What I did in 2022

 Every time I finish a project, I make a notation in my day planner. I finish 30-60 items per month. So far this year, my lowest month was June with 32, and my highest month was April, with 83. 

This year was the first time I put all those finishes into a spreadsheet, to analyze the data a bit and help me plan for 2023. 

At this point, I have finished 530 items. Of those, 246 sold, 117 were put into inventory, and 84 were gifts (either a surprise gift with my Etsy order, a basket donation for a craft show, a donation to a local charity, or gifts to my grandchildren). 

I keep telling myself not to get drawn into crochet-alongs, because then I end up just putting the finished items into inventory. Of the 43 CAL items I finished this year, 13 sold, 2 were gifted, and the rest are still in inventory. I guess I should listen to myself! 

I sold 3 of the 6 items from this CAL. 

Items I made a lot of: 

Axolotls - I made 21, and over half sold. 

Butter Lambs - my Easter best seller - I made 28, and 26 sold

Mini dinosaurs - I made 14, 11 sold

Egg Scrubbies - my most common surprise gift for Etsy orders. I made 42 so far (and need to make two more tonight!) 

Forest Friends Pattern by Minigurumi - I can't keep these in stock... as fast as I make them, they sell! Same with mini hamsters - from the same designer. I've made 17 of them this year, and only have two in inventory, and that's just because I haven't had any craft shows since I made them! 

Monsters - I just play with freehanding monsters with my scrap yarn, and they sell pretty well. 

Whale & Orca Ornaments - the whale ornament is from Neogurumi and the Orca ornament is my own design. So far I'm at 30 for this year... and orders are still coming in! 

Baby Octopus - I've made a dozen, but only have four left. 

I made lots of snacks for outgoing orders... if I ship a dog, I make a bone. If I ship a cow, I add a bale of hay. Some critters get a little donut... others get an ice cream cone. I made at least 18 snacks for travelling critters this year. 

I'm going to take some time to look over the stats from 2022, and narrow down my focus for 2023 makes... I really need to step away from adding stuff to inventory, hoping that it sells, and focus on the stuff I know will sell! 

October Scrappiness

After so many crochet-along projects in the last six weeks, my scrap yarn boxes are overflowing... So until my next craft show on 10/22, I'm going into overdrive with making little scrap yarn critters, which sell well at my craft shows. So far my list consists of: 

Hamsters - pattern by Minigurumi

Octopus - my pattern

Snakes - my pattern

penguin - pattern by Minigurumi

Chicken - I'm probably going to do a mish-mash of patterns

Mini dachshund - my pattern

Mini steg - 

Mini monsters - I make them up as I go along

Turtles - I have several patterns to work from

Owls - Again, several patterns 

Snails - my Happy Snails to You pattern

Mushroom - 

Okay, let's get scrapping! I'm hoping to churn out 20 items! 

Day 1 - Saturday - was productive: five items made: 

I made up the green monster as I went along... used up all the green yarn! 

Goldie the mini dachshund is from my own pattern

Brown and Gold penguin is the Chubby Penguin pattern from Minigurumi

I freehanded the Santa Hat and Top Hat for the penguins.

I started Cat Stuck in a Donut for the @ourcalstory "Because It's Halloween" crochet along

Day 2 - Sunday

Finished the Donut Cat

Finally made a Baby Turtle using the Minigurumi pattern.

Freehanded another monster.... Mr. Mohawk.

Finished part one of another Because It's Halloween crochet-along project

LOL, not as productive as yesterday because I took a two-hour nap! 

Finish Count: 8

Day 3 - Monday

It was a busy day, with a dentist appointment and a six-stop shopping/errands trip. Since I was gone from 9:45 am to 2:30 pm, and came home exhausted, I didn't finish much... Just Piero the Turtleshroom (project #2 in the "Because It's Halloween" crochet along) and an orange-red octopus. It's more red than orange, just doesn't show in the lights of my light box. 

