Saturday, January 31, 2009

Lead-testing Legislation Postponed 1 Year

The lead-testing legislation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has been postponed for one year, until February 10, 2010, in order to work out the details. You can read about it here.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09115.html

If you have not been following this legislation, I urge you to familiarize yourself with it since it will impact crafters and small, home-based businesses nationwide.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Bits & Pieces of Yarn

If you’re like most of us, you probably have odd skeins and bits and pieces of leftover yarns to deal with after completing a crochet project. It’s not too hard to find a project to use up the leftover whole or even half skeins, but what do you do with the smaller bits and pieces? Personally, I can’t bear to throw them away, so here are some of the projects I use them for.

....Crochet motifs for gift blankets or other items.
....Tie the ends together to make into magic balls.
....Donate to schools, senior citizen centers, etc.
....Make hats and scarves for charity.

(Note: I do not advocate placing the bits and pieces outdoors for the birds to use in building their nests. While the idea is well-meaning, I feel that the potential harm it poses for the birds is not worth the risk.)

What is a magic ball, you ask? It’s a ball of yarn made up of short lengths of leftover yarns. Simply tie the ends securely together, leaving a tail several inches long. (The tails are not woven into whatever project you choose to make with it.)

Some suggestions for magic ball projects are:

....Pet mats or coats
....Fun and funky afghans, lap robes or coverlets
....Mud rugs
....Coasters
....Mug and soda can cozies

If the pieces of yarn are very short, consider saving them for use in stuffing pillows, toys or other items that require stuffing.

I’m sure you can think of a wide variety of projects I haven’t named here!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

In With The New...

With the holiday season over for yet another year, it’s time for me to get back to work! As I mentioned previously, I’ve taken quite a bit of time off this fall and early winter, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle. I’ve lots of plans for new designs and directions to take my work in 2009. But, more about that at a later date!

I’ve learned that making New Years’ resolutions doesn’t work for me. Instead, I set goals, which I allow to change as time and life dictates. It puts a little less pressure on me, yet gives me something to work towards. Last year, I met two of the three goals I set. Considering that I had a change of heart and circumstances dictated that it wasn’t time for the third one to be fulfilled yet, I’m fine with that.

For 2009, my goals are:
1. Spend more time relaxing with family.
2. Put my Web site to better use.
3. Produce even more and better designs.

We’ll check back in another year to see how well I did.
Happy New Year 2009!