Creativity – Page 8 – Mamas2Hands

I Love New York

April 13, 2014April 14, 2014Celebrating, Creativity, Health and Self CareLeave a Comment

Running a little late getting a blog post up this weekend. I was having too much fun traveling last weekend and have spent the time since my return playing catch-up for work. So this post will be a bit longer than usual.

I took a flight into Newark airport Friday April 4th. For whatever mysterious reason, the flight was 2 hours late leaving Denver. Fortunately I was prepared and had plenty of yarn projects along to crochet on, as well as books to read. Including a hat I was working on for my husband.

I was heading out to visit my dear friend Jan, who lives in New Jersey. As part of our weekend we had planned a Sunday trip into NYC to visit the Lion Brand Yarn Studio and the Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya (home of the awesome sauce Japanese Stitch Dictionaries).

Jan had it all figured out for us. We would park her car at the train station near her house and take the NJ Transit to Penn Station, walk to Kinokuniya and meet Mary Beth Temple and my friend Maven there, then have a picnic lunch in the park across the street. Afterward Maven was going to introduce us to the adventure of taking the subway to travel to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, where lots of my NY area friends would be meeting us for some fun time yarn shopping and visiting.

While I was having a delayed flight Jan hurt her foot very badly. Wasn’t broken but it was very swollen and painful to walk on. She managed to pick me up at the airport, but was having real doubts about the advisability of her going into NYC on Sunday. She suggested that I go to NYC without her, but I didn’t want to do that. Afterall, I came out to NJ especially to spend time with her.

Jan and I have a joke from all our adventures together. We hit a snag in something, or I hit a snag in one of my genius ideas, and I say “I have a plan!” or as is sometimes needed it is, “Okay, Plan B (or C, etc…).” So I looked at Jan Friday evening once we were back at her house. “Plan B time”.

First of all we needed to help Jan’s foot. Fortunately I never travel without my Arnica Gel and my homeopathic Arnica tablets. Referencing the first aid formula for injury, R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), I had Jan sit down and elevate her foot while I treated the bruised area with arnica gel then iced and bandaged the foot. We spent the rest of the evening visiting and crocheting, then got Jan tucked up with her foot elevated and newly iced.

By morning her foot was feeling a bit better but it was clear that she shouldn’t be tromping all over NYC on it. So it was time to investigate another way of doing things. I knew that Mary Beth was planning on driving into the city for Sunday, so I sent off a text message to let her know what was happening.

Mary Beth. being the awesome friend she is, said that she would be happy to come get us Sunday and drive us into the city. Of course Jan felt bad because she lives further south than Mary Beth, so it would be a lot of back tracking to come get us and return us home.

Time for a Plan D at this point.

“Mary Beth what is your address?” I put it into my handy-dandy GPS program on my phone (have I mentioned how much I love my phone?). Jan and I look at it and realize it is actually an easy drive for us to go to Mary Beth’s house. “Okay, how about we drive to you and park there? Then you can drive us into the city?”

The activities for Saturday were a trip to see our friend Pam who lives only 20 some minutes away from Jan. First we made a stop at a local Target store though. I needed supplies for a compression bandage for Jan that would fit inside her shoe.

And we needed Chocolate. Ghiradelli’s new Intense Dark line is lovely, especially the Cabernet Matinee squares. I discovered these on our family trip for Spring Break and they are my new favorite chocolate that is easily available commercially.

We had a great time at Pam’s house. Took about 35 minutes to get there because it was a beautiful out and everyone that had a car in New Jersey was on the roadways (okay, probably an exaggeration, but that is what it seemed like). Pam fed us a wonderful lunch then showed us some of the beautiful stuff she has been crocheting lately. She also showed us her gorgeous collection of crochet hooks. The antique steel hooks and their ingenious little cases and such were really amazing. I was having so much fun I didn’t take a single photo. After crocheting together for a while and visiting we headed back to Jan’s house. Fortunately the traffic had improved.

That evening Jan and I spent looking at her hook collection and listening to music while we crocheted and visited. Her foot was feeling better and looking much improved. We were very glad that we weren’t going to be walking all over NYC though, and confirmed with Mary Beth what time we would be arriving at her house the next morning.

The next morning we packed up a lunch and what we would need for the day, then got in the car and drove to Mary Beth’s house. My GPS on my phone was working great and we were on track, though we kept seeing signs saying we were headed for the George Washington Bridge. Jan was getting a bit worried because she knew we didn’t want to cross the bridge. Fortunately all worked out, turned out Mary Beth would be taking the George Washington Bridge into NYC when she drove us in.

MBT Driver Extraordinaire — Mary Beth Temple: NYC Driver Extraordinaire

At Mary Beth’s house we met Cinnamon, the attack angora rabbit. She was very cute, but wasn’t going to let us pet her. We also got to say hello to Mary Beth’s daughter and see her prom dress, then into the car and on our way to NYC.

