Time to reflect and dream.

My New Years Wish!

I will try and greet the new year as

A dream not yet realized,

A design waiting to be created,

A ball of thread full of promise,

A pattern not yet written,

A song not yet sung,

A wish not yet granted,

A picture not yet taken,

A flower not yet sniffed,

A trail not yet followed,

A dance not yet felt.

A day not yet lived,

Each day will give me chance,

to reach out to friends,

to see the beauty in this world,

to create something beautiful,

to share life with those I love.

My wish for you

is that you find life and the new year

as wonderful as you can dream it.

Full of Peace, Prosperity and Joy

 Happy New Years to All My Friends and Family

 

 

 

 

 

What sort of Business am I ?

What sort of Business am I ?

You know it's that time of year when you reflect on what you have done during the past year.

 

For me it's been reflecting on what I want to do with my designing.

To be truly successful I know I should become more business like.

Push a little harder.

Promote more.

 

But you know what.

I am a designer.

Not a business.

There is a difference.

I take an idea and create something from it.

Hopefully something beautiful.

Hopefully something  that touches others.

and hopefully I can write the pattern so others can have the joy of creating it themselves.

 

I don't want to be a business.

If I have to give away a part of myself to draw people, No thanks.

If I have to use lead ins to get you to buy one of my patterns. No thanks.

If I have to spend hours promoting instead of creating. No thanks.

 

When I was growing I used to say I wanted to be a starving artist.

Well  I guess I have the right attitude for that.

Since creating is more important to me than the almighty dollar.

It's a good thing as unless you spend a good part of your day being a business person a designer can only go so far.

 

I keep getting emails telling me I should do giveaways, games, and such to drive people to my site.

To me that feels like trickery.

I want a person to create one of my designs because it speaks to them.

Not because they got the pattern for a bargain  price.

 

I will be giving away a signed copy of my book next month. But it's only because I want to share my joy of creating something I think has value to crocheters.

 

So I think I will continue as I have been.

Creating first and fore most.

Submitting my designs to others and let them do the big job of promotion, as it's not my style.

It's a matter of knowing and utilizing your strengths.

Mine is to create.

So I will let my dreams and heart fly where they will and not try and be what I am not.

 

As Promised

 

I did promise to post about my book.

I do try my best to keep my promises.

The name of the book is

THE GO TO BOOK FOR IRISH CROCHET MOTIFS

I am so proud of how this turned out.

It is a book I have thought about doing for a long time. I was so thrilled when I got the chance to make it a reality.

What I did was find classic Irish crochet motifs from books and magazines that have long been out of copyright and rewrite them in a manner that is easier to understand.

I know I have heard so many times how difficult reading the antique patterns are.

That they were frustrating and some almost impossible to decipher.  

Well I love Irish Crochet and I want to see it thrive.

So I really wanted to make the motifs doable by any one.

I set the book up for the traditionalist Irish crocheter and the modern day Irish crochet lover.

So many of the motifs have a

Traditional version

Padding cord rings, and padding cords.

and a

Updated version 

No padding cord rings and no padding cord.

I did the book all in size 10 white thread.

Not because that's what the motifs need to be done in, but I wanted the motifs to be the focus.

Not color,

Not the size thread or yarn.

I wanted to provide the patterns for you the crocheter to use in whatever size thread, yarn or color you desire. Not to feel you have to do it in the colors or threads I have chosen.

This project was the longest term project I have ever done.

I first had to choose what motifs to focus one.

What types of motifs to include

And then rework, rewrite and revitalize the motifs

Then I wanted to demystify fill in lace and creating true Irish Crochet pieces.

So I did a section on assembly.

There are some of my own motifs in there. As my creative juices wouldn't be denied.

 So hopefully this will be a nice reference book for anyone who wants to play with and or use the Irish Crochet motifs in their pieces.

That was my goal anyway.

Elsie helping me set up the shot of the book and some of the motifs included in it.

In spite of her help I did get a shot.

This is only some of the motifs.

You can find the book here at

Annie's

I believe it is still preorder only or digital download.

 

That was hard work helping out, time for a rest in the sunshine.

Today was the first day nice enough I could open the door for her so she could go soak sun on the porch. She can't get thru the cat door yet.

But definitely on the mend.

 

 

 

 

 

Letting go.

There has been a lot going on in my life the past couple months. So unfortunately my blog posts have suffered.

See I hate to whine.

And the things in my life have been things I want to whine about.

So I kept quiet.

 

The major thing has been my cat Elsie.

She broke her leg while I was in Spokane visiting my family in October.

When I got home and took her back to the vet they told me she would require surgery or it wouldn't heal. That it was a very nasty break and she might lose the leg.

Found a great vet who told me that we would try the surgery, and if it failed she would take her leg off at no extra charge. Couldn't turn down the chance to keep Elsie's leg. This vet was awesome through everything. Thank you so much for the chance you gave Elsie.

Long story, short version. After 7 weeks of watching  Elsie struggle with the cast. We came to the conclusion that it just wasn't going  to heal. So last Wednesday she became my 3/4 cat. She now has 3 legs. 

Actually it's a relief as I knew she wasn't comfortable and things weren't improving. It's so hard to watch some one you care about suffer.

Now she is in the process of healing. I am not worried about every thing she does and if it's going to aggravate the healing process.

What has totally amazed me through all this is her ability to keep loving, keep going and never whine through it all. She has a purr for me and wants to snuggle even though it's been difficult to find a comfy way to sit on my lap.

If we as people could accept what life dishes out with out complaining what a world this would be. If I ever go through a major life change like her I hope I can show the same strength of character and keep an attitude of acceptance and hope. She has been an inspiration for me.

 

So with this behind us now hopefully I will feel more like posting.

I need to tell you about my book that is coming out.

The one I have worked so hard on. But that will be tomorrow or the next day.

And I do apologize if this came off as a whine.

It wasn't meant to be one.

Elsie the night before becoming a 3 legged cat watching TV.