Say Good-bye

Shade Tree Crochet has been a good friend of mine for nearly a year now. On August 25, 2007, I moved my “iCrochet” WordPress blog over to my Shade Tree Arts web domain so I could reap the benefits of self-hosting and have enjoyed every minute of it. This blog alone has had over 25,000 visitors, over 200 posts, and over 300 comments. I had the intention of updating my web site and making it work for me as an overall crafty place on the web. But crochet had other plans for me, and I could never get it to work out into the Shade Tree Arts theme like I wanted it to. It really wanted to dominate, so I’m doing the only thing I know to do. I’m giving it a place of its own.

It has come time to say good-bye to Shade Tree Crochet. The web site will hopefully become something crafty some day, and this blog will remain public for now, but the posts here have seen their end. Instead, they will be written in their new home on the web. It is my hope that those who have linked to me will make note of this change on their blogrolls and in their RSS readers.

Without further adieu, say good-bye to STC and come say hello to me over at my new place, The Crochet Studio blog and web site.

See you there!

Stay tuned…

I know things are a little scarce and maybe even a bit vague around these parts, but an explanation is coming soon.

Oops!

While playing around with some coding, I pushed a button I evidently shouldn’t have and lost everything that I’ve added to my blog after April 23rd of this year. Not good, but it could be worse. I could’ve deleted the whole thing. Eep.

So, yes, I’ve actually posted before today over the past several months. Those posts are just lost somewhere out in cyberspace now. Oh well.

I’m too stinkin’ excited about something else I’ve been working on to let it bother me too much, and sadly, I can’t talk about it here just yet. But I will. When the time comes.

WOW: Creative Park

If you enjoy paper crafts, printing your own cards, and/or scrapbooking and you have an inkjet printer, check out Canon’s Creative Park. It’s a fun site full of projects you can print out and use at home. From greeting cards to envelopes and stationery to 3-D paper crafts to calendars, there’s a lot here to explore and print. There’s also a digital photo gallery where you can download quality photos to use. Even if you own a bubble jet printer, there’s a link for crafty ideas using one of those, too.

Enjoy!

Meme: Which Jane Austen gentleman is for you?

What Jane Austen gentleman is for you?

Mr. Darcy. Pride and Prejudice’s FitzWilliam Darcy is aloof, but he feels deeply. If he loves you, he’s made up his mind for good, though you may not have noticed that that’s how he feels. He is, of course, rather too convinced of his own worth and tends towards snobbery, but he has a good heart and will marry you despite what his relations might think.
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For the Love of Aprons

I just ran across this site when a blog in my reader mentioned it:

The Apronista

I love aprons, and I love giveaways. This blog is hosting one and the prize is a really cute “Flirty Apron”. Check it out: Flirty Apron Giveaway .

Now to go add this blog to my reader so I can keep up with it.

Spam

I don’t like it when it comes in a can, and I certainly don’t like it when it comes in the form of comments on my blog. It’s an annoyance, like a bug crawling across the floor; just when you’ve smushed it, out comes another one. I have to wonder what the purpose of it is. Do the links left behind really get any attention when they are left in places they just don’t belong?

Akismet has caught 1,021 spam for you since you first installed it.
You have no spam currently in the queue. Must be your lucky day.

Lucky day? Hardly. There’s currently no spam in my queue because I just deleted them all. And 1,021 spam? My real comments are only about a third or so of that, currently sitting at 311.

It would seem that spam bots and those who control them have just way too much time on their hands. I guess if I wanted to look on a more positive side: At least all of this spamming isn’t clogging up my arteries or filling up the landfills!

A Successful Afternoon

This afternoon marked the first ever meeting of TopC, the new crochet group I’m starting for the area. Just a handful of people showed up–five to be exact, including myself–but I really think we covered alot of ground as to things we’d like for this group to be about. One thing’s for certain: We all agree that we should do charity crochet for the area. Community seemed to be an interest to all those who attended. We also agreed to meet twice a month on the first and third Sundays.

I’m pretty sure this will grow in time. I know that there were five others who were no-shows, but who could blame them since the weather was totally gorgeous today. I also know of several others who expressed interest in a group such as this but just couldn’t make it today because of prior plans to be out of town.

I must say I’m pretty excited about it.  It’s nice to see that others are as excited about crochet as I am–and if not that much, then at least enough to want to help a group such as this get off the ground. It’s going to be more than just a crochet ‘n chat group, which is the best part. It’ll take time, I know, for it to really get going, but today was a very big successful step in the right direction.

Is there such a thing as too much crochet?

Hi, my name is Tracie, and I’m a crochet-a-holic. I just recently noticed that I have a crochet problem, er…addiction…er…obsession…er, um…well, okay, I have a lot of crochet on my hands. Literally.

Let me explain.

• For starters, when there’s an occasion that needs a gift, I automatically think yarn & hook. Mother’s Day gifts are covered–or at least started–but I have a few birthdays coming up to gift for and an expecting friend to make things for. Not to mention all of the charity crochet I’d like to do but haven’t yet.
• There was a need for a crochet guild in my area, so I’m starting one.
• I’m taking a course to be a professional instructor. With that comes volunteer teaching, which I’m working on a schedule for. I’m also making plans for classes after I’m certified.
• I have a rolling yarn case to take to events and teaching sessions.
• My bookshelf overfloweths with crochet books and magazines.
• I want to learn to sew better, but I’m too happily swamped in crochet to put forth the effort.
• I have a craft fair to craft for, and of course, I’m thinking of crochet projects that would sell.
• In my stash, I have yarn that was bought for specific projects that are still waiting to be started.
• Most days, I would gladly give up cooking suppers for the family to crochet.
• I haven’t baked cookies yet this year!
• Then today, I called a local retirement center to see if there was a need for crochet instruction in their events. Yep. There was. So I’m going to commit myself to two hours a week teaching and chatting about crochet with them. (Another post to come about how that unfolded.)

So I ask again: Is there such a thing as too much crochet?

I think not.

BTT: Vocabulary

I’ve always wondered what other people do when they come across a word/phrase that they’ve never heard before. I mean, do they jot it down on paper so they can look it up later, or do they stop reading to look it up on the dictionary/google it or do they just continue reading and forget about the word?

It all depends on the book. If I’m totally engrossed in it, I won’t take the time to stop to get the definition; I’ll just make a mental note and look it up later. Sometimes, if I want a quick answer, I’ll ask my husband what something means, because honestly, he’s much better at definitions than I am (although I am the better speller). There are times I’ve stopped reading to look a word up, but it usually depends on how badly I need to know the definition for the book to make sense or how slow of a read for me it is.