We decided to go to a beach closer to home for the holidays this year. Ocean City is only a couple of hours away and there's a ton to do there. When we booked it we weren't expecting it to be frigid, but we still had fun. The first couple of days there it was almost unbearable outside. It was in the single digits at night and teens during the day. With the windchill it was colder than that.

Of course I brought my "travel clay" with me :) I spent Christmas day afternoon making gnomes and mushrooms.




My sister's boyfriend also got in on the action and made a few gnomes as well. I started off by making some wine topper gnomes, which are the same as normal gnomes but much smaller. I've actually gotten pretty quick a making each gnome, but then spend a good amount of time at the end fussing over the details.




Then I moved onto making larger gnomes.




And finished off with a whole lot of mushrooms that will turn into jewelry.




We did actually get to enjoy the beach as the weather got "warmer" (it was about 35). Willow liked to dig holes. Sometimes she would start on her own, but if you pointed at the ground when she was looking she would do it on command as well.




River, however, liked to play fetch with the shells. She would go flying after them, getting a face full of sand to pick it up if it landed the wrong way down.

A few years ago when I was first starting to branch out beyond scarves and hats I started making sweaters. There was this one sweater that I called the Frankensweater because it started off amazing. I had a perfect moss stitch for the back and front panels. Then I realized - I didn't have enough yarn for the arms and the collar. I was following a pattern and the sleeves were made wrist to shoulder. I didn't really know how to measure sleeves at that point so I made them really long. On the second sleeve I ran out of yarn - so I switched to a completely different yarn. Different weight, different color, different texture, and made the top of the sleeve. I started to use the same yarn for the collar - and ran out again. So I switched to yet another yarn with different weight, color, and texture. I used that to make the pockets too. The sweater was so ugly, but I had made it and I was sure that at some point I'd wear it.

It sat in my drawer for at least 4 years and I never took it out. It was so ugly. A few weeks ago I decided that it was shame to waste such pretty yarn and started unravelling it. It's so old that I didn't have notes on where the yarn is from. The yarn on the collar was really fuzzy and wouldn't frog so I just cut it out (it wasn't a very good quality). I've been thinking about a poncho with pockets for a while and decided try it out. I wish I had taken a picture of the Frankensweater before I frogged it, but I was sure I already had one. Apparently I was so ashamed of this sweater I never took a picture, or if I did, I deleted it.

This pattern is really forgiving. If you miss a stitch or add a stitch - no one will notice.


I'm fairly certain this was a worsted weight yarn. It was pretty heavy, but I don't know exactly how much yarn I used becuase it was too long ago. If I had to guess it's probably somewhere around 1000 yards because it's about the same size as my Down by the River Poncho. I used a 6 mm hook.

Stitches:
Ch – chain
Sc – single crochet
Hdc – half double crochet
Hdc blo – half double crochet back loop only
Tr – triple crochet
Ch Sp Stitch - 2 hdc in the first chain stitch, ch 2, 2 hdc in the second chain stitch
Puff - Yarn over, pull up (3), yarn over, pull up (5), yarn over, pull up (7), yarn over, pull up (9), yarn over and pull through all the loops, chaun to secure the puff
Sk st – skip stitch
Sl st – slip stitch





Cast on an even number of stitches. You want it to fit comfortably around your neck. You can always add a neck and make it smaller, you can't make it bigger later. I cast on 74.

You want your increases to be on opposite sides, but I didn’t want the start to be on the increases so I started, did about 10 stitches and then I did my increase. Each row increases by 2 stitches

Row 1: Hdc in the 2nd chain from the hook, hdc in each chain for 10 stitches, 2 hdc in the same stitch, ch 2, 2 hdc in the same stitch, hdc in each chain for 37, 2 hdc in the same stitch, ch 2, 2 hdc in the same stitch, hdc in each stitch until you get to the first stitch, sl st to join.

Since I cast on 74, half of 74 is 37 so after I did the increase I hdc in 37 stitches and then did the second increase. If you cast on a different stitch, just make sure they are on opposite sides.

