Faux Shearling Throw Revealed

It's a DOUBLE! It's Eco-Ways (or Super Saver) on the top and Light and Lofty on the back! This heavy warm throw is perfect for staying in! Find the FREE pattern here.

Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid is a powdered drink mix. Add water. It comes in little inexpensive paper envelopes in a variety of bright colors and flavors. I don't know if it is available in the UK, but follow the link to their home site and maybe that will help.

Kool Aid Dyeing!

It felt much warmer outside than 80 degrees as we dyed Lorna's Lace Shepherd Worsted 100% Superwash Wool. It started out in Natural. We soaked it in water first. We filled the other bowls with the Kool-Aid packet and very warm tap water. We untwisted the hanks, but left them tied. Above, Chickee has one end in the blue, the other end in the green, in the span between bowls, she used a turkey baster to squirt it with purple.
Decisions, decisions.
Immediately upon putting the yarn in the dye bowls, it soaked up all the dye. When we pulled out the yarn... the water was nearly clear! So we couldn't use that color again, because it was mostly used up! Then we pulled them out, squeezed out the water and lay them out to dry. But then I hung them out on clothes hangers on the deck in the hot sun. It took about 6 hours to dry. We did the dyeing in the morning and by 7pm they were dry!
So we wound them into balls using the yarn swift. It was much easier than I thought. I was worried the hanks had gotten tangled, but it was not an issue at all!
Here's our four dyed hanks turned into balls. Top left is pale blue and pale green. Top right is blue, purple and green. bottom left is purple, pale green and a little red. The bottom right is red and purple mixed together with the leftover blue thrown in. When we found a white spot on it, we filled it in with purple.
And here, by 9pm, Chickee is knitting with it! How Kool is that! (insert groan here). We'll definitely do this fun activity again next summer.

Go visit Marie!

Marie over at Marie's Cozy Corner hosted me on her blog today so that we could introduce ourselves to each others' blog readers. She's got a big following, so go check out my post on her blog and poke around a little.

Giveaway Winner

And, the Giveaway winner from yesterday is.... SURSI! Sursi, if you could please email me at Ellen @ GoCrochet dot com or Ravelry mail me with mailing address I will send out your package! Thanks to everyone who participated. Though TNNA is not open to the general public, Raverly did a great job of covering the spirit of the convention on their site and on a new site called 'Hello TNNA'.

Knit and Crochet Now! I found it!

Here's the link to the Create TV: Public Television schedule. Mine says that on June 27th, in the Eastern time zone my blanket episode (not my interview) but how to make my Diamonds & Squares blanket will be on at 6:00 AM. Play around with it and see if you can find me in your area! I think my interview episode is episode 9 in Season 3.

Here are the kids in their first swim meet of the season (last week). Notice Chief's cast is the same as the Team colors. Go Stingrays!

TNNA goodies and Giveaway

TNNA is not a cash and carry show... You can't buy something and bring it home. It's a show for retailers to order from the manufacturers. So it's rare that I get goodies to bring home. Every year though, some yarn companies manage to squeeze the time together to make mini-hanks like these or sample cards. The folks from Textured yarn company win my vote for best yarn sample this year. It's the purple mini-skein in the Florafil. I don't know how many yards are in it, but it looks like it is enough to get the feel of the yarn. If they didn't have these hanks, I may have not stopped and given it a try.

Anzula yarns (the raspberry sample) in Oasis, they get a shout out because they had these little samples in a variety of styles and colors. Their "squishy" variety was very intriguing but I think the samples of those were gone before I got there.

Bijou Basin Ranch gets a shout out. Not only did they offer a sample of their Gobi yarn, but it came with an envelope so that it wouldn't get snagged in your bag! Very clever! I think the Gobi is available only in LYSs. So ask yours!

The fine people from SOAK were there! I love these little samples. Check out on their website they have "how to use Soak". If you have never washed your finer fiber things, here's information on how to do it!

The Ultimate in Goodie give-aways, though goes to the Boye group. I need to find a better link for you. Really though, you should be able to find all their great products at your LYS or Michaels, JoAnn's etc. Look at these lovely Rosewood hooks and needles! Susan and Michele even graciously let me choose my favorite "I" sized hook. I'm telling you folks their new stuff is fun. They got rid of those awful hard to use stitch markers and got these GREAT new ones! WooHoo! I ripped open that package right after taking the photo. Look at the great new 3 in 1 reference tool. The flat dial helps you match up your hooks and needle sizes with the right yarn. Very clever! The peach tags at the bottom are tags you can write on and hook into your scrap yarn ball so that you know what it is! The red clips there, that I have photographed with the wrong side facing are little tags you can hang all over your crocheted garments while they are under construction so that you don't get confused (I really could have used these recently when I put the back of a toddler sweater on to the body...sideways...) The tags all say something like, "top, bottom, private (side), public (side), sleeve, front, back, etc) LOVE IT.

