Fiber and Needle Art
Crochet and Lacemaking Newsletter
V1, #9 May 21, 1997
Friends,
As I start this newsletter for the Crochet and Lacemaking chats in FANA, I am aware that I probably have five times more information than is reasonable for one newsletter! If this is your first newsletter, let me explain that I am the lead host for the Crochet and Lacemaking area, and I send this out approximately every two weeks to bring you information about our chats, things we are doing, and AOL information you will probably find helpful. The Crochet team consists of HostBCraft, Host CJ, Host Yarnie, Host Guy and HostKC. It is a great group of hosts and crafters, and they help make your time in FANA so pleasant! : ) Give them a {{{{{hug}}}}} hug next time you see them! : )
In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this newsletter! Incidently, there are now more than 450 of you that get this! : ) Nice group : )
FANA / NC / FABRIC Schedules
BIG NEWS!!!!
As the old joke says, there is good news, and there is bad news... LOL. The good news is that plans are underway to create a room just for the crochet and lacemaking community on AOL! This will happen in the reasonably near future. The bad news is that many of the chats you have learned to love will probably be rescheduled, and our plans for daytime chats have been temporarily derailed.
The process will be that we will open our room with an abbreviated schedule of several evenings. As we are able to add new hosts, we will add more chats, until we have a schedule that will hopefully be as full as the FANA schedule. The difference is that the chats will be just for you!!! More information about the room will come to you right here as it is available! : )
New Name
The team would like your input into a possible new name for the room : ) Please remember that it needs to include both the crochet and lacemaking community on AOL, and the name should immediately tell people who we are : ) We're looking for SHORT and CATCHY (and we've already thought of and discarded Hookers and Lacers : ) ) To submit a name for our room, please go to Keyword: Sew, then Fiber and Needle Art, and make your way to the Knitting and Crochet Bulletin Board. There is a folder there for you to post your suggestions! All names submitted before June 15 will be considered, and I will publish the winning name and author here!
Be careful out there!
Most of you now know that you should never download a .exe file from someone you don't know! Never ever, no matter what it says. I have been reminding you that AOL will NEVER e-mail you an update that you need. They will direct you to an area on line where you can download it. Additionally, they do not EVER contact you by Instant Message! They will not EVER email you a contest or survey, either! Get the idea? AOL will NEVER EVER contact you directly like that. Anyone who sends you mail or IM and says they are from AOL is LYING! And they can only be trying to harm you when they do that! The newest thing is sending you mail with a HYPERLINK in it. A hyperlink is a blue, underlined word or words that when clicked on, take you to a room or area. You will notice that on your welcome screen, there are often hyperlinks. I am including hyperlinks to craft sites in this newsletter. AOL WILL NOT EMAIL YOU A HYPERLINK TO GO SOMEWHERE! If you ever have any questions, please.... be safe. Forward it to TOSEmail. If it is not a problem, the person will not get in trouble and it can't come back to haunt you. If it is a problem, not only have you protected yourself, but you have also protected a huge number of other members this person is preying on!
Fun Tools
Many of the hosts use a special add-on program that can be purchased to give them additional tools for when they are hosting. One such program is called Power Tools, and it comes from a great company called BPS software. This program is a lot of fun for anyone to use, but it does cost...
While I was recently wandering through their area on AOL, I noticed that they have a cool new program! They offer a POWER IGNORE program, which will permanently ignore anyone you do not wish to hear from. Those disruptive chatters who dance in and out of the room faster than you can click ignore? Not any more! The very best part about this program is that it is FREE!!!!!! If you would like to download this program and install it, you can get there by clicking on this hyperlink! : ) Power Ignore for AOL (US) Sounds like a VERY useful tool : ) (GOOD WORK! You thought twice about whether you should click here... go ahead... it's safe : )
Crochet Club
The April project of the Crochet Club was small afghans for Project Linus, a group that donates afghans to children with cancer. Our link person for that project was Lisibird. The turnout for that project was kind of low. If you still have a project that you were hoping to send, please contact Lisibird and let her know that!
