A Crochet / Knitting Pattern Book Contest Giveaway

I just want to let my loyal readers here know that I am giving away a Pattern Book on my BayAreaKnitter.blogspot.com blog! You'll need to go over to my BayAreaKnitter blog to enter.

 

The book is titled "Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders". This is a wonderful book for crocheting and/or knitting up some small indulgences. Lustrous alpaca is one of my favorite fibers to work with and this book has patterns for that! It also includes patterns for using such luxury yarns as organic cotton, bamboo, cashmere, silk, eco-friendly soy, corn, angora, and mohair, to the exquisite qiviut. Now you can knit small treasures using yarns you've been dreaming of. So go ahead and indulge yourself!
Contributors include designers, yarn manufacturers, and well-known knitting and crocheting teachers. There are a few crochet patterns, so I didn't want my Cafe Crochet readers to miss out!

So head on over to BayAreaKnitter and check out all the details! Contest ends Sept. 30th. Good luck!

Malabrigo and my Knitter Profile

Where should I begin? I have a couple of things to share with you tonight. The first one being that I was featured on Jordana Paige's blog today as this month's "Knitter Profile". I had a lot of fun answering all the questions in the interview. So head on over to Jordana's page and get more of an inside peek into my personal life.

Elizabeth, Jordana, Author Julie Turjoman, and myself

As you may already know, I'm working on a knitting book. So when possible I will be sharing bits and pieces about the process. One of the yarns I have chosen to use in several of my pattern designs is Malabrigo Yarn. Talk about a yummy yarn! I also love the fact that they are taking steps to improve sustainability and to reduce their carbon footprint. Liat Gat of Knit Freedom fame just recently fulfilled a dream that seemed almost impossible to her — She visited the Malabrigo Yarn factory in Montevideo, Uruguay. Check out this video of the tour she was granted and share in her dream come true!

Cottage Crafts Boutique

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, come join me today, Saturday, August 18th at Cottage Crafts Boutique. They're having a Cottage Festival. It's their official kickoff to The Fall Holiday Season. 10am to 5pm with Tea Tastings, Sidewalk Sale, Drawing & fun. I'll be selling a few of my own crafty items outside on the sidewalk! ;) — at Cottage Crafts Boutique.

Crochet on Wheels

I've become mobile and taken my classes on the road! I had a lovely crochet class at Vida's house today! Looks like she's gotten the hang of it! :)

the Stitch Red movement

This blog has been pretty dormant lately, mostly because I've been doing more knitting than crochet, and I'm sure you're here to read about my crochet adventures, right? But I would still love to share with you about my newest project involvement! I do all of my day to day blogging on my BayAreaKnitter blog. So if you are interested in learning more about who I am and what I'm up to, visit me over there.
Today I would like to share with you the Stitch Red cause.

Doug and Laura Zander founded Stitch Red as a national heart disease awareness campaign. It is supported by the Needlearts industry. This campaign is a driving effort to draw attention to heart disease, the #1 killer of women in the United States, help people understand their risk factors for the disease and encourage the adoption of healthier lifestyles to protect their heart health. Did you know that heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined (including breast cancer!)?
I'm proud to announce that I have decided to get involved in this movement by creating a knitted hat pattern specifically designed for this campaign. I'm in the final stages of having the contract signed and releasing my design as an official Stitch Red product. I will be donating a percentage of the gross profits from each sale to this wonderful cause.
Please stay tuned as I will be posting photos of the hat and links to where you can purchase your own copy of the pattern. If you knit, I'd love to have you join me! Let's "stick it to heart disease" together!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Brandon is turning in his Leprechaun Trap during class at kindergarten this morning. They hope to catch one of those clever little fellows today! My job is to come in during recess and move some things around and mess the room up a bit. That should be fun! ;)

Beautiful Blossoms

I'm sitting in my car with my son under this beautiful tree right now. We are waiting in the car for a few minutes before I take him into his kindergarten class. We get here early everyday, because my daughter's class starts at 8:30 and then my son goes in at 9:30. So between times, we play the waiting game. It's a cold and rainy day. But I enjoy knitting while he works on his homework in the car today. And I couldn't resist snapping a shot of the beautiful blossoms on this tree. I just love how these trees turn pink... but they don't stay this way for long. So I have to enjoy them while I can. :)

Handmade Ryan Gosling

I couldn't resist posting this when I saw it.

