NOVEMBER First Friday Freebie Giveaway

 
I can't believe that it is time for our First Friday Freebie again!
Here in New York it has been getting colder every day and I have even had to break out my wool jacket and gloves on a few days already. This month's giveaway will be perfect for winter's colder months.

We are offering a FULL KIT for CROCHETING our Jewel Box Hat and Glove Set from the Elegant Headwear collection. 
In order to be eligible for a chance to win this crochet kit, visit our wearables page at Cute Crochet and choose which is your favorite crochet  Wearables pattern from this page. Let us know which pattern you have selected by leaving a comment on this post.
Please don't forget to leave an email address in your post so we can contact you if you have won, or send your email address to: contest @ cutecrochet . com! A winner will be chosen at random November 27, 2009. Thanks for participating in our monthly drawing!

Wrapped in Crochet - A Review

I love Kristin Omdahl's Wrapped in Crochet book for many reasons, but especially because after reading her Introduction, I felt a special affinity with her. Kristin taught herself to crochet while overseas and expecting a baby. I, also, taught myself to crochet while stationed overseas and pregnant with my first child. Like Kristin, I was instantly hooked!
But that is where are similarities seem to stop. Kristin is apparently a math whiz and actually designed one of her first crochet accessories using the Pythagorean theorem! How cool!
Wrapped in Crochet is broken down into types of garments: Scarves, Wraps and Shawls. Scarves: each pattern uses a different or unusual pattern or technique, "including corkscrews, weaving, hairpin lace and more". Every scarf would make a quick and wonderful gift.                                                  The Wraps included are comprised of so many different shapes in several different techniques. Some are made in all-in-one designs and others are join as you go. Most of the lovely wraps go 'far beyond the simple rectangle."
The shawl chapter is my favorite. They are seven beautiful designs in a wide variety of styles and silhouettes. Most are triangular but there is also a semi-circle and two circular ones. Throughout the book you have the opportunity to learn and crochet hairpin lace, tunisian crochet, broomstick lace crochet, back post clusters and double crochet, and foundation single and double crochet, as well as several other stitches. Instructions for all are, of course, written very well and include many diagrams and schematics. I love the fact that with almost every design, you will be able to learn a new stitch or new technique. From the back cover: "Created for beginning to intermediate crocheters, these one-of a-kind pieces invite you to take your crochet to the next level."My favorite designs include: Starlet Boa Scarf, Tressa Scarf, Gali Infinity Wrap, Geisha Wrap, and Stella Shawl.
All in all there are 18 exquisite designs. Sheer loveliness!

A Garden is a Friend You Can Visit Anytime

The post today is not about crochet, but it is about being creative in other ways. I love to garden almost as much as I love to crochet and knit. Since we moved to New York (I am originally from California), because of the seasons and the climate here, I have had to become more creative in my gardening techniques. I had also been wanting to give my house more 'curb appeal', so this past Spring my husband, son and son-in-law surprised me with this project: removing the boring evergreen bushes from the front of my house and building a beautiful wooden planter box!


First, using my son-in-law's jeep, they pulled out the bushes from in front of the house. There were several of them!











Then they cleared the debris and excess soil. They also laid down black plastic under the soil to keep the weeds from poking through. You can also see the roots of one of the bushes in the left of this picture. They were huge!








When the were done clearing the area, they dug holes for the posts and began building my new flower box!

 You can see the flower box starting to take shape.
















Here is the flower box completed!

We spent a wonderful afternoon planting flowers with our little ones.

My husband spent a whole weekend power washing the house and then repainted the old black shutters with burgundy paint. Now I have a house with curb appeal!

Here is my new flower box covered in flowers that are in full bloom! I love the new look that removing the old bushes and replacing them with flowers created! What do you think?

Blings and Things for Dogs Winner

Congratulation to GLOR of New York, who was randomly chosen as the WINNER of our First Friday Freebie contest for the month of October!
Glor wins the book, Blings and Things for Dogs.
Thank you so very much to everyone who commented and participated.
Stay tuned for our next First Friday Freebie contest on November 6, 2009!

OCTOBER First Friday Freebie

It's time for our First Friday Freebie again!
Colder weather is on the way, so you just might be thinking of crocheting something toasty for your pet. This month's giveaway is the book,  
Blings and Things for Dogs from Annie's Attic.
The book has twenty-two creative projects for your Canine, from barrettes to collars to sweaters to pillows to a dog carrier and everything else in between.
To be eligible to win, leave a comment on this post telling what you are interested in crocheting for your dog or some other dog.
A winner will be chosen at random on October 16, 2009.

