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Your First Crochet Sale

by | Crochet Business, Crochet Stories

Your First Crochet Sale

Your first sale is defined as the one where you sell a hand-made crocheted item to someone you have never met.

When you make your first sale it is one of the five steps towards building your prosperous crochet business.

That initial sale can be the hardest things to do or you can fall into it naturally.

Below I share with you the story of my first crochet sale which was the one that started the ball rolling so to speak.

My First Crochet Sale

We lived in a small town outside a large city which was about a thirty minute drive in the car. It was a seaside town and had two little shopping malls. Each mall had several line shops and one large supermarket.

In the Bayside Mall was a small wool and craft shop. This was a convenient place for me to get my yarns and crocheting supplies.

At that time I had just given birth to our fourth child, a daughter, and I was at home for several months looking after her. The two older children were at elementary school and the third child was a toddler at home with me all day. My husband was at work.

My days as a housewife were typical and there were many chores to be done each day. I organized my life so that I only left the house on a Friday to run errands and to buy the weekly groceries and Friday was my “day out.”

Because I was at home so much of the time I picked up crocheting again and began to make soft jerseys and tops for the children. My patterns were simple squares for fronts and backs and the sleeves were again straightforward with a slight increase at the shoulder. Over time I developed these patterns into complicated top-down no-seam garments as well.

 

Local Yarn Store

I bought the wool from my local yarn store and it was usually 4ply on a 3.5mm hook. I used pastels for the girls and primaries for my boy.

By visiting the yarn store each Friday to buy more wool and because I took the two younger children in their newly made tops the store owner Shirley started to chat with me about the wool and the patterns I had used for the kid’s jerseys.

I explained that I only ever used my own patterns for items that I made. She asked me if I would crochet her a cardigan for which she would give me the yarn and the pattern from a magazine that she wanted to be made for herself.

You see, she was a knitter and not a crocheter, but she had found a lovely lacy white summer three-quarter length cardigan that she wanted to be made, but she could not crochet it herself.

Well, of course I would do it, why not?

I duly took the white light yarn and the pattern and said, “See you next Friday.”

At home that evening I started to make her pattern and it went really well. I have always been a firm tension crocheter and so could crochet to gauge. In that week I completed her garment and sewed it together.

I folded it neatly in tissue paper and wrapped a ribbon around it to make it look nice for her.

During that week I couldn’t work on my own creations and I did feel that, but the challenge of a lacy pattern kept me interested in the project.

Friday came around and I took the cardigan into the shop for Shirley. She was really pleased and put it on immediately. It fit her well and looked just like the image in the pattern book.

I was pleased that she was pleased. I mean, you never know…

 

Payment

She paid me $5 per ball that was made-up . The cardigan took five balls which came to $25 in all. I was excited about that. I saw it as bonus money for our family.

Shirley and I started chatting about yarns and crafts in general and then she said that if I had items that were already made-up she would put them in her window to sell. At that time she had some booties and other baby knitted items in her window but she had no crocheted goodies.

She wanted little blankets and baby items to promote the yarns that she sold. Her shop window was not big and in fact was quite small but well suited a yarn shop.

The deal was that I had to buy the yarns from her for the items she would sell in her window and I set the price and she took half. This was a good deal as I was buying wool from her anyway, and I was crocheting anyway, but now I had a chance to make some cash for the work.

I went home with new wool and a blanket pattern forming in my head. Because I’d done baby blankets before I knew about the colours that sell so I had a soft baby blue, white and a dark navy contrasting ball and well.

Over the next week I made a blanket for a baby boy in blue stripes. It was simple and a generous size. At the weekend I visited the shop again and she was pleased with the result. Shirley felt the quality of stitches and the regular tension was good and she loved the colour combinations.

I told her my price was $50 and she agreed we would split it fifty-fifty each. She must have put it in the window for the Saturday shoppers as it sold the next week. I arrived back on the next Friday and was excited to have sold my blanket. My first item to a stranger. My first crochet original design blanket. For cash. This was good.

She told me the woman who bought it was a crocheter herself but did not have time to make something ‘handmade’ for her new niece, but that she would pass it off as her own work!

