SO Excited About The New Crochet Coffee Shoppe!

Let's get one thing straight off the get-go – online crochet groups are THE single best resource for crocheters to talk to each other! I have one myself, in fact, called Crochet With Sheila. But there's always one "taboo" subject on such groups – you don't promote your own work or designs unless you are offering them for free. If you're an "indie" designer like I am, that presents a bit of a challenge!

Free is a great thing! It's a fabulous way to promote your work to a lot of crocheters and it feels amazing to share. I will always offer patterns – and lots of them – free! But let's say I have a new pattern which took me weeks (or months) to design, and I really want to sell that one. Where do I go to promote it? If there's a place, I've never found it. So I decided to create that place myself!

It's called the "Crochet Coffee Shoppe," and it's one place where you can say "Hey, here I am, and I have this great pattern for sale!" Or, "I just crocheted this amazing afghan for a gift and decided to give them something else, so I want to sell it." Or you can post a question to the "Ask Sheila" section. Or you can watch a YouTube tutorial to learn to crochet or pick up a new stitch for you repertoire!

You can also say things there like "Here's this great free pattern link I just found." Or, "Look at this amazing crochet blog." You can offer to crochet for cash, make custom items for people... whatever!

At the Crochet Coffee Shoppe you will find links to thousands of free patterns from known sites, and you can ADD your favorite link! You'll get news on the latest sales at your favorite yarn retailers. And perhaps best of all, a link to my other new page, the "Crochet Shoppe Classifieds," where you can post FREE crochet related classified ads!

I'm very excited about this new site, can you tell? Please come by for a visit here. Bookmark it to come back again, because the site will be constantly updating! And please leave any suggestions for anything you'd like to see there in the "Suggestions" section. I want to give you what YOU want!

Lion 73876 Crochet Hook-Size 35 19mm Red (Google Affiliate Ad)Boye 70385 Plastic Crochet 

Hook-Size Q 15.75mm (Google Affiliate Ad)

"Fall Is Just Up The Stairs..."

(Ever get tired of saying "around the corner?") Going up the stairs means I have to climb to get somewhere, and that I do, both literally and figuratively. 

Once the weather cools down just a little bit, I have to go upstairs to the attic to pick up on the long overdue unpacking. (Yesterday was a blazing 97º and the temps in our attic are far above that). I did manage to tough out about 45 minutes up there Saturday to sort out several big piles of clothing into different sizes. By the time I finished I felt like I'd spent an hour in a sauna. We have been through an extraordinarily hot summer for Omaha this year, and I don't like that one bit! Along with the extreme drought we are still in, it's been a struggle to keep plants alive. 

It's also made me cranky! I'm a cool-weather girl and I love my rainy, dreary days. Since June, there has been exactly ONE of those.  The weather man promised this morning that we're going to drop into the 80's by tomorrow and will stay cooler for the next few days after that with a chance of rain. So I'm hopeful!  Sorry, all you sun-lovers out there... your turn is over for awhile, I'm hoping! Anybody know any great rain or thunderstorm videos? I think I could use one.

On the figurative side, I have an uphill climb still ahead on my personal goals of more weight loss and finishing work on my book. Those are hard, but exciting things to look forward to! I'm looking at a total of over 75 crochet patterns here, and trying to decide whether to put them all in one book. I also have to find all of the crocheted items I can to re-photograph them. Pattern tester volunteers (God love 'em!!) are waiting for assignments. There is a lot to do!

Speaking of that... I'd better get to work now!

Mourning The Loss Of "Monty Rat" Schnauzer

Yesterday I had to make the very difficult decision to end the suffering of my little rescue boy, Monty Schnauzer. Monty fell suddenly ill and collapsed and at age 12+ the prognosis was very bad. My "sweet little psychopath," as I loved to call him, had suffered enough. Although as a rescuer I have counseled many people on making this hard decision, trying to figure out if it is the right time, it is very different when you're the one standing in front of the vet waiting for your decision. 

"Monty Rat" Schnauzer
2000 – 2012

In the end, I know I made the right decision... but the second guessing, the "what if's" will always be in my mind. That's just my nature, I'm afraid.  I do know I made the right decision seven years ago when I allowed Monty to stay in my rescue. Monty put me in the ER the first night he arrived after biting me on the throat! I knew at that moment he could never be placed anywhere. But there was just something about him. A day turned into a week, and at the end of that time Monty walked up to me and wanted to be picked up. That was that. From that moment on I could do anything with Monty. He had made his decision.  The little guy leaves a big hole in my home and he will be forever missed. I hope to see him again someday. 

Here is a painting I did years ago called "Schnauzie Crossing The Bridge." I am hoping a kindly dog rescuer, along with all of Monty's friends – Sheina Marie, Sparky Lynn, Harry, Casey Anne, Koby and more will be waiting to greet him. 

You can read Monty's Memorial story here.