The Holidays; What it's All About

I just returned from our local Salvation Army located in Danbury, Ct.  The weather was brisk with a few snow flakes fluttering about; warmth and good cheer was in our hearts.

With our arms filled with many new toys and nearly 90 sets of hats, mittens and scarves we have helped share in the holiday spirit.  In our conversation with Captain Norma (of the Salvation Army), she said that they will be aiding some 500 families this year and all the wonderful items we donated will be very much appreciated!

To me, this is what the holiday season is all about.  :)

Hoofin' It: Part Three?

Old man winter came aknockin' -- winter's official date isn't for another 12 days, but aknockin' he did.  And he's still here, dropping off a good 8-10 inches of delicious fluffy snow that's perfect for Santa to do some test sleigh riding.  We can forget about driving anywhere the roads are not passable.  This means we'd have to hoof it by foot, or just stay inside and spend the day sipping hot chocolate, leafing through patterns, and crocheting hooves.

Crocheting hooves?

                                    Yes, hooves.

Now, for my readers who have been with me for a bit over a year, this theme might sound familiar.  And for those readers who have been with me from the Crochet Partners online group for the past several years, well then, this is part three of the story for you.  But if you're new to reading my blog/journal here, then you'll want to get caught up by going to last year's entry first: Hoofin' It.

Hooves.  Not just any type of hooves, like horses or zebras, or even giraffes.  Nope.  We're talking Reindeer Hooves.  And I think I got hoodwinked into creating more.  ((giggles))  Here's how I came to this conclusion:

On Wednesday I was doing volunteer lunch duty at my children's school.  On this day I spend a great amount of time in the kitchen and since there's some "dead" time in between the two shifts (lower grades eat before the higher grades) I spend that time crocheting.  (what a surprise, right? lol)  So there I was, crocheting up a Cap for Cancer when the Kindergarten teacher (aka the choreographer of the upcoming holiday show) approaches me.

"Ah, just the woman I needed to see," she says.  I looked up from my work and smiled at her.  "I'm going to need to get some information from you on how you made those reindeer hooves.  I know you're quite busy, and since you have the entire school crocheting I figure if you could give us the information we can crochet up the extra hooves we'll need for this year's show," she adds.

"I can give you that information," I reply while thinking there is no way I have the entire school crocheting -- at least not yet!  "How many more hooves do you need," I inquire.

She pondered on my question for a moment and then replied, "three.  Yep, I need three more sets of hooves."  And with that she was gone.

So I got to thinking last night.  I have the same material I crocheted the first eight sets with.  I have the pattern.  The snow storm will likely keep the kids home from school and that means it wouldn't be until Monday I could get the information to the school.  Would they be able to find someone who could crochet up three more sets of hooves in time for this year's show?  The show is for this coming Thursday!

I picked up my hook and set to work.  I have one set done; two more to go.  I have three days to pace myself; I can do this.  After all, it's for the children.  :)

Playing Around

I'm playing around with my new toy this afternoon: the photo box I mentioned that UPS delivered from Ritz.com the other day -- and thus far I'm loving it!! 

... I'm also playing around with the new photo hosting offered as a free benefit for members of BlogExplosion.com.  (Please let me know if there are any viewing problems with the image below.  Otherwise my plan is to utilize their free photo hosting for the Caps for Cancer/American Cancer Society drive)

The hat featured here on the left is a custom fiber blend by yours truly -- you will NOT find another blend like it elsewhere!  It's incredibly soft, and luscious in a range of creams, pinks & blues.  Click onto the image to enjoy it to it's full splendor!  (Don't you wish you could reach into your monitor to pet it??  It's that soft!!)  I do not have it listed on the Caps for Cancer webpage yet as I'm off to photograph more hats I've been busy crocheting up; so if you want this hat, please feel free to let me know.  I have THREE of these hats available!  When they're gone, they're gone!  ... I just wanted to get an update here in my blog/journal to let those that are interested in the hats to know I've been working hard to make more hats available.  :)


3:00 PM Update:  I have since updated the  Caps for Cancer webpage ... it, as of this writing, has seven hats available.  From blonds to brunettes, to those that love stripes! 

Question from Reader: What's the Name of the Book?