Row 2-5: ch 2. Hdc blo in all stitches except the corners. There you’ll do the Ch Sp Stitch. Sl st to join
Row 6: ch 3, sk st, *Hdc, ch, sk st. Repeat from * all the way around except the corners where you will do the Ch Sp Stitch. Sl St to join
Row 7: ch 2, * 2 hdc in the same stitch, sk st. Repeat from * all the way around except the corners where you will do the Ch Sp Stitch. Sl St to join
Row 8: repeat row 6 Row 9: repeat row 7 Row 10: repeat row 6 Row 11: repeat row 7 Row 12: repeat row 6 Row 13: repeat row 7 Row 14: repeat row 6 Row 15: repeat row 7 Row 16-17: ch 5, sk st, * tr, ch 1, sk st. Repeat from * all the way around except the corners where you will do the Ch Sp Stitch but with a tr instead of hdc. Sl St to join
Row 18: ch 2, * hdc in each stitch. Repeat from * all the way around except the corners where you will do the Ch Sp Stitch but with a tr instead of hdc. Sl St to join
Row 19: Repeat row 2
Row 20: This row has the arm holes. I wanted the arm holes on the opposite side of the seam and about 2 inches from the corners. If you have a different number of stitches - that's ok, just make sure that they are the same number of stitches from the corner stitch.
Ch 2, hdc blo to the corner Ch Sp Stitch, hdc blo in 12 stitches, ch 18, skip 16 stitches, hdc blo 38, ch 18, skip 16 stitches, hdc blo to corner, Ch Sp Stitch, hdc blo to the seam. Sl St to join. increase stitch, hdc.
Row 21-22: Repeat row 2
Row 23: repeat row 6
Row 24: repeat row 7
Row 25: repeat row 6
Row 26: repeat row 7
Row 27: repeat row 6
Row 28: repeat row 7
Row 29: repeat row 6
Row 30: repeat row 7
Row 31: repeat row 6
Row 32: repeat row 7
Row 33-34: Repeat row 16
Row 35: repeat row 6
Row 36: repeat row 7
Row 37: repeat row 6
Row 38: repeat row 7
Row 39: repeat row 6
Row 40: repeat row 7

You now have the option to switch yarns or use the same yarn. This yarn also came off my Frankensweater, but it's probably more of a sport weight yarn. I thought it looked good as the trim. You could use the same weight yarn with the same pattern.

Row 41: ch 1, * sc in each stitch. Repeat from * all the way around except the corners where you will do the Ch Sp Stitch but with a sc instead of hdc. Sl St to join
Row 42: ch 7, tr into the same stitch, sk st, *tr, ch 3, tr, sk st. Repeat from * all the way around except the corners where you will do the Ch Sp Stitch but with a tr instead of hdc. Sl St to join
Row 43: *Sl st (no starting chain), puff, sl st, sl st. The puff goes into the middle stitch of each of the v's. In the corners I did extra sl st and an extra yarn over for the puff. Sl st to join





Once I had the contrast color at the bottom I decided I needed it around the pockets and neck too.
For the pockets I just did one how of sc all the way around. I thought the buttons would look cute and enable me to close the arm holes if it was really cold. I got these little bears on Etsy, they're just so cute!

Neck:
Row 1: ch 1, * sc in each stitch. Repeat from * all the way around. Sl St to join
Row 2: ch 2, * 2 hdc in the same stitch, sk st. Repeat from * all the way. Sl St to join

I didn't intend to take a break at the end of the year, but then things got so busy at work and then I got a sinus infection. I'm on the mend now, but I'm still really behind. I did manage to run 3 bisque loads over the holiday and now I have a massive glazing backup. I was actually more productive in first 2-3 weeks in December than I think I was all of October and November. This new planning method really seems to be working.

I have 2 new crochet patterns that I just need to write up and will hopefully be out in the next week. One is for a poncho with arm holes that I made with some reclaimed yarn from one of my first sweaters. The other is a sweater I designed entirely around these hazelnut buttons I wanted to use.

I was dreaming about spring as the temperature got really cold and this bowl came out of it. It's made with a flower rim template and draped over a bowl. I'm already envisioning bright colors for it. Maybe some Georgie's tie dye glazes.

I've had these giant bowls from Learn Fired Arts for a few months, but with seasonal and holiday stuff I haven't had an opportunity to try them. I have a bunch of things in mind for these forms, but as I was making stuff I spotted them and decided to make some bowls. They aren't perfectly smooth on the inside. I started trying to make them perfect and ended up liking the more organic look better.


The bark texture is oak from the template that I made up in Chaumont over the weekend. I don't think that I'm going to try to glaze it like bark, but I really like the texture it provides.

I've been keeping track of what I've been selling at each show this year. My number one seller last year was mugs followed closely by my appetizer plates. At each show I have a printed grid of what I've brought to the show and then just make a tick mark when someone buys something. It can be difficult when things are busy, but I really wanted the data.

I tallied up what I sold at each of the shows and then made a list of what I want to start making for 2023 shows. Something that was really obvious after the fact - it's more effective to make things in batches than in ones or twos. I know I need to make a lot of mugs and appetizer plates and if I make them in batches of 10-15 it actually takes me less time overall than if I were to make more of a variety of things.




This is the first batch of mugs based on this model. My birch and crab mugs were my most popular mugs in the speckled clay.

If you sell at shows I highly recommend using data to help you know what to make.