Sunday, February 27, 2011

Because being Silent is noisy!

What can I say, life is not black and white.  I used to think in black and white ways, but Life in itself teaches you that life is a lot of shades of gray, then you have your black and white.  If you go further there are lots of combinations of colors that will yield shades of black , white is the absence of color and so we think, yet when we put white light through a prism , we have a rainbow.
So I am working on a wonderful project a serendipitous Tapestry Crochet Hat that came out of an idea. from a friend who was asked about an option.  Amazingly enough I have not seen anything like it, but I will give you the Crafty Andy version of the Hat.  Yes it is a hat.I feel more than a hat coming out of it, but I make hats and maybe is because of the Leo rising in my chart.  I do have about three more hats in the works and all of them are in color work aka Tapestry Crochet mind you.  I am hoping to bring color into your life in a different way.  Crochet is such a beautiful craft, the same with knitting, I never understand the issue with people and crochet. Some people don't understand crochet and thus unable to appreciate it's beauty and artful orchestration try to belittle it.  How many times do I hear people asking me what am I knitting when I am crocheting?  Many times, they just don't think that crochet can be beautiful until they see some of my patterns.  It humbles me, but I understand that I have always had a different view of life.  My Tapestry Crochet is the way I look at the world more so than knitting and more like weaving.  Life is a lot of work and it takes a lot of colors to make it pretty.  Well more to come in a few days, no pictures until I proof read and test the pattern.  Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

HIKoo Simplicity


HIKooSimplicity (5)
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
Stitches West was a fun venue, very inspiring . There were some things that I wanted to run away from, people wearing hideous garments, fibers to avoid and some crazy gadgets. Skacel is developing this new yarn line Call Simplicity and you have to give them Kudos as you get to see that you can overdye the yarn with some fun results. The purple yarn is overdyed, it has a heathery purple look and it smells like grapes. I will have something new , a secret pattern which I can only share with the few, Triton is going to create something with this yarn for the masses I am hoping that it will be a success. I have been challenged in a good way, let's see what I can deliver. Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Famous by Proxy

Stitches West still happening at the time of this posting.  Famous by proxy as I got to meet and hang out with some of my friends who happen to be famous in my eyes.  Lots of talented people in my circle of friends even though some are not published.  The group of people from my Monday Night Knit and the Men Knitting Retreats, knitters and crocheters are a very talented bunch, very creative and it seems like an endless  fountain of inspiration.
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This place is amazing and the best choice for this venue, a lot of people were in here, mostly women, very few men.  It was nice to be the center of attention as a man who knits and crochet, it seems to be such a strange thing happening, but hey we are in the San Francisco Bay Area and anything is possible.
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I was able to help for two consecutive days at the Warm Up America booth.  the charity that has warmed peoples' lives since 1991. It started in a small Wisconsin town with neighbors knitting and crocheting afghans for neighbors in need. Thanks to the creativity of founder Evie Rosen who came up with the idea of having volunteers knit or crochet small sections and then others join them together, the idea quickly caught on. Today Warm Up America distributes warm afghans, caps and other items to tens of thousands of people, thanks to the generosity of knitters and crocheters around the country. Above you see me, along with another famous friend, Peter Franzi , Hooker Bear from the Men Who Crochet , CGOA.  We both worked at the booth volunteering and representing our chapter in the promoting of  the Warm Up America venue.
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By volunteering  I was granted a badge that allowed me to have free entry for the whole four days.  I did get my own tickets for two days just because this event is great and deserves to be sponsor.  Benjamin Levisay and his staff, made this a great event.  They do need to have a better perspective at the fashion show, but  even there it was a great venue to be present.  This fashion show was good, but needed some Queer Eye fashion advise, or a better Queer eye Fashion advise.  I believe the items could have been showcased a lot better.  Maybe next year.  Thanks to XRX  and the Knitting Universe for a great venue and show.

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Another friend that was showcased at the Fashion SHow was Kenny Chua , another talented guy , this is the pattern that was showcased and used at this fashion show.  It is a simple yet versatile pattern.  Here I am getting famous by proxy.  Thanks to him and my friend John Silowsky, we were able to be at the fashion show.  Even bigger fortune was to sit beside Karin Skacel and Antonio Gonzalez Arnao of Malabrigo Yarns and Michael Del Vecchio of Universal Yarn
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My friend Kyle  was also present and he is another talented man, recently transplanted to the City by the Bay. You can find Kyle at his Website busy as a bee.
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Last but not the least our friend Chuck Wilmesher who was working very hard at the Skacel booth.  Chuck is working  as the Director of New Products at Skacel and his boss Karin Skacel was very kind to us and allowed us to snatched him couple of times to spend some time with us.  She is a very kind person and someone so full of ideas, no wonder Skacel Knitting is such a successful company. Karin and her staff are a very creative bunch of people who I am very honored to know and be friends with. Skacel is a great sponsor of the Men Knitting Retreats and very interested in promoting Crochet as well.  There is a new line of  yarn  Simplicity from Skacel that I am hoping to make some designs for.HiKoo Simplicity Yarn is a wonderful, soft, washable yarn with an amazing twist and is available in some of today's most popular colorways.
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Stitches West was a great success in my eyes.  Lots of vendors, lots of sponsors and a terrific crowd of very talented people.  It is worth the time to go and visit even if you don't take any classes.  Ali Mac Graw was signing a pattern for another worthy cause, Ali's Cap .  This is a place were America and it's friends promote creativity, friendship and altruism in the same venue. I hope I have the opportunity to be of service to the Warm Up America booth again next year.  This is Crafty Andy Thank you for stopping by.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Retro Caprican


RetroCaprican
Originally uploaded by Crafty Andy
Can we survive the Ice Age?? Retro Caprican is a challenge because I am using a yarn that was not around in the time of this sweater. I believe this pattern will look luscious with this yarn. A Bernat Boatneck Classic and it is given in thre different weights of yarn and it is given in three normal sizes. Normal for the time that the pattern was written. I think is very Retro Looking even though the pattern was printed in 1960 , the same year I was born. Fantastic a celebration to my life with such a great pattern. I owe thanks to one of my friend Kyle fort the gift of the yarn a few weeks ago. Hope to have this one done in a month.

Thanks for stopping by!

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