Just Finished...

A New Scarf!!!

Hey all! I just finished a new scarf for the shop! I am sooo in love with these soft infinity scarves! Not only are they cute, but they are also soft and warm! (Click here to get to see it on Etsy.) Here's pics:

This yarn is difficult to work with, but so worth it! It turns out great. Like I said, I'm in love with these!

Don't forget to visit my shop on Friday for the Black Friday discount! Get 15% off at my shop by using the coupon code BlackFri15 at checkout on Black Friday ONLY!!

You can also connect with me by following me on Twitter (link to me) or liking The Quiet Koala on Facebook (link to the page). I will occasionally give out discounts on Twitter or Facebook as well as here on my blog. Keep up with me on all three for maximum savings! 

Goodnight!

Love, 

New Holiday Items in Shop Now!

Hola!

I've just finished stocking my shop with several new items! I am very excited for the Christmas season and your orders! Here's photos and links to all of today's new products:

Remember these? They used to only be available as hair clips, but now you can buy them as pins too!

Holiday colors of my crochet flowers. These are available as hair clips or pins!

The backing and pin are hand sewn onto the flower :)

This is my new favorite! It is a chunky infinity scarf. And it is soooooo incredibly soft!

If only you could touch it! Would would agree with me on how soft it is :)

Remember to use the coupon code BlackFri15 to get 15% off your order from my shop when you order on Black Friday! That's in 5 days! 

Please share my shop and/or blog with your friends! There's no reason to keep all this goodness to yourself is there? :)

Love,

New Christmas-themed Items!

Hi Readers!

I just added 3 new items to the shop. They are Christmas-themed pre-set color combinations of the Crochet Flower Hair Clips! I just love the Christmas colors! They are adorable. Unfortunately I don't have green available yet, but it will come soon in even more pre-set Christmas color combos! 

Here's the photos! Visit my shop here for more views and to see the rest of my shop.

This combo comes with 1 red, 1 black, and 1 white. You have a choice between two different kinds of red. This shows the sparkle red.

And this one shows the other red. 

This combo comes with 1 tan, 1 red, and 1 white. Again, you have two choices for the red. Here it is with the normal red.

And here is the sparkle red.

This is a set of 2. It comes with 1 red (either sparkle or not) and 1 white. Shown here is the sparkle red.

And here is the candy-cane inspired color combo with the other red.

I'm so excited to be finally getting Christmas stuff in my shop! More items will be coming soon! (Both Christmas and generic products.) Check back for updates on what will be coming next! And don't forget: use the coupon code BlackFri15 on Black Friday to get 15% off your order from my shop!

Love,

Scarf or Blanket?

Hello World!

I've been working on something new to put in the shop! I thought it was going to be a flowery scarf. As I've been working on it though, it's turning out to be pretty heavy for a scarf. It would be good as a blanket though, but I would have to get more yarn to make it big enough. So the question is, do I keep working and make it a blanket or put it on hold and use the rest of the yarn for a couple scarves? Decisions, decisions... Either way it will still end up in the shop. Take a look:

I've been making a bunch of little puffy flowers and sewing them together.

Here's a close up, the first picture is more true to the actual colors though.

The Christmasy colors a great right? I like them :) And I think the puffy flowers are really cute!

Don't forget to visit my shop Black Friday for some Christmas shopping! Use the coupon code BlackFri15 to get 15% off your order (only on Black Friday)!

Love, 

Shelly Scarf

Good Morning!!

Last night I finished a cute hot pink scarf! I found the pattern for the Shelly Scarf here, and just fell in love with it immediately. I love the shells! Here are some pics of my creation:

I just love this scarf! Unfortunately this won't be available in my shop. The creator of the pattern asks that it not be used for personal gain and I am going to respect her wishes. I'm not keeping this one for myself though either, it's for my sister. I've made scarves for all my siblings, this was the last to be completed. Now that I have practice, I will be making near-identical scarves as the ones I made for them to put in my shop. I'll let you know when they're available!

Also don't forget: use the coupon code BlackFri15 to get 15% off at my shop on Black Friday only!!

Love, 

Etsy Shop Now Open!

Good Evening!

I have good news. My Etsy shop is now open! I don't have much available yet, but I will be working on building my shop inventory and finding new things to provide for you. Here's pictures of what I have available in my shop as of now:

The Treble Scarf (Pattern in previous post) 

Crochet flower clips (in set of 3 or individually)

Here's the back. It's all hand sewn onto the flower. 

Crochet bow clips (okay this pic is just the bows, just to show the color options) These come in set of 3 or individually

See? It's a hair clip. Hand sewn.

And the front of that looks like this. 

And last but not least, custom paintings for decor. The customer (you) chooses the color and word. These are custom made to order.

So come check out my shop! Click here or search for The Quiet Koala on Etsy. Any updates about new items, sold out items, new color options, or sold out color options will be posted here as well as at my shop. I would love to hear about any ideas you have or things you would like to see in my shop!

Love,

More Free Yarn!!

Hey all!

Want another chance to win free yarn? All Free Crochet is giving away six packages of Lion Brand Bonbons yarn. The packages come with eight different colors of yarn and there are six different assortments (which, if you do the math, means you get all of the different assortments!) The deadline is November 21 at 11:59:59 pm Eastern. Go here to enter the giveaway: http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Bonbons-Yarn 

Check back for updates on my Etsy Shop!

Love, 

Treble Scarf + Free Yarn Giveaway!!

Bonjour!!!

