Waffle Scarf Crochet Pattern

 Waffle Scarf Crochet Pattern

As the weather turns super cold it's a great time to crochet up this thick and warm waffle style scarf!  And the great news is, it doesn't take a long time to crochet!  It only took me a few days!

This week here in Northern Indiana the weather has decide it's time to act like winter.  Up to this point the weather here has been pretty mild, but this week we had days down to 2 below zero!  It's time for a scarf that's really thick and warm: welcome the Waffle Scarf!

 By crocheting a combination of front post double crochet stitches and back post double crochet stitches, this scarf is thick and "squishy", and when you use the soft "I love this Yarn" from Hobby Lobby to make it, it's so soft, warm, and comfortable!

Enjoy crocheting my latest crochet pattern design!

Materials Needed:

Hook: K ~ 6.5 mm

Yarn: I love this Yarn by Hobby Lobby

I used colors: Very Berry & White for the scarf in the picture.

 

Amounts: 2 skeins (14oz) of Very Berry

                   1 partial skein (5 oz) of White

 

Gauge:  13 sts X 9 rows = 4 inch square

 

To make sample gauge: Ch 15.

Row 1:  Dc in the 3^rd ch from hook. Dc across.

Row 2: *1 fpdc in first st., 1 bpdc each in next 2 sts* repeat 4 x’s.  1 fpdc in last st.

Row 3: *1 bpdc in 1^st st. 1 fpdc each in next 2 sts* repeat 4 x’s.  1 bpdc in last st.

Rows 4 – 10: repeat rows 2 & 3 alternating.  (example: row 4 will repeat row 2, row 5 will repeat row 3, etc.)

To check your gauge measure starting at row 2, as this is the main stitch patterns you will be using throughout this scarf pattern. 

 

Skill Level: Easy

 

Size: 10 inch wide X 72 inch height

 

Multiplies for adjusting size: ch 33 + 2

 

 

Abbreviations                                                                                                                                    

Ch – Chain                                                           

dc – double crochet                                              

fpdc – Front post double crochet

bpdc – Back post double crochet

                                        

Waffle Scarf

Ch 35.

Row 1:  1 dc in the 3^rd ch from hook and in each ch st across.  (33 dc, plus the ch 2 from the beginning of the row.  This will be considered a dc.)  Ch 2, turn.

Row 2: 1 fpdc in the 1^st st. (This stitch is directly under the ch 2.  Be care not to miss this st, otherwise the whole row of stitches will be off.) 1 bpdc in each of the next 2 sts. *1 fpdc in next st, 1 bpdc in each of the next 2 sts*. Repeat between *’s 9 more times.  1 fpdc in the last dc st (this is the ch 2 stitch from the beginning of row 1).  (Total 12 fpdc, 22 bpdc.) Ch 2, turn.

Row 3: 1 bpdc in 1^st st. (This is the stitch directly under the ch 2.  Be careful not to miss this st or the whole row of stitches will be off.)  1 Fpdc in each of the next 2 sts. *1 bpdc in next st, 1 Fpdc in eachof  the next 2 sts*.  Repeat between *’s 9 more times.  1 Bpdc in last st of this row. Note: In this last st there will actually be 2 posts: the back post & the ch 2, crochet the 1 bpdc around both the post and ch 2. (Total 12 bpdc, 22 fpdc)  Ch 2, turn.

Row 4: 1 fpdc in the 1^st st. (This stitch is directly under the ch 2.)  1 bpdc in each of the next 2 sts. *1 fpdc in next st, 1 bpdc in each of the next 2 sts*. Repeat between *’s 9 more times.  1 fpdc in the last st of this row.  Note: In this last st there will actually be 2 posts: the fpdc and the ch 2, crochet the 1 fpdc around both the post and the ch 2.  (Total 12 fbpdc, 22 bpdc.) Ch 2, turn.

Row 5 – 60: Repeat rows 3 & 4.  Alternating row 3, row 4, row 3, row 4… continuing.

Change to secondary color.

