Mikey

Aug 13th, 2015

In This Newsletter

Stitch-cation Update See who has entered & only 3 weeks left!

Free shipping from the E-Tent & The *NEW* Crochet Crowd Frequent Shopper Card! thanks to our sponsor

+12free patterns

Crochet VideosTry the NEW Tunisian Rib Hat!

Facebook Shares

Baking Queen of the Year + Recipe

Hey Ho Mikey Here!

What an amazing week this has been. I’ve been spending my time at Spinrite Yarns and Spinrite Factory Outlet that is about 30 minutes from my home.

I thoroughly enjoy meeting with crocheters to gauge what they like to make. It gives me ideas for the future on what to focus on and it tells me a lot about our current direction and what people have thought from our past projects. For me, it’s a learning experience unlike any other.

I’ve been self employed since 2011 and this week has been really hard for me. I have to get up using an alarm clock. OMG... I have forgotten what that is like. I know. I am sounding like a huge sucky baby! But seriously, this week has been exhausting! Hats off to anyone that has a more routine schedule than mine.

While I have my routine and sometimes it can be the same thing day in and day out. I enjoy the flexibility of doing my own thing on my own time. If slack off in the morning, I can add more time at night time to make up. Having the office in my house means I am basically at work all the time. For some people, they have got their home schedule figured out to know when to punch the clock out. For me, I’ve not figured that out because I am passionate about crochet.

I find in the evenings, I head on over to The Crochet Crowd Facebook to see the pictures that were posted and take great pride in sharing those photos as a feature. I know it makes my day to be appreciated and I love to extend the courtesy.

Finally... Really Quickly... This is the first edition of the new Mikey Mag-azine by The Crochet Crowd. Daniel and I are learning but it’s more him organizing and coming up with concepts for our editions. We’ve never done this before and we are learning on the job. As the weeks and months go on, we will be refining our editions as we figure what our voice is here using this concept. This magazine concept was Daniel’s vision for our fu-ture... I’m excited to see where he takes us. - Happy Hooking, Mikey

Hawt off the Hook with Mikey

Front Cover Pattern:

Sun Hat using Lily Sugar’n Cream

What could it be?Each week we will give a clue, the pattern and video to leave you wondering what in the word could this be! It’s fun and has been brought back by huge demand. We are super excited. Even for us, We

had no idea what it was until we finally put it all together!This is our 3rd Mystery Amigurumi Crochet Along. See what the last Mike the Monster and Giraffes

that we did. We don’t tell you the colour as that’s part of the mystery.

Let’s Play this Mystery

Some of the Fun with the Mystery Amigurumi!

We are three quarters through the summer and Stitch-cation is still going strong! We are really impressed with every single one of these afghans coming into our flickr page! What amazing colours!

If you haven’t done one, grab your basket, throw in all your over stock and give this a whirl. A great, lets do a summer clean up with left over yarn! It looks complicated, detailed and colourful but you will find this to be the no different then a simple granny square concept without the sewing. Relax and enjoy!

Deadline for this Stitch-cation is September 7th, 2015.

Happy Stitch-cation!

Summer Stitch-cation

Border Jubilee Challenge!We are looking for the best border for our Stitch-cation Af-ghan! Create the ultimate border to go with this challenge.

We will have Laura Jean Bartholomew, our Face-book seeker, to choose ten of the best borders of our Stitch-cation Afghans on September 8th from our gal-lery. One winner out of the ten will be chosen through our three panel judges, Mikey, Diva Dan and Cathy.

Winner will receive a wonderful gift package on from us here at The Crochet Crowd.

Be Creative Not A Copy Cat: We ask that you write down your pattern, please do not copyright any patterns, even those already in the flickr gallery.

Once the winner has been chosen, we will contact you to send a close up picture of the border and ask that you tell us how you did it. We do not expect the pattern to be perfectly written. As we all know, many are not able to write patterns and we understand that. Winner will also be acknowledged as the designer for the border in our final concept.

3 Weeks Left

If you have already finished your afghan and not done a border, you can go back and apply a new border to

submit to us. If you have already done a bor-der and we have a pic, you are already entered

but if you want to replace your border with something more fanci-er, we will gladly accept a

replacement entry.

To Enter into our gallery and to check out what crocheters are doing with

Stitch-cation. See the wonderful Kaleidoscope! It’s a Frac-tals of colour and an array of stunning prismatic displays!

Be part of the fun and in the sun. Surprise yourself, it’s fast and a great way to explore your splashy creative side! Let’s turn our flickr page into a Psychedelic jazzy stitch-cation

library! Just email to this address, *Please note this is a new address

crochetchallenges@thecrochetcrowd.com

Click for More Info

Summer Stitch-cation

Erin Brady made her much larger then we suggested. It looks so good at

Flickr GalleryMaria Catania added white to finished her motifs. An-

other fabulous look!

This is just a sportsy looking afghan by Adrianne Villeda.

I am loving these colourful ones that have such fun looking colours. This one is by Jerusha Borden

This reminds me of Hubble Bubble Gum Melissa Hufford did an amazing job!