We drove around in NYC for a bit and Mary Beth pointed out some of the sights to us. I tried to get a picture of the Empire State Building, but wasn’t quick enough. Soon we were at the Kinokuniya bookstore. Mary Beth dropped us off in front of the store and went to find parking for the car. We actually were there a bit before the store opened at 11 a.m. Just across the street was Bryant Park where we were planning to picnic later.

Once we were in the store we headed straight to the section with all the Crochet and Knit books. The next 45 minutes sped by as Jan and I explore the books and tried to narrow our choices down. I was amazed at my self-control.

I ended up choosing only 3 books to purchase, I already have a pretty wonderful assortment of Japanese Stitch dictionaries at home, so that helped me to limit myself. Jan had quite a few that she wanted to get, and since her birthday is next month, I picked one of them to purchase for her as an early birthday gift.

Mary Beth visits the store regularly so she was set for books, but needed to find some stickers for her daughter, she kept wandering back to check on us. Then Maven joined us, she was exercising self-control and wasn’t looking at the books on this visit. Mary Beth showed us the Moleskine graph paper books she had found. She likes to use them for planning designs and likes them in a variety of colors.

So I had to go investigate the options available. They even had the blank page ones I love, and in every size you could ask for. I chose a set of 3 19x25cm books with gray covers. I like to draw on the outside of them. They are the perfect size for when I travel, large enough to sketch in and slim enough to not add a ton of weight or bulk to my luggage.

I had my choices lined up and Jan had hers, it was time to head up to the cashiers to make our purchases. But then I saw these awesome ear buds. I have been needing to replace my old ear buds for my MP3 player, and who could resist these adorable hot pink little owl ear buds. I was going to, but Jan always helps me indulge. And they are so cool when I’m using them, sort of like jewelry.

Next on our agenda was some food. We knew we were going to be tight on time during this visit, so we brought our lunches and planned to have a picnic at Bryant Park. We so lucked out because the weather was amazing. It was warm but not too hot and there was music happening at the park, though we had to chuckle at Mary Beth because some of the music was a bagpipe band (her daughter is a champion Irish Step Dancer).

One of the really neat things at the park was a display of the maquettes from a project in Scotland called “The Kelpies”. They were so graceful and wonderful to see and are only going to be exhibited at the park until April 22, 2014. You can see more about the large installation in Falkirk Scotland and some photos of them in Bryant park at this website.

Maven took a photo of Jan, Mary Beth and I in front of one of the Kelpies. Then it is time to head off to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. I had been wanting to visit this store since it opened. Lion Brand is a sponsor at many of the CGOA events I attend and have been telling us about the shop since it opened.

Finally, we were there! And the display in the front window was the yarn Taj Mahal. We all took some photos of it then headed inside to explore the shop.

I had been telling my friends in the NYC area that I would be at the shop 1p – 3p. We got to the shop about 12:45p and one of the first people we see is my dear CGOA mentee, Jessie Rayot.

Then other friends kept showing up. In the end there were 9 of us. We all had a great time shopping for yarn and goodies at the shop, as well as meeting other yarn enthusiasts. We even saw Lily Chin who was teaching classes upstairs in the classroom that day. She was surprised at seeing all of us as well.

It was really wonderful to see my dear friend Sarah, who moved from Vancouver, WA to Brooklyn, NY last summer. She came to the shop with her daughter and almost 2 year old granddaughter.

Jan and I were having a great time checking out all the yarn and other yarn implements. I managed to find a number of goodies that needed to be adopted. I purchased 3 different color balls of the Martha Stewart glitter ribbon yarn (sparkly) , 2 colors of the Wool Stainless Steel thread cones (more sparkly), and 2 hanks of the amazing bulky wool. I also got some nifty bamboo stitch pins (Jessie thought they would make good shawl pins and I was thinking they look like miniature knitting needles), a set of Hiya Hiya crochet hooks, and a cool South Hampton foldable tote.

I’m very excited about my new set of Hiya Hiya hooks. This set was amazingly affordable for as many hooks as it contains, as well as the beautiful case. The case even has room for tape measure, scissors and needles.

And this really neat tote bag, it folds up such a handy size to travel with. But opens out into a very generous size. It will definitely be joining me on my trips this spring and summer.

As 3pm drew closer everyone prepared to say good-bye. We loaded up in Mary Beth’s car and settled down for the return trip to her house, then Jan and I hit the road for the return drive to her house. I got to drive for most of it as I am trying to get used to driving her car. This July I will be flying out to Newark again and we will be driving up to New Hampshire for the Knit and Crochet Show.

Monday was my last full day visiting Jan. We had an All-day Jammie day, playing with hooks, yarn and our new Japanese books. I also got online and registered for the July Knit and Crochet Show. It’s always more fun picking out classes when Jan and I are plotting together.

