Back to the Holidays…

So I desperately need crochet distractions at the moment…I really shouldn’t have posted that last blog post as if I was through with the mayhem that has been this week…ah no…no the finale…The CLF Website has been hacked, I am currently working with my webhost to get the site back in working order (am I glad that I didn’t do all that work I had planned to do this week and couldn’t because of the missing lap top cord.)…It should all be good at the end of the day, but it’s just one more thing to make me think, perhaps this past week I may have been better served by staying in bed! LOL…

So, please don’t go to the CLF Website until I can give you the all clear…and here’s the really good news…You can’t miss on ordering the CLF Book, just go to the Lulu site… http://www.lulu.com/camanomade to order the CLF Book as a pdf download or to purchase the Secrets of yarn guide and a few of my patterns 😀

Now…for some crochet goodness by CLF Member Robynlicious she made this gorgeous hat from Julie Armstrong Holetz’s Seattle Slouch Hat pattern…this is the essence of living in Western Washington, great yarn, great colors, great style…Yeah…its’ wet here and we need hats, everyone loves a cool hat here in the great NW…

You can get the pattern for only $5! It’s a steal for such an awesome hat, written by a great designer!! No one complains about a cool hat for Christmas!

This Shawl Sets our Picot Free!

It’s fall, we need inspiration. If you’re like me and haven’t really started your holiday crafting, and if you aren’t like me please don’t gloat, I thought I’d start awarding some simple and yet elegant projects that will WOW your giftees!

This gorgeous shawl was made by CLF member Espins it’s from the book “Crochet Lace: An illustrative guide to making crochet fabric” by Mary Konoir. The pattern is called Fan and Shell Shawl.  I am so in love with this circular shawl, it’s beautiful and let’s talk about that drape, shall we? Gorgeously constructed, beautiful pattern!

 I have no choice but to award the Set My Picot Free award to Espins for OUSTANDING and ELEGANT crochet! Wonderful work! May I gush further? I would so wear that any day! I’m inspired!

This hat Sets Our Picot Free!

 

This is a fabulous hat! Made by CLF Member Rubyshoecreations using the Lattice Hat pattern from Rheatheylia. I love the surface crochet lattices, and saw some other versions of the hat on Ravelry.com as well. With fall approaching I ask you, can we make enough hats? No, no we cannot. Hats are fabulous accessories and in my un-humble opinion you can never have too many of them!

Congratulations Rubyshoecreations, you are hereby awarded the CLF Set My Picot Free award for making a fabulous hat!

I would also like to remind all of our readers to go to the CLF Website to sign up for the retreat! We’re getting close to the deadline for the early bird special to expire! Only $75 for a four-day retreat folks! We’ve got a yarn tasting planned for Monday October 18, Guest Speakers in the evenings, activities in the afternoons including a Dye Workshop specifically with crochet in mind, as well as morning classes that you must pre-register for!

You can get your buddies together to room in the warm and cozy cabins, and we’ve got so much fun planned, it will be a true CLF experience! Liberating, Community Building and Crochet like you have never crocheted before!

It’s Fair Time Again!!

I know this blog has been quiet, too quiet. For that I am truly apologetic!  But once again it’s Fair Time in the Stanwood Camano area of Washinton State. As superintendant of the Hand Spinning and Fleece department the end of July and beginning of August find me frazzled and frought with creative bursts of energy followed by lows of exhausted drooling.

I would not change it for the world. For a week each year I am in a wonderful old log cabin, spinning wheel, carding brushes and crochet hooks at the ready to mystify and dazzle the general public. Children swarm our outpost of pre-modern life, and old folks come to tell us the stories of the aunts, grandmas, uncles and grandpas who taught them how to spin, or card, wash f;leece. warp looms, and of course crochet and knit. We are a refelction of what used to be, when everyone knew everyone else, when the smell of fresh baked bread was a daily thing to take for granted not a priveledged event. We harken back to lazy summer afternoons, where you could sit on a porch and shuck corn for hours, or shell peas, or snap beans, while someone told stories of their childhood days or fishing tales where fish got bigger with each telling.

We remind people that communications happen best you speak to someone kindly, with a smile, and attend to them with interest, not a text message or a yap fest without empathy. We remind people that it takes more than two hands to get a job done, and that somethings don’t really change. We inspire and teach, and we learn, we learn so much every year.

