It's Like A Zoo in Here!

   The Monkey Blanket

     A few months ago my best friend, S.B (for the sake of privacy I will not use the real names of anyone in this blog) told me that her and her husband were expecting their first child; a boy! I was excited to hear the news and decided to make something for the little boy. At first I had a difficult time thinking of what to do. During a Skype conversation, my friend told me that they were going to have a "Monkey" theme for the nursery. Using the theme as a starting point, I had some ideas of making little stuffed monkeys for the little one, since my stuffed animals have always been a hit. But one day I was on Google looking up some crochet patterns and came across this.

   I knew at that moment that that was what I was going to make for S.B's baby boy. I went out the next day to buy the yarn, and was barely home a minute before I started making the first squares. This is going to be a long project (since I work full-time and have other priorities after work that I must see to) but I am so excited to work on it and even more excited to complete it and send it off. For those who are interested here is the link to the free pattern. http://www.caron.com/projects/ss/ss_monkey_blanket.html

Here is my progress so far. (Please excuse the excess yarn ends, I plan on weaving them in once I complete all the required parts. I know it looks a bit messy)

All 20 little squares are complete!

Now working on the 31 rectangles.

I've been having a lot of fun working on this project and I'm crossing my fingers that I will get it done in time for the arrival of her baby.


What Kind of Poker Player Are You?

   One of the main things I focus on in poker is knowing my opponents. However, since I normally play internet poker, "reading" your opponents can sometimes be difficult, but not entirely impossible. The first thing I do when I start  a tournament, is start taking notes of the playing styles of my opponents. But I started noticing that I spent too much time writing those notes and it would severely affect my game. Then I came across Phil Hellmuth's ( 11 time Texas Hold-em Champion and writer of the book Play Poker Like the Pros )  poker animals. He categorizes poker players by animals, which helped me tremendously in knowing who I'm playing against, because all I needed to do was figure out what animal that player was. There are 5 different kinds of poker animals. Six if you include The Donkey, which is just a really bad poker player who shouldn't be on the tables.

The Mouse
  This is me as a poker player. The Mouse is a player who plays careful and pretty tight. Which means that they only call or bet if they have a pretty good hand. They rarely bluff, or raise, unless they are almost 100% sure of winning the pot. The Mouse tends to stay longer in tournaments by playing safe and sure. However, if you notice a Mouse make an aggressive play, get out of the way, because they normally have a good hand.

The Jackal
 The Jackal is a player that everyone hates. They are the players that go all-in, all-in, all-in, consecutively. They are the bluffers, and they think that every hand has a chance of winning and will rarely fold. It is really easy to make money off of The Jackal once you can identify that this particular player is one. The Jackal can be found on almost every table, and can frustrate the other players to no end with his crazy and wild plays.

The Elephant
    The Elephant is a "caller," meaning that he will rarely fold and call almost every raise. It's like his fingers are glued to the call button. The Elephant is really easy to make money off of.  Since he will pretty much call all your raises, even if he doesn't necessarily have a good hand.

The Lion
    The Lion is an aggressive player who plays tight. They will play their good hands aggressively and bluff occasionally The Lion is a really good poker player who is normally highly respected and makes his money from The Mouse, The Jackal and The Elephant.

The Eagle
  The Eagle is the rarest of poker players. Most poker players never get a chance in their life  to play against an Eagle. The Eagle is one of the top 100 players of the world. They are the ones that have been studying poker all their lives and who we normally see playing in televised events.

So what poker player are you?

You can also follow this blog on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crochet-Hooks-and-Poker-Chips/166346176853496. And if you have a crochet request for me I will be more than happy to do that, just email me at crochethookspokerchips@yahoo.com with details.

Thanks for Reading!

Hey there!

   Hello!

 (I did not create the above poker table, however it is definitely on my to do list!)

       I wanted to use this post to introduce myself a little. My name is Emily and I am 20 years old. I currently live in Germany, the place of my birth, but I have lived many years in America as well. This is my first attempt at a blog and am really excited about it. I really wanted this blog to focus on something I am passionate about, and since I was not able to choose between my two passions, crocheting and poker, I decided to combine them.
     I first learned to crochet when I was 16 years old. At this time of my life I was going through a really hard time and unable to cope, admitted myself into a treatment facility, where I was diagnosed with EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified), MDD (Major Depressive Disorder) and BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder). I was a complete wreck, with little to no self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, and feelings of being a complete failure. What should have been a 1 month stay at the facility, turned out to be 2 years. It where there that I first picked up a crochet hook. I never had any interest in crocheting before, but after seeing the other girls on my unit create hats, scarves, blankets, and so many other neat things, I decided to give it a try. And I am so happy that I did. After being taught the basic stitches and how to read the patterns, I would sit for hours turning yarn into hats, blankets, handbags, mittens, anything you could imagine.
   What started out as a way to pass the time at the hospital, turned into a healing experience. I started being proud of the things I created, I felt joy and happiness again when I would give one of my projects as a gift, I started enjoying life again. These feelings had been absent in my life for so long, that getting those feelings back was definitely a turning point in my recovery. My self-esteem improved a little with each project, which in turn helped me eat better and take better care of myself. I wasn't counting the pounds anymore, rather I was counting the stitches. I didn't feel worthless anymore. I felt like there was something, finally, I could do that meant something, even if it was a lopsided hat with holes and dropped stitched. Nonetheless, I was proud of that lopsided hat. And at that time I couldn't remember the last time I was truly proud of something I had done.
   I can honestly say that crocheting saved my life. I truly believe that if I had never learned to crochet I would not be here writing this today. Either the eating disorder or the depression would have claimed my life. And I am so grateful I picked up that crochet hook.
  
   I spent the first 19 years of my life not having a clue how to play poker, nor having the desire to learn. It was just a gambling card game to me. Nothing I would ever think that I would later put so much energy and pride into.
   I still remember the first day I learned how to play poker. I had just recently moved back to Germany and I started dating the man I am still with to do this day. It was Christmas Eve and he invited me to go play poker (which was tradition for him and his friends). I accepted the invitation thinking I would just watch the guys play. And I did, I just watched them play a few hands, and then they asked if I wanted to learn how, and I said yes. If they would have known how fast I would take to the game, I'm sure they would never have taught me! My boyfriend and I played as a team at first and we managed to win back his money plus some. From then, I was on my own. I didn't win a whole lot of money that night, but enough for a beginner player playing against advanced players to feel proud.
   Since that night I have been invited to play poker with the guys a few times. And I devoured every article, book, video, tutorial I could find about playing poker. Then after I felt my skills were where I wanted them to be, I created an account on PokerStars and started playing internet poker. Now, I don't win money every time I play a tournament, but I do win 70% of the tournaments I play. I still have to keep my day job, but regardless, nothing beats the feeling of getting 7th place out of more than 600 players.

   So that was how I got introduced to both crocheting and poker. Throughout this blog I will talk share with you guys about what projects I'm doing, what tournaments, and other miscellaneous things that happen throughout my life. You can also follow this blog on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crochet-Hooks-and-Poker-Chips/166346176853496. And if you have a crochet request for me I will be more than happy to do that, just email me at crochethookspokerchips@yahoo.com with details.

Thanks for reading!