Craft and Hobby Show at Rosemont Theater

Dorothy and the Ugliest Sweater Ever

Today was fun.  The Show was gigantic, colorful, interesting, delightful and entertaining.  Some of us from NIC taught crochet at the Craft Yarn Council of America's booth.  I was busy almost the whole four hours.  My voice started getting scratchy so I took a break and got something to drink to let it rest.  I taught young and old and in-between, inexperienced, some knew a little and even experienced crocheters who saw me crocheting cables, and wanted to see how I did it.  I thought it was funny, me teaching them cables when a week ago I couldn't crochet cables!!!  Another one wanted to learn the Afghan stitch but we hadn't brought an afghan hooks, so she went to another booth and "borrowed" one so I could teach her.  It was great watching her catch on and see where she had gotten confused by trying to do it from reading a book.  I saw an older lady watching us and I invited her to sit down even tho she knew how to crochet.  I told her to sit and rest a bit and we can talk about crochet.  she learned as a child, and knew a lot about the art.  Sharing her experiences was really a nice thing for both of us.  I know the greatest gift we can give to anyone is to listen to them -- and I did that today, too.   I also talked to the Crochet Dude, Drew Emborsky.  I follow his blog and have seen him on TV a few times.  He really is funny, and told us he learned how to crochet at the age of 5 when he and his many siblings were snowbound and the mother was looking forf something to keep the 5 year old busy during the snow storm.  It worked, and he never stopped crocheting either.  I got a photo of the two of us together.   I also met some friendly people and after my shift was over and I was checking out the booths, some of them stopped to talk with me with big smiles all the way around. 

The only Failure is to Quit!

Last week, at the Midwest Fabric and Fiber show in Grayslake, I took a chance.  I took Gwen's Crocheting Cables class.  Crocheting cables just seem too difficult for me to comprehend.  I am an experienced crocheter and a crochet teacher -- you'd think I could do cables!!!  Cable, schable, mayble, enable me please.
  The first time I tried to learn cables was with Addie at the NIC meeting, Gwen taught it then, too.  I just couldn't get my mind around those darned posts going backwards and forwards, and I felt inside out and outside in, and upside down and sideways....well you get the picture...I was a failure.  And what made it worse for my, my pride was wounded, my crocheter self-esteem was getting flushed you know where, because Addie caught on easily, and I didn't...  that was a blow, because usually I caught on first and then was able to help Addie catch on. I was a failure, or so I thought.
  Then two events took place in my life.  I joined Sparkpeople.com, where I made some online friends.  I joined a couple of teams on SparkPeople, one was titled something like Crochet Away the Pounds and another was Emotional Eaters.  One of my Spark People buddies told me that the only failure was to quit.   that's not a label I wanted to give myself -- quitter -- no way, jose.  After what I've been thru - don't dare call me a quitter
   The second event was when I saw Crocheting Cables being offered as a class.  Well, this time it cost me big bucks to take it, but and I "failed" Gwen's class last time, but I AM NOT A QUITTER.  Well, this was a small class, and Gwen an excellent and patient teacher.  I did the first swatch in class, and Gwen told me my post stitches were good.  Hah!!!  That was it, or so it seemed.  The second swatch got us down to business with crossed treble stitches going forward and backward.  I tried.  After a while and just two rows...WOE IS ME... here I go again.  I seemed to catch on, but I just couldn't visualize what when where, and, especially I couldn't keep my place in the darn pattern.  Gwen sat between me and Cindy and patiently showed me what I was doing wrong, and what I needed to do right.  Somewhere what she was saying registered, but I couldn't concentrate with the chatting going on, and became frustrated and started to think I was a frustrated failue AGAIN.  But then I rememebered the Spark Buddy saying "the only failure is to quit."   I fiddled with the piece until class was over, deciding I would go home, write out the complex pattern into lines with large print and separated by stitches not rows, and do the d...n thing. 
   that's what I did and this photo tells you that I am not a failure at all, but quite a success, especially now that I can chew gum, watch TV, not look at the printed pattern, and crochet these cables.  I even dreamed about crocheting cables.  So am I quitter???

Crocheted Cables aka I did it!

 I would like to hear your comments, and want to know if you have had a similar experience.  And say don't fail.
Keep on crocheting.  Don't miss a stitch.  Keep yourself in stitches.

