Eleven and counting

Today I dropped off 11 hats made from Stonybrook Meadows wool to Stonybrook Meadows' owner.  I embellished them somewhat with colorful wool from my stash, but mostly it was the farm wool, and those 11 hats took nearly 2 1/2 pounds of yarn.  We are thinking of having more roving spun, but she wants to do it while spending as little for shipping as possible, so someone local or within reasonable driving distance.  Know anybody?  I will keep cranking out hats till the yarn runs out, and this first batch allows her to see the economics of it - what will people pay?  What sizes and designs are most popular?  What's a stinker that won't sell?  Is it worth making any more yarn?

That's not all I did, though.  I kept plugging away on items for the fundraiser, sometimes just finishing little details.  Like, voila, the Biohazard socks are done!  I sat on the last one for a week or more before I got up the mindset required to graft those last toe stitches together.  Now they just need washing and blocking, which also requires the proper mindset.

And I finished this little guy once I got the hooks and eyes for his feet:

I love well-designed crochet patterns.  This and the sea otter (still on the to-do list) came from June Gilbank of Planet June.  If you're looking for some good patterns and don't mind spending a few bucks (I think each of these was $5.50) hers are well worth it.  Another good designer is Kati Galusz.  Her animals are incredibly lifelike in form and pose, like these:

Wow, look how realistic that cat is!  I'm pretty much a cheapskate (I was recently thrilled to buy jeans from Goodwill for $7 and find them on sale for $3.50), but I will gladly pay for a skillfully executed pattern.  The vast majority of the patterns I use are free, but there are a few I find enticing enough to pay for.  You know how much work you put into making something, and you have to know that the designers put work into it too.  Most of the paid patterns I find on Ravelry are between $1 and $6.  I also try to guide people toward buying their own copy of those patterns rather than sharing, because I want to help promote the designers and help them earn a living from their skill.  So if you ask for a pattern and I send you to a website instead of giving you a copy, that's why.

More projects are lined up.  Still working on a knitted doll family, I have to finish a lamb hat (which may be too big for anybody willing to wear it), but I have patterns and yarn bagged up for a scarf (beautiful merino from Morehouse Farms), Kroy sock yarn and a yoga sock pattern, and a purple Nessie.  I'll make the scarf on my way to Florida later this month, and maybe take the yoga socks as an alternate project.  Nothing with multiple colors or requiring stuffing, eyes, or other tools.

Are you going to the Garden State Sheep and Fiber Festival?  I'm going on the 13th to look at beautiful yarn and tools, and talk to spinners who might be local.  Did you know that a baby alpaca is called a "cria"?  I learned that there.  Check out the list of vendors on the website to see all of the yarn-related things that will be for sale.  I may acquire a little angora.  One year we watched a woman spin yarn right off the back of a live bunny sitting quietly in her lap!

I hear my crochet hook calling me.  One more row, then another hat base is done.  Maybe a white pompon and some embroidered snowflakes for this one...