Wedding Season: Part One

So crochet is still going to be happening, but things have been sooo busy the past few months! Weddings are especially busy when you are in them! Weekends of planning, bridal showers, and bachlorette parties do not leave much time for crafting.

Just wanted to do a little check in to let you know Teabeans is not shut down permanently! Below are some of my favorite pics from Wedding Season: Part One.

Wedding #1: My sister, Molly

After the ceremony

Gettysburg, PA

Wedding #2: One of my best friends, Megan

Dancing with Iron Martin

Mechanicsburg, PA

Wedding #3: My cousin, Ben

During his Best Man's toast

Bells, Texas

It's been a beautiful, ultra-fun wedding season! I can't wait for Part Two, starting in August. Until then I am going to continue spending my time bike riding, half marathon training, and hitting the beach! I also caved and bought a crocheted sun hat. I am sure I could have made one eventually... but buying one took way less time and effort. I will post it soon!

Chat soon!

xo

Katiebeans

Checking In

Hi!
Is this thing on?
Mom said she missed Teabeans today. Mindy may be getting me a super cool necklace for which I will repay her with a super cool crochet project.
Maybe I should think about making a bathing suit again? Or that straw summer hat? Figuring the gauge on that was murder!
My favorite hook resurfaced when Iron Martin and I pulled out the pull out couch to watch a movie. Watching a movie on a pull out couch is waaaaay more relaxing than just sitting on it like a couch, believe that.
Just wanted to say hi. I still have a leaf headband for sale on Etsy. I have 3 slouchy hats if anyone wants me to set up an Etsy transaction. You pick the price, and they are yours.
Tatattoo!

Half a Dozen

Hello again. In this post it looks like I have six fingers. All the better to crochet with!

Hope to have some pics up soon of some older projects. I kept them under wraps because they were a friend's Christmas present, and I did not want to blow his cover.

Special Announcement

Due to the mega-large amount of personal requests I have received, I cannot at this time take any further special project requests. I love love love that people are requesting -- it makes me feel AMAZING that you like my sterf enough to want something TeaBeans of your own. Unfortunately I have a HUGE backlog of things to make, and I am trying to get sterf up on my Etsy shop too.

Again, THANK YOU THANK YOU for requesting TeaBeans wares. I am so sorry I cannot accommodate at this time.

xoxo

Katiebeans

Photo source.

Mega Mini Mini Minies

TeaBeans mini-updates/week in review...

Uno: Made a hat to sell on Etsy! Need some time to take pics and get it up there.

Dos: Started another hat to sell on Etsy. Kicked cat off my lap FOUR times, and FOUR times he came back to snuggle aka interfere with my crocheting.

Tres: Sent a couple hats to an old friend. Piggytails crossed that she likes them!

Quatro: Ordered some holiday yarn for a holiday project for another old friend. Excited to try something totally new!!!

Cinco: New Iron Martin beanie proving difficult. Loving the yarn color, hating the yarn. Half-finished project currently on mantle.

Seis: Foot injury hurt hurt hurts. Foresee more depression/hat making in the nearest future. Current Katiebeans is angry at Past Katiebeans for her decision to run 3 miles as fast as possible one day + 3 mile run on outdoor track another day. (For the record, did 3.5 in 8 min/mi pace... not bad for 6 months off!)

Siete: Next week imma try to post some sterf. But it's birfday week so I can't make any promises!

Goodnights!!!
Sleepybeans

Yarn Bombs Droppin Down, Overhead, Underground

Have ye heard of this? According to the all knowing Wikipedia: Yarn bombing or yarnbombing is a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk.

My West Coast TeaBeans rep dropped this knowledge bomb on me the other day (pun INTENDED!).

Yarn bombing is almost exclusively about beautification and creativity. (Wikipedia)

I can totally get on board with that. Substitute "yarn bombing" with "Katiebeans" in that sentence, and I fell like... same thing?!

Picture source.

123 What The?

So I got a book in the mail today, which I immediately knew would be a crochet book because it came from the company from which I had ordered my cardigan crochet book. They enclosed a bill for like $30 bucks for this book "I ordered" called 123 Skein Crochet. Learn more about it, and buy it on Amazon here... for $13.57!

Dudes, can I just say, I have a really bad memory, but I totally did NOT order this book. I mean, I know I kind of black out sometimes and wake up buried in Etsy goodies and sale Anthropologie accessories, but I KNOW I did not order this shiz.

