Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

Thursday, February 28, 2011 The manuscript for my long-awaited book, the Fine Art of Crochet - Innovative Works from 20 Contemporary Artists , was submitted to the publisher today! It is an exhilarating feeling to have it be finally on the path to publication. I expect it to be done by June 2013 and I hope to be doing some book signings at that time. The book contains interviews of 20 of the most intriguing artists I could find with lavish photographs of their work. You'll have to wait until the book is finally published to find out who is inside! I am developing a website that will be dedicated to the book and also to the art of crochet in general. To follow my book's  progress, check gwenblakleykinsler.weebly.com Tomorrow starts the month-long celebration of crochet: National Crochet Month sponsored by the Crochet Guild of America. Back in 1999, Pam Oddi and I thought it would be great to have a week of celebration to bring attention to crochet and to the guild. It has...

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...