CGOA Design Winners

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Be prepared to be impressed and inspired by the winners of the CGOA 2011 Design Competition.

In the Category Accessories (sponsored by WEBS)

$100 Third Prize: #108

Designed by Janice Lonnroth, of LaGrange Illinois;

Poptastic Purse

$200 Second Prize: #69

Designed by Sandy Gold Frederick, Maryland ;

Lucy Shawl

$300 First Prize: #43

Designed by Kathryn White of Apache Junction, Arizona;

Birds N Blossoms Shawl

In the Category Small Wonders (sponsored by Boye and the Crochet Dude brand)

$100 Third Prize: #102

Designed by Laurinda Reddig of Camas, Washington;

Vegetable Garden Playmat

$200 Second Prize:#12

Designed by Sherri Hondorp of Poughquag, New York;

Baby Cardigan

$300 First Prize: #81

Designed by Susan Pendleton of of Kerrville Texas;

Hope, the Christmas Angel

In the Category Fashion (sponsored by Tahki Stacy Charles)

$100 Third Prize: #39

Designed by Stephanie Hatfield of Gilbertsville, Kentucky;

Stonecrop

$200 Second Prize: #70

Designed by Susan Lowman of Prescott Valley, Arizona;

Spa Tunic

$300 First Prize: #60

Designed by Tammy Hildebrand;

Rasta Rose Jacket

In the Category Afghans (sponsored by Caron International and BuyCaron.com)

$100 Third Prize: #52

Designed by Shari White of Rockaway, New Jersey;

Wild Irish Roses Throw

$200 Second Prize: #50

Designed by Shari White;

Happy Hexagons Throw

$300 First Prize: #103

Designed by Laurinda Reddig of Camas, Washington;

Mystery Machine Afghan
In the Category Thread Crochet (sponsored by AllFreeCrochet.com and FaveCrafts.com)

$100 Third Prize: #48

Designed by Kathryn White;

Chantilly Doily

$200 Second Prize: #46

Designed by Kathryn White;

Irish Mystique Doily

$300 First Prize: #84

Designed by Carol Booth of Teaticket, Massachusetts;

Christening Dress

In the Category Artistic Expressions (sponsored by Leisure Arts)

$100 Third Prize: #26

Designed by Julia Bryant of Toronto, Canada;

Lady of Marrakesh

$200 Second Prize: #66

Designed by Lori Carlson of Hillsborough, North Carolina;

Split Infnitive

$300 First Prize: #113

Designed by Patricia Williams of Ozone Park, New York;

Patricia’s Tree of Life

 

In the Category Fanciful Fashion (sponsored by Tulip Company)

$100 Third Prize: #94

Designed by Willena Nanton of New Rochelle, New York;

Flower Princess

$200 Second Prize: #38

Designed by Linda Skuja of Riga, Latvia;

Queen of Fall

$300 First Prize: #09

Designed by Victoria Johnsen Carrington of Windsor Heights, Iowa;

Modern Victorian Black Crochet Dress

 

The winner of the $100 Special Technique Award from DesigningVashti for outstanding use of alternate crochet techniques and construction: Poptastic Purse, designed by Janice Lonnroth.

And the winner of the $1000 Grand Prize, sponsored by Crochet Partners and Interweave Press:

Designed by Diane Halpern of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; #29

So Many Motifs, So Little Time

Here’s praise from the judges:

Marcy Smith said: “Deliciously Vintage garment that’s ripped from the runway”

From Drew Emborsky: “Amazing blending of freeform and on-trend fashion…. Exquisite!”

And Kathleen Sams sums it up: “Beautiful use of freeform suitable for all.  Runway fashion at its best”

Red Circle Crochet Dates

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How we mark the passage of time is a function of how we think about time and, more to the point, how we mark our calendars.  Most people dance along the path of time from marker to marker, from important date to the next important date.  For most people the primary markers are holidays. Conveniently most calendars come factory-loaded with the generally recognized, politically correct holidays on-board.  Isn’t it grand how practically every month of a new calendar already has at least one red-circle day already on it.

The exception is August.  Poor August has nothing to commend it.  (I think that’s why most people including the entire population of Europe take the entire month of August off for vacation since nothing else is going on.) Granted, not every date so noted is a true holiday or cause for reverence or celebration.  Those official temporal high-points are strictly for the unimaginative and for the purveyors of greeting cards.