Enjoy the latest Fabulous Summer Stitch-cations

The Crochet Crowd is doing 10 Workshops this Fall at Creativ Fes-tival 2015. If you are going to be in Toronto October 15th - 17th, take part and have some fun. We have Mikey, Dela Wilkins (our Tunisian Expert), Kevin Price (our Amigurumi Guru) and Diva Dan (our Macramé Buff). A huge line up of courses, lots of yarn, gossip and sit back and enjoy!

Here is the update for Classes with the Crochet Crowd at Creativ Festival that are still available.

creativfestival Workshops

Workshops at Creativ Festival

Upcoming Events

Class 460c1.5 (4 seats left) Learn to do the cutest and simplest Christmas Amigurumi Ornaments with Kevin. Spend time to do detailing and raise yourself to another level! Don’t be like Mikey who creates a mermaid that seriously had lips that we shall not describe!

Class 455c1.5 (6 seats left) Create a Tunisian Christmas Basket for all those candy goodies with Dela. Learn to do proper circles, short rows and linking. This can also be applied to make a hat. Double your learning experience! Great course!

Class 456c1.5 (6 seats left) Learn the double ended crochet hook and make fashionable wristers. This is again with our Tunisian Expert Dela Wilkins. Using two colours and ribbing stitch technique. You will become a pro with her class! Plus you will love working with a double ended crochet hook!

Class 457c1.5 (5 seats left) We all love novelty yarn but lets face it. It is tough to crochet with. Dela will be teaching you how to do a cowl that you will be drooling over with! Again the Double ended crochet hook saves the day.

Class 458c1.5 (10 seats left) Always wanted a one on one and learn the basic to the Tunisian thought process! Dela will be getting you started on your first Tunisian Blanket! Great for first timers!

Class 454c1.5 (6 seats left) Mikey will be teaching new techniques with broomsitch crochet. Do a scarf! and see where this technique can take you with ideas.

Class452c1.5 (6 seats left) Bobbles, Fans and Shells! We are going to teach you how to make a unique and fancy afghan! Yes extend you stitch library with Mikey!

August 10th, 2015 @ 9am (EST) to

August 17th, 2015 @11:59pm (EST)

Order online for amazing discounted or overstocked yarn through

Try out these patterns from Yarnspirations.com with your new order! Take advantage of the free shipping

Get all the cotton you need to make cute little projects like

these Jam Toppers

Dk superwash is perfect for warmth and it is washable. This girl’s cardigan is easy to make

Create an Arm Knit Cowl with different textures of discounted

yarn

Spinrite’s E-Tent

Tour

Fun at

Spinrite

Factory

Get Your Own Card

Imagine free shipping anytime exclusively for members of The Crochet Crowd! Need an emergency order of yarn, get your code and keep it on file! Only at Yarnspirations.com.

Does not include any sales from the Spinrite E-Tent.

Ideas

Flower Throw Starlight Baby Blanket Hexagon Motifs Blanket

Nautical Top

Open Lace Throw

Log Cabin Scarf

Lacy Shells Baby Hat Veggies Basket

Zippy the Sea Turtle

Diva Dan is getting ready for Fall 2015 Creativ Festival in Toronto, Ontario. This year’s theme is a Winter Wonderland! Diva Dan is looking for crochet snowflakes! Lots of them! His plan to build a full size igloo to dazzle the 10’s of thousands that attend the show! We need your help and would love it if you have some spare time. We have decided that you can use whatever snowflake you like to make. BUT if you are stuck for ideas, Diva Dan has a list of snowflakes we have found for you. Create your own if you wish for a personal challenge. We love free formed too.

A HUGE THANK YOU! We are also thrilled that Swarovski Crystals have donated some crystals for us to incorporate into the igloo. Imagine the light shining through them. A northern light display incorpo-rated with your snowflakes?

Summer SnowfLakes

CLICK for Ideas, Videos and More Information to

Help

Please send to this address no later then September 30th, 2015.

The Crochet Crowd10 Mullen Drive, P.O. Box 473

Walkerton, Ontario CanadaN0G 2V0

* If shipping these across the border to Canada, please use regular postal services and plan ahead to allow for delivery time. We will acknowledge receipt of each contributor as they come in.

Snowflakes being made by the following, Susan Hart Owen, Caroline Tremblay, Kimberly Christiansen, Paula Maria Hamilton Kristie Bretz, Barbara Jacobs and Alan Offthehook. Thanks everyone! :)

The list of Snowflakes has been update on Aug 12th, see if yours have arrived by clicking the

above link

If love the teaching, the patterns and the down to earth nature of Mikey, then take the time to subscribe to the Crochet Crowd’s YouTube Channel. You will get updated with all the latest videos that could spark your next project!

Mikey’s Videos and Tutorials

Tunisian Rib Stitch Hat Crochet Beach Bag

Fluffy Meringue Baby Blanket Yes Yes Shawl

How to Crochet Star Stitch How to Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Stitch

Click

Gina’s friend wanted an owl pillow. Lucky friend because this great!

