New Designs

Been a while since I posted anything here so thought I would talk a bit about my new designs. 1st - my new sleeve design is much more intricate, stitches are smaller, tighter design, more complex. Some stitches are overlaid and considered the most difficult crochet. Counts must be perfect to keep the correct pattern and all ends must be tucked in a way that you cannot tell where one strand ends and another begins. No Knots! There are also two hallmark stitches in each CCDZS crocheted piece. One is a sideways shell stitch, the other is a "window" effect.

The bodice is about to change as well. I'll leave the description for the pictures that will be posted on my facebook page in about another two weeks. It's going to be gorgeous!

Waiting List

Finally through my waiting list for custom sweaters so I'm putting together some ready made sweaters for my etsy shop and for three shops in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Sales have come to a crawl which makes me concerned for my economy. But everyone needs sweaters and coats to keep themselves warm in the colder months. So as we head out of this incredibly hot summer, I hope folks will look for unusual sweater coats - they're much more versatile than a regular coat, plus stylish and quite a character statement. I love making these sweaters - putting the different textured yarns and colors together is like painting with fiber. So, here's to Fall coming in, the weather getting cooler and the sale of my unusual, fabulous, technicolor sweater dream coats.

A Fabulous Collaboration!!

On March 30, 2011, Lisa Correia of Enlightened Platypus on etsy announced our collaboration on her Facebook page. See Enlightened Platypus on Facebook. We started convoing on etsy back in January to Dream up a new elf couture Sweater Dream Coat design. She makes her fabulous coats - I add my colorful bell sleeves. The first one will be listed soon in her shop. She previews all her coats on Facebook the week before her sales, so keep a watch for them. They are unbelievable! I have four more sweaters and pallets I'm working on now. Should be sending these back to her for Lisa to work her magic sometime next week. In the meantime too, I'm working on all the custom orders I recieved in my shop after her announcement. Lisa is awesome and a wonderful artisan to share her success in such a generous way. I am truely indebted to her. So, watch for more wonderful designs from both of us. We are blessed to be able to do something we truely love to do - Take care of our babies (my grandbabies in my case) and use our creativity to bring such joy!

My Husband's Classic Comfort

20 some odd years ago, when we were dating, I taught this very masculine man how to crochet. And, boy did he ever pick it up. He makes absolutely gorgeous afghans. Now he has his own etsy shop at classiccomfort.etsy.com. So if you ever see a mid 50ish man, with a grey beard, balding head and a good sense of humor sitting on an airplane crocheting, I'll betcha it's him. He takes his crocheting everywhere. Now that's a man who is very secure in his masculinity and quite an artisan to boot. Check it out at http://www.classiccomfort.etsy.com

Preparing for Changes

More etsy shops on the way - one for Louis's (my husband) afghans, one for my baby items, and one just for sweaters. Getting prepared for leaving my day job - getting ready for a new grand daughter and preparing myself for working part time as a Prevention Specialist for our local Child Abuse Prevention Council. I am so excited - such changes give me great inspiration. I am looking forward to being creative and using my talents without any more restraint than what I choose myself. Wow, what a concept - being my own boss. And then there is traveling some with my husband......

Jane's Curtains

My neighbor has a gorgeous 11,000 square foot home. She just had her kitchen remodeled with dark brown granite countertops w/chips of rainbow colored mica embedded in the granite. The backsplash between the countertops and the bottom of the naturally finished cherry wood cabinets is all cut natural stone with some diamond shaped bronze medallion accents. She asked me to make her some crocheted cafe curtains and valance for the one window above her sink. We went through several designs and settled on this one from a Magic crochet magazine, published about 30 years ago. I've modified it a bit and they are obviously still in the works. I'll block them when I'm done and post more pics. Check out my Facebook page with more pics of the design: Crochet Creations by Dottie Z. Scher at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=189039&id=233275180094&l=66ab71f544

Finished these in October - they turned out gorgeous! Here's the finished product!

Getting ready for Retirement

Just after Christmas I found out that I could retire in August 2011. Wow, what a relief and excitement. My daughter and grand-daughter, I think, are the most excited because I'll get to spend more time with them. Figuring out 401k amounts, retirement pensions, etc. has been interesting too. And now, I'm finally setting up "my studio" upstairs in this old house. Going through some old yarns is like finding old friends - hmmmm, I wonder what I had in mind when I bought this one eons ago. Coming up with new projects. I hope to be working on the Darkness to Light Initiative with the Interagency Child Abuse Prevention Council here i n Gaston County, working some kind of part-time job, and of course, crocheting. More grand children I'm sure will fill out my days. But what dreams we have when faced with life changing events and choices. The job I have now was a dream way back when. Now, I'm looking at what might still be ahead at 55. My body may feel old at times, but I don't and there's still a lot of steam left here. So, on to that studio, as I clean out cabinets and shelves and replace the old with the new (or reaquainted) and get everything organized. Maybe I'll even have space to show my precious grand-daughter how to do all these handcrafts too. That will be fun.