Yarn Over, Pull Through

Fabulous New Crochet Book by a Sistah!!

I stumbled across Crochet Squared one day while I was engaged in a favorite pasttime, perusing books on Amazon.  I don't remember now how I found it, but I sure am glad I did!

This is an excellent book for three reasons: 1) It's written by an African-American woman.  You know I'm going to highlight books written by women like me.  I'm happy to say that it's a book I can recommend for other reasons.  2)  The patterns in this book are SO simple; they are all based on squares, use only single crochet, and are worked with a large hook so you can finish them in a day or two.  And 3) the yarns she uses are absolutely fabulous!  Ok, I know a lot of you may not have the budget for these yarns, but because the yarns are described by type of fiber and weight, you can easily find a less expensive substitute.  Her yarn combinations are very "free-formy" as well, so you get a lot of inspiration for combining different types and colors of yarn.

The pattern  section includes three main categories:  Body Wraps; Accessories; and Shells, Cardigans and Jackets.  Because Ms. Polk includes schematics with each pattern, you have the choice of following the pattern exactly or creating your own unique version.  THESE are the kinds of patterns I want to see in crochet magazines - stylish, up-to-date garments that are easy to make and adapt to your own tastes.

And if you have never crocheted before, the book includes a section of well-illustrated, basic instructions to get you started.

If you're looking for some "out-of-the-box," easy-to-make" crocheted patterns, Crochet Squared definitely fills the bill.

Enjoy!

Happy to be Hookin'

Guess what hot crochet author signed my copy of her book on Sunday?  Yep, Debbie Stoller!  And I almost missed her appearance at the Prose and Politics bookstore in northwest DC.  My good friend, Wendy, who attended my beginner's crochet class back in January, called to let me know that this woman was doing a book signing at Prose and Politics and she was going to talk about all the neat things you could do with crochet.  "Yawn, ho-hum," I thought to myself.  "Do I really want to get out of my pajamas, forgo washing my hair (a 2-hour ordeal) just to hear a crochet author talk about stuff I already know?  Ok, ok I'll go."  Wendy sounded so excited, and I didn't want to disappoint her. 

After hanging up, I went to the bookstore's web site to see who the author was and how to get there.  "OMG!  Debbie Stoller of Stitch 'N Bitch fame?"  I got dressed and out of the house so fast, it made my head spin.  I arrived about 20 minutes before it was time for Debbie to begin.  Wendy came in a few minutes later and the seats began to fill up fast.  At one pm it was standing room only, and in walks Debbie in the outfit she wears on the cover of her book.

With lots of humor, she talked a little about how she got into crochet and knitting and how each craft is suited to do certain things better than the other.  She also talked about the importance of recognizing crochet and knitting as significant contributions to American society.  Then she showcased finished versions of many of the projects in the book, including the Froufrou sweater, one of my favorites.  After taking some questions, she signed our books, giving me a nice compliment on the green version of my "Told To Me" sweater I decided to wear. 

I think there were a few more knitters in the audience than crocheters, perhaps because the bookstore is host to a knitting group that meets there four times a month.  I also thought it was interesting that the audience participants were either crocheters or knitters, but not both.  But, the knitters had lots of interesting questions about crochet which led me to believe that many of them were eager to try it.

All in all, it was an excellent presentation.  Debbie did a lot to promote the versatility of crochet.  The publication of her book is going to be very, very good for crochet.

What the Heck Is A "Meme"?

I've seen them on other people's blogs, but wasn't sure what to make of them.  So when Judith, a blogging pal, "tagged" me the other day to participate in a "book meme," of course, I had to, book junkie that I am.

But first, I wanted to know what the word "meme" means.  To my surprise, there is a whole scientific or philosophical (not sure which)  field called "memetics," which studies "memes."  Simply put, a meme is " an information pattern, held in an individual's memory, which is capable of being copied to another individual's memory" (from a Principia Cybernetica Web article by Francis Heylighen).

Applied to the world of blogging, memes are lists of questions that one answers and then "tags" other bloggers to answer.  These bloggers answer the questions and then tag other bloggers to answer them, and so on, like a blogging "chain letter."  I understand that there are blogs out there that consist entirely of memes.

Curiosity fully sated, I can now respond to the book meme.  Or can I?  Looking over the questions, I ask myself, "How am I supposed to pick the books?"  I've read thousands of books over the course of my life.  I guess I'll just have to go with what comes to mind, knowing that I could give completely different answers to some of the questions on another day, or even later today.  Ok, here goes -

1.  Name five of your favorite books. (Think I'll make these all romance novels)

• Blaze by Susan Johnson - Have read every single book of hers.
• Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale - Sequel to My Lady's Heart where much of the dialogue is in Old English.
• Love Lessons by Cheryl Holt - Ooooh boy!  'nuff said!
• Voyager by Diana Gabaldon - Exciting; an emotional roller-coaster!
• Kindred by Octavia Butler - not a romance, but one of the best sci-fi books I've EVER read!

