“Are you sure you want to do this?” I whispered, not certain myself how far this obsession would lead.   I scrambled for something clever to say but nothing else could possibly enter my head, swirling and pounding as it was with desperate desire.

 She coyly lowered her eyes and as she carefully weighed her response the flush that rose to her cheeks was a deep petal pink. I had no right to expect a positive outcome.  Had she not just witnessed the crashing and burning as I approached each of her dinner companions in turn and got shot down?  She was my last chance.  I knew it.  She knew it.  For a second I feared she would decline my offer and leave me to slink away into the night.

 Wait, was that a smile?

 The little crinkling at the sides of her mouth deepened into a delicious grin. When at last she lifted her eyes to meet mine, an unmistakable “yes” shone there, reflecting the same hunger and anticipation that no doubt colored my own gaze. With a simple nod she signaled her complete surrender.

 Mo better go easy, I warned myself.  At least try to act cool. Stop fidgeting with that wine glass.  Stop checking that door every two seconds.  Leaning back from the café table as nonchalantly as I could manage, I forced myself into the stillness of a savannah predator stalking a gazelle.  Before I could draw another shivery breath the moment had arrived. 

 Hokey Smokes!  Neither one of us had been fully prepared for the enormity of the commitment that lay before us. We hesitated out of respect for each other and for the bond our shared experience would soon forge.

 Oh, the heck with propriety.  Ellen and I grabbed our forks and greedily divvied up the best piece of chocolate cake I’d had since I landed in Columbus.  She even left me most of the whipped cream AND I didn’t have to fight her for the cherry on top!

And that is pretty much how I got to know the inner Ellen Gormley.  Hey, that cake was ginormous and I couldn’t talk anyone else into splitting some with me. The friend who shares dessert when nobody else dares, she’s a keeper!

That dinner was a few summers ago during Ellen’s first trip to The National NeedleArts (TNNA) industry show in Columbus, Ohio.  Her generosity of spirit extends well beyond chocolate cake, as you might guess. This past year she has taken time from her own busy career and hectic family life to help me with DJC, Too!, my design line for girls, tweens and teens.  She and her daughter are the wonderful photographer/model team whose lovely smiles grace the pages of every DJC2 pattern.

Foremost Ellen is an accomplished, award winning crochet designer with by now a hundred published designs, a prolific and popular blogger and an active professional member of CGOA.  Her brand GoCrochet is a sign of thoughtful, functional and fun design.   I am so happy to be today’s stop on the blog tour celebrating her first book.  About time, girl!

Go Crochet! Afghan Design Workshop: 50 Motifs, 10 Projects, 1 of a Kind Results, (see it at the Amazon.com page or buy a signed copy through Ellen’s blog) is a feast for the eyes and food for your afghan-crocheting soul. Ellen’s inventive motifs, glorious colorwork and thoughtful presentation illustrate, page after page, her command of the genre. Loaded with stitch diagrams, assembly diagrams, full-color detailed images of every motif, full images of every afghan, all connected by Ellen’s playful prose, this is a wonderful resource for beginners and experienced crocheters alike.

I love how each set of instructions begins with a mini-story that reveals as much about the author as it does the motif or project. I admit I do not posses much afghan soul. But Go Crochet Afghan Design Workbook could help me grow one!

The motif that knocks me out is Last Blueberry.  It’s just so juicy, I guess.  Makes my teeth itch.

Mated here with the Oscar Square (yes, as in The Grouch) in the afghan Blueberry Pancakes, the effect is effervescently cheerful.  Her words give me the impression we have yet another obsession in common and that I might not get so lucky if I were to ask Ellen to share her blueberry pancakes with me.

When you have your copy, go directly to page 35 (that is if you can stop yourself from being sidetracked by all those other eye-popping motifs) and read the introduction to Cherry Cordial.  It goes a long way toward explaining how it happened that Ellen so willingly gave up the cherry on top of our chocolate cake that night, although knowing this does not make me love her any less!