(Side note: I just said to my cat, "baby it's so hard to crochet with you laying here." To which, Iron Martin said, "you aren't even crocheting! Stop saying that." So, I guess that speaks pretty negatively to my credibility and reliability as a narrator.)

Anywhooooooooooo, MOVING ON, let's just ignore that side note. I shall close by saying: I am keeping this book. And I am not paying for it. Thanks White Birch, or whoever, for sending me this and thinking I am some poor, forgetful, old lady who crochets afghans all day and is easily conned. I am not. And if you come after me for my book/money (as Iron Martin aptly noted, they know where I live), I will have already made fabulous items from the patterns enclosed within 123 Skein Crochet... (like I even know what that means. I mean, doesn't all yarn come in skeins? 123 what the h?)

That is my story. And I am sticking to it. Slash, if they send me another bill I will probably definitely pay it.

Gagmo!

This just in -- I am now currently styling celebrities on the red carpet. See Cate Blanchett in one of my creations:

Um... Just kidding. Is this fashionable? Because if it is, I will soon be a multimillionaire, selling my styles to all the celebs. Read a review of her stylinly unstylish crochet dress here.

For reals, yo, what is happening??? I have never seen a more egregious frock of crochet in my life. I am here, working TeaBeans, rocking crochet, trying to make it fashionable, trying to break free from gramma blankets and baby hats, and here Cate Blanchett goes, ruining all my hard work.

Open message to Ms. Blanket Blancett, next time you want to hit the town in some crochet duds that are actually cute, hit me up.

I Heart Crochet

Once upon a time, I posted things I hate about crochet. Today, on a positive quote note, I thought I would share with you why I love crochet! I love adorable accessories and clothing, and I love to have unique style. Crochet appeals to me because (a) I enjoy the challenge of making my ideas reality, and (b) ultimately I end up having something adorable and totally unique. I prefer to embellish on patterns (or create my own) because (a) usually I have to in order to get the desired finished product, and (b) then my project is entirely unique. Plus, crochet is less popular and trendy than knitting, and more challenging because there are less options for patterns.

I guess you could say I do not enjoy crocheting for the sake of crocheting. I don't feel relaxed or anything. In fact, I am a very impatient person, and often I feel quite anxious (knots & losing count and all that).

I wonder if anyone out there reading this loves crochet??? I would love to know if you do and why!

Photo courtesy Moline.

Zoidberg Sunday

Happy Sunday! I was watching the first Anthology of Interest last night during our cartoon bedtime stories, and I noticed a crossroads of two of my favorite things: yarn crafting and Zoidberg! In this scene, Leela has just killed some characters and she is trying to act normal. As she walks by, a knitting Zoidberg says, "Alright, so you're nonchalant, quit rubbing our noses in it!" After I searched for images of Zoidberg knitting online, I came across something even more awesome: CROCHETED ZOIDBERGS!! Even better, this was a post was in the Free People blog, and Free People is one of my favorite clothing stores. (You may remember in this post, I drew inspiration from a dress in a Free People catalog.)
This crocheted Zoidberg was inspired by a crocheted Zoidberg here on Craftster.org.

I mean... can I meet you on the corner of Zoidberg & Crochet Street?! It's the nexus of things Katiebeans loves.

Sneak Peak!

Hey-hey ho-ho, I am back with some crochet! Here is a sneak peak of the crochet project that won out in my poll: a crocheted hoodie! This project is providing me with an opportunity to do my faaavorite crochet stitch, the elusive and awesome cable stitch. I love how it looks, and I am still thrilled to know that cable stitches aren't just for knitters. One of my favorite stitches is a front post treble. One of my least favorite stitches is the back post treble. BUT to have a bangin cable stitch, you needs to take the good with the bad when it comes to post trebles.

I am really working to perfect this hoodie. It is giving me some troubles (heh, and some trebles), but I am holding out hope that it will be cool and wearable.

xoxo
Katiebeans

M.I.A.

Hi! I am thankful to all of you who actually read my blog! I am sorry I have not had much to post lately. I have crocheted quite a few things, but I can't seem to finish anything. I am very close to completing a hoodie cardigan, but I have to admit, I don't love it. So sorry for the hiatus; I am not going to lie, my injured foot has done a number to my motivation and my over all happiness. It sure is a bummer to not be able to run, walk, play tennis, or even wear cute shoes!

Hopefully I can get this cardigan looking good, and maybe get some mojo back. Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the pic of how I have spent the majority of my time over the past four months!

