How Did October Get Here Soooo Fast?!

 (edited to get the pictures added...finally!)

 Here it is, the first of October already!  Who said the planet could start spinning so much faster than usual so these days fly by so quickly!!!  Eeek!

My scarf count so far for the 60 Scarves in 60 Days challengeis up to a total of 9.  I turned in four of them at last month's guild meeting, and I hope to have 5 more to add the five still here. That would give me a total of 14. My fingers are crossed.  And my wrists are starting to hurt.  I really do not like using my "everyday" set of larger sized hooks since they're plastic, and seem to have a problem sliding thru the yarn easily!  But since I get most of my yarning done away from home, I really don't want to take my fancies with me for fear of breaking or losing them.  Can't replace my Graydogs anymore!  Boohoo! 

The purple scarf is Dee Stanziano's Tumbling Clusters Autumn Scarf pattern.  Veerrryy nice!!!!  :D

 And now that October is here, that means it's time to gear up for RHINEBECK!!!  It runs from October 17th & 18th; Saturday 9AM-6PM, Sunday 10AM-5PM.  I have to take my Jalapeno Sunrise jacket with me too, because DyeDreamswill be up there vending and really want to see it up close and personal!  And I hoping to pick up some more of their YUMMY 50/50 merino wool/tencel yarn.  Well worth it!  Crochet stitches show up beautifully with this yarn, it's soft and easy to work with, and it gets even softer after a washing!  That was the one thing that really surprised me about this yarn.

Have a good night.  :)

60 Scarves in 60 Days

It's that time of year again (already?!) forDee Stanziano's annual scarf drive!   And I have 3 scarves done already with matching hats for my guild (The Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club's annual donation to the Salvation Army.  We make  up hat, scarves and mittens sets for the annual drive, and give it to the Salvation Army in Danbury just after Thanksgiving.  The last two years we've donated over 100 sets!

As I said, I've got three sets done now, and I have enough of that yarn left to get/squeeze out about another three.  I don't even remember where I got this yarn, but it's about the size of the One Pounders, but I think it's all Bernat yarns.  There were no ball bands on two of the three I bought, but they werecolor co-ordinated, and about the same size/weight.

Now Dee says my Caron pattern scarf, Aqua Blue, could be the start for me this year, but I'm not going to count that one since I don't have it anymore!  I'll just have to make a new one.  lol

So....if you want to participate, here's the rules.  I've copied them straight from Dee to you to make sure I don't forget anything!

Crochet or knit a scarf (or more) for charity. You can use a pattern (give credit to the designer if that’s what the pattern calls for!), learn a new stitch, or create your own pattern.

Pledge it for a local charity near YOU; no need to ship! Check with your local homeless shelters, Salvation Army, religious institutions, and schools to find a home for your scarf/scarves.

To have your scarf count towards the goal, you can go on Ravelry, upload an image and label it ”2009 Scarf for 60 Day Challenge.” Or post about it on your blog and leave the link here in my blog comments.

The scarf/scarves must be created by hand between September 1st and November 30th, 2009, midnight, eastern time, to count. (Yes, we know this is really 90 days, but we’re keeping the name of 60 days)

Any skill level, age and gender can participate! Spread the word!

If you have a website or blog, feel free to save the image above to your own computer and display it proudly!

Have a safe holiday weekend!  :D

OMG! First Caron Project is OUT! :D

I just found my first-ever design for Caron yarns tonite!  WooHoo!!!  :D

I had sold this pattern to Caron at last year's CGOA conference in New Hampshire, and it's out now!  This was made with Naturallycaron.com's Spa yarn, and what a joy to work with!  I think it really shows off crochet stitches to their best advantage!  Here's a link to the pattern.

I had forgotten how long this scarf was/is until seeing this picture.  But you can fold it around your neck and still have some length coming down in front instead of having ends poking about!

Hope you all like it!  If you make it, let me know what you thought.

In other news, I finished (or thought I had anyway!) posting my published patterns to my new website.  Now I get to add another!  :D

And hopefully starting tomorrow, you can reach it directly by typing in www.nlsstitchings.com if you don't want to come here first and click on the link in the sidebar.  If not tomorrow, it will probably be for sure on Monday.

Have a good night!  I am!  lol

My New Place!

With the help of a friend, I'm starting up a new site!  Woohoo!  scary, scary!  Oh man, what have I got myself into?!?!?!  lol 

Now presenting:  NLS Stitchings.  Guess I had better say first Coming Soon! since there isn't too much content there yet. ( I think I need lesson #2 now. lol )  But the link is up and running here on the sidebar.  I'm hoping to get some pattern posted there soon, both free and for-sale.

We were trying to set thissite up as a combination of blog and store, but it wasn't working too well.  Can you imagine how amazed I was when she showed me such simple things as how to do a screenshot, or the "ctrl + c" trick to copy?  I had to laugh when she told me that one was pretty much universal.  I have never claimed to be in the know, in fashion, or on top of trends before.  Why start now?  And then to learn a foreign language called "html".  Ooh boy, it was a bit beyond me at that point, so we figured to use a place that does most of the work for me.  www.webs.com  For the most part it was a pretty "painless" process, and it will take care of most of the stuff for me like the paypal, etc.

So...please check back every now and then to see the progress!

Have a good night.  :D

Sock Jacket Renamed

Sock Jacket now has a new name - Jalapeno Sunrise. I just couldn't get my brain to function very well to think of an appropriate name, so I asked for some help and this new name fits just right. The colors are Southwest-y and sunrise-y. (two new words? lol) Thank you, Bianca! :-D

Another picture for you to enjoy is of Dee Stanziano and Mary Beth Temple. Dee was getting ready to host/emcee the Jubilee Crochet Bling contest, and Mary Beth was getting ready to help her daughter with an Irish step dance to start off the Fashion Show. Dee's hat was made special for her hosting gig, and Mini Dee made a matching tie for Mr. Dee to wear while he helped with the judging of the "Bling"

It was really cute the way Dee pulled a rabbit out of her hat to show that all crocheters could work some magic. And when it was time to distribute the prizes for the winners, a wand "magically" appeared from her hat also! So all winners were dubbed with the magic wand before receiving their winnings. There was a LOT of bling on that stage too! The winner was Joan Davis for a gorgeously sparkly shawl she was wearing that night. Of course she was flying down the runway, so my one and only picture of it is here:

Joan has a new book out, 336 Tips for Crocheters, so I made sure to get my signed copy while she was up in the market place. She is an absolute sweetheart! Hope you all get to meet her someday.

Mary Beth's daughter is real close to being a nationally ranked step dancer (Mary Beth, let me know if I have that wrong, please!), and she did a marvelous job of showing off some soft-shoe dances. She even designed her leg warmers for the fashion show, and when modeling them, added a bit of hard shoe stepping down the runway.

So....have a good night!  I'm going to bed early in hopes of recovering lost brain cells.  Also to get an early start tomorrow for NH.  We're taking Missyboo for her first whale watch.  :D