New layout. Whew! Doesn’t that feel better? The background image is one of my squares for the 63 Squares CAL and the header photo is me in my backyard wearing a hat crocheted by my sister.

P.S. Thank you, Jane!

I consider myself very fortunate to have stumbled into the world of fiber bloggers. Starting out, I never imagined the wonderful people I would meet and the friends I would make.

Some of the fine folks I’ve met have sent me lovely gifts, for which I have been neglectful about posting a public thank-you. I wasn’t sure what was appropriate, so I consulted my dear friend, Julie, who is a blog speed-reader extraordinaire, and she tells me that not only is posting about gifts a good thing, but it is what people do. (I guess I need to get out in the blogs more. )

In the past week or so, I’ve received wonderful things from Rebecca and Heidi. And I have overdue thanks to give to Vera, Christine, and Julie for fantastic presents.

Rebecca made four stitch markers for me, and they are beautiful! See how they look like little tomatoes? And one butterfly, which will remind me of Rebecca because I know how much she loves them.

Heidi sewed a fantastic button card for me. I am very impressed with her creativity! It is an excellent tomato, isn’t it?

Vera sent me a generous stack of crochet books from her stash, including 101 Double-Ended Hook Stitches, several thread crochet booklets, and more. I’m thrilled to have these in my collection!

Christine gave me a set of recycled newspaper mats from Ten Thousand Villages. They are truly amazing! You have to see and touch them to know how truly ingenious this craft is.

I have to show a close-up, so you can see the actual writing and pictures on the newspaper. A card describing the craft reads: “The process is started by wrapping strips of paper around a single broom bristle. After wrapping the paper, it is coiled into spiral square or round building blocks and secured with starch. It is then attached to other blocks with string and glue to make the final product. Starch is used to harden the paper and add shine.”

Last but not least, I still have to thank Julie, but I’ve gone on enough for one post, so I’ll save that for another day. She said I could.

I trust you have received the latest Crochet me newsletter? You know, Vol. 1 Issue 9. What? No?? Well, go there right now. It’s free. It’s easy. And you’ve missed nine issues already!

Go on, I’ll wait…

*psst* The sign-up box is on the lower left.

Oh, good, you’re back! That was easy, wasn’t it? Well, anyhow, there are some exciting things afoot at Crochet me, and I can’t wait! But I’m all hush-hush about it, so you’ll have to read the newsletter. But wait, you say, you’ve only just subscribed, so how can you read the issue that just came out? Well, I’ll forward it to you. Just ask. And if you ask nicely, *wink* I’ll send you Issue 5, too. The one with the mint chocolate chip ice cream cone pattern you’ve been hearing about.

Oh, and while you’re waiting to to find out what all the buzz is about, hop on over to the new Crochet me blog. Yes, the blog.

Lookin’ good, Kim. It’s all lookin’ good!

Instigated by Rebecca! She sent me the martini image, which I then made into this button for Beth. I love that it turned out to have such a fun look!

Recently I was playing around with crochet thread color combinations and was really pleased with this one. It reminds me of pink tulips in the spring, like these we planted a couple of years ago.

The pattern is called Lavender Bookmark and it’s from the booklet How to Thread Crochet on a Roll from Annie’s Attic. I used size 10 cotton crochet thread, but it didn’t have labels, so I can’t list specific brands and colors. Around the edge, I added 20 clear seed beads, which are not called for in the pattern. When I was done, I felt like the bookmark wanted to be a gift, and so I sent it to my dear friend, Julie.