Handmade Tip: Have A Plan

Source: ohhellofriendblog.com via Katherine on Pinterest

It happens to all of us. You get a phone call or a text message with BIG NEWS. Your best friend is headed to the hospital to have her baby, your brother is moving into his new house in three weeks, or a co-worker is turning 30 and you’re invited to the big bash.

Most of us are busy, busy, busy. So even though handmade is your passion, and you want to  make time to make a gift, when you’re hard pressed are hard pressed to come up with an amazing, thoughtful idea your brain suddenly shouts, “gift card!”

It’s an easy default, I know. But here’s a tip for those of us who are craft-inclined and don’t mind getting putting in the extra time to go handmade. Have a go-to plan.

Here are a few examples:

• Prepare a freezer meal. Whenever someone special going through a big, emotionally draining event the last thing they need to worry about is making dinner. Seriously, we all have to eat and we’ve all resorted to [insert terrible fast food chain or your choice] in a pinch. Receiving a pre-made meal is a lifesaver. Best friend just had a baby? You show up with freezer lasagna, in a disposable tray, with heating instructions. What a relief! [Need a freezer meal recipe? Check out some of the things my friend Kate made, like Salmon with Snow Peas & Sausage Jambalaya, here.]
• Choose one DIY  and customize it. Choose a DIY or craft that you love and that you can customize for a almost any occasion. Need an example? If you’re good at sewing you might choose to make zippered pouches. (Sew Together created a great tutorial for drafting patterns here.) Play with your fabric choice, your embellishments, and the size and you’ve got tried and true gift idea that produces a custom result each time. So jet setting friend gets a larger bag for laptop, camera, and cell phone cables, your teacher friend gets a pencil/pen case, your friend who loves vintage gets a change purse.

Or when really pressed for time:

• Go semi-handmade with labels and tags.  Brother just got a new house? You know you’re going to be packing and shelping boxes – for free – which is your real gift, but what if you still want to do something right now to say "Congrats!"? Drop off a bottle of champagne, but with a handmade tag that brings it from hum-drum to oh-my! [There are some adorable free printable labels available here from Salt & Paper.

Happiness Looks Like

An afternoon with a challenging pattern, new yarn, and my hooks.
Coffee in the mornings with my Dad.
Watching SMASH each week with my Mom.
Strolling through a flea market with HB.
Thirty minutes of yoga with a girlfriend.

Paring Back

You knew this was coming, right? How, my friends, did I think I was EVER going to manage everything I was trying to jam into my daily life? Ugh. I know most of you are out there thinking some version of, “we’ve all done it.” And it’s true. So here is what I am going to do about it…

But first  here is a [very quick, very simplified] sampling of “everything” that I've been trying to squeeze into my days:

• Running a business
• Being in a book club
• Being in/managing a blog group
• Working on a happiness project
• Managing a monthly meet up for the women in my happiness project group
• Volunteering and managing a team volunteer project at a local non-profit
• Spending time with my family
• Recharging by spending time with my friends
• Exercising weekly

Folks I don’t think I have an “off” setting.  I do have this little voice in the back of my mind that says, “Kasey, this is too much,” but I ignore it. “It’s ok,” I tell myself, “I’m a hard worker, I’m organized, I’ve got this.”

But let’s be serious. When I’m sitting in bed trying to decide if I should read my book club book, gather the questions I need to send my mentor, or stick to my bedtime I’m paralyzed. I literally cannot make a choice about what I should be doing. Reading for book club sounds indulgent. So does bed time, because after all it’s not really productive, right? So I should focus on those questions. Except that I am really tired, and I know I’m not going to do my best work when I'm tired because all of the happiness studies I've read have said so. Then I realize going to sleep is not indulgent. And for that matter neither is reading my book club book…and by now 10 minutes have past and I'm just wasting time.

I have a terrible impulse to do everything RIGHT NOW or else I worry I’ll miss something. I mean really, perhaps I should join a book club after my business is off the ground.... Here’s the thing – if I try to do it all I won’t enjoy it. I won’t do things well. And it won’t have been worthwhile to do anything. 

So I'm scaling back and enjoying the things I have chosen to do right now.

There may only be three blog posts on here a week, but hey that means I will have more time for crochet projects and more pictures of finished work to share. Maybe I’ll even finish my desk and write a "how to" post about my process. Oh yeah and I’ll have time to reflect on how I’m feeling about all this happiness I’m bringing into my life. So perhaps, if I am really lucky, I’ll have some insights to share.