Amazing!

That other crocheters would buy my goods and say it was their own (not that I cared what they did or said) but suddenly I saw a market for my goods, to women who knew how to crochet and were known for their crocheting, but had no time to do it. The perfect customer.

That was my first sale.

I sold a blanket, through the wool shop, to a customer I had not met, for cash.

Since that time I have sold many more garments, blankets, bags and other things although I still remember the feeling of that first sale.

 

Author Bio

Alison Heathcote, a passionate crochet enthusiast and dedicated business blogger, combines her love for crafting and entrepreneurship to inspire and connect with others.

With a knack for transforming yarn into beautiful creations and a flair for sharing valuable insights about running a successful crochet business, Alison embodies the perfect blend of creativity and practicality.

More Articles

If you enjoyed this post and crochet is your thing, you may like some other crochet articles from our blog.

Your First Crochet Sale

Your First Crochet Sale

,

Your First Crochet Sale Your first sale is defined as the one where you sell a hand-made crocheted item to someone you have never met. When you make your first sale it is one of the five steps towards building your prosperous crochet business. That initial sale can be...

Triangle Shawl Crochet Design

Triangle Shawl Crochet Design

Shawl and Wrap Shapes Wraps are rectangles and shawls are triangles. This is the general consensus. You can get semi-circle wraps as well. But in this post I'm discussing the structure of crocheted triangles.   Triangles A triangle has three sides and three...

Lancashire Day

by | Crochet Stories

Lancashire Day

27th November every year is Lancashire Day.

Lancashire is a county in the north west of England.

This special day is celebrated by men and women and lassies from Lancashire who may or may not still live there.

Like me.

I am originally from Lancashire but I now live in Vancouver.

The sign says “Welcome to Lancashire A place where everyone natters” which is a twist on the saying everyone matters, because to natter is to chat (and maybe even gossip) especially with your friends and neighbours.

But in a friendly way, as people do in the north.

imgres-3

Lancashire

Nostalgia is a funny thing and draws you back to your roots and early childhood memories.

I haven’t been there for many years but still remember living as a child in a carefree environment walking the fields and picking blackberries each endless summer.

It was on 27th November 1295 when the county first sent its representatives to the English Parliament.

That was over seven hundred years ago and this date is now celebrated as Lancashire Day

 

How to celebrate Lancashire Day

Wear a red rosecropped-Rose.png

This is the symbol for Lancaster and comes from the War of the Roses. For years Lancaster was the county town but now it is Preston.

As you can see it is the icon for Old English Creations and I have it as my favicon as well. Not got much to do with crochet but more of a backstory piece.

The white rose is for York and Yorkshire. You know, where the puddings come from, so no white roses.

imgresCook my Nana’s Lancashire Hot Pot

This is my grandmother’s recipe and we used to have it once a week as kids.

Lancashire Hot Pot is a casserole like meal prepared in one dish that can be kept warm for people coming home late.

It is made with the local ingredients from the area and is traditionally eaten on a weekday night.

It is a simple dish made from of lamb, onions, potatoes and sometimes turnips.

I haven’t made it for a while so the image is from wkkicommons free images

Ingredients

  • 1kg shank or neck of lamb
  • 2 large potatoes
  • 2 large onion
  • flour for dusting
  • thyme dried but fresh is best
  • 500ml vegetable or meat stock

Method

  • Preheat oven to 180C.
  • Cut the  lamb into one inch cubes and dust in flour.
  • Slice the potatoes and onions 5mm thick. Keep aside some evenly sized potato slices for the top.
  • In the bottom of a greased heavy casserole dish (that has a lid) place a layer of potato slices overlapping slightly. Then add a layer of onion (and optional turnip) and then a layer of lamb.
  • Continue the layers and end with a potato layer from the slice kept aside earlier.
  • Add the vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper.
  • Bake for 3 hours with the lid on and then 30 minutes with the lid off to crisp the top potatoes.

Your hot pot can be removed from the oven and kept warm to eat later in the day.

Serve with pickled red cabbage on the side.

