Intermediate Tunisian Crochet — Sharon Silverman's Crochet Blog — Sharon Silverman Crochet: Your source for 'How To' crochet books and fashionable patterns with clear instructions.

Happy National Crochet Month! Time for a quick recap of January and February before telling you what's going on in March, and the exciting news for April.

January started with a family trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. Could not have had a better combination of relaxing, exploring, and activity with wonderful company. The diving and snorkeling were so stunning that my husband said he felt like he was in an aquarium screen-saver.

Next was nine days in Pittsburgh, and just like that January was gone. I did get some design work done on both trips. Can't reveal much about that yet, but here's a sneak peek:

In early February I was in NYC to teach Intermediate Tunisian Crochet at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. Excellent students and we got a lot accomplished. One thing I learned was suggested by the Education Direction, Gretchen: instead of reviewing the basic stitches in class, assign them as homework to be completed ahead of time. That would weed out students who were not fluent enough for Intermediate work, and would also let us spend all of the class time working on new techniques. Great idea, and I will set things up like that next time.

We had a lot of simply gorgeous weather in February! I know it's probably not good for the plants and animals to have 70-degree weather in winter, but there's no way I can complain about it. I walked at Longwood Gardens with friends several times. The Orchid Extravaganza is spectacular. I also got some weeding done around here and cleaned out our little frog pond. Check out the last photo in the slideshow below and see if you can spot the raft of frog eggs. Looks like we'll have some tadpoles soon!

I've been juggling different types of projects. One writing assignment was my first for Frederick (Maryland) Magazine, about the gardens at Longwood and at nearby Winterthur. It was a quick turnaround article for their March issue, and I understand a copy is already on its way to me. I also wrote a feature for The Hunt Magazine about Longwood's restored Main Fountain Garden, which is set to reopen in May after a 2-year, $90 million renovation. It felt good to do some travel writing even though the destinations are in my own back yard! That piece will be published in the summer issue.

At the same time, I've been forging ahead with the new book. I'm including submissions from other designers, as well as my own work (including the Blue Heron item above). Projects have started coming in and I am thrilled with the quality and variety of the finished items! Some of the patterns have required more attention than others. (I wrote more about that on FB; not worth rehashing here.)

Later this month I'm scheduled to teach Beaded Crochet at the Lion Brand Outlet in NJ. It will be my first time there. I expect to be doing some shopping while I'm at the outlet.

One of the beaded techniques I'll be teaching at the Outlet.

Then it will be April and I'm excited to have been invited by Compatto Yarn Salon in Santa Monica to do a book-signing and brief Tunisian crochet demos as part of the 2017 L.A. County Yarn Crawl! As the Crawl's website says:

"Imagine the perfect Southern California weekend… Beautiful spring weather, great friends, your needles, hooks & yarns. Add to that a special invitation from dozens of LA County LYSs to visit & browse, enter to win great prizes, learn a skill, and pick up some great yarns, patterns and supplies. Hang out with yarn-lovers, meet-up with your internet friends and discover local yarn shops you’ve always wanted to visit....From Santa Monica to Santa Clarita, from Claremont to Long Beach and every square mile in between, your LA County LYS’s are putting on a yarn party just for you!"

I love this idea, and I hope to have time to visit some of the other participating shops. My appearance is Friday, April 7, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Compatto. (They provide bagels and coffee, very nice!) I'll be signing copies of Crochet Cowls, Tunisian Crochet for Baby, Crochet Scarves, and a few of my other titles. If you are in the greater L.A. area, please come out and see me...and if you know anyone who is out there, please spread the word!

A fringe benefit of my trip to Los Angeles for the Crawl is the opportunity to stay with my son who lives out there, and to see an old friend or two. Nothing wrong with combining business and pleasure.

The past few months have flown by! I'm sorry I've been away for so long. We had a beautiful autumn here in Pennsylvania (I know it's technically still autumn, but once Thanksgiving is past it seems like winter to me). The leaves were especially gorgeous, and we had many warm days to get out and enjoy them.

I wrote my last blog post shortly after I had taught Tunisian Crochet at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio. Shortly thereafter I returned to the Studio on a rainy Thursday evening a few weeks later for a book-signing of Crochet Cowls, joined by hardy souls who didn't let the weather keep them away.

I'm all a-blur showing the Firelight Turtleneck Cowl. The mannequin is wearing one, too.

Because I arrived way early I had time to go out for dinner. The always-helpful Gretchen, the Studio's education director, suggested I walk over to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art to take advantage of their cafeteria. What a cool place! I didn't have time to tour the exhibits, but it was a lovely little oasis of a place to have a quiet meal of hot soup. It was nice to be able to access the cafeteria without having to pay museum admission. The gift shop had some really interesting jewelry but I behaved myself and didn't buy anything. I'd definitely like to go back and see the artwork.

Back at the Studio, I really enjoyed meeting folks and hearing about the projects they were working on. We passed around all of the cowls for people to try on. I got some good questions about my work, the things that inspire me, and my favorite yarns.

I'll be at the Studio again on February 5, 2017 to teach Intermediate Tunisian Crochet from 2-5 p.m. For more information and to register, click here.

Locally, I was invited to sign books at the West Chester Public Library, my home branch. The library staff did a great job and I had plenty of table space to spread out. A lot of people were interested in Tunisian crochet. Some of my friends stopped by and were drafted as models for the cowls.

I've been wanting to write a blog post but was thwarted by a DNS error. Apparently there are two access routes to get to my website; one was working, the other was hosed. After much back-and-forth with the hosting company without any success, we finally dumped the original host and are now using one that actually works. I didn't want to send people to a dead link, so I waited until the website was up and running.

Meanwhile, plenty of crocheting has been going on! I have an assignment for a Leisure Arts leaflet, with the four completed projects and patterns due to them on 12/16. I'm also working on a new book for Stackpole Books, and for that one I'm going to have some other contributors to supplement my own designs. Wait until you hear the lineup of people who have agreed to submit patterns! I also got another assignment from Lion Brand Yarn to do another kit design--yarn should arrive any day! Here are a couple of my recent kits, the Rustic Tuscan Shawl and the Magic Miters Throw.

I have a copy of Dora Ohrenstein's new book, Top Down Crochet Sweaters, and will review it once I've had the chance to test out one or two of the patterns. Nice to have that to look forward to.

Our local botanical gem, Longwood Gardens, is in its Christmas splendor. I'll leave you with some photos to inspire you this season. Enjoy!