Dear Dee, I am asking my Santa for the book with the poncho you wrote about in your blog. I don't recall the title; can you tell me the name of it please? Also, when do you think the book will be out? Thanks, Diane

Hi Diane,
I am honored that you wish to put the book featuring the pattern for my poncho on your holiday Wish List!  The title of the book is, "Fabulous Crocheted Ponchos: New Styles, New Looks, New Yarns.  I haven't seen the book yet so I cannot tell you which page my pattern will be on.

As far as when the book will be available, both bn.com and amazon.com show November 2005 as the release date; but that release date has not held true.  Do you recall that television show about a Skipper and a fearless crew (a.k.a. Gilligan) and what happened to them during their three hour tour. Their three hour tour? You know, the one where "the weather started getting rough; the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the fearless crew the Minnow would be lost"... (hey, the song was stuck in my head, I couldn't help but add it to today's entry!)  The bottom line of the story is that everyone is eventually found and everyone is happy.

Well, along a parallel universe, based on my "source," (aka the publisher) there were some delays in printing and the books are now on a "slow boat from China." So instead of being available at the end of last month, we're now looking for it to be available at some time in mid-January.  Eventually the books will arrive and everyone will be happy.

So, while you're waiting, one book I'd like torecommend you have on your holiday Wish List (if you don't have it already) is Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet.  It came out in 2002, and IMHO, is really becoming a classic "must have" for every crocheter's library.  There are many wonderful projects to try as well as stitch patterns and motifs.

Thanks for writing in; and for keeping tabs on the progress of my poncho pattern.  I hope your Santa treats you good this year!  J

Excited: Like a Kid at a Candy Shop

I don't like that it's getting darker and darker in the middle of the afternoon; I just don't see where the daylight "savings" is applied here.  So of course I'm delighted that in just a few short weeks that trend will start to end!  Don't get me wrong!  I love the snow!  In fact I'm hoping tonight's storm gives us more than the 4"-6" forecasted.  It makes for better sledding, better snow ball fights, better snow angels, and for making hot chocolate taste that much better!  I just don't like short days of sunlight.  I need it for my photography!

So I'm sitting here this afternoon, watching, waiting. I'm watching my front window like a kid looking in the window of a candy shop -- I'm waiting for Santa, er my UPS driver, to show up with a "toy" (see left) I have no intentions of waiting for Christmas day to open!  Nope!  I'm going stand right there at the front door and tear right into the box and use it immediately!  Hey, I mean, yeah, I could wait, but then you would have to wait to see my just finished WIPs!  And we wouldn't want that, right?  No.  See?  Waiting is a bad thing!   LOL -- just don't tell my kids!!

I'm filled with this excitement from working hard this past weekend!  I created two webpages and crochet to my heart's content ... I even got the family involved when one "slippery devil" of a fiber opted to get out of control and unwind itself.  What can I say?  I was making a "custom blend" of fibers that look just amazing crocheted up!  I had enough to make three hats with it -- so you'll see it once Mr. UPS gets here.  (hmmm, was that a truck I just heard?  Nah.  Just a neighbor.  OK, now, where was I? Ah, yes, the topic was the hats I crocheted this weekend ...)

One hat I will not be able to photograph.  It's already gone.  Sold.  What can I say?  I went to the dentist this morning, and that went really well (some would say hearing "You've got no cavities" is a good indicator of a well visit -- I don't!  I judge it by how much crochet I can get in!) as I got half a hat done while I was in the waiting room.  During my visit my hygienist "came out of the closet," revealing to me that she used to be a crocheter.  We got to talking and the next thing I know she's buying one one of the hats I had just finished tucking the ends into!  That means more funds were raised!  Yea!!!  If you'd like to bookmark the page while you're waiting for me to announce that there's new hats, here's the URL:  http://hometown.aol.com/crochetwithdee/CapsForCancer.html

To put the icing on the whole day, I came home to find out that a young journalist from the University of Florida wants to chat with me about crochet for a piece she's writing.  Could the day get any better than that?!?  (What?  UPS is at my door?  Really?!  Cool!  Gotta go!)

A Blogger Shows Her Angel Wings

I just finished visiting the Kalediscope Yarns website, placing an order for more deliciously soft fiber yarn blends.  It was my first time shopping with them, so we'll see how the experience goes.  Thus far I'm impressed; I had some questions and they responded to my email inquiry very quickly.

