Donation to Danbury Hospital Greatly Appreciated

More Chemo Caps Collected (insert: HHCC Pres Grace getting ready
to turn caps over to the Danbury Hospital).



At the "Coffee, Crochet & Chat" session held this Wednesday at Panera Bread on Federal Road in Brookfield, CT, twenty more chemo caps were collected, bringing the total to 85! 

Afterwards, HHCC President, Grace, and HHCC Founder, Dee, brought all of the group's chemo caps to the Danbury Hospital.  While they were waiting to turn the caps over to the hospital staff, several patients approached Grace and Dee and expressed their gratitude for them.  Dee said afterwards, "It was very humbling.  I'm really proud our HHCC members have such big hearts!"

The HHCC will continue to collect chemo caps year-round.  If you'd like to contribute a chemo cap/hat (or more!), please bring it/them to any HHCC meeting.

Meeting Detail: February 2012

Jane Chapman, Creative Arts Coordinator
and Grace, HHCC President

Our first meeting at the Danbury Library was a lot of fun!  Jane Chapman, Creative Arts Coordinator of The Big E was our Special Guest.  Since 2002 (with the exception of last year), the HHCC has enjoyed participating in The Big E - the United States ninth largest state fair - on what is known as Connecticut Day.  Jane outlined the new demonstration area they have in the New England State building, as well as new crochet categories they have for their competition.  The HHCC members will be back at the Big E this September - watch our blog, Twitter, and Facebook page for additional information.

HHCC Member, Diane, with her
Crazy Stitch swatch.

Our member Dee offered instructions on the Crazy stitch.  She advised that there are two versions of this stitch, one worked in rows straight across (also known as The Box Stitch), and the other worked diagonally.  Dee taught the diagonal version.  If you missed the meeting, check out these links that offer instructions on both versions:

• The Box or Brick Stitch
• The Diagonal Stitch

Dee stated she does have a preference - the Diagonal version.  She also likes to substitute the double crochet with extended half-double crochet stitches to "soften the drape."

A sea of Chemo Caps to be donated to the Danbury Hospital.

HHCC'ers also showed they have big hearts.  At the meeting 65 adult chemo caps were collected; these will be donated to the Danbury Hospital this week as part of the "Hats from the Heart" campaign the CGOA Chapter does annually.

There was also some show & tell; visit us on our Facebook page for additional pictures & meeting details.  :)

HHCC February 12th Meeting

The HHCC's monthly meeting,

scheduled for Sunday, February 12th, 2012,

is being held at:

The Danbury Free Public Library
(bottom floor)
located on 170 Main Street, Danbury, CT
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Participants are asked to park in the A. Bardo parking garage (1 block away, located on 10 Library Place, hourly rate of $1.00 per hr)
or along West Street (metered parking, at the time of this blog entry, is free on Sundays; 2 hr limit)

Members and participants of the meeting are asked to bring chemo caps/hats as part of
the HHCC's "Hats from the Heart" campaign.  Caps/Hats need to be adult size, for both men
& women.  These will be donated to the Danbury Hospital.
(pictured above, on right, is a Lacy Chemo Cap designed by Dee; pattern can be found here.)
"Hats from the Heart" labels will be provided at the
February meeting; otherwise, labels can be downloaded/printed from here.

ALSO:  Upon popular request, members interested in learning how to crochet the "Crazy Stitch/ AKA The Diagonal Stitch," bring yarn & appropriate sized crochet hook to practice with.

January 2012 Meeting

The HHCC's monthly meeting,

scheduled for Sunday, January 8, 2012,

is being held at: 

The Danbury Fair Mall, in the Food Court.

(1PM - 4PM)

WE'RE HAND CROCHETING IN PUBLIC!Bring a project to work on, items for Show & Tell,

and your #Crochet Wish List of techniques or stitches

you'd like to learn or teach.

Reminders: for those renewing their HHCC membership, or just joining:

1. If you are a member of the CGOA then you receive a 50% savings on HHCC annual dues!
2. If you renew or join the HHCC before the end of the March 2012meeting, then you are automatically entered into the Ruth Arbitelle Memorial Membership drawing!

