October Motif - Day 3

Okay, so yesterday was day 3, and I'm late posting. I didn't work my motif until late last night, then I went to bed. The pattern is for a pair of earrings (Large Royal Earrings on Ravelry) when worked in thread, but I've worked mine in worsted weight to match the other motifs.

I hope to have more progress to show on my skull top later today (or late tonight, the way these things usually go), and I'll have another motif to share!

October Motif - Day 2

Today I made the Tropical Flower motif. The pattern is two rounds and not ideally worded, but it is easy enough to see what stitches are necessary from the pictures.

It's a little wrinkly, because I haven't blocked it yet, and won't until I have a whole batch of motifs to work on.
Continuing the purple theme, I'm also working on a top for Halloween. I used the skull from this Skull Shawl pattern (with a couple of tweaks to chain lengths and such) and changed the layout a bit to make a top. Initially I was going to work the whole thing in one piece in the round, but I decided to work separate front and back. That way I could work one side, then see if it was going to work out before I did the other side.
I'm still debating on final touches; seam sides and leave openings for armholes or add straps, or even add shoulders and sleeves? We'll see after the back is finished and I've pinned them together.

Autumn Renewal

Autumn, to me, is a transformative time. The weather cools (slightly. I live in southeast Texas.) and we get a little more rain, so the brown grass of scorching summer turns green and lively again. The stores shelves fill with vibrant oranges and golds and burgundies and rich chocolate browns. It's usually around this time that I take on too much, because I feel the need to do everything! Bake more, clean house more, make more handmade things, do more schoolwork...

This October is no different! I'm focusing on my fiber art skills, though. Yoga is still there. Grad school is still there. The kids and the messy house - still there. I want to work on stepping outside of my comfort zone creatively. I begin teaching crochet classes at Michaels this month. In order to accomplish that, I am working on the Certified Instructor Program through the Craft Yarn Council. Although I have the requisite technical skills to complete the coursework and swatches, writing lesson plans will be a new experience for me.

Another thing I've decided to try is to make a motif or scrumble every day through the month. A scrumble, for those who have never heard the term, is simply a piece of freeform crochet or knit. It can be one tiny little piece of stitching, or lots of pieces all worked together. It can be made with various colors or just one color, with various types and textures of yarn or all one single type. It can be crocheted, or knit, or both together. Scrumbling is not something I'm really very comfortable with, and my style of freeform crochet is closer to Irish crochet than scrumbling, with typical patterned motifs joined into a larger piece. Nevertheless, I try.

I've also decided to open an Etsy shop. I do have a storefront at the moment, but it is still very much under construction, and I expect it to very slowly evolve. I'm taking my time on that project.

And, of course, I'm still an Independent Scentsy Consultant. Scentsy is one of those products that I just really love, so I'm happy to be associated with it. Feel free to browse the Fall/Winter and Holiday collections in my store!

And so, here is my first motif for the month of October. It's a tiny one, the Forget-Me-Not pattern from Carola Wijma. I used some scrap acrylic yarn in my favorite color.