Has anyone else decided to scale things back recently? What are you cutting out? Will you add it back later like I plan to do?

Coffee Tangent

I’ve got a thing for caffeine. Seriously, if I don’t have coffee by 10 AM I’m a monster (due to a MONSTROUS headache). Last  Monday, I woke up late and didn’t have time to make my morning coffee. I didn’t stop at Wawa for a cup because, like I said, I was running late.

I got to the office at 8:00 AM and there was no coffee.
NO COFFEE?!?!?!

Let me put this in perspective. I work in a GIANT corporate complex. My office is on the 5th floor and we have two coffee pots in the kitchen, several individual coffee from pod devices at various desks, and probably a few other coffee machines that I’m not aware of because I don’t know everyone on my floor. And I COULD NOT find a cup of coffee.

Folks I went to the 6th floor and there was no coffee there either.

At 10:00 I had the headache. At 2:00 PM I got desperate and drank warm, flat, store brand coke JUST FOR THE JOLT OF CAFFINE.

Low point ladies and gentlemen, low point.
Que interior monologue: [Kasey in announcers voice]: If you had to describe yourself in one word what would it be?
[Kasey answering as self]: “Caffinated.”

I realized I have a caffeine problem and should probably cut my coffee intake. start drinking half caf. Because folks soda is nasty. It’s not the caffeine I’m after. It’s the coffee.

Coffee = Prime ingredient in Kasey’s identity.

The end.

**Blogger’s note: I feel I am obliged to be honest and tell you that I have made no attempt to curb my caffeine intake since the monster of a headache. I didn’t even buy decaf or half decaf coffee. Though I mentioned it to HB and he has helpfully sent me ads for lots of kick your caffeine addiction aids (caffeinated soap?).
I did, however, change my alarm to wake me in time to make a pot of coffee, locate a Dunkin’ Donuts and TWO Starbucks within 3 miles of the office, and decide that if I ever have a coffee craving of this magnitude again I’m leaving the office on a coffee run (it’s perfectly acceptable, particularly if I ask my boss if he wants anything).

How to Gather Your Tribe

These lovely ladies make up my tribe…

Top to Bottom then Left to Right: Skye, Chelsea, Morgan, Kelsey, Nat, Aubrey, Cassie,  Kate 

Not exclusively mind you. I’ve also got my mentor, Gussy…

Gussy

And then there are all those lovely people in my life who are not directly involved in blogging and handmade businesses like me. So if those chicks in photo 1 are my tribe then the rest make up my social circles (ahem, I’m using the word circle as in your “circle of friends” or like you might say someone “moves in many [social] circles”). You know family and friends…

[Shane + I] [Mom + Dad] [Friends/Camping] [Friends/Beach]

If you’re feeling a bit lonely, go out and gather your tribe. Here is what I did…

1. Blog hop. Spend a week reading blogs and hopping around to check out others. Have a goal that by Sunday  night you’ve identified 10 (ish) people that you would like to have in your tribe.

2. Connect. Leave thoughtful (non-spammy) comments when you blog hop. And if it’s your thing join the conversation on Twitter & Facebook.

3. Send an email! The worst thing that can happen is that people will say “no.” Which is not “no, I don’t like you” it’s more likely, “no thank you, I don’t have time right now,” “no thank you, that’s not really how I like to connect,” or “no thank you, I’m intimidated and not ready for this yet.”

4. Be willing to do the heavy lifting at first. Organizing a group is a lot of work. Put together a meeting agenda, use Doodle.com to pick a date, send reminders, and TALK TALK TALK during the first meeting to make everyone comfortable. Oh and if all that sounds totally overwhelming enlist a partner. I did and Skye is awesome.

Ok so no excuses, go find your tribe.

Shopping: Notions & Yarn

Now that I’m running Buttonwood Cottage as a full fledge crochet business it can sometimes be very difficult to show restraint. For example, ordering materials.

Do you know how many gorgeous buttons you can find online? Do you know how many they send you when you buy them for wholesale prices? LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS.

From left to right: HA S Inspiration, Bumbershoot Supplies, tomacrafts  

And let’s not get me started on yarn. Which I can now buy in a cone instead of a skein. If you have no clue what I’m talking about here’s a brief breakdown.

