Crochet Portraits

Check out http://www.johamiltonart.com/.   Winter, 2009 issue of Interweave Crochet, page 96, shows some of jo hamilton's crocheted faces.  The rest are on her website.  She also crocheted the city of Portland, not once but twice.  This is crochet art!  
  I am over my head with crochet projects, as well as with life, right now.  I am using the reverse shell afghan stitch to crochet an afghan for myself this time.  Finally something for me is in the works!  Self-only crocheters are rare.    This says so much about themselves, don't you think?  

Do you need a yurt?

Kate Pokorny is crocheting a yurt.  A yurt is dome shaped shelter, looking like a wooly igloo.  She is trying to raise $5,500 for the materials.  In one photo Kate is seen standing on 200 pounds of Dorset wool in her parents' backyard in New Hampsire.  The diameter of the "yarn" used looked larger than a strong man's arm.    For more info google  Yurt Alert.  To do this she has to study various aspects of math related to constructing a curved surface that will retain its shape. If you donate to her project she will send you a mini crocheted yurt. Good luck Kate.

Books

The Chicago Public Lbrary has 89 books about crochet listed, and hundreds for knitting. I am wondering if this is reflective of interest.

DIP

DIP=do it in public. Crochet where others can see you to promote crocheting. I do this frequently. I DIP at the bus stop, in the waiting room, in the cafeteria at work, in my backyard, on the bus, on the "EL,' in restaurants, at the movies using lighted hooks, in the park, by the river, at friends' homes. It might be called addiction. I don't know. But what I do know is that sometimes my hands get darned cold crocheting outside waiting for the bus at the bus stop, especially on the corner of Foster and Kimball where there is no bus shelter going east or west on Foster. Well-- hopefully this winter I won't be as cold because I crocheted a complete set of DIP accessories, including mitten/gloves where I can pull off the mitten part which covers my fingers including my thumb and crochet with only my fingers showing.

I started out using a pattern. But doggone it, I got lost in the pattern, so I frogged and started over without a pattern, just with a picture of what I wanted in my head. I did pretty good,too.

The right thumb cover folds back instead of outward. that was the only mistake. I chose not to frog that thumb but to live with it. I now have a very large matching runny nose scarf, part of which you can see to the right of the foto. I also have a cute but a bit frilly hat with pull down ear flaps. About the only thing not matching are leggings.....just kidding...but do you remember leggings? They sure kept us kids warm.

If you pass by the corner of Foster and Kimball and see this huge pink fluffy smurf-like person crocheting in the cold Chicago winter -- that's me. I am enjoying myself being creative and DOING IT IN PUBLIC. And yes, people do stop and ask me what I am "knitting" so I respond that I am CROCHETING a....

Martha Stewart's Halloween Show

Crochet Sighting.
Martha's Halloween episode included a creature from the Wild Things called Carol. Carol is a kind of cute monster who had crocheted hair, and a crocheted tail, along with a knitted long-sleeved shirt and sweat pants.

Pineapple Yarn

Yes, there is such a yarn. It is made from a commerically produced relative of the pineapple. it is hard to find but there is a store named Knit Purl which carries it, and calls it figue.

Benefits of Crocheting

Check out www.stitchlinks.com. This is a website doing research on the beneficial effects of knitting and stitching. (sorry I had to use the "K" word, and that the word "stitching" is the one applicable to crochet, but that is how it is). The web site is trying to prove what most of us crocheters already know - especially those of us who are SENIOR. Here is a synopsis of the benefits: ...enable your body to find a healthy balance in the midst of stress, gives pleasure and peace of mind, increases self-esteem, people who feel good about themselves recover faster from illness and injury, helps manage chronic pain and depression, is a preventative approach to health, instead of constant criticism get praise, being able to give something back when you crochet for charity, getting a feeling of belonging when you crochet with and for others, an effective way to break addictive habits (as in crochet instead of eat, smoke or???), distraction reasearch has shown if a most effective analgesic, eye movement therapy or EMDR is already used to treat Post Traumatic Stress and anxiety and think about your eye movement when you crochet, effects of color, touch and the creative process, and of course the end product of which we are very proud--to say the least.
You can join Stitchlinks, and you can also promote their research by telling your "Story" as to how crocheting has helped you. Go to the stitchlinks website and click on My Story. Your story will be kept anonymous, and you will be promoting crochet and that other K word!
It is worthwhile to check out this site even if you don't have a story to tell.

