Grasshopper Handmade Google+ Page

I've started a Google+ page for Grasshopper Handmade since I thought it was probably a good idea to have a Google+ page as well as the Facebook page.  (I have a personal profile on Google+ as well, but I don't really use it since most everyone I know is on Facebook.)  I added the ability to +1 my posts here a while back with a widget that also includes sharing on Facebook, Twitter, a blog and email.  For right now I imagine I'll mostly be posting the same things there as I do to Facebook although I may change that in the future.  I do like Google+, though and it is quite easy to use when I remember that it isn't Facebook.  So feel free to add me to your circles and start +1ing away.

Secret Toy Pattern

 Spent a while the other night winding Cascade 220 for a new crochet toy pattern I'm working on.  (I'm keeping what the toy is a secret for now, I think.)  I know I often talk about things I'm going to write up as patterns and then never get around to it, but this time I actually have the pattern written already.  I'm going to use this yarn to try it one more time and then I will be getting some test crocheters to test it for me.  I also have another toy pattern in the works so hopefully soon I will finally be branching out into pattern sales.  I have so many ideas written down or partially made--I hope I can make the leap.

almost finished, but completely unblocked

Speaking of patterns, I have mentioned several times a pattern I've been working on for years now for a crocheted wrap.  The last time I mentioned it, I said I was almost done and I did almost finish a sample from the written up pattern.  However, as I finished it, I decided that I wanted to change several things about it (this was after adding to it while writing up the pattern) including the main stitch pattern and the weight of the yarn it's made in.  (I also hate the colors I chose for it.)  So I guess it's back to the drawing board with that one.  Hopefully I will manage to finish it someday.

New (ish) Colorways

Big Brother

Shiny New Australia

I'm not even sure newish is appropriate since one of these has been around for probably close to a year and the other was available at all of my winter craft shows.  (But not in my Etsy shop until now.)  But since I haven't mentioned them here, I'm calling it newish.  Shiny New Australia may be my new favorite colorway--plus I love the name.  (Bonus points if you recognize where it came from!)

Books Read in 2011

I'm still keeping a list of all the books I read every year.  I don't know if anyone who reads this blog is actually interested in it, but I'm going to keep on posting since I have no where else to share it.  :)  (Re-reads are marked with [RR].)

1.  Escape - Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
2.  All the Colors of Darkness - Lloyd Biggle, Jr.
3.  The Coming - Joe Haldeman
4.  Drood - Dan Simmons
5.  Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
6.  Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
7.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
8.  False Dawn - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
9.  The Mysterious Benedict Society - Trenton Lee Stewart
10.  The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
11.  Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill
12.  I Who Have Never Known Men - Jacqueline Harpman
13.  Kiln People - David Brin
14.  The Dragons of Heorot - Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes
15.  Native Tongue - Suzette Haden Elgin
16.  The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett
17.  The Gate to Women’s Country - Sheri S. Tepper  [RR]
18.  The Waters Rising - Sheri S. Tepper
19.  Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
20.  Z for Zachariah - Robert C. O’Brien
21.  The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
22.  Earth Abides - George R. Stewart
23.  Delusions of Gender - Cordelia Fine
24.  Woman on the Edge of Time - Marge Piercy
25.  Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren [RR]
26.  How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
27.  Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
28.  World War Z - Max Brooks
29.  The Hidden Side of the Moon - Joanna Russ
30.  Dawn - Octavia E. Butler
31.  Siberia - Ann Halam
32.  This Perfect Day - Ira Levin
33.  The Lost Gate - Orson Scott Card
34.  Adulthood Rites - Octavia E. Butler
35.  Imago - Octavia E. Butler
36.  The 1978 Annual World’s Best SF - Donald A. Wollheim (ed.)
37.  Anya’s Ghost - Vera Brosgol
38.  The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
39.  Cards of Grief - Jane Yolen
40.  Quiverfull:  Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement - Kathryn Joyce
41.  Camp Concentration - Thomas M. Disch
42.  The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues - Ellen Raskin
43.  The Demolished Man - Alfred Bester
44.  The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham
45.  The Last Guru - Daniel M. Pinkwater
46.  The Second Omni Book of Science Fiction - Ellen Datlow (ed.)
47.  From These Ashes - Fredric Brown
48.  The Pirates!  In an Adventure with Scientists and The Pirates!  In an Adventure with Ahab - Gideon Defoe
49.  America Pacifica - Anna North
50.  The Star Road - Gordon R. Dickson
51.  Little Altars Everywhere - Rebecca Wells [RR]
52.  Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells [RR]
53.  The Purity Myth:  How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women - Jessica Valenti
54.  The Universe Maker - A.E. Van Vogt
55.  Time Travelers Never Die - Jack McDevitt
56.  Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick  [RR]

Yes, I read Twilight.  And hated it.  After several people I know insisted that it really was good and after ripping on it for ages, I thought it was time I read it so that I knew for sure.  Now I know.  I think my favorite fiction book I read this year (with Twilight being my least favorite--although it definitely had a run for its money) was Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.  It's utopian, feminist sci fi--if you like that sort of thing.  And I do.

Mid-Winter Sale

I'm having a mid-winter sale in my Etsy shop.  25% off all cowls and any other winter accessories I may run across in the next week or so.  I made a lot of cowls for my holiday shows and while I did sell many of them, I have more than I want to store all summer so I thought that I'd hopefully clear some of them out with a sale.  I'll be adding more as I get pictures taken so keep checking back.

Hedgehogs!

 

I made six of these hedgehogs as Christmas presents this year using this pattern.  The Fun Fur was such a pain to work with--especially at first--but they turned out so cute I think it was worth it.  (Though right now I'll be happy if I never see another hedgehog, let alone make one.)  The ones already given were, I hope, well received.  These last three are a gift for my "nieces" who sadly may be too old for this kind of gift really soon.