This thing is huge.

See that? I’m crocheting something for that giant 36″ monster. That’s a lot of crocheting considering I’m not just crocheting a giant circle. You’ll see what I mean when you purchase my issue of Interweave Crochet after it comes out.

I can’t believe I get to say that. MY ISSUE. The issue in which I am PUBLISHED. Yes! *fist pump*

So there’s this box full of yarn, with colors and bags and I have to use it, keep track of it, make sure dog hair doesn’t make its way into it, and I’m still in shock.

I need to snap out of this, though, because while I have this big project, I also have to work 8-10 hours five days a week, part-time University every day of the week (practically), and The Yarn Side to try and keep up with. I don’t even have time to podcast, really, and there have been thoughts entering my head that I should put that on hiatus. Then I worry about how people would feel about my doing that.

What to do, what to do.

Right now my only decision is to just try and keep moving forward. Try to work a little of everything everday, not allow myself to become so involved with any one thing for too long, or I focus too much on it and become drained.

How do you best handle a large number of To-Do’s and the stress that comes with it?

My absence began with my grandfather becoming ill, which weeks later turned into an absence because my grandfather passed away. My family has been dealing with all the things families deal with when a loved one is no longer around. We’re all slowly readjusting to life without him, which is hard, but harder when I think about how something so exciting that just happened is the first thing I’m not able to share with him.

That exciting news is that I received word that I’ll have a design published in Interweave Crochet, Winter ‘09! I sent two swatches, and received an email from the editor that they want one of the two, and that they would like the finished pieced to be much larger than my initial plans. It’s super exciting, and I can’t wait to get started, but we still need to finalize the contract and discuss yarns.

So what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?

It’s only been the last few days where I was able to make it into work, and now I’m trying to slowly catch up with you all. While I do that, have a crappy iPhone photo of a scarf I started…

This scarf is made up of samples from the February Phat Fiber sampler box. A couple of the samples are actually ones that I spun from small batts. I have a couple more fiber samples that I need to finish spinning before I can call this scarf done. I’m letting all the ends hang for the meantime. Not sure if they’re visually appealing enough to leave them dangling or if I should take the time to weave them in.

Before I decide whether or not I’m going to offer yarn, using this new technique, I’ve decided to crochet it up into a simple scarf.

That was the beginning of the scarf, and it’s about 2-3 times longer right now. It’s a single crochet, very basic scarf. The only difference is that I’m using this new speckled-shade dye technique which does all of the interesting work for you.

In the photo you can see how dark the end of the scarf is–a very deep green with a hint of brown. In the ball behind it, the outer part is a very light shade of green, and I mean very light. There are, however, specks of darker shades in those strands too. As the piece is crocheted, the overall tone becomes lighter, but the speckled areas will actually darken.

It works like this…

Darker end = medium and light speckles;
Middle section = light and dark speckles;
Light end = medium and dark speckles

I’ll post some more progress shots, as well as the final product, when I get a chance. It’s sure to be an interesting experience!

I wanted to share this as it’s a great example of letting the yarn do the work for you. In fiber arts–I’m thinking crochet and knitting here–when the fiber is more interesting, or visually stimulating, you end up using simple stitches, or less complicated stitch patterns. Most often this is due to the fact that colorful, visual fiber loses the stitch pattern, making it appear less prominent.

Le’ts face it, when we use a fancy, or complex, stitch pattern, we want to see that stitch pattern, so we use a simple (read: smooth) yarn. The reverse is true of fancy, or interesting, yarn. Simplify the stitch or stitch pattern to let the yarn pop. There are, I’m sure, exceptions to this, but that’s a great general rule to follow.

I’ve been awfully quiet lately, I know. I’m letting a few things slide lately–things I shouldn’t–which has left me feeling pretty poor about not having enough time. I have a sneaking suspicion this is all a part of being an adult. When I was a kid, the days were long and glorious. The only time I got fussy over time was when it became too dark out to play football in the streets with the boys, and my mother (football nut), who loved that I was playing any kind of sport, called me in for the night. Now, at 28, unenthusiastically zipping across time to 29, the days are shorter. There’s never enough time to do it all. Work, school, crochet, design crochet, dye yarn, dye fiber, podcast, edit podcast, spend time with family, take dog outside, try to keep the dog and cat from killing each other, breathe…

That last one lately has been difficult.

