First Mom's Monday Crochet Night Out: Informally Delightful!

For years I've heard mom's tell me how they would really love to learn to crochet, or just find some down time to be with other ladies.  With all the responsibilities of raising the next generation, coupled with serving their families meals, caring for the home, sometimes an elder parent or a special needs child, who has time to relax and enjoy a craft?  Well, if the old adage is true, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy...", I figured that it would actually make us all more fruitful in all that we do by having some time away from our work.  Let's face it ladies, our work, as glorious and important as it is, is rarely finished.  If we wait until every dish is clean, meal prepared, laundry caught up, and school lesson completed, we will be in retirement.  Even Jesus, in the thick of His ministry on Earth would get into a boat and steal away with His friends for some rest from time to time.  I say we follow His example!

Here are the amazing mom's who were able to come last night.  I am so blessed to be surrounded by women like this!  Three ladies began learning crochet, one worked on a beautiful quilt, and two crochet pros were able to make some progress on existing projects.  Cynthia said, "Not only was it fun learning to crochet, it was really refreshing to just hang out w/other ladies."  

If you live in the Gaithersburg, MD area and would be interested in joining us for an informal Mom's Monday Crochet Night Out, our next one will be March 4th at 7:30.  Just contact me using the contact tab on this site and I'll be in touch.

A Word About Crochet Hooks...

The other day I got an e-mail from a crocheter asking me about crochet hooks and my preferences.  Well, here's my two cents worth.  From the very beginning I started using the Susan Bates brand crochet hooks because that was available to me then. As the years have gone by, more crochet hooks have entered the market.  I have tried some of these newer brands, as well as some with some very fancy handles, but I still go back to the Susan Bates hooks.  I love using these because I can crochet much better and faster with them.  The head of the hook has more of an aerodynamically shape from the more popular rounded hooks.  What this means is that it makes it easier to pull the strands of the yarn through the crochet stitches, at least this is the case for me.  When using the other popular hooks on the market, I feel slowed down, having to stop much more often to persuade the yarn through the loops.  If you haven't tried these hooks before, I encourage you to try them.  Here's a link to learn more.  

Meet Jennifer Ryan & Celtic Knot Crochet

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     I want you to meet a very special crochet friend of mine.  Jennifer and I met this summer while attending the CGOA Link Conference in Manchester, NH.  Jennifer is also a home school mom, musician, crochet designer and a lover of all things Celtic!  To say the very least we hit it off right away.  Please take some time to visit her webpage here.  You may already be familiar with some of her beautiful designs.  She has a unique way of designing Celtic knots into her designs in amazing ways.  One of her latest designs, a "Music Note Scarf" recently made the cover of Crochet Today Magazine!  Go Jennifer!

Here are some photo of more of her designs:  

The shrug pictured below won an award in the CGOA Crochet Design Contest!

Merry Christmas!

It has been my joy to interact with many of you through this webpage this past year.  On many occasions your words have lifted my spirits and encouraged me beyond words.  Thank you for taking the time to write.  As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas from my home to yours...  I also pray for many blessings upon you and yours in the coming year!

Resting in His amazing grace,

Craig, Bonnie & family

A Post Hurricane Sandy Visit to New York

Here is a video my son Caleb put together following a couple of recent trips to New York to bring much needed supplies to Hurricane Sandy victims.  Two truckloads of clothing, food, water and other essentials were spontaneously collected over a period of two days from our church when one of our members had the burden to do something to help.  Let's not forget these precious people in New York....

You can view the video here.

Crochet Class Contest Winners: 38 Baby Hats for Rancho 3M!

 
Today concluded our crochet class in October, and in addition to learning some really fun crochet stitches, this wonderful group of girls crocheted 38 baby hats to be donated to the baby house at Rancho 3M, which is an orphange in Guadalupe, Mexico.  

  

Sarah was our winner in the baby hat contest.  She made 22 baby hats! Congratulations Sarah!  Your hard work will be blessing a lot of little lives in Mexico.  Sarah's prize is a $25.00 gift certificate to the yarn boutique SO ORIGINAL in Olney, Maryland.

Lily was our winner of the baby hat design contest.  Congratulations Lily!  She is pictured below with her 14 baby hats.  Lily's prize is a year's subscription to Crochet World Magazine.  

 Here's her winning design.  Way to go Lily!  Keep those creative ideas going...

 

Here are all the hats the girls made in only one month!  Excellent job!

Upcoming Craft Fairs for November/December 2012

For all of you living in the MD/VA/DC area, please mark your calendars for some upcoming craft shows.  All are juried (i.e., made by the crafters themselves, no junk allowed), and offer a variety of items to choose from.  I'll be selling many of my unique Bonnie Bay Crochet designs plus a some bonus items made by my children:  guitar pick earrings (made by Hudson), iPod & iPad cozies (made & designed by Becky), parachord bracelets (made by Hannah), as well as ducttape wallets (made by Joseph).  I have some new exciting crochet jewelry designs as well as many scarfs, hats, wraps & stoles to choose from.  Everything is handmade and in many cases is a "one of a kind." There will be many other items available from many other vendors, making this a wonderful way to pick up some great gifts for everyone on your list.

Here are the dates and locations:

Saturday, November 10, 2012 - Montgomery Village Craft Bazaar @Lake Marion Community Center, G'burg

Saturday, November 17, 2012 - Wesley Grove United Methodist Church, 23640 Woodfield Road, Gaithersburg

Saturday, December 1, 2012 - Holiday Craft Mart @First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg, 200 Diamond Ave. Gaithersburg.

Here are just a few photos of the items that will be for sale starting November 10.  All are first come, first served. A special thanks to my daughter Becky for modeling some of these for me.