Row 61 – 96: Repeat rows 3 & 4.  Alternating row 3, row 4, row 3, row 4…. Continuing.

Change back to Main color.

Row 97 – 156: Repeat row 3 & 4.  Alternating row 3, row 4, row 3, row 4… continuing.

Finish off.

Enjoy your scarf and stay warm!

If you're interested in the ad free PDF version of this crochet pattern it can be purchased in my Ravelry shop: Waffle Scarf!

Copyright 2024 by Tracy's Designs 1.  You have permission to sell as many finished items made using this pattern as you would like on any selling venue you would like (online and offline), but the pattern itself is Not to be copied and sold or shared anywhere including online and offline.

Southgate Crossing Farmer's Market

 Today I'd like to take a minute to share with you one of the local places that I have my 18 inch doll clothes setup at!  The place is called Southgate Crossing Farmer's Market, and it's an incredible Amish built building!

Southgate crossing was built in the early to mid 2000's to be a Farmer's Market and the first phase of a larger amusement venue.  While the other phased didn't end up taking place due to an economic downturn in the area in 2008, this beautiful building stands proudly within the quaint countryside.

Here in Northern Indiana we have some large Amish communities.  And it's these lovely Amish people that had a hand in building this beautiful building.  From what I have heard there was not one nail used in making this building.  Instead it was made using pegs!

Here is a photo I snapped from the front of the building on my way inside today.  Although this picture doesn't do it justice it gives you a little idea of it's size and beauty!  (It was really cold out today and I was in a hurry to get inside.  So this picture will have to do for today)  

Also, to put the size of Southgate Crossing into perspective I have been told that it is approximately the same height and same width as Noah's Ark was, but is about 10 feet shorter than Noah's Ark.  (There are times, when it's warmer out, that I've stood and looked at the building thinking about how that is approx. the size of the ark that Noah and his family would have been on with all the animals!) 

Let's go inside this incredible building!

As you walk through the main doors, you come into the center of the building.  One of the first things you'll notice when you look up is the beautiful wood beams and the 3 floors with wood "fences" around the second and third floor.  You may also see people standing on those floors taking in the breathtaking beauty of it all!

The first floor of the building has a variety of goods including; multiple eating places from local businesses, boutique clothing, a brewery, and a large selection of Vintage items!  The vintage area takes up close to half of the first floor, so if you love vintage items you'll want to check back regularly to see what items the vintage vendor have brought in to sell.

Once you've browsed the first floor it's time to head upstairs.  There are two large beautiful staircases you can walk up, or if you prefer there is an elevator that can be used.

On the second floor, half of the floor contains handcrafted treasures from talented sewers, painters, artists, etc.  It's on this floor that you will find my booth, TracysDesigns1 18 inch doll clothes!

Today my mom and I were there to change out some of my products and redecorate.  We had it decorated for Christmas and New Year, but now it was time to change things over to Valentine's doll outfits!   (Can you believe it's time to starting thinking about Valentine's day, already?)

After a few hours of work today, we have new decorations hung (lots of hearts), and new Valentine outfits available!  Lots of doll clothes with red, pinks, and whites, and everything from dresses to leggings to ice skating outfits.  Whatever you doll needs to enjoy this winter season!

One of the nice things about this farmer's market is that there is one central location on the first floor to pay for everything you want.  Instead of needing to have a lot of cash on hand like when you shop at local craft shows, here you can grab a basket, do your shopping and then pay for everything at once.  And of course they also accept credit cards, so you don't have to carry a lot of cash if you don't want to!

But you might be thinking, I like the craft shows because I get to meet the crafters who make the items.  The good news is, a few times a year Southgate crossing puts on craft shows, so if you come during those times you'll get to meet some of the crafters themselves!  The next craft show scheduled is February 10, 2024.

Is that all that's going on at this farmer's market?  I'm glad you asked!  The answer is No!   In addition to all the good food and wonderful products, they also have activities going on throughout the week!

