WARNING

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Originally uploaded by CMHS yarn & designs (laurie wheeler).

I made this a www.warninglabel.com

Anyway… That’s about what happened to me at the convention…I will start packing tomorrow…I’m just too tired to post a long article BUT

I met DORIS CHAN! I so love her designs…and I met Vashti Braha! Love her stuff too! And…Myra Wood…omg…YOu have to check out her stuff…ART pure ART…

Met tons of free formers…I met the stitch diva gals…got the big monster afghan hook …YUM..

Anyway… I’m off to bed…it’s way too late…but I just thought you should know the dangers of Crochet…you could end up with more yarn than you can use

Another Competition! Ok folks.. ONE MORE CHANCE TO WIN A FREE MEMBERSHIP which includes free yarn!

Hi everyone! I’m in such a brilliant mood…I’ve had a great time today at the CGOA Regional Show, also known as the The Knit and Crochet show… so here’s another chance as promised to win a Free Form Crochet Club Membership!

 What is The Free Form Crochet Club? Check it out HERE

 (BTW I noticed I have a few bugs to fix on the site…I’ll do it after I get back home…One more DETAIL…arg…one day it will be SMMOOOOOTH)…

Do you have to be a Free Former? Nope. In fact if you just want to improve your crochet skills and/or your knowledge about construction techniques and materials information (YARN PEOPLE! It’s all about the YARN)… and recieve a quarterly pack of Scrumblinis(tm)  and my handy dandy Secrets of Yarn Project Guide I/II (c)  then here’s what you gotta do…

 Last time we did an ugliest/weirdest contest….

Well…let’s change the tone a bit folks!  I am the founder of the Crochet Liberation Front aka CLF…and We’re all about liberating the hook ONE STITCH AT A TIME…

Your mission should you chose to accept it is to send in a link to a photo of your favorite piece of crochet either made by you or someone else. I prefer people leave comments to say how they like it, because I think we should involve our COMMUNITY…. but if no one votes or comments I’ll be glad to pick my favorite submission.

One lucky winner! That’s it… I will accept submissions beginning tomorrow at 12noon (Sept 29, 2007) until 12noon October 28th (it’s my wedding anniversary that day, that way I can remember everything)…

If you want to recieve your prize I need you to email me with an email address that you will CHECK, and a mailing address so I can send you your prize. Email Me at camanomade@earthlink.net

New Stitch Stirrer Challenge…or Prompt

Mission: First Day of Fall

Can you feel it? Smell it? See it? If not, it’s right around the corner. Yes, it’s Autumn, and if it’s not showing in an outdoor theatre near you just yet, it will be soon. The crisp air, the changing colors, football, and baking (at least for me).

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to create a new crochet pattern that celebrates the grandeur of the season. It can be something simple like a leaf pattern done in Autumnish colors or something more complicated like a sweater. The choice is yours depending on your own time and pattern-writing skill. The only rule of thumb is to create it before the season is over.

So get those hooks and yarn to moving and let’s see what beautiful things we can come up with!

Happy Autumn!

(If you’re participating in another country and the season is different, the prompt is the same, except to create something for the season you’re in.)

 http://stitchstirrers.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/mission-first-day-of-fall/#comment-29

 Check it out and you are very welcome to participate! You don’t have to be on Ravelry.com yet, this is Tracie’s baby…and let me tell you she’s got some of the neatest ideas!

Ok I just knew I wasn’t THAT organized and I was right…I wasn’t

Ok, I got all of my goodies I’d brought to show off packed IN my suitcase. I managed to get my yarn samples, yarn for my class AND clothes packed. I didn’t over load my luggage I DID NOT Forget any paperwork…I got my laptop, all the cords,and my camera WITH BATTERIES…dang I thought I was so all that… but alas, I forgot the usb cord for my camera. SIGH SIGH SIGH

So, I’ll see what I can do…

 However, so far I have met, Bonnie and Bill Pierce of course (but he’s a knitter, not so sure about him, just kidding Bill), Myra Wood, Margaret Hubert, Karen Ratto-Whooley (hive five buddy), oooh and I got to wander around Stitch Diva’s stall…I will be going back…ummmmmmy yummmy.

I did take pictures of the International Free Form Crochet Guild booth, and it rocks people…sorry about the lack of a usb cord…But my, you know those pieces look fantastic on the web, in person…too stunning for words…and frankly it was all I could do not to mug Margaret Hubert and steal the vest she had on…wowzah! That was pretty.

Oh and my re-design on my purse, fantastic, held up under duress…cough… I mean stress very well…yeah, I had it loaded…and it performed as per expectations…

OOOH and Karen was wearing the scarf she made out of my Stained Glass Yarn series, absolutely GORGEOUS, even though she dropped the hook and used the pointy thingies…you know those sharp sticks that people put yarn on…They should be more careful they can put eyes out with those things…But she’s still firmly in the hooking camp, so we won’t tar and feather her in eiderdown just yet!

Wait there’s more…I got nice freebies of yarn, and literature, and some sharp pointy sticks ….I’m going to try really hard not to run with those…I don’t want to poke my OWN eyeball out…

 Well I’m in Darla Fenton’s classes tomorrow…ALLLLLLL DAY… So I’ll try to blog tomorrow but we’ll see how it goes…now I’m off to sleep exhausted.