Dawn finished her Lily Pond Af-ghan. Quite Amazing!

Yoely worked hard on her Mystery Afghan we did back in the spring.

Super Job!

Ginger’s daughter loves her new Crystal Ice Hat! Now to find the

perfect ‘wristers’ to go it.

Dawn finished her Garden Bag. This Awesome Job Dawn!

Stephanie won 2nd place at her local county fair on her Yes Yes Shawl.

Congratulations!

Michelle first ever big project was the Blue Lagoon Afghan. This is so

very well done!

Shares from Our Community

Sebastian the kitty is likely doing a crochet intervention. Poor Sandy is not going to get any work done!

We have only:

* 6 seats left in Western Caribbean* 7 seats left in the Eastern Caribbean Cruises. * 4 seats left for Alaska!

Once sold out, the next cruises are scheduled for 2017.

Thanks to Yarnspirations.com for being our official Workshop Sponsor.

Crochet Cruises, Here I Come!

Crochet Cruises Update

Way back in Grade 4 I loved to bake. Yes... Baking was my thing, besides playing a bit of music and getting my hands dirty in the garden. It was some-thing I enjoyed doing. Of course, my parents didn’t mind, it was more food for them! I was always asked to make desserts for their friends that came over and normally there was nothing left. I lived on the farm, we raised milking cows, cattle and pigs plus we had over 1,000 acres of cash crops. So baking was a past-time to keep occupied since I was too young to really help out on the farm.

In the fall, I loved entering my baking and garden veggies in the local fall fair. For a little red head, I got a good many prizes for the stuff I entered. So the fair was something as a kid, I always enjoyed. Each year I was always looking forward to all the possible entries when the fall fair booklet came out!

I decided one year to enter my pie for the overall baking contest. This was way back in the 80’s and I certainly had my competition against all those ladies that had way more experience then me. At home, I was prized for a delicious pie. It had a great crust and wonderful summery flavours. I enter my famous Peach and Blueberry Pie with a Cornmeal Crust! What! Not plain apple, or cherry! Nope this was beyond the boundaries of the norm. So it came, the judges decided who won. I came home from school and later that evening I got a call from the fall fair. They asked for Danielle, I said, yes that’s me. They said my name thinking I was a female. Congratulations! You won ‘Baking Queen of the Year’! Holy Pie Crust! I was skipping with excitement! Did my parents know I was special kind of special back then? Maybe so. Since then, I believe that the fall fair change their title not to have ‘Queen’ in it! Today it would fit so perfectly for me! (As Michael would be nodding his head!). **Michael’s Edit... Never a truer title for Daniel!**

I look at the many Crochet Crowders expressing joys from their crochet creations that their have en-tered in their local fall fairs. It is something to be proud and happy about! The local fairs are such a great opportunity to show your passion! Take the time to go and support your fair. Enjoy the winners and even take part! Local fairs are informative of community talent, educational and fun! It’s a great way to be neighbour-like by sharing and being part. PLUS its great for kids! So get the kids involved! Michael and I are attending a few just to see and take in the excitement. We hope you will too! - Diva Dan

Notes from Diva Dan

This newsletter is produced by Michael Sellick and Daniel Zondervan, Creative Directors of TheCrochet Crowd. While we try our best to provide a grammatical error free newsletter, a few errorsmost likely will slip between the stitches. We are a very small company with a creative thirstycrochet following. If we are to produce a newsletter that has no errors, we would never be able tosend one out.

Our team is also propelled by Cathy Cunningham - Executive Assistant, Colleen Barden - CrochetSamples and Show Support & Laura Jean Bartholomew - The Crochet Crowd Information Seeker.

I know that many would be wanting the recipe for the famous peach and blueberry pie so here it is. This is my memory of it, so it might not be perfectly tested. For those that know how to make pies, this should be pretty basic for you.

Double Crust 9”2 cups of pastry flour1/2 cup of cornmeal1 tsp salt3 tsp sugar1/2 lb of butter1 cup of cold water

Mix the dry ingredients together, cut in the butter, until it resembles coarse crumbs.Mix water and vinegar together. Slowly add to the dry ingre-dients while mixing with your hands to form a slightly moist ball. Do not add to much water, it should natural form a ball with a little squeezing as you move your hands in a circler motion while mixing.Divide in 2 balls, Chill if needed, roll out dough. I like to sand-wich it with wax paper.

Peach and Blueberry Filling3 cups of sliced peaches peeled, stoned, you know what i mean.2 cups of blueberries1/2 cup for white sugar1/4 cup brown sugar1tsp of cinnamon1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp almond extract3 tbs lemon juice3 tbs corn starch

Preheat your oven to 400F

Mix all ingredients together. Place in your 9” cormeal pie crust. Add you 2nd pie crust over it, brush it with milk and sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350F for an additional 30-35 minutes. or until bubbly and the crust is nice and golden brown.

Notes from Diva Dan

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