On Tuesday nights they have line dancing lessons and then on Wednesday nights they have line dancing.  So, if you're new to line dancing you can take classes to learn on Tues. and then put when you've learned into practice on Wednesday nights!

Maybe dancing isn't your interest.  How about a Concert every Thursday night?  Yes, that's right, most Thursday nights (starting on February 8th) there is a concert by Quentin Flagg who performs Rock and Roll music from the 50's, and 60's along with some Country music and Gospel music!  Come and check out this fun concert that's only $6.00 per person!  It's from 6pm to 7:45pm. 

Would you like more information on Southgate Crossing?  Here's the link to Southgate Crossing's website!

A New Year and New Goals

 Happy New Year!

Can you believe it's 2024?  

I'm guessing in some ways it feels like 2023 just flew by and it's hard to believe it's over and a new year is already beginning, while at the same time, in some ways it felt like this year dragged on because things didn't go like you'd planned or expected.   I know that's how 2023 has felt for me and I think for a lot of other people.

Here are some things I like about the beginning of each new year: 

• A New beginning.  
• Kind of a reset.  
• A time to look ahead.
• A new year that has so many possibilities in it.  
• A time to dream again.
• A time to plan again.
• A time to hope again.

Yes, I know.  You've made plans other years, and they haven't always come to pass.  Things didn't happen like you expected. (I'm talking about plans you made, not new year's resolutions.)

You had big dreams, and I mean BIG dreams.   You were sure things were going to happen a certain way and then other things happened that were completely out of your control.  And that dream, the one you were so sure about, the one that you were so excited about, that one that you were hanging onto, it came crashing down, and behind it was reality.  A reality that you didn't want.  A reality that you didn't see coming.  A reality that you didn't expect.  And now it's hard to dream again.  It's scary to dream again.  You don't want to be disappointed again.  

I get it. That's been my life for the last few years.  But with God's strength I'm going to put one foot in front of the other to move forward.  One little step at a time, while trusting and believing that God has good plans that I can't even imagine yet.

Jeremiah 29: 11-13 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

God tells us that He has plans for us.  So as the new year begins I'm going to encourage you to seek the Lord and ask Him to show you what His good plans for you are.  I'm also seeking God to discover the plans He has for me.

For now, or at least until God shows me the next plan He has for me,  I'm taking small steps in the direction He has already directed me in.  With that in mind on Sunday I created a monthly goal planner/overview sheet using Excel software.

Years ago I started using Happy Planners as my planner for the year.  I really like them because you're not stuck to just whatever pages were created by the manufacturer, but instead you can add pages of wherever you want and/or need to make the planner uniquely you both in style and purpose.

So as I started working on my planner (adding pretty stickers, writing in ongoing activities; work, Bible studies, etc.) I realized that there were some additional pages I wanted this year that I haven't used/created in the past.  Specifically a 1 page Monthly planner.  Not the monthly calendar overview (although that's important, too).  I wanted a simple style that was only one page long, that would be easy to glance at thought the month to stay focused on what needed to get done to reach my goals. I also wanted it to be fun and colorful.  I love colors, so I wanted my happy planner to be colorful, too!  So it took me a few hours, but I designed a 1 page Monthly Goal Overview planner!  It will go in my happy planner at the beginning of the month of January!

I had 6 categories of "goal" (not all are really goal, but rather "to do's"), so I made this planner page to have 6 categories!   Each category looks like a colored "mini notebook"!  Basically it's a small colored box with lines in which to write your goals.  On the left side of each "notebook" is the "margin" line, which created little boxes beside each of the goals, so that as you finish off a goal you can check it off!  The first 4 "mini notebooks" each have 15 lines available.  The last 2 "mini notebooks" have 10 lines available on each one.  

Because it's an excel sheet, each line of the notebook is editable, so I was able to type in what I wanted under each goal, and then print it off to put in my planner.

