CRL: Bring Home the Crafty Bacon!

Hey there, crafty pants! It's Thursday and that means, a brand spankin' new episode of CRL!
Ever thought about selling your crafty wares or starting an independent or web-based business? Already have a small business but not sure how to market it without spending loads of cash? Well then, the "Bring Home the Crafty Bacon" episode is just for you! This week's CRL is super-sized in length and jam packed with useful info so give her a listen, wont ya?

Here's the scoop:

Jennifer Perkins

Guest: Jennifer Perkins (Host of Craft Lab/ Owner of Naughty Secretary Club)

Topic: Grass roots info on starting a crafty (or any indie) business. Jen also talks about the current season of Craft Lab and her upcoming jewelry book!

Format: Interview with Jennifer, T3 segment (This episode's segment offers a web designer's tips on creating an effective website) and the Ramblings segment (thoughts about trying to balance family with a crafty career and info on a couple of great, indie business resources!)

This episode brought to you by:


Oh, and you'll be happy to know that we've condensed the file size for minimal download time! Check CRL out here or on iTunes now!

xo,
Vickie

F.y.T.w.v.p

Heya, everyone! Thank you so much to those of you who left birthday wishes for me here or on my MySpace page--it made me feel all gushy inside.

We spent the weekend with friends, I convinced my sons of the awesomeness that is Neil Diamond (via the movie Jazz Singer), and my youngest actually agreed to wear something I made for him without complaining. A gal can't really ask for much more than that!

Tristan Modeling the Daddy-O Vest

We leave for Texarkana tomorrow to visit family and Thursday is a holiday here in the states, so no new CRL podcast this week. Never fear though, you can still get your crafty-entertainment fix! For your Thanksgiving weekend viewing pleasure (F.y.T.w.v.p.), DIY's Holiday Gift-nanza-- featuring Michele Breschen (B.Original), Sandi Genovese (DIY Scrapbooking), Cathy Filian and Steve Piacenza (Creative Juice), Jennifer Perkins (Craft Lab) and myself--premieres this Sunday at 9pmET/8pmCT/6p,PT! Live it. Love it. Craft it. Wait, what?

Jennifer & Me shooting an outdoors scene.

Holy crap, that's a lot of snow!

Cathie, Jennifer and Me outside of the Vermont set.
(Before we found out that the entire cast and crew were snowed in for the night)

Still here? Ok then, have a lookie at just a few of the easy-to-make gifts we'll be whipping up during the special...

My 4-hour Scrap Scarf

Cathie's Beauty on the Go Kit

Michelle's World's Fair Belt
Steve's Mod Candles...and so many more!

Huge holiday hugs to Uncommon Threads host Allison Whitlock, who flew all the way from Australia to be in the special with us but then got stuck at the D.C. airport and never made it. We missed you, lady!

Have a safe, happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

xo,
Vickie

TGIF

Work-wise, weekends don't usually mean anything different than any other part of the week for me. Those of you who also work from home know why--because when you're surrounded by your work, you don't ever completely stop attending to it. Today though, I'm giving a big TGIF shout out because, a.) well, I'm a little burnt out and b.) because Sunday's my birthday and as a gift to myself I'm going to at least attempt to spend most of my time away from the computer (well, this one at least--I reserve the right to frivolously surf the web on the new iBook my hubby just bought me).

Before I bid blogger adieu for a couple of days though, and for no particular reason at all, here are a few pictures from things I did over the past week.

Saturday: Stitch Austin where the adorable kids from Threadbanger let me say "hi" to the crafty brethren on their show.

Also at Stitch...there's very little that makes me happier than seeing a life-sized cut-out of my friend. Here is Hope Perkins in all of her cardboard glory, posing for Tulip glitter at the Duncan booth.

Wednesday: Craft-o-Rama for the wrist-warmer class I taught. It was good times!

Thursday: Saba Cafe with Dave for the the Stitch thank you party. Oh no, Stitch ladies, thank you! BTW, I call my hair color: Burnt Embers. ;)

Have a restful weekend, everyone.

Adios Knitchachos!,
Vickie

CRL: Man, You're the Knit!

It's that time again--happy CRL Thursday! Crafty gentlemen (and the ladies and gents who love them), this one's for you! Actors, musicians, cartoonists, screen-printers, knitters--no matter what your artistic medium of choice is, I dig you for being creative. You're hot. That's right I said it, you are H-O-T. Oh, how I *heart* crafty dudes!

Will Forte
(From Knit.1 Magazine Fall/Winter 2005 issue photo shoot.)

Guest: Will Forte (Saturday Night Live)

Topic: Why one man knits as well as how to hook-up with the male-knitting community. Will also gives us the scoop on the Writer's Guild strike, SNL, and his movie Brothers Solomon!

Format: Interview with Will, T3 segment (This episode's segment offers tips on great books and boards target towards male knitters and crocheters) and the Ramblings segment (thoughts about ditching crafty, gender stereo-typing and scoop on a few of my favorite male, Austin-based artists!)

