What I'm Planning for 2023

 My overall plans are the same old, same old... 

Work down my yarn stash... try to sell more than I make, to reduce my inventory. 

2022 didn't quite follow that plan... my inventory went up by 3.6% and my yarn stash has 73 more entries than last year, a twenty-pound gain. Just couldn't stay away from yarn clearance and garage sales! I saw a meme that said "I don't hoard yarn... I rescue it from garage sales and thrift stores." Yup. That's me! 

So, 2023 will be a year of transition. It will be my husband's first full year of retirement, and in December, when I am eligible to get Social Security, I plan on retiring also. I want to develop my crochet business a little more this year, doing more designing, being more faithful to this blog, and (gulp) starting a YouTube channel. I want to work on getting all of my inventory listed on Etsy, and stick to making more of my best-selling items and less crochet-alongs. I did a spreadsheet of items finished in 2022, and found that of the 42 crochet along projects that I made, only 13 sold. Comparing that to my stats for Ankylosaurus, it's pretty bad. I made 6 Ankys and sold every one of them! So, I want to focus on what I know will sell! 

This is a quick breakdown of my goals for January: 

First off, stay away from the yarn aisle (but I already messed up on this by doing a yarn rescue at the thrift shop... If you want to see what I picked up, check out my YouTube video. I did go into Joann Craft and didn't buy any yarn, so I should get points for that, right? 

While I am staying away from crochet along for now (unless I host one myself!), I am trying to participate in the #amibookchallenge on Instagram. The idea is that so many crocheters have books they purchased, but just haven't used... so the challenge calls for you to pick a book, pick a pattern, and make one new item each month. For January, I picked up my Unicorns and Dragons book and chose the Mushroom Fairy... stay tuned for a pic of the finished item. 

Restock - I want to pick a best seller in my higher price range and get it finished up and listed in my shop. First up, of course, is an Ankylosaurus (free pattern on Ravelry ) - since it's at the beginning of the alphabet, cute, a great seller, and just plain fun to make! 

 DONE! 

Paid Design - I would like to publish one paid pattern per month - I have so many ideas... I just need to work on them! 

Free Design - I would also like to get one free pattern on my blog each month, to increase blog traffic

Finish a skein - I will pick a skein of yarn and make stuff until the yarn is gone... for the first month, I picked a skein of blue DK yarn I got on clearance that was a tangled mess. I wound it neatly into a cake... I plan on making the ankylosaurus from this, using the pink yarn for the body, and blue for the shell. 

Blue helped decrease the size of the yarn cake! 

Scrap bag - I made up a scrap bag and want to use it up for fun little filler projects. First up, I'm using the blue at the lower left  for a baby axolotl (free pattern on YouTube by Fancy Lama)

1/13 - the bag is almost empty... 

There was an orange axolotl too, but he's already in the axolotl box. 

Done! 

Etsy - 4 new listings - I will be adding either new items that I've made, or older items that have been in inventory, but never listed on Etsy... the goal is to get everything in my inventory listed. 

1. the new Mini Big Head Turtles... I have six of them made up! 

2.

3.

4.

Okay, that's my January plan in a nutshell! Time to get crackin'! 

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!