The Bookworm's Picks

I said I would review a knitting and/or crochet books this week.

The knitting and crochet books I love best since I design patterns are stitch collections. I have many of both in my collection but a series I turn to time and time again for inspiration is this one; a crochet series by Linda P. Schapper.

She did a fantastic job of collecting a huge variety of stitches, motifs, borders and put them into 3 books. Each stitch, motif, border is photographed and the pattern is numbered. It is clearly written and also well graphed out. The photos are clear and you can get a really good sense of how the stitch, motif or border will behave when used. What I especially like is that she did not attempt to name any of these. They are simply numbered and that to me is just perfect. Because I'm visual and tactile, I'd rather let the form and feel influence my choice than a name.

For any crocheter who is looking to build a solid foundation library of reference books, these 3 should be at the top of their list. I don't know what I would do without this collection. These can be purchases on Amazon.

Other stitch collections I turn to are from Japan. The inventiveness and attention paid to details when Japanese designers come up with new stitches, motifs, borders is nothing short of amazing. There are several online sites where you can buy Japanese books and I would highly recommend a browse through some of the Etsy shops or eBay stores that carry them.






PS. This review is made freely and I have not received any compensation for it. I am just sharing what I love about books!

Giving back with Crochet & Knitting

Available on Ravelry!

I knew that there are great health benefits to crocheting and knitting, but I never knew just how important those are until last week.

I teach knitting and crochet in 2 groups every Friday. The first group meets in the morning at the local health clinic and is made up predominantly of women who are survivors of abuse. When I first joined this group this past January, I saw a lot of women who were shy, retired, didn't communicate very much. Being a survivor myself, I saw myself in those women. But once I began sharing my skills with them, I watched a change come over all of them and eventually noticed the same changes in myself. I felt happier, more confident, less apt to say 'no' or avoiding group situations. It made me feel important as an individual!

A month ago, I started another knitting group, this one meeting at the local library on Friday afternoons. This group is made up of women and men who either want to spend time with others who knit and crochet or want to learn how to knit and/or crochet. What I love about this group is that everyone is willing to teach those who don't know how or to guide them when they are unsure of a stitch. 

I've taught many of the women in this afternoon group how to crochet and/or knit. I didn't realise how much of an impact this sharing of my skills was having on some of my students until last Friday when one of my students came and sat next to me while I was packing up after the group was done. I asked her if there was anything she needed and she said no but that she wanted to speak with me. I was curious as to what she wanted to discuss.

She then explained that she suffers from an acquired brain injury from which she will likely never recover fully. That for the past several years, coping with this and being a survivor of abuse, she has felt useless, just floating around, not having any purpose in life nor seeing any ahead for her. She then told me that teaching her how to knit, not giving up on her because it took a lot longer for her to 'get it' gave her the confidence to continue, but that it's also given her confidence for other things in her life, that she doesn't feel useless anymore and that she can contribute. I had noticed in the group that in the 4 short weeks since she'd joined, she had blossomed. She is a lot more outspoken than when she came the first day, she is more than happy to volunteer as first show n' tell each week and that she promotes the group to other people she knows. She also commented that her family and friends have noticed the change in her and are loving it.

Until I heard all these things, I never realized just how much of an impact teaching someone how to crochet and/or knit could have on a person. I had to hold back tears of joy while I listened in awe of what the simple passing on of skills had given this woman and am thankful for it.

This Friday evening, the local library to kick off the World Wide Knit in Public week is holding a knit in for all knitters and crocheters in the area. So if you live in Hamilton Ontario, come on down and join us at the central library on the main floor where we will be knitting and crocheting from 6:30 to 9 pm! If you want to bring some finished projects to display, please do, we will be having a display for people to see what we have made!

A starry teaser!

Starstruck teaser

I've been working on these little lovelies all week. I had a fellow crocheter ask me for the pattern and then someone else messaged me asking if I was going to publish the pattern.

Well, I've been working on writing out the pattern diligently. I have taken photos, checked and double checked my figures and all that's left is testing the final piece.

Everyone who's received these this Christmas have fallen in love with them. I hope you will like them too. So bear with me one more day so I can finish testing the final piece and a brand new pattern will be available!

You will need worsted weight cotton yarn, crochet hook, wool yarn in as many colours as you want. So get ready because once you see these, you will want to make some right away!

Life

Life is full of blessings, sometimes you have to look a little harder to find them.

Such has been the case for this year's Christmas for us.

Being on assistance meant not having anything for Christmas since we had no money to spend. But circumstances, friends, family brought home to us that the true Christmas is having friends and family and appreciating them. We already knew that, but we needed a good solid nudge to be reminded.

My darling sister soul gave us some very thoughtful gifts, of which my favorites are the book Crochet Master Class edited by Jean Leinhauser whom we lost this year. A great loss to her family, friends and the crochet indie design industry.

I first came across this book at our local library. Fell in love with it and it was moved to the top of my crochet wish list!  And now, lucky me, I have it thanks to my darling sister! She also gave me a second book, Bring Colour to crochet. A beautiful collection of stitch patterns done in colours that make each pop off the page!

After those, a new windup toy! Yes, silly things please me such as small wind up toys. This latest addition to my growing collection is a Santa Claus riding an old fashioned train. Love it! :)

My husbands favorite was the Belgian chocolate letter of course! quickly followed by new socks and warm mittens.

Then from a sweet friend we received some much needed supplies (paper towels, tp & tissues)... the super soft expensive ones! Two of her gifts also pleased my husband to no ends, Belgian chocolate truffles and cookies!

I also received windups from her! One is of a cute penguin and the other is a Santa and both were lovingly put to bed in a super cute Winnie the Pooh gift box. Love love love them!

And a surprise came to our door earlier this week. Someone I got to know in the class I was taking this past fall received a turkey as a gift from her job, but she already had more turkeys than she knew what to do with. She offered it to us! So sitting in my freezer waiting for New Years` is a lovely 15 lbs turkey! A most pleasant surprise since our hamper from the Salvation Army held potatoes, cabbage, squash, peas/carrots, but no meat. So there is our meat! :)

So for all those who despair and feel that this season has let them down, consider that there are people out there a lot worse off than you are. This season has certainly reminded us to be thankful for small blessings and wonderful friends.

So to all my friends, family, crocheters and knitters around the world; I wish you all a Merry Christmas (or a Merry Celebration of your choice) and keep the faith in your heart. When things look at their bleakest, open your eyes, look around and reach out, ask for help, you matter and that is the most important thing to remind yourself of.

MarieAnge

Star Shine Bangles (Crochet Pattern)

The bangle tree!

 This instalment is continuing on the theme of bangles as jewelry and wristwarmers for all seasons. And now that Christmas is staring at us, and we know we haven't got all the stocking stuffers! Here's a quick project for you to make.

I'm not big on lots of jewelry, but I also like to keep my wrists warm. This pattern is one of those flashes of genius that hits when needed the most. Make a fashion statement and keeping your wrists warm; these double as actual wearable jewelry!

Perfect fit for all wrists

Add beads or just make them plain. The star stitch makes a very pretty bangle on it's on. Also a fantastic way to use those super special mini skeins we all keep in our stash. I hope you enjoy making this bangle as much as I have.

As requested by a friend

And it's so quick! You can dash off several in an evening!

Please follow this link or go to the one in my sidebar to purchase this pattern for only 1$!!