Send me a comment on this post and I'll put your name in the drawing for the 3 in 1 tool. I'll announce the winner tomorrow, so check back tomorrow. In the post, just make sure you leave some sort of identifying information like first name and city. (Don't leave any private information or links...links get you disqualified!)

TNNA more Day 2

Here's Robyn Chachula! Author of Blueprint Crochet and her latest book, Baby Blueprint Crochet, will be out in November/December.
You know Doris Chan, me, and Vashti Braha as we went for a walk in the fresh air! Oh, you get a sneak peek in this photo... on my shoulder... red, blue, and pale gray...
Of course, you know Doris, the author of Amazing Crochet Lace, and Everyday Crochet, and now Crochet Lace Innovations. Vashti is also a crochet designer. I mentioned her in my previous posts in the Showstoppers posts. She also is an innovator in crochet with her blog, Designing Vashti.

TNNA Day 2

Ok, some of these are Saturday and some are Friday. Above is me with designer Linda Permann. Linda is the Author of Crochet Adorned. She also has a new book coming out soon and I got to see a sneak peek. (You're going to love it!).

Flashback! This was from Friday night. Me, wearing the Whisper Wrap, and Marly! You can't see the light blue crocheted tank top I have on underneath.

Flashback from Friday night. Me with the gorgeous Kristin Omdahl. She's beautiful inside and out! Buy her new book, Crochet So Fine! and her previous book, Wrapped in Crochet.

Kristin also has a knitting book coming out soon, but I don't know the title yet.
From left to right, me, Linda Permann, Kristin Omdahl, Marly Bird, and Simona Merchant-Dest. I'll try to get you a close-up of the lavender Tunisian Vest I am wearing in the photo. We are standing in the Bijou Basin Ranch booth.

What a busy day! Tomorrow I'll try to get you photos of goodies and more famous people.

TNNA Day 1

Want to fit a week's worth of work into 2 or 3 days? That's what TNNA is for me! I'm exhausted but overall it was a great weekend. Friday night I got to meet the terrific people from Bijou Basin Ranch yarn. Here we are at dinner.

On the bottom left is Knitwear designer, Simona Merchant-Dest, next to her is Carl Koop of Bijou Basin Ranch, behind him is the entertaining Darlene, aka "Marly's Mom", on the other side of the table by the wall in the white is Carl's wife, Eileen Koop of Bijou Basin Ranch, in the red is author, designer Kristin Omdahl, I'm next to Kristin. In the front, on my other side is designer Marly Bird, of the Yarn Thing Podcast. Marly is also the creative director for Bijou Basin Ranch.

I had a great conversation with Eileen about their Yaks. They raise the animals on their farm in Colorado. The need for their fur however is greater than what they can produce with their herd. They also buy the fiber from other farmers in the United States but also in Tibet and Nepal. Harvesting the fur from yaks does not harm the animal. I learned that the animals are very self-sufficient. She said about half their herd welcomes a scratch behind the ears and a little attention. The other half is a little nervous of people. All of them respond to the dinner bell. :) Bijou Basin Ranch has recently added colors to their natural fiber selections. Thank you Bijou Basin Ranch for your hospitality and for sponsoring events throughout the weekend!

More on TNNA for the next several days. I will be sharing photos of many great new products that I was gifted. Also, more and more photos and shout-outs for many other names you will recognize and information on yarn companies you may or may not be familiar with.

New Goals!

For the last few weeks I have been having trouble coming up with my goals for TNNA. There are of course the usual goals of meeting people, having fun, paying attention to trends, thanking companies who have contributed yarn to my projects, etc. But this morning, I woke up with 2 goals... one that I absolutely can make happen and the other one that I can work on and it will be a happy bonus if I manage it!

Above are photos from last night's first swim meet of the season. Chief had to get a new cast yesterday anyway so he chose yellow for team colors. Look at the focus and determination! Chickee said that she tried to smile at me during her backstroke. Silly Chickee.

Ok, I gotta run if I want to prepare to succeed on my new goals (nothing like last minute inspiration!). Have a great weekend everyone!

Conference Planning: What I'm doing today

Scrambling. That's what I'm doing! I'm gathering up my list of available design sketches and ideas and putting them in one spot. I want to carry a bunch, but I don't want to load myself down either. Bags get really heavy on the conference show floor.

We have an extremely busy day with Swim team practice and a Dr appt for Chief and the first Swim Meet of the season tonight. I'm trying to stitch another garment in time to wear this weekend. I have a feeling I will be stitching it all weekend while I'm there in hopes to wear it on Sunday? I'm trying to get the house ready for my departure so that DH has it easier while I'm gone. Oh, and Chickee is not feeling well. sigh.

