my first experiment with kool-aid dyed yarn

i've been thinking about dying my own yarn for a little while now. there are some skeins on etsy that are so gorgeous, i don't think i'd ever use them for anything- i'd seriously just have them on a shelf so i could look at them. but they're also as expensive as they are pretty. so, i'm thinking to myself, 'hey, i'm pretty crafty! i bet i could do this!' i added a few basic dye essentials (dye and yarn, basically) to my amazon wish list and hoped somebody would buy them for me. as it turns out, my lovely husband did! and as he can't keep anything a secret, i got to open some of my birthday presents early. (my birthday is next week, but presents have been piling up around the house for about a month now, so i have to give him some credit...)

i had the house to myself yesterday while said husband was at work (that makes it sound like i have more than one husband, but i assure you, it's just the one), and some time to kill, so i figured now's as good a time as any to jump in with both feet. well, sort of. i decided to go for the kool-aid dyed yarn instead of the acid-dyed yarn because a) i don't know what the hell i'm doing yet, and b) i really, really didn't want to end up with acid-dye stains all over my house. also, kool-aid is a lot cheaper than the pretty little jars of acid-dye joey got for me, so if i'm going to eff up, i'd rather have it be a cheap effup. however, the yarn i put on my wish list turns out to be rather NOT cheap, but also not exactly what i'd hoped for, either. i apparently misread the label and asked for sport (or possibly even sock- i dunno, but this stuff is thin...) weight yarn instead of worsted weight. oh well, live and learn. but it's a lovely merino superwash wool and i'm sure i'll find plenty of things to do with it (like make hats to send to this kid...)

i found the easiest tutorial for kool-aid dyeing. it leaves a lot to chance and serendipity, but that's kind of what i like about it. if i'm doing a mult-color variegated yarn, i want it to be as random as possible. i'm not looking for self-striping (although i did find a blog about women who figured out how to do self-striping Fair Isle socks... holy moses, that looked like an awful lot of work, but really cool), i'm not looking for perfection- if i want that, i'll go to the store and get some machine dyed yarn. i want something...handmade-y.

so this is about as easy as it gets:
1) soak yarn in warmish water in a big sautee pan for 30 minutes
2) add your kool-aid. use a chop stick to gently mix up any undissolved mix- don't untangle your yarn or it will be a huge mess when you're done. (i chose four colors, and added two packets of each. i think the next time i do this, i'll be more discerning with my color palatte, and play around with how much kool-aid i add. everything ended up very heavily saturated, color-wise, and i think i want some more variety there.)
3) bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. let cool.
4) rinse well, hang dry. (the drying took FOREVER! i had to let it dry overnight, and i really wanted to wind it up right away and crochet something with it. the waiting for it to dry was probably the hardest part of this whole thing)

aaaand that's about it. couldn't be easier.

the yarn smelled pretty fruity while it was wet, but once it's dry, i didn't notice the smell anymore, which is kind of a bummer. i'd love to make things that naturally smelled like chemical-fruity-goodness. i went out and got some worsted weight wool and some sugar n' cream cotton yarn yesterday. i'm not sure how far i'll go with this (selling in my etsy shop), but it sure is fun to play around with.

free gift with purchase

button rose
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

so i've started throwing freebies into my packages. my husband says i need to think like a buyer, not a seller. so, as a buyer, what would delight me and make me come back to my shop again? of course, my answer is 'free shit.' it works out well- i get to try out a new pattern or make something small i would otherwise have no reason to make (right now, i'm not really interested in selling crocheted flowers in my shop- there are sooooo many people out there doing that now, there's no way to stand out from the crowd, in my opinion, and i can't really sell them for more than a few bucks, so all in all, it doesn't seem worth my time...). and my buyers get a free thingy that engenders love for me. hopefully. i'm also giving them 10% off their next purchase if they leave me positive feedback. is that wrong? i have almost 50 sales (be my 50th and get a kick-ass free gift! better than this flower!), but i only have half that in feedback. so i'm hoping that's going to work for me too. it's all about return customers.


sooooo, anyway, here's a flower. it's got a pin on the back, so you could presumably do something with it other than just look at it. what do people do with crocheted flowers? appliques? gift bag adornments?

so what do you think of my buyer incentive program? would this make you want to come back for more? got any good ideas for other types of freebies i can throw in the box? i'd love to hear your thoughts.

best seller!

