This and That

Good Morning Everyone,

Sorry that it has been a while since I posted, but the past week has been a little hectic.  I finally joined the new century and signed up for High Speed Internet.  Giving up my old dial up, was a wrenching experience for me, and I did not do it lightly.  I had so many fears about losing all my stored data, my precious instructions and photos of all my projects,  both finished and in the works, that I put off doing this for a long time. 

Even though I had my son back up most of my data on a disc, there were some scary moments.  After several calls to aol, and several very frantic phone calls to my son, I think that I am all set. 

Having my blog totally disappear was another worry, so if one day you visit and find me gone, at least you will know what happened.  Dee www.crochetingwithdee.com sent me quite a few great photos to share with you, but I still have not quite figured out how to get them from her e-mail to here.  I am so afraid of losing them in cyber space, that I am awaiting help before attempting it.

Back to crochet - At my Monday class, Marlene arrived with another bag of preemie hats for the Caps for the Capitol project.  Her total has exceeded fifty now.  Who says one person cannot make a difference.  Marlene apologized for having done so few this week, she commented that she had a few other things to do also  :-)

I forgot my camera, so the promised pictures of finished items will have to wait till next time. 

Have a great day

Margaret

New York City Knit Out/Crochet Too

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

Sunday in New York City at Union Square Park, was all blue skies, sun, and thousands of people taking part in another wonderful knit/crochet event.  I finally found a little time to get the pictures into my computer (no easy job for me).

The day was filled with activities.  In addition to the fashion shows, there were tables of Kid's Crafts, Retail exhibits, demos and displays, yarn "Doctors", charity projects, contests, and technique workshops.  I did a mini workshop on Free Form Crochet.  It was well attended and all were enthusiastic, but the sun was hot.  We were not under one of the tents, and just modeling my garments became a challenge.

The fashion show included a Doggie Idol segment, a children's segment and adult fashions.  There were a few brave men who participated, but mostly gorgeous models, showing off the fashions in a very elegant way.  Two of my little black dresses were shown, but unfortunately my pictures did not turn out.  Maybe someone out there has a picture to share with me.  I did not even know that they were being featured, and when Rita Weiss found me, told me to get my camera ready, I was so surprised.  I was so happy to see the dresses up on the stage.  My camera is not that great, and I was so far away and to the side, that the black dresses became a little dot in the photo.  They did look spectacular on the models though. 

Danielle, who is a student of Marie Stewart's, Yarn and Craft Box, Pawling, NY, won third place in the scarf contest.  Danielle was thrilled, and we were thrilled for her.  Later, I found out that Ruth Y, from The Happily Hooked on Crochet group in Danbury CT, won an honorable mention in the contest.  Two people that I know won honors, how cool is that.  By the time I found out about Ruth, my camera was out of space for more pictures, but I am sure that you can see lots more at www.crochetingwithdee.com .  Chris, another knitter from The Yarn and Craft Box, participated in the "Fastest Knitter" contest.  Chris makes the most intricate Fair Isle designs, his work is fabulous.

I met so many people that I knew, some that I knew only from the Internet, and made many new "friends".  

There is no selling at this event, so yarnaholics just get to see all the new yarns, books and gadgets being offered for the avid needleworker.  The  companies that were present, had lots of give-aways, so attendees left with bags full of magazines, free patterns, accessories etc, and in some cases, sample balls of yarn and knitting needles.  Some area yarn shops had booths, I saw Andrea from Seaport Yarns www.seaportyarn.com there showing some really nice new yarns in great colors. 

I am sure that I am forgetting something, but thats it for now.

Have a great day

Margaret

Caps for the Capitol

Happy Monday Everyone,

I returned home from my usual Monday morning class feeling very happy. 

 Last week I was telling my students about Caps for the Capital, and the project that many knitters and crocheters were working on.  Millions of premature infants die each year, world wide, because they cannot be kept warm in the crucial first hours of life.  The simple act of covering their tiny heads with a warm hat helps save lives. 

The New York City crochet Guild had promised the organizers 1000 premie hats to be delivered at the Knit/Crochet Event, that was held yesterday in New York City.  When they thought that they might not reach their goal, they put out a call for help from some other chapters.  Well, yesterday, they presented over 2000 hats, with a promise of more to come.  Our chapter in Ct, The Happily Hooked on Crochet Club, also did our part. Everyone was overwhelmed with this outpouring. 

When I went into my class this morning, at the Yarn and Craft Box in Pawling, NY, I had a very happy surprise.  One of my student's, Marlene Stone, presented me with 32 little hats that she had made from last week.  This project has touched the hearts of so many people around the country, and I am sure that in the next few months, we will be getting many more donated.  Thanks so much Marlene, for your help. 

Tomorrow, I will try to post about my day in the city, along with pictures.  The Knit/Crochet Out, was a fabulous event.

Enjoy the rest of the day

Margaret

Getting ready for a demo at the NYC event etc.