 

Sing the folk song

The Lassie from Lancashire

She’s a lassie from Lancashire

Just a lassie from Lancashire.

She’s a lassie from Lancashire

Oh, so, dear.

Though she dresses in clogs and shawls,

She’s the prettiest of them all.

None could be rarer, or fairer, than Sarah,

The lassie from Lancashire.

 

 

Author Bio

Alison Heathcote, a passionate crochet enthusiast and dedicated business blogger, combines her love for crafting and entrepreneurship to inspire and connect with others.

With a knack for transforming yarn into beautiful creations and a flair for sharing valuable insights about running a successful crochet business, Alison embodies the perfect blend of creativity and practicality.

More Articles

If you enjoyed this post and crochet is your thing, you may like some other crochet articles from our blog.

Triangle Shawl Crochet Design

Triangle Shawl Crochet Design

Shawl and Wrap Shapes Wraps are rectangles and shawls are triangles. This is the general consensus. You can get semi-circle wraps as well. But in this post I'm discussing the structure of crocheted triangles.   Triangles A triangle has three sides and three...

Your First Crochet Sale

Your First Crochet Sale

,

Your First Crochet Sale Your first sale is defined as the one where you sell a hand-made crocheted item to someone you have never met. When you make your first sale it is one of the five steps towards building your prosperous crochet business. That initial sale can be...

The Crochet Wars

by | Crochet Stories

The war between knitters and crocheters continues unabated.

If you are not a knitter or a crocheter you may not be aware of the subtle war that rages on in parlours and coffee shops across the land.

I was chatting with my friend Nicole at Canadian Frost Apparel the other day about this very issue.

Like most wars, there is a pointless tension between the knitters and the crocheters. No one knows when the animosity began, but it crept in and is seemingly here to stay.

Let’s get straight to the point.

Knitters

Knitters use two needles with points. They may use a circular needle with points at both ends and a wire joining them, or, just to get tricky, they could use four double pointed needles for socks and tube-like things.

They have many stitches on their needles at once and sometimes hundreds for a large piece.

If they drop a stitch and it runs, it takes serious effort to retrieve it. Yes, knitted stitches will run away from their mistresses.

Knitters often feel superior to crocheters as though to knit is to be better in some way. Crocheters never look down on knitters but they see them as their crafty cousins. Both use the same yarns and buy their supplies at the same store.

You can have a “knitting bag” but who has heard of a “crocheting bag” I mean really.

Crocheters

Crocheters use one hook and yarn. The hook can have a thicker handle to aid tired hands and make the act of crocheting easier for extended periods of crafting. This feature on hooks makes crocheters calmer and relaxed.

Crocheters have one stitch on the go at once.

Crocheters can easily make a circle, square or any three-dimensional shape. In fact, crocheting has been used to demonstrate the Möbius strip-like in the March Möbius cowl, hyperbolic crochet and other spatial concepts.

If you can knit and crochet be careful in which camp you pitch you tent.

Myths surrounding Crocheters and Knitters

  • Knitters are better looking than crocheters. False
  • Crocheters only use one hand. False
  • All knitters can crochet but not all crocheters can knit. False
  • All crocheter are old ladies and that’s why they have “granny” squares. False
  • All knitters are young and hip. False

Craft Groups

I once joined a knitting and crochet meetup group. When I arrived the eight women there were all knitting. As I took out my crocheting there were gasps of horror from the assembly.

Who was this woman? What was she doing here, and with a hook?

One pleasant looking woman turned and said to me, “Oh, can’t you knit?”

I replied, “Yes I can knit, but not tonight. I’m enjoying my crocheting time.” Gulp.

I can knit and crochet. But, these days I prefer crocheting. It is easy and quick. I can do small squares everywhere I go and take them home to create a beautiful blanket or lapghan.

Out and About

I can crochet in the car or trapped in an aeroplane seat at 35000 feet. Here I have to use bamboo hooks as they get twitchy these days. But you can’t knit in a plane even with bamboo needles. It’s the point of the needle that annoys the authorities.

In the end you have to do what you like. Don’t be knitting because your mother did. If you prefer crocheting then forsake knitting for a while.

