Premiere Issue: DIY Holiday ~ The Crafting Life

Three lucky winners can enter for a chance to win a copy of the brand new, DIY Holiday. Add your email on my blog where it says “follow” and email me a note that you did so. US addresses only, please, by December 1 at midnight. Good luck!

I don’t usually expect to find consistent pattern quality in a magazine that is stretched in as many directions as this Premiere Issue published by Interweave/F + W. However, the editors, Amber Eden and Karin Strom, have proven me wrong! Included are 25+ hand-crafted projects for the holidays and you will find familiar names among the designers across many genres: crochet (4 projects); Knitting (4); Quilting (4); Modern Sewing (4); Needlework (2); Jewelry (4); Mixed Media (3); and Weaving (2).

Shisha Ornaments by Susan Haynes Opdahl

Designated “Cool Crafts on the Cheap,” several projects were also chosen in mind for cost conscience crafters. DIY Holiday has everything one needs to take on a new craft, including downloadable patterns, helpful PDFs, and a bonus tree skirt project. An array of sophisticated (but not necessarily difficult) projects encourages the reader to dabble in other creative avenues and to explore a new skill.

Pine Trees by Yumiko Alexander

Perfect for Holiday gift-giving, you will also find yourself referring to this issue over and over because the designs will carry you not only through the holidays but will inspire during the entire calendar year. Included among many are these two unique designs: mittens made from a sweater and a pillow based on the mathematical constant “pi” which you can finish in time to Celebrate Mathematics on March 14!

Envelope Clutch by Erin Harris & Pi Pillow Malka Dubrawsky

Colorful and creatively designed, this magazine has a wealth of information; and be sure to note the advertisements to be in the know about the latest and greatest in the world of creative arts!

Available from the good folks at Interweave/F+W, DIY Holiday 2014: The Crafting Life is available for $9.99.

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CGOA Celebrates 20 Years ~ Part 3: Juried Crochet Art Exhibits

Saturday, March 29, 2014

In August 1994, I hosted 90 avid crocheters for a weekend conference at De Paul University in Chicago that included classes taught by Bill Elmore, Joan Davis, Arlene Mintzer and more; a Keynote Address by Sylvia Landman (Crafting for Dollars); a lecture by Annie Potter; marketplace, meals together, door prizes a plenty. An optional tour of Lake Michigan on the Spirit of Chicago was offered along with an optional post conference workshop with Pauline Turner. The most ambitious of all during the weekend was the Juried Exhibit of Crochet Art.
At the time, I firmly believed that crochet art was an amazing way to educate people about the vast possibilities of crochet. It is amazing to see what can be achieved with just a hook and flexible lines from many, many materials. Today I still hold the same belief: crochet is as varied as the crocheter who does it. Crochet art, however, moves and amazes even the most seasoned professionals when they see how artists apply t…

Wartime Crochet With Attitude, Part I

Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Karen Ballard and I have a mutual love of free form crochet. We met for the first time in a class taught by Prudence Mapstone of Australia at the Chain Link Crochet Conference 2011. I admire Karen's vast knowledge of needle work history and am grateful for her willingness to share with us as my guest blogger this week.
World War 1 Attitudes About Crochet by Karen Ballard
In 2008, I coined that term, "Workbasket Campaigns" to describe the organized efforts during World War I (WWI) and World War II (WWII) coordinated through the American Red Cross {ARC} and the Navy League to create needle crafted items. These items were mostly knitted but also sewn, quilted, and crocheted for, or in support of, the military, wounded, allies, refugees, and the patriotic home-front. This effort was a significant: contribution of enormous numbers of needed items to those in war-torn areas and of improved morale for those on the home-front.
As a crocheter, I real…

Craft vs. Fine Art: How is Crochet Blurring the Lines

I was awakening to the world of crochet in 1972,a time of immense artistic expression through fiber arts; and crochet was not the “ugly stepchild” at the time. In fact, Ferne Cone Gellar who I admire as a successful fiber artist said in “Knitting: The Stepchild of the Fiber Arts?” (Fibercraft Newsletter 1978), “Has knitting been slighted among the areas of the fiber arts? The very word ‘knitting’ evokes images of the little old lady in tennis shoes. Over the years, I’ve learned to ignore all those jokes.” Cone Gellar went on to publish Crazy Crocheting in 1981 and encouraged her readers to create more than bedspreads, providing ideas such as “things to play with or to display on a shelf or hang on a wall.” A photo of single crochet from bread wrappers served as inspiration.

In 1972 in her book, Creating Art from Fibers & Fabrics, Dona Meilach wrote:
“Why are fibers and fabrics becoming increasingly appealing to artists? Most artists agree that because the materials are so varied, t…

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Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

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