Location Change: "Coffee, Crochet & Chat"

On February 17th, Borders announced they will be closing 200 of their 642 stores, effective immediately, as part of their bankruptcy/reorganization plans.  The Borders store located on Federal Road is one of the 200 stores that is now in the process of being closed.

HHCC President Grace stopped by Borders earlier this week to discover the space reserved for patrons to gather has been closed off.  A call for suggestions went out to the HHCC membership, and to the ConnecticutCrochet yahoo group.  Three locations suggested look like they might be a good location to move to:

• Panera Bread
• The Danbury Fair Mall (seating area outside of JCPenney)
• Molten Java (located in Bethel)

The HHCC members have been gathering at Borders for "Coffee, Crochet & Chat" sessions since 2003; since members are used to going to this end of town, Panara Bread seemed like a logical choice to investigate first. 

Grace visited Panera Bread yesterday and spoke with their management.  Grace is happy to report that Panera Bread is welcoming the HHCC's "Coffee, Crochet & Chat" sessions with open arms "... and the lighting is good, and so is their food!"

For the month of March, the HHCC will be trying out Panera Bread as serious contender for the new social-gathering location, open to non-members.  Panera Bread is located on Federal Road (1/10th of a mile up the road from where Borders is/was located), in the ShopRite Plaza, near the new location of Joann's craft store.  The meeting dates & times will remain the same:

March 2nd -   10 AM - Noon
                      6 PM - 8 PM

March 16th - 10 AM - Noon
March 30th - 10 AM - Noon

Panera Bread's address: 149 Federal Rd, #9, Brookfield, CT
Panera's Phone #: 203-740-0834
Website: http://www.panerabread.com/

HHCC'ers "Feel Good" at November 'Block Party'

At the November monthly meeting yesterday, HHCC'ers gathered, armed with crochet hooks & knitting needles and generous hearts, to create squares for the Lands End "Feel Good"/ Warm Up America campaign.

The yarn, with characteristics similar to Lion Brands' Microspun yarn, was donated by Lands End; the HHCC received three cones which were wound into "cakes" and placed on each table.

Some members, like Nancy, had requested an individual cone; she worked up this pretty pumpkin-colored lapghan (pictured on right) at home, leaving the ends to be woven in at the meeting.  It turned out so pretty that members requested she write up the pattern!
(Nancy will let us know if she does.)

 Within a short amount of time there were enough squares to start the assembly of a lapghan.  Dee was in charge of the assembly and decided the best approach was to use the "single crochet, chain one, single crochet, chain one" approach.  "This joining technique is not only fast," she said, "but also allows for some breathing room when squares are not exactly the same size."  Ruth replied, "Oh, I just love this joining technique for the same reasons Dee does, plus it looks so pretty!"

How to crochet squares together:
Step 1: Lay out your squares the way you want them to appear.

Step 2: Take a square from Row 1, and a square from Row 2, and place back to back, right sides facing out.

Step 3: Join yarn to first square, create a single crochet, chain one, single crochet into the second square, chain one.

Step 4: Repeat the process, alternating from square to square across to the corner, ending with a chain one.

Step 5: Grab two more squares and continue stitching until all squares for Row 1 and Row 2 are connected together.  End of.

Step 6: Follow instructions from Step 2 - Step 5 until all rows are connected.
Step 7: Turn the afghan, and begin connecting rows in other direction in the same fashion.

For Show & Tell, Margaret brought in a variety of children sweaters & scarves she created from her crochet and knit swatches.  "See, good can come from swatching!" chuckled Margaret.  Everyone Ohh'd and Ahh'd over her creative stitch work.

HHCC member Elaine took advantage of getting some computer help from our "resident expert," Dee Jr.  Elaine is new to working with computers; she learned how to create documents, save them, and email them.  "I love computers," said Dee Jr, "and it was fun to help Elaine."  Elaine stated about her lessons, "He's really good! He knows his computers!  Now I can type up my patterns, save them, and email them off!"

Members also turned in their crocheted and knitted goodies that will be donated next month.  Their generosity overflowed to a luggage cart!  There is no doubt that at this monthly meeting HHCC's "Feel Good" about helping our local community!  :)

These items will be donated the first week of December -- watch for our blog post with the details!

