Chat Thread

[#1]

Here you go. Private and all.

[BuytheHook]

Good morning everyone. Baby Max was born last night at 8:50 pm. 7lbs 7 oz. Both he and my daughter are doing well.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Lucille ~ Congratulations and best wishes to you and your family!!!
So good to hear wonderful news!!! Many blessing to your family.

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

Lucille, congratulations on the birth of your new grandson! Is this your first grandchild, I don't remember.

I finally got some new listings up. I wish I had motivation to work more on my shop.

[BuytheHook]

Thank you both for the congrats. I also have a boy and girl twin grandchildren. Hard to believe they will be 5 in August.

[mzbellz]

Lucille congrats. Glad everything went well and daughter and baby are fine. Talk soon. Hello everyone else.

[hooknsaw]

Congratulations, Lucille! Wishing you and your family the very best!

For anyone interested, herrshnerrs is having a one day only sale for 29% off entire order. Use coupon code JESTER17 at checkout.

Debra, I'm happy your Mom is doing better and I hope the infection is under control. My Dad has chronic blood count issues and even with the dialysis center checking it 3 times weekly, his numbers can crash in hours.

I hope everyone is well. We had a busy weekend with the kids and granddaughters visiting. Izzy managed to get a hold of a large bag of packing peanuts and dump them all over our office. Needless to say, I will be finding little pieces of Styrofoam for weeks, once she and my little furry dog (ComoTu) got into it.
Izzy's remark was "sorry Grandma ... it looks like snow!"

Will chat more later.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Hi Ladies,

Lucille ~ I hope your daughter and baby are doing well. Such an exciting time for your family.

Lisa ~ That Izzy is such a character! My mom is doing well, thank you. Your poor dad with his blood count issues and diabetes. It's such a difficult disease to get under control. Hope you are doing well and not stressed out.

I am taking it a bit easy with my shop. My booties are ready to ship and only my sets are custom made. I am at total burnout. The sets don't sell that often so having them custom is not a big deal but the booties were killing me!! I like making them, it's making them on demand that I no longer enjoy. I've been making a few a day when I want to relax and it's been so much better for me. Plus, now I get to experiment with different colors that I have been wanting to make.

I am taking off for the rest of the week. I have a charity luncheon on Friday that takes place on a Celebrity Cruise line ship. We don't go anywhere but it will be nice to be at the Fort Lauderdale port enjoying lunch.

I hope everyone has a good week and stays healthy.

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

Hi Team. Hope everyone is well. Is anyone checking in on the giraffe? They have been waiting for this giraffe to have a baby for the last nine or ten day!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Baby will be 150 pounds and six feet tall when it's born. It is kind of interesting but boring too. You can see the baby kicking and moving around.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Good Evening ~

Sue Ellen ~ I have been watching the giraffe on and off. I'll check again tonight to see if there is any action.

For 3 years in a row I watched the Cornell Barn Owl Cam. It's a camera inside a barn owl box. I watched from the mating of the parents till the babies flew away months after they were born. It was months of my life spent watching them on the cam. I was absolutely fascinated by the owls. It was so addicting.

Don't even want to really start with the giraffe but I am excited to see the baby.

Hope all is well! Have a wonderful weekend ladies!

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

Debra, I'll have to see if I can find some owls to watch. I absolutely love owls. I've collected them all my life. I came home from work one night and a beautiful one was sitting on my porch railing. I just stood there for about 10 or 15 minutes, me looking at him and him looking at me until he flew away!!!! It was fascinating.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Here is a link to the Cornell Bird Cams. No owls at this time and they are no longer going to do a Barn Owl Cam. The story behind that decision is on the barn owl page. It was a tragic year for the barn owls and I watched it all unfold.
Really difficult to see.

http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/42/Barn_Owls/

I will check to see if there are any live owl cams. I also love owls, they are amazing birds.

[mzbellz]

Good morning all
Hope everyone is doing well. Very cold here this morning. 8 degrees right now.
Debra. I never knew about the owl cam or they even had that. Do you have to be a member to watch it? I would like to see something like that. I enjoy watching the discovery channel and nature. You asked if I will be posting my baby blanket I will when I have a moment to my self. 😀
I'm into crocheting ponchos now. I'm making one for my cousin. But I'm knitting it. It's from an old 70s pattern book I have. The colors are peach and brown I'm doing 14 rows solid peach and 14 rows stripe brown and peach I have to make 2 separate pieces and sew them together. It will look awesome when it's finished. It will be fringed on the bottom. I also finished a poncho done with left over yarn that came out quite nice. It's the classic poncho design.
Debra. How are your parents doing I lost my parents when I was in my 20 s. I wish they could of been around longer.
I wonder how Melissa is doing. I hope she's ok.
Just thought I'd stop by. If anyone hears from Sarah please let us know. Miss her too. She had great stories

[BuytheHook]

Hi all. I just wanted to check in. I've been pretty busy doing things around here. Haven't seen my daughter or the baby, other than pics and skyping. We are going next week, can't wait. She wanted us to help out when her husband returns to work.
I've been busy cooking and freezing stuff to bring, just so that is one less thing for them to worry about. Not easy though, they are both vegans, and I find that hard for me.

