And the winner is.........

Congratulations, The Needle Nerd! You are now the pround owner of Kristen Rask's new book/kit, Yummy Crochet! Get ready to get your crochet on!

Thanks everyone who entered! Remember, you can still get the book later this month at your local Barnes and Noble!!!

Stitch Wars Strikes Back!

I was uber happy to be asked to participate in Stitch Wars Strikes Back this year....which opens this friday at Bear and Bird Gallery!! I LOVE Star Wars and had a lot of fun making stuff for Stitch Wars 2 years ago! This year I made a Lightsabre rattle....which I completely forgot to take a picture of....derp...and I made some Granny Square Tie Fighters. Each of the 3 Tie Fighters is a different Granny Square pattern.

Yes, I know, I'm a nerd. whatever ^_^

Oh, and these are now available to purchase from Bear and Bird's website....snap them up before they are gone!

Yummy Crochet Interview and Giveaway!!

Last year, the fabulous Kristen Rask, owner of Schmancy Toys, contacted me and asked if I would like to be one of the artists to contrubute crochet patterns for her upcoming book with Barnes and Noble. The book is called Yummy Crochet and features 12 different food themed crochet patterns. Well, of course I said YES! I mean, crochet food is my bread and butter ^_^ I contributed patterns for Tea and cookies, tiny oranges, and donuts.....and you can see pictures of them all over the box the book comes in! Oh, and did I mention the book comes with yarn to make two of the projects in the book....one of them being my donuts! SWEET!

In anticipation of the book's release in September, I had a little interview with Kristen to see how the heck she does it all:

*****

YP: Congratulations on another awesome book! Was this one easier or harder than your previous ones?

KR: Thank you! I would say easier. I knew more what to expect so when I was contacting contributors I could give them more information about how the process would work, etc. I also knew that it would take some time for B&N to approve everything as I was working with a third party so it seemed like one extra hoop to jump. Everyone I worked with on this project was really great to work with and I am really excited to see it's end result. It's pretty yummy don't ya' think?

YP: Was it difficult to find artists to design the patterns for Yummy Crochet?

KR: No, it wasn't. Luckily I have an awesome pull of people to contact :) I think it helps to have the first kit, Creature Crochet, to refer to as well so that people know it's legit and can imagine the end product.

YP: Yummy Crochet is filled with super cute food inspired patterns - what's your favorite food?

KR: Honestly, I love them all. I love the different personalities, the cover, the different spins on stuff and I just think the overall book is delicious! But I think I may be a bit biased :)

YP: With Schmancy, Plush You, writing books, etc etc, do you have any free time? What do you like to do to relax?

KR: Hahaha. Yes, I get this question a lot these days and yes, I do have free time. I am very protective of my Monday's. That's my one day to do grocery shopping, make food for the week, etc. I also am closed two days a week. I used to try to do Schmancy 6 days a week and I progressively got grumpier and less productive so I chalked that idea. Paying someone to work for you is expensive and not always worth it so I just decided to do 5 days a week as no one will die if my shop isn't open 7 days a week. Seriously, you will not die with a store being closed. I guess that's the luxury of being a shop owner, making those decisions. So yeah, Sunday's are for fun times and Mondays are for chores I suppose.

For fun? I sew, sometimes I get to go on mini vacations and those are a great treat. There are tons of amazing restaurants in Seattle so going out to eat is always fun. Drinks with friends is fun. crafting and watching tv or movies on netflix is always pretty enjoyable to me. I got into Crafty Bastards so I think there will be a lot of that in the next few months and crafting with friends...and cocktails.

YP: Do you have any plans for future books?

KR: Not at the moment. I would never say never but they are a lot of work. I am now the President of Seattle's largest indie craft show, Urban Craft Uprising and it's really great but a lot of work and time and so my new goal is to say no more. Although I haven't been very good at that yet.

YP: If you could be any animal, what would you be and why ^_^

KR: Either a seahorse, because the males carry the babies and that sounds pretty awesome. Not that I have kids or will but that sounds nice. Or a whale. I just find whales one of the most amazing creatures in the world. The dinosaur's of the sea. They are smart, gentle and mysterious and they will rip you to shreds if you mess with 'em

***

So, do you want to win a copy of the book? Yes? Well, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post with your e-mail(so I can contact you when you win) and also what you would like to see me crochet next ^_^ The winner will be chosen on August 21st!!

Exciting news!

Guess What! Soon, Yummy Pancake goodness will be available at the uber fabulous Schmancy in Seattle WA. That means, you can pick Yummy Pancake up on the east coast(from me) and west coast! Word to your mother!

Oh, and did I mention you can ONLY get my Margarita and Cosmo keychains at Schmancy?

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Mr. Toastee and I wish you a super fun Valentine's day filled with all sorts of yummy stuff....like crocheted chocolates ^_^

Plush Team in Candyland Opens TOMORROW at Hot Pop Gallery!!!!

What happens when a guild of internationally recognized plush artists descend upon Milwaukee in Winter for January Gallery Night? Candyland! See works created especially for Hot Pop Gallery by members of the Plush Team.

Please join us for the opening of Candyland at HotPop. Enjoy musical treats and an amazing candy buffet with samples of Plush Team favorites sent to MKE from all over the globe.

Plush Team artists have been featured in galleries all over the world! Including: Schmancy- Seattle, Chromeo- Vancouver, Gallery Hanahou-NYC, StitchWars, Bear & Bird Gallery-Miami, and many more. Numerous Plush Team members are featured in STUFFED Magazine every issue.

RSVP at our Facebook event!

http://www.hotpopshop.com/

I'm so bummed I'm not going to be able to make it out for this to see it in person, but I did contribute some plush for the show....check out my collection of crocheted candy:

You are NOT going to want to miss this show!!!

OMG! It's 2011 already??!?!?!?

Yes, I know...once again it has been an eternity since I last posted. Oh well, what can you do, right? The holidays and the new home certainly kept me busy, but now I am ready to get my crochet on. I made the difficult decision to not do any craft shows this year....I will still participate in art shows at galleries and such, but not craft shows. Last year, I felt I spent waaaaay too much time trying to make a bunch of stuff for craft shows, and didn't really come up with many new designs. This year, I want to focus on coming up with fun new stuff, and finally making some of the ideas that I have had cooking in my idea journal. I already have a few cooking that you'll be seeing in the next few weeks!

Since I have been so busy, I decided to hire 2 new employees to help me out. Can you beleive it? Meet the 2 newest members of the Yummy Pancake family - Guinness and Jericho:



They love yarn almost as much as I do! Let's hope they are as productive as they are cute ^_^