Why just today an older woman came in to visit with one of our volunteers, and told stories of stilling on her grandmother’s wood fired stove, learning to crochet on weekends early in the morning, waiting for the house to warm up. She’s crocheted for about 70 years, and spoke of the 12 lapghans she crocheted in the past four weeks to give away to the senior center, to folks who were “old”  What did I learn? I watched my teenaged daughter’s face as she listened to the woman tell her stories, and then the two of them talked crochet. There wasn’t anything “new” in what I learned, perhaps it was more of a reminder, that really the whole world can move as fast as it wants, tech can make us reach across oceans, and make life go by faster thant he nano-seconds we like to keep track of, but there is nothing more prescious than a young person listening to an older person and then feeling safe to tell her stories too.

We often forget in our quest for knowledge, in our quests for perfection and success that our lives are short, and time is more often best spent visiting, in person, and listening to each other, and yes, learning.

I’ll be at the Stanwood Camano Fair in Stanwood WA from 10-8pm Wednesday Aug. 4, taking entries, and then come on by and see me Friday Aug 6 thru Sun Aug. 8, 2010. We have a fabulous time, come pull up a chair on the porch, I can talk and spin at the same time, or maybe we can just crochet together. You tell me your stories and I’ll tell you mine!

Happy Birthday Crochet Kharma!

Yesturday was my birthday, my gift from husband was a trip out to my favorite bookstores, which is a long drive through pretty country side.

This one book store has all manner of treasures, I know if I’m looking for something funky, out of the ordinary, or a subject that has little information on it, this used book store will have it at some point. Today I scored crochet gold!

I found two older crochet books, one from 1948, hardbound even, entitled  “The Complete Book of Crochet” by Elizabeth L. Mathieson. It’s a fabulous book for the crochet historian to possess. I’m honored to be it’s latest keeper!

The second book I found is PROOF of all that I have been requesting in books on crochet!! It’s entitled, “America’s Crochet Book”, by Gertrude Taylor. Published in 1972 by Charles Scribner & Sons. This book has it all from how to learn crochet with some of the best written instructions I’ve ever seen, (Lefties beware though, the antiquated view on left handedism is present but the other information is so worth skipping that vingnette).

Chapter One includes:

1. General :  Types of hooks and hook sizes: Steel hooks, Aluminum or plastic hooks, wood hooks, afghan hooks
2. Description of Beginning Stitches: Chain stitch, Single, Half Double, Double, Treble, Double Treble, Triple Treble, Slip Stitch
3. Shaping of Crochet Pieces:  Decreases (in each of the stitches by the way), Increases, Bind off.
4. Pracice stitches with yarn: Joining new thread

From starting your first project, to learning how to fit garments and finish them correctly (to make them as polished as anything anyone else purchases!) to instructions for Tunisian Crochet and hairpin lace…this book is an amazing amazing tribute to our craft.

The information on fitting garments and how to alter a pattern to fit YOUR body is EXACTLY what we have been asking for, and when publishers say it can’t be done we can now point at this book and blow them big raspberries!

It can be done! It has been done! And where was this book in my life 20 years ago!!! It’s fabulous! Written in plain Engligh with the beginning garment maker in mind I love this book.

Here’s a sample of some of the encouraging text!

“So many people think that they need only purchase yarn, hooks, and a pattern book to create gorgeous garments. This is not so. You must develop a new skill and start your way at the bottom of the ladder and work your way up rung by rung. If you have crocheted for years, making doilies, edgings, or tablecloths, you have a little head start on the brand new beginner, but still you must learn how to fit, block, and finish garments made of yarn.”

Have I been channeling her? Is she still around? Does anyone know her or did know her in real life, because I want to make sure some one hugs her on my behalf! I love, love, love this book and it is now my brand new favorite of all time!

Did I mention it’s in mint condition, dust jacket and all? Oh yes, it shall have a hallowed place in my home.

I want to thank all the wonderful folks on the CLF message board on Ravelry, and on Facebook for the birthday wishes!  How lovely to be thought of!

A reminder to you all the Crochet Liberation Front’s 3rd birthday is July 27th, what do you want to do to celebrate?

Simple Summer Crochet Fun!

Back to handing out awards for crochet fabulousness! CLF member LittleThingies has a great example of what can be done with simple motifs. These examples are a simple hexagon motif (the pattern for which is on the project page on Ravelry.com, but you could use circles, triangles, squares, polyhedrons, octogons, oh heck any thing that fits and looks good as an embellishment!

I love what she did to the sneakers!

Congratulations!  I award you, LittleThingies, with the Hookalicious Award for creative and fun crochet!

Also, if you haven’t seen the recently updated CLF Website, I finally was able to get photos up to represent what will be taught in our classes during the CLF retreat! You can check that out here!

Beary Cute! Hookalicious Crochet!

