Finding Time for Personal Crochet
When I first decided to start a business with my love of crochet it was all business all the time. I spent all my free time researching patterns for the best items that I wanted to make. What items have been popular at craft fairs, which items would work best for my customers. Trying out new yarns for those patterns and trying to make it all cohesive and make sense.
But a few months in I realized that I was missing that ability to have more freedom in what I was making and making things for myself or my kids. I liked learning new stitches or new patterns. I enjoy expanding my skills and seeing those hot new trends. But I felt like I was missing out on them. So I decided that I didn’t want to burn myself out with always making items for everyone else. I wanted some of my own too.
So it didn’t take long to come up with a plan for how I keep my creativity and knowledge in my own work, but still make sure my customers were getting what they were looking for. So I came up with a new plan. I decided that I would crochet business items during the week, and personal items on the weekends. It became fun to set my goals for the week of how much product needs to get made and orders out the door and once I hit that, then I was free to do my own projects in front of the tv on Friday and Saturday nights.
The first project was the waffle stitch blanket I showed you previously. It’s currently still a work in progress. While I love the colors and textures, I know that it’s not going to get used until this fall, so I pushed it aside to do some more summer projects that I wanted to work on. Plus, making blankets in July isn’t always the most fun- they can get so hot!
I started to do some pattern testing. This is where you get to help someone else out in the crochet community. When a person thinks of a pattern for something, they then ask a few people to test it out and see if they have written it correctly or if there are any mistakes or confusing parts. I really enjoy this process. It helps me learn new skills as well as pick something fun to do. I am also a very detail orientated person, so I like the project of picking out mistakes.
The first one I tested out was this amazing Brick House Pillow by Andrea. I decided to go with purple as it’s my favorite color. Plus, it goes with the rest of our bedding. I love how this one turned out! It is an interesting pattern and creative way to make the pillow look like bricks.
I actually love this pillow so much I decided to start selling it in my shop. You can click on the picture to see more details.
This pillow is a great accent to any couch or bed.
The next one I tried was this super fun tank top by The Wool Flower Co. It was fun and something I don’t normally wear. But I enjoyed it. I loved picking out some fun yarn. I had my local yarn store give me some suggestions and ended up picking this amazing recycled cotton. I was able to pick these amazing colors.
Such a fun tank top to make
I also did this fun summer top by CrochetsbyTrista. Again I choose a purple color- because well, I love purple! It’s fun and airy and I am going to wear it with both a tank top or a swim suit under it.
A fun top to wear in the summer
Currently I am making this fun tank top out of the most incredibly soft yarn. I can’t wait to see how this one turns out. I decided to go with a color changing yarn on this one. It’s not something that I would normally do with this kind of top, but I think it will be fun to do something new.
Its been so much fun testing other peoples patterns. I love that I still get to do so much of my own creativity in these projects. I love picking new yarn or fun colors and making it personalized for myself.
Next on my to-do list is a pair of shorts! I have never made these before, but I can’t wait. I have the yarn- it’s a beautiful gray color. The kind that will go with any top. Now just need to start them!
If you really like the items you have seen let me know. Send me a comment and I could add them as new items for sale in my shop!