New (temp) Home for HHCC Monthly Meetings

The HHCC is pleased to announce the monthly meetings for the next 5 months (Aug-Dec 2010) will be held at:

The Hampton Inn (hotel)

located on 81 Newtown Road, Danbury, Connecticut

Directions:

From I-84 East, take Exit 8. Right turn off exit. At the first light hotel is located on the left behind Friendly's restaurant.
From I-84 West, take Exit 8. Straight off exit in center left lane to merge straight onto Newtown Road. At the fourth light hotel will be on the left behind Friendly's restaurant.

Parking is free.

HHCC'ers at the Danbury Fair Mall

For the July meeting, HHCC'ers met at the Danbury Fair Mall located in Danbury, Connecticut.


The Danbury Fair Mall is built on the same land the Great Danbury Fair used to be held (1869-1981). When the owner died he left the grounds to his children stating that it would “always be a place for people to gather.” The Fair ended in 1981 and in 1986 they opened the mall, inclulding the carousel that at that time could be seen from the highway. (several years later they added the parking garage which now blocks the highway view of the carousel.) You can learn more about this Fair by clicking here.

How is the Danbury Fair Mall connected to the fiber world? The daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the Little House series of books) had a daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Rose lived in Danbury during the 1960s and is said to have been a volunteer at the Fair for the needlework entries (Rose authored the coveted book, The Woman’s Day Book of American Needlework in 1963).

In keeping with the spirit of the Fair being a gathering place, HHCC'ers enjoyed having their July meeting in the food court. "Crocheting in public is fun!" exlaimed the newest HHCC Jr. member (age 10). HHCC'ers were also encouraged to play "Crochet Bingo" with member Andrea winning for finding the most items with crochet at JCPenney's -- and for finding people at the mall who also enjoy crocheting!

Stay tuned to learn where next month's meeting location will be! :)

Crochet History in Connecticut

If you are a fiber-lovin' resident of Connecticut, or just visiting, here are museums, parks, and history worth looking into:

• Putnam Park, located in Redding, CT. This is the oldest state park in Connecticut, former winter encampment of 1778 for General Putnam's Continental soldiers during the Revolutionary War. On Exhibit are many fiber related artifacts, including a Spinning Jenny used to speed up the process of making thread.
  
• Susan Bates, located in Chester, CT. The former home of the makers of crochet hooks, knitting needles and other sewing items. Prior to the products being named "Susan Bates" they had the name "Chester." This site was closed due to environment contamination. The local Chester Historical Society may have items on display.
  
• Waterbury Button Museum, located inside the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT. This museum has over 10,000 buttons on exhibit, including buttons worn by George Washington.
  
• The Woolen Manufactory, formerly located in Hartford, CT from 1788 - 1794. This was the first mill to use power, and produced the material that made George Washington's suit for his Inauguration as The United States First President. The Museum of Connecticut includes exhibits of Freedom Quilts.
  
• The Danbury Museum, located in Danbury, Ct. "Mad Hatter" is noted in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The term "Mad Hatter" is used to described the uncontrolable shaking caused by mercury poisioning; mercury was used to help in the felting process to make hats. Danbury was once the hat center of the world in the 19th & 20th centuries, having many residents exposed. To this day, there are still mercury traces in the banks of local creeks. (Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder, has of yet to be listed as one of their famous Danburians.) Open most Saturdays; call for hours.

Edit: The HHCC would like to thank member Dee Stanziano for bringing to the Danbury Museum's attention the need to have Rose Wilder Lane added as a Famous Danburian.

HHCC Celebrates 8th Anniversary with Lily Chin

The Happily Hooked on Crocheting Club, Connecticut Chapter of the Crochet Guild of America, recognized in 2006 by Governor M. Jodi Rell for local charitable crochet donations, celebrated it's 8th Anniversary in November!

Founded in 2001 on the cusp of 911, Ruth Arbitelle* (deceased), Hilda Nichols, Kay Perna, Dee Stanziano and Ruth Young banded together to create a CGOA Chapter dedicated to the art of crochet, all while having fun. Under the current leadership of Grace Gardiner, HHCC President, the group has blossomed to 50 members, continues to aid local charities, and travels around the tri-state area promoting crochet.