The May project is items for the flood survivors of North Dakota and Minnesota. In particular, we have suggested household items, but I am sure anything would be appreciated. If you need more information about this project, please contact me.
Help!
In light of the announcement about our new room, and all the hours we will need to fill, here is ANOTHER request for new hosts! It's a great time and we need more victims... er.... volunteers! : ) If you have been thinking you would like to host, here's your chance! Contact me and let me know you would like to check it out! : )
Supplies
We were talking in the room about how it seems that Wal-mart is phasing out some of it's knit/crochet/tatting supplies. It was suggested that they might respond to a show of interest, and they are on line. If you are interested in letting them know that you do not want them to phase out their supplies, you can go to http://www.wal-mart.com and tell them so!
Enjoy
And finally, the part of the newsletter I have been promising in the chat rooms! Thanks to the Crochet team and a wonderful group of room members, I have compiled a list of websites about our crafts. This is by no means considered to be a comprehensive list! I'm sure there are many, many more, but these are the ones we have found so far, and they ought to keep you out of trouble for a while : )
(Hint: Every time you go to a new site on the Web, the "address" for that site is saved in something called your "cache". Once this gets full, it can cause errors and also slow down your computer, since it takes up a lot of resources. A good thing to do regularly is to go to Members/Preferences/ and click on the WWW icon. Click on the "Advanced" button, and then "Purge Cache". This will free up all that space for more play on the Web! : ) Also, once you get to a site and like what you find, save it to your "favorite places" by clicking on the red heart on the corner of that screen, so you can go back there whenever you want!)
Crochet Links (yes, you CAN click here, too)
Crochet Page (rainbow baby afghan and some links)
TECHnically Speaking - Crochet - (lots of useful information!)
"Crochet Partners's Pattern Index 4 pages" Format" (pattterns!)
The Library - Crocheting (books to buy)
A Guide To Free Crochet Supplies Home Page (free and near-free)
Crochet Musings' Patterns Page
LILY SUGAR'N CREAM (dish rags)
Free Stuff (Patterns, etc) (lots of links, mostly crochet)
Lacemaking Links
Lace Resources (Lots of web sites)
The Victorian Emporium, Inc (888)441-8906 (supplies)
The Lacemaker's Mailing List (a list -serve to sign on to)
Tatting Items CLASSIFIED ADS
Dreams of Lace: Needletatting Messages (GREAT reference)
tatting books.html (you get it!)
Dreams of Lace: Tatting reference (GREAT reference!)
Lacis (ordering supplies)
The Victorian Emporium's Featured Article (tatting)
Tatting and Lacemaking Page (more links)
Snowgoose - Home Page (supplies to buy)
Knitting Links (because few of us just do ONE craft!)
Yahoo! - Arts:Design Arts:Textiles:Knitting (search engine for knit)
http://www.southern.edu/people/williams/handknit/slipper (slipper pattern)
Sylvie's "Knitted Hat Pattern" page (a HAT!)
Uncle Jason's Knitting Home Page (mostly on knitting, but some spinning)
HandiLinks To Knitting Instructions (instructions for knitting and links)
The Frugal Knitting Haus' Home Page (some things to order, and some free)
Knitting and Crochet Links
Knitting and Crochet
KNITLIST GIFTS 1995
Knit Your Way to Glamour (knit patterns)
Monsanto Smart Yarns Projects - (free patterns)
SOCKS.HTM (crocheted socks!)
Multiple craft Links
Francy's Craft Links (links to LOTS of places)
Yahoo! - Recreation:Hobbies and Crafts:Needlecrafts (has a search engine for finding info about your favorite needlecraft)
Michaels Projects (all kinds of crafts)
Antiques-Resource: SEWING-EMBROIDERY-TATTING:
Take care of yourselves, and come see us soon in FANA! If you need an updated schedule, just ask any of the hosts in FANA : )
If anyone needs a current schedule: FANA / NC / FABRIC Schedules
Lee and the Crochet Team : )