An interview

Have you ever wondered, "What is Chickee's real name?" It's revealed and more in this article for the RedHeart.com newsletter. Here is the link. Happy Friday everyone!

Baby Grannies

Here's another place to get my Baby Grannies pattern. It was spotted in this booklet published by Coats & Clark. It first appeared in an issue of Crochet Today.

Today is a marathon day of crocheting including a race against the clock! Wish me luck.

This is me, today....

Well, actually, a few days ago... but I'm still in that same spot, still crocheting.

Amore baby cardigan revealed

Also in a Coats & Clark booklet. I'm guessing that the booklet will be available here at some point.

Asymmetrical Waves Revealed!

Now, in the Coats & Clark booklet Ripple Effect: 13 contemporary knit and crochet ripple throws, my Asymetrical Waves throw in Red Heart Soft yarn. I imagine it will be available on this page eventually, but I don't see it there this morning.

Instead of Twittering....

Maybe I should just Tweet here on my blog? Anyway, if I were to Tweet right now, I'd say:

My microwave is so clean right now, I want to leave the door open so I can look at it all day.

Is that less than 140 characters? LOL.

Reveals!

At least 2 reveals are coming this week! It feels like it has been a long time!

If I ever get back to knitting....

I think this might be a pattern I can see myself trying... really big needles, not much shaping... I might actually be able to do this one.... check it out, Cinnamon, designed by Sarah Hatton

Or maybe this one, although the yarn isn't fat, so it could take considerably longer.... Sleeveless V-neck pullover...

Although, I still am smitten with Stefanie Japel's sleeveless turtleneck from Fitted Knits ... and I already own the book...although it is probably way beyond my skill level.

Doris Chan's Killer Brownies

yum. I made Doris' legendary brownies. Here's a photo of Chief about to dive into them. Did I say, 'yum' already? Here's the link to her free recipe. Just ignore all that nonsense about how it only serves one (if you're Ellen). Because, I have been known to share...when I'm in a good mood, which I was when I made these brownies.

Jonas Brothers concert

Here's Chickee and Captain at the Jonas Brother's concert last Sunday. Chickee came home with all (and I mean ALL) the details. They had a great time. Also, the kids had a great first day of school yesterday and I got a good amount of work done! Happy, happy. This is going to work out great!

First Day....

of work in earnest! Today is the first day of school. Chief is now in 1st grade and Chickee in 3rd. Last year, Chief was in half-day kindergarten, so this year is the first year they are both gone ALL DAY. If I wasn't so busy, I could be sad about my babies growing up so fast. As it is, I'm excited about making major progress on my book and other deadlines. Look how foggy it was this morning! I brought my flashlight out to help the bus driver see us better. Chief was having a few goldfish.

lucky Chief and book progress

Chief with the newest of his 30 or so 4-leaf clovers of the summer. I just shipped off the first box of many to the publisher! WooHoo! It's really going to happen. It's starting to feel real. At least 12 more boxes to go! Haley asked, 'how many book sneak peeks are we going to see?' I don't know Haley, somewhere between 10 and 60. Lol.

Balance

What a balancing act! I'm still struggling to achieve balance. Taking care of the kids has to be the number 1 priority. Everything after that is a jumble. The house, projects, the book... figuring out what to do when is really hard. What can wait? What can't? Show me a person with a spotless house and I'll show you a woman who's house is her hobby. I'm so blessed to be busy! Today, I am surrounded by project bags that include: at least 3 accessories and at least 3 blankets and more than 50 swatches of various things. Crossing things off my to-do list one at a time. That's all I can do. It's good enough. I used to think I was a perfectionist, now I know that I'm more of a "do my best" kinda gal.

CGOA blog

The CGOA has a blog! Here it is! Go check it out. Also, you can now follow CGOA on Twitter!

