That's right! As you all may well know, I stopped taking commissions on things a long time ago. Instead, opting to sell premade accessories in the Handmade Shop. There had been a lot of negatives for me in regard to taking orders from people and I'd decided to just give up on it.
A few weeks ago, someone saw my old water bottle sling and got really excited about it. So much so that they wanted to commission one for themselves. It's been a busy semester but, she asked so nicely that I said yes!
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So what did that look like?
If you follow me in IG, you'll have seen the many reels that I've been posting regarding this project. My favorite yarn to use is Lily Sugar & Cream Cotton Yarn. I like this fiber a lot because it doesn't stretch a lot and is super absorbent when you accidentally spill water on it.
The original pattern calls for using a 5.50mm crochet hook but, this go around, I wanted to make tighter stitching to eliminate the stretching that occurred in my old sling. So I used a 4.00mm hook instead and so far, I've been able to carry around my 64oz bottle without much stretching. I'll definitely add that recommend that adjustment in the pattern updates.
Excited to fulfill my first order in a while, I got to work on a test piece and it ended up being too small. It wasn't a waste though because it perfectly fit my grandmother's 21oz bottle.
My client was super happy with the color pattern on it, so I proceeded to start on the one that would fit her 32oz bottle.
This was such a great opportunity because now, I've been able to modify the pattern for other sizes, which I am looking to write patterns for, likely around Thanksgiving.
While waiting on her approval, I'd started on a new sling for my 64oz giant. I went with an autumnal color scheme since it was about that time of year. Again, I used a 4.00mm crochet hook and I experimented with some reverse single crochet around the top edge of the sling. I'm in love with it, of course! One thing that has been proven is that the stitch pattern is perfect for this project in particular because it isn't a stretchy stitch. It's called the spike stitch and a tutorial can be found on my YouTube channel.
I should mention that the original measurements for this project were made with using a Coldest water bottle. Ultimately, it seems that the stitch count works out for other bottles because the one I made this last one for wasn't of the same brand.
As a matter of fact, the day before I'd fallen, I ordered a 32oz water bottle for myself and it so came in handy with modifying this design. Needless to say, her sling was a great success and she was SO happy to receive it. There's a reel on Instagram for how I packaged her order (since it was hand delivered and all). She was thoroughly impressed about how I matched all the tissue paper and that was really gratifying for me also.
