Promote Yourself

Happy New Year. 

Today is normally Thursday 13, but I posted it yesterday (as I wanted to do my 2025 in 13 posts in 2025), which leaves me with nothing for today. 

But a couple weeks ago my brother sent me a text. It seems that eldest nephew has started a Band Camp page. And I thought, why not link to a few things I wouldn't normally have a need to mention on the blog? 

So, first, eldest nephew's Band Camp. Don't let the photo fool you. He's actually 20. He did drumline in high school, and now he's making music on the computer. Take a listen. I'm sure he'd appreciate any support. 

Next, my sister-in-law started a podcast called Raven's Lore Cast. The previous link is the podcast on Spotify, and this one is the Facebook page. 

My brother, who has been kind enough to edit my little yarn-y YouTube videos, has made a couple of his own. (Well, besides the actual work he does, as he does actually work in television.) The Night of Zach. And The Night of Zach 2. 

I have mentioned my uncle's YouTube channel before, but as long as I'm doing this, I'm going to mention it again. He does animations that he posts every couple of weeks. 

And then, of course, my YouTube channel, where I make things out of yarn. I have a plan to knit slippers next, but I have not even started this yet. 

What sorts of things do you have out there on the internet? Post links in the comments. Promote yourself, too. 

Entrelac Scarf Progress, Part 7

I made a bit more progress on the scarf this week: 

At this point it's big enough to wear. But my sister-in-law wants it 8ft long, so I've still got a ways to go. Right now it's somewhere between 5ft and 6ft long. 

But I took a pause to knit something for my landlady. 

At one time I had these in my shop, but they were kind of a dud. The pattern does fairly okay. Lately, I've noticed that soft phone/tablet holders are popping up at various shopping sites. So, I figure it's time to promote mine again. 

(The original "rough draft" version appeared on this blog in 2013. The improved version is available on Etsy and Ravelry.) 

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Next week I have a milestone post. I have no idea how I want to commemorate it.  

Entrelac Scarf Progress, Part 6

I did not make a whole lot of progress with the entrelac scarf last week. I finished about another row of rectangles: 

It was just that kind of week.

As for the videos I tried to upload last week, no go. But, I did manage to post it to Instagram: 

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This may or may not work for you. As for viewing the videos at my Etsy shop, the video thing is being rolled out slowly, so it's not available for everyone to see. 

I do intend to spend some more time on this, making videos and figuring out how to upload them so I can use them on the blog. I would have done some of it last week, but I was a bit busy at the day job, so that took priority. 

This week we have off, however, as it is Thanksgiving week here in the U.S. Once I figure out how to make green bean casserole (my contribution to our non-traditional Thanksgiving meal at home with the roommates), my week is wide open.

Entrelac Scarf Progress, Part 5

How it started: 

How it's going: 

If someone could explain where the how it started/how it's going meme thing started, I'd appreciate it. But I figured it was appropriate for the entrelac scarf. It's now at about 4 ft long (122 cm). Half way there. 

While chugging away on the scarf, I've also been working on doing some listing videos for my Etsy shop. They just added the capability of including short videos (5-15 seconds). 

Edit: So, I had uploaded the videos so you could see them, but for some reason, they didn't work. Sigh. If you're interested, you can see them in their listings: lavender lip balm holder and the beige EOS lip balm holder. 

Maybe next week I'll try to upload the videos again. I'm not sure what went wrong.

Now if I could just figure out a good configuration to show myself knitting stuff, I could make some how-to videos. I actually just bought a cell phone clamp thingy that might do the job. I should get it in a couple weeks. 

Entrelac Scarf Progress, Part 4

I made more progress than I did the previous week. . .

It's about three feet long now. I am just about out of the first skein of yarn (those yarn cakes are big). So, it's coming along. 

I did get distracted by an order last week, though. The customer who ordered the Rasta lip balm holder back in July wanted another one. 

But, I was not happy with the color combo on it, so I decided to play around a bit. 

(If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen this.) 

Number 1 is the color combo I did before. Personally, I like the brighter yellow. Which do you think is a more Rasta combination?

Ultimately, though, it wasn't up to me. I let the customer decide which one they wanted. (They couldn't decide and took all three.)

Special Request

The customer that requested the black and gray lip balm holder had another request. Could I make a lighter holder? 

Well, I could give it a try. 

It took a couple days to figure it out. I won't bore you with the trial and error. I started and ripped out several times before I got a working model... 

