Snowflakes at the First Excuse

I've been making snowflakes and other little doodles like crazy....here's my latest, inspired by real snowflakes from nature: etsy snowflake pattern

I'm blown away this last few days by the sheer volume of listings and human creativity on etsy. It's daunting to jump into that marketplace with so much talent all around you; but I guess there's a place for everyone, be it ever so humble. Show me your fave etsy stuff, I love looking at neat things I've not seen before. 

I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Snowflakes at the First Excuse

I've been making snowflakes and other little doodles like crazy....here's my latest, inspired by real snowflakes from nature: etsy snowflake pattern

I'm blown away this last few days by the sheer volume of listings and human creativity on etsy. It's daunting to jump into that marketplace with so much talent all around you; but I guess there's a place for everyone, be it ever so humble. Show me your fave etsy stuff, I love looking at neat things I've not seen before. 

A Good Winter for Crochet

A CD Collection of Appliques and Ornaments

I'm hoping to crochet a roomful this winter, I'm so jazzed about loading up etsy and ebay; why, I do think there's a crochet audience out there which is vibrant and happy to have yarn and hook in hand.

The cool thing about crochet is that you are never bored or anxious: start working, and worries melt away. Creating is such an antidote to all those negative vibes, I hope others can see this craft the way I do! I know that it's not been around for millennia like knitting has, but it still has the feeling of ancient human culture about it. There is something so basic about making an object out of string, and so very satisfying. Crochet on!!! Yay baby we're cookin' and hookin'!
I'd love to have you check out my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Berries and Cream Purse and Sunny Crochet Still Life

I love this photo! It makes a still life of some humble crochet, how homey and inspiring. At least to a crochet nut, it is. Been working on baby and toddler things and cool tweedy bowl, there are too many projects spinning around in my head! Show me what you've been working on.I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com.  

Thanks for looking!Berries and Cream Purse Pattern (at left) Etsy Item

Crochet Candies, Peppermints, Rosettes, Hearts in Yummy Colors

My crochet pattern on etsy for these little crocheted doodles....they are absolutely addictive to crochet in tweedy candyish colors: licorice, peppermint, dark chocolate, chocolate and cherry...not as bad for you as the real thing and very cheerful for a little bowl or Christmas tree.

I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Recycled Shopping Bags made into Cool Stuff

Plarn Doodles

You've probably seen recycled shopping bags and produce bags which are repurposed and made into purses, bags, baskets; these are new designs and they focus on QUICK and EASY and fun to give as gifts. This little pattern has five quick, small designs that are perfect for a craft fair or to sell on etsy. A fun way to fill an evening, and you're cleaning up the planet! But a word of caution: it's a pain in the bum to crochet with sticky produce bags, yuck. Every now and then one gets past me, and it's such a bummer. So wipe those little guys, cut them in to strips, and crochet away, wa-hoooooooo

I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Crocheters Going for Market Share in a Big Box World

I feel passionately about fair trade and artisan issues, I suppose, because I’m an artist.

We have a very cool business here in town called Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee. Their vision is to create a market for their gourmet coffee because it is paving the way for a community in Rwanda to have coffee washing facilities which promote tribal reconciliation and give the village a way to participate in a larger economy; hopefully this will be a way out of poverty and strife. I think that, in a way, we Americans have to not only support these types of goods, but recognize that the way that they have to compete is the way that we artists, musicians, craftsmen, even manufacturers have to compete.

The efficiency of our market has made huge cargo containers of cheap, anonymous, hugely transported goods the norm. We have to fight that shopping ethic, as it were, and show our customers that it feels good to buy directly from the producer, the craftsman, the artist. It’s greener, it’s more human, it recognizes the value of art, chairs, music, beer, and purses which are made on a small scale. The idea parallels the local food movement.

I hope there are others out there who feel as I do, and I hope that continuing to be involved in arts and crafts is something that will always be a part of my own life. Send me your thoughts on the artisan movement, and have a lovely artsy day!
Susan

I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Video: How to Crochet on a Pipe Cleaner or Wire

Here's my latest, it's part of the instruction for this little etsy listing, another hippie crocheted flower pattern.
Am going to have to switch to something else for a day or so, I'm done with flowers for at least that long. I hope to post some video of a few other things in a bit, but this one is helpful, it shows you how to work single crochet on a wire or pipe cleaner. Take care and have a lovely day!

New Cutie Pie Baby Hippie Headband for Crochet Nuts

And I finally finished it to my satisfaction, ahhhh. Nothing like the feeling of creating something comfy and kind. You can see it in this etsy listing
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I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on etsy and also at the Instruction Page of my website. I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at susankennedy.com. Thanks for looking!

Nuts about Flowers and Baby Stuff

Okay, another day of running around, shipping packages, getting ready for a refi, and planning my next crochet project!! The main subject of this goofy photo is a baby headband I hope to have the pattern written for by tonight, flower and all. But I might have to make an even bigger and floppier flower as an alternate, there's something so irresistable about a baby with a big flower on its head. Wow, sounds very strange in print, but make-your-tummy-flop happy about it in real life.

We'll see how it all turns out, and I also need to put a few free patterns on my site. Best wishes to all, send me a note about what I should make in crochet. I'm thinking birds, goblins, lizards, and tons of flowers. Ooooh, roses, and lots more daffodils and narcissus.

