperberry Crochet and read a guest post (written by me!) on how to make a 'sloppy slip knot', a great way to start crocheting your amigurumi without a hole in the middle! Click on the button at left to head read the tutorial. And while you're there, have a look at Pepperberry's great amigurumi [...]
