Recap of Mom's Birthday

I finally downloaded all the images from when my Mother was in town. These two I thought you'd all enjoy.  The first one here is from when I took her shopping at the new location of the "Stitch in Time" store for her birthday. It was the first time she was ever in a "speciality yarn shop" and she had fun going from aisle to aisle looking at all the fun fibers. With my daughter's help she picked out a few to try for when she's back home in Florida. She also picked out some needlepoint supplies which seems simple enough, but it's not a needle craft I have knowledge in.  (bonus points here:  check out the rose broach she's wearing!!)

The second image here was taken just prior to her getting ready to leave. In her shopping extravaganza she also got a cabled Tunisian/Afghan hook and I had showed her how the technique works.  Hey, she's smiling, so she must have been enjoying it, right?  ((grins))  You can see her "birthday bounty" sitting there on the table.  Was she a lucky girl or what?  ((bigger grins))

Also for her birthday we took her to the Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk where there were many, many young girls walking around wearing crocheted ponchos and capes.  You'd have thought it was a crochet convention or something!  LOL

Monkeying around with Tails

There has been much discussion, both online and in my crochet classes that I teach, about the length needed for tails left at the beginning of one's work.

My rule of thumb is to leave a tail of 6 to 8 inches -- or longer!!

I can fully understand the desire to want to "save" as much fiber as possible, but keeping tails short is not a recommended way to do so.  What happens when tails are left short is that work will tend to unravel, and hours worth of crocheting will be destroyed.  So in the end is saving a few inches of fiber worth it?  I don't think so.  I think it's worth the investment to keep them nice & long!

In all of my beginner crochet classes I tell my students three important reasons for wanting to keep their tails long.  They are:
     * 1.  Longer tails means more secure work; there's less chance of it unraveling.
     * 2.  Longer tails means that if you goof and need extra chains for your initial first row, you can fudge -- insert your hook into the last chain (in this case it's really the first chain you made!), take the nice long tail you left and start creating the number of chains needed.  Then proceed with crocheting as if you had the perfect count all along! ;)   ... remember, I'm still a huge advocate of counting stitches!!
     * 3.  Longer tails means that if the piece outlives it's creator by say, 50 or 100 years, then the person making the repair can use bits from the long tail(s) you wove into your work -- it will be a perfect match in fiber and color!


In later, more advanced classes, my students will hear me tell them to make their tails even longer when it comes to the finishing rows of squares (the tails can be used to sew the squares together); leaving them longer if you're going to be adding fringe anyway (take note of this with my modular poncho that's in the works of being published!); if you're going to seam up sides (such as the beach bag featured in Pauline Turners' book, "How to Crochet").  At the present time, I'm using my extra long tails of about 12-24 inches, depending upon the body part, to assemble the parts of Miss Pickles.  (Yes, she's almost done!)

Longer tails is the way to go.  Go ahead, experiment, or in other words, go ahead and monkey around with leaving those tails nice and long.   Don't forget, this means ending tails  too!! You'll be happy that you did!  J

An Update on My Pickles

I spent most of yesterday nursing one of the worst migraines I've had this year ... and boy! was I pampered!  My children spoke softly, combed my hair and took turns covering me with their favorite blankets while reading to me.  My husband did everything else.  (Aren't they just the best??!!)

Eventually the ever-so-loud thumping in my head dulled a bit -- enough for me to crochet a "modular" vest for Mr. Pickles.  I don't know what drove me to do so, I really had thought he was pretty much done, though still needing a mouth.  But I had passed by some Lana Gatto Everest yarn I had left over from the hat & scarf I had crocheted for my father this past Christmas and it was just screaming to me to use it.  I picked it up, held it against Mr. Pickles and heard it say, "Crochet me into a vest!"  ... so I did.

Towards the end of the vest project I started thinking about buttons.  I have a pretty big collection of buttons, so finding some to go with the vest wouldn't be a problem.  I have my collection, and I have my grandmother's ... so I had thousands to choose from.  But when I opened one of my button containers, it wasn't a button I picked!  No, it was like someone whispered to me the line from the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" ... you know, the line that goes something like, "every time you hear a bell ring, an angel earns it's wings" ... yeah, that line.  I initally dismissed the whisper and poked through more buttons.  The whisper got louder (or was that the pounding of my migraine?);I decided to toy with the idea.  The jingle bells were right by the buttons.

Yes.  The bells were a perfect fit, and Mr. Pickles, Mr. Amato Pickles, looks as dashing as ever with his new vest on.  When it comes time for me to give Mr. Pickles to my nephew, every time he hears the bells ring, he can think of his mother getting her angel wings.  I'll see if I can add the same "bell theme" for Miss Pickles, who at this point is just a body and two arms fully assembled.  Her head & muzzle are ready for assembly;   I just need to find what I did with the noses first.