I haven't done much on my site. I've only sold a couple of things in a few months. It really dampens my enthusiasm. I did add a couple of blanket items to see how that goes over. I know I want to focus on maybe three or four baby items, but not sure which ones. I find it so hard to keep my spirits up, when I don't even get many views. I've tried adds briefly, no difference. I don't know if my items are not on par with other sites. I try to keep my prices fair, and I am quick to respond and accommodating to convos. I just wish the purchasers were. I only have a few reviews, all good, but so few take the time to write or even enter the stars. I've had a few local people (SELL ON ETSY APP) who have bought my items and have not received a email from Etsy to let them know about the review.

By the way, I haven't seen the owl or the giraffe pics, but there is an eagles nest site, I check.

Hope everyone is well, and again thanks for the congrats.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Good Evening, I hope everyone is doing well.

Mary Alice ~ The owl cam was on Cornell Labs, a free website with several bird cams, but owls are no longer available for viewing. The owls had a very bad year and Cornell decided to take the cam down since it was so upsetting for the lab and viewers to watch.

I am trying to find another cam that is in real time. I'll let you know if I find one.

Ponchos are super popular now. Good luck with them. My grandmother crocheted one for me back in the 60's. I wish I had appreciated it more than I did. It was pink and white and there is one thing I have never been, a pink girl. I think I stuck it in my closet and never wore it. What a brat I was.

My parents are doing well, knock wood, thanks for asking. They are back to being active again and going out shopping and to dinner. It was a rough couple of months but they are troopers.

I sent Sarah a message to let her know about Crochetgal but have not heard back. I hope she and her son are doing well. I know we would all love to hear from her.

Lucille~ You must be out of your mind with excitement to see the new baby!! My friend's daughter-in-law is a vegan and the dil is raising her kids, 2 & 4, to be vegans. My girlfriend has a really hard time coming up with food to serve. The daughter-in-law and son had an all vegan wedding and the food was not great. We all left the wedding and went to a hamburger joint around the corner. We were starving!!

I think that crochet and knit items are having a bad season. I see a lot of posts on the forums regarding shops not doing well. Possibly it's the fact that it was and is an unseasonably warm winter and also the competition is really fierce on Etsy. The economy seems to be picking up a bit so maybe sales will also pick up.

As far as reviews, I have always had a consistent 1/3rd of purchasers leave a review. I will get messages from customers that they love their items but most do not leave a review. I have seen shops with 30,000 sales and maybe 9,000 reviews. People just don't leave reviews and many have no idea how to leave one. No news is good news. So I don't stress over lack of reviews. As long as the reviews you have are all good then don't worry.

Lisa ~ I hope you are doing ok. Have you heard anything from Crochetgal's partner? I miss her so much. How lucky we were to be teammates of such a cool lady.

Take care everyone. I am off to check on the giraffe.

[mzbellz]

Hi Guys
Just finished posting a new listing if anyone cares to check it out. It's the Poncho I finally finished. I think it came out quite nice.

I see no one's been on for awhile. I have a few minutes since Olivia is now in school. So I thought I'd drop by.

I still have a baby blanket I want to take a pic of and put on, if I have time I might do that later. This week is flying by. It's Wed already. and next week is the middle of the month.

Weather here is suppose to be warm today in the 50s, but it feels colder than that. At least here in the house. Will have to make a fire in the woodstove.

Started a skirt for my cousins daughter back in October but it wasn't turning out the way I wanted and I got discouraged so I put it aside. Finally decided to do a whole new one. Found a pattern from a mile minute afghan and decided to make a skirt from it. I'm excited by the way it's turning out and it's not taken me long at all. The pattern is called Queens Ann's Lace. Being she likes lacy things this will be right up her ally Can't wait to see what she thinks when I finally give it to her. :)
Hope you're all doing well, and if anyone speaks with Melissa please tell her to let us know how things are going. I'm sure she must of had her baby by now.

[BabyFantasyCrochet]

I'm alive! Tobias Briar was born 3-2-17 at 2:47pm 9lbs even 21.5 inches long. Got home late Saturday. Been trying to adjust to having two little ones now. Winter has been having jealousy issues which was to be expected.

I am in shock about Crochetgal. She has been a source of knowledge on here for ever. I've been here since 2008 and I loved getting fuzzy yarns from her or the yearly shipping rate updates. I can't believe she's gone. If there was ever a question she had an answer.

[mzbellz]

Melissa: Congratulations. So happy for you. I'm glad things went well. You have a big boy there. i'm sure he makes you smile every day. Welcome to motherhood.
Yes, it was a shock about Crochetgal. We all miss her terribly. She was a fine woman. Will always remember her fondly.
Please keep in touch when you can. Again Congratulations.

[BabyFantasyCrochet]

Thanks! I thought it was bad before having to wake up all night to pee but boy when he doesn't want to sleep... so tired. By the time he's down good sister is ready to get up.