Be Careful Not to Take Things for Granted :)

When my mom had a bad accident two years ago that changed the lives of all of my family members, I thought I learned well that you can never take anything for granted. It is amazing how our well-thought-out plans can be instantly transformed!
Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from the Editor-in-Chief of the Publishing company who had contracted with me for my Crochet Book. They have decided to 'get out of' the knit and crochet book design field and would not be able to publish my book after all. Needless to say, I was stunned to hear this news, especially after putting in countless man-hours and months of work!
As a designer and now full-time caregiver, I have learned to roll with the punches. I was going to say that most of the time, we have no choice. But I know now that that isn't necessarily correct. Our choice is in how we decide to accept and deal with those punches. We can choose to fall apart, or we can rise up and try to make something good from our circumstances. It isn't always easy, but I believe we are better off in the long run if we try to find something positive in the set of circumstances we find ourselves at the moment.
Inspired by a few blog posts I had previously read by fellow CHA designers Sarah Hodsdon and Margot Potter I feel like I am going to FORGE AHEAD, this time with a different direction. Who knows? I may just get this book published yet!

Easy Tunisian Winner

Congratulation to Deneen of New Jersey, who was randomly chosen as the WINNER of our First Friday Freebie contest for the month of September!
Deneen wins the Easy Tunisian hook set, along with an Easy Tunisian Sweater book.
Thank you so very much to everyone who commented and participated.
Stay tuned for our next First Friday Freebie contest on October 2, 2009!

SEPTEMBER First Friday Freebie

We have a great giveaway this month for our First Friday Freebie offer. Tunisian Crochet is becoming so popular recently, thanks to some wonderful designers like Darla Fanton,  Kim Guzman and  Carolyn Christmas. This month we are offering a set of 3 Easy Tunisian crochet hooks and a Tunisian sweater book, Weekend Sweaters designed by Carolyn Christmas, as our giveaway.

For a chance to win, write a comment at the end of this post and let us know if you have ever tried Tunisian Crochet and what you have made. If you haven't tried Tunisian Crochet yet, tell us what you would like to learn to make. Don't forget to leave your email address; or send your email address to contest@cutecrochet.com  
One winner will be drawn at random on September 18th.

Book Update

I've been robbing Peter to pay Paul as the saying goes. At least with my time lately. When I made my schedule for each of the projects in my new book I assigned each week a different design. I actually was hoping that I could have each project and all it's trimmings completed by the end of each week. The completed process consists of designing, selecting yarns, crocheting, writing directions, taking all the process photographs and then formatting the pattern. I wanted to have each design 'in the bag' by the end of the week. For the first two weeks I was able to accomplish this. YAY! And then the third week came....

I moved my workspace to my dining room table so I could be closer to my mom, whom I take care of full time. The table now looks like a conglomeration of a needleworker and an office worker, containing pens, pencils, graph paper, rulers, scissors, yummy yarn, crochet hooks, tapestry needles, camera, computer and writing paper. Because I am a neat freak, every morning I have to organize the creative mess to become some semblance of order before I begin each day. But needless to say, we have not been eating any meals at our dining room table for a few weeks!
Since the third week, I have started working on multiple projects at once. The need for that came when sometimes I was waylaid by waiting for yarn to arrive......start another project....Other times I had to re-work a design before I could continue..Start another project...once I had to wait on measurements from a family member...start another project.....
My calendar does not look as neat as when I first started, but I am still convinced that I can stay on target with all I have to accomplish. I guess I just have to continue to rob Peter to pay Paul!

Oh, and here is a sneak peak of one of my complete projects; sorry it is just the yarn ends!

Second Contest Winner

Congratulation to Cher, of Oklahoma, who was randomly chosen as the WINNER of our second First Friday Freebie contest!
Thank you so very much to all who commented and participated.
Stay tuned for our next First Friday Freebie contest on September 4, 2009!

AUGUST First Friday Freebie

I can hardly believe that our second First Friday Freebie contest is already here! For this month's contest prize, we are giving away my four most popular patterns at Cute Crochet.
To be eligible to win, visit Cute Crochet at www.cutecrochet.com and pick out YOUR favorite pattern there. Leave a comment at the end of this post and let me know which pattern you chose as your favorite and why.
Please be sure to leave an email address so we can get in touch with you if you are the winner! If you do not wish to leave your email address in the comments section, post your comment and then send your email address to: contest@cutecrochet.com
A winner will be chosen at random on August 21, 2009.

Wonderful New Crochet Venture

There is a lot going on in my crochet design studio lately. I am very pleased to announce that a recent crochet book proposal has been accepted by the publisher I submitted to! It is very exciting but unfortunately I can't tell you too much about it yet. Even though I can't let you know what the crochet book is about, I can assure you that it is one that will appeal to ALL crocheters and is even appropriate for beginners! As it gets closer to the time of submission and publication, I hope to be able to talk about some of the work I have been doing, as well as perhaps post some sneak previews! Time will tell. In the meantime, the first thing I am trying to do is map out my workload over the next 6 months, so I will be sure to get everything done in time.
Inspired by Robyn Chachula's
post about time management regarding her crochet designs, I have begun breaking the projects required into days and weeks on my calendar. I am planning a project a week in order to be completed on time. It can be rather daunting to think about all that I have to do, but breaking it all down into manageable tasks makes it seem so much more do-able!
Stay tuned for more in the future on my new venture!