Twinkie Chan!

It’s ridiculously hard for me to source bugle beads in all the colors I want, especially all in the same sizes! I just start googling for bugle beads to see what comes up. Unfortunately, different companies stock different things all the time, so I don’t have a go-to place for them. It’s frustrating! Start with Fire Mountain Gems online, and then let google lead the way! Good luck!

Hi! I have some crochet helpers, and I go through a brief training period with them depending on each individual. One of them sent me a sample piece once where she glued a knot and clipped the end after the knot, and it’s really not my favorite. It’s hard and crunchy and looks kinda funky, although I’m sure it’s an efficient method. In my opinion, there are no shortcuts, and I’m a stickler for quality, even if it’s time consuming. All my ends are woven into the fabric with a tapestry needle, back and forth, invisibly, over approx 8 stitches one way and then back the other way down the next row and maybe back the other way again down the following row. The actual weaving changes with whatever the project is, but that’s what I do with my ends :).  It’s totally a time-suck, but it’s what I feel most confident in doing for pieces that I am selling to others, and it’s what I ask my crochet helpers to do as well. Thank you!

Hi! What sort of pests? I don’t seem to have a really big problem with this in San Francisco, but I’ve read on other blogs that people keep their yarn in ziploc bags, tupperwear, or big plastic bins. Hope that helps!

I think if you check out the Etsy forums, there have been lots of articles about tips for selling on Etsy and standing out on Etsy. From my own perspective, I still think that Etsy is a great place to sell because of all the people shopping on it already. There are other sites like ArtFire with lower selling fees, but if I am shopping for something, I will go on Etsy before I go on ArtFire, although others may do differently. Other sites to sell on are BigCartel or StoreEnvy, but again, in my mind, if someone is looking to buy handmade, they are probably going to have heard of Etsy first. It doesn’t hurt to try something like ArtFire as well, though. Good luck! I am sure others may chime in here, too!

I have crocheted a few tops for myself for events but have not really had the time to devote to pieces bigger than scarves or small accessories. Plus, if I intended to sell crocheted clothes, I’d probably have to price them for more than people would want to pay :P. Crochet can be time consuming! We’ll see, though!