If you prefer the rhythm of knitting and can do it without looking then let that be your therapy.

Do what you love and love what you do.  It will permeate into your items and the love will shine through your completed items whether you used a hook or needles. 💛

Square-a-Day Crochet Blankets – 3 Options

by | Crochet and Creativity, Crochet as Therapy, Crochet Patterns, Crochet Stories

Square-a-Day Crochet Blankets

A crocheted square-a-day blanket is easy, quick and it almost grows when you are not looking.

You make one square each day of the year to reflect what was happening every day. At the end of twelve months you have a crochet record of how the year was for you.

Skills required

Because the effort you have to expend is only one square a day it can easily be done by beginners and experienced crocheters in a few moments each day.

If you are a beginner this project will help you get better at a simple granny square that will stand you in good stead for all of your crocheting life.

if you are an experienced crocheter you can add this little square to you repertoire of other crochet work that you have on the hook.

The square-a-day blanket is a perfect complement to other crochet work in progress (WIP) which you may have. The square-a-day blanket is a big project and will take you all year to finish. This means that you can also do other crochet work in-between.

Small, medium and large

It is always a good idea to have more than one project on the go, a big one (like this blanket), a medium one like a hat or shawl and a small one like a bookmark.

It is advisable to have large and small pieces and this blanket falls into the small pieces section because you can take it with you.

Basic square

The squares you do are a basic two-row granny square motif. The two rows can be one colour or in some cases (see below) with two different colours in each square.

You can do one, two or three square-a-day blankets and we have three suggestions of blankets that you can make this year.

 

3 Types of Square-a-Day Blankets

Three types of daily square blankets that you can make and are explained here are:

  • A daily rising planet blanket (astrology related)
  • A daily high temperature blanket
  • A daily mood blanket (your feelings)

Your life – your blanket

Clearly you can think up other ways to do the square-a-day blanket depending on interests in your own life.

If you are a gardener you can do one for planting, seedlings, flowers and fruits in your garden. The first rose bloom or the first apple on your trees. This is a good one as the seasons change and the garden lives a dies off over the year.

If you live in a rainy area you could do a square-a-day rainfall blanket.

Let the blanket reflect your life and the things that are important to you.

1) Daily Rising Planet Crochet Blanket.

For this blanket you will make one square for each day of the year.

The colour for each square is chosen depending on which planet rises before the Sun every day for 365 days.

Your blanket can be either 14 x 27 squares and this will make a long oblong blanket or it can be 18 x 21 squares which will make an almost square blanket.

Either way there is no simple way to make a rectangle that is 365 days so there will always be a few squares over and the left over squares can be where you write, or embroider, the date and year for the blanket.

Sunrise and the Pre-dawn Rising Planet

The pre-dawn rising planet (in fact this is also known as the Oriental Plane)t is the planet that rises on the eastern horizon every morning before the Sun at dawn.

This rising planet will change over the course of a year as the Sun and the planets move through the zodiac.

Choosing the Colours

You will use one colour for each planet. In astrology the Moon is considered a planet as well.

Moon – white

Mercury – taupe

Venus – pink

Mars – red

jupiter – blue

Saturn – grey

Uranus – turquoise

Neptune – mint green

Pluto – maroon

The Make-a-Square-a-Day method

Because we do in fact know which planet will rise before the Sun this blanket can be started and you can push forward with the daily squares if you choose.

But the best way to create this type of daily blanket is by making one-square-per-day which is the main idea.

This is a big project and it can be done alongside other smaller or medium sized projects that you have on the hook.

To make one small granny square and crochet it together will take you less than thirty minutes every morning or evening.

2) Temperature Blankets

There are two ways to do the squares in the temperature blankets. You can simply do the daily high temperatures or the high/low temperatures.

Daily high temperatures

In the high temperature blanket you take the daily high for the day where you live and crochet the square in the pre-determined colours you choose.

So for example in Vancouver the highs are about 26C in summer and 4C in winter.

So each degree on the thermometer can be one colour or you can designate one colour to cover two degrees because there are only so many colours of yarn in one make.

Daily high/low temperature blanket

The other option is the high/low temperature blanket.