2.  What was the last book you bought (or brought home from the library)?

• Donna Kooker's Encyclopedia of Crochet - a great reference.

3.  What was the last book you read?

• I'm reading several books at the moment, so I'll answer this by saying that the last book I read to completion was Drums of Autumn, 4th book in the "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon.  Can't tell you how much I am enjoying these books!  It's a joy to read an author who not only writes well but is a great storyteller.

4.  List 5 books that have been particularly meaningful to you. 

• The Nancy Drew Mysteries - (Thanks for the reminder, Judith!)  These books had such a profound impact on me as a young reader.  They even made me beileve I could write fiction myself (still haven't done it yet, but I'm working on it).  They certainly got me addicted to reading at an early age.
• The Nature of Personal Reality - A "Seth" Book by Jane Roberts - This book literally "rocked my world," with its suggestion that I create my reality with my thoughts, feelings and intent.  With 25 years of practice under my belt, I can truly say that this is definitely the case.  The challenge is to have conscious control of your thoughts and emotions - easier said than done.
• Breakthrough Dreaming by Gayle Delaney.  This book is the "Rosetta Stone" of dream interpretation, cracking the code of dream symbolism for me in a way no other book has.
• Astrology, Psychology and the Four Elements by Stephen Arroyo - One of the best astrology books out there, it simplified this art/science for me by discussing the myriad components that make up a natal chart in terms of the easily understandable "four elements"  - air, water, earth and fire.
• Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis - One of the best tarot books out there; the author encourages you to read the cards intuitively; the book is a great reference when you get stuck.

5.  Name three books you've been dying to read but just haven't gotten around to it.

• The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn - Fabulous sci/fi-fantasy author, the second book in her new "12 Houses" series.
• Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems by Cesar Milan - Nope, don't even own a dog, but this man is so incredible!  He has a TV show on the National Geographic Channel called "The Dog Whisperer" where he "rehabilitates dogs and trains people."  He teaches dog owners how to be "pack leaders" and his methods literally transform the people who follow them.
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon - 6th book in the "Outlander" series.  I'm almost done reading Fiery Cross.  Kinda don't want to finish it because it means I have one more book to go and I'll be finished until she publishes another one (8 total in the  series).

6.  Tag five any number of people and have them fill this quiz out on their own. - Ok, now I have to tag 5 people for this to truly be a meme.  I guess I have to tag people who read my blog - not a whole lot at this point, so it won't be 5.  Plus, several people who read my blog have already been tagged. So, it'll have to be:

• Sahara @ SistahCraft, and
• Latoya @ 2sticksandastring

Like any chain letter, please know that you don't have to participate if you don't want to.  Have fun if you do!

Get Over Yourself Already!

When my daughter was a teenager living at home, I made a point of listening to her music, mostly heavy metal and rap (now that's a combination with the potential to drive you bonkers).  I never told her she couldn't listen to any music, but I made sure I knew what was going in and out of her ears so I could question her about it and explain why I found some of it objectionable (believe it or not, I actually liked some of it).

One of my daughter's favorite  uh ... performers? rappers? ... is Eminem.  I remember listening to an entire album on a long car trip, and my conclusion was that this young man did a lot of "kevetching" about his life and affairs.  So whenever I would hear a rap about what was going wrong with his life (e.g., some woman, i.e. his wife, ex-wife, wife), I'd say "get over yourself already!"  (Ok, I will admit, I love the theme song from his movie "8 Mile," very uplifting.)

Now I'm applying that same phrase to myself.  "Enough of the blues!"  "Snap out of it!" (couple of brisk slaps to the face!).  "Life is too short to be feeling sorry for yourself!"  And I'm the one always telling people to be positive, for goodness sakes!

Now what does all of this have to do with crochet?  Not much.  I just wanted to let y'all know that I've decided to get over myself.  Also, I wanted to mention a great book I just bought by Donna Kooler:  ENCYCLOPEDIA OF  CROCHET (see the right sidebar).  I've seen this book a thousand times and figured I didn't need it because I know everything there is to know about crochet, right?  Wrong! I decided to buy it after a member of the International Freeform Crochet list on Yahoo showed photos of a sweater she completed that is a featured project in the book.  Check out the Philosopher's Coat  that appears on pages 124-131. Talk about magnificent!  So I just hadda get it!

