Bleeping Food Allergies

In case you were wondering, food allergies suck. I went to the store to find some easy meals for my son, some of those toddler microwaveable meals, to have in the house or the diaper bag (I carry food for him EVERYWHERE). After checking labels, I discovered that of the 20+ varieties on the shelf, my son can not eat a single one. NOT ONE. I was quite frustrated. Seemingly vegetarian meals made with chicken stock, almost everything with eggs and milk. Argh! I know that I can go to the local health food store and get him some organic, vegan/vegetarian meals that he can eat, but they are considerably more expensive and I am on a budget. My sister took one look at me in the store and said "You need a support group."

Then today after dinner, which my son refused to eat, I noticed he had hives on his torso. There were none in the area around his mouth, and he didn't have any of the other telltale signs, like trying to scratch his tongue, pulling and scratching his ears, coughing, gasping or clawing at his face, so I didn't think he had ingested any of his allergens. Turns out that some of my sister's gravy, which contained a little milk, got on his chest (his food was gravy-less, and I didn't know the gravy had milk). She tried to give him some of her food when he wouldn't eat his own, but he refused to eat it (smart boy!). No trip to the emergency room, thankfully. But if that is what happened after coming into contact with a trace amount of milk in a sauce, then I think even a non-ingested reaction could be pretty severe. If there was anything I could to do to guarantee that he would grow out of his allergies, I would do it. Then I would become a millionaire, because so would thousands of other people around the world.

Mocha Dai

Another teaser. I made a few of these belts ("dai" is "belt"). I love them! They have a really fun texture and are one size fits many. They seem to be a hit with the teenage crowd, which is pretty cool. I'm going to make a few variations, different colors and textures, maybe you'll find one you love.

Setting up this shop is a bit of work. I had to push back my deadline a week, but I'm still crocheting, and experimenting with different techniques and styles. Everything I sell has to be my original design (or something in common use, like a granny square) so that is also challenging. It is a great feeling though, when something I've been working on (and frogging, yarn speak for taking out and starting over) finally comes out nice! I've tried a lot of new things in the past few weeks: wire, beads, thread, fishing wire, and hemp, to name a few. Even after I get the shop set up, I will be adding new styles as I become more comfortable with different materials and techniques. A little scary, but exciting too.

Online Store

I finally started to set up my Etsy shop! I'm still taking pictures, so the shop is empty. But here is a teaser for all of my faithful blog readers:

The Citrus Collection

The Newspaper Collection

And here is my first custom order. She wanted a pair to match her work uniform.

That is just the jewelry. I also have belts, hats, scarves, and a baby blanket or two. So, get those bank accounts in order, my etsy store is coming soon!

It's been a long time

I've had a busy summer. Lots of traveling...by plane, train, automobile, and even coach (bus). I attended the long awaited for union of my oldest friend and her husband (CONGRATS Mrs. H! And Mr. H too.) I've packed and unpacked, moved lots of furniture, had a yard sale or two and spent time with the family. I went to look at schools with my sister, spent some time with my goddaughters, saw my friends, and reconnected with a person or two. And that's not all. My baby celebrated his first birthday, and he is running around, calling me by my nickname (instead of mama) and generally giving orders. He's a blast! I've contemplated where in the world we are going to live, applied for about 50 jobs on three continents, and made a few decisions.

One of the most exciting decisions is that I'm going to sell crochet accessories. Yay! I know some of you have been waiting a LONG time for me to come to that decision. Thank you for your patience. I hope that I can have your continued support (and purchasing power). For now, I'm going to stick with women's accessories, and I will definitely have some organic and natural stuff for the "crunchy" crowd, like myself. There might be a few baby blankets and other items, for those of you that really want one of my lovely handmade items for your little one. I do have a deadline, which is fast approaching, so keep your eyes open for the launch of my etsy store.

So far, I've made some belts, a few hat and scarf sets, and earrings (thanks for the suggestion AT, they are not easy to do but they are cute!). Is there anything else you all would like to me to make? Those of you that know me personally have an idea of the kind of stuff I make, feel free to make suggestions (or requests). And for those of you that don't know me personally, I will post some pictures in the next day or two.

I'm going to pick up a hook and some thread, and get to work. Until the next posting, be well.