1 cone of yarn > 1,000  yards (I’ve seen 1,200 – 2,600 yard cones)

1 skein of yarn ~  200 yards (I’ve got yarn in my stash that ranges from 158 yards/skein to 240 yards/skein)

Left to right: hippiechixfiber, GnomeAcres  

And to give you some perspective…

1 pair of ruffled arm warmers uses about 200 yards of worsted weight yarn.

Ruffled Armwarmers 

So when I get my glossy yarn catalogues in the mail, or hit a wholesale warehouse on the weekend, or peruse my local yarn shop to determine which manufactures I want to approach about ordering from directly I have a whole lot of choices and a tiney, tiny budget with which to buy a season’s worth of yarn.

To be honest…this is a lovely problem to struggle with. I’m enjoying every moment. And after some paralyzing indecision I’ve made a few choices for this spring/summer. Check out some of the yarn and notions you will DEFINITELY see in my shop…

Blogger Confession: I Take Terrible Photographs

I take terrible photographs. I know that this isn’t much of a surprise for those of you who frequent the blog and find yourselves thinking, “ugh these photos AGAIN – what is she thinking?”

You know it took me nearly an hour to get those photos of my desk yesterday? Pitiful, right? Sure they’d have been a bit better if I’d taken them in the morning with lots of natural light, but I procrastinated. I do that when I’m afraid I’m going to fail (fail = take awful photos which will then be published for the world to see).

Here is the thing, I promised myself I would do the best that I can with what I’ve got, that I will not try to do everything at once, and that I won’t let perfection be the enemy of progress when it comes to blogging. So my photos currently stink and I’m aware of it. But believe it or not that is one of seventy or so things I want to change about this blog. So even though my photos make me uncomfortable every time I hit “publish,” I do it. Because if I waited until the post was “perfect” and the blog was “perfect” I’d NEVER POST AT ALL.

Anyway, I’ve got a plan. I won’t have terrible photos forever. It’s one of those things that is on my list that I just can’t work on yet.  I’d like to upgrade to a new camera, but I have to wait a bit. The plan is to get something new before my trip to Colorado in June. I also have plans to work with my dad (who takes great photographs and has one of those scary professional cameras with a million buttons) to get some better photos for the blog/shop and to learn a bit about photography. I might not ever be a photographer, but I can at least be proficient with my camera, able to fuss with some basic settings, and know the basics of composition.

And before you ask *yes* I know there are A MILLION tutorials on how to use your camera, play with photoshop, etc etc online. But once I get a camera in my hands with the intention of taking a good picture for a specific purpose  my brain shuts down. Again, I’m working on it.

So, I’ve got a plan and I’m engaged in that plan. My photos might not be perfect, but that’s ok for now. I promise they will eventually get better.

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to beg compliments on my crappy photos. [ew]  I am not asking you to jump in on my pity party. The photos that I have taken for this blog are not up to my quality standards, so I’m taking action. Just not right this minute, because that’s now how life works, mmk?

Building a Desk

I was a bit emotional this weekend so I threw myself into project mode and built a desk.

Ok I bought a board (after consulting Dad), stretched it across two shelving units (lots of wiggling and shuffling involved to make sure everything was level) and called it a desk. It’s not even a finished desk. The board needs to be stained to match the rest of my dark furniture. And I think the desktop may deserve a glossy coat of poly too… Oh and I moved my (water)bed and nightstand to accomplish this task.

But this little project took up more time then you might expect. Most of my Sunday afternoon in fact. So… thumbs up to me and my new desk which is helping me turn my bedroom space into a more functional creative space.

Oh and now I have special drawers for finished products which are waiting to be photographed/shipped/listed.

I'm struggling to write this post. I wasn't even certain I should. But since this is where I share about handmade living I suppose it's wrong to eliminate the tough stuff in life.

My family lost a beloved pet this weekend. And we are one of those families where pets are member  full fledge card carrying members of the group. It was sudden, unexpected, and of course we are all heart breaking.

We miss Guss Guss, who was by all measured still a baby and who left us far too soon.

Please forgive me if I'm slow to answer comments this week and if posts are minimal. I'll do my best to keep the blog running like normal.

Pinning Away

Source: Uploaded by user via Kasey on Pinterest

Happy Friday!

I'm pinning away...I seem to be developing a spring color palette with lots of teal, red, grey, white, and maybe a dash of brown for good measure? Add a little yellow and it'll transition to summer, right?


I'm over on pinterest if your interested.

So Grateful

Well yesterday I whined about my wrist and then worried about how my choices are impacting my health. Today I'd like to take a few moments to be grateful.