I'd like to invite you to look at my patterns and odds and ends on <a href=http://susanlinnstudio.etsy.com>etsy </a>and also at the <a href=http://susankennedy.com/Instruction> Instruction Page of my website. </a>I'm also a watercolor and oil painter, and you could take a peek at my more snooty stuff at <a href=http://susankennedy.com>susankennedy.com</a>. Thanks for looking!

Why is a cotton flower so cozy?

Another cool little crochet doodle, a daffodil! I hope to convince people that crochet is actually a construction medium or artistic medium which is SO VERY versatile! You can stiffen it and make a box, crocheted jewelry, crocheted Christmas ornament...or if it's soft and cottony and nubby it makes slippers, baby items, sweaters and scarves that can't be rivaled by anything in a store. I can't put my finger on why those bumps of cotton yarn make me so happy, but they do. Maybe it's like a textile version of comfort food. Always there, always positive, just start with some chains and see what kind of doodle you can make.

Love it. Take care and share your thoughts...
Here are my etsy crochet items and lots of crochet patterns in pdf format: etsy items...and on my website a page that has instructional video for watercolor, crochet pattern ebooklets, all kinds of instruction and inspiration, hopefully expanding as fast as humanly possible!

And a Lovely Peony! All nubby and crocheted, humble but so Happy!!!

I had to post a little portrait of my peony design which makes me so happy. Catch the crochet bug, it's good medicine for the crabby-snippy-I'm-in-a-snitty soul. Love love love it, I sit on my 47-year old bum and crochet while we watch pbs at night, it's a homey happy way to end the day.

You can see all of my ever-expanding collection of patterns at my online crochet store or at my etsy store.

I LOVE MY DAISY!!!!!

Here's why I love crochet: in just a few minutes, maybe half an hour, you can have a delightful, bright, cheerful, so-cute-you-want-to-bite-it DAISY or peony, or rose, or whatever adorable object you want to make. Invest a little time in learning to crochet, and you begin to realize that it is a construction method whose versatility rivals that of any other craft you can imagine. You can make everything from a huge rug that fills a room, like my mom did, to doll-house furniture so tiny you have to squint, like I did. From tiny threads and crochet hooks, to honking big hooks and super-thick yarn or rag, you name it, they sell it.

Go nuts about crochet, it will grab you and won't let go! You can see all of my patterns at my online store or on my etsy site.

By the way, this to-die-for daisy is included in my "Hippie Flower Collection #1" available at the online store mentioned and linked to above. Wooooo hooooooooooooo

Thread Crochet Crosses - Christmas Ornaments for your Tree

These are a pair of fairly simple crosses, done in thread crochet cotton. Thread crochet ornaments are a specialty of mine, and these two are a little crochet pattern I've been needing to revise, but haven't yet (they need step-by-step photos.)

I love designing crochet, but producing it, not so much....so if you want to make and sell these designs on etsy or elsewhere, feel free! Just please respect my copyright and don't distribute my pattern! http://susankennedy.com/CrochetCrossDuo.pdf

Have a wonderful day of crochet!

Christmas Crochet Designs, Beautiful and EASY Thread Crochet Snowflakes

These are a very simple collection of Christmas Snowflakes. Thread crochet snowflakes are something I've been making for decades (I'm not too too old, but old enough!) and I finally put together a pdf e-booklet of these easy ones. They're great as gift tie-ons for Christmas gifts (you stiffen them with fabric stiffener) and window decor, too. There are many many more designs in my head, so come back to see them. You can see all of my fun and wacky crochet patterns at my website and also at my etsy store.

I love designing crochet, but producing it, not so much....so if you want to make and sell these designs on etsy or elsewhere, feel free! Just please respect my copyright and don't distribute my pattern!

Have a wonderful day of crochet!

Super Cool Black Gothic Lace Artsy Crocheted Jewelry

My baby, this is the stuff I love. My fingers fly while I make these things, especially the little byzantine cross thread crochet pendants. They are a delight, and a high-contrast, artistic piece to wear. I love love love designing this stuff, it's what I'm crazy about. Selling actual crocheted pieces, not so much. SOOOOooo, if you want to use my patterns to create things to sell on etsy and elsewhere, feel free! Just don't share or publish my patterns, they are my own copyrighted work.

Here's a link to my patterns on my website, and to my crochet patterns and other instructional materials on good old etsy. Pass along your ideas, and if you have any questions, let me know. Convo me on etsy, too, if you'd like to commission a pattern or the occasional crocheted or painted original.

Woooooo hoooooooooooooooo the day's too short!!!!

New Patterns - I'm Hyperventilating with Joy!

You guys, crochet has always been my hobby, and it's becoming an obsession. I've just created some new patterns, they range from easy crochet patterns like Christmas tree Snowflake Ornaments to more elaborate patterns like thread crochet patterns for jewelry, gothic lace chokers, tiny thread crochet cross pendants, and more. The unifying theme is ARTSY, Hippie, a bit Gothic, and very much fun. I hope you enjoy looking. I'm going to post a few free crochet patterns at my website but am working on the pages, so bear with me.

In the meantime, you can check out my listings on etsy; to see the patterns that are currently up for sale. They're cheap (pdf format emailed to you), and mostly easy and quick. Simple crochet patterns are my goal, so if you are a customer and have some feedback about that, let me know.

Check back for more and thanks for looking!