Since I use the Classic size Happy Planner, I needed to resize the print to 84% so that it will fit nicely in my planner.  It's really simple to do this.  When you have everything filled in on the sheet, click "file", then scroll down to "Print".  When the print page comes up, look for the option to size the print.  Adjust it to 84% and then hit the print button!   Once it's printed off, you will need to cut off some of the right side and bottom of the paper.  To make sure I cut off the edges to the correct size, I use another planner sheet.  I lay it on top of the printed paper and using a pen (or pencil) make a few small dots along the edge so I'll know where to cut it at! 

After that I used my Happy Planner hole puncher to punch the holes in the left side and put it in my planner at the beginning of the month.  I attached a tab to the page, so it will be easy to find and flip back to anytime I want to review the page.  I then added some pretty and colorful stickers around the edges to make it more festive!  And drum roll, please... a pretty planner page where my monthly goals are organized in one place!

As I was finishing up typing out my goals, I realized that other people might like this cute and colorful planner sheet, too.  So after a little more work, I listed it in my etsy store! Here's the Monthly Goal planner!  I'm really excited about this planner sheet, and my hope is that you, too, will enjoy it.

The 6 categories I used in my planner are: Personal Goals, Relationship with God, Sewing/Crocheting Goals, Financial Goals, Blogging Goals, and Cleaning Goals.  But you can use whatever goals work for your plans for the month.  The digital download excel planner you receive will not have my categories listed.  Just type in your desired categories on the first line of each "notebook" and you'll be ready to go!  And of course, you can even change the categories from month to month if your needs change!

I hope you have fun getting your Happy Planner (or whatever planner you like to use) setup and ready for this new year.   Dream Big!  We serve a big God who has good plans for each of us!

Happy New Year, 2024!

 

Team Crocheting vs. Knitting? Take the poll!

Crocheting vs. Knitting

     Last week I was talking with a friend and the topic turned to Smartphones verses laptop.  I discovered that she prefers smartphones while I prefer laptops, which lead to a interesting conversation about why we liked the one we prefer.  As I think back on our conversation, it's now making me think about other "this or that" options that people like.  One that especially comes to mind is crocheting verses knitting.

    If you know how to both crochet and knit, do you prefer one over the other?  Which one did you learn first?

    Ever since I was a kid, I 've taken my crocheting projects with me when I go places where I might have to wait for a little while, or that I might have some "downtime".  For example: the dentist's office, craft shows, etc.  Quite a few times over the years, this has lead to conversations with people as they come up to me and ask what I'm making.  Sometimes they then share that they, too, crochet or knit and discuss what they are working on.

    From these conversations, I've come to find that most people I talk with have a preference with one or the other.  Interestingly it seems that a lot of times that preference comes from which one they learned first.  Of course this is not always the case and I have meet some people who say they enjoy both and regularly create items from both venues of yarn art.

     However, I have found that a lot of the people I talked with that said they learned to crochet first, generally don't like knitting as much.  This is the group I'm in.  I learned to crochet first, and a few years latter I taught myself to knit using a book.  For me, it was difficult to get used to having all the stitches on the needle as you worked the project in contrast to crocheting where you're mostly working on one stitch as a time, finish that stitch and then move on to work on the next stitch.  I did learn to knit, but I only made a few items before I give it up and went back to crocheting.

    Yet, when people told me they learned to knit first, they generally told me they like to do both.  Some have shared with me that they still prefer knitting over crocheting, but that they do create items using both methods.

    So, from my very unofficial conversations/polls from over the years, I have to admit that it sounds like if you have a desire to learn both crocheting and knitting, it might be best to learn knitting first.  (Ouch, that hurts to say, lol.)  But, that way you will enjoy them both.  My theory is that when you first learn to knit with lots of stitches on the needle it is then easy to also learn to crochet with one stitch at a time on the needle, but when you learn crocheting first, with one stitch on the hook at a time, it is then more difficult to learn (or get used to) having a lot of stitches on the needle at the same time.  

    That said, I think that crocheting is fun and relaxing and there's no time better than the present to learn to crochet!  There's a few main stitches you need to learn first in crochet: chain, single crochet, and double crochet, and with just these 3 stitches you can create so many beautiful items.  Plus, once you've learned these 3 stitches, it's easy to learn so many of the other stitches as a lot of them use variances of these stitches! 