For my supportive family.
For all the love in my life (HB, family, friends, pets).
For having a talent that I really enjoy.
For this little corner of the internet I've carved out and of you who visit.
For the roof over my head and food in my stomach.
For my car which gets me from point A to B.
For this business adventure I'm undertaking.
For my tribe.
For the "stuff" that makes my life so much easier for 99% of the world.
For my health [lame wrist and all].

Yes Guss, I'm thankful for you. Even if you won't let anyone sleep past 10
on Saturday. Even if you tried to eat Roxy yesterday out of jealousy. And
even though you once tried to eat the coffee pot and scared me half to death.

I hope you have a hundred things to be thankful for and that you take a minute to really appreciate them this weekend.

I hurt my wrist and bought a new mouse pad

I’m not sure exactly what I did. Maybe I picked up the Crockpot the wrong way. Or maybe I strained something when I was pouring a giant jug of wine into a container to make some sangria (we didn’t use all the wine!). Whatever I did I hurt my wrist at some point on Sunday and it’s still sore today (Wednesday).

I’m more than mildly concerned, but I haven’t made an appointment with my doctor if that helps you gage my level of concern. I know I’ve got stuff to crochet and I can’t do it when my wrist feels like this.  Or at least I know I shouldn’t and it’s very difficult to be disciplined enough not to risk doing more damage in order to tackle the projects that have been nagging me to finish them. This brings me to my second scary thought…what if I actually injury my wrist or hands?

Ouch!

I type a lot and have for years, I crochet for hours on end, and I haven’t been careful to set up ergonomic work spaces. Now, with my sore wrist protesting every time I open a drawer, I’m wondering if I’ve actually injured myself in along term way. It’s unlikely. But what if this is my wake up call and I am headed in that direction right now if I don’t change something? I know people who’ve had corporal tunnel surgery and let’s just say you’re never back to 100% after (from what I’ve heard).

Now that I’ve had my wakeup call I’m adjusting my keyboard at work, browsing the internet looking at ergonomic crochet hooks, and rethinking the way I set up my laptop to blog.

But, why is it that we ignore our basic health needs in the first place?

Yesterday, I sat down and wrote a post about how my critter self works best when I’ve had enough sleep and I am well fed. And don’t you know last night it was a herculean effort to turn the lights off at 10 pm and NOT pick up my laptop to handle “just a few quick things” before going to bed?  Today, I am still struggling to break away from a project and refill my glass of water when I’m thirsty (even though I know that putting it off is only hurting my ability to work on this project efficiently).  And no matter how many times I promise myself I will exercise three times a week I have to confess that I don’t ever do it more than once. As a matter of fact this Tuesday was my second consecutive week of doing yoga with a friend. I celebrated that as a success and a step toward improved health because it was even if it’s not perfect.

What tiny things are you doing to improve your health lately?

My Critter Self Works Best When...

I have read at least a 100 blog posts and articles where the message is some variation of, "I'm not doing my best right now because I'm tired!" Amen sisters, it really is hard to get it all done in a day. When I'm struggling those posts are a great source of comfort because I know other bloggers, business owners, 20 somethings, etc are experiencing the same challenges I am and they are surviving or better yet thriving!

So here is one of the many things I've learned that has allowed me to work smarter and get the most quality work done in the limited 24 hours I am granted each day.

Know Thy Self!

It can be so hard to be self-aware. Especially when you have a full plate. I get it. Well, recently I force myself to be a bit more self-aware.

Remember the Take Action Roadmap? [Nope they don't pay me to talk about it.] Well it's got a great section on knowing your critter self. When do you work best? When do you find it's hardest to do your best work? Here are some things I noticed about my work habits...

Critter print by SeaUrchinStudio available on Etsy
(Please pin directly from the shop! )

I work best when:

• It's very early or somewhat late. I'm most focused and productive between 8AM - 11AM or 6PM - 11PM.
• I have snacks on hand.
• All the resources I need are at my finger tips. Searching for scissors, an email, or document gets me annoyed and I lose my zen focus on whatever  I'm doing.
• I have a reasonable to do list that I am progressing through. If the list is too long I get overwhelmed, then stressed, and then I spend a lot of time hopping from project to project and NOTHING gets completed
• I have a deadline. It just make prioritizing so much easier.

