The Mad Hatter (Part 5)

 Hi Loves

Part 5,  this one was on the knitting needle at the same time as the number 2. Can you tell I was really charged up?  Caramel in color, the concept is a modified basket weave stitch.

Until the next post...

Let us be friends, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Ravelry, Twitter, and TikTok   Check out my Etsy page as well.  

Thanks love for taking a read.  Live, Love, Laugh... Until next time. Khenzuri

The Mad Hatter (part 1)

 Hi Loves, 

I hope you don't think I have been neglecting you all.  Honestly, I am still learning to juggle a business, a family and all the social media shebang all at once.  I agree that I am not good at it but is willing to learn.  It would be great to be able to have a way to post to all at once wouldn't that be grand.  If any of you know a way that I can please feel free to share.  

Now for today's post, I would like to share a few pictures with you of what I have been up to.  It's going to be a few post as though I have been absent I have been busy.  Hope you all like it.  Before I show you the first slouchy, let's get a little back story.

So, a few months before I made this exact slouchy (see my cute little model) along with a black one for a client (see first 2 pics).  Fast forward she requested the same one as it was liked and taken by a friend.  Funny thing was I did it all without a pattern, but the good thing was I was the one who designed it. I took one look at the phone and replicated my design.

 

Other creators: let me take before, during and after phones for my social media platforms.

ME:  Being too excited for my order, remembering only after I started.  Oh well.

I however did not forget to take the finished product.  Here you go loves.

Until the next post....

Let us be friends, follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Ravelry, Twitter, and TikTok   Check out my Etsy page as well.  

Thanks love for taking a read.  Live, Love, Laugh... Until next time. Khenzuri

Loopty Loop

Hi Loves, 

Tis the season for giving and for that reason I would like to share this easy cross body bag pattern with you.  I know this post is not like any I've done before in terms of writing style but as we grow as individuals so I would like to grow as a blogger.

In this blog I am going to provide you with the full details of the written pattern which is quite easy for you to follow, also the yarn type etc.

I do hope you love this bag as much I did.  The yarn was one carried by Ice Yarns, though the colour I used is out of stock there are still a few colours you could choose from.  This bag is completely customizable so you could also use just about any yarn you like.  The size would then be different.

As promised here is the full written pattern.

Yarn Information:

Ice Yarn Woolfine in the colour Gold fnt2-58305

1 ball

Fiber Content: 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic

Weight: 50 gr. / 1.76 oz. per ball

Length: 350 m. / 382 yds. per ball

Yarn Thickness: 2 Fine: Sport, Baby

You will need to know how to do the loop stitch which is quite easy. There are also many easy to follow videos on YouTube. I used one skein but held 2 strands together for the bag. The pattern is done in one piece then folded and join in the side and base to make the bag.

Loop stitch – insert your hook as you would to sc, loop the yarn over your finger and stretch it to the length you desire. Put the hook under both strands of yarn and pull both through the stitch. Yarn over and pull through the loops on the hook. 

Abbreviation:

sc – single crochet

sl st – slip stitch

ch – chain

hdc – half double crochet

The bag is 7′ without the loops and strap, 9′ with the loops, 30′ with strap un-stretched… 34; when strap is stretched (when loaded).

Pattern:

Chain 61.

row 1: sc in the 2nd ch from hook and in all stitch.

row 2: 1 loop stitch in all stitch 

Repeat rows 1-2  5 times for a total of 12 rows. 

Next step:

sc in each stitch for a total of 30 rows.

Construction:

Fold your piece in half with the right side on the inside. Ensure all your loops are inside. Start at the top of the bag slip stitch along the side and base. For re-enforcement sc from the base, along the side back to the top of the bag. Turn your bag back on the right side.

Strap... Option A:

Cut the yarn after you finish sewing the side and base.  Attached your yarn in any stitch on the side.. sc in 6 stitches ensuring you have 3 on either side.

ch 1, turn, sc in each stitch (6 sc) - repeat for the length of your straps.

Or 

Option B: After sewing up your bag, do not fasten off.

Sc in 3 stitches from where the yarn is connected.. Ch 1 turn sc in the 3 stitches you just make, then hdc in the next 3 stitches (this will ensure it levels out) 

ch 1, turn, sc in each stitch (6 sc).  repeat for the length of your straps.

