There is a dream in my head that I am sitting at a convention working at my table for Lil’ Luvvies, and Brent Spiner (the actor who played Lt. Cmmdr Data on Star Trek the Next Generation) walks past, looks at my work, smiles brilliantly, and tells me to keep up the awesome work. That would be awesome…….
And then, I wake up and realize, it isn’t a dream – this actually happened at the December Steel City Con. There is no real context to this except that my husband was helping me man the table, I was working on something (maybe a Deadpool) and I looked up to see Brent Spiner walking down the aisle. I went to subtly nudge my husband so we could geek out together, and next thing I know, Brent is walking past my table, looking at my Luvvies, and telling me I’m doing a great job. It sounds like something I would write for a story.
Needless to say that was the absolute highlight of my time at the December 2018 Steel City Con.
This con was my third of 2018 (and second in as many months) and I was stressed beyond belief.
Age is a funny thing. When we are young, we can’t wait to hit those milestone birthdays – 10, we hit double digits; 13, we are officially teenagers; 16, celebrated in and of itself and for teens getting their driving permits; 18, we are finally adults and can vote and register for military service; 21, legal drinking age.
My daughter just hit one of those milestones this year. She turned 10 right before Christmas. A whole decade. It is difficult for me to believe, because I feel like just yesterday I was pregnant with her. And, I know she’s excited. And, I also see her looking forward to these other “milestone” birthdays. But, I also know the flip side. Having hit a milestone birthday myself in 2017 (I turned 40), I realize I don’t feel as old as my age suggests.
Recently I did a blog entry about holiday gifts for the crocheter in your life. One of the gifts that I referenced is the gift that keeps giving….a monthly subscription box.
Because I am a yarn addict/hoarder, and have no plans to cure myself any time soon, I myself was intrigued by the idea. I had done a monthly yarn subscription before through Happy Yarn Mail, which has been (sadly) discontinued, and I loved the idea of getting a little surprise present in the mail each month.
Since Happy Yarn Mail stopped, I really hadn’t found another subscription that I wanted to try, until Christmas came around the bend and new offers started appearing in my email. One of the most intriguing came from Knit Picks, which is a smaller company that promotes itself as selling luxury yarns at affordable prices. I have purchased yarn from them before and have always been super happy, and their customer service is incredible. So, I decided to treat myself to a three month subscription.
I came home after a long day at work on Monday and found my first box waiting for me. Yay! What a great surprise. It really was a ray of light on a gloomy day. What was inside? What goodies awaited me. So, I wanted to share with you what I got – especially if there is anyone still on the fence for a Christmas gift for the knitter or crocheter in their lives.
Outside of box – I removed the shipping label so it doesn’t look quite as spiffy
I love the silly joke that was on the box. My kind of humor.
The package was inviting and just made me smile. Look at the cute little balls of yarn. I loved the alpaca joke, I’m still laughing about it.
As soon as I opened the box I was greeted with two patterns that I could use the enclosed yarn to make (for protection of copyright, I did not take pictures of the patterns).
So pretty
In addition to the patterns, which seem perfect for beginner to intermediate, I had four skeins of yarn and two faux fur pompoms (to add to the hats).
So what are my thoughts? I am very happy overall. This type of subscription is exactly what I would hope for – a chance to sample some of the yarns available to see if I like them. These probably would not have been yarns I would have selected for myself – I usually avoid wool, but I am excited to try them.
The bigger question (for the accountant in me), did I get a good deal. Well let’s see….
Chroma Worsted (solid) reg. price $9.99 for 100g ball
Chroma Worsted (varigated) reg. price $9.99 for 100g ball
I subscribed to the three month prepay plan, which is $75 – that breaks down to be $25 per month (which is a savings of $2 per month from the month to month plan).
For each of these balls of yarn, I would have spent $9.99 (so that is $19.98 right there). I usually don’t use wool when I am crocheting – just because I know there can be an allergy factor included with this, but these don’t feel like wool. I am sensitive to wool (have been since I was a kid), and this just feels like a super soft hug. There is a mixture of acrylic in with the wool, so that might make a difference. Either way, it will be nice to give this a try.
Swish DK (reg. price $4.99 for 50g)
I also got two super soft and squishy Swish DK balls of yarn. I just want to cuddle up with this yarn as is, no toy required. Again, this is wool (100% fine superwashed Merino), but it feels nothing like wool. There is no scratchy, irritating texture. It is just light and wonderful. I don’t quite know what I’m going to make with this – but I may have an idea or two.
Each one of these skeins would be $4.99, so that is an additional $9.98 I would have spent had I just ordered this through the Web site. Already, just in the yarn I received I have almost $30 in products (not counting the value of the patterns themselves).
8 cm faux fur pom pom (reg. price $2.99)
12 cm faux fur pom pom (reg. price $3.49)
I also got these super fluffy fake fur pom poms that I can use if I want to make the hats included in my pattern. If I add the value of these to my box, my total of products comes to $36.44, which means I saved $11.44 by getting this through a subscription. That’s a pretty decent savings.