In college I noticed I got better grades when I had more stuff on my plate. At first that makes  no sense (and sounds like a recipe for disaster) but here is why it worked for me. I abhor feeling unprepared. If my reading assignment wasn't done before class I felt like I was walking in with a scarlet letter on my shirt (S for Slacker). I worried about having enough time to do it all so much that I'd wake up in a panic that I'd slept through my alarm at 3:00 AM. The stress had to go, so I got intense about planning my days. 

Everything was scheduled with an extra cushion for "life" stuff because a printer always breaks when you only have 10 minutes to walk to class, your car dies when you have just enough time to get to work, and the library book you need is never available the night before a paper is due.

Having a schedule gave me peace of mind and then I stopped waking up at 3:00 AM.

Then there are the things I've learned make my critter self unproductive.

My critter self gets derailed when:

• I skip lunch.
• The room is messy with papers or clothes strewn about.
• Facebook or twitter are open (and the task at hand is something other than "update social media".)
• The TV is on.
• Someone is in the room and not working (on the phone, cooking dinner, watching TV).
• I don't have a schedule for the day or my to do list is unreasonable long.
• I'm  tired.

Knowing myself helps me make smart choices. Sure I could stay up to finish answering email, but tired Kasey is no so sweet anyway. Who wants an email from her? Know your critter self, and for heaven's sake set a bedtime! 

Trying Something New

You might remember that a few weeks ago I met up with a group of bloggers on Google Hangout and was Stupid, Ridiculous, Giddy, and Excited afterward. It was a wildly successful experiment. So successful in fact that I did it again for a new group of ladies.

photo via Life as Mom

This time our little group of four talked about The Happiness Project. If you aren't familiar with Gretchen Rubin's book the best summary I can give you is to say that it is about a woman who decided she wanted to be happier and dedicated a year to taking action to do just that. Our group will meet once a month and we talk about the strategies we are adopting to make ourselves happier, what is working, what isn't working, and then we offer each other support.

It wonderful to be a part of these groups. Sure they take time to organize and yes I get stressed out. When people are having trouble using the technology for the first time or when my cable goes out and then I get unceremoniously kicked out of the meeting (how's THAT for an ending?) I can't help but get stressed out.

Let's grab a cup of tea and chat.
Photo via Daily Candy

But having a group of women to connect with is so, so valuable. When you are doing something challenging like taking on a year long happiness project, or running a small business, it's nice to know that other people are experiencing something very similar. That they are surviving (and thus you are likely to survive to) but also that they care about you  and that you care about them and are willing to support each other.

See and I always thought I didn't like group projects. Seems I've found my niche.

What groups are you a part of? Why did you join them? If you're not part of a group what kind of group would you like to join?

Sweetly Saturday

Sometimes all I want to do over the weekend is sit down with new yarn and work on a project from start to finish.

But Calvin will have none of that.

And yes I might have liked to put a desktop on those drawers. I experimented with some contractors paper and decided that if I pushed the bed completely into the corner there really is enough room. But I dreaded the trip to Home Depot.  And after going to the grocery store there really wasn't time.

Maybe next weekend...

Guest Post: Little Stitchers

Ladies and Gents it's time for another guest post. Meet Chelsea & Morgan of LittleStitch! These lovely ladies are the awesome sewing duo behind fast growing, sewing focused indie business. I'm over on their blog today sharing some of my crocheting gaffs while they are here showing the first things they ever sewed. It's AH-MAZING how far we've all come.


Be sure to leave them some comment love, get to know them a bit better on their blog, and maybe even check out their shop to see what they're up to these days. [They might just be making a custom eBook cover for me soon!]

--------------------------------

Hello, friends of Buttonwood Cottage!  Chelsea & Morgan here from LittleStitch, where we blog about our adventures in running an Etsy shop of stitched treasures.  Kasey invited us over today to share with you the first thing we ever stitched.  (Thanks for having us, Kasey!)  First up is Morgan!

Several years ago, Chelsea gave me a wonderful Christmas gift - A gorgeous black and white print apron with ruffley turquoise trim.  I was amazed that she sewed the apron herself, and I started wondering if I could ever learn to sew…  Much less sew something that awesome!

On a long visit down to my parents’ house, I enlisted the help of my mom who had been sewing my entire life.  She decided that a valance curtain would be a good learning project for me.  We went to Hobby Lobby and picked out the fabric and thread.  When we got back to their house, she had me measure and cut the pieces.  Then I started sewing, and I was TERRIFIED!  I think it took me an hour to sew the length of the bottom hem of the curtain.  I remember asking my mom if I was slow and she just told me that I was learning…  That meant yes!  Ha ha.  Approximately three hours later, I successfully completed the curtain.  It wasn’t the straightest stitch, but I did it!  ;)

Since then, I’ve had lots of practice sewing things around my house like ottoman covers, more curtains, and pillow covers.  Sewing has come in very handy for this compulsive redecorator!  These days, I sew much faster and straighter.  Thank goodness for LittleStitch!