Chickee knits

I taught Chickee to knit about a year ago. She has taken to it much more easily than crochet. However, I taught her to crochet at 5. Now she is much older, has better dexterity and she seems to enjoy it more. She only knows the knit stitch. She is making a garter stitch scarf. She occasionally increases a st on accident. I'm not sure how to help her stop doing this, so instead I taught her how to k2tog so she can compensate, but it doesn't really prevent her from adding stitches. I'm really proud of her commitment to the scarf, she has about 10" now. Charlie likes that seat on the couch most of all, so he was willing to share it with her rather than not get to sit there at all. I think he was asking her, "when are you going to get up?"

Crochet Rocks!

Chief and I share a love of pretty rocks. I don't know why they charm me, but I really like them. These are a handful that Chief bought at the Lexington Children's Museum. At Dollywood there was a huge variety of pretty rocks for sale ranging in price from $.30 to $400. or more. There is something timeless and steady about rocks, even these delightfully frivolous polished ones. Do you like rocks too? Margaret Oomen has a pattern for "Lacy River Rocks" in the new issue of Crochet Today. In the past, I have also seen Gwen Blakely Kinsler dapple in the practice of crocheting adornments for rocks. Here's Gwen's Ravelry page for her Mossy Zen Rock Garden, which was published in Kooky Crochet in 2007.

I have a T-shirt that is black with white script and it says, "Crochet Rocks". Some might say, "Why would you crochet a rock?" Apparently Gwen and Margaret would say, "why not?".

Crochet Rocks!

Mistakes new designers make

I might lose some followers after today's post. I have noticed some things that new designers do (that I have observed over the past year) that shoots herself in the foot and hinders her reputation in the field. I'm not singling anyone out, matter of fact I have seen these mistakes by more than one new designer.

The moment you say that you are designing your own creations, when people read your blog or visit your facebook or flikr, people will assume that all images you show are your designs. Therefor, if you make a crocheted project from someone else's design, please give credit to the designer so that it does not appear that you are claiming the design as your own.

Also, if you use a photograph that you did not take, you should give credit or a link to who it belongs to. Photos are copyrighted too, although, I admit, in this internet world, people can steal photos easily and it may not feel like a big deal, but if you want others to respect your creative work, then you need to have a habit of respecting others' creative work. Editors will recognize their publication's photographs when they stumble upon them.

Ok, the last one. If you attend either a free or for fee crochet or knitting class. The instructor may hand out notes as part of the class. Usually somewhere on the notes will be a note about the instructor's copyright. Please do not distribute the teacher's notes to others. The teacher makes her income on the classes. If it is a free class, the teacher is still building upon her reputation on the class, which adds to her income. If a person who is not at the class, reads the notes, becomes confused and is unable to benefit from the teacher's explanation on the topic, the reader may have an unfavorable opinion of the teacher. Even if the teacher is offering the class for free, she may decide to offer the class for a fee later, or if others get the notes, they may decide not to take her class in the future. They already have the information, right?

Thank you for letting me vent. I admit, I'm not really "up" for a debate on this issue. I will publish your dissenting opinions as comments (if stated politely) but I'm not going to argue.

End Weaving and Sneak Peek

Hi All, Here is a rather dramatic photo of the back side of a project where you can see the end woven in. I use a Chibi yarn needle, I weave the needle through the bottom of some stitches in one direction, I then, thread the needle and pull the end through. Then I repeat this by bringing the tail up a round (I could have just as easily gone down a round) and weaving the needle in the opposite direction. Then I cut the leftover yarn. This takes about 3" of tail. Generally, it is always best to weave the yarn end into the same color. But sometimes it is not possible. I could have woven the blue end through the chs of the blue round, but I was afraid of how that might make it more bulky. When weaving it through a different color, it is important that you then flip it over and make sure that it doesn't show on the front side of the project. This could have been done a little more discreetly by weaving it through the first and second round of yellow. here I have it through the 2nd and third round or so.

Notice I put a link to my "Gallery" on the right side bar.

Book Progress

Today, I'm doing the first draft of the Introduction... da da da dum.... (dramatic music). My heart's beating really fast. I'm either excited or I've had too much caffeine in the form of chocolate. Cookies for breakfast can't be any worse than a dough-nut, right? Don't worry, I made eggs and toast for the kids.

Book progress

Today, drum roll please.... I am writing the Table of Contents.