Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

Wenesday, July 18, 2012 You know what they say, "A day without crochet is like a day spent in Hell!" I had a few days last week without crochet but it wasn't "Hell," it was exhaustion. My husband and I were babysitting our grandchildren at their house and they are two busy little bees! From Monday night until Saturday, I just got one bracelet done. However, here's what filled my time and gave me great joy in spite of the lack of crochet! No complaints! Chloe, almost three and Jack,almost one! This week the folks at Interweave released a new free booklet on bead crochet. A design that I had published in Beadwork magazine quite some years ago is included. I am honored to be featured with 3 other well-known bead-crochet designers in this booklet. Get your for free here: http://www.beadingdaily.com/bead-crochet Another sweet "blast from the past" happened this week. A student that I had years and years ago in class search...

Monday, July 10, 2012 Last week I blogged about my presentation of a slide show at the CGOA crochet conference Design Competition awards ceremony. There is a slide show running here on my blog of the crochet art that has been exhibited by CGOA from 1994-2004 . Today, I want to highlight some of the art in that slide show and give you more details. From day one of the crochet guild I was very determined to showcase crochet art. The very first conference held in Chicago in 1994 had a marvelous juried exhibit and I thank Susan Kenyon for co-chairing my idea with me.I believed that crochet art is the best way to jolt pre-conceived notions of what crochet is. Back then we were battling stereotypes of being grannies who sat around in our rockers making doilies. Eighteen years later, I am closer to being a "granny in a rocker" than I was then! But I still think I am young at heart and crochet art still remains a passion. We've come such a long way and with the advent of...

Tuesday, July 2, 2012 I've just returned and am recovering from attending my 18th Chain Link Crochet Conference sponsored by the Crochet Guild of America. This year it was in Manchester, NH and I think this is the 4th time we have held the conference in this same location. My time there was brief and my main task this time was to present the "Founder's Award" at the Design Competition awards presentation. Like in most organizations, I suppose, in CGOA when you offer constructive criticism, you are given a job! I have a concern that the history of CGOA is sometimes forgotten and new members often think that this wonderful convergence of extreme crochet talent just happened magically. Or, they don't think at all and just take for granted all the hard work, sweat and tears that went into it since 1994. When I approached Doris Chan, Chair of the Design Competition, about being a sponsor of the Design Contest, SHE suggested that we call it the "Founder...