Looking for a fun and easy way to learn add another stitch to your crochet tool box? Then give the Woven Stitch Hat and Scarf pattern a try! It is my newest free pattern through Red Heart. Using the only 3 skeins of Red Heart's "Plum Jam", each scarf & hat set will be unique.
If you are looking for some refreshingly fun & summer projects, check out the Summer 2013 edition of Crochet! Magazine available at your local craft store or at CrochetMagazine.com. My Beach Bling Anklet (p. 12) is easy to make, fun to wear, and takes less than an hour to create.
This year will mark many milestones for our family: I'm now officially 1/2 a century old, Craig & I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and our oldest child will continue her college education away from home in the fall. In response to all these things, my sweet husband surprised us with a trip of a lifetime! All seven of us traveled to Europe, starting off with 5 amazing days in Paris! I'll let the attached photos show you some of our blessings along the way. I am so thankful that I could share it with my children instead of having to try to describe the indescrible to them when we returned.
Enjoying breakfast at a sidewalk cafe in Paris. We really enjoyed the fresh French bread everyday! This sweet lady treated us like her family, and she didn't even speak English! We found the people in Paris to be very kind and accomodating.
The Eiffel Tower at dusk...
How can you crochet at 200 mph? In the TGV train - on our way from Paris to Switzerland! Another surprise planned by Craig.
Here's the rest of our gang. I must have counted to "7" at least a thousand times during the trip just to make sure we still had everyone. See - counting stitches over and over again does actually come in handy sometimes!
Walking across the Rhine River in Basel, Switzerland, all luggage in tow. We were on the way to pick up our rental van. Basel is also the home town of one of our tennis favorities, Roger Federer.
My daughter Becky and me - trying to stay warm in the Swiss Alps.
One of the many spectacular views of God's creation we were blessed to experience.
Another incredible view. Looks like a great place to retire, huh?
A view from a castle in Germany.
A small taste of home in a foreign land: Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
A sobering visit to Dachau Concentration Camp. The gate reads "Arbeit Macht Frei", which is "Work will make you free," the biggest lie of the 20th century. Every prisoner walked through these gates. We were able to do what many prisoners never could - we freely walked back out of these gates after our visit.
Part of the original security fence that surrounded the compound. I will spare you any other photos. If there is any doubt in your mind about the doctrine of the depravity of man, this place will remove any doubts.
Look what we found for sale in a high fashion Italian shoe store right near the Trevi Fountain in Rome: crochet sandals! That's not all. I also found a pair of crocheted racing gloves and a cabled hat at the Ferrari Store! Looks like crochet is alive and well in Europe. : )
The Coliseum at dusk. Our apartment in Rome was only 3 blocks away!
A visit to another ancient city, Ostia Antica.
A hummingbird moth, one of the many little ways we were divinely blessed on this trip.
Visiting with the Lanz Family in Switzerland.
Looking for a gift for Mom? Here is a link to a dozen great free pattern ideas from Red Heart. You've got to check out this beautiful book mark by my friend & designer Carlotta Craig which features a lovely crocheted butterfly.
Or how about a "Doily-ed Vase" to wrap a dozen roses? Whatever you choose, should you ever need instructional help, just stop by Bonnie Bay Crochet and check out the free videos. Blessings to you!
Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit my website as we celebrate National Crochet Month together! I want to thank Amy Shelton and Donna Hulka for all their hard work and enthusiasm in setting this up for us. You can check out their site at Crochetville for a complete list of participating designers. Don't forget to check out Project Night Night, and see how you can help their wonderful cause of providing "Night Night" packages - free of charge - to homeless children in need of a little extra comfort. If you aren't a member of the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) I want to encourage you to learn more. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned crocheter, young or "mature", CGOA is the place for you! Be sure to see Marcy Smith's blog post today on the tour at the CGOA page.
I've got a few goodies that I hope will bless you. Below you'll find an instructional video on how to block a crocheted piece made of acrylic. You'll also find a story of how I stumbled into designing.
If you scroll down to the March 10 blog entry, you'll find my latest free pattern: the Dubonnet Poncho - just in time for spring! Of course you are very welcomed to peruse my other free patterns simply by going to the tab "patterns" and scrolling down to "free patterns". I am also making my Leisure Arts leflets Aran Afghans and Noggins & Necks available at a discounted price. If you buy both I will even cover the cost of shipping! Just click the "Bonnie's Leisure Arts Patterns" tab at the top of the page.
Should you need any help with some of the Aran crochet stitches, just check out the free instructional videos under the video tab. Make sure you choose RH for right-handers, or LH for left-handers. If at any time you have questions, just let me know! Interracting with other crocheters is one of the biggest blessings in the world to me.
Resting in His grace,
Bonnie Barker
How I Became A Crochet Designer
by Bonnie Barker
My journey into the publication world began in a very unlikely place - the county fair. For years I had entered crochet projects, always hoping for that elusive purple champion ribbon for my work. Well, one year it actually happened! Not only did I get a purple ribbon for my afghan, but also the “Best of Show” for the crochet department! To say the least, I was thrilled.
About two weeks after the fair had ended I received a call from a woman in New Jersey who had visited our fair in Maryland. She really liked my afghan and wanted to know where I bought the pattern. I explained that it was an original pattern and I had not even thought to put it in print. That phone call really made me think. If this lady, whom I had never met was interested in purchasing this pattern, maybe others would also be interested. Since this was just one of several original afghan patterns that I had crocheted over the years, I decided to contact the only publisher I knew, Leisure Arts. Using a simple point and shoot digital camera, I photographed 4 afghans and e-mailed the photos to them. Within a short time I received a response from them, asking me to send the afghans to their office in Arkansas. Since I had never dealt with publishers before, I felt a little uneasy boxing up about 5 years worth of work and sending it off. It was almost as if I were boxing up my children and sending them! I had one other afghan that could round out the set, so Leisure Arts said to include it. At this point there was no guarantee of anything. I only knew that they wanted a closer look at my work.
Within a week or two I received the exciting news that I would be offered a contract for the rights to my afghans! The purple ribbons made me excited, but this had me walking on air for a few days. Now all I had to do was to wait for the contract to come in the mail. I knew that there would be a small advance until the booklet would be published, but I had no clue as to how much this would be. I did the only thing I knew how to do at this point: pray. I prayed for a specific amount of money, and with this prayer I wanted to commit 20% of any earnings to the Lord through a ministry that has been near and dear to my heart - the orphanage in Guadalupe, Mexico called Rancho 3M. The day finally arrived when I received the contract and I was stunned. The total advance for the publication of my Aran Afghans was the exact total that I had prayed for plus 20% more! I knew God answers prayers, but I am so much more aware of His sovereign hand in all the details of life, including something as seemingly obscure as crochet publications. Of course He is THE Master Designer.
Bonnie Barker