Call Me a Tease if You Must . . .

. . . just so long as you call me. ;)

Hey all! I've been sick, and working, and working, and sick. Right now, my priorities include projects with Tony Healey, Bernard Schaffer, Reeni Austin, and a newbie by the name of Tony DePaul. However, we all know I try to squeeze in some crochet time whenever I can because it maintains my sanity.

Of course, crochet for me is more than just pleasure; it's work. Rarely do I crochet only for the love of the craft. Chances are, if you see a hook in my hand, I'm working on a gift for a friend, an item for a craft show, or a sample for a new pattern.

Over last weekend, it was a sample called "Movie Night." I actually sketched out the design two or three years ago and then it sat, waiting for me to get back to it. The problem with the creative process, whether designing crafts, writing music, or writing prose or poetry, is that when it rains, it pours.

Once I get started, I can't stop. I sketched out about fifteen designs all at once and this one got lost in the shuffle, but it's always been in the back of my mind to finish it. I even bought the yarn for the sample way back when.

You see, the reason I named it "Movie Night" is that it was inspired by the red-and-white striped boxes that the old theatres used to serve popcorn. The basic design will be on a plane of white with red stripes in the form of post stitches and embellished with yellow popcorn stitches.

I've only reached the point where the pattern for the towel is worked out and written, but I'm pretty excited about it.

Meanwhile, the latest crochet book is well on its way to being finished. All of the samples are done except for one which needs pictures to be taken step-by-step for part of the pattern. And the clearer, more formal writing of the instructions and formatting need to be laid out.

So what else could I possibly have going on? Well, there's a serial I'm co-writing with Tony Healey that I hope we'll be able to reveal officially next month, and a couple of story ideas I'm developing with/for Reeni Austin that I hope we'll be able to publish within the next couple of months. That one's been slower going than I expected. Friends, a word of advice: writing is fairly easy, but writing romance is HARD!

Anyhow, I'll keep you posted, so stay tuned.

Namaste.