Bienvenue!

Welcome to my new place in the blogosphere!


There's a lot to say about my new ventures into hand-dyed yarn and my efforts at professional crochet design. But, that will have to wait for subsequent postings. Having just attended the National CGOA Conference in Buffalo earlier this month, that seems like the best place to start in catching you up...


If you remember what happened at last year's conference, it should come as know surprise that Meg was up to her old tricks again this year. This time, though, she knew what to expect and it was all I could do to keep her in my carry-on bag during the flight. Once we were onboard the shuttle to the hotel, I thought it was safe to let her out, but...


She immediately began hopping from seat to seat, so excited to be, as she calls it, "where the string meets the hook!"


Her first victim, ...err... new friend was an airline pilot sharing the shuttle. He is from Texas, but he had no idea to what to make of a van full of yarn enthusiasts, let alone a brightly colored ball of hyperactivity packed into 18 inches.




After missing a few of her favorite designers last year, Meg was fully prepared to do whatever it took to ensure the same thing didn't happen again. I guess that's why she ran across the breakfast table to get to one of her favorite designers, Margaret Hubert.











She felt perfectly at ease resting in the lap of the one and only Pauline Turner.






Meg love's Crochet Today magazine so when she met the editor, she and Bret Bara shared a private joke at the Professional Development Day Luncheon.
















She caught up with Edie Eckman and




Karen Klemp, both of whom have taught in Dallas at the DFW FiberFest.

















Lily Chin taught her how to hold her own in the big city and she rode high on the shoulders of Amy Shelton, creator and owner of Crochetville.


She showed off her party dress to Cari Clement of Caron and the ladies from Lion Brand Yarn, Zontee and India.











Meg went with me and her Auntie Cher exploring the Farmer's Market that was a few blocks away. That's where she met a very special helper at one of the vendor's booths.













She had a great time meeting newer designers, such as Charles Voth and Sonja Hood, both from Toronto:




and enjoyed spending time with a few familiar friends from Texas: (top photo is Cathy, bottom photo, l-r is Molly, me, Bobbie, Sharon and Jan)

After endless pleading and countless bargains, I even let Meg attend the banquet and fashion show. I guess the exciting week had finally caught up with her, though. After dinner was over, she fell asleep briefly during the fashion show.

Finally, back at the hotel room Saturday night, I got her settled down enough to get some rest.

But even while dreaming, all she kept muttering about was next year's convention...

SDOSAS!

Jer

Baby Boots and Big Hair

Hi Folks!

It has been awhile since I last posted and sooo much has happened that I'll try to just hit the highlights...

Let's start with October~

For this year's Crochet Texas! charity project, I joined the "threadies" and made a couple of pieces for our baptismal set. I did the bonnet and booties... (Insert various "Awwwws" here.)

I went to Braintree, MA to visit where Fred was spending the majority of his business hours at the time. During a weekend adventure, we went to an old church and saw the underground crypts of John Adams and John Quincy Adams:

But the greatest find was all the crochet I discovered throughout the church "above ground."

October also marked the end of the State Fair of Texas. I was fortunate enough to have had 3 pieces displayed this year:

[The green pillow (also referred to in tones of animosity as the "8-hour pillow" went to Stephen. The pink tank went to my niece Chelsea and the Aran sweater went to Mom.]

For Halloween ~ THE most under-rated holiday of the year ~ I donned a big ol' wig and some scary make-up...as usual. (Funny thing~I did not win the costume contest this year ~ because the judges thought I was wearing a store-bought mask... Freaks!!)

You know, sometimes being too good is just too bad!

Scary? ... Yes.

"Store bought?"

Never!!!

SDOSAS!

Jer

And then there's Meg!

So, I went to the 2008 Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester, NH last month. It was my first national event and I had a BLAST, but I made one little mistake - inviting "Meg" along.

Don't get me wrong - Meg is a great Muse, but travelling companion? Not so much!

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...

I had a great time at the convention; I went up early to attend the Professional Development Day and learned alot from the "Industry Established." The first night, I went to dinner with friends while wearing my crocheted vest... yes, the one snubbed by the State Fair of Texas... and received several compliments from established designers. Margaret Hubert , being one of THE 3 "Old Broads" introduced me to the other two, Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. Here's us at the PDD:

The rest of the day was CHOCK-FILLED with information and I went back to the Hotel with my head spinning-full of information. Meg was preoccupied with the MinorLeague ball game going on right outside our hotel room, so I escaped any interrogation from her about what she had missed:

But that didn't last long...

The next day, when I returned from classes, she was livid!

It seems that when I invited her to accompany me to the conference, she expected to meet people. I (hesitantly) agreed to introduce her to "the players" as she called them, only after she promised to be on her best behavior. In Meg's defense, she was a natural - no fawning or gushing - and she met several "players."

