It's Nice To Be A Winner

One of the cool things about this crazy internet-connected world is that you can stay on top of all sorts of random things relevant to your own interests. For example, there are a few online purveyors of yarn that I frequent, and those companies have been making their way into the world of social media. By following a company like Knit Picks on Facebook, for example, I can find out about sales, get free patterns, hear about a new line of yarn and see it without needing to wait for the catalog to come. I can also learn about giveaway contests that the company runs from time to time.

Now, I like Knit Picks a lot, but usually it focuses on knitting rather than crochet. Recently, however, one of their bloggers has gotten all caught up in crochet thanks to a new pattern book they have started carrying. So they decided to share the love and held a drawing for three customers to win a copy of the book. Now, as with most drawings, I enter these contests frequently and almost never win. That just doesn't seem to be part of my own particular brand of luck. Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned I had indeed won a copy of the book from this latest contest!

When it arrived in the mail last week, I opened it up with glee and eagerly flipped through its glossy new pages.

The Best of Interweave Crochet: A Collection of Our Favorite Designs by Marcy Smith

Tony had to give it a few sniffs before he was willing to sign off on it.

Now, if I am being honest, I probably wouldn't have purchased this book if left to my own devices. Generally I prefer to stick with single patterns so I know I am getting exactly what I like, or to buy a book that is specifically geared toward one type of pattern (i.e. afghans, or afghan squares). Still, as I flipped through the pages I found more than a few patterns that look like they will be fun to try. This collection really does seem to have it all, from scarves and sweaters to blankets and toys and hats and even a dress. Also, Interweave tends to have some of the classier patterns in its library, so you know that these are all really nice patterns.

The book itself seems to be well assembled too, with an illustrated glossary of terms and several specialized tutorial pages placed with the patterns for which they are appropriate. There is one on seaming that I suspect I will benefit from greatly.

All in all, winning this book was a happy little happenstance all around for me. I look forward to picking out my first project from within its pages.

On the blanket front, Blanket Number Two is well on its way. There was an initial false start when I was having some trouble with the pattern I had originally chosen and ended up frogging it to go a different direction. It wasn't a hard pattern by any means, I just realized it was going to drive me crazy trying to make it and decided to cut my losses early rather than grow to hate the blanket as it progressed. I think it was the right call.

That's all I've got on the crafting front this week. Happy Valentine's Day, folks. I hope you are able to spend it with someone you love or at least manage to pamper yourself a bit. See you next Tuesday!