To inspire Mary

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

Ahhh...

Foto 1 is the back of Diane's sweater. 2 is the dress Donna crocheted for her granddaughter and 3 is the front of Diane's gorgeous sweater. The joy of seeing the finished product is an "Ahhh." The satisfaction of teaching that person to create the finished product is heavenly. I was pleased as could be when Donna said that it was a little too big so she went back, frogged a couple of rows, and then decreased as she re-did those rows, so that it fits...and she just did it without my help. that is the mark of both a good teacher and a good student.

Cruisette on Fox River on 9.20.09

See my previous blog about this. Here are some more photos taken by the staff of the Wool and Company yarn store in Geneva, IL.

Cruisette on Fox River

Yesterday I joined a lot of knitters on a paddle boat ride on the Fox River. The trip and the photos about it are sponsored by Wool and Company in Geneva, IL. Even tho I appeared to be the only crocheter I was welcomed aboard. A friend, Connie, did humorously remark that she wasn't sure they should have let me on board. There was a needlepointer on the boat, too. The boat was docked in Pottawamie Park in St. Charles, IL. It was fun. there were little contests, and clever prizes, and each of us got a goodie bag, a really nice one, too, before we left the boat. I would do this again in a nanosecond, and am already looking forward to next year's.
I wish the Northern IL Chapter of the CGOA would arrange for this. We could all meet at the Colonial Cafe afterwards for a meal or ice cream. It's not all that expensive, and a hellva lot of fun. The trip started at 5:30 p.m., so by the end of the ride it got dark on the boat--but some experienced knitter-cruisers at my table brough camplights and flashlights to knit by. this was a somewhat less-than gregarious group at my table, but they did open up when I told them that the beatiful beaded neclace I was wearing was crocheted and by me. they were knitting mittens, baby blankets and a gorgeous lace table runner.

Yarn Pettings

"Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)
Crochet Your Way to Mental Health
I'm coming out of the closet...the closet filled with yarn!
By Bob Wire, 9-13-09 "
A yarn store in Montana called Loopy has Yarn Pettings. These are get-togethers for yarn lovers to come to the store and feel the yarn!!! I found this bit of information in the article listed above.

I just read the following in the magazine BODY & SOUL.."...the woman in the cave weaving the world into existence. Each time she gets up to stir the stew she's got cooking on the fire, her dog pounces on the weaving, unraveling it. When the woman returns to her loom, she stands meditatively above the chaotic mess and despairs, 'says Meade, author of The World Behind the World. 'Then she picks up an end and starts weaving again, this time to create an even more beautiful design."
How true in crochet and in life! If it isn't true in your life, "Make It So."

Horses' Clothes

There is a whole slew of patterns for horses' ear bonnets and hats and gear on the internet. go to Crochet do-dads to find it.

Yarn Bombing

Yarn Bombing is the termed coined to describe yarn grafitti, or decorating public places with knitted and crocheted work. The foto I saw on the internet showed some tiny bit of yarn bombing in Seattle. There is also a picture book out about. When I saw the term without reading the explanation, I visualized crocheters and knitters throwing balls of yarn at each other!! What fun!

The Way

Every once in a great while I discover a book which is profound and has the ability to profoundly influence my life. Today, I went into Barnes & Noble in Old Orchard to pick up a copy of the latest Interweave Crochet magazine, and found one. On a sale table I saw a New York Times Bestseller called "How to Practice The Way to a Meaningful Life" by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, translated and Edited by Jeffrey Hopkins. I am in awe! I cannot put it down. If you really care about yourself and each other, and the world, please read this.

