I am super excited to announce that my online shop, Hamlin Craftworks, is live and ready for business! Please bear with me while I get all of my pieces listed. As always, if you see something on my Facebook page or at a craft show that you like, just let me know!
Saturday, October 27, I’ll be in Pineville, NC. Come see me!
I had a great time at Waxhaw’s Autumn Treasures festival this weekend! Chatted with lots of lovely folks, and might even get a couple of commissions. The weather couldn’t have been better; cool and mostly sunny.
I had two setups this weekend. I think I like the second one (Sunday’s) better. That angled table was a bit more inviting. Although the wrap is what snagged the attention of most folks.
Saturday’s Booth
Sunday’s Booth
My three favorite moments from the event:
1) A young fellow (maybe 12?) came into the booth looking at the baby blankets. He was obviously not finding what he wanted, and he finally asked me if I had any blankets for $5. Well, no, but I did have some cute beanie hats for babies that happen to be $5. He bought a blue beanie and left. An hour or so later, he comes back to the booth and he’s grinning ear to ear. “My baby cousin loves his new hat!” Y’all, I’m not kidding, I nearly teared up over that. Not only because he was so pleased, but because he took the time to come back and tell me. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone do that before.
2) A lady was sucked into the booth by a blue blanket. She kept touching it, and she finally pulled it out of the basket. She told me about her granny who used to crochet blankets for her, but who is no longer here. She has a blanket that’s worn thin from all the washing – and, let’s face it, from all the love. While she was talking, she kept snuggling into the blanket, rubbing her face against it and squeezing it. She bought the blanket, saying she had to have it, that she didn’t have anyone to make things like that for her anymore. Yep, nearly teared up on that one too. I still have all of the blankets my grandmother crocheted for me…
3) I was chatting with a lady who was looking at the champagne mohair wrap. We talked about fibers and stitches and the work that goes into making something like that. She, as did many other people over the weekend, checked the price tag. Her response was something I’m just not used to hearing – “It’s totally worth that!”
I first heard about dryer balls a year or so ago, but I didn’t give them more than a passing thought. Someone mentioned them to me a few months ago, and since Craftworks was up and running, I figured I’d look into it a bit more. I discovered that dryer balls are very easy to make and do a wonderful job. They reduce both the drying time and static electricity. I haven’t used fabric softener since I started making these. Since they last a really long time (2-3 years or 1000 loads, depending on who you ask), they’re saving me money in multiple ways.
Making these are easy, but if you’d rather, you can just pop over to Hamlin Craftworks and buy a set – that’s even easier!
I use 100% wool in my dryer balls. I don’t stuff the middle with old socks or t-shirts like I’ve seen suggested on some sites. The only thing I occasionally do is, if I can get a really good price on one particular wool, I’ll use that for the center and use the slightly more expensive wool for the outside. This lets me save a little money and offer a larger selection of colors in the store.
The key is to make sure you’re using 100% wool, not a wool blend, and not superwash. The blends and superwash wool won’t felt, which dramatically increases your chances of the ball coming unraveled in the dryer and leaving your with a tangled mess of yarn.
These are some of my favorite brands for making dryer balls. I particularly like the Patons Wool Roving and the Wool Naturals. KnitPicks is nice for the colors, but the thicker the yarn, the easier it is to felt. Be aware, just as with any yarn, very dark colors may bleed during the wash cycle.
So, to make wool dryer balls.
1 – Wind the wool into a ball and secure the end. I like to poke a crochet hook through the ball, grab the loose end, and pull it back through. Any little tail left over, I just weave in. I’ve found this is a particularly good way to keep the ball from unraveling.
2 – Place the balls into a nylon stocking and put a knot between each ball. I’ve found that I can get five balls into a knee high. Both the stocking and the knot are important because they keep the balls from felting onto your clothes or each other. Be prepared to lose the stocking, though, as you may end up having to cut the balls out.
