Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

I am grateful : -for my health. I have stayed Covid-free all these months by following the science: mask or double mask, glove, isolation. #IwearbecauseIcare -that the new vaccine that is being administered today. I will wait patiently for those most in need to get theirs. -for my Covid pup, Bobby, who is so cute even when he is naughty! Naughty Nice -that my older daughter & family could spend this month in Florida, even though I miss them a lot! -for Zoom so I can keep in touch. Zoom cookie-baking -that "Darth" (Vader), the fish I am pet-sitting, is  still swimming after 3 weeks! -that my younger daughter lives nearby too. We are a small happy family! -that I found mincemeat, after searching 4 stores, for my annual fruitcake gifts! Walmart came through for me, and again today, with rum extract to use for eggnog fudge! Thanks Google! -that our Indianapolis weather has not been so bad. I am still taking daily walks; and it is even better when the sun is shining!  -for my ...

Saturday, May 3, 2014 From the very early days of the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA), I depended on willing volunteers to give of their time and talents. For me, it was also so exciting to findvolunteers with artistic talents willing to work on such things as our first organization logo, the newsletter masthead and crochet-themed notecards! This is our first logo, designed by Brian Muecke, a budding graphic designer and high school friend of my daughter's. It was presented at our Chain Link Conference in 1995 in Somerset, NJ.   Also that year, another volunteer designed a new masthead for the Chain Link newsletter. It has had many incarnations, especially when Carol Moore was the editor and added color. It has, though, essentially remained the same for all these years. During the first conference in 1994 , participants were invited to design afghan squares that depicted their inspirations from that first amazing experience. By 1995 at our 2nd Chain Link Conf...

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 Cute Crochet World: A Little Dictionary of Crochet Critter, Folks, Food & More By Suzann Thompson Cute Crochet World Starting with the intro, readers will get the feeling that Suzann is right beside you to help with whatever crochet needs you have! Frequently crocheters are tempted to jump in and immediately start to crochet, but she pleads with us to pay attention to the “read me first!” section found in bright red letters at the beginning of the book. I’d say it is well worth the minimal amount of time needed to read these thirteen pages. They are chock-full of valuable tips not only for making the motifs in the book, but for a lifetime of future crochet projects as well! Suzann draws her inspiration from her daily life, but often consulted illustrated children’s books or Google images to find out things like “Where exactly do a sea turtle’s flippers attach to its body?”  The resulting motifs show the immense imagination and almos...

Thursday, December 6, 2012 I usually blog on Mondays; where has this week gone? Have you ever been privileged to have a professional photographer us a blanket you have crocheted in a photo? It hit me like a bolt of lightening recently, when my daughter shared pics from a photo shoot she did for her Christmas card. There it was...the blanket I crocheted for her wedding gift. It was draped gracefully around her now precious family of four, some 7 years after I had gifted it. Low beautiful to see the filet hearts draping them in love. (I'm hoping we'll get a set of these gorgeous photos as a gift and then I'll post it here). Meanwhile, it got me to thinking of some other photos I have in which the photographer used blankies I had made. What fun and a lasting legacy of my crochet to which is quite an honor. The crochet is so beautiful as background as well. Try scanning crochet sometime. It makes for beautiful eye-candy and is great for your Facebook Timeline! Jack, ou...

Monday, July 10, 2012 Last week I blogged about my presentation of a slide show at the CGOA crochet conference Design Competition awards ceremony. There is a slide show running here on my blog of the crochet art that has been exhibited by CGOA from 1994-2004 . Today, I want to highlight some of the art in that slide show and give you more details. From day one of the crochet guild I was very determined to showcase crochet art. The very first conference held in Chicago in 1994 had a marvelous juried exhibit and I thank Susan Kenyon for co-chairing my idea with me.I believed that crochet art is the best way to jolt pre-conceived notions of what crochet is. Back then we were battling stereotypes of being grannies who sat around in our rockers making doilies. Eighteen years later, I am closer to being a "granny in a rocker" than I was then! But I still think I am young at heart and crochet art still remains a passion. We've come such a long way and with the advent of...

Monday, April 2, 2012 Wow, it's April already and before I get started on free form crochet, I want to share a couple of pictures of my last couple of days celebrating National Crochet Month in March. My friend, Rita, and I got together to do sparkly things (as she says). She wanted some help with making earrings.Rita is an art therapist and is very creative. She inspired me and best of all, she gave me a sampling of some really iteresting beads she inherited. Yeah! More earrings coming soon! Here's a pair I created that day; they had been in the cue for a while. Earrings I made from Rita's beads