Tuesday was a rainy drive to the airport. Fortunately I managed to get thru Newark airport security without too many delays or adventures. I had gotten to the airport with time to spare and was glad for it. While waiting for my flight to board there were 2 other crocheters at the gate, so we had fun talking about yarn and different crochet projects. Once the flight boarded I continued working on the hat for my husband and read my book.

After, what felt like a very long travel day I was back home and ready to crawl into my bed and sleep for about 10 hours. That was about 7 p.m. Colorado time, though my day had begun at 7 a.m. East Coast time (5 a.m. Colorado) so it was understandable that I needed some sleep.

As always it was a wonderful time visiting with Jan and seeing the rest of my yarnie friends. I’ve definitely decided I really enjoyed my NYC adventure and I need to go there again in the not too distant future. It certainly is a city with a lot to offer, though I was continually amazed at how many people there were out and about. And that was on a Sunday, which is basically NYC Lite.

Fair Isle Crochet with Karen Whooley

April 4, 2014April 9, 2014Blog Tour, Classes, Creativity, CrochetLeave a Comment

For those of you that have been following my blog for a while, you have read about Karen Whooley on here before. I was very fortunate when I signed up to become a CGOA Associate Professional (in 2009) that I got Karen as my mentor. It was a somewhat random pairing that turned out to be very fortuitous. We have so much in common and get along great. I graduated from being Karen’s mentee, but she has become a good friend and colleague in the crochet business.

Today I’m pleased to be a part of the blog tour for Karen’s new class with Craftsy.com, Fair Isle Crochet: Demystifying Colorwork. I’ve taken classes with Karen at the Knit & Crochet Show and the Crochet at Cama Retreat. She is an amazing teacher with a comprehensive understanding of her craft and endless kindness and patience in teaching it to others.

And Karen has provided a fabulous gift for you my dear readers, you can use this link: 50% off the fee for the Fair Isle Crochet at Craftsy.com

The wonderful Karen Whooley
photo courtesy of Craftsy.com

I’ll definitely be taking this class at Craftsy myself very soon, but for this blog tour I wanted to interview Karen. It’s always fun to interview my friends in the industry because I learn about aspects of their crochet (or knitting) journey that I hadn’t known before. So without further fanfare, here is my interview with Karen:

When did you learn to crochet and who taught you?

I learned to crochet in 1974! My Italian Grandmother who was way ahead of her time thought my sister and I watched too much TV. I was 7 years old when she put that hook in my hand. In 2 hours I had made a covered coat hanger with the traditional colors of the 70s – greens and golds.

Are you willing to tell us how long you’ve been crocheting? And if Yes, how long has it been?

This summer it will be 40 years! ACK!

How long have you been teaching Crochet?

I’ve been actively teaching crochet since about 1998 or 1999. At first it was with smaller groups in the San Fransisco Bay area, then in 2000 my family moved to Washington state and I started teaching at local shops in 2001. I started teaching on a national level in 2004!

Who were your first students?

My first students were friends in my neighborhood in California. When I got to WA, I took over teaching at a local store called Pacific Fabrics and Crafts from a fellow Guild member and designer who decided to retire. You may have heard her name, Bev Dillon

What inspires you to teach crochet?

I grew up in a teacher’s household. My mom taught 1st grade for 9 years before I was born. Then she returned to teaching (the 3rd grade) once I got to High School. So teaching is in my blood! But I specifically teach Crochet because it is a craft I want to see go on forever!

When I learned to crochet, my grandmother and I were the only two people I knew that crocheted. In 1996, when I became a stay at home mom after the birth of my first child, I discovered the whole world of crochet out there on a Compuserve List-Serve group called Crochet Partners! (Am I dating myself?) But all those years of not knowing many people in the world that crocheted, when I was given the opportunity to teach… I did!

Did your mom give you advice on teaching when you started teaching crochet?

Mom didn’t so much give me tips as much as my watching her in action in the classroom. Though growing up, she did tell me stories about how nervous she was that first year of teaching, not so much with the students but dealing with the parents. She just pushed through and got over the stage fright.

When I was working full-time as a System Support Engineer for a Company that developed Software for Dental Offices, however, I was asked to teach classes to our field personnel on the system. I was put in a class to help me get comfortable with that.

What inspired you to explore Fair Isle techniques in Crochet?

When I was a teenager, I had this beautiful bulky knit fair isle sweater. It just fascinated me. At the time, I didn’t know how to knit, but I was dying to learn so I could make my own sweaters using the Fair Isle motifs. It wasnt until I was 37 when I learned to knit, and then a couple of years later I learned stranded knitting. It was at that point I knew I could replicate fair Isle knitting in crochet! So after lots of trial and error (which I talk about in the class with samples!) I hit upon what I felt was the best replication I could get of Fair Isle stranded Knitting in crochet.