We tend to red-circle our own personal important dates.  Birthdays.  Anniversaries.  These markers serve merely as reminders, and do not necessarily indicate any joy or anticipation for the dates. I stand in awe of those busy people who are compelled to micro-manage their time dances; those for whom a monthly calendar does not provide sufficient space for the noting of stuff, meetings, calls, reminders and admonitions and they have to keep an hourly appointment book or journal.  Me, I’m good with the twelve pages a year.

You’d think that as a free-lance crochet designer I would dance to the tune of design deadlines, an endless progression of due dates.  You’d be mostly correct.  When, like me, you’re massively disorganized, flying solo and blind and work at home in your pajamas, you must have blatant, harsh, hard copy reminders of what’s owed to whom and when they expect it.  Certain times of the year all I can see are angry, inflamed due dates to the point where actual holidays are obscured by the red ink.  But since I have little respect for deadlines (ask any of my employers!) there are no longer any red due date circles on my calendar because, as peripatetic as they tend to be, the circles keep getting crossed out and moved.  Trust me, it becomes a mess.  Shouldn’t there be split rings for calendars?

What then, you might ask, are my current markers?  Non-due dates, naturally.  Happy dates.  I gleefully red-circle the season premiers of my favorite TV shows as well as the few cherished times when I am allowed, even required to run away from my work at home.  In other words, crochet road trips.

So it is with giddy guilty pleasure that I approach the next red circle, the Crochet Guild of America conference in Greensboro, NC.  WOWSERS, only a few days to go and I’m not even packed.  This conference, 21-25 September, hosts the CGOA 2011 Crochet Design Competition, which I am producing.    I will be arriving with a sleigh… uh, station wagon… full of 115 wildly creative, potentially award-wining design entries as well as my own seriously over-packed luggage.  Keep watching here and at the CGOA Now blog for the announcement of the winners following the Awards Ceremony on Thursday evening.

My goal is to load the car in such an efficient manner that I’ll be able to see out the rear hatch.  Yeah, right. That’ll be me waving fond farewell to my drudgery and my dog as I tool down the interstate and head for the bustle and camaraderie (and yarn and wine and chocolate cake) that never fails to accompany every CGOA conference.  If you’ve got a red circle around the date, too, then I guess I’ll see you there.

Peddling Pedaling Crochet

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With experience, the physical act of making crochet fabric becomes automatic.  At that point, the smooth, repetitive and intellectually non-challenging motions free up our higher brain functions to take in and process information and all manner of other stimuli.  In other words, while our hands are very busy with crochet, our minds may be engaged with other things.  I might be tempted to say crochet makes you smarter.  Certainly the possibility of layering pleasure upon pleasure makes the craft even more fun.

Crochet can be successfully and happily executed while watching TV, listening to music, participating in lively conversation.  One caveat, though.  Try not to have an argument while crocheting.  I find that it makes me lose count.

You can most assuredly eat and crochet.  Do it all the time.  Crocheters who protest that they don’t are lying.  Hey, when a project is underway and the deadline looms large, you might not want to stop for a meal.  Clearly this joint activity has pitfalls.  You have to be a tidy eater and have lots of wipes, because you may not want to stop to wash up, either.  Snack foods are naturals with crochet, particularly if you choose finger foods that are neatly bite-sized, drip-less and don’t melt too quickly at body temperature, so you can avoid messing up your work.  Say NO to pizza. I have knowledge of crocheters who use chopsticks to pick up and eat cheese curls so as to avoid the embarrassment of cheesy stains. My crochet food of choice is toaster pastries, you know the brand.  I can’t believe I am admitting this.

Not surprisingly, the association of yarn and dessert goes way deeper.  Notice how we use the same terms to describe them both.  Yummy.  Luscious.  Sinful.  Creamy.  To die for.  If given a choice between yarn or chocolate cake, I’d do the unthinkable.  I’d actually have to stop crocheting and enjoy the cake without regret.

Drinking and crocheting.  That’s a whole other discussion.  Let’s just say that it depends on the libation, your tolerance for alcohol, fuzzy thinking and the resulting crooked rows.

