Knitting Patterns Back In My Etsy Shop

I forgot to mention that I have finally added my knitting patterns back in my Etsy shop.

Even though Etsy informed us a while ago that they were going to deal with the European VAT issue, it was still unclear how: I didn't get any communications from Etsy to let me know if the VAT was going to be added to the price of items sold at the checkout or deducted from the total price and then paid by Etsy to the corresponding European tax organisations.

Luckily I was in contact with a designer who sells crochet patterns on Etsy and she told me Etsy takes the VAT share (as well as its own commission) out of the price that the designers list at.

I then decided to update the price of all my knitting patterns: you may find these are a teeny bit higher than the Ravelry price, but that's to account for my listing costs and commission of sales on Etsy (there are none on Ravelry, as long as you stay under a certain amount - which doesn't apply to my very small volume of sales).

The moral of this story is, if you wish to purchase any of my knitting patterns, it's cheaper to do so through my Ravelry store;-)

Long wristed chain cable mittens on Ravelry

Lace alpaca hoodie cowl on Ravelry

Oh, and I nearly forgot to add, if you make any of my designs, please add it to your Ravelry projects as I love seeing how you get on with my designs (and don't hesitate to send me a message if you need help with your projects).

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More Cable Headbands On The Way

I sold a few of my cable headbands, mostly around Christmas, and I hadn't realised until last week that I had run out of the smallest size ear warmers so I picked up my knitting needles and whipped out a few more of these hand knit cable headbands:

Army Green Cable Headband

Cream Tweed Cable Headband

Denim Blue Cable Headband

Because these cable headbands seem to have become popular in my shop (Yay!), I hope to knit some more very soon, in other colours and using various cable stitches to add a bit more variety (maybe cotton for the summer?).

I am planning on writing the corresponding knitting patterns too. I'm not sure whether I should publish knitting patterns for these headbands one by one or by groups of maybe 3 different designs, so I may try both options and see what works best (I know that if I was to choose between 3 single patterns at €3.80 each and 3 patterns together at around €8.00 or €9.00, I'd probably go for the second option, but unfortunately (or fortunately?) I'm not in everyone's head.

For now I am working on knitting and relisting my original ear warmers in the original colours while also testing a new amiguri pattern for Peeko Crafts. I expect I'll have all this done by St Patrick's day and then I will start on my new designs.

Don't expect too much too quick, though, as I've also just taken up an online accountancy course: I can't expect knitting to feed my family but hopefully refreshing my accountancy training will help me get a decent paying job (and maybe less time for blogging and social media, but I'll make sure to keep a few hours for knitting in the evenings;-)

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Crochet Pattern Testing: Cute Bing Bunny Amiguri

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to be one of the testers for an amiguri crochet pattern, this was my first time testing a pattern for someone else and I must say this was an enjoyable experience.

I had never heard of Bing Bunny before, my daughters having passed the age for this type of cartoon, but when my 12 year old saw a picture of it online, guess what she said? "I want it!".

Luckily I had the same yarn in my stash that was recommended for the pattern (with some colours not exactly the same, but it doesn't really matter for an amiguri toy), so here is my result:

I made a mistake sewing one of the ear designs the wrong way and the mouth is a little crooked but these were my own errors, nothing to do with the amiguri pattern itself. I still think my Bing Bunny is pretty cute, if I say so myself;)

The Bing Bunny amiguri crochet pattern is now available to purchase from Peeko Crafts on Etsy and the designer is planning on publishing some more amiguri crochet patterns which is great news. I can only recommend the as it contains very clear and detailed instructions with links to photo tutorials. If you don't crochet, the finished items are also available to buy from the same shop (there is also a cute elephant amiguri and lots of other beautiful goodies in her Etsy shop).

It's back to work now for me, I'm working on a few sets of baby hats and bootees at the moment and then it will be time to take a little break from crochet and return to some knitting; I've also bought some cute fabric about a month ago to try and make my 10 year-old a tablet case but I'm a bit ashamed to say I haven't even started it yet as I was prioritising my crochet baby blankets and I work better when focusing on one thing at a time.

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Gangsta Granny Dress Up Crochet Wig

My daughter's school always tries to promote reading and this year, as well as the traditional book fair where the primary school hall transforms into a bookshop, the principal has decided that the children could dress up as their favorite book character for the last day of the book fair, which is today.

