Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

To sum up our adventure last night to the Portage Theatre in Portage Park, a neighborhood in Chicago. We were motivated to go because we had seen an episode on HGTV about the famous Chicago bungalows in Portage Park. We drove around the neighborhood a bit before the show, "Miracle on 34th St." and it turned out to be the most "hometown, community" feeling we have had in a long time, in a very funky way! (Maybe because we haven't been able to attend any Rolling Meadows hometown events in quite a while!) Portage Theatre is from the 1930's with great fresh popcorn; and we were told Johnny Depp spent a lot of time there while shooting the movie he worked on last summer, so it has been refurbished. The evening started with a 16 piece orchestra playing swing music, all decked in Santa hats. They were a very casual orchestra, with people mingling on and off the stage and the members talking out loud to each other. A couple of soloists sat off stage right and perio

I am delighted to be a part of this fabulous group of friends who are also designers. We not only know how to design great patterns, but know how to have fun while doing it too! We put our "fingers" together again and have just released our second self-published, downloadable book, "Strapped for Bags"! Vol. 1 Last month we released "Crochet Belts from the Hip" with new belt designs for crocheters. With the help of the most knowlegeable and computer-savvy members of our group, the books are self-published and the belt book was the FIRST downloadable pattern book offered by Ravelry. We are proud and we are independent and we don't need editors and publishers to tell us how to choose our materials and how to write our instructions! Besides me, here are the designers who particpated in both books: Angela Best, Vashti Braha, Robyn Chachula, Doris Chan, Noreen Crone Findlay, Lisa Gentry, Pam Gillette, Kim Guzman, Mary Jane Hall, Tammy Hildebrand, Amy O&

Door handles? Crocheters have done that for ages, expecially those funky Santa Clauses at Christmastime. Okay, so to date we might not have been quite as creative or daring as Knitta, Please , but it is not too late to start! I call it HOOKA, PLEASE! Knitta began in August 2005, when the soon-to-be-Knittas were discussing their frustration over unfinished knitting projects: half-knitted sweaters and balls of yarn gathering dust. That afternoon, they knit their first door handle. Then it dawned on them… a tag crew of knitters, bombing the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art, wrapped around everything from beer bottles on easy nights to public monuments and utility poles on more ambitious outings. With a mix of clandestine moves and gangsta rap — Knitta was born! Today, Knitta is a group of ladies of all ages, nationalities, and… gender. Why not JOIN ME by creating beautiful and colorful yarn graffiti to spruce up your community and bring attention to the versatility of croch

June 2010 Lucky Magazine: "Romantic by definition, this vintagey textile gets a modern spin." May 2010 Birthday card from Cro-friend, Josie."While not the most flattering payoff for crochet, at least now there is a card dedicated to our magnificent artform!" www.marianheath.com "Another hour in therapy twenty years later." April 2010 Lord & Taylor: "We all have our creature comforts..Some of us more than others." Lucky Magazine: Autumn cashmere: Olive & Bette's: $188.00 March 2010 Crochet is alive and well this spring: Cro-Sightings from my beloved Josie. Sent as a birthday gift to me! Fresh Step Kitty Litter: Elle Decor: "Modular without being mechanistic; classic without being stiff." Grannys are alive and well too! Vogue: Madonna in Gabbana: Vogue: Dolce and Gabbana. Set: $3600.00 Elle Decor: Scalamandre: Along Devon Avenue in Chicago: this is a common sight in the thriving Indian neighborhood Chanel Dress $9,520.00