I mentioned in a previous posting about the fact that I have OCD (both the actual compulsive disorder and the obsessive crochet disorder) and how they can come together in a perfect storm to cause me to fixate on things. This has been especially true for the past week with patterns.

Before I got sick, I went through my Google Drive and did a mass clean up and organization of my patterns: Put them in folders by designer, got rid of those that I wasn’t going to use, and just tried to make life generally easier for me. Even prior to this re-organization I knew I had a ton of patterns – more than I could probably make in a year’s time, if I didn’t duplicate a single pattern. And the sad thing is, for as much as I talk about needing to work on patterns and make sure the designer fits your style, I find myself purchasing multiple patterns from a new designer if something looks cute and then potentially regretting it.

In recent weeks, I’ve thought about expanding some of what I offer in my Etsy shop, so I looked to find patterns with different techniques; only to find that I either didn’t have the patience for those techniques or because the skill didn’t come to me immediately, I got frustrated and gave up. However, I still have that pattern that I’ve now added to my (ever growing) collection.

Over the weekend, I found myself almost hourly going over to Etsy to see if any of my favorite shops had any new patterns in their stores. Most of these individuals just posted a ton of patterns before Christmas and are probably recovering and taking some much needed rest, but there I was…refreshing my feed like a looney tune hoping to find a new pattern from them. A couple times I got lucky and there was a new pattern posted, and then it was something that didn’t really rock my world and then I was more dejected than I had been before.

The other thing I’ve been noticing with some of the patterns I’ve gotten from newer designers recently is they look super cute, but some of the instructions are not user friendly. I mentioned earlier that I had found a new squirrel pattern:

The instructions were so vague. Like have you seen “The Great British Baking Show” on PBS or Netflix? They have their second challenge each episode as a technical challenge where they have a pared down recipe to work with, but it is primarily based on their own baking knowledge. That is what I felt like this squirrel was. It didn’t even give me a recommended crochet hook size. And some of the terminology it used was either antiquated, specific to a different country or region, or was what they called it and not common terms. It’s almost like there needs to be an ability to preview a pattern before buying to make sure it is going to be something that you can work with. I know I was giving Google and YouTube a good work out last night when I was trying to look up some of those terms.

Even despite me sitting here and sharing with you (maybe in the hopes of shaming myself? I don’t know) how many patterns I have and how few I have used, I feel the pull, and so I leave you now as I go back to the magical world of Etsy and see if anything else new has popped up in the last half hour.

Hugs and cuddles,

Elisha

The new year took no time in blowing through like a lion. Between getting everyone at home back to school and me getting back to my normal work schedule, things were bound to be nutty. Add to that almost a week off work with bronchitis and it has definitely been a whirlwind.

I knew I wasn’t feeling that great right after Christmas, especially when I didn’t have a desire to work on my Luvvies as much as I wanted. However, I never expected to have been down for almost a full week with an illness. I feel like I’ve been completely out of the loop on things.

With that said, I hope everyone has had a great start to their new year and that things are just going swimmingly. Aside from my inordinate amount of sleeping that I have been doing, I actually did get around to making a Luvvie or two.

I’ve always believed in being honest about my crochet journey. I try not to whitewash and make everything look like I get it perfect, or get it perfect the first time. I am still learning; still experimenting. In many instances I have more failures than successes. This was a case in point.

Because I am such a fan of the television show “Supernatural,” I had wanted to make a Luvvie of one of the characters. The only pattern I could really find was for Castiel, the main characters’ angel assistant. I started working on the pattern and almost from stitch one I was having problems. There were parts of the pattern that I didn’t feel were written clearly, or that didn’t seem to work; so, I was trying to make my own adjustments. I got so far and then realized it just wasn’t going to work. I miscalculated how to put the arms and the trenchcoat on and there was no way that I could salvage it, so he sadly had to go into the garbage bin.

Bye, bye Castiel.

I might try again at a later point in time, maybe adapting a different pattern to make him; but, for now, I’m walking away.

On a more successful scale, I worked on a custom peacock for one of my dearest friends. This little guy took me four days, and some YouTube consultations, but I was able to get him completed and I think looking rather fabulous. My Desi certainly liked him and was happy to give him snuggles.

Another new pattern I played with was creating a squirrel. I made a squirrel for a friend of mine back when I first was learning the basics of amigurumi and I was so unhappy how it turned out (even though she said she loved it).

Again, as a fan of “Supernatural,” there is a running joke that the two leads are called Moose and Squirrel. The moose pattern I have down and am more than happy with, but it is surprisingly difficult to find a squirrel pattern. When I saw this pattern on Etsy, I was super excited. He looked so cute. However, this is another instance of where I would like to be able to read some of the pattern before buying.

The pattern was written using terminology that I had never hear of before (e.g., half point crochet stitch). Even using Google or my crochet stitch reference guides didn’t help me decipher what was meant. In the end, I filled in the gaps where I could and did the best that I could to come up with a replica of the pattern. I am reasonably pleased with how this cutie turned out. I’m wondering if his reception will be as favorable as what I have received in the past from my moose?

Overall, I’m just trying to do a mix of new projects and old favorites. Keep up with orders when they trickle in and prepare for the conventions that I have scheduled for this year.

2018 was a good introduction to business for my Luvvies, so I’m hoping that 2019 will continue that path and provide me with more knowledge and more opportunity to grow.

As always, I am so happy to share this journey with your.

Hugs and cuddles,

Elisha

Starting in 2019 there will be one small change to how you can get your Luvvie fix.

As I’ve been starting out I’ve tried to manage orders in a variety of platforms – through this Web site, Etsy, email, text, verbal – maybe a combination of one or two of those methods. It has led to me taking on more than I have been able to handle comfortably at times. It also has led to me completely forgetting that I agreed to do something until reminded because a spreadsheet didn’t get updated.

To make things smoother for all parties, my request is that in 2019 all orders go through my Etsy store. If there is something that you would like custom that is not on the shop, I still can do a custom order – I have even added that link to my Etsy page. I will create a separate order just for you and provide a link for that custom order, but it still will go through Etsy and I can keep track of things more easily (and not lose sight of things, which makes me feel terrible).

I am hoping by doing this, too, it will provide a better line of communication – it also will help with some issues I’ve been having with purchasing postage through the post office, as Etsy allows me to purchase postage directly through them; and, for those who are local, it still will afford me the option to be able to deliver the products in person – so that isn’t going away.

I do apologize if this causes any inconvenience, and I appreciate everyone’s understanding and support. This first year has been a true learning experience and I can’t wait to see what the second year brings for my Lil’ Luvvies.

Hugs and cuddles,

Elisha