Here are some differences:

Crocheting vs. knitting

• one crochet hook vs 2 knitting needles
• Many stitches available vs 2 main stitches (knitting and purling)
• One stitch on the hook at a time vs. many stitches on the needles at a time
• unlimited sizing vs. basically limited to the size of the needle unless you want to make in many pieces and then stitch together.

Here are some similarities:

Crocheting vs. Knitting

• both hooks and needles are pretty inexpensive to purchase to get starting creating
• There's lots of variety in yarns and most if not all work well for both crocheting and knitting
• Both are easy enough to learn basic stitches that children can learn!

Do you already know how to crochet or knit, or both?  In the comments below let me know which you learned first and which you now prefer to make most of your projects from.  And by answering in the comments, this unofficial poll can continue.  Will online commentors feel the same way as those I've talked to in person about crocheting and knitting?

What project are you working on today?  It is a crochet or knit project?

Christmas Party!

To the Mothers, Grandmothers, and Doll Collectors who read my blog, I hope you enjoy this fun "from a Doll's Perspective" story.  I've been sewing a lot of 18" doll Christmas dresses lately and thought I'd take a little break and write a fun post to go along with the dresses.  I know Christmas time can get busy, so I hope this gives you a moment to take a deep breath, and just enjoy a story!  

"Mom, it's finally here!" Emily yelled as she ran in the house from getting the mail!  "It's from Paula.  It must be the invitation!"

Emily had been watching the mailbox everyday since her best friend Paula had told her that her parents were allowing her to have a Christmas Party at their house.   But this wasn't just any Christmas Party, it was going to be a "formal" party.   All the guests were to dress up in fancy formal dresses!  They would eat dinner at the dinning room table using the "good" dishes and silverware and even have cloth napkins.  It was going to be very fancy!   And Paula was sending each of her friends an invitation through the mail to invite them the party!

Finally.  The invitation had arrived!  In reality her best friend Paula had just told her about the party 3 days ago.  But Emily was so excited that she'd started watching the mailbox that same day.  She wanted to see the invitation and get the details about the party as soon as possible!  

Even though Emily was in a hurry to open the invitation, so also didn't want to tear the invitation and envelope, so she made herself slow down to carefully open the envelope.  She got it open and gently pulled out the invitation.  The outside of the card was beautiful!  There was a picture of a girl standing outside next to a pine tree with fluffy white snow gently swirling around her!  The "snow" was made from glitter, so the card sparkled.   Emily stood for a moment just looking at the invitation card.

Inside she read:
Emily Thomson is cordially invited to Paula Anderson's formal Christmas Party on Saturday December 16, 2023 at 4pm.  Meal will be served at 4:30pm.  Come dressed in Christmas formal attire.

It then went on to give Paula's address.

Emily's mom was smiling as she watched her daughter open and read the invitation.  Now, Emily looked up at her mom and said: "Can I get a new Christmas dress, Mom?"

"We can go shopping on Friday." Emily's mom replied.  "It will be your dress for church for the Christmas Eve service, too."

At that, Emily ran to her room to call Paula and let her know that she'd gotten the invitation!  They talked nonstop for almost an hour, until their mom's told them they needed to get off the phone; it was time for supper.

Now she had to wait until Friday, to shop for her dress.  But Friday finally came and Emily's mom picked her up from school and they went shopping for a Christmas dress.  The first store they went to didn't have anything that Emily liked, so they went to another clothing store.   There were a few dresses that Emily liked and tried on there, but they still weren't quite what she had in mind.  They were about to leave that store, but some fabric sticking out from a rack caught her attention and she walked over to see what it was.  As soon as she saw it, she gasped!  The dress was beautiful!

The fabric that had caught her eye was a sheer fabric with sparkly silver dots, red and white candy canes and peppermints and sparkly silver ribbon trimmed at the hem.