One of the great things about the book is the detailed history of crochet.  I don't think I've ever seen such an extensive amount of information on where crochet came from in one place.  I know there is an out-of-print book out there selling for close to $100 on the history of crochet, but I figured Donna's book would have to do me for now.

Another neat thing about this book is that all of her projects and the stitches in her stitch dictionary are in symbol as well as written format.  That's one of the things I like about the Japanese crochet books.  They always include a symbol diagram of the project, so if you don't speak or read Japanese, you can at least figure out how the piece is made by following the diagram.

Well, that's all for now.  Got to work on some "work work" this weekend (Yeepee!!  Right!).  And we're expecting 6-12 inches of snow, so that should keep things interesting after January temps in the 60s.  I think I'll take some photos and send them to my daughter in Hawaii to let her know what she's missing.

Finally!!!

Boy, I must really be tired.  I just wrote this post about figuring out how to put html code in the sidebars of my blog and I deleted the thing.  Ok, I'll try it one more time ...

I have FINALLY figured out how to put html code in the sidebars so I can list photos, etc. of books I'm reading and recommending.  Everything I needed to do this is in the Typepad Knowledge Base.  I just wasn't reading the instructions carefully enough to note (ha ha) that I need to create a "Notes" TypeList instead of a "Reading" or "Link" Typelist, which is what I was doing before and not succeeding. 

Now I can start reviewing crochet and fiber arts books that I've bought and love.  I think I'll just list the other books I'm currently reading and keep my reviews limited to crochet and fiber arts books.  But if a book really bowls me over that's not crochet or fiber arts related, I may very well review it here.

Hello, my name is Patrice, and I am a book junkie.  Honestly!  I will buy a book at the drop of a hat.  I love reading romance novels and other popular fiction as an escape from reality (we need these escapes from time to time, given the world we live in).  Then there are the spiritual books that I read to keep me sane.  Then there are all the wonderful crochet and fiber arts books out there that are just waiting for me to buy them and give them a good home.

You'll note (there's that word again) that I created a "Books I'm Currently Reading" list in the left sidebar (scroll down).  I just finished reading Diana Gabaldon's LORD JOHN AND THE PRIVATE MATTER.  You'll be familiar with her if you've been reading the OUTLANDER series (love those books!).  I debated whether to get LORD JOHN because it got a lot of negative reviews at Amazon, but I went ahead and bought it because Gabaldon is such a good writer.  Unlike the OUTLANDER books, which relate the love story of Jamie and Claire Frasier, LORD JOHN is a spin-off featuring one of the OUTLANDER characters, Lord John Grey.  It's a murder mystery, an easy read, and not nearly as long as the OUTLANDER books, but I think you have to have read at least the first 3 OUTLANDERS in order to appreciate Lord John and understand his constant references to Jamie Frasier.

My daughter bought me 3 books for Christmas - all knitting books!  Yep, I have been doing a little knitting from time to time, and when we were at AC Moore, I, of course, had to check out the books.  I was looking at several knitting books, and she must have noted the titles because she got them for me as Christmas gifts - sweet girl (well ... young lady; she's 25!).  I'll review those too.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I was getting back into knitting a bit.  I can't do it a lot because it's much harder on my shoulders and hands than crochet.

So, stay tuned for lots more book reviews.

A Book to Recommend

I have been trying like crazy to figure how to add html code to my book typelist that will link directly to Amazon.  Finally had to send a Help ticket off to Typepad.

But I got tired of having an empty booklist and decided to add the name of a book that I think is great!  It's Deb Menz's COLORWORKS: THE CRAFTER'S GUIDE TO COLOR.  I've been approaching color "intuitively" when trying to figure out what colors I want my crochet projects to include, since I know next to nothing about color theory.  I have software that lets me manipulate color, but I wanted something  I could read on color theory so I could understand what I was doing.  Menz's book is perfect because it's written for fiber artists.  Her color illustrations include works that are knitted, hand and bead embroidered, woven, quilted, and paper collaged - you get to see the color combinations in a nice array of fiber media.

I also like that she begins discussing color in terms of hue, value and saturation, one color at a time, and then moves into the color wheel.  This approach makes color theory less confusing and easier to grasp.  The inner pages of the book are spiral bound, and these are enclosed in a hardcover binding, so it's a very well constructed book.  The appendix has several "color tools that you can use in your design work," inlcuding the color wheel and 12 value scales, cut-out templates tied to the color wheel .  A great book which I'm sure I'll be using a lot.

Can't wait 'till I get an answer to my help ticket!