And here’s Chelsea’s tale:

In my high school years, my Gramma taught me the basics of sewing when Santa brought a sewing machine to me for Christmas.  During her lessons, there were several tiny practice patches of sewing that took place, but it wasn’t until my senior prom that I attempted my very own from-scratch project.

I was not a huge fan of purses.  Any Harry Potter fans out there?  The movies had just begun coming out when I was in high school, and they sold the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans in the store, which came in cute little drawstring pouches. Oh yes, I used one of those as my “purse”!  It fit my chapstick and money, and that was all I needed.

When prom rolled around, I decided to stitch up a new drawstring pouch that matched my dress.  Of course I had to “fancy” it up with a snazzy satin and pearl rope, tone-on-tone purple toile fabric, and two strategically placed white buttons.  (I mean, really?)  I made it much larger than my usual pouch so it could fit my camera.  (And I’m pretty sure I had my Bertie Bott’s pouch on the inside!)

(Yes, that’s my high school sweetheart turned hubby!  And goodness gracious do we look SO different now.)

I didn’t sew much after this project.  With college around the corner, I guess I lost interest.  But when my husband and I bought our house and I had a whole room upstairs to put my craft stuff, I decided to get stitching!  My first attempt was a scarf made out of this terrible green fabric- the only way I can describe it is a cross between fleece and canvas.  Well, let’s just say that when the scarf was finished- it found itself shoved in the back of the closet.  And I happened to unearth it when searching for the prom pictures shown above.

Oh, goodness- it’s so bad!  I even tried to put it on my pup Penny, and she was ashamed to wear it!  Look at Copper laughing behind her back.  Poor Penny!  I practiced on many more things before stitching up Morgan’s apron later that year. J

Thank you for sharing this glimpse into our stitching pasts.  We’d love for you to drop by, say hi, and check out some of Kasey’s unfinished works!

Spring!

We haven’t had much of a winter in New Jersey. Snowdays = 1 (in October). Days in the 50’s and 60’s = 10+ (in January, February…). So I’m still looking forward to spring, but I’m not anxiously anticipating the arrival of warm weather like normal. However…my yard thinks it is already spring. See!

Fingers crossed that we don’t get a late season frost (which would kill ALL of Mom’s favorite flowers).

Is anyone else looking forward to April showers? Just me? That’s ok. I love rain. Well rain + warm air. Sure it makes my hair awful. And yeah it’s awful to dodge puddles in the parking lot while wearing heels BUT I am super productive when I’m in my crafting space on a rainy day. And if I’m not crafting I love snuggling on the couch or bed with a book and seeing/hearing the rain out the window. It’s a Kasey thing.

Other ways I know it’s [nearly] spring? These projects have all landed on my inspiration board. That’s right, I’m thinking about spring/summer products for the shop and new yarn [I am so excited for new yarn]!

1,2,3,4

And most importantly [I think], it’s finally light outside BEFORE I leave for work [sh…don’t remind me the that the clocks are about to change and mess that up]  and AFTER I clock out at 4:30. It’s the small things in life that make me happy, you know?

What’s getting your excited for spring?

PS I’m linking up with Gussy

Crochet Skills: What is Pooling?

I was doing some yarn research in the ravelry forums recently when I came across the following thread, “Examples of Pooling – Good and Bad!”

Which begged the obvious question…what is pooling? I had heard of pilling before -which when a knit or crocheted fabric gets worn and develops pills or bumps on the surface like the photo below. But I clicked on the thread to figure out what pooling was.

via TechnoBake

Apparently most ravelers are in the know because it took 24 comments for someone to finally ask the question (and immediately receive an answer from Castlefibers). Here was the answer:

“pooling is when the colors in hand dyed yarn, in particular, that is not supposed to be self-striping pool together so you get bunches of the same color.”

Wha…? (here is a picture to help you out if you’re lost)

See the thick bans of the darker purple which almost look like stripes? That’s pooling. Yeah I’ve had that happen before. REALLY ANNOYING. That’s why I originally gave up on this project:

Those stripes were awful – and completely unavoidable. FAIL.