Sharing is Empowerment, Part Two

When I wrote my blog entry entitled Sharing is Empowerment little did I know it would be mere hours before one of my readers would contact me and tell me there was a Chester crochet hook available for purchase as a "buy it now" ebay auction.   With this reader's blessing (I wanted to ensure she wasn't interested in bidding on the auction herself), I purchased the hook immediately.  {{THANK YOU, SANDY!!!!}}

Today it arrived safe and sound! 

Upon ripping open the package and examining the hook, I wasn't quite sure if it's the real McCoy.  I tried looking it up on the CGOA's Hook Collector's page, but the page has not been restored yet.  Using the "Way Back Machine" I searched old archived pages but found no information on this hook available.  I'm not sure what I was expecting -- bone perhaps?  It's not. This hook feels and looks like plastic AND feels "new," as in recently manufactured.  Was this hook just well stored for all these years?  Was plastic being used in the early part of the 1900s? 

I'm not sure of it's age, but yes, apparently plastic was being produced, and has been since the mid-1850s.  According to this website, an American inventor, John Wesley Hyatt, had acquired the patent to Parkesine, a hard but flexible transparent material which is part of the cellulose family.  John modified the formula to come up with an artificialivory for billiard balls.  Is it possible that the same chemical compound was used by the then Susan Bates company, while located in Chester, Connecticut, to create this hook?  I'm not sure, but I do have an inquiry out to the ever knowledgeable Nancy Nehring who heads up the Hook Collector's Group.  Hopefully she'll know more about it.

And, speaking of the Way Back Machine and crochet hooks, I was able to dig this image up from Brenda Beckman's former website ... it was a table she had found one day while at a yard sale (for those that live in the north east, we would call it a tag sale), for $35.  It measured 4 feet by 4 feet and had interchangeable drawers allowing her to change the crochet hooks she had on display.  I don't recall the specifics, but do believe she has sold off her hooks and the table.  I did not get permission to use her photograph as I do not have contact information for her.  I am posting it here in hopes that she won't mind because the image of that table is, in of itself, empowering.  It's a testament to her love of crochet, and what we all, for those with severe Hook Acquisition Syndrome, can aspire to.  :)

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Lights Out!

Last night we participated in "Earth Hour," turning off lights and unplugging appliances.  Afterwards, I resumed my crocheting, working on various projects for the upcoming Conference.  As I crocheted along, I focused my thoughts on the upcoming Crochet Exchange.  What could I make?  I started thinking about using an antique pattern with a modern fiber.   Of course I haven't figured out which pattern & fiber yet, but it did remind me that Sheila had asked a few days back if my "new" 1916 crochet/tatting booklet has any "major differences in patterns back then from how they are today, other than style?" 

In flipping through the book and reading some of the patterns, I would say no.  The abbreviations are pretty much the same that we use today.  However, I did find one stitch that I thought would be new to me: The Hailstone Stitch, the abbreviation being H S st.  There are no pictures of it in the booklet so the crocheter had to go entirely by the written directions. 

So, because there was no picture to show me what the Hailstone Stitch looked like, I decided to work up a small sample, and upon following the instructions, it occurred to me ... a real illumination moment!  ... that I do indeed know this stitch!  This is the same stitch we know as The Love(er's) Knot, and Solomon's Knot.  So, no, the stitch was not new to me ... just the name was. 

If you'd like to learn how to create this stitch, Sandy over at Crochet.About.com has a great tutorial "how to."  If you are more of a visual learner, then you'll want to hop on over to NexStitch were they offer a free video clip you can watch right on your PC.  One thing for certain is that, with this stitch, I was inspired with a possible pattern idea for the Gift Exchange!  :) 

Excitement is in the Air!

I've been at my children's school all day, playing librarian.  It was a lot of fun promoting "National Craft Month" to them, requesting them to bring in items next week to help decorate our little library.  I wonder if any attempt to surprise me by crocheting something ... ?