Today I'm going to give you a pattern for the Treble Scarf. It's super easy and cute! But before I do that, let's get to some exciting stuff. A yarn giveaway!! What's better than free yarn? Not much! So if you want to enter, follow this link: http://spunkyrealdeal.blogspot.com/2012/10/artisan-yarn-by-elysa-wooly-review.html#  and hurry!

Alright now to the pattern. I haven't written a pattern before so bear with me. The gauge doesn't matter, use whatever size hook your yarn suggests. Note that a thicker yarn will result in a thicker, warmer scarf and a thinner yarn will make a lightweight, airy scarf.

Start off with a chain of around 20 or as wide as you want your scarf to be (not long). Make it a little longer than you think it should be (it doesn't look as wide as you think it is once you start building a few rows on top of it). Chain 1 more. Turn

Row 1: single crochet in each stitch. Chain 1. Turn. Repeat twice, but after you finish the second row chain five times before turning.

Row 2: double treble in each single crochet. Chain 1. Turn.

Row 3: single crochet in each stitch. Chain 1. Turn. Repeat but after the second row chain 5 before turning.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the scarf is as long as you want. Add an extra row of single crochets at the end of the scarf so it looks just like the beginning. Tie off and weave in ends.

I like to vary the treble stitches I use. For example, in one row I might follow the pattern and use double trebles, but the next time I might use a normal treble or a triple treble. The first time I made this scarf I changed the size of each row randomly. The second time I used an ABACA pattern, that is my rows were double treble, treble, double treble, triple treble, double treble, treble, etc. (for tutorials on the treble stitches see here or here or here or even just Google it)

Here are some photos of the process to help you along the way:

Here it is with Row 1 (the chain and single crochets) and part of Row 2 (the treble stitches, here they are double treble stitches).

After you finish a row of trebles, especially the first row, it might flare out like this. Don't worry, just keep going. It will straighten out when you do the single crochets back across.

See! All better :) This was after I finished 2 rows of single crochet.

Here it is with a few more rows. Keep going until it reaches the length you want. 

Since this scarf is very simple, you can change it up in lots of ways. Some of my favorite additions to scarves include rosettes (as seen in my prior post) and fringe/tassels. You could also add any other shape crocheted or cut out of felt. Cute things like hearts, stars, animals, etc would be great for children's scarves! 

I am selling the finished scarf in the pictures once I open my Etsy shop (this weekend!!). Aren't the colors just lovely? It's very warm too, great for winter. Check back for a link to my shop! 

You may use this pattern however you choose. Although if you make this (with or without variation) I would love to see it! Post a comment with a link to your work. 

Happy crocheting!

Lots of Love, 

Etsy Shop

Good afternoon readers! (if I have any yet)

I have been working very hard to get my Etsy shop up and running. I've been taking photos and creating items. In the process I have realized that I'm not as prepared for this as I thought. There's so many things I need to get and have to do before I open the shop officially. But fear not! I will have it opened within the next couple of weeks. If I'm lucky I can pull in at least a little business from the holidays, especially if I can make enough scarves and perhaps hats to keep customers warm and cozy!

On another note, I am literally obsessed with making crochet flowers! Remember that cowl I talked about from my previous post? And how I didn't really like it for me? Well I made a nice big rosette with the extra yarn and stuck it on. No I am in love with it! I will be keeping it for myself. :) Who knew a little flower could make such a big difference? 

Along with crocheting, I also enjoy painting. Take a look at the current direction I've been heading with my art! Before I've been more into surrealism and creating pieces that one might find in a museum. Now I would like to create art that people might actually like to have in their homes. The backgrounds are done with watercolor on canvas and the word is acrylic. These turn out really nice and I love them! Here are just three of my favorites from the ones I've completed so far:

I'm thinking about adding these on Etsy as custom made orders. The customer chooses the word, size, colors, patterns (if any). Any opinions on this?

Talk to you later!

Love, 

Hello!

Hello blog world!

I am on the verge of something new. I have a dream. This blog will be the start of something new for me. What will that be exactly? I have no idea yet. Okay that's a lie I do have some idea of what I want this to be, but it might become something else. This blog is for me to share my ideas with you and my handmade products which will be available in my Etsy shop. I'm just getting started so I don't have that up and running yet. Before I delve into that I want to experiment with this. If you like something I post and would like it to be available in my shop, let me know and I'll put it up. Your votes count here and I would love to hear from you!

This past month I've been starting back up crocheting, after many years since I first learned the basics. It's got me hooked! I started out with a cowl. The pattern is free from Patons Yarns. (see it at www.patonsyarns.com -- it is the Lace Sequin - Cowl, you will have to register for a free account to see it) I like the pattern, but cowls are just not me. I had bought two balls of yarn when I started, in black and tan, so I decided to use the black one to make a scarf inspired by this pattern (since I used the tan for the cowl). I love the sequins in this yarn! (I used the yarn in the pattern but different colors). I love sparkle and shiny things which is what directed me toward this pattern in the first place. I just finished the scarf last night (pics and pattern/tutorial coming soon) and plan to finish the cowl today.

With my extra black yarn I tried making a rosette. Needless to say, I love it! It's super cute! I plan to make lots more to use on hats, hairpins, scarves, pins, and anything else I can think of (yes I do love the rosettes that much). These flowers are so easy and quick which might make them the first things I put in my shop.

Here are pics!

The lighting is really bad (sad face).

Here's with flash

and another angle, with bad lighting again :(

And that same one with flash. 

Okay so the pics aren't that great. It's so much more adorable in real life (I promise!). And you can see the sequins so much better in person that in the photos. I'm pretty proud of myself for having it come out so well on my first try!

Goodbye world!

                     

Love,