Golden Knit Hat and Scarf set

I am currently working on a hat and scarf set for the Etsy store. I don't have pictures yet, as this is a work in progress. I am working on the scarf first as it is the one that takes longer. Once the scarf is a little over halfway finished I will knit 1 row at a time on the hat. 

The yarn is a pretty golden brown color. I have mixed this color in with other colors before and it didn't look as nice as it does when it is on its own. At first I thought it was an ugly color, seeing it mixed with others.  

As I drink my coffee I realized I don't often talk about how I got started with knitting or about the wonderful person that taught me. 

I wanted to knit when I was 6 years old. I actually tried several times at that age, but it didn't connect. When I did try all I got was a knot. This was very frustrating to me, so I stopped. I started to learn how to Crochet when I was 7 or 8.  But my teacher moved, so the lessons stopped. I had been getting good at 1 little chain. I still have the hook and it has aided me with knitting. 

I actually don't remember how to crochet. 

When I was 10 we moved to Texas.  I learned how to sew their, thus putting all thoughts of knitting out of my mind. Until one of my friends at church was knitting, then I became curious again. I never asked her to teach me, but that is where I learned about Etsy.  

When I was 16 we moved back to NY.  I wasn't too happy about leaving Texas at first, but I must say, the weather is much nicer up here. I don't think I ever appreciated the cold until I came back. Or shoveling snow, I love to shovel snow. 

I was around 17 or 18 when I first started learning how to knit.  I had become curious about it, so one day when my mother left me at my Great Grandma's house, I asked her about knitting and if she could teach me. 

She was reluctant at first, never being able to teach anyone in my family how to knit. But I learned quick, she started me on 10 stitches. I got so good at that she jumped up to 36. Most of my family was amazed at how quickly I learned. I knitted three scarves and then Gram had me doing a pattern row for a panel blanket. The first one I made is in my shop, unfortunately weaving things together doesn't come as easy as knitting does for me. 

I started to knit scarves again after that failed attempt, but Gram decided I should try a circular needle just a few months ago. She started it for me and now I am working on a knitted blanket. A full sized crib blanket, which is much longer and harder then anything else I have done. 

About the wonderful Gram

This wonderful Grandmother is from England. She came over as a War Bride, which means that she married my Great Grandfather.  Granddad was in the army and he met Gram over in England.  When he married her Gram filled out paperwork so she could be brought to America. 

She also had to do everything that was asked of her to become a American Citizen. She lived during WW2 in England while the bombings were going on. She was too old to go on the trains. Gram had a lot of crazy stuff happen to her and occasionally she will tell stories. 

Thanks for reading!

Sam

Green Knit Hat.

This is the second knit hat I have made. The first one was a gift to a friend of mine.  These hats are simple to make and are warm.  I usually don't like wearing knit hats, but this one didn't make my head itch. It is made out of Acrylic yarn and is very soft. As you can see the bottom curls up a little bit.

This hat can fit adults and children. It stretches the more you wear it. This is made with a stockinette stitch and took 3 days to make. In my etsy shop I am charging $10 for it plus shipping. 

The knit hat

Unfortunately I didn't have any of my models with me, so you are forced to see me. (-:

The link above leads to my etsy listing. Thank you for reading my blog. (=  

My favorite meal to make.

This post isn't so much about sewing. This one is more about what type of food I like to make for my lunches. This meal is what I like to call: Veg. It is my favorite meal to make. My Great Grandmother and my mother both love the food. 

Veg Recipe

Zucchini (1 or 2)
Can of Green Beans (1 or 2)
Ham (Lunch meat ham or pre-cooked ham is the best)- You can really use any kind of meat, but ham is my favorite. I have also used Turkey burger and hamburger. 
Carrots (Slice them thin)
Onions (1 or 2)
Sweet peppers (One big one)
and Cabbage. 

I put Olive Oil or vegetable oil in the pan. Put the Peppers and Onions in first as you cut up the rest of the veg. The ham should go in last. Stir it occasionally until the veg is the right consistency. 
I usually put Garlic powder, seasoned salt, and pepper in it.

I am feeling hungry just typing it. Whenever I visit my grandmother she always requests that I make this meal for her. I usually do it twice a week. We also usually invite two of my cousins and my aunt to come eat it with us. 

You can really add any type of veg you want. I have also used Summer Squash before in it. If you load the pan full you can have leftovers for at least two other lunches. 

I hope you enjoyed this delicious blog post. (=

Back into the Blogging game.

I recently saw some other Etsy sellers are in the Blogging universe and I decided I wanted to give my own blog a fair shot again.  This blog will still be mainly about sewing, but I realize that sometimes it is nice to have a small break from just pushing my items. 