Good Morning Everyone,

Along with all the exciting Crochet and Knit events that I get to attend, and with all the books and magazine designs, and the workshops, comes the knitty gritty work.  That is where I am right now.  I am literally up to my neck in boxes of yarn, busily crocheting, knitting and writing instructions for all the projects.  In the midst of all this, I am trying to get ready for the big New York City Knit Out/Crochet Too, being held this coming Sunday,  from noon to five in Union Square Park in NYC.   I am scheduled to do a demo on Free Form Crochet,  around 3 in the afternoon, so if you are there, come by and say hello.

When I first started doing Free Form work, I always worked in nuetral colors only.  About 5 years ago I started experimenting with more and more color.  Now anything goes, I love it all.

I recently signed contracts to do another book for Creative Publishing International, the sixth (more on this much later), and my fifth for them, is in the final stages of printing.  You will be hearing a lot more about these 2 new books when it is closer to a release date.  All I can tell you about them at this time, is that they are really at different ends of the spectrum. 

You probably all know  that the first four books, HOOKED BAGS, HOOKED HATS, HOOKED THROWS and HOOKED SCARVES are available right now and can be purchased on www.amazon.com or in bookstores or yarn shops.

In addition to this, I am still working on other projects that are very much in the works and slowly progressing toward the finish line.   I was thinking this very morning that it is a good thing that I love doing all this, otherwise I might feel a little overwhelmed at the moment :-)!

Have a great day

Margaret

 

 

Happily Hooked on Crochet

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I have not posted for several days due to problems with aol and my computer access.  Its been very frustrating. 

Yesterday we had our regular monthly meeting of the Happily Hooked on Crochet Group in Danbury, CT.  I walked into a room, with everyone busily working and mounds of yarn piled high on the huge table.  Several of the women were working on starter kits, in preparation of teaching crochet at the NYC Knit Out/Crochet Too.   Others of us were working on making preemie caps for the Caps for the Capitol project.  These little hats are a really quick project, and I worked up 10 just the night before the meeting.  You can visit www.crochetingwithdee.com for more information on this very worthwhile project.

We had two more new member join us and that is always such fun.  Karen had previously e-mailed me, so it was extra special finally meeting face to face.  Karen also had lots of wonderful projects for show and tell.  One really intriguing one was her study in black shawl/shrug, pictured above.

My camera is not the best, and the room lighting is not terrific, but at least you can see some of the doings.

Today, I did my weekly crochet class at The Yarn and Craft Box in Pawling NY. My students are doing so well.  I think that by next week, I might have a picture or two to share. 

Today has been a sad day of rembrance for all that happened 5 years ago , and we shall never forget it.   Somehow, going about the ordinary things that we do every day helps us cope with the memories. 

Have a good evening.

Margaret

Charity Knitting/Crochet and Connections

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEKEND,

Since starting this blog, last February, I have become aware that it is difficult to post every day and keep the content strictly knitting and crochet related. Granted not a day goes by without me picking up a knitting or  crochet project, but lets face it, each and every one is not an exciting, reportable event. 

Quite some time ago, I created the little crochet sculpture in the photo, for a museum exhibit in Haifa, Israel.  About 14 US fiber artists were invited to submit pieces for the exhibit.  When I heard that the subject was to be figures, any interpretation, I almost declined.  This was clearly not my cup of tea.  Because of a series of events, I came up with the idea of women of the world being connected in a very special way through the needle arts.  I felt at the time, and still do, that my entry was very child-like, but I sent it in anyway.  It was in the exhibit, and it was a wonderful experience for me to participate. 

Right now though, exciting events are happening all over the country, bringing people together in a common goal.  Knit and crochet groups are pulling together and creating huge amounts of sweaters, hats, scarves and afghans to literally warm up the world.  Suddenly, my little sculpture, which I titled Connections, has even more meaning for me.  

The New York City Crochet Group has pledged 1000 hats for Caps for the Capital, The Happily Hooked on Crochet chapter in Ct, are constantly working on charity projects for several worthy organizations.  They have given hundreds of items to Danbury Hospital, The Salvation Army and other worthy organizations.  You can read more about them at www.crochetingwithDee .Groups like this are just about in every state in our wonderful country.

Last night I received a phone call from a fairly new knitter, Suellen, who belongs to a knitting group in northern CA.  They were all busily working on sweaters for charity, and were using one of the free patterns on my site.  They were having trouble with part of the instructions, and because of Suellen's phone call, the error was brought to my attention.  This little sweater has been made lots of times, and no one ever told me about this before now.  It was coincidental, because I just talked about this sweater a few days ago (scroll down if you want to see), so I shall correct it as soon as possible.

Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by the connections that the Internet allows us to make.  Suellen and I were chatting as if we were old friends, brought together by the love of our craft.    She promised to send me a picture of her finished sweater, and will try to send some of her group along with their projects, so I can share them with you. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Margaret