You knit and crochet, do you find Fair Isle easier in crochet or knitting?

Well, honestly it depends. Because I have been crocheting longer than knitting, I find it easier to crochet but knitting isn’t hard. The difference for me is that in knitting I have all those live stitches with the potential of dropping one or more. In crochet that isn’t a factor. Because both charts are the same and are read the same way, either one works for me and depending on the look I am going for, I will swap out one for the other.

I love the hat in the promotional photos for the class, was there a particular inspiration for that design?

Mostly it was that I wanted something that looked like a traditional Fair Isle knit hat. After pouring through Fair Isle motif dictionaries, I put together some of my favorites. I chose traditional greens and greys of the Shetland Islands and there was my hat!

The hat looks like something that would appeal to the teenagers in your house, are there requests being put in for hats from your family?

Funny you should ask. That hat is my 15-year-old daughter’s favorite piece from the class. Teal green is her favorite color. But she doesn’t want me to make it now as summer is coming. Probably for next year!

I know you must be really excited about offering classes thru Craftsy.com, what do you like the best about this style of teaching?

I think what I like the most is that the class is there forever. Students have the class to go back to for help or just to remind them of some part of Fair Isle Crochet they may have forgotten. The Computer geek in me loves the platform. The fact that they can take notes right on the video for themselves is just amazing. And those notes are there for them to access forever too!

I also love the fact that I can reach students all over the world! I don’t have that opportunity with teaching live. Lots of times I’ve gotten emails from potential students telling me that they cannot attend an event because it is just too far or too costly. They want to know if I am ever coming to their area. That isn’t always going to happen, so this way they can actually have me teach them in their living room! Or office, or even on the couch next to them!

Do you have a preference of designing or teaching?

That is a hard question because I love them both. Because of the way I was taught to crochet, by a non-English speaking grandmother, the techie in me loves the challenge of creating something from scratch. But there is something about that light bulb moment students get that gives me great satisfaction. It’s like a visual confirmation that the craft will continue.

Do you dream about crochet? About yarn?

Oh gosh, all the time! Some of my best design concepts come from dreams! Sometimes when a particular pattern is not working out, I get the solution in a dream. I cannot tell you how often that happens. In dreams and on the treadmill walking. Those are my two go to places when I need to work out something in crochet (or knit too!).

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today Karen, I was wondering if you have any final words of encouragement for those that might be intimidated by Fair Isle and this class?

Thanks Andee for having me!

For those of you who may be intimidated by colorwork, this is definitely the class for you! During the class I break down every piece of the pattern, along with having tips in there for you. I have already had students who bought my Fair Isle books, only to be intimidated by all the color changing, send me photos of their swatches from the class. They are excited about how I walked them through the process.

The cool thing about these Craftsy classes is the platform. The “Pause” and “30 second repeat” options allow you to go back and see once again what I just showed you. And you can do that as many times as you need until you get the idea down. You can also ask me a question at any time, and I will be answering! So don’t be afraid to try it! I’m there to help along the way!

Lights, Camera, Action

March 23, 2014May 31, 2014Celebrating, Creativity, Crochet, Humor3 Comments

No, I haven’t gone Hollywood on you. But I am doing quite a bit of video work these days.

As some of you may be aware I am writing the “Technique 1-2-3” articles for “Crochet 1-2-3” now. Issue #11 coming out this May will be my first article in my new role. As part of this assignment I needed to make videos demonstrating the techniques.

I had been wanting to do crochet videos for a long time. But being a recovering perfectionist was getting in my way. Fortunately, the job offer from “Crochet 1-2-3” forced me to finally jump in and give it a try.

At first I thought I would need a fancy digital camcorder, then Kimberly McAlindin (the editor in chief at Crochet 1-2-3) told me that she recorded her videos with her smart phone. Really? That surprised me, and got me wondering how well my smart phone would work.

Last March I had splurged and purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone for my business. I’m still exploring all the bells and whistles on it. I was delighted to discover that I could shoot good quality video with it. I still needed a tripod so that I could use both hands in my demonstrations. I figured the local camera shop in Boulder (Mike’s Camera) would have something that would work.

When I got to the shop I found the types of tripods I was looking for right away. There were loads of ones designed for use with the IPhone. Unfortunately the options for a phone as large as my Note were very limited. With some help from one of the camera specialist though we finally matched a tripod to my phone.

My Smartphone held in the tripod from the back. — My Phone held in the tripod from the back.

I wanted one of these with the bendable legs so that if needed I could grip it around the top of my regular camera tripod. This is the Joby Mpod Mini.

Smartphone in the tripod from the front. — Phone in the tripod from the front.

I really liked how this tripod allowed me to see the screen of my phone without any obstructions.