My youngest daughter is far from being a bookworm (unlike her older sister), but there is one author that she really loves reading: David Walliams. I've hear that he is a very popular children's book author and I was curious to know what it is about his books that makes children love them so much, even those who don't particularly like to read*. I'm in the process of reading my second one (I know it's not my age bracket, but a book is a book, and I think it would be a shame not to read a book that's available to me as it's already in the house, plus, my daughter practically forced me to read it). I must say I've read worse (and within my own age bracket!) and these books are very funny and very imaginative. Here's what's on my night stand at the moment:

When I heard about the dress up day, I immediately thought of making a grey-haired wig with a bun attached and a bank robber's mask so the little one could dress up as David Walliams' "Gangsta Granny". I'm not great as designing crochet (knitting is more my thing) so I went searching on Pinterest and found exactly what I was looking for with the help of the Ninja Turtles!

I used Holyjeans' Crochet  Ninja Turtle Mask Hat Beanie pattern as a basis (it's free:-) but made a few changes such as the colors (grey hair and a black mask), I added a flat circle that I stuffed to make the bun shape, I decided to make 2 extensions on each side of the black mask to be able to tie is up and make it look more like a cartoon bank robber's, and as it was missing a little something to hide the back of the hair, I crocheted a little trapezoid shaped grey extension at the back. My daughter's hair is long so I had to tie it into a bun and hide it inside the hat, if you're wondering what the big lump is;)

After a rummage through our clothes, we picked a double layer of my tan tights (it's cold out you know!), an old flowery dress of mine I never wear (knee-high for me, perfect for a 10 year-old granny;-), a purple cardigan and here is our version of Gangsta Granny (we decided to skip the smell of cabbages!):

We decided on the runners because she might have PE today and I told her that grannies usually wear comfortable shoes, especially when they need to make a quick getaway on their granny scooters;-)

*While this is not a book review, I think I found David Walliams' tricks to drawing children to his books: one example of which includes a detailed set of instructions on how to pretend to brush your teeth, but don't worry, it also mentions that it's nearly as easy as brushing your teeth;-);-). I think all parents who take their parenting job seriously should read these books:-)

**I wish to apologise for the unusual high amount of smiley emoticons in this blog post, it's just that you can't read Grangsta Granny without having the odd fit of laughter; this book should be prescribed by doctors;-);-);-)

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Crochet Baby Blankets Galore!

Time has passed so quickly again I just realised this is my first 2015 blog post so I wish all my readers (all 3 of them;) a belated Happy New Year!

Shortly before Christmas I tried working on a new knitted hat pattern that I think will never happen now: after having to pause my pattern designing so I could knit some cabled headbands and a custom crochet phone cosy for some Etsy orders, I realised knitting cables was putting pressure on my left hand and hurt my thumb so I took out my baby yarn and started making some crochet baby blankets instead.

Since my hand was sore I was crocheting pretty slowly for a few weeks but some time in January I managed to finish my first baby blanket, listed yesterday in my Etsy shop:

Then I made another one, also listed yesterday: 

I have a lot more baby wool to go through, so I'm not sure I can be stopped until I run out. It is time-consuming, but I am enjoying the "no need to think" bit and the regular changes of stitch or colours mean that it never becomes monotonous: I've started doing this one while watching "Orange Is The New Black" on Netflix, only when my girls are at school, though, as it's a strictly over 18 show!

I'm not sure whether I'll just do a white border or pick a darker blue to spice up it up a little: I looked at the different shades of blue I have at home but none seems to be the right one (I know I can be very fussy, but I can't have anything less than perfect, can I?) so maybe I'll have an excuse to go to the yarn shop soon, but first I'll make a start on a pink one because I'll be faced with the same dilemma when I finish this too;)

So, lots more baby blankets to come in various colours (I think I need to borrow a Dulux colour wheel;), and lots of Netflix series to watch in the next few weeks for me!

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New EU VAT Rules: How Will This Affect Pattern Sellers And Buyers Worldwide

From January 1st 2015, how the EU will treat tax on digital sales is changing. This will have repercussions for EU buyers and sellers, as well as for sellers of digital goods (digital patterns, eBooks...) all over the world. You can find out more about VAT MOSS here.

Up to December 31st 2014, small businesses based in the EU and selling under a certain threshold (€35,000 in Ireland, £81,000 in the UK, €100,000 in France...) did not have to register for VAT(Value Added Tax), therefore they did not have to charge VAT to their customers.

From January 1st, the above rule does not change for sales within a seller's own country or from a seller located in Europe to a buyer outside of the EU.

To make things easier (NOT!), there are currently 28 EU member countries and each EU country comes with its own VAT rate (varying between 8% and 27%), which is why the new VATMOSS system is being implemented.

Don't take me wrong, I don't mind paying for VAT (well, I do, but if I must, I'd rather be legit about the taxes I owe), but if I register for VATMOSS, I must pay VAT for the sales of digital products I do within Ireland as well (which according to Irish law, being under (well under!) the VAT threshold, I shouldn't have to pay), as there doesn't seem to be a possibility of opting out of one's own country.

