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What to Pack…..

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ScannedImageFall becomes a busy time of year, there seems to be some yarn related event happening almost every weekend across the nation. Since this last week there has been the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (OFFF), this weekend there is Lambtown in Northern California and the Knit & Crochet Show in North Carolina, Closely followed by the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (known simply as Rhinebeck) and Stitches East. It is almost enough to put you on yarn over load! (Okay only, almost, and I am sure that there are many other events taking place in this time frame as well). So what to include in your suitcase if you happen to be attending any said events?

If you crochet or knit, make sure and take something you have made, these are events where people actually really do know how time consuming, and intricate the hobby you have is. They will often stop and compliment your work, maybe even want to “pet” it. It is nice to feel like you are at a place where people understand you, and you often get great inspiration by seeing what others have done.MP900305798

If you are planning on attending, splurge a little and take a class, there are not many places that you can find great teachers like these venues offer. Even if you are like me and think, “oh, I’ll just buy the book and learn the technique that way”, there is so much more you can get out of the class. More than you can possibly imagine, and often well worth the price.

Bring your hooks and needles, and a project to play with. These are places you will feel like pulling up a chair and staying for a while, chatting with new and old friends and enjoying the atmosphere.

Make sure to leave extra room in your suitcase for yarn and goodies to bring home. If you sign up for the event and not just the show room shopping, you might find some free samples, but then there is the shopping you can do. Many vendors do not have store fronts, and some may not be available in most local yarn stores, so you can find the beautiful yarns usually only here or on-line (and I like to touch before I buy).

I hope I am remembering everything…oh, clothes to where I might need that, and travel supplies, but I guess I could go without and leave more space for yarn! (See you in North Carolina, if you can make it to the Knit & Crochet Show).

Creativity- We all have it

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ScannedImageI was sitting with a group of ladies the other day, and we were talking about work and kids, the normal things women seem to talk about, when someone made a comment that made my mind wonder. My friend stated that she was not creative. She is an educated woman, which does social work- case management, of families with children and issues of mental health concerns. A pretty daunting undertaking that needs a unique skill set to accomplish successfully, as she does.

She felt she lacked creativity because she doesn’t paint, or craft, or really do other things that highlight a preschool very well. I gave her a sideways look, and stated, “But, you are so creative with you approach to every family you encounter”.  This took her back a little.

Why is it that we so narrowly define what we can and cannot do? To only believe that creativity stems from the ability to craft well, really I feel, underscores our abilities. Just because we have strengths in other areas doesn’t make us any less creative in our endeavors. The way someone approaches cooking a meal can be very creative, the way another person engages a 10 year old to discover the joy of reading does not lack a creative component, or a researcher’s ability to find an answer to a problem plaguing society has to have a way of thinking outside the box.Paintbrush with Blue Paint

So maybe I am being a little nitpicky about the definition of “creative”, but I find too often, even in myself, we compliment others by setting limits on ourselves. “I could never do that”, is not a friendly phrase, really. I know I have used it myself, but when I hear my kids say it, it makes me shake my head. I correct them and let them know that the words they tell themselves are powerful, if you say you cannot do something, you never will. I tell them that if they tell themselves something is too hard, it always will be. So why as adults do we not listen to what we tell our children. We never want anyone to narrowly define what they are capable of, but we do it to ourselves.

Maybe I am more sensitive to this “creative” comment due to my current work undertaking. I have many people tell me that they could never come up with any ideas for things to crochet, that it is amazing that I can find some many different things to design. I understand their thoughts on this, before I began doing it, I thought it was amazing that someone could design more then 1 or 2 things ever. But if you look at it a little differently, if you give me a box of peaches and have to eat them all in a week (yes, this does happen in my rural life, after a week a case of peaches  don’t look nearly as appetizing), you get a little creative in what to do with them. Peach cobbler, peach pie, grilled peaches, peach salad, peaches in everyone’s lunch, peach jam, peaches and cream, peach bread, peach salsa, canned peaches, frozen peaches and dried peaches. Everyone gets a little creative with how to make the most out of what they have; same is true for my designs. I take it as a challenge to pick up a skein of yarn and find as many possible outcomes for its use. But now the harvest is pears…I am going to have to get a little creative with pears now.

MC900436905Creativity is in each of us, we just express it differently. Remember that next time you see the incredible work of someone, which is expressing their creativity in a different manner then yours. They are probably in awe of what you can do.

Thoughts on Some Fall Designs

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ScannedImageHard to believe that Autumn weather is almost here, but luckily Crochet World Magazine’s October 2013 issue is out, and it has some fun ideas that help with this seasonal change.

I have two designs featured in this issue so I might be a little biased.