When I got home I started experimenting with how to get the right angle and distance from my hands for filming. The little tripod was great, but it wasn’t high enough off the table. My regular tripod was too tall for what I wanted. I know, it all sounds a bit Goldilocks.

Then I hit upon sitting the camera on top of a little box, perfect height, but it kept wanting to tip over and was wiggly when I was filming. I needed something sturdier. So I dug out a glass jar, filled it with pennies and decorative glass marbles to give it plenty of weight. Popped the tripod on the top and squeezed the bendable legs tightly around the lid. Unfortunately, when the camera was at the proper angle the little tripod and camera wanted to topple off the top.

Never fear, there is always Duct Tape (and mine is Purple). Taped up the little tripod and suddenly every thing was perfect. Setting up the rest of my “studio” was easy after all the tripod drama.

Currently my filming studio is my dining room table, nice big window to my left lets in loads of natural light and there is room for my backdrop, additional light and the necessary project supplies. Eventually I hope to be filming in my design office or art studio. Who knows it might be both locations, depending on the craft and technique I’m showing.

Check out the Crochet 1-2-3 website in May to see my first videos. For my first foray into the waters of video work I think they came out fairly decent.

Valentines Day

February 13, 2014February 13, 2014Celebrating, Creativity, Crochet, How Tos1 Comment

I’ve been told I have a big heart. I don’t know if that is always true, I do try to be a generous person and to treat folks fairly and kindly. The past couple of years I have posted a number of patterns on my blog of heart motifs. Most of them are small quick projects.

With Valentines Day only a day away, it’s good to have a quick project to crochet up. So I wanted to show you what another blogger, Cintia came up with using my “Crocheted Love” heart pattern.

These adorable baskets. The ones pictured above I made using Premier Yarns Serenity Chunky Weight with a size L (8 mm) hook, and Lion Brands Thick n Quick Super Bulky yarn with a size M (9 mm) hook.

You can find Cintia’s tutorial on making this sweet little basket at her blog My Poppet. Her idea of using a super bulky yarn got me thinking about doing that with some of my other heart patterns.

So I decided to work up 2 hearts using my “Simple Sweetheart” pattern and Lion Brands Thick n Quick Super Bulky yarn with a size M (9mm) hook.

I fastened off the 2nd heart with a long tail and wove in the center tails on both and the ending tail on the first heart. Then used the long tail to sew the 2 hearts together with a running stitch just below the tops of the stitches.

I left the stitches at the top of the hearts un-sewn to make a little pocket. There is a Dove Dark Chocolate heart in there, and would be room for a little note or card as well.

Then I used a length of yarn to make a loop to hang the heart with and knotted it together.

I made the loop just long enough that it can be moved out of the way to insert a candy and/or note. When the loop is pulled up it holds the pocket closed. You can hang it up somewhere for your Valentine to find as a sweet surprise.

I hope all my readers have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, filled with the joy and laughter of loving friendships.

Traditional Irish Motifs meet Modern Crochet

January 17, 2014January 17, 2014Blog Tour, Creativity, Crochet, Give-away7 Comments

I am so pleased to tell you about this new book that my fellow designer and good friend Kathryn White (Kathy) has out from Annie’s Publishing. “The Go-To Book for Irish Crochet Motifs” is a wonderfully informative and well-written book full of pretty much everything you need to know to get started on crocheting and creating lovely Irish Crochet projects.

When I first saw that this book was coming out from Annie’s I was very excited. I love technique books and the cover looked so pretty that I was itching to get my hands on it. A moment later I realized that the book was written by my friend Kathy, which of course made me even more determined to purchase it. So I was thrilled when Kathy asked me to be one of the stops on her blog tour.

My favorite thing about this book is the informative and friendly tone. It is like having a patient friend sitting beside you helping you understand the stitches and how all the motifs go together. Kathy’s voice comes thru very clearly, I’m reminded of our many conversations about thread crochet and the history of Irish crochet.

The book starts out with an excellent overview of all the terms and materials you may need when working on an Irish Crochet project. Then Chapter One introduces you to the stitches and techniques that will help you make the motifs from the patterns in the following chapters. I liked how Kathy has included both the classic padding cord methods and some easier shortcuts for creating the padded look in the motifs.

Being I am a very visual person I appreciated the fact that the book is filled with photographs of the various motifs. My only complaint is that some of the larger motifs are shown too small to really see the stitch detail well. Detailed written instructions help make it all clear though.

Kathy and I met at the Knit and Crochet Show in Greensboro, NC. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time together at that show, but I remember being very impressed with the beautiful crocheted thread jewelry I saw her wearing. A few months later we met again at the Winter TNNA Trade Show and got to know each other better.