However, she wanted it in two colors. So, again I made and remade. But nothing was looking right. I was at the point where I was going to embroider the second color on this, because nothing was working. 

Then I remembered there's a spiral technique... 

And that cracked it for me... 

It was a good thing, as she had then requested (as I was fighting with the above) a tri-color lip balm holder. 

Luckily, the same technique would work on this... 

(Yes, those are the colors she requested. And yes, I know what they mean.) 

Since she requested them at the same time, they were able to be shipped together... 

Playing Around

Last week I received a special request in my shop. Could I make a lip balm holder in black and gray (as opposed to the one I have in black or the one I have in gray). 

Normally, I would go to the yarn store and look for a variegated yarn in black and gray. While the yarn store is open, I wasn't really in the mood to go out searching. Instead, I decided to play a bit with the black and gray yarns I had on hand. 

This is what I ended up with... 

I did not intend nor expect the pattern that emerged. I was just playing around with the yarn. 

It turned out kind of diamond-y. 

So, how did I achieve this? Every other round was "checkerboard". That is, I did one black stitch, one gray stitch, and repeated. The non "checkerboard" rounds were alternated black or gray. So... 

Round 1: black

Round 2: alternate gray and black stitches

Round 3: gray

Round 4: alternate black and gray stitches

And I repeated those rounds, finishing on round 10 with an "alternate gray and black" round. 

(I'm writing this out more for myself, in case I ever have to reproduce this.) 

I almost just did stripes. I'm rather glad I didn't just do stripes.

Cyber Monday

Paradigm Shift, Part 2

I stitched up the sides of my iPad cozy. I like how it turned out...

The iPad fits easily...

I would have probably done the side stitching differently had I planned to do this from the start, but since the edging was already done, I figured I might as well keep it...

Cyber Monday

Since it's that time of year, I figured I might as well remind you all that I do have an Etsy shop, and much of what I post here is (or can be) for sale. Like that iPad holder. It was made for the smaller iPad, but I could totally make one for any size device. Just let me know.

I've been updating my Christmas tree ornament photos...

There is already a selection at Zizi Rho Designs, but I am open to custom orders as well. There are so many colors, I have a hard time narrowing it down. Like, I have all sorts of beads...

...that I can combine in all sorts of different ways.

And I'm doing a special for all blog readers. These aren't listed on Etsy...

They are short dangle earrings (sorry guys) made of felted wool beads. The beads are about 3/4 inch (1.8 cm) in diameter and hang down about 1-1/2 inches (4 cm). Since these are handmade (by me), the measurements do vary a small bit.

These earrings are very lightweight, and I have them in practically any color you can imagine...

(I don't have the patience to get them all photographed at the moment. This will be a project for 2020.)

If you'd like to purchase a pair, they're $9 (per pair), and that's including shipping anywhere in the U.S. (International readers, I'll knock a couple bucks off the price for you, but shipping will be extra. Sorry.)

If you're interested, just say so in the comments. If your email is enabled, that's it. If not, please include an email address in your comment so I can contact you. The purchase will go through Etsy as I'll make up a custom listing just for you.

I have a couple new projects (kind of) on the needles/hook, so I should have something different to show off next week.

An Old Crocheted Friend

Last week I got a special request via my Etsy shop for a water bottle carrier. Remember my water bottle carrier? I wouldn't be surprised if you don't as I haven't talked about it here in years.

She asked for orange (so I was stoked), and it turned out like this...

It's been so long since I made one that I had to look up the pattern. I could not find it in my notebooks anywhere. Luckily, I had posted it to the blog. It may still be the top post over in the sidebar under "Popular Posts". It's been in the top position for ages now.

I have a couple of these of my own that I pull out for special occasions. Most of the time I keep my water bottle in my bag, but if I don't want to carry my bag... So, it is a useful thing.

And it doesn't take too long to finish one up. Unlike infinity scarves that I've been working on for ages...

Photo Editing

I haven't been doing much knitting or crocheting this past week. I did work a little on the purple infinity scarf, but I didn't make enough progress for photos.

What I did instead was some photo editing. I'm still working on listings for my Etsy shop, and these photos have been sitting on my computer for a while. (August. I think the date on these is August.)

When I start, the photo looks something like this...

I do a little tweaking, and it looks like this...

Or I start with this...

And get it to this...

I ended up taking 33 pictures for this listing. I get to use 10. And that's about how many pictures I take for each, so it takes me a bit to go through them.

