Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

September 23, 2014 Sharon Hernes Silverman is the consumate professional; she sets the bar high for all of us! She is efficient, does what she says she's going to do with deadlines she has agreed to. She is confident in her knowledge and expertise and precisely shares with others. A designer, author, and instructor based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, she is a professional member of the Crochet Guild of America and a design member of The National NeedleArts Association. You can find her at website , Ravelry ,  Facebook and Pinterest . Read what she has to say about her love of Tunisian crochet here in tandem with my blog today in which I review her seventh book, Tunisian Crochet for Baby . Sharon Hernes Silverman Gwen: Share with us a bit of Tunisian crochet history. SHS: “The craft known as “Tunisian crochet” has been around for centuries, although the exact time and location of its origin is unclear. It is also known as afghan stitch, shepherd’s knitting, an...

August 28, 2014 Ed. Note: Mary Rhodes, has been a long-time member and supporter of CGOA. It was great to see her again at the Chain Link Crochet Conference in Manchester, New Hampshire. Throughout the ups and downs that naturally occur in life, she has researched and experimented with crochet and at the same time has found comfort in many aspects along the way. I can certainly relate to her concept of "quiet comfort." Like Mary, I don't wear my crochet to be flashy or trendy. I wear it because it envelopes me in comfort as well as pride in the making. Mary "whispers" and yet shares so much! Gwen & Mary at the Stitchwhisper booth at the 2014 Knit & Crochet Show The Stichwhisper speaks out: "The range of crochet creativity on display at the Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester, NH, in July was awe-inspiring.  With CGOA, Gwen gave a gift to all of us by bringing together a focus on the creativity and nurturing that is so much a part of wh...

August 7, 2014 Part 2: Teaching Adults by Deborah Burger Deb is the author of Crochet 101 , a book of crochet instruction for adults, and How to Make 100 Crochet Appliques , an intermediate to experienced level pattern collection.  Her newest book, The Creative Kids' Photo Guide to Crochet , will be released in the spring of 2015.  Like the previous two, it will be available at larger craftstores, in bookstores, and online at amazon.com and bn.com. You can find her in Ravelry , and on her website . Teaching adults to crochet is different in some ways than teaching children as neurological and muscular maturity and function are not usually an issue. Adults tend to be more goal-oriented, with specific ideas of what type item want to learn to make. Adults have longer attention spans, and more ability to wait for the gratification of finishing a project. Adults are usually better at verbalizing their questions and frustrations, than children.  Most adults have an unreali...

July 31 , 2014  As a crochet teacher with 34 years of experience in venues as diverse as park district classes and national crochet/needlework conferences, I feel qualified to say that Deborah Burger brings a vast knowledge of the important and general skills for teaching anything! Her degrees are in English and Theatre, but she spent 10 years teaching in private schools and 22 years homeschooling her own children. Deborah explains, “It's more the experience in teaching, than a formal degree, that has grown the teacher in me. I also think that the wide reading on education that I've done informs my writing. The very best of what's known about how humans actually learn new skills, informs the lessons I write and the projects I design to reinforce the lessons.” Deb is the author of Crochet 101, a book of crochet instruction for adults, and How to Make 100 Crochet Appliques, an intermediate to experienced level pattern collection. Her newest book, The Creative Kids...

Friday, May 16, 2014 I'm happy to introduce my guest blogger for this week, Charles Voth , aka The Stitch Stud . Charles and I are cyber-friends who have never met face-to-face. We connected on Ravelry, not only because of our love of crochet, but also because we are both fluent in Spanish and have lived in various countires in Latin America. I have a great respect for Charles' talents and enjoyed having him as my tech editor for designs I published in the British publication, Inside Crochet.    As we approach the 20th anniversary of CGOA, this type of connection with pure strangers is the most wonderful thing about the guild. The crochet thread tugs us together in a very good way! Charles Voth, aka Stitch Stud   I was wondering during my long drive home from Indianapolis a couple of weekends ago why so many people crochet and knit. I was fortunate to attend the National Needlearts Association’s trade show, where wholesalers of yarn, yarn crafts, and other nee...

Thursday, December 12, 2013 "BEST GUEST POSTS" As promised, Karen Ballard is back as my guest to inform and educate us about attitudes about crochet during the World War II era. If you missed her first article which focused on World War I, you can access it here . Karen Ballard World War II Crocheting with Attitude by Karen Ballard After about 25 years of collecting World War Workbasket Campaign items associated with doing needlework for service personnel, wounded, refugees and patriotic home-front, I have amassed a very large WWII collection. Included are books, magazines, individual patterns, posters, sheet music, postcards, knitting bags; and yes, even a small number of patriotic crocheted items.  While knitting patterns abound, there are extremely few crochet patterns, even fewer than those found for WWI and    I have found no explanation for this. Out of 21 U.S. knitting books containing patterns for service men, only W. Newbold Ely, Pointe...

Tuesday, December 3, 2013 My guest blogger this week, Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter, has graciously offered to share her expertise on the growing use of social media whether for fun or as a professional endeavor. I know you'll take away something useful from this great tutorial! Crafters are using social media to share ideas and find new inspiration more than ever before. With the number of options available - Facebook, Ravelry, Pinterest, and Instagram, just to name a very few, it’s easy to feel intimidated by the never-ending reach of the social media universe, but it’s a crucial component to expanding your audience. Whether you are blogging to make a living by promoting your designs or hand-made wares, or simply want to share your inspiration and connect with fellow fiber fanatics, it’s important to carve out some time to maintain a consistent online presence. If you don’t already have a blog, that’s a great place to start since it allows you to generate unique content w...