What is a snood?

What is a snood? I get asked this question a lot. I suppose if you aren't familiar with the medieval crafting world, then you probably don't know the word. I didn't know what it was until I wanted to make one.

Here is what the internet says:
"[A] simple net used to cover headgear. Adornments such as pearls and jewels added in 15th century."
"A lacy-looking, knitted or crocheted ‘net’ that holds the hair back"
"A band for the hair, once worn by unmarried women in Scotland as the badge of virginity; an ornamental hairnet supporting the back of a woman's hair ..."
"Snood is a puzzle video game created in 1996 by David M. Dobson. "

...okay, maybe the last one doesn't apply to my kind of snood. :)

My snoods are crocheted. Technically, crocheted snoods aren't "period" because crochet didn't really exist until the 19th century. They would have been made out of cloth or knitted.

Snoods are very useful, even in modern settings. Sometimes I try on a snood for size and find myself wearing it for a few hours because it keeps my hair out of my face better than a ponytail would. Snoods work well with short hair, because they make it look like you have longer hair, but at the same time they can do wonders for long hair and keeping it out of your way.

Even though they were mostly worn in "ancient times," you can still see them around...

Women from a Naval Air Base in 1942

A friend at a Renaissance event.

And we mustn't forget the dog snood. Though looking at this picture, I do ask myself "why?"

I haven't updated all week! I promise I haven't forgotten. This blog has been in the back of my mind for a while now, but everything else keeps pushing to the front before it. :)

I have been crocheting, though. Most of it has been for Etsy. Since joining Etsy, it seems to be eating away my time, with little given in return. Everyone on the site says that summer is a slow time, and that things pick back up in September, but it has been a month and I have only made one sale.

I did, however, receive an amazing request. A girl apparently found my shop and now wants me to make her a crocheted version of a lace mantilla, similar to this:

The idea I have is to make the middle part a simple mesh design, and the edges be complex and lacy. We've exchanged a few messages and she agrees that that is what she wants. I'm waiting to hear back from her on the size and material...so many choices, and all could be so beautiful! I will definitely update when I get started on this project. A lot of it will be testing out patterns, which I find exciting.

Wrist warmers are the item as of late. I should be making felted bags, but instead I am making wrist warmers. The pair I'm working on right now is made from Lorna's Laces, rainbow colored. It was part of the yarn that came with my free batch of Noro. The wrist warmers are beautiful...and nearly finished. I really hope someone buys them on etsy, or else I might be tempted to keep them for myself!

Happy Hooking!

Organizing...

Whew. An hour or so ago, my room was a pit...clothes everywhere, fabric strewn about, scarves piled in a corner, and yarn, yarn everywhere. I'm still amazed I didn't jab my foot with any pins...but maybe I shouldn't test my luck*knock on wood*.

In the past few months alone, I have amassed a fairly decent pile of yarn. Some of it was "acquired" from my mother, other is leftover from England, projects, and who knows what. And then there are the twenty balls that were given to me.

I keep my yarn in a plastic bin in the corner of my room. I bought the bin last summer so I could easily tote my crafty stuff (yarn and fabric, mostly) back and forth from school. Last summer, it was maybe halfway full. Now it's overflowing, and the yarn is attempting to kick the fabric out.

Granted, my yarn issue is nothing near what my mother's is, but she's been collecting for a lot longer than me, and she teaches at a yarn shop. I'm just her daughter.

But organization is needed when I'm trying to sell things online. So now I have all my etsy stuff sorted into ziplock bags with names on them so I know what I have. I have my yarn sorted out into ziplocks as well, except the large balls that aren't going to unravel into Giant Mess of Doom. I even have a nice bag full of fabric scraps, which may or may not come in handy. You never know.

I'm feeling much better about my yarn situation, though it might get a little crazy when I finish my Philosopher's Coat...I'm going to have a nice amount of Cascade 220 leftover to play with. And no, I'm not excited about that at all. *grins*

Now we get to see how long it'll stay organized...hopefully until I go back to school...then the yarn can start working on taking over that room. My poor roommate.

Etsy Shop!

A week or so ago I finally got a chance to start my Etsy shop, Crafty Writer Crocheting. Now that I have a few items up there, I thought I might as well link it on here!

Right now, most of the items I have listed are snoods, though I recently added a felted bag and plan to add some other items, such as wrist warmers, iPod cases, and more bags.

In addition to joining etsy, I also joined the EtsyHookers group on Ning. I was excited to find other crocheters around etsy!

Do any of you have etsy shops? Link me to them and I'll check them out! :)

Snooods galore

I got a bit tired of the coat. I'm still working on it - I finished the sleeves and am almost halfway done with the back - but lately I've needed little projects to keep me from getting bored.

Last night it was snoods. I made four of them. Yes, I understand that the average person doesn't usually sit around and crochet snoods while watching eight episodes of Torchwood (I wonder if many people crochet while watching Torchwood. It doesn't seem like a likely combo, but it works very well). But I was bored, and I'd uncovered my cotton from the last snood-making frenzy.

A trip to WalMart later, and I was back in business. I started making snoods last year when I was told that proper girls in my Medieval Society covered their hair. Snoods at Ren Faires tend to sell at around $15-20, machine made. I can get the cotton for about $1.50-2, beads for around the same, and my snood is quite a bit prettier than the ones at faire. At least, that's my opinion.


Snoods are easy, lacy, pretty, and take about an hour and a half. Plus they're fun, and there's an endless amount of options for combinations! :D

Okay fine, I'm insane.

(BTW, all my snoods are available on my Etsy Shop.)