Sunday, April 27, 2008

Great Weekend

Hi Everyone,

I have not been able to add to my journal for 3 days, not because I did not want to, but aol would not allow me to.  My "add entry" tab, just disappeared.

I had a great weekend.  The yarn and Craft Box in Pawling, my favorite yarn shop, has had great sales going on since Thursday, and while the sale was going on, we were doing some workshops.  I love teaching so it was fun for me.

The highlight of my weekend was a visit from a long lost friend.  Val and I worked together years ago in Bloomingdale's, but as sometimes happens, we lost track of each other.  She recently found me on the Internet, wrote and we re-connected.  Yesterday, along with a friend, Rina, Val took a ride up to visit me while I was teaching in the shop.  Well, she said it was to visit me, but she took the opportunity of the great sales to enhance her stash :-).  We were able to grab a quick lunch together and were able to catch up on each other's lives a little.  We vowed to do it again soon, and I might have even convinced Val that she should attend the knit/crochet conference in NH in July.



Paula, me, Danielle, Frances, Marie, Rina and Val





Val, me and Rina



Paula, me, Danielle, Frances, Rena and Val



I did not want to see Val leave, what a great day.

Enjoy the rest of the evening.

Margaret

PS:  I forgot to mention that Val was a young college girl and I was already the mother 4, one heading for college, when we met.

PPS:  The sale at the Yarn and Craft Box is still going on, continues through Monday, April 28th.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

THE GREAT GRANNY SQUARE


 Good Morning Everone

 I started Spring Cleaning last week
 and as usual was dragging my feet.
 It is, by far, more fun to play.  I had
 just turned in all the projects for my
 newest book, finished some repairs
 that I had taken on to do (One was
 a restoration of an antique
 bedspread), and decided to freshen
 up my house. 

Every once in a while I decide to use a bedspread, that I made in 1975.  Well, I initially started it in 1975
and it was made for a double bed.  Quite a few years
later, I got a queen size bed, so I added to the spread.
More years after that, I got a king size bed, so more squares and additional rows were required.

As I took it out of my blanket chest this morning, and put it on my bed, I realized that I really love this bed spread.  It is made using traditional granny squares and rows of double crochet, more like one giant granny.  I used Galler Parisian Cotton to make it, and it has held up well through the years.



To get a rectangle shape, rather than a square,
I started the center with smaller grannies, having more length wise and fewer width wise.



Close up of the center



Close up of the edging.

Granny Squares are timeless and versatile, and I still
love them.

Have a great day.

Margaret

              
                            

Thursday, April 17, 2008

MORE PHOTOS FROM FIBER FEST ETC






                                                                        

                                                                    








                                 Hi Everyone

Finally getting caught up from traveling etc.  Just found out yesterday, that Knits for Men, my newest book will be ready for shipping in May.  Hopefully, I will have them while teaching in NH in July.  I have not seen the finished book yet, but the proof pages look terrific.

Some more pictures from Dallas/Fort Worth Fiber Fest.



Ding, ding, ding went the trolley - me riding the trolley
in Dallas.



Jan and Gaylia, my charming guides around the city



Some of the sights from the trolley



we went to lunch, checked out the clothes in some
neat little boutiques, then checked out some gorgeous
homes on Swiss St (or Ave).  A part of the city that is
being restored.  Really magnificent.



It was 32 the day I left for Texas so I enjoyed the green grass and flowering trees a lot.


Still more pictures in the camera, no more time to play.

Have a great day.

Margaret

Friday, April 11, 2008

                         









                     Good Morning Everyone,
       
                     Here are some more photos from Fiber Fest.



Jerry and Gaylia admiring Tim's yarn covered chest.



Sharon, Molly, Jill, Tim and Me at lunch (look at the size of those portions!).



The Board (wearing hats that were donated for charity, Jerry is such a good sport) and the teachers. Mary Kay, Karen, Melissa, Molly (hiding in back) Margo Lynn, Joan, Jerry,
and me.



Happy winners displaying their prizes.





Molly wearing my hat (I made it the night before to add to the
basket of donations).

That's all for now, more to come.  Sorry that I cannot identify everyone in the photos, if any one wants to write and give me names, I will be happy to add them.

Have a great weekend.

Margaret

Thursday, April 10, 2008

                               















                                                     THE DALLAS FORT WORTH FIBER FEST


                                                              Good Morning Everyone.

                                                              I arrived home yesterday afternoon,
                                                              tired but so happy.  I had a wonderful time at the festival.  What a great, enthusiastic crowd of attendees.  The organizers of the event made the teachers feel like royalty, and made every effort to meet the attendees needs.  The market was great, the fashion show fun, though very heavily in the knit department and very little crochet fashions.  The teachers portion of the fashion show, did have more crochet.  I don't have a lot of time this morning, but I will try to put some more photos up later.



One of the highlights for me was, my friend, Tim Klein, http://artcar.com
drove up to the conference in his yarn covered car, and took me to lunch.  It was really fun driving around in that car, and we attracted lots of attention.



Lots of people wanted their picture taken with the car.


Karen, Jerry, Molly, me




Here we go!  Do you love the "Miss America Wave" thats
how I felt.  That's Molly and Sharon in back waiting to get
into the car.

Have a great day.

Margaret

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

PLUS SIZE CROCHET

                                            















      Hi Everyone,

                                                                    
   I am  getting ready to leave for the Dallas/Fort Worth Fiber Festival tomorrow, and I am getting excited about my trip.  Last year, when I did Camp Crochet Texas, I had such a great time, that I am really looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.

Yesterday, it came to my attention that there is an error in PLUS SIZE CROCHET.  A reader took the time to write to me and make me aware of the fact.  I really appreciate it.  The correction will appear in the next printing, but if you own the book, you may want to make a note of it now.

It is on page 106, 2nd row of the shawl pattern.  It should read after the * sk ch-2 space, 5 dc in first dc of shell,  ch 2, sk next 4 dc of shell
1 dc in each next 5 dc, rep from *

Thanks

Have a great day

Margaret