Orange and Hot Pink Swiffer Cover
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

it's funny how sometimes stuff you make tends to take on a life of it's own. i found this pattern on craft's website and made a couple for the house. we have pets. three of them. that seem to be in a continuous state of shedding. and pretty much anything i make that doesn't end up the drawer of misfit toys ends up in my etsy shop. and lo and behold, these swiffer covers have become my most popular item. they got featured on craft's flickr pool of the week and recently ended up on eco-salon. i don't mind it- they're relatively quick and easy to make and don't cost much in materials or to ship, and it's a great way to build exposure for my shop.

anyway, if you're interested in picking up a few for yourself, head on over to my etsy shop. they're value-priced and i offer quantity disocunts. also, i'm starting a customer loyalty program, and i'm hoping that by bribing my customers with a 10% discount (by leaving me positive feedback- cheap ploy? never!), i can get more return shoppers, increased sales and more money in my pocket.

Baby elephant!

Baby elephant!
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

awwww...it's a baby elephant! that is all.
visit my etsy shop to get one for yourself.

Angry Lindsay

Angry Lindsay
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

well, she's finally done. i accepted a request for a custom 'angry girl' about a month and a half ago. normally, these dolls don't take that long to make- it's the hair that really bogs me down. much like the 'mad janet' doll i finished not too long ago, this doll's hair really threw me for a loop- literally and figuratively. it's the first doll i've done with curly hair, and the best way i can sum it up is to say it was a learning experience. like... how not to make curly hair. the entire thing is one long continuous chain that is sl st into a wig headpiece, which worked well for a while, but towards the end, i realized i wanted some of the strands to sit other places, which would require doing hours and hours of work. going forward, if i ever get a commission again for a curly-headed doll, i'm doing each strand individually and sewing them all on later.

a few things i really like about this doll, though: her striped dress. this was a request from the client and i think it turned out so cute. she's also got baby pink underpants. i like the bangs on the doll, as well as the headband. haven't heard back from the client yet (just sent the email) on whether she's approved or not, but i'm really hoping she likes her.

anyhooo, if you want your own angry girly, head on over to my etsy shop and request one!

The Mad, Mad Angry Girl Gardener

Mad Janet_2
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

my friend janet asked me to make her an angry doll a while back, and i finallllllly got around to finishing her last week. the basic body construction is relatively easy on these dolls- nothing too fancy, so i finished that in about a day or two. but the hair! good lord, the hair took forever. she's got short, blonde hair. i've never done short hair on an angry girl before. each hair is individually placed on the head, so i cut about a bazillion strands of yellow yarn and then cut them into a hairstyle, like a hairdresser would. that was pretty stressful, honestly. it's no biggie if i screwed up; i could always remove the hair and redo it, but because it took me so long to get it done in the first place, the thought of removing it and redoing it was making me sick to my stomach. anyway, after i cut all the hair, her head was looking a little too round and poofy, so i gave her a babushka. i used a pattern that i'd used to make a babushka for myself with, modified to fit the dolls head. (actually, i just used a d-hook instead of an h-hook and it worked perfectly).

janet's a huge gardener, so she had to have flip flops. i mean, who gardens in socks and shoes, right? i actually originally crocheted her with green clogs (not crocs, because i hate crocs!) which were pretty cute, but when i added the purple headscarf, there were too many colors going on, so i removed the legs and redid them. i have a drawer full of unused body parts from dolls gone awry. i keep saying one day i'm just going to sew them all together into one gigantic ugly doll. lastly, i gave her a flower, because every gardener needs a flower, i think. it's a funny juxtaposition because her face is so, so angry and the idea of a girl holding a flower is sweet and innocent. all in all, she's one of my favorite angry girls. she's got so much personality.

Army guy!

Army guy!
Originally uploaded by ham_and_eggs

My dad requested I make an army guy in honor of their neighbor, Robbie, who joined the army last year. My dad thinks of him as something of a surrogate son, and I know they're extremely proud of his decision, but they also miss him a lot.

On Memorial Day, my dad asked if we could give this to Robbie's mom, because she is having a really hard time with her son being away. So we walked across the street together, rang the doorbell, and my dad told her a little about why he asked me to make this, and that this particular doll was just for her. She teared up when I handed it to her, and of course, I couldn't help myself from crying, either. It was a pretty special moment- that something so simple, so silly, could move somebody that way.

I am so proud of my dad and his service to this country.