Wool and Company

There is a yarn store in Geneva, IL called Wool and Company which I visited today. I had been there about two years ago, and I went there again today - a spur of the moment decision to lift my spirits and get me enthused about crocheting again. Wow! What neat stuff they have. It was obvious they cater to knitters and that crocheters are their poor cousins who live across the tracks! However, I still enjoyed my visit and they have a corner, one whole corner for crocheters. I brought home a new bag, which of course I wasn't badly in need of. And little crochet hook silver charms which are really special. Then I went to Egg Harbor for lunch. It took almost twice as long to get there as it usually does because I kept ending up on streets names CONSTRUCTION and ROUGH GROOVED SURFACE and FLAGMAN AHEAD(even tho it was a woman), so coming home I took a less familiar route but with more familiar street signs like 25th Avenue, Belmont, Irving Park and Pulaski. Oh dear, now that I am home where do I put it all -- stash my stash......and a good yarn to you all.

Ripped

This is a sad and stressful evening for me. It has been a day of betrayal, and unlike bad crochet stitches I can't rip it out. I wonder if the Creator ever wants to rip out the Creator's stitiches! This beatiful crocheted piece I have been working on for a few years has been torn, not in one place but in two. Ripping and tearing are completely different actions put upon a crocheted work of art. I choose to rip to make my piece better - others choose to tear apart. I look at the bright colors, made even brighter by the contrasting dark ones, and no longer even feel like repairing them, so deep is the tear and so mighty is the anger. I don't think I can repair this piece. Just the thought of its destruction has left me short of breath and with chest pains through to my back. Any repairs would scar the piece forever. I could start crocheting another one - but only to have it torn by someone else? Is it worth it? Of course, I have options - maybe try to creatively create something entirely different, maybe unravel what yarn is there but the unraveled yarn will be in bits and pieces, maybe just toss it in the garbage, maybe just give up, and stop crocheting. Maybe take all the pieces and crochet a wall. Maybe crochet a suit of armour out of thin wire crocheted so tightly that it cannot be pierced by unfriendly hooks or tapestry needles who don't like its shape, or are jealous and threatened by its beauty.

Crochet Lunch Bunch

Today the Crochet Lunch Bunch got together, and guess what we did? Crocheted! Chatted! and relaxed. Crocheting is so smooth. Mary's cowboy hat is a bit big on the range. So I worked with her to decrease the crown before starting on the brim. Donna has finished the bottom row of the little jumper. Diane is working on the cuffs of her sweater. She intends to finish it by Labor Day! can't wait to see it. I crocheted earrings from mint dental floss. Imagine earrings that smell like toothpaste! I will be the envy of every dentist in town!!! :>]

Back again

Hi. Crochetkookie has had a lot of kookies in her kooky jar lately. Have been recovering from lower back problems. Crochet has had to take second seat to this - but not for much longer. The lunch bunch at NEIU is growing and flourishing. I finally convinced them to meet without me when I can't make it. The regulars, Donna, Diane and Mary are almost always there. Mary finally got a computer and e-mail so now it is easier to keep her up to date. Diane is off and running like a forest fire in a drought sticken area -- she is into crocheting clothes now. She is working on a colorful sweater that promises to be both gorgeous and warm. Nan has decided to switch to an afghan instead of a cat. Afghan much easier for a beginner but I go with the flow. Her intermittant attendance, like static, makes it hard to tune into her needs. Mary is still plugging away on her pink cowboy hat, making progress, especially not that she is passing the clusters rows. Lookin' good, Mary. Donna is working on the cutest little whatchamacallit for a little girl - think its like a jumper. Me--I am still making paisleys. I finished my pretty blue sweater, but now want to decorate it - maybe with a paisley pocket or two -- meanwhile I have been crocheting earrings in doctors' waiting rooms.
I gave a friend,Anna, a pair of my prettiest earrings for her birthday. She wore them when we went to Boston Blackies for a treat. One of the was turned backwards, so she took it off and asked if I could fix it. As I turned the hanger around, it snapped off. Anna looked a little dismayed but I told her I could fix it. I reached into my little black and white purse, pulled out my mini-crochet project kit --never leave home without a hook and project -- took out a mini pliers, removed the rest of the fish hook--then, much to Anna's continued astonisment, I reached back into my bag and pulled out a new gold ear hook, and attached it. Ahh--Anna had her earring back, and turned the right way. She laughed and wondered what else I had in my purse. I just laughed back, and didn't tell her about the scissors, tapestry and big eye needles, the crochet thread in different colors, different colored/sized beads, and of course a couple of crochet hooks. Fun! Fun to watch her astonishment as I kept pulling "rabbits" out of my bag.
I didn't make it to Chain Link Conference nor to the yarn tour today. I am disappointed. My health, or lack of it, kept me at home. I'm hoping that someone will tell me about Chain Link and all that I missed. I am hoping Addie made it to the yarn tour, and will give me the low down on it.

