Help for Tammy Hildebrand and her Family

Hi, everyone! I know that it may appear that I’ve dropped off the face of the planet. I’ve been swamped with work. If I can just get through December 15 and get my deadlines out of the way, I believe I’ll be able to actually breathe. There has been so much going on and the only people really knowing about any of it has been my Facebook and Twitter friends. I haven’t had much time to make a blog entry. Just little Facebook updates and Twitter Tweets.

Tammy Hildebrand

Tammy is a close friend of mine. We started working together when she was the mentor coordinator with the CGOA. I got to meet her two years’ ago in Manchester. And, she is such a fun, vibrant person (and you can’t miss her with that beautiful red hair!). I believe that I may have spent too much time with her, in fact. She was just so fun to be around. I missed her desperately when I had to return home.

After I had the chance to meet her in person, over the months following the conference, I found that she was someone to whom I could turn when I was having problems. It didn’t matter what the problem. It could be crochet-related, pattern-related, teenage daughter related. LOL She was always there and was so encouraging and helpful, even when she realized that I just needed a sounding board.

Even in Manchester, Tammy “joked” about this mystery illness that no one could seem to diagnose. She was sick, very sick. But, she just wouldn’t let it bring her down. It was later that she was finally diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease. Lyme Disease is a difficult illness. Chronic Lyme, however, is the manifestation of the illness when it’s not detected and treated in its early stages.

I’ve watched Tammy and her family suffer for so long. With Tammy being such a private person, I was unsure what I could possibly do to try to return the love and support to her that she had always given to me. But, Tammy’s desire to let people know about Chronic Lyme Disease finally gave me the way to try to help.

Please visit the website below to read more about this illness, about Tammy and her family and about how you can help too, if you’d like.

http://www.helptammy.com

I encourage everyone to send in Personal Messages. I’ve only had a couple, but I would love to see lots of love sent to Tammy. When she’s feeling down, she can just visit the page and read your messages of encouragement and love. That would be terrific!

If you browse over to the Drawing page, you’ll see how much Tammy is loved by the design community. Several designers are donating all kinds of things to people making monetary gifts to Tammy and her family. There are autographed books, finished projects which were used for the publication models, PDF patterns, pattern leaflets, etc. Lots and lots of stuff! Every time I look at that list of items being donated, I can’t help but smile. Tammy has touched so many people with her big heart. I just hope that I can somehow return that love to her.

We love you, Tammy!

Live Blog Radio Interview on Getting Loopy!

I’ve been told that two people now have my new book, Learn to Do Tunisian Stitches, in their hands. What fun! I don’t have it in my hands yet, but still.

And, I’ll be talking about the book during Mary Beth Temple’s Live Radio Podcast, Getting Loopy! Please tune in on Monday at 8:00 pm CENTRAL time to listen live. There is a live chat room and people can even call in. This will be interesting. It’s just me and Christian here now so there’s no one to distract him during the interview. We’ll see how that goes. LOL

And, if you’re unable to make it, you can always listen to the podcast at a later time on the same website. But, be sure to listen in the same week since there’s going to be a prize!

New Book: Learn to Do Tunisian Lace Stitches

If you’ve tried Tunisian crochet, but you’re interested in learning more. Or, if you’re interested in Tunisian but you’re intimidated by trying something new. I’ve got great news for you! My new book, Learn to Do Tunisian Lace Stitches, is now available for purchase.

This book includes 10 new stitch patterns and 11 new projects incorporating those stitch patterns. You can work on the projects I’ve designed. Or, you can use the stitch patterns to create your own one-of-a-kind project. But, the real news? This book includes a DVD! This DVD takes you through each of the basic stitches used in the book as well as every stitch pattern, in detail. Imagine having me teaching you right in the comfort of your own home! You will become a Tunisian expert in no time at all!

New Design: Easy Lace Cowl

As you know, I’ve been trying to get some designs published in knitting. I’m not giving up on crochet, of course. But, I’ve really been trying hard with the knit designs.

One thing I’ve been trying to do with a lot of my knit designs is make them easy enough for a beginner. You see, Brianna wanted some patterns from me and, when I designed them, they needed to be at her skill level. After designing this one, I set Brianna to work on making a second just to confirm the skill level. I’m happy to report that I succeeded with this one. It’s a perfect beginner lace project. Brianna had it finished in three days.

Easy Lace Cowl will be available in the January 2010 issue of Creative Knitting magazine.

This design was completed in Rayon Petalspun by Honeysuckle Yarns. Enjoy!

New Design: Pennsylvania Dutch Afghan

From the website: A classic quilt design is beautifully rendered in this colorful crocheted afghan. A checkerboard edging adds a perfect contrasting, yet complementary, finishing touch.

This Pennsylvania Dutch Afghan will be available in the January 2010 issue of Crochet! magazine.

New Design: Richmond Vest

And here is the first knit design of mine which has been published by Naturally Caron. I hope you’ll be seeing many more knit designs from me. But, not to worry. I’m not giving up crochet or anything like that. I’m just diversifying.

You may remember a post in my blog where I mentioned Christian spilling an entire can of Diet Dr. Pepper on my project and that I had to start all over since I couldn’t take any chances with it damaging the fabric. Well, this is the one!

Here is the text from the website:

We are delighted that The Vest has made a fashion comeback. Quick to knit, (no sleeves to attach!) and easy to fit (no sleeves to measure!) vests also make great gifts. This week, Kim Guzman brings us the Richmond Vest, a wonderful example of how the vest can add just the right tailored yet handmade touch to your work or weekend wardrobe. Kim chose a rich shade of Country for Richmond, and the yarn’s merino wool blend and cabled construction make her textured stitches pop so beautifully.

And, here’s just a bit of information on the design to help when stitching it up:  This is designed to be worn with a close-fitting top. If you prefer to wear a looser-fitting top under it, you will want to increase the armhole height by about one or two inches, but remember to decrease in the body.

Errata: Denim Ripples Afghan

The Denim Ripples Afghan from Tunisian Around the Home is currently in a crochet-along and I noticed a problem with the stitch instructions.

You may already be aware of the instructions for the Tunisian Knit Stitch being incorrect throughout the book. These instructions should be: Insert hook from the front of your work to the back of your work, between the front and back vertical bars of the same stitch, yarn over, pull up a loop.

The Bobble in the instructions, which are worked knitwise should also be worked as above, not as stated in the instructions.

I also noticed the following instruction on Rows 2-4 and Rows 5&6: …”pull up lp in sp under top strand of next horizontal bar above 4 lps worked to on last row.” It’s not 4 lps. It’s 3. Although the instructions for Row 1 indicate that you yarn over and pull through 4 lps, you are only actually joining 3 loops since there is always 1 lp on the hook to start. So, when the instructions say to yarn over and pull through 4 loops, remember that the first loop on the hook is to be counted as one of these loops. You are only closing 3 stitches, not 4, as the instruction states.

Errata: Sea Shells Afghan

The Sea Shells Afghan is available in Afghan Variegations by Annie’s Attic.

Rnd 2 of Border: 5 dc in each center corner st, not 5 sc.

Just a typo when it was formatted for printing.