The British are Coming!!!

I guess when the colonists left Great Britain and decided they needed to change things, it went all the way down to crochet terminology.  Who knew?!  It seems that all of the familiar stitch names - single crochet, double crochet, etc. - all mean something different in the UK.  Or, they're called something else altogether.  What's an American girl to do?

I troll the magazine shelves of my favorite Barnes & Noble, specifically the crafts section, on a regular basis.  The last time I was there I found a new magazine called "Inside Crochet".  (Even the magazine is the wrong size - those silly Europeans!)  I instantly fell in love with the projects and special feature articles. I've already nearly completed a scarf, the likes of which I've never seen before.  The Europeans just seem to have a flare for style and now I've discovered what they can do with crochet.

Crochet, in my estimation, used to be the ugly stepsister of knitting.  Only grannies did it (well, I guess that fits me now) and all you could really do was make granny squares.  An oversimplification to be sure but with knitting one could make all manner of creative and beautiful pieces.  That is so not the case anymore.  Designers have figured out the crochet possibilities and what can be done with all of the beautiful yarns available.  I think knitting is still the go-to hand craft for a majority of folk, but crocheting is catching up fast.  I couldn't be happier!

So, back to the British.  Trying to read the pattern for this scarf was a challenge at first.  I had to write in the names of the stitches so I wouldn't mix up their double crochet with my half crochet.  And then I realized that the pattern reads in a slightly different way.  How American patterns are worded is slightly different from the British version so I had to be careful not to make a mistake, especially at the ends of rows and when turning.  Expert crocheters know that turning and making an even edge is one of the hardest things to do in crocheting.  It didn't take me long, though, and I am well on my way to completing my beautiful scarf.

If you love crochet like I do and you'd like to broaden your horizons a bit, I highly recommend looking at "Inside Crochet".  I plan to make it one of my favorites.

Happy British crocheting!

Saga of a Finished Project

I just finished my first knit baby blanket!  Now, mind you, I've made many, many baby blankets over the years, but they've all been crocheted.  It was really different, knitting instead of crocheting.  For one thing, because the stitches were smaller, it took a lot longer to complete.  For another, it was so easy to make mistakes.  I had to pay attention ALL the time!  That beautiful blanket is riddled with mistakes and corrections.  The beauty of the lace pattern is that all of those mistakes and corrections are hidden (unless you're really looking for them).  While, at times, it was frustrating, the lack of perfection was rather liberating.  And you have to admit that I've created a one-of-a-kind, completely unique blanket!

This baby blanket was for my son and daughter-in-law who are expecting my first grandchild - oh, wait - their first child.  As far ahead as I planned, I still ended up finishing it at the last moment, the eleventh hour, literally midnight of the night before the baby shower.  It happens to all of us.  Admit it - you know it does.  Why is that?  Do we pick a project that's too involved?  Does life interfere with our valuable crochet/knit time?  I suspect it's always a little bit of a lot of reasons.  Whatever it might be, I don't think we would be true to our crafts if we didn't live by the last minute finish.

Now that the blanket is finished and the gift is given, I feel a certain emptiness.  I reach to pick up the blanket and it's not there.  What do I do?  Well, I can resume work on one of the other projects that are in process.  It will require a mindset shift but I think I can do it.  What is my next project(s)?  You'll have to tune into future blog entries to find out!

Back to stitching for now,
Madame Stitch

Feeling lopsided

I knew this semester was going to kick my butt.  And, I knew I wasn't going to like it.  So here I am in the middle of it and I'm not very happy.  However, with the huge snowstorms this week and a few activities checked off the list, I'm enjoying a bit of a respite before the rest of the insanity.

Thankfully my knitting/crocheting hasn't taken a break, although I'm not doing as much as I would like.  I have one baby blanket finished and delivered.  Now I'm working on 2 more, one of them being my first knitted blanket.  It was hard at first and I totally screwed up the pattern.  You can't really tell I made mistakes, though, and I'm on track now.  It's a lot slower than crocheting and there's a good possibility this won't be done by the baby shower.  But, nobody ever seems to have a problem with that when they finally receive that unique handmade gift!

I have to pick up needles or a hook every day.  It seems that's the only way I can stay in sync with the universe.  It's scary how settling that simple repetitive motion of my hands can be.  The feel of the yarn and the wonderful things I get to create motivates me.  I guess you could call it an addiction.  I'm sure I'm not alone.  I get tweets multiple times a day from a friend who is hard core about her knitting.  She even spins her own yarn - what's that about?!

I guess I better stop writing and get back to work on that blanket.  Oh, and by the way, a little chocolate and coffee makes the knitting go faster.  I think that's been proven by some study somewhere :-)

The beginning of a wonderful thing.....

That's right.  I have begun a journey I can't wait to be on.  Yesterday, during my massage, Tonie and I brainstormed to create "Madame Stitch".  For years I've been sure that I was meant to do something good with my crafts.  And now I'm really headed in that direction.

My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was a teenager and from that moment I was hooked (yeah, that's right, I said it).  I was so freakishly obsessed that I would take it to class with me.  I still have my first granny square scarf - and it's good.  When I had my kids I sort of put it aside because I was too busy.  But, as they got older, I had more time and picked it back up.  The rest is history.....

Four years ago I was looking for a service project for my church high school small group to do.  I taught them to knit or crochet and that first year we made 8 scarves and hats for New Bethany Ministries.  The next year, their senior year, we made 21 scarves, one for each resident of Restoration House.  When they graduated I made a campus wide announcement.  Not knowing what would come of it, I set a deadline for drop-off and waited.  That year I collected 101 scarves!  Last year I got 130 and this year 97.  The generosity of knitters and crocheters is mind-boggling.

Fast forward to Madame Stitch.  That's the name of my new internet crafting company that will serve those in need through the making of scarves and the sale of patterns, among other things.  Everything about the website will have some component of giving, whether by making something that's donated or by buying something for which a portion of the purchase price is donated.

I know, I'm not being very clear.  But, as the weeks go by, I hope you'll follow along as this unfolds and develops.  I'll try to keep you posted.

If you love to knit and/or crochet and you want to give something back, this is for you.

Signing off for now,
Madame Stitch!