Normally, small businesses like mine selling via a platform like Craftsy, Etsy and Ravelry shouldn't have to worry about the new VAT rule since the law states that it is the platform that is responsible for VATreturns in the relevant countries, but unfortunately I haven't found any statement from Craftsy whereas Etsy stated that they are in the process of developping a tools to help sellers that should be ready in early 2015, until then (and I have to assume after that too), sellers have to take responsibility for the new VAT rule; I suspect that their tools may just be something to help sellers block buyers from the EU from buying certain items (which would be a disaster for Etsy's EU customers, who hopefully won't take this lying down!).

Ravelry and Love Knitting are doing something about this: by teaming up together, they are allowing Ravelry designers to upload their designs to Love Knitting, which will collect and pay VAT on behalf of the individual sellers.

The only options I can see for in order to comply with this contradictory law, is to stop selling my knitting patterns on Craftsy and Etsy for now, as these two seem not to be aware or really care about the fact that all sellers including those outside Europe have to pay the EU VAT rate of the country in which the buyer is located - who knows? Etsy might see the light when they lose out on all the listing fees that stop coming their way, since lately they showed how they seem to only understand the language of $$!.

I am still awaiting instructions from Ravelry on the process of importing my knitting patterns to Love Knitting, but as far as understand from all my reading, there will be no change for buyers located outside the EU (as well as those located in the same EU country as a EU seller), as they will still be able to purchase through Ravelry at the same price as before. Buyers located in the EU (if in a different EU country than the seller) will be redirected to Love Knitting in order to complete their purchases, which will be taxed at the relevant VAT rate.

For all pattern sales from an EU country to another EU country, the customer will have to pay more, as the relevant VAT rate will be added to the inital pattern cost: this does not mean that designers will be getting more money, as the added VAT amount will eventually be paid to the country where the buyer is located.

I am still hoping that the EU authorities will come to their senses and either introduce a new -  common to all EU countries -  threshold for digital sales, or agree on one low tax rate that is the same in all EU countries, because this new rule which was introduced in order to combat big companies setting up in low tax locations in order to avoid paying high tax rates is ultimately hurting small businesses (who can't afford an accountant to handle the extra paperwork) AND their customers more than corporations that can well afford all the extra paperwork and probably won't need to hire an extra accountant to make sure they're tax compliant).

All this to explain why from January 2015, you may not find my patterns available for sale on Craftsy or Etsy (well, at least not until I know and I am happy with what is this mysterious new tool Etsy is working on), but you will still be able to purchase them through Ravelry, but if you are in the EU (Ireland not included), it may take some time to have my patterns listed on Love Knitting as I haven't got them accepted there yet.

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Hi, My Name Is Sophie And I'm A Craft Addict...

I'm tyiping this as I'm starting to seriously worry about the growing number of craft addictions I'm falling victim to!

First there was knitting, which I still do with a passion, then last year I learned how to crochet and even though I know I still have a lot of crochet techniques to learn (like lace crochet), I am now pretty comfortable with it and I enjoy discovering new ideas of things that can be done using knitting and crochet.

A few months ago, I bought my first sewing machine: I used to think sewing was quite boring, and I am the first to confess I'm quite clumsy with sewing thread and needles, but after a browse on Pinterest, my mind was blown when I started thinking of all the possibilities: I may not be able to sew neat straight stitches by hand but there are so many cute sewing projects that can be achieved with the help of some preparation and a sewing machine!

Talking about sewing, here are the two owl cushions I finished making for my two daughters during the week-end: they are not perfect but I think I learned a lot doing these (taking the plunge and making something is the only way to learn), and as long as my daughters are happy with these, I'm happy. I got these as kits including the fabrics and patterns from Fiddlesticks at the RDS Knitting and Stitching show. I'm thinking of adding some simple sewed items like phone and tablet covers to my Etsy shop when I've had more practice with my sewing machine.

Another thing I am currently falling in love with is cross stitching (yes, my addictions are getting way out of control!). Since I'm very weak a the moment after a long time of not treating myself to clothes, wool or anything I wanted to buy but didn't need to (thanks to being broke), I broke down yesterday and bought this magazine, which also blew my mind when I leafed through it:

Before I make anything else than the gift tags (the kit was included in the magazine, I'm just like a 3 year-old buying a child's magazine just for the toy!), I've asked my daughter's permission to finish the dolphin kit she got about two years ago and that she finds too difficult to finish: I've started indulging this morning. I'm not sure how permissible it is for a left-handed person like me to finish a project started by a right-handed person but I can't see anything stopping me.

As my addictions for everything wool and fabric-related grow, there is only one thing I can ask Santa to give me this Christmas even though I know this will not be possible: more hours for crafting every day!

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