Birds of a Feather

Photo courtesy of Annie’s

The Birds of a Feather Table Runner reminds me of the country farm; okay, so I am still on a country farm, but my rooster is noisier than the ones on the runner.  I enjoyed doing this filet work; to me it has a little old world charm but an updated feel with the harvest colored thread. I can honestly say that this design makes me think of fall, probably because the thought of the “farm” brings about memories of bringing in the crops, and a rooster definitely makes me think of farm.

 

 

Tactical Squares Throw

Photo courtesy of Annie’s

The Tactical Squares Afghan is one I really think my son will enjoy. Usually you see a lot of open work designs, and it makes it difficult to find something that can have a masculine feel, but I think this one can accomplish that. Masculine to me has a more full texture then lacy work feel, it could be cables or such, something with a raised stitch to it, it is also simple and bold. My son always gets a little jealous, since it is so much easier for me to work something up for his sister, something lacy, a little skirt, and he feels a little left out. I think that this afghan though might make up for it a bit.

So there are some of my thoughts of how a couple of more of my designs made their way from my mind to my fingers.

How Do You YO? (Yarn Over)

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ScannedImageIt is funny sometimes how you don’t really think about the little things. I was assisting with a crochet workshop this past week end, in which people were learning crochet stitches by placing an edging around a handkerchief, when the question came up about “yarn overs”.

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Yarn over by coming under the yarn and rotating counter clockwise

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Yarn over by coming over yarn and rotating clockwise

Now talking about something as simple and fundamental to crochet as the ability to put yarn over a hook should be pretty straight forward, but in reality it is not. There are primarily two different ways that this is done, the most common is to place the hook under the yarn and twist counter clock wise, and the other is to placer the hook over the yarn and twist clockwise. I always find it difficult to process the description mentally so I have included photos to help visually.

The effects from this differing yarn over techniques are subtle, but there is a difference, the latter method (coming over the top) adds more twist, and thus twist energy then the former (coming under the bottom). This twist energy is most evident in basic stitch of the chain, it is caused to twist.  Thus more complex stitches, such as picots, do not lay flat and require additional blocking to have a finished look. (Although it was pointed out to me, that if you wanted a really ruffled edge that this yarn over could be a benefit).

samples of yarn over chain stitches, those are the left are from under, and the right are worked with yarn over from the top

Another effect of this method is that the stitches can appear more compact, and tighter, even with the airiest of yarns. The extra twist compacts the yarn slightly and thus creates a stitch that may not be as full as that created by yarning over from the bottom.

If you find that your crochet fabric has a mind of its own at times, you may want to look at the simple steps you use to execute them and see if a small change could make a big difference. I always find it amazing that it really is the little things that can make all the difference.

Inspiration is a Time Not a Thing

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ScannedImageInspiration, it does come from where you think and often comes to you when you least expect it. I had an acquaintance tell me that I was an inspiration the other day. I accepted it as a compliment, but I have to admit it really got me thinking.  What makes an inspiration? Where does inspiration come from? Do I take it for granted at times?

The context of the compliment I received was in discussing what I do for a living, I am a freelance crochet designer. But I haven’t always been. Much of my life has been in public service; assisting caregivers and older adults in locating resources to help stay at home and meet their wishes for aging gracefully. (If you are needing assistance please contact your local Area Agency on Aging office, they cover the entire US, and are amazing almost hidden gems) But things changed at my local government office and circumstances changed in my life, there was no longer a match that was positive for both of us, so the little design hobby that I began a year earlier was now my full time passion.

When explaining this story, probably with a little more gusto and some extra details that don’t really add to the basic premise, I had inspired this acquaintance. When I asked how, they told me because I had the courage to step out of what I had already known and believed in myself. That is a powerful statement.

I never really thought of my life in that manner before, believing in myself and taking a risk, it was just the option available to me at the time. But I guess in a sense they are right. In the last 2 years that I have been doing this work, it has changed how I look at things, but that is a discussion for another day.

Usually when I think of inspiration it is something “out there” somewhere in the universe, but really we are all inspirations to each other. The simple decisions, which each of us makes, reflect to others and encourage them to find more in themselves.  Our growth is unseen to us, but noticed by others, making a difference that we cannot even recognize.  It is kind of like kids growing over summer, they haven’t realized that they grew an extra two inches in three months, the parents may not have directly noticed it either, but when they put the school close back on of the first day, or grandma comes to visit, you find the pants that are well above the ankles and that grandma is not bending down to give hugs; growth has happened.MP900070786

So I guess inspiration is that point in time when you see or hear something that you really need to, in order to help point you in a new direction, and open up possibilities in your mind of where you want life to take you. Inspiration isn’t a thing, it’s a time. Even artistically this can apply, one day a sunset can inspire a new stitch pattern or color way for a design, other days it is just a sunset.