One of the things that she and I have in common, besides the joy of crochet, is a love of horses. I grew up around them and rode almost daily from age 8 to 18. Kathy trained horses and taught people to ride for 20 years. She had a boarding and training facility in Washington State, but in 2007 a riding accident left her with injuries that made it too painful to ride. Though she doesn’t ride any longer she looks back on those days fondly. Fortunately she was able to transfer her passion to crochet design (especially good news for all the Threadie crocheters out there).

Kathy is truly an artist with thread crochet. She has won a number of a prizes from the CGOA Design Competition with her thread and yarn projects. Everything from amazing intricate doilies and hand bags to light-as-air lacy shawls. Her designs have been published by Crochet World, Crochet!, Interweave, Red Heart and MainlyCrochet.com. You can see many of her designs on her Ravelry Designer Page.

You can also find her self-published designs on her website like these beautiful fingerless mitts (pictured above) that I was admiring at the Knit & Crochet Show in Reno. I work in thread on occasion, but these mitts completely blew me away. Not only are they beautifully designed, but she worked them in size 80 black tatting thread. My hat is off to her and her amazing eyesight for that crocheting triumph.

Kathy is a bit shy at times, so I thought my readers would enjoy getting to know a bit more about her. The following are her answers to some of my favorite crochet related questions, and a few especially for Kathy’s specialty.

When did you learn to crochet? And who taught you?

I think I was about 10 or 11 when I finally got a chance to learn. The wonderful person who taught me to crochet was my great-aunt on my father’s side. Actually my mother informs me she was a second cousin, but I always knew her as Aunt Haydee so to me she’s an aunt, if only in an honorary position. Whatever relationship she had to me, I bless her every time I pick up my hook for enabling me to do what I so dearly love.

I am the only left-handed person in my family and no one was around that could teach me to crochet. I taught myself to knit, but I just couldn’t make that tiny crochet hook work right. Of course I was trying to teach myself with a size 13 hook and size 30 or 50 thread. Was a threadie before I even got started. When she came to visit one Christmas I saw her crocheting, and realized she was left-handed like me. I begged her to teach me. She gave me some yarn and a G hook and taught me how to chain and single crochet, I took it from there. Wasn’t long and I moved back down to thread, since that is what I really wanted to do. Only now crochet made sense to me.

Has the majority of your crochet work been with thread?

Thread has always been my favorite medium. I love the intricate look you can get with thread. It shows off the stitch definition much better than yarn. And I love seeing what I can do with the stitches. That to me is the ultimate challenge. I can paint a much more intricate picture with my stitches with thread than I can with yarn.

When (if) you work with heavier yarn is it a difficult adjustment for you?

It takes me a bit to adjust. But once I get going I am fine. I don’t like to work with the bulky yarns. There just isn’t enough stitch variety in a piece to hold my interest. You can only do so much when you can only fit so many stitches into a piece.

Have you ever had any trouble with your hands hurting from working with such tiny hooks?

Crocheting has never really bothered my hands. But then I try to take precautions. The only time they ache a bit from crocheting is when I switch over to the larger hooks and yarns. I am not used to the weight and bulk in my hands. I have to remember to take more breaks with yarn. The small hooks have never bothered my hands. But then I don’t grip the hook. it rests in my hand and I move it only as much as needed. No gripping, no tension. no pain.

What do you do to prevent injury to your hands and body when crocheting?

As I said I take precautions to make sure my hands last me as long as possible. I want to crochet forever you know. I take breaks every 15 minutes or so. No marathon crocheting for me. I go check out posts on Face book or do something about the house for 5 min. Then go back to work. Less stress on the hands this way. Have been doing this for years. I have 2 chairs I normally work in. The one at my desk and my TV chair. Both fit me well so I can work comfortably while maintaining a good posture, which I think is very important. I also remember to stretch my hands and body when I take my breaks. It only takes a second and I think it helps immensely. I try to remember the exercises you showed us during Professional Development Day at the Knit & Crochet Show.

You know I still manage to get an incredible amount of crocheting done working this way.

What is your favorite thing about crochet?

I love the fact that with nothing more than a piece of string and hook we can make the most intricate and beautiful pieces of art. It’s literally making something from nothing. I absolutely love watching an idea take shape and substance. I love making my ideas become a reality you can physically touch and visually see. If it inspires a sense of beauty and wonder I am thrilled beyond measure.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Kathy a little better. She is an inspiration to me and I am going to enjoy spending more time with her book. As it says on the back cover of her book, “Kathryn White has taken lovely vintage Irish crochet motifs, as well as her own original designs, and has rewritten them in a way that makes sense to the modern-day crocheter.”

Annie’s Publishing very generously provided me with an extra copy of Kathy’s book to give away to one lucky reader. Because of postage costs, this give-away offer will only be available to readers with a U.S. mailing address. Just leave a comment on this blog post before noon (Mountain Time) January 24, 2014 and I will announce the winner on Saturday, January 25th.