As she pulled the dress out, she discovered that underneath the sheer fabric was a solid red fabric that was also used for the bodice of the dress.  The sleeves were made from the same sparkly sheer fabric!  Emily couldn't take her eyes off this dress.   Emily's mom encouraged her to go tried it on.

A few minutes later Emily stepped out of the dressing room so her mom could see the dress on her.  Emily's eyes sparked with excitement!  She loved this dress!  Emily swirled around so her mom could see the whole dress!  

Emily's mom paid for the dress and Emily clutched the bag tightly as they walked out to the car.  Now she really couldn't wait for the party. 

Emily decided not to tell anyone what the dress looked like, so that it would be a surprise for the party.  It was very hard to wait, though.  She had to bite her tongue a few times as she almost told Paula this or that about the dress. 

Finally Dec. 16th came!  Emily got dressed up in her new Christmas dress and her mom drove her over to Paula's house.

Everyone was dressed up and it was so much fun to see what everyone's dresses looked like.  They all ooh'ed and ahh'ed over each other's dresses.  

Paula's mom had decorated the dinning room table with a cloth table cloth, cloth napkins folded to look like Christmas trees, pretty dishes with gold color on the edges, real glass drinking dresses with pink lemonade in each glass, and a small mini Christmas tree in the center of the table.  

The food was good.  Paula's mom had cooked a ham and made mashed potatoes and green beans.  There was also a salad and for desert there was cherry pie!

After the dinner the girls talked for awhile about school, their plans for Christmas break and their dresses.  Then they watched a Christmas movie!

It was a wonderful Christmas Party, and Emily and all the girls had so much fun!

Happy Thanksgiving 2023

 Happy Thanksgiving to all my terrific readers.  

As I write this post, I'm sitting on my couch watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  (A gingerbread man and woman along with a person in a pie costume just walked by! Such cute and creative costumes!)  It has been a tradition to watch this Parade for as long as I can remember.  Getting up on Thanksgiving and watching the parade with my family, and of course, my brother and I looked forward to seeing Santa at the end of the Parade!  My mom watching some of it with us, and watching some it of from the kitchen as she prepared some food to take with us to grandma and grandpa's house for our big Thanksgiving day meal with all the relatives.   There are so many wonderful memories of Thanksgivings from over the years!  Then growing up and getting married and for awhile spending time with both my side and my husband's side of the family on Thanksgiving Day brought new memories and more to be thankful for.

I hope this day finds you with a thankful heart, whether it's been a great year or a year of difficulties and pain.  For me, this year has seen a lot of pain, with the loss of a deeply loved husband, after a multi-years battle with cancer.  Yet, I am thankful for my family and friends' support through it all.  And most of all, I'm so thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for helping me and guiding me as I struggle to understand the "why's".  And in learning to accept that some "why's" likely won't be answered on this side of Heaven.  As I hang on to God, and His wonderful Word, I know that Romans 8:28 is true: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.", and because of this I can put my trust in God and his unfailing love and be thankful today for His many blessings.

Please join me in prayer today:

Father,

I thank you for this day and for each day that you give us, as it is truly a gift from you!  I ask that you would help each reader to see things to be thankful for today and to rejoice in those blessing from you.  For those that are hurting today as they miss the loss of someone they love, I ask that you give them your peace and comfort and help them to enjoy the good memories and be thankful for those memories. Help them, Lord, that those memories will bring joy and not pain, today and everyday.  Lord, I ask that you would help us to see even the little things you have blessed us with and have a thankful heart for them, today and everyday.  In Jesus' name I pray.  Amen.

Psalms 118: 24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.".  Each day we get to make a choice whether we are going to be thankful or not.  Today, I chose to be thankful, and I hope that you will, too.  Whatever is going on in your life, there are blessings from God.  Dwell on those things and praise God for them. Philippians 4:8-9 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.".

