Something I never thought I’d do!

 

Well, this morning I did something I never thought I would ever in a million years do!

I made my first appearance as a vendor at a craft bazaar! OMG! I really wasn’t sure how my designs would be received, that’s always one of my biggest worries, even though everyone tells me I have some awesome ideas.

Anyway, I was blessed with my own cheering squad: Skyler and Lily and my incredibly supportive and funny sister-in-law Tara (who hates having her picture taken, so you’ll have to take my word that she’s beautiful inside and out and has an amazing spirit). We had a great time!

And boy was I surprised when my Uglee Little Elf Hats completely sold out! I danced a little jig on the inside, and I think Tara saw it. And the Ethan design wasn’t far behind, as well as a couple of scarves and my donut dog toys. THEN I was told that people were touching the hat & scarf set I donated for the door prizes and that everyone was waiting for that one to be drawn and hoping they would win! When they finally got to mine, they announced that it was donated by Uglee Little Things, but that it certainly wasn’t ugly, that nothing I had was ugly. That, ladies and gentlemen absolutely made my day.

So, I don’t think I need to tell you all that I have been on cloud nine all day and I think I should just go ahead and place the Vendors Market at India Hook United Methodist Church on my yearly calendar, since it’s my first, and you never forget your first. Or the amazing people we met there.

Finally, here’s a look at my table, and a lot of respect:

See those beautiful brochures and the super cool table sign? Those were designed by my DH Danny, since he wanted to pitch in and help, even though he’s on tour in Australia. How incredible is he?! He needs a cape I tell you! I should probably make him one . . .

 

The only other news I have, and this is pretty big, is that I’m setting up the online shop and my Artfire  for Cyber Monday. So, once I’m done with all the back side work on that, I’ll post about it and then you guys can come clean out the rest of my stock! LOL

Now to enjoy the evening with the bonus kids!

MWAH!

Michele

Technorati Tags: crochet,hats,caps,scarf,scarves,craft bazaars,craft fairs

I wasn’t joking!

 

Remember in yesterday’s post how I was talking about it almost being Thanksgiving and the leaves were changing but I still had flowers in bloom? Well, here are pictures. And yes, the Confederate Rose blooms at this time of year, so that’s normal, but the Hibiscus? A tropical plant still in bud, in the foothills, in November? It’s like I have my own weird little weather microclimate in my yard.

Across the street

Our front yard

The view down the street

Our barn, no livestock in there, Danny (DH) stores his guitar stuff and spiders in there, although I think it would be a nice place for miniature goats or chickens . . .

Our backyard, with a little Confederate Rose peeking into the corner.

The bare-nekkid tree is the one that was half taken down in the spring storms this year, you can still see the fallen half on the ground, as well as the scar left when it fell. It narrowly missed our house. It was a nerve-wracking night, to say the least!

And here are my lovely knockout roses, which absolutely refused to bloom this entire summer, but decided to give the yard a little Thanksgiving colour

This is the Hibiscus I was talking about above, see the HUGE buds all over it? Another one that didn’t want to be a summer bloomer, along with one frazzled little dragon-wing begonia still blooming.

This is our gorgeous Confederate Rose. These are hard to come by and this one is HUGE! I was so incredibly happy to find it in our backyard, right next to the house.

Confederate Roses bloom white and over the course of a couple of days, they darken to pink, then to purple then they fall. It looks like a giant confetti party in the back yard.

And this is what the blooms look like in pink. I don’t have any that have gone purple yet, but when I find some, I will post a picture here for you to see.

That’s what my yard looks like this morning. Pretty nice, huh? Yeah, I think so too.

Now, here is what I have on my hook:

It’s called entrelac and it looks more complicated than it is. I discovered it on Ravelry and decided to try it and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s a basic Tunisian Simple Stitch, worked in two colours, but you can do it in as many as you want, so I’d say this could be a good stash buster!

And now, I return you to your regularly scheduled programming, or loafing, whichever . . .

MWAH!

Michele

Technorati Tags: autumn,fall,barn,livestock,crochet,entrelac,cowl,roses,hibiscus,confederate rose,blooms,caps,hats,scarf,scarves,baby

A little bit about me . . .

I usually post about things that I’ve made, or that interest me, or general stuff about me. I’m not really sure why that is, it just seems that sometimes I would rather hide behind those things than admit that I am human.

But here it is. I think I’m ready to admit I’m not a Vulcan, or a Romulan, or a Klingon. I am something of a Trekker, as well as a HUGE Star Wars geek (in fact, when I walked down the aisle 2 weeks ago, it was to “The Imperial March” aka Darth Vader’s intro music). And in case you’ve not noticed, I am in love with crochet. I like the way the yarn feels in my hands, I love seeing things come to life at the end of my hooks. And there is nothing better than seeing the smile on the face of someone who has received one of my Uglee Little Things.

