At Woolcrafting.com find explanations and pictures easy enough for even the most nervous beginner to follow. You'll be creating wonderful pieces in no time. Just take your time, take it all in, ask questions if you need to, then give it a try. I'm sure you'll soon be 'hooked'!

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September 3rd 2006 - Issue # 1

Crafting Beginnings

Here's a little background about myself...I started knitting and crochet at the tender age of about 8 years old. My Mom studied as a needlework teacher and she taught me all she knew about knitting. I learned crochet from a neighbor down the road and the rest I either picked up on my own or made up as I went along. I had knitted a baby hat, mittens and booties by about age 9 or 10 for my "Knitters badge" at Brownies.

From an early age I was designing things. I remember drawing a graph of a 'splash' shape with Florida written across it and knitting a sun top in white, turquoise and yellow. This was at about age 15, as we'd just had our first family holiday in the 'Sunshine State'.

My Mom used to laugh at me as I was always 'experimenting' with crafting. I took to sewing for a while and would just cut into a piece of fleece, saying to myself, "This looks about right." Mostly everything worked out well.

I've dabbled in all kinds of crafts...knitting, sewing, crochet, macrame, rubber stamping, repoussage, kumihimo, origami, jewelery making, beading, felting, pencil drawing, oil painting, spinning, weaving. It's almost a case of "you name it - I've tried it!" I always come back to the yarn and fiber arts. That is absolutely where my heart lies.

I have a belief that there's a crafter inside everyone. Just give yourself a chance, your inner crafter will emerge and you can begin to create special things.

Build a Business With Your Passion!

That was me, now I'm doing it. Anyone can. The home-based business is within everyone's reach, and it's all because of the Internet.

Really. I thought a lot about what I could do with 2 young chidren at home and the only thing I could come up with was a website. But where to start? There's all these "Get Rich Quick" schemes out there. It's so easy to get caught out.

I eventually stumbled across Sitesell. This set-up allows those who haven't the slightest clue about technology to learn how to build a profitable website.

It's not a throw it up overnight thing. You have to work at it, but you know what - it just doesn't feel like work. I'm loving every minute of building my site as it's my passion. Here's some results other Sitebuilders have had. What better excuse can you have to spend as much of your time as you can crafting, than the fact that you're building a business. Now that's life!

Want To Be A Designer?

Your original entry can be in knit or crochet or a combination of the two. You can design a coat, vest, sweater, dress, poncho, scarf, purse, hat, cardigan, etc., in any size for men, ladies or children.

Any style, gender or season goes. Wow - sounds like fun to me! The only stipulation of course is that you use any of their yarns - Filtes King, Lana Gatto or Needful Yarns.

The prizes are...the top 5 designs will have their original item published in Needful Yarns Knitting Magazine (having been photographed and modelled by professionals). Here comes another good part... 1st prize also wins $1500 worth of yarn, 2nd - $1000, 3rd - $750, 4th - $500, 5th - $250. Sounds like that's worth an entry or two to me!

If you're interested - you'll find all the details at the Needful Yarns Website.

Who Loves Yarn Sales?

Well - a good place to find great yarn prices is Herrschners Yarns. They have a weekly sale of which they will notify you if you sign up with them.

Some of the prices are really silly - up 75% off brand names - that's the kind of discounts I like. These excellent low prices will help you build your stash without hurting your pocket too badly (of course it depends just how excited you get about the prices, doesn't it?)

You may find the colors are limited, but that's usually the same with yarn sales - you have to be there as soon as the sale starts to get the best colors.

Some other places I've found great deals lately are...One Dollar, Michaels Target and Joanns. I'm always on the lookout for great yarn deals. If you have any of these stores in your region, check them out - you never know what gems you might find.

Tip of the Month

When winding a ball of yarn by hand, don't you wish you could get it to unwind from the middle to stop it 'dancing around' all over the floor? Here's how to do it...

• Start by leaving a good length tail of yarn (about a foot)
• wind in a figure of 8 around your index finger and thumb. Do this until you have a reasonably thick layer.
• Remove the figure of 8 from your fingers and pinch it together. Begin winding a little more loosely than normal avoiding the foot long tail.
• Keep turning the ball and winding until your ball is done, keeping the 'tail' loose. When you pull the 'tail' the ball will unwind from the middle. Ta-da!

If by some strange chance you can't get this to work for you, buy a cheap pop-up mesh laundry basket and drop the ball in there. It can bounce all it likes and can't get out. I also use mine as a yarn and project holder as it's big enough for an afghan or sweater too.

Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? Feedback? Sock it to me! I'd love to hear what you have to say. Just reply to this ezine and tell me what you think.

Happy crafting, and please drop by regularly to see what fun new ideas Woolcrafting has in store for you.

Now grab that hook and go, go, go....

Best Wishes from Jill Wright at http://www.woolcrafting.com