In this blanket you do a granny square with two rows where the first row is the low temperature and the second row is the high for the day. This makes a more colourful combination of squares in the blanket.

The only thing is that you need a wider range of colours to cover the low temperatures as well.

Example colours for a temperature blanket

Zero and below white

1C to 2C cream

3C to 4C grey/taupe

5Cto 6C light blue

7C to 8C teal

9C to 10C green

11C to 12C lemon

13C to 14C yellow gold

15C to 16C orange

17C to 18C pink

19C to 20C hot pink

21C to 22C red

23C to 24C magenta

25C to 26C violet

27C to 28C purple

29C and above black

3) Daily Mood Blanket

A mood blanket can be done by crocheting a square in the mood you wake up in each morning.

We all like to think we are upbeat and happy each and every day and that is the goal of most people but reality is different. The only problem with this blanket is that you may be in a sad mood for many days and the blanket will bear witness to this.

Also if you get halfway through the year and your cat dies you will be is a sad mood for weeks and this will show in the blanket.

The mood blanket will reflect life as it really is. If you feel comfortable with making a mood blanket here are some suggested colours that you can use for each mood.

Example colours for a mood blanket

Anger – red

Joy – orange

Happiness – yellow

Envious – green

Sadness – blue

Optimistic – indigo

Inspired – violet

Bored – white

Tired – black

You can choose the colours beforehand and hopefully you will have a happy and cheerful year.

 

Author Bio

Alison Heathcote, a passionate crochet enthusiast and dedicated business blogger, combines her love for crafting and entrepreneurship to inspire and connect with others.

With a knack for transforming yarn into beautiful creations and a flair for sharing valuable insights about running a successful crochet business, Alison embodies the perfect blend of creativity and practicality.

More Articles

If you enjoyed this post and crochet is your thing, you may like some other crochet articles from our blog.

Crochet Patterns

Crochet Patterns

Author: Alison Heathcote   -   Published:  January 2024 About Our Original Crochet Patterns Finding a crochet pattern can be quite overwhelming with the multitude of options available. However, the real challenge lies in discovering patterns that not only meet your...

Crochet Patterns

Crochet Patterns

Author: Alison Heathcote   -   Published:  January 2024 About Our Original Crochet Patterns Finding a crochet pattern can be quite overwhelming with the multitude of options available. However, the real challenge lies in discovering patterns that not only meet your...

All About Crochet Ponchos

by | Crochet Stories

Ponchos

All About Ponchos

Ponchos are always on trend and make a good fashion staple.

Ponchos were originally made from a blanket with a hole cut in for your head. This simple method will still work, but it creates too much fabric around your body.

Your poncho should not lie out flat like a blanket, if it does it is way too big for you.

You can make a poncho from a triangle as well, by folding the points together and cutting a hole for you head. It is a simple piece of clothing.

Ponchos are typically pointed capes that have no sleeves and are closed at the front.

Modern poncho designs, with fronts and backs, are more flattering, streamlined and look good.

 

Poncho design (2 piece)

An easy poncho design is made by crafting two identical oblongs. In this design the the length is twice the width.

For example if the short side is 40cm then the long side should be 80cm. This would fit most women. For infants kids you can start with a 20cm to 30cm short side.

Then you sew them together offset and fold on the dotted line to join at the back as shown in the diagram below.

If you add a crochet border at the neck it will provide a better fit.

You can also create a polo neck to this ponch for cooler weather. If you don’t want so much fabric at the shoulder area you can add a drawstring that will make the whole garment adjustable.

poncho diagram 1-page-001

The two piece poncho design works well with stripes going lengthways. This draws the eye down towards the point thus elongating the look of elegance.

If the stripes go on the short side it makes the garment seem bulkier to the eye.

Any crochet pattern or striped stitches can be used to make the two simple rectangles and the possibilities are endless.

You can use granny squares as well.

 

 

How to Wear a Poncho

Ponchos are great for kids and women.

You can easily ride a bike in a poncho.

Wearing a poncho at an evening bar-b-que is a good option to a pashmina which you always seem to need to hold.

