Random Works-in-Progress

So I've been trying to keep myself busy when I'm not filling out job applications or lying in bed with a migraine (long story short, chronic problem I've had since I was like 10). Last night I was searching for a specific flower pattern like one I had seen completed on Listia. Well, no one had an exact 6 petal simple flower that I was looking for, but Marte over at Shh, I'm counting! had this adorable Super Simple Tawashi flower pattern that was exactly what I was looking for, sans the 6th petal. Once I had figured out how many double crochets were needed for each petal, I just added 4 more to get that last one on! And Voila!

My cute little tawashi flowers!

 I loved the fact that I could use some of my cotton leftover yarn and get like 5 of them done in about an hour. I've got a few of them up for auction at Listia (Note: auction ends/ended April 24th), and if they're popular, I might try to sell some. I'm also thinking of variations that involve sewing two together and making them some sort of puff or something.

This one was my favorite since I love pink and all.

The next thing I managed to make was something I had already seen dozens of times on the internet and again on Listia. I don't know how many sites I browsed looking for patterns, but none of them really fit what I wanted (nor did they have visually appealing photos of the end result, making me wary to touch them at all). So after some testing, my first one was done by starting the base in the round at the bottom, but I kinda forgot that you have to do crochet a little differently when you want a flat round instead of one for a hat. Then I worked up the sides in a double crochet. It looked kinda funny, but I made the base sit flat by putting cardboard with felt glued to it on the bottom. I started the 'frosting' separately and about halfway up, I stopped and used some extra yarn to do the fancy scallops at the bottom ( I hadn't seen anyone else do it like this, so it felt pretty awesome). I made some crochet strings for the top and just left it at that.

My second Cupcake Purse!

I actually liked my second one better. I improved the flat bottom round crochet, then moved up the sides. I was a little crafty in working the ribbing by attaching it to the bottom as I worked, so I think it looked awesome. I went ahead and did the same thing for the frosting and this time I used ribbon for the string instead. I added some yarn sprinkles too for extra cute-ness. I gotta say, for my second try, I think it looks okay!

I've got some other things in the works, but I think I wont post them until I'm a little further along. I know I'm working on a second blanket until I can get the yarn to finish my first, but it's nothing fancy.

Its Not Much, But It'll Do

I wont bog anyone down with the depressing details, but I'm doing the best I can with what little I have. I've been unemployed since October and my sales of hand made and import items has sort of bottomed out. My popular items were a Sailor Moon Necklace and a set of Hello Kitty lanyards. My tax return is gone and there's roughly $3 in my paypal account.

I've come up with a lot of little crocheted items since then, some are really cute things like little cell phone pouches and baby hats. I'm thinking about selling them, but I need a location to do so that isn't going to charge me an arm and a leg in fees (thanks to eBay, I've overdrafted because of their flawed fees system).

Off on a little tangent, am I the only one who thinks that eBay should change how they assess their fees? I understand that there will be, but I think it would be better if the fees were taken out of each individual item's sale AS IT HAPPENS, instead of piling up fees and then they attack my paypal account at the end of the month. The month I tried to sell my Roger Federer signed tennis gear, I was charged $40 in total fees after unsuccessfully trying to auction it twice with little stuff like a reserve price and a set starting time. I wouldn't mind it if they took their fee for the auction and then paypal took their fee too if it saved me the stress its caused these last couple of months. Its baloney.

But anywho, I'm trying. I have another job fair to attend tomorrow, so I am going to make sure they notice me. Even if it means working with tourists, I will take what I can get right now. Except VoiceCurve, that is. I refuse to work with a company that claims to be local but has 75% of the company based in India. Sorry, that's very hypocritical and I don't want anything to do with a country that treats its women like properties. 

Wish me luck, if I can get a job, it means I can develop my business dream further!