Preview!

Can you say PREVIEW?

How amazing! And so soon. Crazy, I tell you, crazy. I am so excited to show you some of the projects I was working away on! I am pretty much jumping up and down. Anything I wanted to say about the book has completely flown out of my head. I will have to calm down before I can remember what I was going to say. Goodness, I forgot how much fun it is to share a HUGE preview like this. It has been a while, I guess.

Here's a link, in case the one below doesn't work. You can read more about it at Interweave. I am just so excited! Hope you enjoy!

Baby Blue Print

And the winner is...

April Creates!

Congratulations on winning my copy of Crochet For Bears to Wear. (April- send me an email and I will get the book right out to you!)


Hope you guys had a great crocheting weekend. After a seriously nutty week last week, I am not surprised that I am sitting here ripping out the arm sections of my current project. I crocheted them for a giant to wear instead of a real human being. Oops. But all in all, does not surprise me in the least. Hope your weekend was more productive!

Rowan Purelife

In honor of Earth Day I thought I would tell you a little about the yarn I am currently working with.

Rowan Purelife Revive
It is a very cool yarn that is made from recycled garments. It is a blend of cotton, silk, and viscose. It can split a bit when you crochet, but the resulting fabric is beautiful.

While shopping for yarns, it is definitely worth a look. Especially since you can feel good about recycling as well!

Hat Trick

I just got an email that all 3 of the designs I proposed in one submission all were accepted. It is the first time that every one of my project ideas were all accepted for one publication. Hat Trick!*

This is another nutty week for us. I thought last week was nutty with all the paperwork, but then remembered that if you do paperwork for a week your designing will need to catch up too. I have 2 woman's garments going on right now, final edits to the new book, and proposals for new projects. Or at least I think that is all. It is hard to keep my head on straight these days.

Here is a sneak peek at a design I turned in a bit ago. It was a nail biter. Down to the wire on finishing. As everything is in my world these days. Speaking of, need to run back to editing while I still have a few minutes left on naptime.

*for you Hockey Fans, you know that when one player gets 3 goals with in one game its a hat trick. And you have to throw your hat on the rink to celebrate. Or at least that's what Mr CBF says- he is a Pittsburgh Penguins super fan. He knows what a double crochet is, so I know what a hat trick or off sides are.*

Crochet for Bears to Wear

Instead of my usual book review, I thought it would be more fun to do an interview with one of my favorite people. In full disclosure, Amy O'Neill Houck is one of my good friends in the crochet world. We room together all the time at conventions, and I keep her up to all hours of the night prattling on and on about life. She and I met through Kim Werker while designing for CrochetMe, we hit it off by our love of everything fiber. Amy is always on the forefront of the latest and greatest in the industry. In her latest book, she takes her love of yarn and stitches it into 20 designs for teddy bears.

RC: Crochet For Bears is adorable. How did you come up with the idea to write a book for bear?
AO: I was asked by Potter Craft to give them a proposal for Knits for Bears to wear. At the time, I proposed a knit/crochet combo book, and we later decided to do them as two separate books.

RC: Where do you get inspiration to design for bears?
AO: Really, from people clothes. I just thought of things I'd like to make for humans and thought--how would that work on a teddy. The book does follow the seasons so I was inspired by that as well.

RC: The book also has a number of great tips for crocheters inside. What is your best tip for changing the size of pattern to fit a bear?
AO: Measure well! That's the most important thing. Don't squeeze your bear while measuring, or your measurements will be too small (bears are squishy, and they won't tell you you're squeezing.)

RC: Your family relocated to Alaska 2 years ago from the DC area, where you wrote Knits for Bear to Wear. Did you find the move made it easier or harder to write Crochet for Bears?
AO: When I wrote Knits for Bears, my knitting group, Silver Spring Knitters (or SSK) helped me out a lot by knitting may of the samples for the book. In Crochet for bears, I didn't know any other crocheters who might want to work up samples, so I did them all myself--with the exception of my two Special Guest Designers -- you and Drew (The Crochet Dude). [You can see my dress to the right. It's made from granny flowers.]

RC: How do you think it [moving to Alaska] has changed your designs?
AO: Working the garments myself means I get to design on the hook instead of planning things out. This is my favorite way to work, even though it's not the most efficient. I like to make changes, or add ideas as I go based on how the fabric and the garment is developing.

RC: Has Alaska inspired you to write a book with Alaskan based designs? (please say yes!)
AO: Wouldn't that be fun!!

RC: What is next for you in your crochet career?
AO: I'm working on a small book of granny square projects with Julie Holetz. We're very excited about it, and we'll have more to talk about and show soon.

Ooh, can't wait to see that!