Telling a story about the items every once in a while is fun. It makes me really think about the product. 

Today's topic will be knit hats. I don't currently have this item listed, but I hope to have pictures by tomorrow. I only have 1 hat right now, but I want to make others of the same color. I have two empty knitting needles just for the hats. The colors I am starting with are green and red. The red hat is actually for my 10 year old brother. 

I plan on knitting with those colors until I am out of that color yarn. I have more yarn then I know what to do with and the hats I am going to make are very easy. 

Unfortunately I haven't had any time for sewing, so any new items I post will be Fleece scarves or knit items. 

Please remember to follow me on Twitter: Samantha Speed/GodsGraceSewing

Facebook: facebook.com/godsgracesewing

And Google+ : Samantha Speed. 

My etsy shop name has not changed, please look at the items I have there. (=  I hope to have something for everyone.

God Bless

Samantha Speed. 

Can you make money at sewing/knitting handmade items?

So, the question is, Can you make money from creating handmade items? No. At least, not if you do what I do.  If you sell online you have to pay a fee. Now, I believe Etsy has the lowest fee along with Ebay, but the problem is that people generally do not buy handmade items.

If you sell at Craft Shows you need to pay a $30-$50 fee. A lot of the time you don't even break even. (payed $30, didn't even sell $30 worth of items)  

When I went to the craft show I paid $30 for 1 table. I sold Hotpads and Cat toys. I didn't sell anything else. ($4 for hotpads and $1 for cat toys)

                                                              Both from my Etsy shop

Needless to say, this is why I believe that you cannot make money at this. Not unless you have patented your own brand of item. Which I refuse to do. It is ridiculous to restricted others from creating that same item. Your item is popular, that is great, so why can't others make the same item? It is likely that they won't make it the same way as you and if you already have loyal customers then you shouldn't be afraid of some competition. 

The other way you could make money at this is if you are not the one doing the work and are paying some poor soul 50 cents an item that they make. 

But handmade in the USA by one person isn't worth the money?  Allow me to tell you the time it takes for each item.

Hotpads: I take 1 day to cut the fabric and middle. Then I take an entire second day to iron and pin. Sometimes it takes a third day to sew all the hotpads. Once I made 150 hotpads in a week, but my fingers were bruised.

Pillowcases: I can make four a day. But that is with my mother's help. She cuts the fabric to the correct size that I need and then I iron and pin. I can have 15 pinned but it can take up to two weeks to get them all done.

Cat toys: These didn't take much time, my mom had 10 crocheted in 15-20 minutes.

Knitted items: These can take between 1 week and 6 months, depending on what it is. The Doctor Who scarves took up to 2 months. The blankets took 1 week through 3 weeks. The regular scarves took between 10 days and 1 month.

Fleece Blanket (I will soon have a made to order thing in my Etsy shop for these)- This took a lot longer then it should have. But it was 3-8 months. My fingers have been bruised and cut from this and I will be finished with this blanket sometime this week. (Lord willing)  The poor man has been waiting forever since he first ordered it.  I only asked for $75 from him, but he is a family friend. In the etsy shop it will be at least $100. (Custom made blanket)

I hope you can see my point of view.

Preemie Baby Blanket. Handmade.

Hand Knitted Baby Blanket: Etsy

This is a handmade preemie baby blanket. I made this by hand and in my Etsy shop it is 24.99, otherwise known as $25. I used a baby doll to show that it could wrap around a regular sized baby, but I think it would be ideally used for a preemie. 

This would be a perfect New Baby gift. I would suggest a baby girl as the recipient for this gift. This took around 8 days to make and 40 hours or more. I was at my Great Grandma's house, so while I took care of her I also knitted the blanket. I have started a 2nd one of these, but it may be smaller so I will list it separately. 

Thanks for reading! Please go check out the link and view other things in my Etsy shop as well.

Sewing. Hard or easy?

I have had many friends over the internet ask if I find sewing hard or easy. I suppose it is a matter of perspective. I find it hard but many other friends that I know who sew find it easy.

If you can knit and sew I will give you my perspective on both, listing both good and bad things about each.

With sewing it requires a lot of math (or so they tell me) and measuring. The measuring and ironing can become very tedious if you do it for an extensive amount of time. But the end result is very nice. The other downfall is that if you make a mistake you can spend hours seam ripping one item, which can set you back a few days.

With knitting it requires a lot of memory. You need/can memorize a pattern and forget where you are. Then you need to count all the stitches with the pattern in mind. Or you can loose a stitch and not notice it until three or four rows later. By then its too late and you need to pull it out and redo it.

Both can be very difficult, depending on how you look at it. In my opinion knitting is relaxing and sewing is a little more stressful.