Well, it’s official summer is here! I keep meaning to get my “business” work done, but family has tasks for me at the moment…I believe after Thursday this week, I should have time to do “my thing.” At least for a little bit. Welcome to the life of a middle aged mom of two! LOL

However, I committed myself to blogging even though I had three meetings today!  Son and I are doing interpretive programs at the local State Park, Cama Beach, concerning garbage and recycling. Keeping our planet clean for our own health and future is important to us, and it’s part of his environmental science program. I’m not into the doom and gloom brand of teaching so we’re going to do fun games, and a puppet show (people, that boy of mine makes those puppets come alive, he doesn’t even need to do voices…he’s got the right moves, and the kids love him!)…In light of this love of community work, volunteering, charitable giving and time, today’s Hookalicious Award goes to CLF member Raven for this gorgeous dress on the bear!

 

Raven’s local guild decided to dress teddy bear’s to donate to their local police department to give to children who have experienced trauma. I’ve donated stuffed animals to similar programs in my area, and it is something vitally important! And that dress is too cute!

Raven congratulations I award you the CLF Hookalicious Award for beautiful crochet and community spirit! Hook on ! Live Long!

CLF Happenings…

The CLF Message board is a very busy place, sometimes it’s dizzyingly busy! But recently we’ve had several topics come up that are quite interesting.

The first of note is a discussion about standards in crochet, and there are some out in the world floating around, but nothing really staunch. And well, maybe it’s a good thing, and maybe it’s not. What is a great thing is the wonderfully mature discussion happening about the subject. I invite you to weigh in on the topic here in this thread 😉

Also interesting was some folks asking where to get things with the CLF logo, a button, bumper stitcker, stickers or something! Well we do have something available in our Zazzle storefront, so if you want to brandish your CLF pride, go to our store and grab something 😉 I don’t promote that as much as I should, but mostly cause I don’t want to irritate you all with it!

Also, are you interested in being part of the 2011 Flamies nominating committee? I will be posting more information in the coming weeks, but think about it! I will have some criteria created and we’ll accept nominations on the CLF board as per normal, and then we’ll make make our final decisions 😉 This whole Flamie thing is kind of a big deal now, one more fun idea that took off! Never ceases to amaze me 😉

CLF NEWS:2010 Crochet Awards Nominees for Best Designer, Free Form

Yay, what ever little code gremlin was interfering  with my Ravelry usage has been fixed! Crochet be praised! Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming of showing off the work of the nominees. Now, I knew I couldn’t get through all of the categories before the voting ends on Monday, March 22; however that will not stop me from posting information about the various categories.

And I have a thought for next year, I will have two new categories, so please remind me, or I’ll remember to just put them in the Nominations group ahead of time. I’m going to split pattern books into “Compilations” and “By an individual” because really they are different animals entirely.  I am also going to have a category for the best non-pattern based design…I haven’t come up with the name, but as you all know many of us who crochet DO NOT USE patterns, and it’s not all free forming, some of us just go “Commando” in our crochet and do without patterns. I think those people should be applauded too…so, that’s for the 2011 Awards 🙂

Also, another quick note, any one may suggest nominations for next year, but I think I will be creating a nominating committee as well, because frankly we could have had a LOT more participation in the nominations (some people were very diligent however!), so once the committee is formed I will post about it here on the blog and you can suggest your nominations to the committee as well as on Ravelry.com. I think it will make the whole thing a lot more stream lined and I won’t have to scramble so hard next year. After all, I may have a day job then, and I will need a lot more help?

Day job? What is this about a day job? LOL That’s another blog post my friends, and well I have to get an interview first, so on with the Flamies’ show!

The nominees for Best Designer: Free Form are: (Please note these photos are merely a single representation of the designer’s work.)

Karen Barnaby

Miroslava

Amal 

Renate Kirkpaatrick

Ellene Warren      

Margaret Hubert

Prudence Mapstone

Myra Wood

CLF NEWS: Nominees for Best Designer, Thread Projects

My friends, crocheters, what a weekend, keep the votes rolling in! There are some pretty hot races, and they just keep getting hotter! I also want to give a huge thank you to Mary Beth Temple for being our Flamies Hostess with the Mostess! Her podcast, Getting Loopy is our Flamie Home! Thank you Mary Beth for offering us your show, we’ll see how wild and wooly we can make it this year!  You can catch Getting Loopy every Monday 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern. And to ensure fair play, we’ll be doing a little blog post on our Nominees for best podcast…so if you have your favorites go vote!

Without further ado the nominees for Best Designer, Thread Projects are…

Ferosa Harold for her threadwork    

Kathryn White for her threadwork

Patricia Kristoffersen for thread work

Edith Molina for her thread work bears

Don’t forget to check out the Official Crochet Liberation Website!