Help Tammy Benefit: It’s a Success!

Thank you to each and every one of you for your help towards Tammy and her family both through the primary website and through the Stitch Diva website. It was a success and I’ve already been asked whether we can do it again!

Within 24 hours of the drawing date of December 20, I had emailed all the names and addresses of those receiving gifts from the gift donation page. I emailed all the names and addresses directly to the contributors. Please keep in mind that it was holiday season. The designers may have been on vacation. So, you may or may not have received an email from them. And, then, upon returning from vacation, they could also send the package directly to you without an email. So, please give it another week or so to hear something definitive.

Now, for the last two weeks, I’ve been going over the list of names that weren’t drawn. I’ve recruited additional gifts and the remainder WILL be receiving gifts. They will not be the same size of the gifts in the initial drawing, of course. But, I hope everyone will accept their consolation gifts. I want to be certain that everyone gets something for the time and effort they put into helping Tammy with their donations. I know that the point was to help Tammy and her family. But, I just want to give you something in return for your generosity.

So, give me a little bit more time. Everyone who donated (unless you elected to stay out of the drawing) should hear something by next week. If you don’t, just drop me an email at crochetkim2 @ yahoo dot com and I’ll check on it for you.

Thank you again, everyone, for your thoughtful generosity in helping Tammy and her family!

Sweetheart Ripple Redux

Did you miss doing this one in time for last Valentine’s Day? Plenty of time for Valentine’s Day 2010!

You can purchase the entire issue for automatic download at e-patternscentral. Get more inspiration by viewing the projects on Ravelry. Enjoy!

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Honestly, people. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I’ve tweeted and facebook’d. Now, I’ll blog. I just can’t let this go.

Sgt. Peppers is doing a run on HBO Family now. Of course, I HAD to watch it. And, let me tell you, this is scary! It’s brought an epiphany!

When I was in about 7th grade, I watched this movie at the theatre. Over and over. At least a dozen times. At the theatre. A dozen times. In my defense, it wasn’t an expensive theatre. It was on the military base where we lived, which was significantly less expensive, so it was enough for weekly allowances. (And, those times I ate M&Ms for lunch, instead of spending my entire lunch money on food. Shhhhh. Don’t tell my mother.)

And, yes, I’m dating myself. But, why not? I’m a nice person. And, I don’t get any other dates. So, why NOT date myself?LOL

Anyway, I am watching this movie. And, honestly, I really love the music. I like the Beatles. Always have and always will. Just because it’s the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton makes no difference to me. And, that IS the amazing Alice Cooper as Father Sun? That’s cool. And, Aerosmith. That’s cool. Steve Martin’s bit was pretty good. Always love Steve Martin. And, seeing George Burns is always fun. Such a character!

But, Pu-leaze, people. This really is a BAD movie. Bad, bad, bad. Quite possibly the worst movie from my childhood.

And, I watched it more than Grease (which came out in the same year). I remember moving back to Texas (another military base) when I was just starting 10th grade. And, you know what was having a run on HBO then too? Yes, it was playing then too. Sgt. Peppers AGAIN. And, I watched it and watched it and watched it.

Sitting here, I’m wondering what in the world I saw in the movie. It was apparently the best thing in the world to a teenager. THIS teenager. Obviously, I didn’t have a brain when I was a teenager. Very enlightening. I wonder when I developed a brain?

Someone Sent Me Some Buttons

Someone sent me some really nice decorative buttons. I tried to find your email address and couldn’t find it to thank you. They are really lovely buttons! I like them a lot and can’t wait to use them.

Sharing the Potty Training Story

I’m going to tell you that I had one heck of a time potty training Christian. I didn’t have to do it alone with my first two and they were quite obviously almost an entire generation older than Christian. I tried off and on for a very long time. I remember a time when I literally sat in the bathroom floor (knitting) for 6 hours while Christian was sitting there. I had absolutely no idea that he could hold his little bladder so long! And, it was right after he woke up, for goodness’ sakes! But, I DID finish this Neck Cowl.

I tried everything! Nothing was working. He just didn’t get it. But, I didn’t give up the faith. I just figured he wasn’t ready. I browsed 100s of websites, trying desperately to learn something I hadn’t tried. I had read something about just removing the diaper and letting the child just run around without it. But, when I thought about it, I was worried that there would be messes EVERYWHERE. How was I going to handle that one?

Finally, I tried this technique of simply removing the diaper. I was so frustrated that I was willing to try anything.

