Introduction to myself :)

Hi! This is my very first blog ever! I am starting this blog because I want a place to start to publish my patterns. So I guess I will write a little of relevant information about myself first.

I went to beauty school in 2000 and the first time I touched hair to cut I knew that I was in my element, it just felt right. I worked in a wonderful salon in Santa Barbara called Cheri bibi which taught me a lot and nurtured my talents and I came to specialize in Wedding Hair styling. Its like my hands just knew what to do. So when I learned how to knit from a friend in 2003 my hands caught right on and I loved it! That first year I made scarves for every single woman in my life as christmas presents (I think it was like twelve or thirteen scarves). I stayed up late most night knitting away and loved it so much that I could hardly stop. I mainly made scarves and moved onto hats and baby booties. But then I got divorced at the end of 2005 and went traveling for two years. I put all my stuff including my needles and yarn, sadly and many times missed them.

So then a couple of years ago I settled in orange county needing to get a job and reestablish myself back in the 3D world lol :) I started to knit again and even found that I live next to the second largest yarn shop in the United States! ( The Yarn Lady) Then last year on September 8th 2008 I took an after dinner walk with my best friend and was bitten by a rattlesnake. It is the by far the most painful thing I have ever experienced! I was in the hospital for 8 days and when I got out of the hospital was not able to do much of anything but lay with my leg elevated. I was not able to knit or read or do anything that required any amount of concentration for a long long time. Finally in november sometime I started to knit again and finished an afghan that I had been working on for my mom.

My Fiance, Aram, moved back from Hawaii in january and we moved in together with a friend of mine with four young boys who is going through a nasty divorce. It was a mutually beneficial decision because we needed a lower rent situation since I cannot work and I like other people around to help me since I cannot move very well still from the rattlesnake bite and it helps angela since she needed some help while going through the divorce. I started a business selling Flexible Barrettes called Flexi8's in january and have been selling them at the Orange County Marketplace every weekend and started to build and build my business so that when I am well, I will be able to make some good money. This has been a great evolution for me because I am getting to sell something that is so pretty and I get to touch hair again! If you are curious I sell them at www.lillarose.biz/lani

Then last May Aram went to go get me some change at the Marketplace and came back with a book about crochet Afghans all proud of himself at having given me the perfect gift. I thought, but I don't know how to crochet! but I thought that I could learn. so then I went online and watched youtube videos and figured out how to crochet. I felt like a whole knew world was open to me. I applied this new craft to another love of mine of handbags. I made a market bag on one of the labels of yarn that I bought and started to sell them at the marketplace. eventually I made my own pattern for a farmer's market type bag. they are super cute! and I wanted to share my pattern with the world, so I thought of blogging at that point. since then I have found a type of crocheting called 'amigurumi'. These are these super cute animals and dolls made from crocheting in the round. so far I have made a lion, wiener dog, dragon and shark and now I am moving onto making my own patterns which I will also share as I go. right now I am working on Christmas ornaments for my family and friends and possibly to sell as I go. I am working on an angel which is in pieces at the moment and I am trying to figure out how to make her dress look nice. I found the website Ravelry.com and set up an account under 'redlflame' its a great website because there are sooo many patterns and ideas to look at to get inspiration.

I have a dreams of someday I would like to own or work on a sheep farm and grow the plants to dye the wool with, then dye the wool and spin it to make my fiber projects. So that is mostly what I can think of to explain myself and my relation to the fiber world. I don't know if anyone is interested, but thats alright, this is more about what I want to do for myself.

well Happy Thanksgiving! best to everyone out there... Lani