More Norwegian Christmas Stockings

House and Julefugler Christmas stockings from Arne and Carlos.

I have made another Norwegian Christmas stocking from Arne and Carlos. I don’t know why the second one with the birds is bigger because I used the same exact knitting needles and the same yarn and I did the toe the exact same way and both of the stockings have the same number of stitches, so I don’t know why that one is bigger than the other, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.

In my previous post about the house stocking, I was saying that I did not like the toe nor did I like the heel, but it is growing on me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the same toe but it is in the instructions and I don’t want to veer away from that. So I just did the same thing with the birds and I’m working on their latest stocking which is a mystery stocking that they’re doing every day for November, from November 1st until November 25th, 2024. They’re giving you six rows a day, and when the stocking is finished, they will add the full pattern to their blog for free, and then in December it will go into their shop and you will have to pay for it. Most of their stocking patterns are $7, so I assume it will also be $7.

You can find them at http://arnecarlos.com and also you can find their YouTube channel with lots of knitting instructions.

I did buy a bunch of stockings on their website when they were on sale for $2.80, so I bought pretty much every stocking pattern that they have. There was one stocking that I did not buy because it had cars on it and I just don’t see myself making that for anyone.

There is enough yarn from one skein of each color to make these two stockings, and there’s still enough that I’m working on making a third stocking. So these stockings are actually a lot cheaper than I thought they would be to make. I like the green color that I’ve chosen as opposed to a darker green because I just feel like this lighter green gives it more of a vintage look.

The yarn was $5 each skein, and so far I have enough for three stockings, so that’s about $5 a stocking. The first stocking took me I believe 3 days to make and the second stocking took me a little longer because I had other things that I had to take care of. The stocking that I’m making now is going to take longer because they’re only releasing six rows at a time every day this month, but otherwise I’m sure it would have only taken me a couple days to make.

Because of this project that I’ve chosen to do at this very moment in time, I decided that I was going to also resume knitting my socks. I started making this pair of socks, I don’t even know how many years ago, and I didn’t finish it because the other two pairs of socks that I had made had holes in the bottoms and I started thinking what a waste of time that was making socks for them just to get holes in them. I told my aunt that and she said you know you can fix those and they are really easy to fix, so I thought well if I can fix them then I guess it’s not a waste of time. So I decided to continue making the socks. And since I finished making this pair, I started making the next design which I’ve already started and you can see in the left side of the image.

The sock yarn is called Premier sock yarn. It is really thin and they have so many different designs and I bought 8 different designs, and so far have made 3 pairs of socks. The top left, middle left and bottom middle are the ones I’ve made. Now I am making the top middle.

I decided that I will make the socks, but I won’t wear them unless it is a special occasion. This sock yarn cost me $8 a pair to make. They are $3.99 for just 1 skein which only makes 1 sock. That is a very good reason to only wear them on special occasions, because they are so expensive.

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with the stockings, but I’m sure I will figure it out. I think it would be nice to just hang them by the fireplace this Christmas just as decoration.

Lanyards!

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Well, not only have I finally learned how to make lanyards after all this time, but I also bought enough plastic ID badge straps to be able to sell 100 ID badge lanyards. I also bought enough eGo rings to sell 21 lanyards. Why such an odd number? I actually bought 25 eGo rings, but I have 2 batteries and I sold 2 already, so there you have it.

I have the e-cigarettes, but I don’t actually smoke. I buy the no nicotine e-liquid because I just want the flavors. I don’t care to have any that taste like actual cigarettes, and I don’t have the nicotine addiction. My reason for buying them to begin with was because a Twitter friend and her husband have a website where they sell the e-juice. Well, I am the kind of person that if you tell me you want me to support you, I am there for you. So not only did I tell people about their website, but I actually bought a e-cigarette startup kit and they sent me some samples of their flavors. I loved some of them so much that I bought more from them.

Some people have asked me about the ID badge lanyards, and I figured if I’m going to make lanyards, I better buy the badge straps with the snaps on it. I could have just sold them with a zipper pull hook, but I would rather do it the right way. Of course I had to go all out with this and print up an actual ID badge for my Etsy shop lol. At the top is my shop banner and at the bottom it says CEO and crafter along with the link. I also have a Hello My Name Is… that I will use whenever I know I’ll have to write my name on one of those stickers. I would much rather just bring my own. It’s actually a good idea to do that because people will ask where I got it and I can tell them that I make them and give them a card. Win/win.

So what I was thinking for the price is that since the ID badge straps cost me a lot of money, they weren’t that much so $8 for those, but the eGo rings were more expensive, so $10 for those. I think that’s a fair price, don’t you? Because of this project I also had to buy some silver lobster claw clasps, split jump rings and a tool to open the split jump rings. So I’m hoping to recoup some of that money very soon. I also had to buy a few new colors like the metallic gold, the camouflage, the desert king snake (that’s what I’m calling it lol) and all 4 tie dye colors as well as a few others that I was running low on. I went above and beyond on this project, so I’m really hoping people who asked, will actually buy some lanyards to help me pay for what they requested.

Why should you buy from me? I try my best to give you the best quality products your money can buy. If someone asks me to learn a pattern, I go out of my way to learn it and then I make as many items as I can with that pattern to give more of a selection to choose from. In this case someone asked me to learn to make the lanyards and I bought a lot of things that I couldn’t really afford, just to show that I am 100% committed. Although, if I don’t sell any lanyards, I should be committed because I won’t be able to buy food this month lol.

I always tell people that you can go out to a store in the mall or to Walmart or Target and buy stuff made in China that may or may not last, or you can buy homemade from people who actually put love into everything they make. I put 100% of myself into every product I put in my Etsy shop because I want to make people happy. So, please buy some lanyards from me. I really do need the money lol.

Handmade Plastic eGo e-cigarette Lanyard

Handmade Plastic ID Badge Lanyard