And, you know what? I removed the diaper and the little guy was almost completely potty trained in 24 hours. By the end of 48 hours, it was a done deal.

For months, Christian still used his little potty chair. He was comfortable with it. But, I knew there would come a time when he would really need to learn to use the “big potty”. Without anyone here to show him, I wasn’t sure exactly how that was going to work. LOL

So, he just used that little potty chair. Never an accident. Believe it or not, there has not been a single incident of an accident in bed either. Not one time. Such a big boy!

Then, one day, I was watching a movie. Christian was in the back bedroom, playing with his toys. There was a scene in this movie when a little boy, perhaps 5 or 6, gets up in the middle of the night and goes to the bathroom. You can’t see anything. LOL But, you can tell that he is using the “big potty” and that he is standing.

So, I call Christian in the living room, rewind it. He watched, quite intently. Then, he went back to playing. Just that one little scene. And, it worked! There hasn’t been a single time that Christian has used his little potty again. Can you believe it? He just needed to see another little boy doing it. That’s all it took.

And, you will not believe the movie I was watching. The great potty training turning point in Christian’s life. Amityville Horror. hahahahahaha

The Post Christmas Roundup

I am finally coming to the end of the designs that were commissioned after the August Knit & Crochet Show in Buffalo. I can hardly believe it. I haven’t really had a chance to stop and think since then. It’s been total chaos around here. So many designs have been finished and mailed out that I can’t even remember them all!

I’ve been very excited to add knit designs to my resume, but as it turns out, they were the reason I got so behind in my schedule. I didn’t take into consideration the time involved and, even with the baby designs, it still took me longer than my usual maximum of a one-week turnaround. I’ll still be doing knit designs, but I’m definitely going to have to plan my schedule better now that I have a better idea of the length of time it takes me to get them finished.

Tomorrow, I’ll be mailing out the four designs I have here now. And, I will be officially CAUGHT UP! Of course, two of them still need patterns. But, they are knit patterns so it won’t take me very long to get them finished. Then, I will begin the January projects.

For January, I have only three designs due, which is quite a difference between the last few months. And, February only has two designs. This will give me a chance to work on some other things like design submissions and working on website designs. Of course, that could change in an instant. I work best when under stress, unfortunately. So, if I don’t get that ever-sought-after book deal, I’ll impose my own deadlines to keep me on my toes.

Money was tight this year for Christmas, but I couldn’t resist getting this lovely quilt for myself. I do a lot of shopping at Seventh Avenue or Midnight Velvet. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be able to get something like this. But, being able to make monthly payments makes it much easier for me to manage these bigger items that I wouldn’t normally be able to get.

Velvet Dreams Quilt

Christian seems to like the things he received too.

That really is Christian in that HUGE Transformers 2 Bumblebee Helmet.  I just went over to Amazon to get the link to it. Holy price markup, Batman! No time wasted in marking that up $20 from when I purchased it. Wowzah! I’m glad I got it while it was still reasonably priced.

I also got Christian this Thomas whistle. He loves Thomas so much and he’s so cute with it. He will blow the whistle and say “All Aboard”. So cute.

Christian’s grandmother got him a remote controlled Monster Truck because this kid LOVES monster trucks! Now, if you want to talk post-Christmas markups, this is definitely the one. This is literally about $45 more than it was when it was originally purchased. I kid you not.

Brianna came by for a visit on Christmas Day, which was really nice. She made some sugar cookie dough and baked some cut-out cookies. (I frosted them, something I thought Christian would enjoy, but it turned out that *I* was the one enjoying it. LOL)

When I got this wonderful plan to make cut-out cookies, I forgot that I didn’t have a rolling pin. I know that’s hard to imagine. But, about 5 years’ ago, many of you will remember that I lost almost everything I owned. I had had the same rolling pin for about 20 years. Sometimes, I will still go looking for things that I had before, especially things that I had had for a long time. And, I could have sworn I had that rolling pin, for some reason. But….no. LOL Poor Brianna had to use an empty bottle for rolling out the dough and a drinking glass for cutting out the cookies. But, hey! It worked and it was fun, which is what matters anyway.

Must get back to work now. I still need to get these patterns finalized and the designs ready for pick up tomorrow. Here’s to a prosperous and healthy new year for everyone! Enjoy!

