Tag Archives: book

NaNoWriMo 2014

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It’s November, again!  And you know what that means: it’s NaNoWriMo time!

nanowrimo-crest[1]Last year, I did NaNoWriMo for the first time, and it was so much fun!  I never finished my story (because plotting is hard.  My main characters kept ending up in jail.  And it’s difficult to save Chicago from a jail cell).  But, I more than passed my 50,000 word goal for the month.  I learned a lot about my writing style, and how to maximize my productivity.  (I know it’s weird, but it turns out that I am most productive when I work in my car.  Something about not being able to access the internet, combined with a not too comfortable seat.  Who knew?)

This year, I’m  feeling pretty good about my prospects.  I am taking a creative writing class about writing a novel, and while some of the information is pretty obvious, I’ve learned some things that will really come in handy.

I’m working on a small-town murder mystery, this time around, and my goal is to actually finish the story, not just make it to the 50,000 words.  So keep your fingers crossed for me!

But what that means for you, dear readers, is that I’m going to be busy writing away on my novel, and might be a little slow to respond to comments, emails and other shout-outs.  I haven’t forgotten you, and the posts will still come, although they might be a little shorter than usual,

Wish me luck!  I’ll see you all in December!

Whoops! A Counterpane Follow-up

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Do you remember Grandma Anna’s Counterpane?  I spent hours reverse-engineering one of my great-grandmother’s bedspreads from a little snapshot my Mom sent me.  I even posted a pattern.

It turns out, I didn’t have to.  (Insert sad noise here.)

I received a package from a great-aunt a few weeks ago (one that also included a few of my great-grandmother’s crochet hooks).  In the package was also a couple of my grandmother’s old craft magazines.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis booklet, the Learn How Book, was published in 1952 by Coats & Clark.  It has a few simple projects and extremely thorough instructions on crochet, knitting, embroidery and (very usefully) tatting.  (The projects are actually pretty and practical, especially considering the publication date.  There’s even a sweater that I would totally make for myself, if I wore a girdle.)

But, right at the end of the crochet section, something popped out at me and literally made me do a double take.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s the counterpane!  The counterpane!  I couldn’t believe it!  Not more than a month after spending all that time working out the pattern from a tiny, blurry, cell-phone picture, and the pattern lands in my lap!  I couldn’t believe it!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt even used the word “cluster” for the bunches of stitches, just like I did.  Weird, right?  (Sure, the big clusters were called popcorn stitches in this pattern, but hey.  Close enough.)

I scanned through the pattern, and it looks like we both did mostly the same things, which is amazing.  Although, it’s a little hard to read the pattern in the booklet… look at that block of text!

The biggest difference I saw, though, was that they used a much, much finer gauge on their bedspread than I did.  I used a size H crochet hook, which is about 5 mm in diameter.  The booklet calls for a size 7 steel crochet hook, which is super tiny!  It’s actually less than 2 mm in diameter.  That means that instead of the blocks being about 10 inches across, like mine turned out, the original counterpane squares were only 5 inches by 5 inches!  That means, if you’re following the original pattern, you’ll need 260 squares just to make a twin-bed-sized blanket.  Talk about dedication!

I’m glad I got to see the original pattern, and I love seeing my great-grandmother’s old-fashioned handwriting in the margins of some of the patterns.  But one thing is for sure, I definitely won’t be making this bedspread at the original gauge.  That’s just crazy!

Merry Christmas!

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI hope you’re having a fantastic Christmas, and I hope that Santa brought you everything that was on your Christmas list.

I’ve got one more extra-special present just for you, dear readers! A little bitty knit doll of your very own.  And, she comes with a little bitty storybook of her very own.   She has long flowing hair and a removable dress, and she is just as ready to play house as she is to go adventuring with her friends.

The Little Knit Doll’s construction is very simple.  She is knit in the round with minimal sewing.  All shaping is done with simple increases and decreases, except for the feet, which are worked like tiny socks.  Her luxurious long hair is applied with a crochet hook, just like adding fringe to a scarf.  She is totally safe for children of all ages, with her embroidered face.  And, her adorable green dress is knit in the round with virtually no finishing.

The Little Knit Doll is now available through Ravelry for $5.00.

Get the pattern here

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m posting The Little Knit Doll here exclusively for about a week.  But starting next week, the pattern will be available through Ravelry for $5, so download it now, if you want it for free.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHo Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

An Amazing Surprise

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A friend of mine, Heather, has been threatening to give me “a bag of knitting junk” for a really long time.  Apparently a friend of her mother’s had been about to donate all her knitting things to Goodwill, when my Heather’s mom took the bag to give to her daughter, who is an occasional knitter.  Unfortunately, Heather lives in a tiny apartment with a dog and two cats, and thus, did not really want the big bag of “knitting junk.”  So, she decided to give it to me.  (Woo.)

I tried not to take it, since these sorts of situations usually result in me having to pretend to ooh and aah over a half-dozen skeins of fun fur and three mismatched knitting needles.  But, Heather was persistent and last Thursday she brought along the big trash bag  full of craft supplies to our evening practice.  I tried to appear appreciative as I opened up the bag. 

When I actually looked inside, I was totally floored.  More than a dozen almost-full balls of crochet cotton, about 20 pairs of antique knitting needles, and the best gift I have received in a really long time:  The Bantam Step-by-Step book of Needlecraft by Julie Brittain.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIt’s an amazing all-encompassing needlecraft book with pictures that are awesomely eighties, but instructions that are totally timeless.  It’s got knitting, crochet, embroidery, tatting… everything.  It covers the history of needlework, as well as including patterns and techniques.

And best of all (this is actually  making me tear up a little), it’s the same book that my mom had when I was a kid.  I spent hours and hours (probably days… maybe even weeks) pouring over this book.  I taught myself so much from its pages.  It’s the reason that I know what Turkish Crochet is, how to do the Bobble stitch, and the recipe for my favorite mittens.  It was simply amazing to receive something so dear to my heart, and that I had totally forgotten about for years.  I’m pretty sure the rest of my team thought that I was a little crazy, the way I was carrying on.

But, you knitters understand!  Here are some of the fantastic knitting contents of this book:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAwesome eighties sweaters!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADelightful lace patterns!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAClassic mitten and glove recipes!

Do you have a pattern or book that is particularly close to your heart?