Finish Count: 10

Day 4 - Tuesday

Tided up the box... seems like it magically refills.... 

Made a chicken, but didn't get it sewed... I finished it after 10 PM, and 

I make too many mistakes sewing when I'm tired! 

Two scrappy snakes! After a long period of no snake sales, I sold FIVE at my 10/1 craft show. Time to restock! 

I also finished part one of a crochet-along, but apparently I deleted that pic from my phone already. 

Finish Count: 12

Day 5 - Wednesday: 

Finished the chicken and a baby steg. 

Finish Count: 14

Day 6 - Thursday

Made a whale and an egg scrubbie to get an Etsy order out. 

Also finished a chicken and a mini monster.

Finish Count: 18

Day 7 - Friday

Another scrappy monster, taking the count to 19. 

During the show (slow traffic, not many sales), I finished a mini chicken (which sold by the end of the show, and a striped monster. When I got home, I made another chicken, this time in brown. I will probably make a few more for next week's show. 

When I got back home after the craft show, I made another chicken... in brown. 

On Sunday, I finished part one of a crochet along project, and finished two other projects except for sewing.

Monday - 

Finished a scrappy snake (since I sold two snakes on Saturday), the cupcake owl for the crochet-along, and a spinkles donut as a surprise gift for an Etsy order. 

I rewound my yarn cakes and arranged them neatly in a smaller box. Now I'm working on finishing up part two of one project and part one of another... and thinking of what I can make with the colors in the box! 

Project count: 25

 

CAL Crazy...

 Yup, I think I've lost it... 

I like participating in free CALs - Crochet Alongs. A pattern is posted, and you have a certain time period to finish up the project. I find them on Instagram... and even though I told myself I was going to stick to restocking my best sellers, I couldn't resist...

First, I decided to do the #cutespringcal because there were only four patterns, and they looked like they were smaller in size. 

The first one was Laly the Ladybug. I was busy with some other projects, so it took me a few days. 

Then came Molly the Mushroom. I actually finished her up in one day. Now I'm waiting until 9/15 for the next pattern. 

Part 3 - Puddles the Duck - Done!

Three of four of the #cutespringcal done... Just need to make the last one, a bee! 

DONE! 

Cute Spring CAL - DONE! 

But then I heard about the #costumepartyCAL - - okay, only four projects, with a new pattern every Monday. I can handle that. I started the first project today... a cute little bunny. Should be done tomorrow... 

#costumepartycal #1 done - Cotton Candy Bunny by Lemon Yarn Creations

Pattern #2 - Sir Racha - a cat in a hot sauce costume- DONE! 

Pattern #3 - Toby the Toadstool - a dog with a mushroom cap - DONE! 

Pattern # 4 - Bear Girl 

#costumeparty CAL - DONE! 

I was going to pass up on the jungle CAL from Amigurumi League, but then I saw the adorable patterns! Yikes! 8 projects, with a new one coming every three days. 

Sipho the Monkey - Done

Pip the Parrot- Done

'

Sebastiao the Tiger - Done! 

Sammy the Lion -  Done!  

Mina, the baby orangutan - DONE! 

Ink the Red Panda - DONE

Croci the Crocodile - DONE

Tuti Tapir - DONE

Okay, let's see how well I keep up. Who knows? Maybe one of these will become one of my new best sellers! I can't put them in my Etsy shop until each CAL is over, because I need a group shot to be in the running for prizes. (LOL, I'm a sucker for trying to win prizes!)

So, from 9/1/22 to 10/12/22, I'll have 16 projects to complete. 

Current Count: 16 of 16 -10/14/22 -  DONE! 

Now to get them all photographed and listed in my Etsy shop! 

September Stash Down

 

I've been tracking my yarn stash for a few years now... by # of entries (if I have two skeins of the same color, it counts as one entry) and by weight. 