If you would like a chance to win my copy of the book, please let a comment here (or email me) by Friday at midnight. We'll randomly pick a winner. Please make sure there is a way for me to get in touch with you. Thanks!

2-timer

Did you catch Getting Loopy last night? Mary Beth was hosting the annual Flamies Awards.

And you will never guess who won Best Crochet Instructor for the second time in a row...

Me!

Crazy! Thank you so much for everyone that voted! If you get a chance, you should give it a listen. Quite a few award winners announced new fun projects on the program.

Speaking of instructing, I have updated my teaching schedule (finally) for all of the dates I have on my calendar so far. I know some of you were asking- sorry on being so slow!

Crafty Supermarket

Crafty Supermarket
Originally uploaded by rchach

Yesterday, a few crafty friends and I went to the Crafty Supermarket in Clifton (a neighborhood of Cincinnati). We all left with something, so I would say it was a success. Actually, it was fantastic. It was some of my favorite etsy sellers all together, what is there not to like? I actually debated being a fangirl with some of them, but I decided to just say I love their work and leave it at that. To be honest, I pretty much told every vendor I loved their work, because I really did. Everyone had different styles and the design inspiration was just flowing you could tell.

Here are my treasures I picked up:
Blue Flowered Earrings from Kitsch Cafe
Embroidered Yellow Button from Says You Embroidery
Linked Gold Ring Necklace from Yellowberry Handmade
Brown Flower Button Ring from Fabricate
"Cute as a button" Onesie from Garbella

Now I just can't wait till I can wear all my new beauties!

Gadget Girl

Ok so this tool was made for knitters; but seriously, why wouldn't we use it too?

So simple, one hook with 2 heads that you can attach to anything.

I immediately bought one to put on the diaper bag.

Now if only they would make one with a 5mm on one end and 4mm on the other.

Crochet for Bears to Wear Blog Tour

On Wednesday, Amy will be here with a chance to win a copy of her new book. I will be posting a interview with her as well. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to ask her. Till then you can check out the tour progress here.

Modifying Maggie (and really any granny garment)

I wrote an article for Interweave on modifying granny square garments. I used the Maggie Wrap from Blueprint Crochet as the basis. I hope it gives you some inspiration on modifying all the projects in the book. If you have made one that you modified I would love to see it and feature you on my blog. Let me know!

Here’s the link. Big Hugs to Marianne and Cathy for letting me feature their projects! Both did an incredible job on their Maggie's and it makes me so proud!

Don't forget you can get the pattern free over at Knitting Daily. Keep in mind it is an excerpt from the book and is written only in symbols. If you need a symbol refresher, I would check out Blueprint Crochet first before attempting.

Boring Week

I am going to be really boring this week. I have the "fun" task of finishing up our taxes and organizing our bills. BORING, but it needs to get done. So I won't have too much fun crochet bits. I'll try my best to pop out a few when I can.

Speaking of...

Over at CrochetMe, Marcy did an interview of little old me. We talk about Blueprint Crochet, my crochet life, and life in general. Hope you enjoy. And stay tuned, the post on Thursday should be a lot of fun!

Surprise!

Secret is out! (or on Amazon at least...)Is she not the cutest? Just look at her curls, so adorable! Oh, you want to know about the book? (Hee hee- new mom, who loves babies what can I tell you...)

So that book that I was talking about the past year or so... Yeah, it's up for PRE-ORDER! Already! I know, so fast!

Book comes out in December of this year. We are working hard on the edits and getting all the sc and dc and the like correct. After we cross our t's and dot our i's, the book designer will get to play with the pictures and diagrams and make the book look real. This cover is the first of the design stuff that I have seen. I think it is mighty cute. I haven't seen the other photography yet, but I am sure it is adorable too. Interweave always has great photos.

As you guessed the book is all about baby, but that is only part of the story. If you know me, you know I can't focus on just one thing in a book, I have to teach you something too. But that is still a secret for now. I like rolling out surprises a little bit at a time.

What I can tell you, is there is projects for every baby you know. When I was writing the proposal, I was pregnant, and the only stuff I kept coming up with was boy stuff. I swear I thought that CJ was going to be a boy, I had such a girl block. Granted, I don't believe in girl vs boy anything, but still I couldn't come up with anything frilly. So I didn't. Yup, every design is my take on baby. Clothes that I would want to wear, toys that I think would be fun to play with. The way I see it, is that baby stuff needs to be fun. I have no idea why so much baby stuff is all pastel, especially since newborns can't even see pastels. I believe in bright bold patterns and colors for babies. Get their visual stimulation going and not bore you to pieces while you crochet. In the next few months, I will share with you more specifics on the exact projects and such. But for now, if you are looking for boys and girls baby clothes, toys, blankets, and accessories (like socks, shoes, & bibs) in bright fun patterns, then this book is for you. It is a sequel to Blueprint Crochet, so everything (and I mean everything) is detailed in stitch diagrams. I packed it full of stitch diagrams.

