A Beautiful Disaster!

A few months ago I got a call from a lady I've known for most of my life. Her daughter is a few years older than me and has 3 little ones, 2 girls and a boy. In fact, when her daughter was pregnant with her first, I was pregnant with Pyper, we were due the same week!

Grandma was ordering two hats to accessorize the two black faux fur coats she made for the girls. She had ideas for style and a specific color in mind. Grandma came over and we looked at a few patterns that I'd pre-selected based on our discussion, and sure enough there was one there that she loved. The color palate was white with a black band and soft pink flowers with black leaves, simple but striking. Here's where the distaster begins!!!!!

The brand of cotton I usually use doesn't have a soft pink... seriously, hot pink, dusty rose, peachy pink....no soft pink. I whipped out the laptop and we looked at the color options from the brands that I could order in. We decided on a tone and I placed the order as soon as she left, and then I waited....

And waited...

And waited...

I received an email from the supplier indicting that they were undergoing a change in their postal delivery service and that although it would speed things in the future it would cause a delay on this order. I phoned Grandma and let her know.

And waited...

And waited...

And waited...

I sent the supplier an email... a rather unhappy email indicating that they usually have a slower than average in the delivery time and that I understood that they were undergoing a change but this was CRAZY!!! I am running a business and their wait time is reflecting badly on me and my business ....where's my stuff?? I soon found out that they sent the package to my old address...despite the fact that I've ordered since the move. Of course the new owner rejected the parcel and it was sent back to the supplier. It was that close...about 6 blocks away from home! They said once the package was received back they'd re-ship to the correct address... ugh......

I phoned Grandma and let her know where things were at...and waited...

And waited...

And waited...

It took aproximately 2 months for the yarn to show up...... holy poopers... I was soooooooo irritated... I finished the embellishments for the hats that night... and delivered ASAP. Despite my many phonecalls throughout updating Grandma, she though these hats just were not going to happen. I take pride in beating the deadlines I give people... so needless to say I was mortified... and of course did my best to "make it right".

I had Pyper model one of the hats...so here you go, you can see my beautiful disaster!

What have I learned?? ....uh....find a new supplier... triple check to make sure the shipping address is correct... stock more colors so I don't have to order to fill an order!!!

love....hate...

Do I start with the LOVE... or the HATE??

I'll start with the hate and get that over with!! ...I hate having to tell a client that something is out of stock! ...sometimes I get fantastic yarns, clean out the store of it and then can't get it in again... once i've used it up, it's gone... that makes me sad... and I hate having to tell someone they can't have what they really want... okay, so I guess there might be one positive thing though, for the people who do get those products... they are getting something unique!

now that i've vented... let's talk about the LOVE.... or rather i'll talk... :)

I love when clients LOVE their stuff... I love when they're so excited to get their items that they can't wait until I've left to open them up... or so excited that they ask me to ship overnight so they can see it right away... which has happened 3 times this weekend!!! ...makes me very happy!!! :)

I really enjoy being able to provide a client with a product that exceeds their expectation... A loves hats but has a challenging head size.......... uh......... she has to shop in the kids department for hats!! ...so finding a "grown-up" style...not to mention finding something that looks "grown-up" AND stylish in the retail market... seems to be too much to ask! ...i've now made 4 hats for A...and she's just requested a 5th... for her it's great because she's getting what she wants and not comprimising on fit.... for me, it's fun... she loves her stuff enough to keep coming back for more...could there be a bigger compliment than that?

I took A out for some pictures on a lunch break (from the "day" job).... still trying to get the hang of taking pictures...and I ended up with a few that i'm quite proud of... yay!! We had a great agreement...she'd be patient with me because i'm no photographer...and i'd be patient with her because she's no model... :) iIve included a few of the pics from that day thoughout today's post...

Well...i'm off... that was more long winded than I anticipated... as you can imagine I talk a lot in person too!!! ...i've got lots of stuff to make for next week's newborn product shoot... i'm super excited about that!! ..i'll keep you posted!

Boys...boys...boys

There is a serious lack of crochet patterns for boys, but I bet I didn't have to tell you that! I loved the scarf with tassles that Pyper made (with a little help) so much that I decided to make a boy hat & scarf set based on it!

I bought a couple balls of this great multi-colored yarn with dark green, grey and taupe - I bought it for something else entirely but though it would lend itself perfectly to this project. It's SUPER soft!

Since I have only a small amount of this yarn I can only offer two of this set, first come, first served! ...The hat fits a size 18-20" - it's nice and plyable.. the scarf has the loop to keep it in place around the neck. They are very easy to care for, machine wash in warm water and dry on low heat - but I do strongly, strongly recommend washing and drying in a laundry bag to prevent any snags from other clothing. The cost for the 2-piece set is $45.00.

Stay tuned for those awesome slippers I mentioned in the Pyper post... they will be making an appearance soon!

Miss Pyper's first project!!!

Pyper just finished her first crochet project... i'm so excited for her!!! She wanted to make a scarf for "Auntie Crystal's other baby" she said as we were in the store shopping for yarn. The "other" baby is the one that has not yet been born. So we picked out this icy blue alpaca blend, it's super-soft!

Through many evenings she sat in my lap holding the hook with her right hand while I guided the yarn with the left - complete teamwork. I must admit I sneaked in a couple extra rows for her here and there to speed the process a little!!! I did the finishing and added the tassles and she's so excited to box it up and take it over!

My next project is these great slippers - so she says - "mommy can you teach ME how to make slippers". I told her it's pretty hard to which she answered, "I knowww that, I want you to teeeeeeeach me". How can I say no to that? I suspect she's going to jump right in with both feet just like her mom!

I can't wait to post the new boy set that I just finished last night, and those fantastic slippers, they haven't even hit the website yet and I've already got a bunch of orders!!! :)