Happy New Year!  One of the things I'm doing this year is simplifying.  I've got some goals to focus in on, and they are going to take significant time to accomplish.  That means I can't commit to always going to Crafting in Public.

Luckily, though, the great group that's formed over the last 2-and-a-half years is going to keep meeting on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month.  I won't be posting about the meetings here, so if you're interested in attending, I encourage you to join the Crafting In Public group on Ravelry.

They will be posting about each meeting and getting a role call of who plans to attend.  That's where I'll be checking in when I have the time to attend. :)

And, for any crocheters or knitters that aren't already Ravelry members ... JOIN NOW.  Seriously.  It's free and it's wonderful.  Even if you aren't going to attend Crafting in Public.

Here's to a productive and focused 2013!

Without too much thought, I DM'd Jeannine on twitter and asked if she'd be interested in doing a swap.  Maybe I could make her a cowl in exchange for a drawing/painting?  She accepted.  I was excited for about 30 seconds.  And then I started worrying.

If you ever run into me and I'm wearing my peacock sweater, if you get me talking about how I made it, I will eventually mention that it's "completely seamless" and hold up my arms and move a bit so you can see that there are no seams.  NO SEAMS!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Mimi Kirchner in person.  I've known her for a while in craftyland, but it was so nice to finally be able to give her a thank-you-hug for this Vintange Japanese Book.

I brought a notebook with me to Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs (CCE) and decided to do a diary style report, so here we go.

This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs.  Have you heard about this?  It's going on at the Women's Building on 19th (where the Ravelry meetup was a couple weeks ago).  It's three days packed full of useful information for most any Creative Small Businessperson.

The sessions cover topics like taxes, product photography, creating a personal brand, monetizing your blog, on-demand manufacturing ... so many things!  Just take a look at schedule.  Sessions are conducted by creative professionals that have real world experience, like Jenny Hart, Diane Gilleland, Meg Mateo Ilasco, and a bunch of other people you've probably heard of.

I've been given the opportunity to attend in exchange for reviewing the sessions I attend here on my blog (aka a free pass ... woohoo!).  I'm excited about the sessions I've picked out for Sunday ... you'll have to wait to hear about what I chose.  I'm bummed that I won't be able to get to the "Monetizing Your Blog" on Friday, though.  I *need* that session.  Ha!

All three days are $265 or you can buy day passes for $100/day.  Best of all, if you're a crafty businessperson, this is probably a business expense for you.  Win-win.  Anyone already going?  Anyone planning on going now?  I'll see you there Sunday. :)

After attending Maker Faire 2010 last year, I knew I wanted to have a more active part in the next Maker Faire.  I was so happy to be asked to participate in a couple of presentations.

This morning, I realized there is one group of people who give me a huge amount of support that I barely mention here.  They are perfect for a Thank You post.  They are the people who come to the Public Crafting night.

Talking about crafting in public, completing projects, and Shapes and Sizes' new album.

It was a foggy day when I got there around noon.  I sure do love a view of the Golden Gate Bridge when it's half-covered in fog.  So magical.

Last Sunday I was sitting on a bench in Yerba Buena Gardens knitting, and two older Chinese women slowly walked by me smiling and nodding at my knitting.  I smiled back.  The younger woman, who I'm guessing is in her 60s, stopped.  She started talking to me in Chinese.  I held out my knitting to her so she could see the fabric.  She touched it and ooo'd and ahhh'd.

Craft Bar was even more awesome than I thought it would be!  And I thought it would be pretty awesome. :)  As soon as people started showing up, I had three women come right over and say they wanted to learn how to crochet.

I made plans with a friend to go to Craft Bar last Thursday.  In between making plans to go and the big night, I got an email from a wonderful woman with the Museum because she saw my post about Open Source Embroidery.  She thanked me for my post invited me to Craft Bar.  And I said, "Oh, yeah, I'll be there!"

Last Thursday I met up with Sonya of Wax and Wool and Bethany of Bitter Betty.  We hung out at Sonya's studio space, where she let me paw through her AMAZING stash of yarn (I even got some to take with me!).  After eating a yummy lunch at the cafe downstairs, we headed over to SCRAP.