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My Hooks and Needles

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knitting and crocheting adventures of a designer and teacher in the needle arts. Archives | Subscribe to Alerts Alerts Subscribe to Alerts | Feeds
   
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
11:09:02 AM EDT
Feeling Cheerful

NH CONFERENCE

Hi All,

I'm off to the conference in just an hour or so. 

I am doing four workshops, then I will be doing a book signing at the Elegant Ewe booth. 
If you are going be there, be sure to stop by and say "HI".

I'll have lots to report on my return.

Have a great week.

Margaret


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Sunday, July 20, 2008
9:28:03 AM EDT
Feeling Productive

Ravelry etc

Happy Sunday Everyone,

I am coming into the homestretch of finishing up everything that needs to be done for the conference.  All my booklets are done, my workshop suitcases packed, one new top to wear finished - still to do - finishing touches on my fashion show garment, getting my clothes ready to pack.

I leave Tuesday morning, so I still have some work to do.

I have been so rushed that I have not been checking my ravelry lists the past few day.  When I checked this morning, I found a nice surprise.

A few months ago Casey's dad, Thom, was in an accident and quite a few ravelry members came together to send Thom an afghan of love.
This tremendous undertaking was finally finished and Casey delivered it to Thom.  The happy look on Thom's face says it all.  I was very happy to be involved in this, I managed to get 3 little squares made - great job all.



Thom wrapped in love from ravelry members!

If you do not know about ravelry go to http://ravelry.com
to find out about it.  They were recently written up in a very
nice article at;


http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2008/06/13/1A_KNITTERS_--_live_story.ART_ART_06-1



Have a great day

Margaret


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Wednesday, July 16, 2008
5:36:33 PM EDT
Feeling Nostalgic

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Hi Everyone,

Today was a fun day for me.  I attended an event in a nearby town, and also attending were some very old and dear friends.

I've known this family for many years, and B, one of the youngest of the family brought me up to date on her siblings.  We exchanged e-mail
addresses, and when I got home I wrote to her, and she wrote back.
It started me on a trip down memory lane. 

B and 3 of her siblings were models for me in my early books. They are on lots of pages of ONE PIECE KNITS THAT FIT, WEEKEND CROCHET PROJECTS and MORE WEEKEND CROCHET. 

I still get lots of mail about ONE PIECE KNITS.  It was my first book and probably my most popular.

Any way, it was fun going back and checking out the old photos and comparing them to the lovely young lady I saw today.







Have a great day

Margaret



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Saturday, July 5, 2008
11:39:23 AM EDT
Feeling Nervous

Morning Visitor

Happy Saturday Everyone,


This is not about knitting or crochet, but every once
in awhile, something unusual happens and I just
have to tell you about it.

I was rushing out for an early morning appointment.
I had just had an e-mail exchange with my friend Prudence
Mapstone http://knotjustknitting.com
(Who, by the way, is glob-trotting again) and was
running late.  I was stopped in my tracks by
an unwelcome early morning visitor.  A bear was
leisurely walking across my yard.  My first instinct
was to run back into the house, then I grabbed my camera.



He was heading straight for my garbage pail, good
thing collection happened minutes before he arrived.




I was quite far away, but finally remembered to use
the zoom!



Wonder if anything good is left in there?



Well, I'll give it a try.

I made some noise by slamming my door and he
finally wandered off.  I ran for my car and was out
of there in seconds "-)

Enough adventure for one day!

Have a great weekend,

Margaret


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Thursday, July 3, 2008
10:50:23 AM EDT

CROCHET BELTS FROM THE HIP

Good Morning Everyone,

I recently wrote that the new belt book,


CROCHET BELTS FROM THE HIP: RAW UNCENSORED DESIGNS

 was only available to ravelry users.  Now it is
 available to all.

This book, available to download on line,
 is the product of a group of 19 designers,
who got together at a conference and decided
 to do a collaborative effort of designs.  It was fun to do,
 and its very different.  Take the title literally.  Each of us
was free to do our own thing, doing our
design and instructions in our own way.  It was an
experiment and we are very proud of the way that
it turned out. 

You can see the book or order at;

http://www.sftdonline.com/


My belt is pictured in the previous blog entry.  For some
reason aol is not allowing me to download pictures
today :-).








                                                       



Have a great day.

Margaret








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Saturday, June 21, 2008
10:01:22 AM EDT
Feeling Happy

podcasts / new venture

Happy Saturday Everyone,

Sometimes I am really overwhelmed by the power of the Internet.  I know that I say it all the time, but how can one brain hold so much information.

 Last night I received a lovely e-mail from a Ravelry friend, telling me how much she enjoyed my interview with Kelly from Knit Picks.  I did not even know that the interview was on.  I was told that it would appear sometime by end of May beginning of June, but I did not hear anything else.

I asked said friend how I could go about finding the pod cast.  After following her directions I managed to listen to it (warning, it is kind of long :-)  Any way if you are interested go to http://knitpicks.com
click on staff blog, then on pod cast.  I am the first one on the list.

Another fun thing happened yesterday - our first group venture book was launched on Ravelry.  If you are a Ravelry member
it can be ordered http://ravelry.com/patterns/sources/crocheted-belts-from-the-hip

below is a picture of my entry





http://ravelry.com/patterns/sources/crocheted-belts-from-the-hip

Have a great weekend

Margaret


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Friday, June 20, 2008
8:33:34 AM EDT

Ravelry etc

Good Morning Everyone,

After all the rain this past week, the whole area is
greening up!  Yesterday, blue skies, big white
 puffy clouds against the tall, leafy green trees,
 what a gorgeous day!