Christmas is Almost Here!

December 19, 2013Celebrating, Creativity, CrochetLeave a Comment

Since my last post the days have gone zipping by.

Had a wonderful trip home to Kansas to visit my family. Lots of good food and cuddles with the little ones. Especially fun was holding my great niece, Ms. L. She was only 3 1/2 months old at the time of our visit and very snuggly.

I made her a blanket and a little hat from Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. Keep an eye out on MainlyCrochet.com this coming Spring as I will have a pattern on there in Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Baby yarn that is based on the same pattern I created for the blanket. Haven’t decided about the hat design yet.

Now Christmas is less than a week away. Yikes! I really am not ready this year. Between all the distractions of dealing with the fall-out from the flood in September it seems that I am further behind than usual. I am not alone though.

Most of my stitchy friends are all scrambling to finish gifts for the holiday. Many of them say they don’t start their gift stitching until Thanksgiving weekend. If you are making small things that can work out. But a few of them are making sweaters. Hopefully they will be finished in time.

I have been so busy with crocheting samples for upcoming designs in 2014 that I have barely had any chance to make gifts. The baby blanket was finished in time for our Thanksgiving trip only because I ordered the yarn in July.

One of my favorite things to crochet for Christmas gifts are snowflakes. Best bit is they are relatively flat, so easy to mail. Unfortunately I don’t think that will be happening this year. I might get a few little snowflakes done to wrap with gift cards.

I have had a few small designs published in the last couple of years. So if you are looking for something quick to finish for the big day these might fit the bill. I know I may be looking into some of these myself for my holiday celebrations.

Little Christmas Wreath - M2H Designs — Little Christmas Wreath – M2H Designs

My little Christmas Wreath is super quick to crochet. It can be an embellishment on a gift or card, even works as a brooch when sewn to a pin back. You can purchase the pattern for this on Ravelry. The pattern has photo tutorials as well as stitch diagrams to make it easy to crochet and complete.

For snowflakes check out my Little Snowflake here on the blog from December 2011. It is only 5 rounds of simple stitches so is very quick to crochet up.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday surrounded with people you love.

Where did Andee Go?

July 25, 2013July 24, 2013Celebrating, CGOA, Chain Link, Creativity, Crochet, Inspiration2 Comments

I know, my blog has been very quiet the last couple of months. It’s been a wild and crazy time. Cloning myself is a fantasy, but one I’ve been thinking would be a lovely solution (my luck the clone would only want to do the fun stuff).

Fortunately, I’m finding my way clear and will be blogging more regularly starting now.

Me speaking at Professional Development Day

I just got back from a wonderful week at the Knit & Crochet Show called Summer Chain Link by many of us CGOA folks. This one was held in Indianapolis. For the first time ever that I was one of the speakers at Professional Development Day.

Of course I had a fun time shopping in the market for fiber goodies. The above is the pile that had to come home with me. I’m really looking forward to playing with the yarn and thread. One of my purchases was a Steamer and another a Jumbo Yarn Winder. Unfortunately I have to be patient as those are being shipped to me.

I took 4 classes during the show and found lots of inspiration in all of them. Keep an eye here as I will be blogging about my them and the results of all that inspiration. Especially my class with the amazing Lily Chin. If you can only take one class when you go to a show I highly recommend that you take one of Lily’s. She always has information packed classes that will fire you up to tackle crochet (or knit) challenges you never thought you would be ready for.

So get ready my dear readers, the last 5 months of 2013 should prove to be exciting and interesting for us both.

Confessions of a Night Owl

April 17, 2013Creativity, Inspiration1 Comment

Sometimes staying up late is hard to resist. It is one of the few times my household is actually quiet.

Everyone besides me is asleep, including the dogs. The only sound is the humming of my computer and the refrigerator and an occassional pop from the wood in the fire. The quiet is so peaceful it is like the world is just breathing.

It’s a great time to get lots of work done. I can write or crochet without any interruptions. Often times I experience a flood of creativity and may spend 2-3 hours madly sketching and noting down design ideas.

It’s been snowing the past 3 days and we have gotten over 2 feet of the cold fluffy stuff. The snow makes the world even quieter. I took these pictures last night because everything looked so calm out the window.

Almost looks like a Christmas scene, which is appropriate, since I spent yesterday working on proposals for Winter magazine issues. Maybe that is why I have a much easier time designing cold season items. It is a bit difficult to be in the mind-set for warm or hot weather living at this altitude.

Most of my readers here in the US are currently experiencing above freezing temperatures or warmer, while my backyard was a balmy 19F at the time of my little photo session last night.

I took another photo this morning before the icicles could get broken. You may not be able to tell, but it was still snowing. As I write this it continues to snow and the temperature has gotten all the way up to 20F.