She met Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss:

She met Drew Emborsky (The Crochet Dude) and Robyn Chachula from the PBS Show "Knit and Crochet Today"

She met Jennifer Hansen, The Stitch Diva:

She met Jenny King (from Australia). (And those are Jenny's travelling companions, Lizzie and George):

She ran out and practically accosted Myra Wood for a picture in the sun:

This is my new friend Patsy H. from Tampa, Florida. Our local chapter adopted her since she was the only one from Tampa: (insert appropriate prayer here)

These ladies had the most wonderful merino at market; They are Decadent Fibers:

My friends Pam and Yvette had to get in on the action:


















And my loyal friend Jan:

As well as several vendors and shoppers at market:

And in perhaps the strangest display of solidarity, Meg and her Matching Auntie Molly:
Never before had there been someone to whom Meg was so drawn!




















All in all, I thought Meg was appeased enough to safely pack into the bag and head to the airport. But once we were on the plane, her lamentations began again. Seems she didn't like leaving while the Party was in full swing... me either !





















But finally she settled in for a peaceful flight, thankful for the opportunities...


Me, too, Meg. Me too!



SDOSAS!

~Jer

Long Time, No Blog!

Call off the hounds; I'm here!

I realize how long it's been, but you know how these things go... first you're "a little" behind, then "a little" becomes "alot," then "alot" becomes seemingly "unsurmountable," but I'll try to catch up on what I've been up to.

I made a wool bag... a BIG wool bag... Big enough before felting that I could actually fit in it!

After felting, it's still large enough to hold even my most ambitious projects; in fact, I could use it for luggage!I experimented with dying Fisherman's Wool (by Lion Brand) and felting it up in various other shapes:

There was the intermittent jewelry. This one was for Mom:
There was a couple of trips. While in Manhattan for a long weekend, I was able to go by the office I worked in for 6 months and had a great lunch with my former supervisor, Tanya Marie. Everyone say "HI" to Tanya:


Fred and I went to Galveston for my birthday:


And we went to one of our favorite places, Puerto Vallarta, for vacation. It was a week of relaxation and great meals that was looonnnggg overdue:






























And during the whole time, I was STILL working on "that one project." You know the one. The jacket that refuses to be finished!! That's right. I am still working on the basket-weave jacket whenever I can stand it. So far, I have the back, 2 sleeves, and almost all of one front piece completed, but it seems like I will never reach the end!!



sigh

::insert prayer for perseverance here::



SDOSAS!

Jer

Spring Accessory Sprung!

I am finally getting some semblance of regularity in life after last weekend's Fiber Fest. Whew!! What a blast! - An exhausting and sometimes overwhelming blast - but still, a BLAST! I would say that I can hardly wait until next year, but I and the other board members (Hi MK, MA, MS and ML!) have ALOT of work to do before then. Good thing we have a full year!

I acquired additional fiber at the Fest (big surprise!) along with a great bag I found on clearance! Here's a pic of the haul:

With so much beautiful fiber, where's a fiend to begin? I started a sock with the "Acero" I bought from Brooks Farm but that's still in the "tweaking" stages. I began a wrap with the pastel "Harmony" lace-weight I got from JoJoLand. I absolutely love this yarn, so airy and light. The long color color repeats make it a dream ~ the pattern I chose, though, a nightmare!! After only a couple of hours, I scrapped it for a pattern of my own design. Now I just might have the patience to finish the piece. Being so fine though, I find I can work best on it in good lighting, daylight preferably, so have decided it will not be a piece I do in the evenings, when most of my crafting time is.

So what's a fiend to do? You guessed it. Start yet another piece. The idea of the finished felted bag jumped to the foreground of my mind fully formed. I used the Himilayan wool with recycled silk, also gained at the Fest - choosing to ignore the label that read "60% wool, 40% silk." Any good fuller knows that this combination normally spells disaster in the fulling process, but I proceeded on blind faith. The yarn seemed like wool, true enough, and I could see the multi-colored silk throughout, but I could scarcely believe it was 40% silk! I would take my chances!!


I finished crocheting the bag in one evening and spent only a few hours on the felting process. Normally, I like to felt everything by hand, in the kitchen sink. Afterall, with a front-load washer, it's kinda hard to add boiling water to the machine mid-cycle. But just the thought of all that sqeezing and pressing hurt my hands, so this time, I started the piece in a machine at a laundry mat. (You can imagine the stares of all the people doing it "right" as I squirted dishwashing liquid into the washer like it was only natural...) Three "hot" wash cycles later I returned home and let the bag dry overnight before completing the process in my kitchen sink.

After a few beads and a handle, I now have this drying on the craft table:

I LURV It!! The yarn (which started out Texas Burnt Orange in color) had lost some of the dye in the process and the resulting bag is a bit more bright orange than I had hoped, but it's beautiful, nonetheless!

Besides, all the fashion mags say bright colors are IN this spring. Just in time...

SDOSAS!

~Jer