And there are people out there who think this blog should be all about shameless self-promotion (I could be the Poison of the handmade world I’ve been told.) But I think it should be about more than that. I think it should be about me and my world and my life. In short, I want to use it so you can get to know me. And then you can understand where I am coming from.

So, here goes. Even though it’s not a secret among my family & close friends, I don’t generally broadcast things about my health to the general public. This makes what I am about to tell you a huge thing. I have fibromyalgia.

I know, not a shattering diagnosis. It’s not like it’s going to kill me. Nope, sometimes, I think that would be preferable to the constant pain. No, I’m not suicidal, so don’t get bent out of shape and leave comments about how much I have to offer and how much life I have left. I know all that. Besides, as anyone who knows the real me will tell you, I’m more homicidal than suicidal LOL!

I deal with this thing every single day. I get that I don’t look sick, therefore people outside my close circle don’t know that every morning it’s a miracle I can get out of bed and get downstairs to take care of the fur-kids, work on my budding business and then go to my “real” job. I’ve even had family members question my status. And that hurts.

I’m pretty tough, I can get things done. But this thing has sucked away my energy, I stay exhausted and have had to learn to deal with stabbing, shooting pains all the time, just in different parts of my body. Right now, they are centered in the arches of my feet. You can imagine how fun that is, can’t you?

And still I get up every single day and force myself to get through the day, and take care of the people around me. And I still put up this front of being completely self-reliant. Asking my husband to put commonly used pots and pans on a shelf in the pantry was a huge blow to my ego, but I could no longer climb up to get them out of the cabinet above the stove.

The fibro is one of the biggest reasons I started Uglee Little Things. I’m pretty sure eventually I won’t be able to work much at all, and as long as the pains stay out of my hands, I can crochet. That gives me a certain amount of freedom, knowing I can create these beautiful things to help bring in some extra money. I am something of a boot-strapper, I don’t want to have to go on disability, I don’t want to live off the government, not when I can do something.

So, this is the extent of my whining. I try to not do much of it, I don’t like it. Not only coming from me, but coming at me as well. We all have the freedom to choose, to decide how we are going to react to certain things. Notice, I said above that I have fibromyalgia, it doesn’t have me. I know it’s a thoroughly modern ailment and I wonder what causes it, if there will ever be a cure. But I can’t live in what-if, I have to live in the here-and-now, and that means finding relief for myself somehow, some way. Perhaps this blog will turn into a chronicle of that journey, maybe it will just be a way to let you see the world through my eyes. I don’t know yet. I will continue to post things I’ve made, and the smiles they’ve brought to the faces of others.

In short, I think this blog will turn out to be about Michele and her life, not how her disease has ruined it. I hope you’ll hang around and enjoy it with me.

Maybe you can also answer why I have new growth on my roses, and why they are still blooming while everything else except my camellia is dying off. It’s almost Thanksgiving and I have roses blooming. That makes me laugh . . .

MWAH!

Michele

Technorati Tags: crochet,kids,children,hats,caps,scarf,scarves,handmade,fibromyalgia

Now that the madness has ended . . .

Now that all the insanity surrounding the wedding has ended and I’ve had a chance to breathe, I’m back to work on Uglee Little Things! WOO HOO!

 

First up, I finally finished Trinity’s hoodie! *happy dance* It only took me a month because I was having such a hard time keeping everything straight with the wedding, but this is why I am SO grateful: Trinity’s mother Sarah was so very understanding, and was happy to receive updates on how it was coming along. She also understood that I was having to heavily modify my usual pattern and that that sometimes takes a little time. Sarah is a truly amazing woman and I can hardly wait to deliver this gem to Trinity!

And now, I have some time between orders, so I decided to make something for myself! I’ve not had much time to do this for a while, since I’m always designing and making things that immediately go to new homes to be loved. And what did I choose to make for myself? Origami Socks!

I don’t know what it is about handmade socks that makes me so happy. There’s just something about them. And I love sock yarn, but my fingers and hands generally don’t, by the time I’m done, they’re all cramped up and begging for relief, but I love the finished project!

I’ve not done the seaming yet, and I still have the second one to make, but here is what it looks like before doing the actual origami part:

 

I know you’re looking at that picture wondering just how something that looks like that will become a sock, but believe me, it will! I’ll post another picture as soon as I have them both finished and you’ll go “Oh yeah! That makes sense now!”

So, let me get back to work on them!

Technorati Tags: hoodie,socks,origami,crochet,sock yarn,yarn,blue,purple,handmade