Some may wonder, isn’t it better to just order what you want – or to go to the store and be able to touch and see the colors? I was leery about online buying for a long time. I had some early horror stories with Amazon that I would care to not repeat. However, now that I feel comfortable with some sites (lovecrochet.com and knitpicks.com), I am confident in what I am ordering. And the thrill of the subscription box is that you don’t know what you are getting: Maybe it’s something that I’ve seen and decided to pass on – for me, as I’ve mentioned, I would never buy wool for myself, but now I get to try it. Or maybe one month there is a splurge – maybe they will provide an ultra luxe yarn that I would not buy for myself on price alone, but now I get to play with it. That’s the fun of the subscription box.
So, yes, in the end I am so happy with my first subscription box from Knit Picks and I am excited to see what the next month brings.
First, no need to panic; I know it is a little scary of a title, but the decisions and changes are not (I don’t feel) negative. They are more to this site than anything.
A few posts ago I asked for feedback about whether to keep a store on this Web page and also maintain my Etsy store. I had some great feedback about the topic, and I took my time to seriously think about what was best for me and for Lil’ Luvvies. In the end, I decided – for now – I am going to direct all traffic for purchases through Etsy. I feel that by having the animals spread between two sites, neither is getting the attention that they should. So, for the time being, everything will be run through the single platform, and the buyer will have the convenience of having the storefront behind them and more flexible means of payment.
With this change, the “Shop” page has been updated to remove all the links to purchase Luvvies directly from lilluvvies.com. There are links both on the Home page and the Shop page to take you directly to my Etsy store.
For added convenience – as I’m sure you’ve picked up on throughout even this small post – every time I use the word Etsy, I am trying to highlight it in a different color to call out that it is a hypertext link that will take you directly to my store for ease. This will be consistent on all the pages to provide quick access to shopping.
So, for me this is a positive. I can focus more of my efforts on one area, which can provide better service to those who need it. Also, while I have left the custom request form on the Shop page, I have reinstated this option on Etsy as well; so, if there is something specifically that you are looking for, please contact me and I can see what I can do. I am not guaranteeing I will be able to fulfill the request (at this time I still use patterns to complete my orders and design my Luvvies), but I will do my best to get you the perfect Luvvie for you.
I thank you all for your continued love and support. I appreciate it more than I can say.
I make every effort to update the blog and to share in my crochet journey with you all, but somehow my best laid plans go astray.
Things have been busy. In September, I took some time off and went to a Supernatural convention with some friends in New Jersey. Also things at home have been crazy busy because my daughter started soccer, so we’ve been running to practices and games. And, to top everything off, my migraines have been acting up – so, I haven’t been as on top of my game as I would like to be.
Despite all the crazy that has been going on, I have been continuing to crochet and get ready for Rhode Island Comic Con (Nov. 2-4). I still don’t feel as prepared as I would like to be, but I still have two weeks to get there.
As I’ve been preparing for con, I’ve discovered that one of the things I absolutely love to make are these adorable little voodoo dolls (Pattern by BlueRabbitToys on Etsy). The funny thing is I think these little ones are so adorable, but my father is legitimately scared of them. Even though I’m soon to be 41, I still share pictures of everything with my father after I’m finished, and for some reason these voodoo dolls just creep him out. It’s a little strange that these would be the thing he has a hard time with, but I also think it’s hilarious.
He also wasn’t a fan of my newest creation, that I’m calling Dee the Nightmare Prevention monster (Pattern by OneandTwoCompany on Etsy). Although he wasn’t as downright creeped out by her as he was by the voodoo dolls, he still wasn’t a fan. Dee was a lot more work than I was expecting, but I am so happy with how she turned out. I love her to bits. Also, OneandTwoCompany is one of my favorite amigurumi designers, I think I have almost every one of her patterns – I haven’t had a chance to make them all, but I have a lot of them. I really do think one of my post-con resolutions is going to be to go through the list and make as many of her items as I can to try everything.
Also in preparation for Rhode Island, knowing that Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who is going to be there, I tried to make some Doctor Who friendly items – like a Weeping Angel and an Adipose. I’m not as happy with how these turned out as I would like to be….they aren’t terrible, but the patterns just were not quite right and led to inconsistent results.
One of my favorite newest creations has been this little chickadee (another awesome pattern by OneandTwoCompany on Etsy). This sweet little girl was so much fun to make. The funny thing is I started her several weeks ago, and then had to put her on hold as I completed orders for my Etsy store. However, once I got back to her, I was so happy I did – she is so sweet. I just want to squeeze her all up.
One other design from my fave at OneandTwoCompany was this adorable Logan the lion backpack. I probably could have made the straps a little longer, but Desi still seemed to like it, and was carrying around some of her reading books for the next couple of days. I still have some problems finishing pieces….like I look at this and I can see that my stitches weren’t quite straight. However, I guess when you look at it in the grand scheme, I’ve only been crocheting for a little over a year, so the fact that i was able to make something like this is pretty awesome – even if the perfectionist in me hates the mistakes.
These have been some of the highlights of recent times…there have been others that I’ve made, too, but are more repetitive. I love trying out new patterns, but I find myself going back to the old standbys more and more.
I’m hoping once I get back from Rhode Island that I’ll have some time to make a variety of different patterns and try to find some new favorites. Thanks for sticking with me!
Lil' Luvvies 