At the November meeting, the HHCC members welcomed Lily Chin to teach her popular, often sold out, workshop, "Crochet Tips & Tricks."

Fun was had by all! There was a smorgasbord of various treats, the official anniversary cake, and Lily autographing her brand new book, Crochet Tips & Tricks, Shortcuts and Techniques Every Crocheter Should Know." HHCC President Grace said, "[Lily made] our anniversary celebration so very special. I believe I can speak for all those that were able to attend, we learned so much and had a great time doing it!"


*To learn more about Ruth Arbitelle, please visit our website at www.crochetclubinct.org

Thank You Grafton Fibers!

Today, at the montly meeting, members of the HHCC enjoyed Guests Linda and Tom Diak of http://www.graftonfibers.com/.

Linda handed out supplies of foam blocks, felting needles, beautiful roving, and steel crochet hooks, then instructed HHCC members how to make her famous felted handles for steel crochet hooks. Meanwhile Tom was busy fielding questions and selling their beautiful hand-turned crochet hooks, knitting needles and roving. The HHCC was very delighted to have Linda and Tom visit with us -- and for our new "toys."

The HHCC would like to sincerely thank Linda and Tom for hiking down to Danbury from Vermont to spend the day with us!



Edited to add: For more pictures & information about this meeting, please see HHCC member, Margaret Hubert's blog at: http://margaretshooksandneedles.blogspot.com/2009/09/happily-hooked-on-crochet-chapter.html

Notice: August Meeting DATE Change

For those wishing to attend the monthly HHCC August meeting, please note there has been a date change. The Club will NOT be meeting on the 9th due to many members attending the annual CGOA National CHAINLink Conference being held in Buffalo, NY.

The meeting date has been changed to Sunday, August 16th.

The meeting time, 1-4 PM has not been changed. The meeting will be held at it's normal meeting place, the Danbury Hospital.

The Special Guest for the August meeting will be Grafton Fibers. Linda Diak will be demonstrating how to create felted handles for steel crochet hooks. Members wanting to try this are asked to bring their own hooks. Tom Diak will be selling his delicious handturned crochet hooks and knitting needles.

For details from the July meeting, please visit with Margaret's blog.

HHCC Charity Drives

Members of the HHCC are encouraged to participate in the three main charity drives for the year:

Hats from the Heart Campaign: From January to April members are encouraged to crochet adult sized chemo caps for donation to the Danbury Hospital. The hats are needed for all seasons, and need to be made of the softest of fibers. This campaign is called Hats from the Heart as the first group donation is made around Valentine's Day.



Baby Preemie Sets: From May to August members are encouraged to crochet preemie baby sets that include a little cap and afghan. Afghans should measure 18" to 24" square and be made of acrylic. (Nylon will melt when the items are sterilized.) The caps should range in size from fitting an average orange to an average grapefruit. Donations are made to the Danbury Hospital in the early fall.

Salvation Army: From September to the last week of November, members are encouraged to crochet (or knit) hats, mittens and scarves in a variety of sizes and colors. The items are gathered at the meetings and then sorted/labeled one evening at the Borders bookstore (date to be announced) to make it easier for the volunteers of the Salvation Army. Sizes up to teen/adult for both male and females are needed. Donations of new, unused, unwrapped toys is also encouraged. At a determined date, members wanting to participate in the drop~off at Foster Street in Danbury are asked to wear a Santa Hat.


If you are not a member of the HHCC but would like to participate in any of the charity drives, please do! For more information, please contact us.

Welcome Crocheters!

Welcome to the new Happily Hooked on Crocheting website/blog!

We used to have a traditional website that became difficult to maintain. With our new blog we'll be able to keep information about our group current, fresh.

If you are in the Danbury, Connecticut, area and would like to join us for a meeting sometime, please do! As our guest your first meeting is free. Should you decide to join us there are local dues. How much depends on you! Local dues are $18 a year, prorated. If you are a member of the Crochet Guild of America, then your local dues are only $9 a year, prorated!

Not ready to become a member but want to hang out online with other Connecticut Crocheters? Then we welcome you to join the yahoo group called "ConnecticutCrochet."