I keep saying I need to stick to a yarn diet, use up what I have, and not buy any more yarn.

As you can see by the blue line, upper right, in the past few months, my yarn stash has grown in the past few months... two garage sale purchases, and using a Christmas gift card to pick up a cartload at Hobby Lobby's yarn clearance. 

And then there's this yarn, where I used a $25 gift card to a yarn shop... but bought extra so I would get free shipping.

And then there are several trays filled with cakes of scrap yarn. 

I saw another crafter posting about doing a September stash-down. Okay, let's see if I can stick to a month without buying any yarn, and try to clear out some of my stash! 

9/13/22 - So far, so good... I've pulled about 6 skeins from my stash to work on projects... and I haven't purchased any year! 

August: "FOUR" Point Plan: Finish, Organize, Update, Restock

 Wow... I was blown away by sales at Street Fest 2022. I sat down and made a restock list. Fortunately, a lot of them are little projects I can finish in one sitting. 

Here's what my restock list looks like: 

Airplane

Ankylosaurus - Done! 

Axolotl - Baby 

Up to four minis... but I think I should have more colors! 

Axolotl - Sleep Set - 1 done, would like to get a few more made! 

Axolotl, Long 

Ballerina Kitty - about 90% done... 

Beagle

Big Head Turtle - one done! 

Corgi

Dachshund

Guinea Pig

Hatching Dino

Long Neck Dino

Mermaid Kitty

Mini Hamsters - Two more done to keep the pink guy company! 

Mini Owls - Two done, playing with a new pattern... first Krazy Koo, then a zombie owl. 

Okay, I think I'm done with owls for a while. 

Mini Pups

Triceratops (my pattern)

Ramen Noodle Cup

Sleepy Mini Steg - Three done to join the one I had left.

Chameleon - one done

I usually average about 30-40 projects per month... Hopefully by the end of the month, my restock list will be a lot shorter! 

But I also want to finish up some projects I have started (an anemone hat and a tree frog), organize my inventory a bit better, and update some Etsy listings. 

Done

And done.

Okay, I've got a plan... I've got a to-do list! Let the progress begin! But first, I have to go make dinner...

Well, I sort of got myself into another crochet along...

Just started work on Sage the Sphinx: 

Sage is finished... and the next project, Felix the 9-Tailed Fox is in the works. 

8/22 update: 

I had hoped to finish Felix the 9-Tailed Fox over the weekend, but, after a two-week drought in my Etsy shop, I got an order... then another order... then a third order. 

So, I spent the weekend working on Forest Friends: 

So this week, my goal is to finish Felix (just 5 tails and assembly left to go), start the next project in the #cutefantasycal, a Yeti, and see if I can knock off any more restocks! 

Felix - done! 

Another zombie owl finished, so I can get the pattern to testers. 

Got an order for a whale ornament... first Christmas ornament order of the year! 

Tuesday, 8/23 - caught up with Etsy orders. About 30% done with project #3 in the #cutefantasycal (I'm calling her Betty the Yeti). I spent some time organizing patterns and rearranging the craft room. 

Betty the Yeti is done. 

Three down, one to go in the #cutefantasycal! 

And I'm done with the Cute Fantasy CAL! 

Back to restocking! 

I finished off the teal yarn I used in Medusa from the CAL to make an axolotl. 

And another axolotl, and a baby octopus... then I pulled pink yarn and started a ballerina kitty. 

Well, I started her, but then Etsy orders came in... 

Ballerina Kitty got bumped by a hamster, two whale Christmas ornaments, and my new cell phone... but hoping to finish her early in September! 

All in all, it was a good August. I didn't set any new records, but it was above average in sales. (😂That's not saying much... August is traditionally a slow month... average sales = $71.65)

I reorganized my craft room, moving every piece of furniture in the room, and I like the new layout. I made good progress on organizing stuff, and should be able to jump into my next phase of organizing soon. Okay, bring on September!