Now we're on our way to our local library for the first "Crochet Clique" my Mini~Dee and I will be heading up.  The library reports that there are 11 parent/child teams awaiting to learn how to crochet, so it should be fun.  :)

Speaking of kids learning how to crochet -- this is the first year that the CGOA is offering a "KIDS ONLY" crochet class at the National Conference!  And yes, Mini~Dee is already signed up for it!  You can check out the details here:  www.KnitandCrochetShow.com

Sharing is Empowerment

It is amazing the amount of information one can learn from a single online group such as CrochetPartners (it's a group hosted by Yahoo).  It could be a simple tip, or a posting about a new fiber or pattern one has fallen in love with, a technique that has inspired, and even historical information.

In February, CP member Lori posted about this website: http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/history_culture/textile/index.html.  I took immediate interest because:
A. I love anything that has to do with crochet history, and
B. because part of my family roots are tied to Germany. 

Intrigued, I asked my local library if they could obtain the books the website referenced.  (Now I have a big question: do librarians enjoy receiving hugs of thanks from their patrons??) I had thought that when one requests to borrow books from another library that they could only come from another library within that state.  Apparently that's not the case because these materials came from North Dakota!  And they're all mine for the next three weeks!  :)   Yeehaw!

I also learned from the ever wonderful Jean Leinhauser, who happens to own the CP group, a little bit of history about Connecticut.  Back in January.  Jean offered this golden nugget of information: There was once located in Chester, Connecticut, a factory which produced crochet hooks.  On these hooks, dated around 1914, one will find the name Chester stamped upon them.  The name of that company? C. J. Bates.  They changed the name stamped on the crochet hooks to Susan Bates in the mid-1930s.  Because of Jean, I now have an inquiry with the Chester Historical Society to see if they have any artifacts from that time period on display.  I eagerly await their response!

What else could one gain from being a member of an online community?  I leave finding out the answer to you!  There are many, many groups available, waiting for you to join in the fun of learning, sharing, and experiencing new friendships!  :)

Oh Poo!

It's amazing what you don't do -- or do do -- when you're not quite feeling yourself.  I'm not quite sure if this is a good thing, or a bad, but it seems to me that there has been enough potty talk and that I should stop the bull straight away and get to my point:

I'm starting to feel a little better.  Not egg-ceptionally better yet, but at least a little.  And thats a start.

It also that means I've been crocheting -- just a wee bit.

With toilet paper.

Egads!  Right?!  LOL

Thankfully, when researching if anyone else has gone totally off their rocker, possibly in a moment of weakness just like mine, I found that Hannah had done so too ... in fact, that's her Egg Holder you see to the right.  You can read about it here.    The good news is that at least I'm playing with my TP for a reason -- I will use my work as a sample to prove a point in an upcoming class I will be teaching.   Nothing fancy like Hannah's, but still it's something to ponder.

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still not quite myself

As you can see, I'm still not quite myself (thanks for the pic, Haley!).  I feel like my head weighs as much as a city bus due to congestion.  This means that I have not been able to be on the computer much to reply to emails, join in all the reindeer fun, or do some actual crocheting. 

Fortunately I have managed to write my piece for the "Crochet Connections" column (if you are a CGOA member with Internet access, this column is part of the eNews you receive), and I have been doodling various concept ideas for the Helping Hands Auction that will take place at the Conference this summer -- pretty much stuff I can do laying down.

I've also been entertaining myself by enjoying a new Crocheting & Tatting booklet  published in 1916 by Coats & Clark I had won from an ebay auction (yes, I know it's not NEW, but it is NEW to me, and it totally rocks!), as well as reading various crochet books dating back to the late 1970s that I had borrowed from my local library last week.  And sleeping.  Yes, lots of sleep!  This should teach me not to gloat!  :\

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Fate Doesn't Like to be Tempted

It seems as if fate has caught up to me.  I was so proud of escaping the germs my family had tried to share with me, such as the flu in December, the stomach virus in January, the head cold in February -- I was on a roll!!  So proud, so proud and healthy indeed!  It was to have been the first winter in a long, long time that I would be totally germ free!  ... and I was shamefully boasting about this!  In retrospect, I should have waited on the boasting.

With Spring just days away, Old Man Winter said it wasn't to be; I would not have a total germ-free winter.  So it's official.  I've been "germified big time!" to quote my children.  I'll be back when I'm feeling better.