FO Friday 13/01/12

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope you are having a good FO Friday!

I've been at work a lot this week so haven't made as much as I would like.  I ended up going straight to bed after finishing work as I had a migraine.  I couldn't move my head without being in immence pain and feeling like I was going to be sick.  I took my medication, went to bed at 5pm and luckily by 9:30pm I was able to get and have some dry bread to eat before going back to bed.

Feeling better this morning so I'll hopefully be able to take some timeout today to relax and make something.

I set myself a goal on New Years eve to manage the housework and my illness better.  I read on a website that Dr's now think that rather than planning your day with long rests you should do your excertions in smaller quantities and have shorter rests.  I'm going to try and do something for 1-2hours and then rest for 30mins-1hour.  I'm going to give it a try and see if it helps.  I'm also making my resting time more relaxing.  keeping the lighting soft and either no noise or relaxing music on in the background.

Anyway enough waffle about me!  lets get to FO Friday.

The other week I made a set of mittens for my husbands friend.  Unfortunatley I had never met the customer so made a mans pair of mittens.  I then found out that he is very small and they were just too big.  I got them back and frogged them.  It broke my heart to frog them and it was made worse by the fact I had fastened off well and couldn't find my ends.  After frogging them it was back to making them again:

I got the pattern from:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ribbed-single-crochet-fingerless-gloves

This is a very easy pattern to follow and they look great once finished.  The only alteration I made was I made the chain longer at 41ch and used a 5mm hook.  I also made 2 rounds where the thumb is so that the thumb was partially covered.  I then made enough rows for it to measure to 19cm.  Thankfully they now fit!  I might make a smaller pair for my son and maybe even a pair for me. 

I finished an order as well.  I might make another one in the future as well.

It was a tiger scoodie.  The customer wanted it in cream and brown.

I might make one in the future in orange and cream.

I hope her daughter likes it.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would.

I did all the markings free style so it would look more natural.

I'm planning on making some squares and some valentines items today and this weekend so come back and take a look at next weeks FO Friday.

Don't forget to check out some other wonderful FO's on Tami's site and all the other sites.

Click on the link:



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WIP Wednesday 11/01/12

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone!

Well I only have one WIP but I'm afraid it hasn't changed:

I've been trying to finish an order for a scoodie so my blanket has been put on hold.

Below are a few snippets of the scoodie (I'll be showing the full scoodie on FO Friday):

The customer wanted a hood, scarf and mittens all in one, they wanted it to have ears, look like a tiger but be in cream and brown.  I hope she likes it because it has taken a lot of hours and a lot of work.  At first I tried to keep changing the colour all attached but the wool at the back looked too messy.  i then tried tying in all the change ends but it took me about 1/2 hour to make a couple of rows.  Then I made the cream scoodie and decided to sew on the markings.  I must admit that most people who see it are only seeing colours and patterns so when they see the cream and brown they ask if it's a giraffe.  As long as they like it that is all that matters!

My husband asked me last night how long it had taken and how much had the yarn etc cost.  he worked out that if I gave myself the minimum wage, the price of the yarn I should charge £40 for the scoodie.  I explained to him that although that's what should be charged I also have to charge what people will actually pay otherwise I won't sell anything.  How do you calculate how much you charge for the things you make?

hope you are all having a good WIP Wednesday.  Please click on the link to check out Tami's and others fantastic WIPs:

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Orders

Just a quick blog this evening while I wait for my tablets to kick in.

If you get a custom order to make something that doesn't inspire you do you still make it?

I agreed to make a scoodie (hood, hat, scarf n mittens all in one) with a tiger theme. I was alright so far when I accepted it. Then when it came to what she really wanted my thoughts didn't feel inspired. They want the scoodie to have ears, no face, still doing ok but in cream and brown. The pictures they liked were in the nomal orange n black with white on the inside of the ear. White doesn't look right against the cream n brown. So cream ears. The black of the paws n claws didn't look right so they are now brown. I haven't finished the stripes yet but if they were in orange n black I think they would look better. I want to give my customers my best work but I understand that you also need to supply the customer with what they want.

I'm making this one now but I don't know if I'd do it again. I don't think it helps me mentally or shows off what I can really do. I'm still making it to my best so the customer will hopefully will love it!

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