Purple, The New Black ?

Happy Wednesday Everyone,

Commentators, during and after The Emmy awards show, told us  that purple is the new, hot color.  Several of the gorgeous stars wore different shades of purple gowns, so now we are told "purple is the new black".   I get a chuckle out of this because, well every year we are told that some color or other is the "new black".  I guess every year we need something to shake up the fashion world.   Do "the powers that be" hope that everyone will run right out and follow the trend, replace their little black dress, their classic black pants or skirt, with a purple one?  I am not sure why this happens, I just find it interesting.  I personally love my black basics, because they make a great palette for showing off my colorful free form pieces. 

Just for fun, I looked through my gallery of photos just to see how many times that I have used purple in the past few years.  I did use it quite often, in varying shades, for jackets, bags and hats.  I found that I used more of the lavender shades than the deep purples.  I did remember that one of the reasons I do not use it more often, is that it is very difficult for me to get a good photograph of anything purple.  What it all amounts to, as far as I am concerned, is you should wear what looks terrific on you, and what you love.

Have a great day

Margaret

FREE FORM KNITTING AND CROCHET and something silly

Good Morning all,

It occurred to me last night, that I have not mentioned my Free Form Knitting and Free Form Crochet Videos in a long while.  Since there has been a huge renewal of interest in Free Form, and it is one of my most popular workshops, I thought I would remind you about them.  In fact, I am doing a workshop in FINISHING YOUR FREE FORM PIECES at Knitting Central in Wesport CT on Sept 10.  For information  contact sallypequot@yahoo.com   . 

The videos are  now available in DVD format.  They can be ordered at www.margarethuberoriginals.com , but the DVD's are not listed as yet, so you will have to write a note requesting that format.  Same content, same price.  They both come with a booklet that has all the stitches shown on the video, plus a few other items.

I also have two booklets on Free Form Crochet, published by Annie's Attic and available at www.anniesattic.com, www.amazon.com ,  or you can get them directly from me. 

Now the silly stuff.   I live in a very wooded area.  I love it here most of the time.  Lately we have been plagued with deer eating every single flower and plant around.  A family, mother and two fawns, have moved into my yard, and they are not even one bit afraid of me.  I can walk right up to them, shout "go away" and they laugh (If you could see their faces you would agree).  Finally, I am the one to leave. 

As if the deer were not enough, we also have a bear family.  Because of the bears, (and I am afraid of them), we are not allowed to put out bird feeders any more.  Watching the birds feed in the morning is a great pleasure for me.  With my flowers all eaten and my birds gone, it seemed that my tranquil little piece of heaven was taken away from me.  I am not even mentioning the little chipmunks,rabbits, squirrels and all other little critters that eat what the deer leave behind.

If you remember, yesterday when I could not get home because of the fallen tree, I went back to The Yarn and Craft Box in Pawling.  Several women were gathering for the Monday afternoon knitting class, that Marie Stewart conducts.  I cannot remember what brought the subject up, but soon I was voicing my displeasure with the animals for "invading my space and making living in the woods no fun any more".  Well Marie, really burst out laughing, reminding me that I was the one invading their space, not the other way around.  Well, she is right of course, and I guess I never gave it a lot of thought.  We could get into really deep discussions here about invading other's spaces, but I won't go there.  So I have decided that if I want to live here, with all the trees and the lake and the quiet, and not in a city, I will try to find plants that the deer do not like to eat (although no one bothers to ask the deer), and wait till the bears hibernate or leave for other parts before feeding the birds. 

Have a lovely day

Margaret

Best laid plans/knitting crocheting for charity

Happy Monday Everyone,

The day started out gloomy and drizzly , but cleared up nicely by noon.  I was on my way home from my usual Monday morning class at The Yarn and Craft Box in Pawling, determined to use the afternoon to get a lot of work done.  I was not far from home and was abruptly stopped by a huge tree which had fallen across the only access road to my house.  Two other cars, one on each side of the fallen tree,  were there minutes before me and were trying to figure out what we should do.  The tree was huge, there was no way we could move it or go around it , and I was not about to leave my car on the side of the hill and walk uphill all the way home.  After notifying the proper authorities and finding out that it was going to take several hours to remove it - well whats a girl to do, I turned around and went back to the yarn shop :-).  There went my resolve to get home early and get tons of stuff accomplished. 

On another note, there has been so much talk about knitting and crocheting for charity, that I wanted to remind everyone, that I have 2 easy, free patterns on my site, that are great for charity knitting www.margarethubertoriginals.com

One of the sweaters, the little blue one, I made for my grand daughter when she was 2.  She really loved that little sweater and did not want to give it up, so this year, I added several rows of crochet to the bottom of the body and sleeves.  Gave her at least another year or 2 of wear.

Have a great day

Margaret

Workshops Etc

Hi Everyone,

It is a rainy, gloomy morning here, but the grass and trees are loving it, everything looks so green and lush. 