This episode brought to you by:

Next week is Thanksgiving which means no CRL so, get your fix now! If you haven't already listened to the first two episodes with guests Kathy Cano Murillo and Adrienne Armstrong, they're still available on my website and on iTunes.


Enjoy!,
Vickie

Crochet Me, I'm Unraveled.

Under the category of: Vehicles of Time-Suckage, I finally joined both Crochet Me and Ravelry. Holy dangerous, Batman! I may never be able to leave this computer. Ever. If you too, are enthralled by the endless pattern resources, project updates and crafty-community afforded by these two sites; add me as a friend and say hello.




Happy web-lurking!

xo,
Vickie

P.S. If you're in Austin, come make easy wrist warmers with me at Craft-o-Rama at 6:30! A ball of Vegas yarn for your first pair is included! They're quick-to-knit up and make great gifts. Hope to see you there!

P.P.S. New episode of my podcast CRL with guest, SNL's Will Forte, goes up tomorrow--dudes, this episode's especially for you. Check it out and subscribe either on my site or iTunes. Stay tuned!

Real Simple Designs

Hey everyone! The latest issue of Real Simple Magazine in now available. Why do we care, you ask? Well, 1.) RS is a really nice mag with tons of great scoop on managing the holidays and, 2.) the Michael's ad featuring easy-to-make gifts by Kathy Cano Murillo, Jennifer Perkins and yours truly(iPhone cozy, anyone?), is included in it! Psst!...there's also a Michael's 25% OFF coupon in the issue as well.

Season-y Mp3 Cozy

Happy gift making!

Craftlicious kisses,
Vickie

TiVo Killed the Television Star

Wowza guys! Last week in only it's 2nd episode running, my podcast CRL was #1 in the hobbies section on iTunes. This week, before we've even put the next episode up (coming Thursday to an MP3 player near you!), it's holding strong in the top 2 posistion as a "New & Notable" podcast in the genre. Thank you so much for listening and spreading the word. You guys put the ROCK in Craft.Rock.Love!

In unrelated news, I learned something interesting from the V.P. of Programming over at DIY last week. Now that the network gets ratings, they have the ability to learn all kinds of facts about who their actual viewers are (before they relied heavily on website traffic to determine which shows were popular--which because knitters are in his words, " a loyal and very vocal group" put Knitty Gritty on top of they're radar.), and when they're watching. What they found from this is that their daytime viewers aren't in fact largely young to middle-aged women as they assumed (I knew this because well, we all have jobs and kids who keep us away from the TV until we crash in a heap on the couch at night, but nobody asked me) but in fact, retiree-aged men who prefer renovation shows over craft programming. They also found that the mostly female audience who watch shows like Knitty Gritty, Uncommon Threads, Craft Lab and Stylelicious tend to TiVo those shows anyway, so it doesn't really matter what time they air them. Soooo, that said, they're going to start rotating our shows in an early morning spot. Beginning in January, my show and Uncommon Threads will air in what I call the "L.A. Party Girl/N.Y Power Riser" time spot of 2amPT/5amET.

It'll be interesting to see how DVRs inadvertent partnership with Nielsen changes the way programming and advertising work together in the future and how, if at all, this new wave of monitoring will change the fate of "real" TV personalities with major network shows. Will Oprah make just as much money being played on demand as she does showing up on our TVs every afternoon? Will young starlets be shooting interviews at their convenience with the knowledge that people can just set up to record shows containing their names? Will they have to work harder to make sure people actually know their names rather than just recognize their faces? Inquiring minds...inquiring minds.

Alright, I'm off to work on the next KIWI Eco-Craft column and check on how the engineering process for this week's CRL episode with SNL's Will Forte is coming along. Stay tuned!

xo,
Vickie

CRL: Sustainabilknitty Episode!

It's Thursday and that means, a new episode of CRL! Listen right now from your computer on my website, or download it from iTunes and take it with you on your Mp3 player to check out out your leisure. Here's the scoop on this week's CRL!

Adrienne Armstrong

Guest: Adrienne Armstrong www.atomicgardenoakland.com AND www.adelinerecords.net

Topic: Scoop on knitting, crochet and crafting with eco-friendly materials. We’ll also chat about Adrienne’s new sustainable living boutique and her work with Habitat for Humanity!

Format: Interview with Adrienne, T3 segment (This episode's segment offers tips on environmentally conscious crafting ) and the Ramblings segment (thoughts about making eco-choices that work for you and scoop on a few crafty companies to check out!)

This episode is brought to you by:

Continued thanks for spreading the word about this podcast! You can subscribe (and listen) to CRL on my website's podcast page or through iTunes by clicking on the icon below.

Happy listening!,
Vickie

P.S. If you missed last week's holiday themed episode with the Crafty Chica, not to worry! Listen to is any time on my website and iTunes!

Remember, remember the 5th of November.