Then recently I decided that, with it being National Crochet Month (Happy March!), I should participate with, and send samples to, Phat Fiber. I discussed this a bit on the last episode of the podcast, but here’s a snippet of what Phat Fiber is about (lifted from their site)…

Phat Fiber is a mystery box of awesome samples for the yarn and fiber enthusiast in us all. With a focus on the independant artisan, this box is a super grass-roots treat for the senses. When your box arrives, chock full of samples, expect to be overwhelmed with the sight and feel of artful yarns, bits of roving, small batts, stitch markers, original patterns, valuable discount coupons and much much more. Inside, you could find anything that yarn and fiber enthusiasts would love…even an herbal tea or two! Phat Fiber seeks to bridge the gap between talented online artisans and consumers hungry to support the independent small business.

So, there’s this box that I wanted to be a part of. It’s March, and I wanted to send in samples for both fiber-lovers and crocheters. I felt very rooted to the idea of getting crochet out there, celebrating what I love about it, and reaching as many people as I could. This is what I sent in:

I rushed taking that photo as I was trying to get them into the shipping box and mailed, so the mini skeins are blurry. All very sad. That’s representative of at least 24 of the green/olive (Horned God) mini-skeins, 30-ish of the pink/yellow/orange/white (Apple Blossom) mini-skeins, 10 mini rolls of the pink/yellow/orange/white (Apple Blossom) roving, and I think 60 crochet patterns for a wristlet/cuff pattern. Horned God is a sock-weight yarn; Apple Blossom yarn is a delicious baby alpaca, silk and cashmere blend lace weight; and the Apple Blossom roving is a baby alpaca and merino blend. So. Freaking. Delicious. I really wanted to keep it all for myself.

I think, all told, I spent about 50 hours putting it all together. It was, with complete honesty, more involved than I thought it would be. I had hoped to get the business/discount cards printed for me, but didn’t have the time. I ended up printing them myself, which was painful. There were rewarding moments, too, though. When I would punch a hole in a card that had a logo I designed on it, I’d smile. When I would squish a little 0.4 oz roll of roving into its bag, I’d pet it for the last time and sigh, knowing that it would end up being loved. When I printed dozens upon dozens of pattern postcards, I knew that it was a great representation of what a crocheter could do with less than 40 yards of lace.

There is pride in what I did, what I sent. I just don’t think I can do it two months in a row like I was hoping. Not enough time, not enough energy. I’ve promised myself I will do the May box. That should give me plenty of time to slowly work up, and work on, the samples. I need to repeat the mantra “I don’t need a box, I don’t need a box, I don’t need a box”. If I don’t need a contributor’s box, then I don’t need to push myself to send 50+ samples. No one is forcing me to contribute, I just want to.

Maybe for May I’ll come up with a new pattern.

Oh, speaking of the pattern. The wristlet/cuff is called “Mrs Dalloway”, named by a good friend of mine who is much better at that sort of thing than I am.

That’s Mrs Dalloway. She’s a flirty, party-throwing kind of girl. She doesn’t mind if you just wear one, or if you want to jazz it up and wear two–one for each wrist. Make sure to click on the photo to see a larger version.

The pattern was free to those who purchased a Phat Fiber box, and for those who signed up to find out more about the secret site. For everyone else, I will be offering it up for sale at a low price. It’s available at Ravelry already, and will soon be available here on The Crochet Side.

And if you’re interested in that kind of thing, you can see some of the new dyed items that I’ve just listed at the Etsy shop for The Yarn Side. You read it here first (well, outside of Twitter, but I don’t think anyone reads those anyway)! I’ve moved all of my fiber stuff out of my Etsy shop for my patterns, and into it’s own store. The Etsy store will eventually make way to a new website. It’s up, but not functional, and doesn’t have any pretties. It’s pretty much a holding place right now, sad to say. One of those things I’m going to have to find time for at some point.

Regardless of my inability to manage my time efficiently, how are you? What have you been spending your time on? Crochet anything lately? Dye something? Spin something? Listen to something fantastic or interesting? Come give me something to read; I’ll put whatever I’m doing on hold for a few seconds to find out what you’re up to. :)

If you have any comments or questions, please let me know in the comments or click on “Contact”.