The reason for the order is simple.  The demand for the hats I've been crocheting to help raise money for the American Cancer Society has been going up -- and I'm currently out of stock.  Fortunately I had that recent injury resulting from a collision with my son (eish!) -- as my reward for "being so brave" at the various doctors I treated myself to visiting a "new to me yarn shop" and picked up some "new to me" yarn.  (If you visit my entry describing my injury you'll see my husband left me a comment. LOL  His statement couldn't be truer!  Oh, and an injury update: I have until Monday to decide if I want surgery or not.  I have to wait until some more of the swelling goes down before I make that decision.)

Anywho!  Let's get to the exciting part of today's entry! 

The other day, when Pamela of "Just One Girls Head Noise" wrote how she took off the chemo cap I had especially crocheted for her and gave it to another woman she connected with while they were both getting chemo treatments, she touched upon a lot of hearts.  AND unknowingly, she picked up an angel too!  That angel's name is Rhonda of  "Rhondas Strange Thoughts and Pics."  Rhonda purchased the last three hats I had currently available and requested that I ship them to Pamela.  Here's what Rhonda had to say:

Dear Dee:
I feel honored to be able to help with this. I know that Pamela is getting pretty short on money and this is just my way of saying Merry Christmas. 

You know giving to this cause, gives me more satisfaction than it does to anybody who receives it.  If I could, I'd be sending thousands and thousands!  

Like I told you before, you are a true hero in my eyes!  
Love to you and all your helpers, Rhonda

Rhonda, you're a beautiful angel disguised as a blogger!  I can't wait to ship these hats to Pamela on your behalf!  I know she will be touched and will feel your warmth and compassion just as the woman at the hospital felt Pamela's.  :)

Normally I reserve the month of December to crochet gift items for my family.   I have decided that I am going to take a break from blogging this weekend so I can crochet more incredibly beautiful & lushiously soft hats, and I'll create a webpage that will be dedicated to this cause -- this way everyone can visit and see what's available and what's sold.  As soon as the page is ready I'll announce it here in my blog/journal, and if you don't feel like keep checking back for the announcement, then click onto that option above that let's AOL notify you of when I update here.

Really, I am deeply touched that so many are interested in these caps -- and in the pattern I designed for it too.  To me, this is what the holiday season is all about;  reaching out and making the world better one good deed at a time.  I only wish my SIL and Aunt could have won their battles, they are greatly missed.  In looking to the future, the fight goes on.  Hopefully, soon, there will be a cure!

Angels; do you believe?

I do.  I mean, how can I not?  Look how you all came to help me in reaching our goal of 60 Scarves in 60 Days!!!

 Sherri:  4 scarves
          Jess:     1 scarf
Crochetangel:  1 scarf
        Dee:    18 scarves, 5 hats (I'll have another fresh on the hook in a few hours)
    Lori of CT: 2 scarves, a wrap and a hat
      Sandi:    1 scarf (donated to Hurricane Katrina survivor)
      Robin:   15 scarves! (being donated to her church for the homeless shelter)
Maureen of PA:  9 scarves 
         Margaret:  1 scarf & 2 hats from patterns she wrote that will be published!
               Jane:  14 Chemo hats AND will be teaching a seminar on the pattern!
       Karen:     1 scarf
      Brenda:    4 scarves
       Cindy: 2 scarves that will be going to her local battered women's shelter
     Michele: 1 scarf & hat set
    Madonna: 1, 2, 3 warm scarfs done!  (that was said in her best "Sesame Street count;" click onto the individual numbers to see the scarves)
       Karen:   3 scarf and hat sets

... add it all up and we get 66 Scarves!!!! ... PLUS we also have 23 hats and a wrap all being donated to help those in need!!  

Awesome!  Awesome!!  Awesome!!!

** A Note About the Image Above:  Earlier this morning I took some digital pictures of the scarves & hats that will be donated locally.  I used no flash, no lighting; the only altering to the image(s) was cropping to make them the same size, and adding the "CrochetWithDee" banner.  (It may take a few moments to finish loading, but I think it's worth it. It will run through the annimation process three times before stopping on the "angel.")  It looks to me like an angel appeared -- and I wanted to share it with you all.  Thank you to everyone who participated in this Challenge, and to those that are continuing on!!!   You're all angels!!