OWOH (One World One Heart)

I hope that everyone takes a little time to go and check out the OWOH blog hop. It actually started on the 25th of January and will continue until the 15th of February. Go to the link to join in on the fun. This hop is for bloggers only and was started just a couple of years ago to give bloggers an opportunity to meet other bloggers, make new friends and check out the items that other bloggers make. It's really neat but can be something that takes up a bit of time hopping from blog to blog and signing up for their giveaways. I know I'm glad that I found it and I have every intention of signing up to participate next year as a blog to go to. If you go blog hopping please come back and give me a little feedback. Thanks

Illuminate: OWOH - The Prizes

Illuminate: OWOH - The Prizes

Indigo Blue: Italian holiday Giveaway - 400+Posts too.AND FleaMarketStyle giveaway

Indigo Blue: Italian holiday Giveaway - 400+Posts too.

Wow folks, Flea Market Style Magazine' blogspot is having a wonderful, stupendous giveaway also! Check it out:

New blog/New contest

This is something that I didn't think of to try when I first started blogging but it's a great idea. Go on over to Everyday Life and join in on her contest. She's new to blogging and is trying to get some new followers. So go on over and give it a try. I know I'm grateful for the followers that I have here. Maybe I should have a contest myself? I think that would be quite fun. Keep following the blog and find out!http://everydaylifebymandy.blogspot.com/

So Much Talent

I've been following quite a few blogs and have seen so much crochet talent out there. I decided that this year I was going to explore color in my crochet projects. There are a few blogs that I follow that use color in wonderful ways. I wanted color to make me smile, be sunny, warm, spine tingling even. Have you checked out Lucy at Attic24? Sunshine's Creations? Crocheted My Best With My Worsted? Suz Crochet Groove? Rose Hip? and on and on and check the list to the right LOL. Many of these people, mostly women, not only crochet with some wonderful color combinations but they also design some really neat patterns or have found the pattern and combined colors in such a way as to make it their own. Lucy at Attic24 has a pattern for some cute little birdies that I've just fallen in love with. So far I've made four of them and plan on making more. It's a very good way for me to experiment with some color combos and try something new. I'll try to get you some pictures in the next few days.

SmoothFox Original Crochet Patterns: Kay's Heart of a Child afghan

That really is a beautiful afghan. She did a wonderful job and you have a lovely pattern there.

Whatcha doin?

I've been working on several projects lately, one of which is Red Scarves for Women's Heart Scarves Program. February is Women's Heart Awareness Month. The National Coalition for women with heart disease, Women Heart is the nation's only patient advocacy organization serving 41 million American Women living with or at risk for heart diseae-the leading cause of death in women. Women Heart is solely devoted to advancing women's heart health through advocacy, community education, and the nation's only patient support network for women living with heart disease. Women heart is both a coalition and a community of thousands of members nationwide, including women heart patients and their families, physicians, and health advocates, all committed to helping women live longer healthier lives. Created in 2005 by two women heart disease survivors, the Heart Scarves program delivers handmade, red scarves to members of the WomenHeart Support Networks, and to women undergoing cardiac procedures. If you're interested in kntting or crocheting a red scarf for the WomenHeart Scarves Program here's the address:

Women Heart Scarve Program
C/O Big Show Fulfillment
1525 Gin Road
Gold Hill, NC  28071      If you go to Red Heart Yarns they have free scarf patterns. So now I've given you all this information it's up to you as to whether or not you do anything. I hope you will.

Yarn

For many, working with any type of yarn is just an everyday thing. They crochet or knit their current projects in wool or a wool blend and don't have any problems, not me. I have a terrible allergy to wool. I don't understand it but it's very real. This past Summer I met a crochet designer in a yarn shop and then we went on a shopping/touristing excursion, but I digress. While we were still in the yarn shop my just met in person, crochet designer brushed my face with some wool/alpaca yarn to show me how soft it was and we oooh'd and aaaah'd over it. Not thirty minutes later my face where it had touched the yarn broke out in itchy blisters! It was a terrible experience believe me. Since then I can be in a store looking at yarn and if I even pick up a yarn to look at and it has wool in it, my hand or hands start itching. Therefore my yarn choices are either cotton which I love anyway, or they're acrylic. I've heard acylics run down terribly on different websites by women who are terrific crocheters. Now I've only been crocheting for one year and I don't make claim to being the world's greatest crocheter but I don't have a problem using acrylic yarn to do a project. In fact, I like acrylic yarn, though I will admit that some is softer than others. Can anyone out there tell me if what yarn I'm using is a bad thing or is it really alright to use the acrylic and cotton yarns without fear of what I'm making falling apart etc.?

Color

Have you seen my little hamster? Just click on his square to feed him.

One of the things that I want to do this year is add some more color in my crochet. I don't just mean any colors though, I mean colors that are more "me" if you know what I mean. In my looking around on other blogs there a couple that I really enjoy the colors on and they are "Sunshine Creations" and " Suz Crochet Groove" the colors that they use just speak to me. Don't the colors just make you smile? It's really nice to smile when the weather is bleak.

I live in what is considered the South. I live in  North/Central Arkansas which the particular area that I live in definitely gets all four seasons of the year. Right now we have six inches of snow on the ground and the temp has climbed up to 15 degrees. Woo Hoo I think Winter is here! We are supposed to be in the single digits most of the week but warming up enough to snow some more tomorrow or the day after. We're not getting the snow and Winter weather that a lot of the country is getting though and for that I am thankful.

If you're looking for a crochet along project, check out Carolyn Christmas' new blog! http://gourmetcrochet.blogspot.com/  She's got a mystery afghan crochet along that starts 1-5-2010.

Until next time, do Moorecrochet!