Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

I woke up this morning "thinking"! November is a hard month for me, full of so many celebrations: Chloe's 10th birthday; my wedding anniversary; and Thanksgiving. I'm not alone with all of my family here to share these celebrations; yet I am alone. I am grateful that we have now moved into December, a busy and creative time. It has been 3 1/2 years since Alan's death. I held his hand as he took his last breath. I have started a new chapter of my life; and  I am proud of myself for the progress I have made. It does take time to adjust, though. Anyone who has had a loss may feel grieving is like "carrying a stone in your pocket. One always feels it; sometimes barely noticeable, other times if turning slightly, it may feel painful. You rub the pain and keep going. Few know about your stone or realized it can still bring this much pain. There are days now that I feel happy and slap my leg with laughter. Feeling the stone, t still hurts and I wonder if I sho...

As you have probably noticed, I regularly post to my blog on Tuesday. Hearing the news today that Marinke, aka Wink , succumbed to suicide last Friday, I feel compelled to post today in the hopes that reading this will underscore the great support from the crochet community that we all know and understand. Wink was featured in Kathryn's book, Crochet Saved My Life , which I reviewed in 2012. Depression was a long and difficult battle for Wink and her creative endeavors greatly comforted her and motivated her to reach out to other crafters through her blog, A Creative Being .  This time unfortunately, being creative and reaching out was not enough. For those of us who so believe in the healthful benefits of crochet and crafting, this is devastating. Seeing her blog which is brightly colored and happy-looking is so sad and ironic when the realization sinks in that she was suffering deeply. My contribution crocheted from Wink's pattern: Spoke Mandala Crocheting one of ...

Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Today it is my honor to feature my wonderful Ravelry Moderator, Loren. March is the anniversary month for my Ravelry Group Croc-Kween Designs and later today we'll be celebrating by going into the chat room to continue to enjoy each other's company. Please join us at 4:00 PM EST. Since Loren has been such a constant supporter in my group since the beginning and is an experienced moderator, I thought it would be interesting to get her perspective on volunteer job: "I am one of the moderators for Cro-Kween Designs group on Ravelry .  I get to play “Jester” to our beloved Kween, Gwen Blakly Kinsler, and keep the “Courtesans” (group members) entertained! I love Ravelry, where I am known as twisted1 . I get to meet people from all over the world who share my interests; and I am so inspired by the limitless creativity running throughout this crochet & knit community. I like being able to catalog my projects, and I am happy to have a place...

Tuesday, August 3, 2013 I first “met” Jude Butterworth on the Internet via Ravelry when I admired and bought one of her gorgeous shawl patterns. Since that time she has been an active and very creative participant in my Ravelry Fan group, Cro-Kween Designs .  I admire Jude's beautiful free-form and other crochet work. From Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, she is one busy and talented lady. I asked her to share some of her insights on alternative materials for use in crochet. Alternative Materials: A Practical Guide by Jude Butterworth When I was a university student, I had very little money and used what little I did have for food and shelter.  During that time I had such a strong urge to crochet that I had to get inventive.  Whether by necessity, curiosity, or the desire to recycle detritus that would otherwise end up in a landfill, many crocheters are experimenting with materials that diverge from traditional yarns often found in the crocheter’s basket. As...