Are you rushing from one Thanksgiving dinner to another today? Or maybe you're hosting Thanksgiving at your house this year and with that comes cooking the Turkey and all the last minute house cleaning.   I know in the moment it may seem busy and sometimes stressful, but take a moment to take a deep breath and look around you.  Enjoy being surrounded by your loved ones!  Remember, when your loved ones look back at their Thanksgiving memories they won't remember if that fireplace was dusted today or not, but they will remember the time they spent with you and everyone else.  Enjoy the day!

Tell me in the comments what you are thankful for today!  I would love to hear and rejoice with you in the blessings God has given you today and throughout the year.  

Did you watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade today, too?  If so, what was your favorite part?  Please share that in the comments, too!

Have a great and happy Thanksgiving!

Signed with a thankful heart, 

Tracy

The Craft show is finished. Now what?

 You've enjoyed the craft show, sold items (Yay!!), packed up what's left and you're home.  Now, what's next?

Well, lots of things actually.

1) Totaling your receipts

Now it's time to total your receipts and the money and make sure the numbers match.  Be sure to make a note of how much sales tax you collected so that you will be able to remit that to your state (providing you live in a state that collects sales tax).  *Note: If you haven't, see a CPA for help on getting everything setup legally.  They can help you get everything set up correctly!  You want to be sure that you have everything setup correctly from the start.  (It's actually best to do this before the first craft show.)

Be sure to write down the totals and the total of sales tax collected and keep the info with your receipts so the info will be there when you need it and so you won't have to take the time to total everything again.

2) Assess your inventory

Now go back through your receipts and takes notes about the items you sold.  Some things to consider are:

• What sold the best?
• What items didn't sell?
• Did you run out of anything?
• If yes, how many did you start with?  How early in the show did you run out?  This will help you decide approx. how much you might need for your next show.

Note: Be sure to write this info down in a notebook, as it will help you have a better idea of how much product you may need for upcoming craft shows.  It's also good to write down the name of the show, so you can compare it to how you do at this show next year! (It can help you plan goals in the future!)

   

3) Other things to consider:

• Did you get any ideas for new products based upon your conversations with customers?
• What products were your customers most excited about?  
• How did you have those items displayed?  
• Is there a way to display them so that they will get even more attention?
• What did people ask you for that you didn't have made? 
• Are those things you would consider making?
• Did any of your customers talk about a problem they may have in relation to using your type of items?  
• Is there a way you could redesign what you're making that would better solve the customer's problem?  
• For example someone came up years ago:  A crocheted hat with a hole for a pony-tail.  A regular hat was great for some but didn't work well for those that wore their hair in a pony tail, thus someone created a hat with a hole near the top to pull your pony tail through!  They solved the customer's problem!  What problem can you solve for your customers?
• At your next shows you will be able to tell customers about the problem and how your product solves the problem they had!

Make notes of all these things in your notebook, so they you can start to implement your solutions!  It's always good to write them down, even if you haven't completely figured out how to solve the problem yet, so that you don't have a lot of ideas floating around in your head that you may forget before having time to explore them more in depth.

3) Rest

    Yes, this is important too.   Take some time to sit down and relax.  You've had a busy day, or 2 busy days if you setup for the show the night before, and there's a lot to keep you busy in the future, so get a cup of your favorite coffee or tea (or for me, it's hot apple cider with caramel) and curl up on the couch with your favorite book or a movie and take some time off.

  

4) Start planning for your next show

Now that you've got an idea of your inventory (step 2), and you've had some time to rest so you don't burn out, you can start to decide how much you may need to have ready for your next craft show.

• Do you already have another show booked?
• How much time do you have for making product before this next show?
• Not just the actual amount of days (say it's in 2 weeks), but how much time will you have to focus on making product?  Taking into consideration your other time responsibilities to figure out how much time you can realistically put into creating your products.
• Based on your most popular items, which of them makes the most profit? Creating more of those items first can be a good idea, that way, if unexpected things come up that take time away from creating, you'll still have the most important items made and ready!

5) Create your products!

    Yay!  It's time for the fun part again!  Create your beautiful products and look forward to your next craft show!  And now that you've done the steps above you have a good idea of what you need to make so you can be confident in what you're making!