crochet shopping

This morning I caught a notice of Annie's Attic Lunchtime special. It was only for 3 hours, so I'm sure by the time you read this, it will be over. I did not purchase anything, mostly due to shipping costs as I found a couple items that really interested me.

One of these was a book I'd not seen before called 99 Crochet Post Stitches. Investigation found this book at various prices, with shipping and with free shipping (It's such a chore to shop these days! LOL). I have not purchased it yet, but rather added it to my wishlist.

Anyway, another book I saw was one I'd seen in the past and intrigued me. Learn to Do Bavarian Crochet (Annie's Attic: Crochet).

i was very excited to have also found You Better Knot Die by Betty Hechtman (A Crochet Mystery). Then I saw it was $16.47! Then I saw it was a hardcover. I'm going to add this to my library requests, but will try to find out if there will be a paperback version later. For a novel I'll only read once, that is way too high a price for me. For a crochet reference book that I'd use over and over again I might pay that. Her other books are paperbacks and reasonably priced so if you haven't read any I do highly recommend them. Much fun if you like mysteries and crochet. Be sure to read them in order as there are subplots that progress throughout the series. Not that you couldn't enjoy one if you hadn't read the others, but you'll get the most out of them if you read them in order. Here they are, in order.

Hooked on Murder (A Crochet Mystery)
Dead Men Don't Crochet (A Crochet Mystery)
By Hook or by Crook (A Crochet Mystery)
A Stitch in Crime (A Crochet Mystery)
You Better Knot Die (A Crochet Mystery)

I love the cute title they use in this series. There is also at least one pattern in each book. You can see the projects (not the patterns, just photos) on her web site.

Another thing I happened across this morning that I found interesting is crochet coral reefs. I've seen these before, but found some new info.

First off, Talking Crochet newsletter had an article about crochet being in the Smithsonian. Well, a BIG Bones fan like me had to check out the Smithsonian. You can read about the crochet reef at the Smithsonian web site at http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/communityreef.html which you notice is not smithsonian.org or anything simple like that! LOL

You can learn how to make your own crochet coral reef at http://crochetcoralreef.org/makeyourown/index.php . There is a pdf file you can download - it's just 2 pages long. You can also purchase the book that is referenced, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Dr. Daina Taimina. I am not sure I am interested enough in the mathematics of it to get that deeply into it, but the reviews of the book are good and if you are a math oriented person or just like to see new and interesting ways to use crochet in the real world, this might be something to pick up or at the least borrow from your local library.

If you want to see a few pictures of the hyperbolic planes you can view a few at http://theiff.org/oexhibits/oe1.html .

You can also join the Ravelry group for the Smithsonian community reef and keep up with what's going on there.

The deadline for submitting your own reef project has passed. I do not know if there will be other opportunities to participate, but if you learn of any, do holler out at me.

I usually try to include pictures when I can, but I haven't finished the scarf I started at the hospital. My husband had outpatient hand surgery. It went well and he's doing okay today. I am going to try and finish the scarf today if I can.


Have a great Thanksgiving week, everyone!

Happy crocheting!