Small Talk

I had such a nice class last Wednesday with two Beginners' Crochet students who came by the store for Crochet 201.  I got one of them started on making granny squares and the other on a crocheted shawl project.  It's really a lovely shawl called the Small Talk shawl by Cheri McEwen that can be made with a light DK for summer and a worsted weight for the fall.  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/small-talk-shawl.

One thing we discovered as we were working on the pattern is that there are a couple of pattern instruction rules to keep in mind when you're working on a pattern that has lots of stitch groupings and repeats:

1)  when you see "(...)" that means do everything in the parentheses into the next stitch or space because the pattern writer is giving you an instruction to make a certain combination of stitches into one particular space.

2)  when you see "[...]" that means do everything in the brackets the number of times the pattern tells you to because the pattern writer is giving you an instruction that you need to keep repeating in order to get to the end of that row or round; this can also be done  by using "* ... *", which indicates that you should keep repeating what's in between the asterisks until the next instruction is given.

3)  usually, at the end of the instructions for a row or round, the pattern writer will tell you whether to turn or not turn the work in order to start the next round or row, but sometimes that instruction is omitted because the default rule is to turn your work at the end of each row or round unless instructed otherwise.

Last Chance!

Progress is being made on the new website, and I hope to be unveiling it soon!  So, yes, the blogging has taken a back seat...

In the mean time, please help me out and "pay with a tweet or facebook" and get your free Flower Power pattern!  It's only until the end of the month, so grab it while you can :-)

Also, I'm planning on doing a special week of crochet tips and tricks on Facebook starting in July, so go and "like" our Many Creative Gifts page and stay tuned.

Pattern Buyers Beware!!

Some of you may know that I am a professional member of the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America).  It's a wonderful organization that publishes Crochet! magazine and is "a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art of crochet."  Recently, I've been seeing a lot of email group traffic on how various websites, many of which originate in Russia and China, that have members who sell crochet patterns in violation of the designers' copyright.  One CGOA member found a black & white photo of her pattern (to make it look vintage) on Yardsellr, illegally being sold.  Another foreign site is offering patterns for free, though that's not the intention of the designers!


All I ask is that, if you find a pattern you like on a consolidator's website, please do a little more searching to see if you can figure out who the designer really is and if there is a way to buy the pattern directly from her or him.  There are ways to contact sites and report copyrighted materials for removal (sites who honestly didn't realize their members were using their services unlawfully will usually act quickly to remove the copyrighted materials), but I think the best way to put these people out of business is to not buy from them!

Off to Sea (See?!)

Ah, Memorial Day.  A chance to enjoy a day off from work, but it's still important to take the time to think about why we have to have such a day and give thanks.  Since I was already in a contemplative mood this morning, as I was reading the paper, I came across the most interesting article.  Gregory White wrote an article about the profound effect that reading a book review in the newspaper had on his life.  Now, mind you, it started with a book review, not the book itself, in an actual newspaper.  See, Mr. White was in prison at the time, having committed an armed robbery at age 20, in maximum security from 1981 to 2003.  The reviewed book was "Black Jacks: African American Seaman in the Age of Sail" by W. Jeffrey Bolster.  The review reminded Mr. White about the dreams he had had as a child to become a sailor, how he had joined the Navy at 17, but how he had made some bad decisions along the way that got him discharged from the Navy and into prison.  But, this one book review led him to contact the author of the book, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, who sent him a copy and encouraging words and, over the years, became a mentor and friend.  It's an amazing article about this man's desire to change, hard work, and triumph.  Here's the full article from the Washington Post.

Actually, the article I'm interested in reading is the one that would be written by the professor.  Can you imagine having written a book and then receiving a letter from a prison inmate recounting the impact  that a review of the book has made on him?! We often just don't realize or think about how small actions on our part can have profound impacts on other people.  Something to think about...

Brand Ideal

I was reading an article on Facebook's upcoming public stock offering. Mark Zuckerberg is quoted as having said "We don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services.... These days, I think more and more people want to use services from companies that believe in something beyond simply maximizing profits." That's a good message to remind yourself about once in a while.