Once you have achieved your desired length, ensure the strap is not twisted. Connect to the other side of your bag using your desired method.

For closure I attached my yarn to the center of the opening on one side of the bag,  chain 15, sc in the 6th chain from the hook(button hole made) and in every chain back to the middle of the bag. Fasten off and hide yarn tail. Sew a button a few rows down from the opening on the other side of the bag.  Feel free to close your bag however you like.

If you do make this bag please tag me on Instagram, Facebook, Ravelry and Twitter.   

Thanks love for taking a read.  Live, Love, Laugh... Until next time.

Speaking It Into Reality.

 Hi loves, 

Have you ever wondered why something keeps affixed to your imagination or dreams?  I have.

I've dreamt many years ago of owning my own Beauty Salon which was operated as a classy beauty salon, with an actual start and end time. This last bit (opening hours) was very important, as at that time I was working in a hair salon that did not have an end time.  I would go to work by 9am and in comes someone after 3 pm requesting to get their hair braided small (if you have ever gotten your hair braided with extensions you know it takes time).  Once my boss accepts this client it means I could be at work until after midnight and still have to be back at work by 9 am the next morning.  That was exhausting and to say the least, I wasn't getting a lot of pay.

Fast forward a couple of years I got certified in general Cosmetology but right after completing tragedy struck and I was forced to seek employment fast as the sole breadwinner at the time died and my baby was just about to turn 2 years old.  While working at my new job I continued to do natural hairstyles (my specialty).  This was my second job, my weekend job, but a little over a year I had to change department and this caused me to lose clients as  I started working on weekends.  I stayed in that job changing departments and moving up the ranks until 2017 when I got laid off.  This is when my dream of becoming my own boss came to life, though not as a salon owner.

I've always been creative at heart, whether it's creating beautiful hairstyles, crocheting/knitting, or embroidering... So it came as no surprise when I registered the business name Khenzuri's Treasures.  I was really pumped up about sewing my seeds and getting my name out there.  But it's not that easy.  

My daughter's first day of school hairstyle

A simple twist with beads

I did my own hair as well

crochet braids

crochet then twist out

I've had good days and some not-so-good days but that doesn't stop me from believing that I will succeed.  I know I will not just own a successful business where I crochet and knit other people's designs... But I will become a designer as well... 

How are you so confident you will become a designer?

I am sure because no matter what pattern I am making my mind is racing 100 miles a sec with new ideas of what to make or how to change the current pattern I am working on. I have designed things in the past it's just not written for others to remake and that is what I am working on.

For instance, I made a dress from a scarf I test knitted.  While I was knitting the scarf, the idea came to turn it into a crop halter top.  However, after starting the new project that idea shifted and became a dress. Can I tell you how this dress stayed on my mannequin for almost a year before the final touches were added?  Take a look and tell me what you think.  Did I do well? 

My design, it was birthed from a scarf I test knitted for Petra Breakstone.

The issue I have now as to why I am not actively pursuing this part of my dream is designing takes time and I am a bit stretched at the moment but the stars are being aligned as we speak so it's just a matter of time.

And you know as long as there is life a dream can still become a reality.  Come along with me on my journey.  Until next time.

Thanks loves for taking a read.  Live, Love, Laugh... Please follow me on FB, Instagram, Twitter. You can also purchase yarn to make your masterpieces here.

Trying the Unfamiliar

Trying the unfamiliar,

     I am a sucker for routine, afraid of the unknown, so even when I dreamt many years ago about having my own business, it never materialised.  The name was decided over a year ago and still, I procrastinated about starting.  It actually took the loss of my job, to which I was gainfully employed to for almost nine years to get me started.

I reached out to a government company for guidance and even though I still haven't found my niche I am confident that I will have a viable business in a country that my trade is not appreciated by most.

There are a lot of blockage and speed bumps but it's early days yet.  I will make Thomas A. Edison's "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" my mantra and press on.

Come along with me on my journey to becoming an entrepreneur, a successful businesswoman, a better mom and who knows a wife someday.

#beautyandbrain #Khenzuristreasures #proudJamaican