Visit Handmade Ryan Gosling for more crafty wittiness! 

Stitches West 2012 Here I Come!

I'm gearing up to attend Stitches West again this year. It's being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center this weekend. I just bought my Vendor/Market Floor admission tickets online this evening. Last year was the first time I had ever attended the event, and it's not to be missed! I had a wonderful time!
I even had the opportunity to meet Jennifer Hansen of Stitch Diva Studios.



Myself with Jennifer Hansen (Stitch Diva), and her son at Stitches West 2011



Jennifer Hansen working some Tunisian Crochet at Stitches West 2011

Jennifer will be there again this weekend and I look forward to seeing her. I may even try my hand at some Tunisian Crochet soon. I'm sure I'll be able to find just the right hook while I'm there.  

Aly's Crochet Creations

http://www.alyscrochetcreations.com/

What a gorgeous bag! And would you believe it is totally made out of recycled plastic bags? I was giving a knitting demonstration at Beverly's Fabric & Crafts store this afternoon when I spotted a customer carrying this bag. We started chatting and I told her how cute I thought her bag was. I then discovered that she crocheted it herself! I'm pleased to share this photo with you, because of course I just had to take a picture! Her new website,  Aly's Crochet Creations, will be up and running soon, so pay her a visit! I can't wait to see what else she has to offer!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's hoping that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! I'm so happy to be able to share these photos with you on this special day. My friend Bunmi had requested that I send her a few of my crocheted accessories so that she could use them in her Valentine's photo shoot. I received the photos just in time! Below are a few of my favorites. I will be sharing more over the next few days! Enjoy! 

The adorable Ana is wearing my Pink Crocheted Headband

The lovely Bunmi is sporting my Crocheted Cap



What more can I say? Ana is just the cutest!



Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day

Wouldn't you know it? Today is Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day. This was the topic being dished up on Delish today. So what does this have to do with crochet you might ask? Well, as I was reading the article it said that "maybe this day is less about milk and more about having an optimistic outlook when things seem bad." So if you miscount your stitches or crochet in the wrong loop today, don't fret! Mistakes happen! Just sit down, take a deep breath, have a glass of milk, and move on. Sometimes crocheting can be a messy affair!

Dogs in Hats!

Crocheter Anne Burton found a muse in Bean, her adorable Boston Terrier.
Visit her etsy shop: BeanTownHandmade.etsy.com
Read the Etsy blog post: etsy.me/beantownhandmade
...and watch the video!
What more can I say? Enjoy!

The Hot Pink Valentine's Hat

The hat is finished! I just completed weaving in the ends. This is the hat I started crocheting yesterday morning (See previous post). It is also #8 in the 52in52-2012 challenge that I'm participating in on Ravelry. The first 7 items were knitted and can be seen on my knitting blog at http://bayareaknitter.blogspot.com If you also enjoy knitting, check it out!

Groundhog Day Cupcakes!

I'm volunteering in my son's kindergarten class today and just had to share these adorable groundhog cupcakes. One of the mother's made them and brought them for the class to enjoy at snack time. I think they're just too cute! Happy Groundhog Day!

A Crocheted Valentine's Hat

I just started working on a super soft, hot pink hat this morning. It consists of mostly double crochet stitches. It will be sent to Florida to be included in a friend's Valentine's Photo Shoot. I can't wait to share the photos after the shoot. I will post a picture of the finished hat before I send it. Hope to have it done later today! ~Christine

Testing from my mobile device... I plan to start blogging from my phone as well! :) ~Christine

A New Year... And finally a New Post...

I do apologize for being away for so long... Life and time have a way of getting away from a person if they don't slow down a bit. I have decided to make a point of doing just that. I've also been doing alot of thinking about where I wanted to go with this blog. In the past year I have been teaching knitting/crochet classes at Beverly's Fabric & Crafts store in San Jose, CA. So I would like to incorporate my class info into this blog as well as providing information about my own custom knits and anything else that relates to crocheting.
You will notice some changes over the next month or so. I'll be cleaning this blog up and making it a bit more user friendly. Out with the old and in with the new!
In the meantime, stay tuned as I plan to start blogging more often again. And as always, feedback is always welcome!  :)