Hope you enjoy! And more details coming, as soon as I am allowed to share more.

ATTN: Columbus Area Crocheters (and Knitters, too)

For anyone within driving distance of Columbus, OH... that means you Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Dayton, and even Cleveland, Indy, and Lexington ...

Stitch Cooperative is holding some really cool crochet and knitting classes!

How cool? Annie Modesitt cool. Yes, you heard me she is teaching and you better run to sign up. I am telling you, she is the best teacher I have ever taken classes from. Worth every penny.

Who else is teaching? Shannon Okey (and you know she is going to hook you up with great info!), Miriam Felton (the lace goddess), Andi Smith (the most amazing technical knitter and crocheter), Teva Durham & Dora Ohrenstein (talking about creativity); oh and little oh me too!

Where exactly: Courtyard Marriot, in downtown Columbus, OH (super close to great restaurants and Jeni's ice cream, mmm)

When? The weekend of June 10- 13 (My birthday weekend, btw)

Why? Well, that's a good question. See, as I have told you before, I am whole heartily into supporting fellow designers. And for most of us, we support ourselves by doing many jobs in the industry. One of them being teaching. Since we only get together just once or twice a year in person, we decided that we needed to take the opportunity to teach together. This way you can make a whole day or weekend of supporting small business women, like myself, while learning some great techniques and ideas from other fabulous designers. All the profit goes directly to the designer (after the cost of the room), the coop is collecting nothing.

I will be teaching Crochet Like a Pro (a favorite of mine) and Baby Crochet 101: Funny thing I learned on the way to the Baby Sweater (very appropriate for a certain book of mine coming out soon). Both classes are great for anyone who wants to step up their crochet skills or looking to learn how to be their own crochet designer. You can see more details of my classes and my fellow designers at the website. I hope to see you there!

Inside Crochet Issue #7

The preview for Inside Crochet #7 is up.

Inside I have the Trefoil Scarf. It is a quick crochet, easily made in any yarn you have around. Looks cute with and without the ribbon border.

I have a picture or two over on flickr if you are interested.

I am really looking forward to getting the issue and seeing what Amy and Julie have in store for us!

Lucine In Diagrams

As you guys know, I think in pictures. And when designing I think in diagrams. Now, when a pattern of mine gets published there is not always enough room for the publishers to always include my diagrams.

For the Lucine Tunic, in Interweave Crochet Spring 2010, this my guess was the case. The stitch pattern is fabulous, but you guys know that I could never remember all those directions without crochet symbols. I am guessing you guys are in my boat as well. So for all of you out there making the tunic, here are two diagrams that should help. (click to make larger) You will still need the pattern for other directions, but these should help with the lacy stitch pattern.

There is also a thread over at Ravelry with others that are making the pattern too.

I know I shouldn't have to say this, but these diagrams are for your personal use only. Please do not use them without my permission in any other way.

Starry Sneak Peek

Here is a quickie little sneak peek of my next design for you.
It will be published in a fall magazine.

I got help from Diane to crochet the panels, and I did all the fussy bits (of seaming, ribbing, and embroidery). I do that a lot so that I can see exactly how I want to describe how to finish the project. Plus, then it frees my crocheters to move onto other projects that they may want to work on more then my work.

This project has very lightweight fabric due mostly to the stitch pattern. I know it looks like simple double crochets, which is what I wanted. It is really not that exciting, but the little trick to make the fabric light and airy I will have to share with you when the pattern is published.

I am still slugging through book edits, finishing some more magazine projects, and taxes. My inlaws are coming in this weekend for Easter, and I am hoping they can entertain CJ for a bit so I can make some headway. She just adores visitors so I am sure they will have fun just talking to each other.

Hope you all have a crafty weekend!

Yarn Sweepstakes Winners

And the Yarn Sweepstakes Winners are: (I numbered everyone who bought a pattern, threw them in a bowl, and let babe pick the winners)

New Book Yarn: 24- Ess Knits

Magazine Yarn: 20- Tludgate

Blueprint Crochet Yarn: 2- Pamela B

Crochet By Faye Yarn: 15- Machumee

Congratulations! I sent you all an email, if you don't get it let me know.

My official number picker took her job very seriously. So much that she needed to finish the drawing by eating the bowl.

Thank you everyone for entering! I hope you are enjoying the patterns.