Crocheted Cowboy Hat

I have received some requests for the pattern for the Cowboy Hat I crocheted and showed fotos of on this blog. To all who have requested the pattern, and those who don't know it yet, but will in the future, it is not my original pattern, so I cannot send it to you. However, I will direct you to the source which is Debbie Stoller's book "The Happy Hooker." The pattern turns out a hat that is a bit larger than expected. What I did was decrease right before the cluster rows. You can also decrease during or after the cluster rows, but that is a bit harder. It is not an easy pattern, but a fun challenge for crocheters. I wrote out in large type the instructions for the cluster. If you make the last row of the clusters a different color, it looks as if you have a hat band on it. If you make it would you e-mail a foto of it? I would like to add it to my blog. I have already received requests to crochet this for others. One woman offered me $100. to make a black one for her. It's a great challenging project -- just remember to try it on when you reach the cluster rows. You could also use a smaller crochet hook. My main e-mail is calumet133@yahoo.com. Would luv to hear from you.

PLARN

New word -- PLARN is PLastic yARN that is plastic bags cut into strips and crocheted with as if they were yarn.

Crochet Words

Another innovative crochet word: Guerrilla Yarnfare. Found on Kim Werker's website. This word is used to describe the crocheted artifacts on a NYC fence.

What's in a name?

I am reading a book called "Hooked for Life Adventures of a Crochet Zealot" by Mary Beth Temple. It's different. Here are some tidbits from it. Did you know that Irish Crochet is really French? It was started in France by a French lady. I've always wondered about a name I still can't pronounce and that sounds like - anti-macsacre, or Auntie Mascara. Those dollies that my Mom and grandmother used to crochet and pin to the back of our upholstered chairs are called antimacassars. Such a strange name for such a beautiful piece of lace. Well, it seems that back in those old days, men put an oily substance on their hair called macassar. And they would not only lean back on their comfortable favorite upholstered chair, but rub their hands thru their hair and get that macassar on those lovely chairs. You can guess the rest. The dictionary says that it is pronounce an-ti-muh-kass-er. Who would have ever known!!!!

Firey Crochet Girl

Hey Hey! Diane's on fire....or maybe I should say she's hooked. Here is a foto of the vest she created from granny squares. At first she just crocheted pretty blue granny squares to be doing some crocheting with the lunch bunch crocheters--then she got inspired as to what to do with all those little squares. Diane is "headless" in this foto by her choice. She does look better with a head... not many people can crochet headless...... :>}

I also suspect she's an emotional crocheter like I am, but enuf said about that.

I am hoping to get a new addition to the Lunch Bunch. Addie is thinking about joining us every other Wednesday.

Mary is progressing nicely with her red cowboy hat. She might even finish it before Country Thunder. She can do up to Row 16 before needing my help again. We might make her a Cowgirl yet!!!

P.S. Regarding STASH -- am still working on it. more to come.

Stash

Recently, I hired a personal organizer, partly because I just came from an 8 day stay in the hospital, and didn't feel physically up to doing it myself. Ann-Marie did a fabulous job on my dining room/office area, and she was great company right after I came home from the hospital. she worked, while I rested, and occasionally helped her and told her what to toss. But I didn't have enuf $$ to hire her to do my yarn room, which is entered from the dining room. Today I decided to give my disaster, earthquaked, volcanic eruption, tornado struck yarn room a try at cleaning up. I am doing so very gently (protecting my back and leg), and slowly -- one skein, one UFO, one crochet hook at a time. Since I have to sit done and rest inbetween clean-up tasks, I decided to use the sit-down time to describe my "adventure" at doing this staggering job.

Those of you who are neat-freaks will probably be blown away by my adventure, but those of you, like me, who are cluttered crocheters, or perhapts crochety crocheters in yarn room, will enjoy and identify with my experiences. And I prefer to think there are more cluttered crocheters than neat-freaks. so enjoy the following entries, made during my sit-down time showing the "progress" (I hope) I make.

