Mini Update

As I mentioned, I have been a bit busy... hee hee that is such an understatement.  Now, I like busy.  I thrive on  busy.  But this has been crushing/ can't breathe busy.  Luckily, it has been crochet related, so that takes all the sting out of being so swamped.

One giant hurtle was crossed-off on my to do list, and instead of jumping into the next giant project I decided to breathe and reflex for a moment on the past month.  My month was filled with so much crochet and finishing that cramping hands was just a fact of life. The thumbnails on the side here are just a few of the projects we finished.  We?  yes, I had quite the gang of helpers.  Rebecca, Diane, Megan, Ginny; all worked around the clock with me to get these together.  They would crochet the large sections while I would be writing/ diagramming the necklines or armholes.  If I didn't move fast enough, I would have them send them back and I would crochet on all the shoulders or arms myself.  Then I would take all the pieces, block them, crochet on edgings and the other finishing.  If you have crocheted my work, you know that the finishing can take as long as crocheting the large sections sometimes.  To say it was a joint effort is an understatement.   One in particular is my favorite.  It is a top down sweater.  While I was crocheting the yoke, Rebecca was crocheting the sleeves.  Yes, on a top down project that has no seams!  We are just that talented.  I will let you know which project it is when the book comes out next year, but I can tell you, you will never be able to guess.  We crocheted them together seamlessly.  (If you have taken Crochet Like a Pro class with me, you know this technique too.)

The sad part was that we had to crochet this on the way to my cousin's funeral last week.  We really had a tough month... if you have followed me on twitter you know the story.  My cousin was very young, only 36. She has 2 kids, 3 and 5 in age.  It was liver cancer.  And no matter how much you are "ready" you are never ready, even though she was.  She was an amazing person, as all my family are.  I am very lucky to have very  loving, funny, and wonderful family (both in marriage and by birth).  So while we were grieving, I was feeling very lucky to have such a loving family to get to remember her with.  I really can't express how much it means to me that I get to work with my other cousin Rebecca.  It makes me happy to know that Tara would have loved to cheer us on and hear about all our funny crochet stories.  

 Speaking of Rebecca, I know some of you have gotten to email her and chat with her on Ravelry.  Isn't she the best?  I think so.  Especially for me to know that she can answer your pattern questions, instead of you having to wait weeks until I get a chance to write you.

Where do I stand now?  Can I breathe yet?  Well, not really; but soon.  I have these projects done, now I need to polish them (aka edit them) to make them as clear as possible and make that into a book.  I'll talk more about the book when I feel like it is really a book.  It is not even listed anywhere yet, so this is our secret for now.  While doing that, I took on a new job.  I have been editing, ghost designing, and drawing diagrams for a new publication.  This publication I am very excited for.  I really think you guys will like it, I know I do.  I can't mention what it is yet, but of course I will as soon as I can.  For now, I can just enjoy the work.  Basically, I am engineering other designers projects into workable patterns and diagrams.  I love it.  I needed a break from the constant flow of creative design work. I was staring to get worried that my designs where getting stale.  Pausing that for a minute (ok, not really a pause but slowing down); has really reminded me what I love about crochet.  Working on others patterns is so inspiring.  I love getting to see how they think.  Along with this work is some work for magazines and a yarn company.  Those are super secret, so I will leave it at that.  I am hoping in a month or two I will be feeling more on top of my work load.   Well speaking of that, I better get back at it.

Hope you enjoy the tiny glimpse into my work.  I will be back with more concrete news soon!