Then, I got an email about the release of a new business book called "Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies" by Jim Stengel. I'm also now enrolled in Amanda Aitken's "Girls Guide to Web Design" Jetsetters' class (now you really know why I haven't been blogging lately!). One of the first exercises that Amanda has you do is fill out a three-page questionnaire on how you want your website to look, but it's really so much more than that. Her questions are getting at the heart of what you want your company (and, in some ways, yourself) to look like. 

All of these sources and exercises are getting at the same thing, something that Mr. Stengel has dubbed "brand ideal." What is it that your company, and you, stand for? What are you trying to accomplish (and if your only answer is "making money," try again!)? We all know that any business enterprise is trying to make money, but, these days, it really does have to be about so much more. 

Some describe it as "finding one's passion in life." It's funny, I got rejected by a date way back when because, at the time, I didn't really have a passion I was pursuing. Oh, sure, I enjoyed my job very much, and I enjoyed going to movies, eating out with friends, and so on, but I didn't have a particular activity I was engaged in with the level of passion this guy had with playing the piano. He described how he'd rush home after work in order to be able to play, learn new songs, and spend hours at it. I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't imagine pouring over something with such focus and dedication. Fast forward, and here I am, often spending hours each night working on some aspect of Many Creative Gifts -- the crocheting (and knitting :-) itself, the patterns, the website, the blog, and on and on. And, most importantly, loving every minute of it. You have to -- it's a lot of hard work to achieve that level of focus and dedication, to hone your craft to the point where it's not just a hobby, but frankly is worth sharing with others and, if you so choose, turning it into a potential business.

So, do some hard thinking on this for yourself. We only get 24 hours a day, at least 8 of which I hope you are spending sleeping, so how are you spending your time? Are you spending it on things you enjoy doing? I know that there are things that we all have to do that we don't like doing, but putting all of that aside, what is your passion? And, what are you going to do about it?! If you have a passion and just want to do it for yourself, then that's awesome because there is always the danger of trying to monetize your passion and, instead, losing your love of the activity. But, if you want to turn your passion into a business enterprise, there are a lot of ways to go about doing so, and one of the ways I hope to help you through this blog is by curating some of the resources I've come across that I think have been helpful to me in pursuing my passion. And, Steve, by any chance if you are reading this, I only have one thing to say -- thank you!

Happenings

What a busy week the last one was!  I had a beginners' crochet class on Wednesday night then off to the Renwick HandiHour on Thursday.  Much fun!

I unfortunately did not make it to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  I'm especially sad this year since the Owens Family was there, displaying some of their Coopworth sheep (was Princess there?!).  I haven't gotten a specific update on Princess in a while, but I did get a nice letter and brochure in the mail, explaining that April is quite a busy time on the farm with all the new baby animals -- 135 of them!  Apparently, this year, they used a "teaser ram."  They send in a vasectomized ram to synchronize the ewes' heat cycles, which occur every 17 days.  The first heat apparently is a weak one, in which the ewe releases only one egg (and twins are the goal), so the teaser is sent in so that the ewes don't end up pregnant.  Then, in the next cycle when a ewe is more likely to shed two eggs, they send in the breeding rams.  It worked!  Out of 71 ewes bearing lambs, 58 had twins or triplets!

Which reminds me, so I now have two dog brushes and am ready to give the carding a try.  I have to say though, I'm getting a little nervous about this -- the lady on the YouTube video makes it look easy, but... ;-)

A New Look

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but as you can see, I've been up to some behind-the-scenes changes, more of which should be coming to light soon.  So, what do we think of the new look?!  Would love some feedback on the changes :-)  Though, I have to say, not sure that the new Blogger dashboard is as user-friendly as the previous version, but guess everyone's needing a change these days
 
And, I'm still recovering from the Metro Yarn Crawl, but what a great time! As I mentioned, I got 9 out of 10 store stamps and decided to go back to Knit + Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda to enter their drawing.

 And I won!!  What a great gift:

Six hanks of Tahki's Cotton Classic Light in a beautiful mauve color that does not quite come through in this picture, a kit to make a hat, three great knit and crochet pattern booklets, and a really nice tote bag.  I've already picked out a crochet pattern that calls for 6 balls of the Tahki, so I hope to get started on it soon and get some pictures of it up here.

I'm also hoping to start some of the other great projects I've been thinking about and start using up some of the way-too-much yarn I have now.

More changes coming, so come back soon!