Well, I did it! In the face of my past rejection goes two designs. One is a lacey winter scarf; the second is a home décor item. The class mentioned only focusing in one design, but I just couldn’t when there was a second that was begging to be swatched as well.

SO, here we are again–waiting impatiently for any response, though preferably a positive one.

While I wait, though, I’ll have crochet to keep me busy (well, and work and uni). I’ve also got tons of yarn and roving to dye, even new colors to play with.

Phyllis asked some great questions, and I look forward to hearing from her readers. :D Make sure to come back and let me know what you think.

Boy, did they ever love it! You can take a listen to episode 79 (yarn porn and thank you’s are at the end) here: http://limenviolet.blogspot.com/.

Also, for those of you who keep track of my yarn adventures, I’ve just purchased some more stock so that I can dye it all up. I’m running low on what I’ve got left, so it’ll be good to get more colorways out of me. ;)

While I’m thinking about it, I’ve been providing stitch guides/patterns videos to the podcast, but I haven’t been posting them here. There’s a reason for that, really. The videos I post to the podcast/vidcast are to show how to do stitches I bring up in a new section I’ve started, “In Stitches”. Since I don’t discuss those here, I haven’t posted any.

If you’re interested in that sort of thing, go visit the Podcast show notes to see the videos.

This is terrifying because of the following questions that immediately began running through my head:

1. Is she going to say I suck?
2. What if I suck?
3. What if, out of all the reviews, I am the suckiest?
4. Will I be the only one who sucks?
5. Is there a club available to those who suck?

Ad nauseum.

For the life of me, I don’t know what compelled me to say yes. The idea of more publicity for the podcast? The fact that the owner of the message, and review forthcoming, was so pleasant and polite in her request? The potential for something good? Because it could be good, right?

I really feel like the last couple of episodes are better than some of the previous. I’ve got a couple of segments that I’m keeping, and I’ve added the video supplement. Lots of people like this aspect, and since I like to teach and help others, it fulfills another…something in me.

So…maybe this review thing won’t be so bad. And she’s sending me questions, so that’ll help put across what the podcast is about, or aiming to be about. This’ll be good–it will. I hope. *crosses fingers and toes*

Well, it’s a Brand New Year, with a Brand New Design, so I’m going to have a Brand New Outlook. I aim to put out more podcast episodes, as well as more blog entries. 2009 is going to be great for each of us.

Let’s throw some photos and text into this entry and make it one big show and tell, yeah?

The following photo was taken by Caryn. I asked if she’d take some photos while she was out in her studio (read: garage), and she broken down and said that she would. Anyway, this photo displays some yarn that I have lying about. The bottom red/pink-toned skeins are different shades of my “The Puppet Show” colorway. The middle two in the blue-green colorway is my “Go Fish”. The top middle two are “Mutant Enemy”–the green on the right skein is more accurate than the one on the left. Damn you photography! The silver-blue skein on the left and right is the new colorway, “New Moon Rising”.

This following photo shows a close-up of the “New Moon Rising”. The skein itself is a Fingering weight, which is perfect for us crocheters. You may thinking working with such a lightweight yarn is tedious, but it doesn’t have to be. Did you know that Jules is crocheted with Fingering weight yarn? It is! Fingering weight allows us to introduce more drape with complex stitches if need be, without the bulk of a heavier yarn. Fingering weight yarn, provided that the contents of the yarn works well, can also give greater stitch definition and shine a design right up. *swims in a bathtub of a Merino/Silk blend in ‘New Moon Rising’*.

The following three photos are just bonuses! The left shows the reverse side of the hang tag that now comes on all of my yarn. It shows you the name at the top, the weight, the yardage/grams, fiber type and care instructions. Then you get to read the inspiration for the yarn, and a quote. All in my lovely penmanship (she says jokingly–har). The middle photo shows you what the skein and tag look like together, and what you can expect to see when you receive a skein. The far-right photo is another shot of the Worsted weight skein that is shown in the far-left. I just really like this colorway, so if I can show a million photos, I will. Sometimes less is not more, people, you know? ;)

So, what has the new year brought you? Have you looked back at 2008 with a clearer vision of what you want to accomplish this year? Did you bust as much stash as you wanted? Has it rolled over into 2009 with a vengeance? Should we discuss ways in which we can bust our stashes even further? A square-a-thon? We all have time for at least one square, right?