[KnitAndCrochetPalace]

Congratulations Melissa on your big boy! Hope you are both doing well and nap when you can! I know that's hard with two little ones.

I think of Crochetgal often. Everytime I had a question, she was always there offering help or suggestions. I am sure every time I need to order crochet thread I will think of her. I need to order some now and honestly feel guilty thinking about ordering from someone else. I have been putting off ordering.

I have been dealing with major leg problems again. I have been trying to crochet while reclining in the recliner to try to keep my legs up as much as possible but it's hard to read a pattern while reclining!!

Hope everyone else is fine and getting orders.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Good Evening!

Melissa ~ Congrats to you and your family. What a big boy!! Not easy with two little ones but you will soon find a routine that works for all of you.
Best wishes!

Mary Alice ~ The new poncho is adorable. Hope it sells for you. It's a wonderful spring into summer evening piece.

SueEllen~ Sorry to hear you are having leg issues. It is circulation or muscular? Maybe you can prop the pattern up on a music stand next to you.

I am not crocheting as much anymore. My shoulder is really bad and the more I crochet the more it hurts. I am only making a few sets a week and selling mostly ready to ship at this point.

I guess we are all missing Crochetgal. She was always so happy when we reached our personal goals and was such a cheerleader for the team. There wasn't an Etsy problem that she didn't have the answer to. She was so bright, witty and full of spirit. I try to keep her spirit in mind when I am having a rough day. She always pushed on and was so optimistic. Her optimism was infectious so when she finally succumbed to her disease it was a blow. I know we all thought she would rally one more time. She'll always be my inspiration.

Have a good rest of the evening.

[craftykittycrochet]

Hi everyone, long time no chat!!!! I miss you all!!!!

Melissa - CONGRATS on your new little one!!! :D

It's still so hard to believe about Crochetgal....she was such a sweet friend, and boy did she know her yarns!!! And Etsy!!!! I still can't believe she's gone.....keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers as we all mourn the loss of a wonderful friend.

HUGS everyone! I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I haven't been on my PC much or I would write more often. Lots of love to you all and happy crocheting!

[HowCuteAreYou]

Kitty ~ You are so missed!! Hope all is well with you. If you get a chance, stop by and let us know how your new home and job are going.

Hope everyone is well. I am 1 away from my next big milestone in sales!!
I am sold out of booties and am only listing them as they are made, so much better!!! Everyone is begging me to step away from the hook for awhile and by only shipping ready to ship it's much easier to take time off.

Neal really needs time off so hopefully this weekend we will take a day or two to visit my son and his wife in Satellite Beach and then a long weekend in April to Key West. Then a weekend trip to NYC.

Yesterday we went to the beach and just relaxed. I am doing my best to make sure Neal has some r&r.

Hope everyone has a good start to their week. I love that we have daylight for an hour longer.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Hi Ladies~

I did it, I reached my goal number of sales and I am officially on vacation for the next week or so....or until I am bored out of my mind. I packaged up the last of my orders this morning and it feels great.

Hope everyone is well.

Debbie

[hooknsaw]

Melissa, Congratulations on the arrival of Tobias! I hope you are getting some rest! I wish the Dr.s could order bed rest AFTER the baby gets here! I remember the days of little ones and feeling constantly exhausted forever!

Debra, congrats on the milestone!!! I admire the way you have switched gears over the years with your items and tackled the task of getting a trademark for your booties! Your shop is always trendy and beautiful!

Mary Alice the poncho is really pretty! Are you going to add more? Are you in the path of the latest blizzard? We are in the high 70's and at the mercy of allergy season with everything blooming.

Kitty, it is great to see you and I hope you can visit more often! How is the new house / job?

Lucille, I hope you have a wonderful visit with your daughter and grand-baby!

I have been coasting along lately. I seem to get into personal funks occasionally and just leave-me-alone-and-let-me-crochet modes! I feel like I am bouncing back now. I miss Crochetgal and have had a hard time with her passing. She was such a positive role model!

I hope everyone is well! I am catching spring fever with the warm weather here and planning on getting the rv cleaned out and ready for some trips soon.

[HowCuteAreYou]

Good Morning!

Lisa ~ Thank you so much for the pat on the back. It's been a lot of hard work but I have really loved it, not every day or every customer, but it's been very rewarding.

I understand the personal funk mode. I've been there where I just want to stay in my little room and do my own thing. It's the crochet blues.
I know how devastated you were by Crochetgal's passing and maybe the down time helped, a little, with the grieving process.

My brother and his wife just sold their vet practice and took a trip to the desert for a celebration. They said the bloom of flowers was incredible. I was listening to a report on the bloom which apparently is rare. Must be gorgeous. And, must not be very nice for people with allergies. Something is always blooming here so it's hard to know what is causing allergies. First 3 years I lived here I had to take allergy shots 2 times a week. I was an allergic mess.

I hope you plan some wonderful get-a-ways. It will do you good to step away and relax.

How is your dad doing?

Ok...off to do I don't know what today. Keep looking at my yarn thinking of booties I could be making but I am really trying to stay away. I want to see if a week of no crocheting helps my shoulder. Going cold turkey is tough!