Crochet Queen: Royal Ramblings

Monday, August 29, 2011 Most people who talk about having to work the weekend conclude a huge groooan! Not me, no complaints! Lucky me, in my work this weekend I was surrounded by crocheters, eager crochet students, yarn, hooks and patterns plus lots of inspiration that will sustain me for months to come! You guessed it, I am talking about the Stitches Midwest event sponsored by XRX and held in Schaumburg from Thursday to Sunday. I taught 4 crochet classes in the Market Sessions Irish Crochet on Steroids! Basic Bead-Crochet Scissor Fob No-Rules Crochet: Freeform Method The Posh Post Stitch In honor of the crochet classes being offered, I yarn-bombed a rock in my local park on Tuesday before it all got started to celebrate! Yarn bombing beautifies our environment rather than destroying it! I was among a small but esteemed group of crochet teachers offering classes: Edie Eckman and Ginger Smith. Boy, was I impressed by my students! They were enthus...

Friday August 19, 2011 I find it extremely rewarding to begin the "hunting and gathering" process when I ready to begin a new pattern or design. It begins with the most important part: considering the required gauge of the project/yarn. Then, I begin to decide color and that narrows the search to a reasonable degree. From there it involves pawing through the various recptacles where I store my yarn. My yarn is confined to one room, except for that which is in the trunk of my car! Now, now before you jump to conclusions, in my trunk is my car is my traveling stash for my weekly teaching sessions. It is not yarn I would call on for any special projects. Oh yeah, and there is the yarn in the basement, but that is of the rug yarn variety, practically impervious to weather, sun and rain, that I use for yarn bombing. I store the majority of my yarn in creative ways, interesting baskets and wooden receptables. From there I have hanging storage units and even some plastic bins ...

Tuesday August 9, 2011 There's a yarn shop somewhere called "The Amazing Needle" and there is a crochet tool by the same name. IHere, I focus on that delicate little piece of steel used for sewing! While finishing up my Chapter Challenge embellishment last week, I spent quite a bit of time sewing. As my needle poked in and out, securing necessary parts at necessary points, I pondered the usefulness of this little tool that is so simple yet so handy. Its sparkle makes me happy and I enjoy the rhythm as I whip stitch things securely into place. The needle with exactly matching thread can work miracles when repairing old lace too! My mother was an expert seamstress with the machine, but I never measured up in that department. I do think I weild a needle pretty well, though, and I am proud of how my simple little needle influences my crochet work to go places that it couldn't go on its own! For now, I must keep my Chapter Challenge piece a secret, but when I un...

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 We've just welcomed our second grandchild, a boy, into the world and I spent the last ten days helping out new mommy and "big sister" who is twenty months old! Hi...My name is Jack! Big Sis: Chloe So, on July 22 we headed off for Indianapolis soon after Nicole checked into the hospital. It was her due date and she was ready! I had packed a shopping bag full of random crochet projects. My new mantra is to work only on original designs that come out of my head and to stop wasting time making cute things by following patterns. Trouble is, the creative, DIY segment of my head gets a little nervous and I always feel like I need a back-up plan/pattern if something goes awry with my original design. Nothing worse than being stuck in the car with no crochet as distraction! My mind also thinks that it is more difficult to "do my own thing." and I tend to procrastinate. Once I start, usually after an idea pops in the shower, I re...

Monday, July 18, 2011 Ya know how sometimes a word whose complete meaning you're not sure of pops into your head just when you need to use it? I knew "bliss" was the right choice for today's post, but had to look it up just to be sure before sending this message out into cyber-space! "Complete happiness, paradise, heaven": Yep these words fit the bill and describe what my crochet means to me. Most days crochet engages me in conversations with others. Today while being tested for allergies, I was asked what my job is. Designer/author; it led to conversation about patience, beauty bedspreads in fine thread and my favorite thing to crochet. I told the nurse that crochet art and covering rocks in crochet pique my interest. When I told her that I also covered a frying pan in wire crochet, her reaction was less surprise and more awe that I would have the patience for such things! "Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire!" She also asked if ...

Monday, July 11, 2011 Who knew that a warm fuzzy feeling about crochet is possible on trip to Home Depot! A chat with Tanya McGuire at Midwest Folk & Fiber Art Fair led to warm fuzzy feelings in her glorious flameworked beads booth! But that's to be expected at such a place! She and I talked about her upcoming booth at Stitches Midwest and I admired one of her crocheted bracelets. All well and good; what does this have to do with Home Depot? Tanya's bracelet requires plastic tubing and dear hubby didn't have the right size in his garage storage bins! So, off I went to the Depot to find just the right tubing. The young and handsome clerk that showed me the various sizes of tubing ask what I was going to do with it. I told him I was making a bracelet and covering the tubing with crochet. His first comment was to ask if I had seen the story on CNN about yarn grafitti. When I told him that I do that myself, he was impressed. I told him about the lion's tail I c...

Friday, July 1, 2011 It is always a little intimidating to get back to blogging after letting it lapse like I have for the last 3 weeks or so. This relaxing holiday weekend seems like the right time to sit down, contemplate these past weeks and write about the "state of things" (crochet) With crocheting, with volunteering, with most anything we like to do, we often say "real life" (RL) gets in the way. I've always refused to let anything get in the way of my crochet, because even if if I was in the hospital, I think I would find a way to be able to crochet some. For sure in doctor's offices, baseball fields, in the dark on a car ride, etc, etc, I CAN CROCHET! Some may think that R L has gotten in my way these last few weeks. Well, yes it has, but I have not stopped crocheting. Crocheting sustains me; crocheting allows me to drift away for short periods of relaxation. My husband has a degenerative disease which is affecting his ability to talk. It is a...