All this snow is great inspiration for warm and cozy crochet projects like hats, wraps and mittens. Who knows, by the time the rest of the country is back in wintery weather, I may have a few of these inspirations in magazines for the season.

You Can Do It!

March 20, 2013March 20, 2013CGOA, Creativity, Crochet1 Comment

As part of National Crochet Month I thought it would be very appropriate to talk about something very dear to my heart as an active member of the CGOA: The CGOA Design Competition.

Last year was the first year that I played a major role in the Design Competition. Shari White and I were asked by Doris Chan at the 2011 Greensboro, NC show to step in as Co-chairs for 2012 with an eye toward Doris reducing her involvement (or more rightly, maintaining her sanity, Shari and I are still scratching our heads about how much Doris had been doing on her own).

It has been a wonderful experience as well as very educational. One of the things that I have learnt is how hard we can all be on ourselves. Lots of folks seem to be afraid to enter the Design Competition because they feel they can’t compete with professional designers.

Well, I’m here to set the record straight. You can do it! If you want to enter the Design Competition do it. Even if you don’t win your entry will be on display with all the other entries at the Charlotte, NC Knit & Crochet Show this October.

One thing to keep in mind, many of our winners are not professional designers. In fact most of them just love crochet. And even the professionals enjoy entering the competition because it gives them a chance to design something without the limitations that are often in place when designing for publication.

The main point of the Design Competition is to show the public the incredible things that can be made with crochet. And that leaves room for non-professionals to shine right beside professionals.

In some ways the amateurs have an advantage. Most of us full-time professional designers have a pretty crowded schedule as far as crochet time goes. Amateurs can put all their attention on that stellar piece they plan to enter in the competition.

Speaking as a professional I can tell you that we are nothing extra special. I know I put my pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. I may have talent, but that isn’t because I’m a professional designer, that is just the luck of the draw. But talent isn’t everything, determination to see a project thru to completion is most important.

Some of our winners became professionals by entering the Design Competition. Before their first time in the competition they hadn’t sold any designs, maybe hadn’t even thought to try. But entering a piece that was their original work got the attention of an editor or creative director. Heck, some of the folks that became designers because of entering the competition didn’t even win a prize.

Alpaca Hug Neck CozyMy 2010 Entry — Alpaca Hug Neck Cozy
My 2010 Entry

Even if you aren’t interested in being a professional designer you still have a good chance of winning one of our many cash prizes. You don’t need to write a pattern for your entry. You just need to be a current member of the CGOA, your entry must be your original design and primarily crocheted. The deadline for entries is September 6, 2013.

We have 6 judging categories this year:

Fashion: garments fitted to the body, including sweaters, tops, jackets, skirts, gowns and dresses.
Accessories: larger fashion accessories not fitted to the body, including wraps, shawls, and capes.
Small Accessories: anything small scale, socks, scarves, cowls, hats, bags, belts and jewelry.
Afghans and Home Decor: any and all afghans, throws, blankets and bed or sofa covers and any décor items not in thread.
Thread Crochet: anything made with crochet thread or lace/fine weight yarns, including doilies, baby items, garments and accessories.
Artistic Expressions: designs more artistic rather than functional in nature, including free-form and mixed media pieces, hangings, sculpture, wearable art, amigurumi and novelty items.

You can find out further information about the Design Competition online at the CGOA website (www.crochet.org), at the CGOA Now blog (http://cgoanow.blogspot.com/), or the CGOA Design Competition Facebook page. The Information Package can be reached thru links at the CGOA website.

Now it’s time to get out your yarn and hooks and create something spectacular to share with the rest of us. You can do it!

Angels

March 11, 2013March 11, 2013Art Projects, Celebrating, Creativity1 Comment

My newest technology acquisition is my Samsung Galaxy Note II phone. This phone is a bit larger than my old phone, but it is lighter in weight. It is very useful.

This lovely new phone has a “pen” that is housed in the phone itself, so it is readily available when needed. Best of all, when I pull the pen out the phone automaticially opens up the SNote app that allows me to choose a page type to write on. I’m still working on the learning curve with this. But am already having lots of fun with it.

There is a little app that I’ve been using for some doodling, Paper Artist. Using it and the SNote app I made a series of Angel drawings.

I started out with a photograph of this little Angel ornament.

Then I pulled it into Paper Artist to make some changes.

After that I brought it over to the SNote app to add color and further refine the image.

Then it was time for the real fun to begin. I pulled the colored image back into Paper Artist and had all sorts of fun with the various effects.

It is going to be great having a handy little art studio with me that fits in my coat pocket. I don’t think it will completely replace my beloved sketch pads, but it will be very convenient for quickly jotting down ideas and inspiration when I am on the go.

And one last photo for you. The hard shell case I purchased to protect my new investment is of course…Hot Pink (like anyone is surprised about that).