Well, currently, I have the hammock lowered to about a foot off the floor, and Genna or Wally - or sometimes Genna AND Wally - can get in and out as they please. Genna likes to play in there, and Wally has always loved hanging out in there. With it lowered, I don’t worry as much about Genna falling out and getting hurt, but I still put a quilt on the floor under the hammock. (It’s a cement floor otherwise - ouch!)

The Chronicles of Prydain socks. The Chronicles of Prydain is a fantasy series focusing on a young boy named Taran, and his coming of age. It is actually a very engrossing set of novels, and I enjoyed them very much.

I chose white yarn for these socks, because Hen Wen, the oracular pig, is white. I liked this pattern because it is simple, like the characters in the book, but has a touch of royalty. The yarn is a heaver weight than is typical for socks, giving them a rough look, like I imagine the clothes of poor Taran to be. The pattern is Brigid.

The yarn is Soft Wave from Queensland Collection, purchased at Rose Tree Fiber Shop in Ames.

For the record, I did not enjoy knitting socks with a 100% cotton yarn.

I had this dress listed on Etsy for a while, with no takers, so it’s sat here in my box of Boulevard Designs items. Too unique to have a good spot in a craft show display, and too small to make a suitable gift for any of my friends’ kids. Then, I had my own girl and now she fits into it. Isn’t it adorable?

Found Style Underground’s video demos of new-to-me ways to tie headscarves.

And their Lucia Latte scarf is really pretty!

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Sowers of Hope is on an Etsy team with me. They make many types of headcoverings, including the style I usually wear, the Tichel, or mantilla.

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Garlands of Grace offers some simple, and beautiful coverings.

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These are super fun, but I don’t think I could actually wear one.

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Happy Homestead has pretty stuff, but it’s generally more, hmmm, “I wear victorian take-off calico dresses” than I like.

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I think I’m leaning towards something from Garlands of Grace…

Maner. Just a quick project for me, to use up leftovers and provide some mindless knitting.

I will be getting three of Enwrapture Vintage’s beautiful silk wrap skirts. I was able to purchase them through a co-op for a substantial discount, which is why I splurged and bought 3. wahoo!

I’ve also pulled out some fabric to do some sewing when I have a minute. (ha.) Realistically, it’ll be May before I have a chance. I think I’m going to change from my usual A-line skirt (using my fabulous Super Easy Patternless A-Line Skirt instructions) and maybe try a simple elastic-waist gathered number or two. We’ll see. I usually dislike how puffy those end up looking. I think they’d look great with the longer T-shirts that are the current style, but let’s be honest: I don’t own any of the longer-length T-shirts that are the current style.

And I’m browsing Etsy.

Beautiful, but $48 might be more than I want to spend.

  I like the concept, but it’s too mannish for me.

I loooove this.

  ooooh, like this one, too!  too big for me, though.

  Flutter skirt.

  Could I pull off this look?

I really like Conscious Clothing’s stuff, but it’s out of my price range.

Fun idea, but I’m not sure I am down with the no-back, ties behind you pinafore. And the skirt’s a bit too country for me to ever wear it alone. Top might be hard to nurse in.

Love it. Struggling with how many wrap skirts I should own, after the Enrapture order.

gaiaconceptions has some pretty awesome designs with organic, local (to them), and hemp fibers. Hidden pocket? Awesome.

I started this on spring break, but traveling by RV with 11 people, including your 17 month old, doesn’t give you as much knitting time as you might think. I think I got about 10 rows done on the entire week-long trip.

It is awfully adorable, though, and actually a fairly simple knit. It’s worked from the bottom up. The pattern calls for 3 skeins of the skirt color and 2 of the bodice color, but I only needed 2 of the skirt and 1 of the bodice (fortunately, because that’s all I had). I did use up every last scrap for seaming.

The pattern is Soli. The yarn is CotLin (cotton/linen blend) from KnitPicks.

So, you know, I have this bizarre thing where I knit a pair of socks for every major book or series that I read. These are the Chronicles of Narnia socks. The colors are brown (for Aslan), blue (the queen, the water), black (for the evil that exists in any world), and green (for the world when it was brand new). The wave pattern is for the ocean they traveled on in the last book. I love these socks.

The Yarn is Mountain Colors, I found it in Decorah. The pattern is Kalajoki.

Want to work from home, owning your own business? That’s awesome. Working for yourself can be very rewarding. But it’s also challenging! Never fear, I’m here to help you avoid the pitfalls and really consider whether self-employment is for you.

“I want to work for myself, But I don’t want to sell anything.” I hear this A LOT. If this is you, you’ll be better off working for The Man. Running your own business takes selling things. If you’re not selling a product, you’re selling a service. Regardless, you’re selling YOU. If that makes you uncomfortable, then be an employee. I’m not trying to be harsh, but I’ve also seen a lot of businesses fail (and money lost) because the business owners didn’t want to sell. If you work for yourself, you work in sales. (Frankly, if you work for someone else, you should also consider that you work in sales, as well. People who can sell themselves are the ones who get promoted.)

Obey the law. Let’s start with the easy ones. Taxes, particularly sales taxes. The people at the Dept of Revenue, if you call after May, are very friendly and helpful. Learn the law, charge sales tax as required. Zoning. The people at the zoning department are also pretty helpful. If you can’t figure out how you’re zoned and what’s allowed/not allowed, give them a call.  Now the not so easy. Product laws. Find the appropriate Federal department and dive in. Depending on what you sell, you could be covered by the USDA, the CPSC, the EPA, etc. Not sure what laws apply to you? You’re not ready to open a business. Find others who do something similar to what you want to do and ask them. (And, um, keep asking different people until you find one who knows what they’re talking about. WAHMs especially are really really bad about realizing that laws apply to them, too.)

Team up with others in your industry. Help each other out. The dynamics of various groups can be interesting and frustrating. Some groups I’m in share sources like it’s no big deal. Other groups I’m in act like you just asked them their bra size if you ask where they get X supply. You can get away with quite a bit of “sorry, I’m new” apologizing at the beginning, so don’t be afraid to dive in.

Be realistic. You’re not going to replace a full time job’s income starting tomorrow. I’ve gotten SO MANY emails over the years from moms who were planning to return to work, but changed their minds. They want to stay home, but they really need the full time income, so they want to know what advice I have to help them make a lot of money right away working from home. In reality, that’s not going to happen. It’ll take a few years to replace a full time income, if you ever make that much. And it will require more hours than you’d put in at a full time job. And you have no sick days, and no vacation days.

Be realistic. You’re not going to be an overnight sensation. You’re not.

Be realistic. Operating a business takes a lot of time. A lot of time. Time, time, time, time. I’ve heard many a person say that they’ve thought about starting their own business so that they can have more time to themselves, or more time with their children, or whatever. That’s not a good plan.

Don’t be a copycat. Come up with your own ideas. Come up with your own patterns. Come up with your own recipes. Finding a recipe for something online, making it following that recipe, and then selling it under your name is completely dishonest. Make it yours - if you think you’re skilled enough to do it for a living, you should certainly be skilled enough to come up with your own products. Don’t steal from others.