Here I am at the airport…so while we wait a plug for Bonnie Pierce

I’m in Seatac, waiting for my flight, I have about two hours till boarding but you know I understand that the Law of Murphy is very real indeed. Should I have come an hour later, and did as instructed, I would have faced longer lines, a mean security person, or something strange like that. Coming early? Well of course everything went smoothly. Besides, now I get to use my handidandy laptop, and a connection that moves faster than a speeding Banana Slug.

So while I wait, I will recount a tale of wonder and awe, Crochet related of course. I want you to understand something first, I very rarely, if ever, buy patterns. Let alone actually read them fully, and do them exactly as per the lines on the page. Really, I’m serious about this! However, I just purchased Bonnie Pierce’s 24 Squares on a Roll, book and OH MY!

I am so impressed! I do so love motifs! Really I adore squares, hexagons, dodecahedrons, and all manner of shapes that can be put together just like a quilted object. But wow, these take squares to a whole new level.

The book is out of print…BOOO HISSS..but Bonnie has a few copies left on her site Elegant Crochet and she’ll even autograph it!

If you have not encountered her work before, let me tell you this woman a) has one of the finest hands I have ever had the pleasure  of watching! b) She is exceptionally artful in her approach from use of color, to texture, to composition.

As you know I’m a pretty picky person! So let me just say, these are no empty compliments. I love her work, and as I have had the pleasure of meeting her and corresponding with her, I have to say she’s sweety too!

Oakland Here I come…The Knit and Crochet Show

Ok! I’m just decidedly giddy. In a mere four hours my yarn  and I leave for Seattle, I hitch a lift on some kind of winged flight machine, and two hours after that OAKLAND!

 (I just won’t mention Blazers or the Seahawks while I’m down there…I promise I’ll be good. What? No I am not a Sonic’s fan. I’m from Portland people, I just married a Washington State Park Ranger)

Anyway…Got the bags packed,  camera and lap top. Get ready FOR DELICIOUS reports from the TKGA National and CGOA Regional Conferences!

Oh MY! Knit and Crochet Show here I come!

WOW! I can’t believe it, I leave for Oakland on thursday! I am so darned excited I’ve got my bags packed, and re-packed, made sure I have all my paperwork in order…

I can’t wait to meet all the fun loving free formers at our get together on Friday night, if not before! AND I’ve a whole day in Darla Fanton’s presence learning all about Tunsian Entraloc Crochet…really jazzed about that! I can’t wait to design yarn for those projects!

I’ve got some yummy goodies to take with me to share with the ladies and gents. Not to mention it’s a hair warmer in Oakland right now than here in the chilly north. I’m looking forward to warm feet! I haven’t made new socks yet, maybe I’ll make a pair down there.

If any of you are planning on attending the show, if you see me, say HI! I’ll be the one in the Crochet Liberation Front T-shirt

Make sure you pop in from time to time because I’ll be posting photos and blogs daily from Oakland…WHOO HOO!

Spuntastik! Chess Set Fury

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Originally uploaded by CMHS yarn & designs (laurie wheeler).

This is one of my favorite yarns to spin. One wonderfully white ply of hand processed, organic local sheep’s wool, and a ply of commercial warping worsted. It’s a smooth yarn, fun to play with. Knitters would find it simple to use, and crocheters will enjoy the firm handle it gives while still being boucy for lacey shawls and accessories.

Would be great for fingerless gloves or other fun items…
It’s a little finer than sport weight! I can make LOTS of it
Find two great skeins right now at my etsy shop!

Oh YAH! I forgot to mention…

That I changed my website to reflect the restructure in my business Still making yarn, patterns etc, most of which I am listing on etsy, but I also do orders if you want samples of a specific yarn and do consultations on fiber/color (yes, it costs more). So Check out the site: The Secrets of Yarn(c) Project!

Some Revisions in The Secrets of Yarn Project (c)

Well, I’m counting down the days to the CGOA Regional Conference in Oakland, aka The Knit and Crochet Show…OOOOH I’m so excited.

 That and I’ve had some lovely yarn orders come in, the project guide and The Free Form Crochet Club are doing well too!  However, I have often written that I only have so many hours in the day! So, I have restructured things just a little bit. I will not be doing the Secrets of Yarn Project (c) Book on line, I am seeking a publisher, I will send out my submissions in late october. I know it will be great, but I just don’t have time to self publish like I am doing…SOOOOOOOO!

If you want to see me in print and learn the wonderful SECRETS! Please send me an email  camanomade@earthlink.net in support so I can send it to a publisher to show an interest.

 Just so you know… I will be writing one general Secrets of Yarn Project Book for all manner of media that use yarn AND a Secrets of Yarn Book which will be crochet specific.

Hopefully there will be a project book, more guides, and hopefully workshops that will come out of this…so if this is what YOU want to see…and I know it is! I’ve been listening to you folks! Please email me with a support letter It helps the publishers understand there is a demand!

 Thank you all for being such great customers, loyal readers, and great friends!