I don't know whether to call this Christmas or Discovering but I am finding some unusual "gifts" in my stash. I was cleaning out a basket full of HomeSpun yarn, when I saw this shiny glittering object on the basket bottom. It was a fork! Don't ask! I know I wasn't using it to eat yarn! Yuck. Hmm-mm I doubt if I was using it to untangle yarn either. I just plain can't imagine how it got there. I don't eat and crochet at the same time because I don't want to stain my work. And I am a messy eater. Well back to the disaster area for more discoveries....

Next discovery from my dig -- my inhaler, buried under the stuff on my craft table. Ahh-hh now I will breathe easier -- tho it is outdated. Guess I will toss it. I got breathing treatments in the hospital, and now have a brand new inhaler.

Oh-Oh. Guess what I found this time.....are you guessing???? Keep going.....I found a child's cook book of PEANUT BUTTER recipes in the bottom of a bin of pink yarn and unfinished pink elephants. Was I going to crochet a pink Peanut Butter Jar? Or do my pink elephants like peanut butter? So go ahead and laugh --- At least it wasn't a peanut butter sandwich in there. WHAT DO YOU HAVE HIDDEN IN YOUR STASH?

Dig deeper...I've never been on an archological dig in a desert...but I am probably getting practice for so doing. One bag of Red Heart yarn had a bit of a smell to it - and it wasn't perfume which I sometimes use to have my crocheted flowers smell. It was more like.....well...

ah-hem....like stinky feet. Yeah you guessed it one dirty sock! OK where is the other one... I have two feet after all. This might explain the sock gremblin who swallows one sock from a pair during the laundry process... don't know if I have a lonely sock in my sock drawer, but first this one goes into the laundry. At least I can figure this "find" out -- I sit in my recliner and crochet, and sometimes slip off my shoes and then my socks -- I use my feet to achieve this task because my lap is full and crochet, and my back hurts when I bend. One of the socks probably slipped into the bag of yarn...... You know, I still miss my deceased mother, but I am sorta glad she isn't around to discover the sock -- Oh Vay! She would have a lot to say about my disaster area, not to to mention the dirty sock. If you're listening Mom, I would prefer that you not watch me do this. My priorities have changed as I grew up -- crocheting over cleaning -- hey, don't talk back to me -- you taught me how to crochet and now I am a crochet kookie. Got eat lunch or whatever else you do in heaven. Also - if you have any influence up there could you get HIM or HER to heal my back and leg? It would make me get the room done faster.......

To Be continued...have to rest now.

Crocheting Wall Hangings

These photos were taken some time ago at the Fine Line in St. Charles, IL. The picture to the left is a close up of the tree in the larger picture. This a crocheted wall hanging, and the size, if memory serves me right is about 5 feet tall! It is a masterpiece of crochet art. It was crocheted by a group of women. It is worth the trip to St. Charles to see it. Fine Line is hard to find once you get to St. Charles so be sure to call for directions, or Google a map before you start out.

The leaves on the branches are done with the loop stitch.

UnFinished Objects

Why can't I find a UFO when I want one? Because my stash is a mess. In digging thru my stash I found a pair of yellow socks with just the toe on one waiting to be finished. They looked huge, but then I'm not exactly petite...and why didn't I just finish the toe... Maybe I have crochet ADD -- and jump from one project to the other -- actually ADD means ADD another project. I want to do everything - and when a new shiny bauble (pattern) catches my eye - I bounce over to it, and the curent one which I couldn't wait to get finished gets buried under the other one--and so on and so on and so on. Hmm-the word etc. etc etc was probably coined by a crocheter digging thru her stash. Excuse me now, while I go get a shovel, a crocheted one of course....

Crochet Lunch Bunch.

This is the way we crochet today, crochet today -- all on a Wednesday lunch.

From left to right - Nan, Mary Donna, Dorothy in the cafeteria, crocheting up a storm at lunch.

Sue was asking if we had a name -- Happy Hookers is funny but didn't go over well -- how about CROCHET LUNCH BUNCH?