Drawing Tomorrow for Tammy Hildebrand

As you know, there will be a drawing held tomorrow for the Help Tammy Benefit:

http://www.helptammy.com/drawing.html

Here is the official word. I’ll be using a random computerized software to draw numbers. I’ll be drawing the numbers at 10:00 pm, US Central Time on December 20, 2009. You are welcome to participate in the drawing at any time between now and the time of the drawing.

Please be aware that it will take me several days to compile the addresses and prepare all the emails necessary. You’ll want to be patient to hear from me about who will be receiving the gifts, what they will be receiving and to whom to mail the gifts. So, don’t be concerned if you don’t get an email from me immediately.

ETA: The drawing was a success! Now, I am in the process of compiling addresses and emails to send the prizes. Again, please give me several days. There are a LOT of prizes to get through!

Just Some Stuff

As you know, I’ve been terribly busy since I got home from the CGOA Chain Link conference in August. I’ve been swamped. Responses to emails have been slow. I have missed some (probably more than I think). Lots of things have been put in standby while I did nothing but crochet and knit. It finally reached a point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and I had to do something else.

The obvious choice was cleaning and re-organizing. Honestly, designing causes a lot of clutter. Incoming mail stacks up. Only the most vital things are accomplished. So, I did some re-organizing to make my little living space a little more habitable. This included some pretty strenuous activities for me like turning Brianna’s bed on its side so that Christian had more room to play in that room. I have a huge bruise on my right arm to show for it! LOL What can I say? A queen size bed isn’t that easy for one person to move, I guess. But, I did it and I did it without much noise because Christian didn’t come crashing in there to see what I was up to until I was finished, thank goodness.

I think I may bring out the humidifier today (at least I can get to it now, after all the cleaning LOL). This morning, when I woke up, it appeared that someone had poked out my eyes with hot pokers. Very red and irritated. Putting drops in did no good. I think I just need to get some moisture in the air around here. It’s either that or watch Armageddon over and over (since it makes me cry every time).

I currently have four projects which I need to get finished soon. Two are almost completely finished. Two are not started. After that, it would appear that I have absolutely nothing commissioned! Although I’m sure that will change soon (hopefully), if there are any publishers right now who are just itching to give Kim Guzman a new book deal, NOW’S THE TIME!

If you’ve missed my blog posts, don’t forget that I’ve been posting on Facebook and Twitter regularly. It’s just so much easier to post little things rather than an entire blog post. So, if you miss me, be sure to friend me on those sites!

Getting back to work now. Keep warm and take care!

Gift Update: Help Tammy Benefit

Please be sure to take a look at the Drawing page for the Help Tammy Benefit. It is truly an amazing thing when crocheters and knitters come together to help each other. The gifts are still coming in for the Drawing. Absolutely incredible!

Help Tammy Benefit

New Design: Friendship Shawl

As part of their 12 days of Christmas free projects, Caron International Yarns is offering one of my designs. Yay!

This Friendship Shawl is a beautifully textured piece. There are so many different textures, I could almost call it an Aran style (without the cables). It’s been over three years since I designed it and I almost didn’t recognize it as one of mine. I hope you like it!

ETA: After glancing at the pattern for this last night, I realized that I worked all the main body of the shawl vertically. It would make a stunning afghan. I would repeat Rows 14-55 until I reached the width afghan I wanted. Maybe four or five total repeats.

Pisgah Yarn Ad in Crochet World Magazine

Now, it may be unusual for me to direct you to a yarn ad in a magazine, but in this instance, I think you will understand why.

On page 23 of the February 2010 issue of Crochet World magazine, there is a photo of my daughter on the ad for Pisgah Yarn and Dyeing Company!

Thank you to Angie for pointing it out to me! How cool!

New Design: Vestlet in Crochet World Magazine

Hi, everyone! Before I get to this new design, I wanted to mention that no one has yet written to Mary Beth Temple accepting the winning prize of my new book and DVD, Learn to Do Tunisian Lace Stitches. My interview can be heard here. And, the episode with the winner’s name is here. Please be sure to listen because someone has won the prize and it’s waiting for you!

The following is the new design which will be available in the February 2010 issue of Crochet World magazine. It’s a lovely feminine, flattering design which can be worn with or without an undershirt. It is available in sizes small through 3X. And, for those of you with digital subscriptions, I’ve checked and it is accessible now.

This design is made in Rayon Petalspun which is a lovely, fine weight rayon. The project is an easier garment design because there are no difficult stitches or stitch patterns. It is worked in one piece, with minimal seaming, only at the shoulders.