A poncho is easy to wear as it does not have to ‘fit’ the body well.

Your poncho should be snug but have some room.

Ponchos are good for travelling on the bus or plane as they are light and comfortable to wear.

A poncho is a casual garment at best.

This item is not part of your business, work wardrobe but will form part of your weekend easy-going clothes.

I like to have a new poncho every autumn and I will usually crochet one in the fall colours that season.

I sometimes make my daughters one each as well although they don’t always want one, that doesn’t stop me. 🙂

If you keep a poncho too long it can look ratty and tatty.

When it gets old give it to the dog as a blanket.

Poncho Size and Trim

Be careful of ponchos that hang too low in front.

You don’t want it flapping around you knees so you look like Clint Eastwood in a western movie.

The front point should lie at the same level (horizontally) as your finger tips when your hands are by your side.

Many ponchos have fringes which can be either all around the edge, are only tassels at the points, or only on two sides (left or right when facing front and back) of the point.

Poncho Colours

Watch out for garish colours and too many colour combinations in one poncho.

They look best with one, two or three colours only.

When you use colour in crochet you need to understand what works best.

If the darker colour is at the bottom and the lighter colours are at the top the garment is visually pleasing because the darker colours ‘ground’, or add visual gravitas, to the poncho at the widest part (the edge).

 

Crochet Poncho Patterns

I like making ponchos almost as much as I love crafting shawls and wraps. You can see my easy Poulton Poncho pattern and Preston Poncho pattern (details coming soon).

 

Author Bio

Alison Heathcote, a passionate crochet enthusiast and dedicated business blogger, combines her love for crafting and entrepreneurship to inspire and connect with others.

With a knack for transforming yarn into beautiful creations and a flair for sharing valuable insights about running a successful crochet business, Alison embodies the perfect blend of creativity and practicality.

More Articles

If you enjoyed this post and crochet is your thing, you may like some other crochet articles from our blog.

Crochet and Self-care 

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Author: Alison Heathcote   -   Published: April 2013   -   Revised: January 2024 Crochet for Self-care Crochet is a wonderful activity that can provide relaxation, mindfulness, and creativity, making it an ideal addition to your daily self-care routine. Whether you...

5 Steps to Your Prosperous Crochet Business

5 Steps to Your Prosperous Crochet Business

Author: Alison Heathcote   -   Published: February 2013   -   Revised: January 2024 5 Steps These are five of the most important steps you can take to begin your prosperous crochet business. As you transition from being a hobbyist crocheter, and you are on the road...

Crochet Granny Jacket Update #2

by | Crochet Patterns, Crochet Stories, Granny Squares

62 squares



Granny Jacket: Update Number 2


If you missed the start of the jacket (update number 1) and the granny square you can go back and read those posts. You can see the final post (update number 3) as well.


My crochet granny jacket is coming along now. I’ve sewn together 62 squares and two half squares, well triangles really, at the neck.


 


Yarn


So far I’ve used one ball of taupe, two balls of purple. two balls of grey and three balls of black.


 


Squares Crocheted


I will need 96 squares in total.


I always sew my squares together as I go. And I like to sew in the ends every colour change. So that’s quite a bit of sewing in, but I don’t like to have it all to do at the end.


 


Pockets


On the last row at the front (in the photo above) there are two pockets, one on each side in the middle square. Here I sewed two squares on top of each other with the gap at the top.


Pocket detail
Pocket detail


I will still add another row below the pocket, or maybe two. I’ll see. I am also toying with the ideas of making a pocket flap that goes above and maybe buttons down.


These are things that will become clearer as the garment grows.


I do enjoy making clothes with granny squares because you can take such a small item (one square) with you in you bag or even in you apron pocket as you cook dinner for the family.


I like to have a few projects on the hook at the same time:


    

  • A small one on granny squares like this jacket,
    • 

  • Perhaps a medium scarf for instance and then
    • 

  • A large piece like a blanket that I can’t take out of the house because it has grown too large to carry in my craft bag.
    • 



If you can’t get it on the bus it’s too big to take out. That’s where the granny square comes into its own. Portable and quick.


I will have the next update out soon.