Crochet Artist

Is Crocheting an art?   Yes.  Dictionary says "the expression of creative skill in a visual form such as painting or sculpture."   I have painted pictures by crocheting yarn.  I have created sculptures by crocheting.  Crocheting is expression of my creative skill in a visual form.  I crochet with different media, yarn of course, thread, mason line, wire, string, twine, pipe cleaners...if it is flexible and kinda stringy...it can be used to crochet.  Yes, all you fellow crocheters, you are artists in every sense of the word! 

Palette of Yarn for Crochet Artist

Cables conquered (almost)

Well, I finally made a swatch of treble cables.  I attended Gwen's class on Crocheting Cables at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair yesterday.  I worked and worked at it, and got the first swatch just fine.  At the beginning of the class I told Gwen how I just couldn't do cables the last time I attended a class on this.
  During yesterday's class I just couldn't get my head around the treble cables needed to create this beautiful swatch which Gwen showed us as a sample.  I was so frustrated and mad and disappointed that I almost could do it.  I just couldn't concentrate and I kept getting mixed up as to where I was in the pattern.
  Last night after I got home, I typed up the pattern in large type and lined it up so that it was easy to distinguish where I was in the row.  After a while and after doing a pete and re-repete and frogging, I finally began to see it. Today, I caught on, and began doing the trouble oops treble cable pattern without looking at the pattern.  My fingers just knew what to do.  My swatch is obviously a CABLE design, but it is still a bit messy and the tension needs improvement, but I DID it.  With practice it will become pretty like Gwen's.  I just hate it when I can't do something I think I should be able to do.  One of the SparkPeople (SparkPeople.com) told me that the only failure is to quit.      And it was fun in the class with other crocheters!   The marketplace at the Fair was good, too.  I came home with a pair of really funky earrings.  Thanks Gwen for your patience with me.  I will show you the swatch next time I see you.

Crochet Car Cover

Someone in Rome crocheted a very colorful cover for a Smart Car!  It is viewable in the link in the previous email.  You gotta see it to believe it.  Fun!  Wonder if it comes with an umbrella!!!  You know how heavy yarn is when it is wet....

One Crafty Car « ReadyMade Editors' Notes

One Crafty Car « ReadyMade Editors' Notes

Yarn, yarn a barn full of yarn - almost

Well, I am cleaning my yarn room again.  Once again it has become a kinda treasure hunt.  In addition to sorting out yarn, I am sorting socks. "Sniff,sniff" I guess I don't have to sort, just throw them in the laundry.  How did smelling socks get into the middle of my yarn stash?  Your guess is almost as good as mine!  I probably slipped them off when i was sitting in my recliner and they kinda fell into one of my project bags which eventually became a UFO tossed in my yarn room.
  This "kinda" reminds me a little second grader I taught many years ago.  His name was Phillip.  I stepped just outside of the classroom containing about 50 second graders.  I gave them an assignment (I had to pee really bad).  When I got back there was my tall treasure, Phillip.  he was standing at the blackboard with chalkdust all over his face.
  "Phillip, how did you get chalkdust all over your face?" I asked.  "I kinda fell on the eraser." he said.
   Next treasure were two books, one about GHOSTS by James Van Pragh, and another a biography of Abraham Lincoln.  Was I going to crochet the ghost of old Abe?  With me, you never know.
  A more pleasant surprise was the money, so far $2.25 enuf to buy another skein of yarn on sale.  Do I need another skein of Yarn?
  I just asked some crocheters to come and relieve me of a few large, container-store size, bags of yarn and embroidery floss.  Thank god for friends who like yarn.  I am still in the process of cleaning tho, and found more to-go's after they left.  I am going to bring the extra yarn to a retirement home in Northbrook.
  Well I'm off to do more treasure hunting-- what will I find next..
  OH P>S>  I found a few pink elephants, too.  2 B continued.

Clean Crochet Hooks

I was changing purses and dumped the contents out, and saw one of my favorite crochet hooks - a golden one, drop out and it had a big glob of hardened cholcolate stuck on it.  Yuk!   I washed it with the dishes, and as I did so I began wondering about germs and stuff on crochet hooks.   I crochet everywhere - standing, waiting, eating lunch at work, in doc's waiting rooms -- hey that's where all the sick people come.  I touch the doorknobs, chairs in the doc's office.  Then I crochet.  sometimes, well, more than sometimes, I rub my eyes, and once in a while I do that other gross thing when no one can see me -- so all these germs and stuff could be transferred to me via the crochet hooks.   Sometimes on the bus or in the cafeteria I even drop my hook.. triple Yuk! 
  I learned a lot about transferring germs and washing hands during the couple of decades I worked in hospitals, so I know how very important this is.  I am wondering if anybody washes their crochet hooks too???