I was telling a friend about my Chicago area trip, and how Rosalie Johnston, President of the Northern ILL Chapter of CGOA, escorted me all over the place for two days.  I never would have seen and experienced all the sights if not for her.  My friend commented that this was about the 4th time that I had had the good fortune to be escorted around by someone who knew the area.  It started me thinking about how wonderful this has been, and how the Internet has stretched my world. 

When I first began teaching in venues that were quite a distance from my home, I rarely left the hotel.  I went from the airport, to the hotel, then back again.

Prudence Mapstone started it all, by volunteering her help on my trip to Australia, and what a great trip that was.  Besides attending the Fiber Forum in Geelong,  I visited Prudence in Brisbane,  and then we went to Melbourne and Sydney.  A trip of a lifetime.!  Just this past May, I went to London, and again, relied on Prudence to plan our days of sight seeing. 

 Next I went to CA, and Myra, gave me a tour of the Hollywood area.  Such fun, we did all the touristy things, and even got to visit several of the many yarn shops in the area.  On my next trip, this time  to the northern end of CA, Jorel, was my "tour guide", another fabulous trip.  We got to see the fabulous Artwear - Fashion and Anti Fashion exhibit at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco Legion of Honor.  WOW, is all I can say about that.

In October, I am going to Austin, Texas to teach a workshop at Camp Crochet Texas, and Sharon Dyke, who has helped organize this event, has promised to show me some of that beautiful city. 

I am not only getting to teach in a lot of different venues, but I am really getting to see a little bit of the beautiful country that we live in, and a little bit of some other countries too.  For someone who never used to travel much, I seem to be getting around - what fun.

Have a great day

Margaret

 

Fun E-mails

Good Morning Everyone,

I received the nicest e-mail from a crochet friend that I met at the King of Prussia knit and crochet event.  Lucy Purchased my book, HOOKED BAGS, www.amazon.com, and she is already having fun making some of the projects.  Lucy gave me permission to share her letter and photo with all of you.   

Dear Margaret:

I hope you will enjoy seeing the two bags I made from your book Hooked Bags.
You will recognize them as "Shopper's Net Tote" and "Not Net Tote Tagalong".
I made them for my son as a house-warming gift for his first house. I filled
them with treats that he can serve when his friends come to visit. Phil is
an avid environmentalist. I previously made him a plastic bag tote from
recycled bags, but I think your shopping bag has much more style. I know he
will use it often.

I had you sign my copy of your book at convention...it's fun to use. Thank
you!

Lucy

Thank you Lucy,

Have a great day

Margaret

Chicago

Good Morning Everyone,

I just wanted to share a few of the highlights of my  tour of the Chicago area. 

Rosalie Johnston, president of the Northern Ill chapter of CGOA, organizer of the workshop, and tour guide extraordinaire, took me on a whirlwind, two day tour of the area.  We had the greatest weather, blue skies, lots of sunshine, but not too hot, perfect for sight seeing. 

The first day we visited the Botanical Gardens, magnificent flowers, waterfalls, a Japanese Garden, so serene and lovely, a feast for the eyes and the wonderfull scent of blooming flowers, especially in the rose garden.  Talk about inspiration, explosions of color everywhere. 

After the Botanical Gardens we visited the Bahai House of Worship in Wilmette, Ill., one of only seven Bahai temples in the world at present.  I was so pleased to have visited this unique structure.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but it is an amazing temple.

The second day we headed for Chicago.  We saw and did so much that my head is still spinning.  We walked the golden mile, and oohed and aahed over the magnificent fashions all around us (more inspiration), we visited Navy Pier, We took the Architectural Boat Tour on the Chicago River, We took the fastest elevator in the US (their claim, but it really is fast) to the top of the Hancock Building and saw the most breathtaking views of the city.  We visited the American Girl Store, and Grandma that I am, could not resist buying the Bitty Twin dolls for my Grand daughter.  I hope that I can hold off giving them to her, they are supposed to be a Christmas gift. 

We even managed to eat in between all this activity.  I know that I am forgetting something, we did fill the day.   Rosalie said that I probably saw more in two days than many people who live there get to see.  I had a ball.

Have a great day

Margaret

 

Northern Ill Chapter of CGOA Workshop

Hi Everyone,

I arrived home this afternoon from a wonderful trip to the Chicago Area.  I went to do a "Spectacular Squares" workshop for the Northern Illinois Chapter of the CGOA. 

My "Squares" workshop consists of learning to make a lot of different items by combining different square shapes.  The trick is to use lots of different yarns and stitches, thereby making your squares truly unique.  We start out by learning to make a bag, using a lining as a base. and hopefully build from there.  This group wanted to combine a little free form crochet with their squares, and the combination made for some interesting results.  By the end of the workshop we had some great  bags in the making.

I hope all will send me pictures of their finished projects so I can share them with you.

Have a good night,

Margaret