TNNA Fibery Goods Winners

Congratulations to ......

Rebecca and Linda! You both are the winners of the fibers from TNNA and Louet. I hope you guys enjoy them! I split all the entries into 2 categories, new how to spin and beginner/ wants to learn. Then I chose at random from those categories. Thank you everyone for commenting. I was great fun to see what projects you all would make.

Here's what they had to say about Spinning and Crochet:

Rebecca: "mmm yummy nepps! my favorite way to spin is a mildly thick/thin dk weight... and then i usually crochet scarves...although, i made my sissy a coat from my handspun for Christmas last year!" - I was blown away by her talent to not only crochet a coat but spin the yarn too!

Linda: "aw, what the heck, i think this post is what pushed me to finally learn to spin today. so far i make thick slubby stuff since i am a beginner, which i'll probably make into my go-to: hats." - Well, learning how to spin from inspiration on my blog post. Wow! And if any of you are familiar with Linda, you know that as soon as she gets spinning down- we'll be seeing amazing yarn!

Interweave Crochet Summer 09

By now, most of you have probably seen the preview of Interweave Crochet Summer. I got my copy in the mail a few days ago as well. It has a very feminine and romantic feeling this time, which I thought was nice for summer.

Of course, my stuff did not fit in that box at all. I was totally channeling big, bold, and loud for summer. Not that there is anything wrong with romantic, I just was on a different wave length completely. (Not too surprising, since I always feel like that nowadays)

My two projects in the issue are the Aragon Tunic and Island Earrings and Necklace.

The Aragon Tunic was a mix of inspiration. I love my Dream Motif Tunic so much, I wanted to create another top with that easy wearabilty and "grab'm" look. While swatching, I had been listening to the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series (recommended by Annie- thank you!). I love the main characters look at traditionally built women (hallelujah!) and totally used that out and proud spirit in the design. My cousin, Rebecca, helped me crochet the top by crocheting all the fuchsia body, then I crocheted the edging. I did this mainly b/c I really was not sure what edging I wanted. My gut always goes to straight lines, but I just didn't think that would be right for Mma Ramotswe (that's the main character). So I jazzed it up a bit, and just fell in love. The top is made with Cotton Fleece, but you in no way have to use that for yours. It would hang and flow great in any bamboo or soy blend too. (oh and the button on the belt band, totally should stay offset. I think it just looks funny centered on that poor model. Now don't I sound all bossy- guess I am really a designer afterall?) Here was the sneak preview. And Here are more of my photos.

The Island Necklace and Earring (Or Cavtat- as I called them originally) were totally taken from a necklace that I really wanted, but at 200$ was way out of my league for jewelry. So as usual, I crocheted one instead, with the same big and loud motifs. The necklace and earrings are really lightweight, so it makes for easy wearing in the summer. They are all joined by jump rings, mainly b/c I was lazy after I crocheted all the beads and motifs and just wanted it together fast. I like the way it turned out with the jump rings, so three cheers for being lazy! Here was the sneak preview, and here are more of my photos.

Hope you enjoy the issue and are enjoying crocheting pool/lakeside this summer!

Surprise Baby Shower

Surprise Baby Shower
Originally uploaded by rchach

The rock-stars of Stitch Coop threw me a surprise baby shower on Sunday Morning. I thought we were all there for a meeting (and me being the secretary- mainly since if I don't write it down- I don't remember anything) was all serious and ready to go.

Instead I spent the entire day crying in each re-telling of how sweet they all were to make handmade gifts for CJ.

She's now has rock-star made knitted socks, crocheted booties, crochet hat (by a knitwear superstar no less), and knitted washcloths. I am still so touched. Aren't they all fabulous?

Aqua Booties- Julie
Multi Moccasin Booties- Annie
Pink Slippers and Crochet Cap- Kristi
Yellow Washcloths- Stefanie
Purple Socks- Amy
Pink and Purple Socks- Andi
Camo Socks- Miriam
Multi Socks- Shannon

Thank you all again and again!

TNNA: Gift for you

Now for the exciting news for you guys!

On teardown day, it is a chaos of fiber and yarn literally in some cases flying through the air.

The Louet booth was next to our Stitch Coop Booth, and they had a big pile of fiber that they just could not pack to go home with. So they asked us if we could use it. Uh, yeah. Whatever the ladies did not want I picked up for you!

I'm opening up this fiber to two lucky blog readers (2 bags to one and 3 to the other- the green is only half full). Leave a comment here (or on Ravelry) or email me with what you like to spin and then crochet. I'll choose the winners at random next Thursday, so check back to see if you won. Just make sure if you leave a comment, I have a way of contacting you (email or Rav name).

What all is there? A bag of White Merino Top, a bag of Superwash Wool, a bag of Sea Foam Green in Merino, and a bags of blue and black wool nepps.

Good luck! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

TNNA: The Goodies

As always, there was so much great stuff from the weekend. I decided to break it up into a few posts, mainly since my brain can only keep so much info in and I have been remembering events in waves.

First up: The goodies- so much yarn. This year I spent a good portion of my time just strolling for inspiration. Usually I have booths already scoped out that I need to visit, but this time I just let my eye wander and I strolled to whoever caught it first. Here's some of my favorites from the show:

1. Spud and Chloe- New line of washable yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca. I am in love with this line. Their patterns are adorable and their line looks fantastic. I can't wait to start swatching. (Plus, they are absolutely wonderful and gave me a ton to work with for the new book. I am just itchy to start winding.) I love their tag line "sweet yarns for real life". Totally for me. At this point, washable yarn is a must for how klutzy I am. You have to check them out, honestly their line is great. Plus, Amy's scarf is genius- back is just as cute as the front.