3 – Run the balls through multiple loads of laundry, both washing and drying. It’s best if you can do at least one load with hot water and high heat to dry. I’ve found that three to four loads works well for me (not to mention it gets my towels super clean). After the last pass through the dryer, remove the balls from the stocking. If you’re more skilled (or just luckier) than I, you might be able to untie the knots and gently pull the balls out of the stocking. I tried that once. Now I just cut the knots and rip the stockings. It’s much less stressful. The more loads you put the balls through, and particularly the more loads with hot water you use, the more the wool will felt, and the more likely it is to stick to the stocking. It will pull apart, you just have to be patient.
I don’t make exceptionally large balls, so I use six in the dryer. Fewer would work with most loads, but I’m lazy and don’t feel like having to look around for the extra ball or two if I do a large load of towels. The six balls live in the dryer – when I pull the dry clothes out, I toss the balls back in so I know they’ll be there the next time I need them.
I must have lost my mind. That’s the only thing I can think of that would possibly explain what I’ve done. For some unknown, clearly insane reason, I have booked myself for four craft shows this fall. Two outside, two inside. Two where I can hopefully sell some of my really nice (read: expensive) pieces, and two where I’m more likely to sell smaller, less expensive pieces. I seriously gotta get hookin’.
I’ve got to completely re-do my booth – it was okay for last year’s one show, since it was the first I’d ever done, but it’s certainly not going to be good enough for the two higher-end shows. I need to photograph everything I’ve made and create a portfolio for people to look through. I think I need to get some battery-powered lighting for one of the shows, too. And I need to make more stuff. Did I mention that already? Oh, well. It’s not like I have anything else to do, right? Oy…
If you’re in the area, Hamlin Craftworks will be at the following shows:
Waxhaw Autumn Treasures, October 13th and 14th
Afire Student Ministries Annual Fall Craft Fair, October 27th
Indian Land Fall Festival, November 3rd and 4th
38th Annual B&B Craft Show, November 24th
While I was in Ft. Lauderdale on business this week, I made a crazy long quick stop into a local yarn store. A basic Google search showed a couple of them in the area, and while I might normally have had to do something like flip a coin to make the choice, there was absolutely no way I could resist a place called Sheep Thrills. I mean, really, that name is just ridiculously awesome. It turned out to be both a great choice, and a horrible choice. Great, because the people were lovely and the yarn selection was spectacular. Horrible, because the yarn selection was spectacular. I spent more than I should have and could easily have walked out with twice as much. I’ll have to go there again someday when my bank account isn’t quite so pitiful. Although they do offer online shopping…
I ended up with three hanks of lace weight, 100% tencel Prism yarn (bottom row), in Raspberry, Jasper, and Periwinkle. Jasper, the burnt orange, isn’t a color I would typically choose, but it is just so pretty. The yarn feels yummy soft, too. I can’t wait to work something up with it. All right, all right. I admit it. Mostly I just want to pet the yarn.
The blue and white (top row), is Bolt, and the pink and white is Ski Bunny. Both are fingering weight, alpaca/merino blends from Apple Fiber Studio in Washington state.
The multi-colored yarn is a locally dyed, fingering weight merino blend called Purple Sunset. The colors are based on the view the show owner has from her back yard. They had a swatch worked up, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Now I just have to find the right pattern to do justice to the colors.
One of the neatest online yarn shops I’ve found is Ancient Arts Yarns in Canada. They have lovely yarn in general (and the exchange rate helps a bit), but the best part is their Meow and Woof collections. These are “hand-dyed yarns based on the unique and beautiful colours of dogs” (and cats). The company also donates a portion of the proceeds to help abandoned and stray cats and dogs. Cool, huh?
I finally broke down and purchase a few skeins, and they arrived today. They’re all merino/silk blends in fingering weight. From left to right, we have Tortoiseshell, Rose Tribute (okay, not one of the Meow or Woof yarns, but soooo pretty), German Shepherd (I know, you’re shocked), and Kitten Nose Pink.
There’s enough yardage of each that I should be able to make four really pretty scarves, I just have to find the right patterns to showcase the gorgeous colors. And then I have to decide if I want to sell them or keep them for myself. I bet I know a few folks who might be interested in having a scarf in German shepherd colors…