Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

Sunday, March 31, 2013 Blessings to those of you who observe Easter and Passover! Do you love to crochet? Can’t get enough? Do you say, “Just one more row?” even though your eyes are bleary and it’s way past your bedtime? I hope you have shouted about your love of crochet from the rooftops this month during the annual National Crochet Month.   I am the founder of The Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) www.crochet.org , a Past President and a Professional member. I have just celebrated five years of blogging and am delighted to have been invited by Amy & Donna over at Crochetville www.crochetville.com to participate in this blog tour to celebrate!   CGOA started National Crochet Week back in 1998 as a promotional effort to celebrate our beloved craft and to let others know about the guild.  Its popularity has grown exponentially. It is now a whole month long and we call it National Crochet Month . Now many other associated groups have jumped on

The media frequently highlights crochet fashion on the runway, in magazine ads and in articles where celebrities strut their style in crochet. Over the years, journalists and writers have gotten better about labeling crochet 'crochet" instead of knitting. Be sure to check bag often and look at the "Crochet Sightings" tab  at the top of my blog for crochet sightings as they happen. 2013 has already gotten off to a good start. Here's look at my favorite crochet-sightings of 2012. DECEMBER Jessica Chastain in Crochet-look  top Marie Clair magazine Dolce & Gabbana-Marie Claire magazine Irish Crochet flowers we're so familiar with used on a straw bag: $4,245! Oscar de la Renta inspired by doilies Marc Jacobs-Vogue The same shawl in a different ad and different staging of the familiarly not-so-attractive models! Valentino Haute Couture Price upon request OCTOBER Marc JacobsThe not-so attractive " waif" look, but highly art

Monday, March 25, 2013 Of all places, the body shop, to find a "crochet sighting!" But yes, it happened this morning when I took the car in to get an estimate on some repairs. There, in UsStyle magazine, April 2013, was an ad for Tampax : "You stand out. Your period doesn't." Turns out it is really knitting on the bold and beautiful bicycle pictured in the ad, but hey so many people don't even know the difference. I love the skeins of yarn lying about and all the strings hanging plus the bold colors that draw attention to the yarn crafts.Yarn bomber, Jessie  must be quite smitten that she was featured in this ad. You go, girl! I had a burst of inspiration last night and made some good progress on my creation for the "Hide Your Heart" CAL on my Ravelry page: CroKween Designs: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/cro-kween-designs/2457733/76-100 It was our February CAL, but hey better late than never. I have one more color and texture t

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 My long-awaited Gwyneth Cable Cowl pattern is now available in my Ravelry store: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gwyneth-cable-cowl I love the Gwyneth Cable and have used it on a miser purse design as well which appeared in Inside Crochet, the British publication:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/miser-purse Daughter, Bethany, is my best model! A month ago, I finished a new creation in which I brought the outside in. I was keeping it a secret because I had planned to enter it in the 2013 CGOA Design Contest. However, I've just learned that the contest will be held in Reno and I won't be attending. The design is too fragile to mail, so I'm revealing it here! I've been working on some projects with a lot of detail and a lot of steps, so I haven't brought anything to completion this week. As is usually my style, I will probably see several to completion all in one week sometime soon! We are off to baby

Monday, March 11, 2013 I told you in my post of 2/28-The Deed is Done-about winning the 2012 prize at Bead Crochet Exchange over at Ravelry. Well, my wonderful gifts arrived and here they are. I have also downloaded my 10 pattern gifts and can't wait to go on Thursday to a bead store having a 30% off sale!  Yippee! It's amazing how just changing the texture and size of the beads can create such elegance! This is both a necklace & a bracelet! Thank you KnotChaCha http://www.ravelry.com/people/KnotChaCha and anewyarn123!  http://www.ravelry.com/people/anewyarn123 I made these simple bracelets this past week. They are very plain, but so comfortable to wear. I am going to make one from my new patterns to enhance the blue one. I love wearing 2 or 3 bracelets at once! Love these beads. It is prettier than it looks in the photo. Plain Jane but comfy! I've been working super hard this past week getting ready for the Crochet Country Tour here on the blo

Tuesday, March 5, 2012 Every other Thursday I walk with dear friends, Debbie and Rita, in the Forest Preserve. Yes, I live in Chicagoland but we are privileged to have acreage set aside for recreation and land preservation with wonderful walk/bike paths.  Here we are last week between snow storms. The paths were not plowed because they leave them for the snow shoe/skiers. It was rough walking and great exercise for the legs! As we started we saw a larger herd of elk than usual. They are so interesting As predicted, we are enjoying a huge snow storm with 6 to 10 inches expected. Is it the last storm of March, or knowing Chicago, just the next. I love a snow day; it's like a freeby from responsibility and it brings thoughts of a warm fire crackling, a pot of soup on the stove and warm slippers. I'm spending today enjoying what I have to get done and  not feeling pressured. Speaking of soup, one of the projects I've been working on is my new display for Croch