I’m (patiently) awaiting the delivery of my bias piping in order to continue the dress, I finally came up with a design for this years’ Christmas cards. They’re crochet based (shocker) to match the (frankly alarming) amount of crochet gifts I’m making this year. I’ll post pictures of them when I have a finished product – in the meantime I’m crocheting 20 tiny Christmas wreaths. 6 down, 14 to go.

I’ll be honest, aside from little projects like this, I can really get sick of making the same thing over and over again. Not that that’s stopped me from doing exactly that. A few years ago, I did try to make a go of crafting as a business, but sadly it never really got anywhere. I had an etsy store, I did the craft fair rounds and had a permanent spot in a local shop. I never got very far with etsy, the turnouts for craft fairs were often pathetic and whilst the local shop did bring in some money, it eventually was forced to close down as it couldn’t cover its overheads. The eternal crafters problem – the prices people will pay for things don’t cover the materials and the time spent, let along ever making any profit.

So I’ve retreated into “doing it because I love it” and mostly making gifts for friends or the children of friends. I do occasionally get a commission from a friend though, which is nice. Most recently would be for my good friend Mez, who asked if I could make some moogles for his wife for her birthday. Of course he came up with this idea about two weeks before he needed them (eye rolling), but nevermind. I diligently came up with a pattern and started in on the moogle family.

In order to get them done in the time, they had to be quite small (roughly 3 inches tall, not counting the bobble), but it meant making lots of tiny limbs. This coincided with a weekend of train journeys as I trekked down to a comic con, so I occupied myself on the train and in hotels with my trusty crochet hook. Pretty much ruined my fingers for a few days afterwards – the penalty of working quickly on small projects.

Three tiny moogles are worth exactly a tenner and a macdonalds lunch when going on mate’s rates. They’re actually pretty cute. The pattern is entirely mine so I can sell these without repercussions. So who knows – maybe I’ll give the craft business another go at some point. For the time being, if you lovely readers do fall in love with something I’ve posted (and that I’m allowed to sell without infringing on copyright), do let me know and I’ll happily talk prices.