Fall Cleaning

As I noted in a previous post, I am o-so over summer projects (even the sunhat, but I don't want that raffia to dry out!). I decided to take some inventory, and I actually have a lot of good fall/winter yarn to work with. Here is a pic of what my craft drawers blarfed up the other day:

You Should Know...

The weather is very Autumn-like, and all I can think about today is buying yarn!

I miss Knit New York; I hope they open a new location soon.

When Work & Crochet Collide

Today I discovered something amazing in my pursuit of crochet, and that is raffia. I had been looking for raffia to crochet a summer sun hat, but I did not know the name of it. I had been searching around for "craft straw" and "basket straw." Somehow I discovered its name today, and I started to get ready for crocheting a summer hat. I am armed with a sun hat pattern, and I have just ordered raffia from RaffiaOnline.com. However, I am desperately trying to learn how to crochet with raffia (is it different from crochet with yarn? are there any special pointers?).

As you may or may not know, I work in online marketing. I know a lot about search engine marketing and search engine optimization. Like 74% of the country, I use Google for searching on the Internet. Today, however, Google was of no use to me in my pursuit to learn how to crochet with raffia. All results on the first page of Google were for Crochet Raffia products for sale. I finally thought, I will give Bing a shot. (For those of you who have not seen the multi-million dollar ad campaign, Bing.com is MSN's revised search engine.) I have tested Bing before just for kicks, but I never seriously considered using it until today. My first search on Bing actually yielded impressive results! I searched "how to crochet raffia," and the first result was this book on Amazon.com. While I don't know yet if the book (entitled How to Make Raffia Hats, Bags & Baskets) is crochet-specific, it did help give me the idea to look more on Amazon. Bing also gave me a result for how to crochet with wire that mentions raffia. Nothing ground-breaking, but still much better results than Google.

Unrelated update: my Polaroid camera arrived today!

Lalalalove For Zooey D.

Interview Magazine, March 2003

“I like to knit and crochet. You have to have something to take the edge off,
and as an actor there's either a lot of downtime or no downtime, and you have to
stay used to being busy.”

I am not an actor, but I always have to stay busy. I don't know what to do with myself if I have a day to relax. Yesterday I went to Central Park to nap, but spent most of the time crocheting!

Lalalalalaloooove Zooey Deschanel. She is gorgeous! We should get together and crochet, and maybe she will let me borrow some of her super rad, stylish clothes. If I couldn't be me, I would be her!

Top Seven Things I Hate About Crochet

I am not ready to post my new hat pics and pattern yet, but I really want to start posting every day. Inspired by the "hooks & humor" section in the back of Crochet! magazine, here is my top seven list of things I don't like about crochet:

1. Sewing in the ends. First off, it involves a needle and sewing. I would be a seamstress if I liked needles and sewing. I don't. It is so tedious and requires so much close attention. I don't have the patience for it. But you need to have patience and take care so your work doesn't unravel. And to really kick you while your down, you only have to sew the ends in when you are so close to being finished!
2. Knots. Speaking of lack of patience... Knots are my arch nemesis.
3. Counting. I love math! I minored in mathematics for my undergrad degree. Counting is not math. Counting is boring, and if you lose track, you have to start all over counting sometimes hundreds of tiny little loops.
4. Ugly patterns. There is not much cute stuff available for crocheters (crochetists?), unless you are a baby, and babies cannot crochet.
5. Explaining to everyone that, no, you do not knit. And no, knitting is not crocheting. I like this about as much as when someone hears a Phil Collins song and says, "oh, Genesis!"
6. People who expect gifts. Just because I love crochet does not mean I love spending hours making you a custom piece and spending upwards of $50 on yarn (even small projects require you to purchase a full skein) for FREE. Yes, I make gifts when I am so moved. Please offer to pay for the yarn at least. If you are nice, I usually give a discount or give it free anyways.
7. Bad ideas and over ambitious projects. Below is a perfect example. First, I got excited about fillet crochet, which I have never done before. Then, I thought I would do cursive lettering. Oh, what a perfect idea, since I have never even done a BASIC fillet pattern before. And just to make things a little bit more challenging, I decided I should do this all with TWINE. Guess what is not comfortable to be rubbing against your fingers for hours on end? After hours of trying, I quit before I could even get my full initials, which are not even legible, which is why I added the pink lines. Don't even ask me what the purpose of this project was. Eh, I'll tell you. I was going to hang my huge sunglasses collection off of it, like a sunglass holder. Weeks later, 25 pairs of dusty sunglasses still clutter the top of my dresser.