Continue reading »]]> Did you ever get one of those project ideas that just keeps nagging you until you create it and then once you finish it you realize that you probably just made something that will strictly be for your own enjoyment because in all honesty, who but the dedicated attendees of the The Clean Show would even get the humor?

That was me yesterday. It started on Wednesday when my fiber buddy and I went back to Knit ShTICK to see what was going on. While chatting with everyone around the double-wide craft table, the subject of the meaning of laundry care symbols came up (I can’t even begin to tell you why). My brain kicked in and thought (solely to itself), “Hmmm, wouldn’t it be nice to have the garment care symbols on something cool?” My brain failed to tell me how important it thought this idea was, until Saturday when it chose to think of nothing else but.

So, pulling from the Project Care Tags I designed, I went forth and Zazzled my way into Laundry Land.

Somewhere out there, a professional laundry worker is laughing their hanger off.

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Continue reading »]]> Ever since I was introduced to the Crochet Liberation Front I was drawn to their style. There’s something about militant hookers that just makes me…happy.

So, for this Memorial Day weekend, I came up with a few graphic designs for the militant hooker in all of us. All four designs are based on vintage propaganda posters from the Second World War.

As a little extra bonus for iPhone users, I also created backgrounds for the iPhone based on all four designs that are free for you to download.

And, if that wasn’t enough, all four designs are available for purchase as coffee mugs, tote bags or posters through the newly created Double Treble Zazzle store.

AND it keeps getting better! Zazzle is having a Memorial Day weekend sale on posters. All posters are 70% off through Monday. Just enter MEMORIALSALE as the promo code at checkout and a $9.95 poster will only be $2.74!

Enjoy expressing your militant-hooker spirit!

make custom gifts at Zazzle

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Ultimately  I’m a geek. A Star Wars loving, model ship building, video game playing, graph paper drawing geek. So, when I saw the Golden Spiral (pictured) posted on Ravelry this morning I was immediately drawn by its coolness factor. As I followed the pattern to its original website, I went into geek overload.

Woolly Thoughts is a site by designers Pat Ashforth and Steve Plummer. But they are more than just designers, they are mathematical fiberists. The crochet and knit designs they create are based on mathematical formulas. I ask you, how often do you get to see an afghan based on Sierpinski’s Closed Peano Curve? Or a pillow that shows a Baravelle Spiral?

Nurture your inner Geek by exploring their wonderful gallery which also leads to a page that explains the mathematics behind all the designs. Do you feel like taking on a project yourself? They have patterns for sale too!

Continue reading »]]> It seems that I’ve been putting my arms around trees more and more these days. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m a Tree Hugger, but I do like to cuddle with them now and again.

As I’m sure we all know by now, one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint is to purchase as close to home as possible. Local Farmers’ Markets are one of the best ways to buy local produce and probably some honey, but it’s much more difficult to find local yarn and fiber in that once-a-week wonderland.

This weekend I was happy to find Local Harvest online. Not only is it a fantastic resource for finding produce grown locally, but this particular online geentopia includes a Wool & Fiber category as well. Now granted, you may have to set the search parameter to 1000 miles in order to find a good selection (as it was in my case), but there is no denying it’s a much better choice than the process of the mass harvesting of our local resources, shipping them overseas for cheap processing and then having them shipped back here to distribute to our local mega-stores. That’s a carbon footprint that even Mr. Paul Bunyan would have a hard time filling!

Continue reading »]]> Ever since high school I’ve had an interest in investing; more specifically investing in the stock market. Last year, twenty years after high school <deep sigh>, I finally opened my first investment account with Share Builder. I feel a deep acid-reflexed privilege to have started my investing dream just as the economy tanked <deeper sigh>. Despite the fact that my portfolio is down (way down) I still have the investment bug. But it’s a more environmently-friendly bug these days.

One of my philosophies with investing, as it is with any purchase, is “Buy what you love.” The problem is that sometimes there is no means in which to invest in the products you are most passionate about. Wool and cotton are both traded as commodities, but I struggle with investing in large corporations that over work our natural resources. And how often would I really see any return on my investment? Especially since I invest in such small amounts.

Today, I was so excited to learn about fiber community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs. In short CSA is a method for small-scale commercial farmers and gardeners to help increase the quality of their production and care given to their land, plants and animals while substantially reducing the financial risk by selling shares of their crops or flocks to the public.

In the past CSA’s have primarily been produce focused, but Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm and Hudson Valley Fiber Farm has taken the program to the sheep…and goats. When you purchase shares in their CSA you are investing in a “harvest” of Kid Mohair or Cormo Wool. You’ll receive a shareholder’s certificate, weekly farm updates and special invitation to events. The money from your investment is used to purchase premium feed and hay for the animals and to increase the size of the flock.

Best of all I liked this quote from their website: “Our farm practices humane animal husbandry, we are “predator friendly” and none of our animals are ever sold for meat. The sheep and goats graze on organic pasture 9 months out of the year. We supplement with quality hay and a custom-made whole grain ration.”

Now here’s where it pays off. After shearing, the “harvest” is worked in a local mill and you are sent your share of the actual yarn or fiber from the flock! They limit the number of shareholder for each clip so you are pretty much in store for a bountiful supply.

For more information about Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm visit their lovely website. To purchase shares in their CSA you can go to Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm Etsy shop or the Hudson Valley Fiber Farm Etsy shop. What an amazing gift for yourself or a fiber lover.

NOTE: Shares for the Spring 2009 clip at Martha’s Vineyard have sold out. At the time of this post, there were still twenty-five shares left for Hudson Valley and they have taken $10 off the regular $150/ share price. Hey Chris! Do you want to invest halvsies with me?

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The almighty Google has developed a great search application for websites to use called Custom Search (please take a moment to gaze in wonder at the Custom Search bar located at the top of post(s)).

Google has allowed site owners to use custom filters on Google’s search engine so that when someone does a search it only returns results within the filter parameters.

For example:

Doing a standard search for alpaca with Google will give you top results ranging from alpaca farms and breeders to alpaca bike racks (let’s take a moment to visualize an alpaca bike rack shall we).

With Custom Search on Double Treble, all the search results are filtered to be crochet, knitting or yarn related. So a Custom Search of alpaca results in a listing of alpaca yarn resources.  Pretty darn cool. All hail Mighty Google.

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When you want to start a new crochet project, there is nothing like browsing tons of patterns for inspiration. When you HAVE to start a new project, there is nothing worse than not knowing where to begin.

I put together a page of websites that have great indexes of free crochet patterns. These are sites that I use quite frequently listed in alphabetical order, with the exception of Ravelry. Ravelry is in a class by itself. My deepest apologies to any alphabetizing purists out there.

You can always find the free pattern listing in the Menu section of the sidebar.

Continue reading »]]> I can’t even tell you the hours I use to spend in the bookstores looking for crochet patterns. Then the Internet came and searching was faster and easier, but a tactile need was lacking. There is something about sitting with a book on a bed, couch or toilet and browsing the pages of a good pattern book.

Below I put together some of my favorites that I have in my library or have just ordered. One of my absolute favorites is 200 Crochet Tips, and I just purchased Drew’s book The Crochet Dude’s Designs for Guys. I can’t wait for that to come in.