I need a name, please

Here is my latest work of art..  But she needs a name. And a pattern tester. Can you help?  I will give a copy of the pattern to winner of the name contest.  And of course, if you are testing the pattern, you will have a copy.  What do you think of this creation?

Spring has sprung!

We have had so much rain this year that we haven't spent much time in the yard the last couple of months. A couple of years ago I bought 5 orchids from some neighbors who were moving. Only a couple bloomed last year.  This year, they are all blooming and incredibly gorgeous!  Take a look.

In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb

Where to start?

The last month has been insane for me!  Penny went into the hospital for her hip replacement surgery about 6 weeks earlier than anticipated.  She had some minor complications in recovery that had me running back and forth some.  But, she is home and doing well.

No sooner got her in the hospital than Stitches West started.  Crazy busy 4 days, but a ton of fun for all involved. Can't wait to do that again next year.
We had been given a lot of baby yarn, so I sat down with my stitch pattern book, a hook, and some yarn.  This is what I came up with.  It is intended for Project Linus.  All PL blankies are put thru the washer and dryer before they are donated.  Well, this one had a slight problem when it came out of the wash. I have used other yarn that had to be at least 20 years old, with never a problem, so don't know what happened here.  Am thinking of throwing it on the floor for the kitties.  They want to sit on it while I'm working on it.  But now I wonder if I should try use more of this donated yarn. Decisions, decisions!
My other ghan for PL turned out great!  Found this yarn at the Joann's super store in Fremont one day and loved the color.  Then added a couple more colors from the old stash. Used the stitch pattern books again.

Disallusioned

I am no longer a crocheter, but a fiber artist.  Today I am totally ashamed of crocheters.  Maybe I will get over this, maybe not.
Crocheters have been bellyaching about not getting the proper respect, classes, etc.  That they are being overlooked for what knitters want.
Well, guess what?  Crocheters aren't willing to pay for what they want and knitters are!
Bente at PYA has bent over backward to make her store a crochet friendly place. She has a Crochet Circle every Tuesday. Just bring in your project and work with like minded people. She pays Peter to be available to help anyone who needs it. She has offered her classroom to our crochet guild for free to hold our monthly meetings. She schedules almost as many crochet classes as knit. In fact, for March, National Crochet Month, she scheduled additional crochet classes based upon things people had indicated to her that they would like to learn.
I was scheduled to teach a class the next 2 sundays on making flowers for embellishment. As of 6 p.m. today, no one had signed up for this class. The price for the class was quite reasonable. You could bring your own yarn and hook to the class. She doesn't require you to purchase supplies in the store.
I'm having a hard time believing that we could not find 3 people who were willing to put their money where their mouth is. I want to hear no more about how badly crocheters are treated.

It's All Yarn

I love the folks on my discussion groups, but sometimes I get so frustrated with the level of ignorance that I about burst!  Stitches West has been a huge topic of discussion in recent days as it was in town this weekend.
Stitches is a knitters expo!  Always has been.  Crocheters attend to buy yarn from places that are not easily obtainable.. Great opportunity to pet yarns so the next time we want to order from cyberspace, we know what we are getting.  There are a few vendors that feature some crochet.  There were a few crochet books.  There were some absolutely gorgeous hooks.  There were only a couple of classes for crochet.  Stitches is a knitters expo!
I found there to be more crochet this time than in other years that I've attended. CGOA shared a booth with TKGA and my guild chapter, Men Who Crochet, manned the Warm Up America booth.
People who own yarn stores and think crocheters are beneath them find themselves out of business!  If you are in the East Bay of Northern CA, visit Piedmont Yarn & Apparel.  This is a very crochet friendly store.  Bente bends over backwards to stock the things we want.  She is helping us celebrate National Crochet month with special displays and additional classes in crochet.  You will not be disappointed in this store.
My own distorted point of view is crocheters do more for charity than knitters, so we do have a tendancy to buy lots of inexpensive acrylic yarns for that purpose. That is what the charities want to receive. We don't make the rules, we just try to follow them.
At Stitches West this weekend I purchased some superwash merino for a vest I want to design and make for myself. I also bought a lovely wooden shawl pin and some "happy hands" hand creme made especially for handling yarn. I was gifted 3 hanks of handpainted Koigu yarn by Merilyn of Foxyknits.  I think this will become a shrug type thing for moi.
I didn't buy too much this time as my circumstances have changed in the last year, and I have yarn from last year still in hanks. MMM! Might be time to get busy and do something with it.
Anyway, if you go to an event like this, remember who the target audience is and remember you are a guest. A paying one, yes, but still a guest.

Skill Levels

Over on the CGOA discussion board, they have been chatting about skill levels on patterns.  I personally don't like them. I think that most people underestimate their abilities and skills and may pass up a pattern that they really want to do because someone who does not know them tells them this pattern is hard.
The only hard thing about the pattern is reading it. If you've crocheted for very long, you know the basic stitches. The designer will have notes on special stitches. You might want to practice them before you start if you are not familiar with that particular sequence of yarn overs. It is just a matter of putting them together to make something useful, or pretty, or just plain silly!
So, in my NSHO, the difficulty in a pattern is the reading. And like any skill, it only gets better with practice.

• Slow down: you need to really read and follow each word of the directions.

• Don't anticipate:  the repeats are not as easy as in other patterns. There are usually more than one per row or round. I've been known to use hi-lighters so I can quickly see what my next instruction is.

• Create something wonderful. 
• Then slap yourself on the back for stretching your skills.  
• And go to Crochet Partners, or CGOA and brag about your accomplishments. 

Heart Shaped Afghan

Periodically someone on CP is looking for a heart shaped baby ghan.  Hard to believe that no one has ever designed one.  So, I decided to be a hero and do one.  Unh!  I have looked for and printed every rendition of crocheted heart shapes I can find, as a starting point for an afghan;  bookmarks, pillows, sachets, potholders, dishcloths, whatever I could find.
These all work great to a point, then as it gets bigger, it morphs into something that only vaguely resembles a heart.  I have been playing with this for a couple of weeks, and am no closer now than when I started.
But--don't give up!  I'm not.  I'm sure I can't get anything done before Valentine's this year, but I'm going to keep trying.  Nothing like a challenge.  Right?