Friday night driving home from seeing Great Northern (who incidentally are phenomenal live) play at Austin's Club DeVille we saw the first signs of Christmas decorations on both public streets and a private home. I guess this means the holiday season (or at least preparations for it), has officially begun. If for you the holidays mean getting a little bit crafty, start now by making the aforementioned items from the new Michaels ad, the Candy Striper felted purse from this blog (scroll up to see) or, the soy candles from the my Eco-Craft column in the current issue of Kiwi Magazine. They're simple to make, environmentally friendly and work perfectly as gifts for the teachers, babysitters, or office mates in your lives!

If you don't so much want to make stuff yourself but you'd like to support others who do, join the Austin Craft Mafia Etsy and thousand of other people in taking the "Buy Handmade" pledge. For more info, go here.

If your Austin accessible, please come out to the STITCH Fashion Show & Craft Bazaar this Saturday at the convention center for even more hand made gift buying goodness. There'll be over 100 vendors with booths and I'll also be there hosting their video blog for them!

Thanks to everyone for your positive comments and support for last week's debut episode of my podcast, CRL! We just finished production on this week's "green" episode and I also interviewed Will from SNL this morning for the November 15th episode--sooo, good stuff ahead. Good stuff.

xo,
Vickie

Candy Striper--Free Pattern of the Month!

Candy Striper
Felted Bag
by Vickie Howell

MATERIALS
2 Balls each of Vickie Howell Collection's Vegas (29% Soysilk, 67% wool, and 4% metallic thread; 50gr/100m) in colors: Swingers (red) and Chapel of Love (white)
Size US 15 (10mm), 24" circular needles
Tapestry needle
6 yds, strung sequin
Fabric or felt glue
Decorative holiday pin (optional)
Psst!...stay tuned for a future post for instructions on how to make the crocheted poinsettia pin showed.

FINISHED SIZE
Pre-felting: 18" x 14 1/2"
Post-felting: 10" x 10 1/2"

DIRECTIONS
Bottom:
With DOUBLE STRAND of red Vegas, CO 10 sts. Knit two rows straight.
Next Row: Kf&b, k to last st, kf&b.
Next Row: Knit.
Repeat last 2 rows, once more.
Knit straight (garter stitch) until piece measures 12 1/2".
Next Row: Ssk, k to last 2 sts, k2tog.
Next Row: Knit.
Repeat last 2 rows, once more.

Body:
Leaving existing 10 sts on needle, pick-up 62 sts evenly around (72 sts--you'll now be working in the round.)
Knit 4 rounds.
Switch to DOUBLE STRAND of white Vegas and knit 4 rounds.
Continue in established stripe pattern (4 rows red/4 rows white) until body measures 11 1/2", ending with red stripe.

Handles:
Next Round: Switch to white and knit around.
Next Round: Purl.
Next Round: K 13, BO 20, k16, BO 20, k3.
Next Round: P13, CO 20 (using "e" cast-on), p16, CO 20, p3.
Work 11 rows in garter stitch (when working in the round, this means knit one row, purl the next). BO. Weave in ends.

FINISHING
Felting:
Place finished purse in a zippered pillow case or lingerie bag and machine felt, using hot water and mild soap. Use short cycles, and repeat as many times as necessary to get the amount of felting you desire. Once it's done, roll in towel to squeeze out excess water and let dry overnight, taking care to shape as necessary (you might want to even stuff with paper towels to help shape the bottom).

Embellishing:
Using fabric glue attach sequin to top of each red stripe. Let dry. Add a holiday corsage or brooch. Line with fabric if desired.

Go here for knitting how-to scoop!

For more knitting and crochet patterns and kits, go here!

This pattern is meant for non-commercial use only. Copyright Vickie Howell, Inc. 2007. All rights reserved.

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CRL: Dia De Los Crafty!

Happy November. Happy Dia De Los Muertos. Most of all, Happy CRL debut day!

Ahem. I'm thrilled to announce that the very first episode of my podcast is now available for your listening pleasure. It can be found this very second, here on my site (just click n the "Listen Now" icon) or later today through iTunes. Here's the scoop on episode 1, Dia De Los Crafty:

Kathy Cano Murillo

Guest: Kathy Cano-Murillo (aka Crafty Chica) www.craftychica.com

Topic: Fall and winter are hard core craft seasons. That’s right, hard core. Vickie and Kathy discuss gift-making, cultural craft traditions and putting a little hand-made into your holidays. Kathy also fills us in with her brand spankin’ new line of craft products!

Format: Interview with the Crafty Chica herself, T3 segment (This episode's segment offers gift ideas for the creative people in your lives) and the Ramblings segment (thoughts and suggestions for holiday, crafty inspiration).

This episode is brought to you by:

Special thanks to Dave Campbell & J.P. Chapman for writing the CRL theme song, Todd Kegley for his mad engineering skills, Jenny Medford for bring CRL to the web and making the page look pretty, and all of you who have and continue to spread the word about my little ol' podcast. I really appreciate it!

Hope you enjoy it!

xo,
Vickie