Hopefully next week I'll have some new knits (or crochet) to share.

(If you're interested in purchasing some of my EOS lip balm holder/keychains, you can find them here.)

A Finished Phone Cozy

I finished last week's phone cozy...

Alas, there was a bit too much light in my photos this time...

This is actually a good problem to have. In the past, I've suffered from too dark images...

I do make these as custom orders, if anyone is interested. I no longer stock them in my Etsy shop, so you'll have to ask me for one...

But the positive of that is that you can pick the color, the strap length (in this case, the request for it to be strap-less), the size, and you can make any other requests of me that you like.

I think there's a way to list these with those parameters, and maybe one of these days I'll get around to doing that. But I currently have a backlog of other things to get listed, so it's not currently a priority.

Since this is the sort of thing that most knitters would prefer to make for themselves, the pattern is available to purchase. You can get it via my Etsy shop or via Ravelry. (The pattern includes a chart for the stitch pattern as well as the instructions to make a narrower or wider version.)

A First Draft

I was not much in the mood to take pictures yesterday, so instead I played with making a collage.

The plan is to turn this into a pin for Pinterest. Or, at least, I'll turn the final collage into a pin. Consider this a first draft collage.

For the last year I've been getting pictures of all these lip balm cozies. How'd it take a year? I got distracted by things like Christmas and the deluge in my bedroom, as well as getting a new camera and a lightbox. The listings are done. (Finally!) But, looking back at the first pictures I "improved" shows that those need to be improved upon again. Sigh.

Gift Card Holders

At some point during the A to Z Challenge, someone asks about the knitted letters at the end of my posts. And since G fell on a knitting day...

Yes, I knit all the letters myself. I did it back in 2015, and I wrote a whole post about them. I won't bore you with a rehash. I have several of them listed in my Etsy shop. If you're in the market for one, let me know and I can make it with the letter and in the colors you wish.

But I couldn't just do a repost thing for the A to Z. No, I needed a newbie for this post. Although, this isn't quite a newbie.

It seems my theme for this month's projects is finish-all-the-things-that-fell-by-the-wayside. Last week I finished up a pair of slippers I had promised back in January. This week I restocked my unicorn gift card holder.

I sold the last one back on October. I intended to make another to replace it right away, but other things got in the way. Like Christmas.

But I had some time last week, and it was way past time to make another. This one is listed in my shop (here's another link to it).

(The design is by the talented One Dog Woof, and you can find the pattern here.)

Once I realized my theme for projects this month, next week's M became super obvious. Fingers crossed that I can get that finished in time as well.

Have any random projects of yours fallen by the wayside? Have you had a productive month so far? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Zizi Rho Designs Listings Update

I should be cranking away on the Christmas knitting. Alas, I came down with a mild cold last week, so all I did was sub and rest. And look at my yarn and think, "I should pull that out and work on something".

So, for this week, just a few shots of some things I've listed since the last time I posted my new listings. As before, if you click on the pictures, it'll take you to the listing on Etsy.

Orange EOS Lip Balm Holder Cozy with Clip

Lavender EOS Lip Balm Holder Cozy with Clip 

Keyfob Lip Balm Cozy in Neon Green

Pink/Green Variegated Lip Balm Cozy

Fuschia Hot Pink Fluffy Furball Lightweight Firework Puff Ball Earrings

Light Blue Lightweight Firework Puff Ball Earrings

If this week goes well, I might just have my niece's Christmas request to share with you. Or perhaps just another pair of the ugly slippers. Fingers crossed...

Some Christmas Knitting

Christmas is less than a month away, and I'm plugging away on a couple scarves. That were gifts for last Christmas.

Ah well...

It's been a while since I posted a picture of this scarf. I'm slowly making progress...

And here's a close up where you can see the detail a bit better...

I finally started on the purple skein last week. I had to rip it out and start over (naturally). I got most of the work done on Thanksgiving. (What? You don't bring your knitting with you for family get togethers?)

And both the purple and the teal came out on camera! Woo-hoo!

With last week off, I managed to get a few new listings done. I'll leave you with those. (Click on the pictures to go to the listings on Etsy.)

Mermaid Tail Lip Balm Holder in Blue and Green Variegated

Neon Yellow EOS Lip Balm Holder Cozy

Keyfob Lip Balm Cozy in Navy Blue

Pom Pom Dangle Drop Red Lightweight Firework Puff Ball Earrings