2. Kitchen Sink Dyeworks- Mercedes brainchild. Great line of hand dyed yarn. She's got great colors, plus a mission. Check out Kiva for more info. I can't wait to swatch something up with it. Oh, and Mercedes is a crocheter too- so she totally gets us. Just saying...


3. Twisted Fiber Art- Meg is the creator behind this super cool hand dyed yarn. She uses calculus to figure out the color changes, and can vary it for your project. Neat right. She also has a beautiful range of variegated and subtle colors to choose from.



4. Schaefer Yarn Company- This company has really great yarn mixed with a really cool color concept. Their yarn colorways are named after famous women in history. They let me come home with Heather in Elena Piscopia (mathematician from the 16th century), Nicole in Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese advocate), and Lola in Indigo. Plus they are sending me Susan in Frida Kahlo to create something (hopefully) as creative as she. But come on, how cool it is to say I'm crocheting with Frida? Every hank has a tag telling about the woman behind the inspiration. I think these would make fantastic gifts to girls to inspire them to greatness in craft and in the world.



5. Pagewood Farm- While walking around with Miriam (the rock star of lace), Pagewood Farms booth caught our eye. Their colors just jumped out and were begging to be petted. The Tundra line caught both of our hands in how lovely it was to the feel. It's a camel silk blend, that looks just heavenly to crochet with. I will let you know how it turns out.

Birthday Gift

Happy Birthday to Me today, and I am passing along a special gift to you!

For one week, you can get CJ's favorite patterns for 50% off.

Here's her picks:
Lucky Clover Shawl- now only 3$


PDF download, only






Cozy from the Toe UP Socks- now only 3$



PDF download, only



Dream Motif Tunic- now only $3.50


PDF download, only







Rochelle Ripple Cardigan- now only $3.50


PDF download, only


So that's now till midnight on June17, Lucky Clover Shawl, Cozy from the Toe Up Socks, Dream Motif Tunic, and Rochelle Ripple Cardigan will be 50% off.

Fine Print: To use the PDF, you will need appropriate software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. By purchasing this pattern, you are granted a limited license to download the pdf file to a single personal computer and to print out a hard copy of the pattern, solely for personal non-commercial use.

Crochet Today gets a Makeover

If you haven't gotten your new Crochet Today in the mail yet, you are in for a surprise.

They did a big overhaul of the layout of the mag and of their website. There is now more information on each of the patterns in the current issue. As well as blogs from Brett and Maya, so you can get to know them better. (which you should b/c they are great!)

In this issue, Brett asked me to create a little girls top. (very appropro- since CJ is a girl, but we didn't know that then.) Flower Yoke Top is something that I have been stewing on for a while now. I think I have tossed something like it in my last dozen or so submissions to various mags. As you can see, my girls wear is more of what I would wear now if I was a little girl. (Not, what I wore then. I was a super girly girl- dresses and all. Oh how we grow up!) I like kids clothes to be easy for them to wear (rarely will you see frills on my stuff- unless its a dancing ballerina hippo costume ;) ). I also like them to be fun for the crocheter to make, so I like to mix things up a bit.

This top is crocheted from the top down. The yoke is all flower motifs crocheted together as you go. Then the body is joined directly on the motifs and crocheted in the round all the way down. To get the body to flair, I just changed my hook size a bunch of times (instead of doing any shaping.) It is definitely an easier pattern to make of mine, a bit of a stretch from my complex ones of late. Here's a couple more views of the top: 1, 2, 3 .

While checking out the projects be sure to check out Kristen's Wrap and Karen's Fish, they are my favorites in the issue.

Blushing

When another crochet designer takes the time to make one of your patterns, you go a bit woozy. I am blushing from head to toe at Linda's lovely Paige Sweetheart Top. I am so flattered it is silly.

If you don't know Linda, you should. She's super talented in a ton of crafty ventures, plus her new book, Crochet Adorned, looks really great (and I can't wait to see a copy!).

Countdown

RaeAnne- Body Finished
Originally uploaded by rchach

Staying on schedule I am convinced is directly proportional to the amount of time I spend in the office. It may seem counter intuitive, but the more time I am in the crochet studio, the less work I seem to be able to get done in the same amount of time. You would think, since the economy took my day job from full-time to part-time (only a mere 12 hours a week), I would have more time for CBF. Well, I was wrong too. The moral is that I am a great multi-tasker, but put a single task at hand and I struggle to stay on task.

All that is a long way of saying, yes I'm still here. I'm just up to my eyes in work, which is good. But it is not getting finished as quick as I would like.

Oh and I might be sporadic in posting for a while, the next couple weeks are busy for us. I think I am are only home for one weekend in the next 5. Ouf. So while living out of a suitcase, I have book work to get cracking on (I'm planning a design a week to stay on track), plus a couple of garment designs for mags and such (I think there are about 4 of those), a few articles to write, TNNA, and of course coordinating PDD for CGOA.

I am getting some work finished though. I got my bottom half of RaeAnne finished and now am on to the shawl collar. I need to finish the shawl by Monday so I have T-R to put it together and edge it before TNNA. I may just leave all the edging off, and wear it as is if time gets me again. I also have another sweater I am quickly finishing this week (actually it needs to be at UPS by tomorrow).

Hope you all are having a good week. I'll be popping in from time to time, when I am not working my fingers to the bone.