Above is Chief with one of the babies. We have moved them outside now and they seem to love it. They are segregated from the two big chickens because the big ones are mean to the little ones. We need to wait until the babies are big enough to hold their own.

Sneak Peek

Ah, green. Like a breath of fresh air. It's nice to work with green for a change. I wonder why I don't often get to work with green? Today I'm going on a design binge. I'm going to try to design as many great things as possible in one day. It's going to be a challenge but better today than tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be really, really busy.

Conference Planning: What I'm doing today

TNNA is just a few days away. Today I have been adding notes to my folder about which booths I want to make a point to see (along with a contact name and a note to jog my memory...) I'm stitching a sweater I hope to wear to the event! (YAY!) and I have two other items I'd love to get done before then. Today I'm going to print out my driving directions to the hotel (usually the logistics of getting somewhere make me more edge than the relating-to-everyone-once-I'm-there part).

Today, I'm also thinking about what is needed at home while I'm away. Chief needs a b-day present, SIL needs a b-day card, we're doing Father's Day early, etc.

Then, after TNNA its back to some serious stitching to meet deadlines.

Erin wears crochet bib

This is our Niece, Erin, wearing a bib I crocheted for her. Since you all are such animal lovers, I thought I'd include the photo of Henry and Samson (our dog-nephews) waiting for Erin to drop something. I wonder if they like squash?

The bib pattern is a sized-down with smaller yarn version of my Pocket Bib (Lime)

After finishing the book, I spent the weekend relaxing and completing a small project to ship this morning and working on a project that I hope to wear to TNNA this weekend. (for ME!)

The book. Break out the milkshakes!

THE BOOK IS DONE!!!! (yes, I know there are still edits and photoshoots and stuff to do, but...) THE BOOK IS DONE!!!!

How do I write a crochet/knit book?

Let me start by saying that when I stayed home with the kids when they were first born, I had grand ideas of writing children's books. They only have 50 words in them, so how hard can it be? Right? Wrong. It, like most things, is difficult, but looks easy when done well.

Every week someone asks me how they too can write a crochet/knit book. I have been working hard in this profession since 2004 and just now getting to that point. I have many, many friends who have been publishing their work in magazines and leaflets for years and do not have a book (and they may not have wanted to do one). On the other hand, a few people appear to burst onto the scene with a book deal never having written or published a pattern ever (but I can't think of any...). But really, a publisher is taking a calculated financial risk and investment when taking on an author and they are looking for someone who demonstrates a track record that may (it's an educated guess they make) may indicate financial success for everyone involved.

Specifically...

Your first steps are to join the Crochet Guild of America, and apply for professional membership and request a mentor. I would assume that someone applying for professional membership has already done some research, written some patterns, had them tested by friends at the minimum and probably even submitted several to publishers. The mentor is a volunteer, who is in essence helping others to compete with them in the same field. (Be nice to your mentor). To write a book, it would be good to get a copy of the Writer's Market guide and learn about how publishing works. You won't know if you can trust a publisher, it's really hard to find people who will share that information but you can see authors you respect and who their books are written with and if they stayed with the same publisher through multiple books. You could consider getting an agent. Other authors have them and love it. I do not have an agent. Is anyone out there a literary agent?

Above is a close up of one of the deer babies, because they were just so cute I couldn't resist.

Sweet thing

Look at this little sweetie! Our neighbor, Maureen, called us yesterday with news of this baby and his sibling's arrival the day before. Nested in two different locations in their backyard, the babies were curled up so sweetly that you could almost walk right by the one without even noticing him. They were much smaller than I expected them to be. He looked about the size of Charlie! We also saw several interesting birds, horses, etc, but the two baby deer were definitely the highlight. Chief and Chickee promptly found 3 four-leaf clovers and left them next to the babies for good luck (and one for Maureen as a 'thank you' gift). Maureen said that the mother deer hovers nearby in the edge of the woods and comes out when it's 'safe'.

Update

I'm just writing a quick note to let you know that I don't have time to write today. Today was the last (half-day) day of school. We went on a little field trip to a neighbor's house and they had various furry and sweet creatures in their back yard. I'm going to post photos. Let's just say that they were not domestic animals but I so wanted to pick them up and give them a cuddle.

Trying to get the book out the door by Friday, Saturday at the latest.

Wish me luck.

All our Chicks are growing up...

This week, I have been working to finish the book. I have a few other projects that are in progress too. I keep each project and it's tools and notes in it's on separate project bag so that I can just grab one and go and have everything I need.

This past week, Chickee turned 9. She decorated her cake on her own! We're so proud of her.

And all our babies are getting their big chicken feathers. We let them outside for a few hours each day in a pen. It's definitely been warm enough!
The big coop is almost done, but in the meantime, the 2 big chickens that are left get to hang out in the yard (with supervision). No more free lunch for the fox.