Granted, there are activities you should NOT attempt while crocheting. I can’t read a novel and crochet at the same time.  Somehow I can crochet and read crochet instructions at the same time, but that’s something completely different. Obviously you really should not drive and crochet, or do your taxes and crochet.  I can bake and crochet, because there are moments of down-time with baking, like the few minutes waiting for a batch of cookies to come out of the oven.  But for the most part you should not cook and crochet.  What if you splash red gravy on your cashmere yarn?  What if a loose end hits the burner and catches fire?  EEEEEK!

One can, if one desires, perform any number of smooth, repetitive, intellectually non-challenging tasks with the parts of the anatomy not involved in crocheting.  I only mention this because my friend, Marty Miller, past president of the Crochet Guild of America, educator, designer, crochet technical editor, group exercise instructor and personal trainer, routinely crochets during her workouts on a recumbent bike.  I consider this sheer lunacy.  However it also bears mentioning that Marty is enviably fit, otherwise healthy and thin as a rail.

Marty has just gathered some of her favorite designs that reflect her on-the-go attitude. Her new book, Totes For All Reasons (Leisure Arts) showcases her versatile bag and tote designs, all featuring straps that can be hung on your bike handles to hold your work in progress, making it easier to crochet while stationary pedaling.  Nifty!

The written instructions are crystal clear (Marty wouldn’t have it any other way) and all patterns but one are rated easy.  Totes For All Reasons includes seven designs in different shapes and stitches that fill all your carrying needs.  So even if your butt will never in your life touch the seat of a recumbent bike, you’ll want to check out this useful collection.  And follow along with Marty’s book tour, next stop 3 September at Vashti Braha’s blog. Here’s the complete schedule for the week:

August 29: Marty Miller
August 30: Ellen Gormley
August 31: Drew Emborsky
September 1: Kimberly McAlindin

September 3: Vashti Braha
September 4: Kate Steinke

I’m a Valley {crochet} Girl!

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Knowing for myself that I am loathe to leave the comfort of my home for any reason, I browse and shop for yarns on line these days.  I love WEBS at www.yarn.com.  I discovered a fully realized, fully functioning yarn store offering a staggering diversity of products and volume discounts… and I never have to get out of my chair.

But I was most impressed by the first  printed WEBS catalog I received last year.  In it, owner Kathy Elkins wrote so sincerely about being a crocheter herself and wanting to include crochet in what might otherwise be a knit-centric publication.  Her crochet-friendly attitude, the support for crochet design and designers and her willingness to be so in-your-face about it was refreshing.  So when it came time for me to raise funds for the CGOA 2011 Crochet Design Competition, I contacted Kathy.  Happily she immediately and wholeheartedly agreed to support us and WEBS is the proud sponsor of the prizes for the design category Accessories.

So when Kathy hinted at… asked… uh, insisted… that I do some crochet designing for her private label Valley Yarns, I dove right in.  Valley Cowl is the result.  Crocheted with Deerfield, a soft luxe DK blend of baby alpaca and silk, in a lacy stitch pattern in true mobius fashion (continuous figure 8’s), Valley Cowl looks amazing.

I recently talked with Kathy and husband Steve on the WEBS podcast, Ready, Set, Knit (episode #228 23 July)  and at the very end of the interview Kathy mentioned that the Valley Cowl would be the next featured crochet-a-long.  So check the WEBS blog on Saturday afternoon for all the details.

Kirsten Hipsky, Design Coordinator for WEBS, has asked for more details about the Foundation Double Crochet used to begin the cowl.  It’s not an impossible technique, just difficult to describe in words.  So when you join the CAL, which I hope you will, and you become petrified, which I hope you won’t, see this page or get a downloadable pdf version here.

DJC Foundation Double Crochet Tutorial

Ten Cent Crochet Pattern

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WOWSERS, I totally forgot to mention this special event.  CrochetMe, the Interweave Crochet site, hosts a shop for individual pattern sales, featuring many of the designs published in past issues of the magazine.  This week through August 9th you can download the Orphan Scarf pattern for 10 cents.

I named this design Orphan Scarf because it is a happy use for an orphaned, partial or lonely ball of any sock yarn. The sample was crocheted with around half a ball of Southwest Trading Company Tofutsies, but any sturdy, smooth sock/fingering yarn would work well. Crocheted loosely in ginormous gauge single crochet, the resulting fabric gets blocked and S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D in length. Everyone tells me the stretching part is a giggle, so much fun and quite miraculous.  So, GO.  Download.  Cough up the dime.  Enjoy!