Enjoy!

Question Regarding Row Gauge

After my last blog post, someone asked an important question and I thought I would try to answer it in a separate post for easier accessibility later.

What Do I Do If My Stitch Count is Fine, But My Row Gauge Isn’t High Enough?

With regard to row counts being skewed, there are three things that come to mind.

1) Since tech editors base the row count on the finished garment gauge and not the actual swatch gauge, there is always the possibility that your row count is fine. It is just that it will take the weight of the garment to show you that it is fine. You see, once you put that extra weight of a project on there, it will change the row gauge.

2) You could try adjusting the height of your stitches by practicing pulling the loop higher when you begin your stitch. This would require time, patience and practice but would eventually become second nature.

3) If you are working toward a schematic, try working to a measurement rather than a definitive number of rows. In this case, always remember to keep the evens with the evens and the odds with the odds. If your row count should have been an odd number, work to your measurement but end with an odd number, and vice versa.

I hope that helps!

What is Gauge?

This seems to be a question I find all over the internet. So, I thought I would define it, in my own terms.

Gauge Within a Pattern

When you have a pattern, the pattern will usually come with suggested needle/hook sizes. Please remember that it’s a suggestion and a starting point. That’s it.

The gauge is there for one purpose only. It is the designer’s gauge. You’re trying to meet the designer’s gauge, or rather you’re trying to reach the same tension of working the project that the designer had.

Start with the suggested hook/needle size. Check to see whether your swatch is the same, too small or too big, then adjust hook/needle size accordingly.

And, one thing that may interest you is that, if you find a design in which you can easily get gauge for the pattern by meeting the designer’s gauge, you may want to try more patterns from that designer. His/her tension in working is close to yours and chances are that other patterns would give you the same results.

Gauge on a Yarn Wrapper

Again, this is a suggestion. Someone, working for the yarn company, has worked up a swatch on what they feel produces a pleasing fabric. The hook/needle size they used is shown. Does this mean you have to use the same size? Absolutely not!

Use this as your starting point. Try a swatch in the suggested size. Check it. Is it close to the same gauge? Are you pleased with the results? If not, try a different size. It’s not unusual at all to change the size of your hook or needle. And, it’s not unusual at all to discover that, even when you get the gauge shown on the wrapper, you don’t particularly want your results to be the same as the suggested gauge.

Gauge When Substituting Yarns

Now, this gets tricky. I could probably go on and on about it, but I’ll try to keep it brief.

When you substitute a yarn and you have tested different hook/needle sizes and discovered that you have the same gauge recommended, make sure that you understand that the difference in yarn could produce a fabric very much different than the item you are trying to make, even with the gauge spot-on.

The yarn could be bigger or smaller than the one in the pattern. For instance, don’t just try substituting a worsted yarn for a worsted yarn. All worsteds are not created equally!

Or, the properties of the yarn could be producing far different results. You are not going to get the same result from acrylic that you would get from say, bamboo.

If you fall into this situation, it may take a bit of work to use your chosen yarn, but it’s certainly do-able. It may take some trial and error, but it definitely can be done.

Man-made fibers vs. Natural Fibers

This is definitely a tricky thing. You need to be extra careful when substituting a man-made fiber when the pattern calls for a natural fiber and vice versa. Natural fibers will grow at a different rate than man-made. You just have to be careful. And, when swatches are made, make sure that you give them a nice water bath, block and allow to dry. Natural fibers never cease to surprise me.

Seaming Motifs

I am currently working on an afghan of squares which require seaming. Every single time I make a motif afghan, I attempt several different ways of seaming the motifs together before settling on one. Strangely, I gravitate to one method of seaming that looks the best to me almost every single time. I just can’t figure out why I keep trying different ways to manipulate the needle through the fabric when I should already know which one I like best. And, perhaps you will like it too.

Place the motifs flat, side-by-side, with the right side of your fabric up. I’ll call them motif A and motif B. With yarn needle and the same yarn as your final round, insert needle through both loops of stitch of motif A then under both loops of corresponding stitch of motif B. Now, continue seaming by always starting with motif A, then B.

While I certainly like a good join-as-you-go pattern, sometimes a seamed afghan is the way to go. And, this method works really well. It makes a nice, tailored, flat join.

And, for another nice tip, when you cut off the yarn after your final round, leave about 15″ or so. Use that strand for the seaming and you’ll have two less ends to weave in.