Bring me your ideas.

Well, what I’m really doing is giving up on one thing, and integrating something else. The new design will slowly begin to appear in the next couple of days. Hopefully I can get it all to work before I am overwhelmed with 6 days of work, 3 courses, and a crochet deadline.

Eek! I better go get some sleep.
And, hey, look at that! A new design all in place.

A (somewhat of a) coworker (our positions cross paths, and we discuss work things, but lately we’ve been chattering outside of typical work comm’s) instant messaged me, and we chatter for a bit. At some point during the chat, she mentioned that she had tried to learn how to crochet. Well, I don’t know about you, but everytime someone says that, I kind of squee and mentally bounce around. She admitted to being able to crochet a long line (I’m assuming a long row of chain stitches or maybe single crochet), but not being able to understand instructions.

She had picked up Debbie Stohler’s “Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker”, but was still having issues with the language and what she was reading. (As an aside, I admit to not having purchased “The Happy Hooker”, but mostly because each time I browse the book I am not won over.) This woman is far from dim, so I could tell right away that she was one of us–if by “us” you insert “one who learns by seeing in action what she could not grasp on paper.” You know–us.

I gave her the location of my how-to videos online, promised that if we both make it to San Francisco at our employer’s headquarters, then I’d help her even further. I also told her to check out “Teach Yourself Visually Crocheting”, as a lot of the photos and instruction are clear. “But this one,” she said, referring to the former book, “says ‘bitch’!” To which I could only chuckle. She’s a firecracker!

This conversation with her got me to thinking about (1) how mainstream skills like crocheting and knitting have become–they’re not as subversive as they may have once been; and (2) I just really like to help people. I mean, that’s the reason I started the crochet tutorials; that’s one of the reasons I’ve kept up with the podcast; and, work related, it’s one of the reasons I love my job so much.

I enjoy making the videos for both the users I help at TypePad and the visitors to this site and over at the YouTube channel. I enjoy being friendly and giving and making people feel good for contacting me in the first place.

Those of you who e-mail me, asking me to explain a stitch? I love that.

Those of you who open a support ticket at TypePad, or use the contact form, I love troubleshooting the issue you’re having, then giving you the means to fix it yourself, or being asked to fix it for you.

It’s just who I am. I am a people-pleasing, user- and visitor- friendly, cranky-soothing person. It has to be in my genes, or maybe I’m a product of my environment, but whatever it is… it’s not hurting me. So, I’ll just keep on swimming along, helping my fellow people, whether it’s with their stitches or their blogs.

You can locate the shownotes at: podcast.thecrochetside.com.

After the next few episodes, I won’t be posting the link to the audio on this page, but the area to the upper left will still display the most recent episodes, and direct you to the correct place.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the podcast episodes in the comments over there.

A new pattern for you all! A quick new beanie that can be completed in an evening or over the weekend. I loved coming up with this, and tweaking it as I went to see how best the front brim panel would flip.

I hope you’ll click on the “Patterns” link in the above navigation and take a look.

For those who’ve noticed that the Jules pattern hadn’t been listed on there, then let me just say that it’s there now as well. ;)

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new design.

The winner is… comment #12, Angie! Angie, I’ll be e-mailing you shortly to ask you some questions, so keep an eye on your e-mail.

Giveaway Item(s): Jules Pattern Kit (Tunisian Hook, Pattern, Yarn for Small/Medium Size)

How the winner will be chosen: Random.org Generator

Giveaway Begins: 10/17/2008

Giveaway Ends: 10/31/2008

Winner will be notified on/by: 11/01/2008

Rules: No duplicate entries/comments. No spamming. Giveaway is open to everyone. Winner MUST respond within five days, otherwise they forfeit their winnings, and a new winner will be announced.

How to Enter: Comment on this post with your favorite items to crochet, your favorite types of patterns, whether you prefer symbols or written patterns, and maybe a limerick or poem citing your crochet love. Make certain to enter your e-mail address so that I can contact you.

Find other Crochet and Knit Giveaways to enter!

As a pick me up, go giveaway something, or sign up for a giveaway, at the Reader Giveaway we’re having at Crochet and Knit Giveaways!