How am I feeling today?  I still have a slight trace of the migraine ... but I'm functional.  Pics will be coming soon; stay tuned!  :)


***Modular Crochet is a method of creating a garment much as a modular home is constructed; it's done in segments and joined together.  This type of crochet allows for a more custom fit, and if you're interested in learning this technique, see if you can get your hands on the 1978 out-of-print book, Modular Crochet, by Judith Copeland.***

Miss me yet? :)

It's been a few days since my last update, and I sure missed being here!  I am physically, and I think emotionally exhausted too.  I'm going to take the rest of the day off just to relax and reflect upon this past week.  One thing is for certain, I am looking forward to sharing my crochet thoughts with you, my readers, on a regular basis again.  :)

I hope you all had a great week, and have a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend!  I be back tomorrow, hopefully with pictures, crochet sightings, and even an update on Miss Cana Pickles. 

See ya' tomorrow!  J

"... a lifetime ago ..."

I took the laptop with me yesterday afternoon so I could put together my summer class schedule as I awaited in the parking lot for my children.  I found it peaceful being the only one there; listening to the birds' concert, the neighborhood dogs adding in the bass; and an occasional truck driving by that added just the right amount of "rumble."  The sounds all remind me of the pattern that a variegated yarn makes; sometimes the pattern repeats.  Sometimes it's random.  Still, though, no matter how it works up, it's pretty.  Maybe it's time I picked up a skein or two of a variegated yarn and work something up with it; something for charity.  I'll have to see what I have in my stash first.  ((grins))

So, as you all know, my Mother is in town.  I'll see her again on Wednesday.  She leaves on Friday.  The last time we saw her was three years ago.  "That's a lifetime ago," says my son.  "Remember, Mom?  The last time Nana was here was when I was a baby." 

Funny how our perspectives are different.  I still see him as "my baby."  He sees himself as a mature six-year-old.  No matter; it's been a long time since our last visit, and as I've stated in another entry; she's here to celebrate her big birthday.  The big, well, I won't say.  Let's just say she's of legal age for drinking.  ((chuckles)) 

She has no idea of what I have planned for her birthday!  No, no surprise party.  She knew about her party; that was this past Sunday and the cause for my grogginess on Monday.  First, because I know she'll try to stay awake for every moment she humanly can in order to absorb as much time with all of us here in Connecticut, I'm going to give her some Mary Kay dark eye diminisher.  (I love the stuff!)  Then I plan on taking her out for a girls day out ... simple stuff, really.  Start with a manicure and then ... yeah, end up at the Bethel shop; one of the places I enjoy teaching at.  I'm going to let her have full run of the place, let her stock up on any needle point canvas' and thread she falls in love with, and also let her pick out whatever yarn she wants. 

You only turn 60 once, (oh gee!  Did I let that slip? Darn!) so I want to help her celebrate it right.  If I had more time, I'd have sent this link on over to the shop and ask the owner if she can make this "cake" and have it ready for her.  Do you all like the idea?  You can all make me this cake next year!  LOL  Of course, she doesn't have a clue about this, so SHHHHHHH!  Let's keep this a surprise! 

I do plan on teaching my mother the Tunisian technique -- so she can mix her two passions together!  All-in-all, it should make for a great day!  :) 

Checking In...

I feel totally "hung over" from all the fun, and the staying out late last night.  It was really great to have spent yesterday with my Mom, my Great Aunt, Great Uncle, cousins -- some family members I haven't seen in a few years, some I haven't seen in over a decade, and some I've never met!  There will be more of this type of behavior/feelings added to my family's normal routine throughout the week, so time will be tight as it is this morning.

In the meantime, I did want to leave you, my readers, with a link to an interesting crochet news story about a business woman becoming an artist at the age of 60 ... Click Here to enjoy.

Watch Out Dorothy & Toto: A Tornado!!

Summer is coming, and that means 1. having fun with my kids, and 2. having fun with others' kids ... meaning having fun teaching my "Fantastic Fiber Camp Classes."  With this in mind, I did some comparison shopping and opted to order three books from amazon.com.  They are:
     * Kids Crochet : Projects for Kids of All Ages, Kelli Ronci
     *Kids' Crafts: Crochet : Fantastic Jewelry, Hats, Purses, Pillows & More, Jane Davis
     * Finger Knitting #1: Handknit Projects For Kids Of All Ages, Suzuki Katsino

(I want to mention that the link featured today in this entry to amazon.com helps the Connecticut Chapter of the Crochet Guild of America, The Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club, raise funds for helping to promote crochet.  So, if you like to shop through Amazon.com, please consider using the link provided here.)

I'm thinking that these books will be delightful additions to my growing crochet library and will help me inspire children to love the fiber arts as much as I did when I was a child.  (I'm still a child at heart!!)   I'll share my thoughts on the books when they arrive in a few weeks, so stay tuned for an official "review" from me.

Another book I ordered was on Modular Homes.  I know, it's not quite crochet related -- or IS it??  I'm still dreaming here!  LOL  ... I showed my journal entry from yesterday to my hubby and he said that the image I created looked like a home stuck in a virtual yarn tornado.  Watch out Dorothy & Toto!!  ((grins))


Next week will be a virtual tornado for my family and I starting tomorrow.  It's my Mom's "big birthday;" we'll say she's turning 35.  A lie, but she likes the flattery.  She's coming to town, first time in a few years, and we haven't told the kids yet.  It will be a complete surprise to them.  It should be a very fun week, but that also means that I'll be abandoning my PC a bit.  Don't worry; I'll be back!  :)