I don't know how many of you are on http://ravelry.com
but if you are, Dee http://crochetwithdee.com
has started a group for ME.  I cannot believe that I
have my very own group on Ravelry, but if you would
like to join us, it is called MHDesigner-Hooks and Needles.
Ravelry is so amazing, each and every day I learn something
new.  I have been having so much fun reading the posts.

One of my friends posted a link to my interview on
Crochet Insider and I have been getting some very
nice e-mails from people who had not seen it before.
http://www.crochetinsider.com/MargaretHubert.html
Thanks Dora for a great forum and thanks Barbara WH for
the interview.

I have been working feverishly trying to finish up my
fashion show garment for the July conference.  Just one
month away, and the fun will begin.  I hope that I will get
to see some of you there.



Have a great day!

Margaret


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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
8:14:04 AM EDT

NH CONFERENCE AND HELPING HANDS FOUNDATION, ETC

Good Morning Everyone,

The time is flying by and soon knitters and crocheters from all over the country, and some from other countries, will be meeting for our National Conference.  The conference is held in Manchester NH, from July 23 through the 27th.  Many of us will be arriving on Tuesday the 22nd in preparation of attending Professional Development day on the 23rd.

I will be teaching  4 classes, Crochet Intermeshing, Free Form Knit and Crochet Combination, Crochet Embellishment, and Knit and Crochet Beyond Scarves.  I have been very busy getting my handouts ready for my classes and finishing my fashion show and contest entries.  Still lots to do on my fashion show garment.

Attendees will be arriving at different times, getting ready to attend classes, visit the market, and participate in the festivities.  In addition to the fashion show and dinner on Saturday evening, many groups plan individual meetings and dinners.  Impromptu gatherings in the lobby are such fun.  I am so looking forward to seeing lots of old friends and meeting lots more new ones.

For quite a few years, Knitters and Crocheters have been putting their hands and hearts into projects designed to help others.  Groups, such as Warm up America, collect items to help victims the nation over.  Our chapter, The Happily Hooked on Crochet group in CT, have donated hundreds of Chemo Caps, preemie hats, scarves, hats, and gloves to Danbury Hospital and the Salvation Army. 

My local yarn shop, The Yarn and Craft Box in Pawling, NY http://yarnandcraftbox.com, is collecting scarves for the homeless, to be distributed by our own Resource Center in Pawling and to shelters in New York City.  Marie Stewart, shop owner, just put out the call a short time ago, and has already received more than 150 scarves. 

It is a wonderful thing to be using our skills to help others less fortunate.

The Helpful Hands Foundation is devoted to passing on these skills to the younger generation.  Conference attendees have been asked to donate gloves and mittens to be auctioned off at the conference.  The monies raised will go to help further this effort.

The Happily Hooked on Crochet Chapter is cooking up a surprise entry.  Its still under wraps, but Dee http://crochetwithdee.com
Has asked us all to crochet lots of faces.


At the meeting last Sunday, I was able to
complete two faces.  I love my curly top!


The imagination of our members is mind
boggling!



Starry eyes and smiles.


Don't you love the masked beauty?

Be sure to look for our entry at the auction.
I'm sure it will be a standout.

Wild weather, storms and power outages
seem to be over for now.  As bad as its
been, we have been lucky compared to other
parts of the country.

Have a great day!

Margaret


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Saturday, June 14, 2008
11:52:06 AM EDT
Feeling Excited

Ravelry

Happy Saturday Everyone,

I was getting ready to run out the door for an appointment and decided to check my mail once more.  I checked ravelry too, and clicked on "forums"  There I see a new group with my name on it.  What a thrill!
I thank Dee http://crochetwithdee.com
for starting it up.  I have a bunch of new friends and a lot of fans that have been around for a while (I didn't want to say older ones).
Thank you all its an honor.

Margaret


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Saturday, May 31, 2008
9:18:14 AM EDT
Feeling Happy

New Hampshire Conference etc

Happy Saturday Everyone.,

The time is flying by and the Knit/Crochet Conference in NH is getting closer and closer.  I am happy to say that two of my classes are totally sold out, but there is still room in two others.

The Crochet Intermeshing Class was the first to be sold out.  I learned this method from James Walters while we were both attending a Fiber Forum in
Australia.  James has given me permission to teach his methods in the U.S.,
so I am excited about that.

The other sold out class is the Free Form Knitting and Crochet Combination class.

There is still room in the Knit/Crochet Embellishment class.  This class can
be all knit or all crochet or a combination of both.  Students learn to make a bag in this class, but also learn how to apply the method to other items.
Embellishing is another way to free form, but a little more structured.






Here are two examples of small evening bags made
with embellishing.

The other class is called BEYOND SCARVES

In this class the knitter or crocheter, who has been
 stuck in the groove of just making scarf after scarf,
can learn how to take their art to the next step.  In
class, again, we learn how to make a small bag, but
much more than that is covered.  Its fun to see how
far your scarf making skills can take you.  There
really is no limit to the items that can be made with
just chaining or casting on a few stitches and
getting creative.  It really is lots of fun and once
your creativity is jump started the ideas will begin
to flow.  Time permitting, we will also learn about
lining our bags, and adding zippers or other closures. 
This information will be in the handout, even if we
do not get to cover it in class.




Crocheted Bag



Knitted Bag

On a totally different note, my new book
KNITS FOR MEN is now available.
You can buy it at http://amazon.com

Lion Brand Yarns has featured it in their news letter
They also offer a free pattern from the book.



Cover of the book.



Free Pattern from Lion Brand
Click on Free Patterns, click pattern finder
write in Alpine Knit. Enjoy!

http://lionbrand.com

Have a great weekend!

Margaret


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