Have you tried Overlay Mosaic Crochet, but can’t quite get it to come out right? Well, there’s a fascinating crochet technique called Woven Crochet. It can look a lot like Overlay Mosaic Crochet, but it’s worked completely differently (and it’s quite fun)! It’s also reversible!!!
I was first introduced to this technique last year when an acquaintance showed me a hot pad/potholder that she had. I was intrigued by it and asked to borrow it. She said “yes” and I proceeded to analyze the hot pad to see how it was made. I found that the woven chains were continuous, not separate for each row, which made for WAY less ends to weave in, which I like!
On and off for the past year, I’ve been playing around with this technique and coming up with new Woven Crochet patterns for your enjoyment. And I decided to make a YouTube video demonstrating how to do Woven Crochet, to go along with the patterns. I’d like to introduce my new Woven Crochet patterns to you.
Persimmon Flower Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Bullseye Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Stairstep Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Squares Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Check out these new patterns here. If you purchase all 4 patterns, you can receive a $4.00 discount by entering the code “WovenCrochet” at checkout (code is valid indefinitely).
To learn how to do Woven Crochet, watch my free YouTube video.
I hope you enjoy learning this new (to me) crochet technique.
Introducing my Majestic Butterfly Afghan! This afghan was previously published many years ago by Annie’s, but has since been retired. I recently received the copyright back to this beauty, so I wanted to make the pattern available to other crocheters instead of it never being available again!
This beautiful afghan is made in the Intarsia Crochet technique with sc stitches used throughout. Another term that is used for this crochet technique is “graphghan”. In this afghan, the first and last 2 rows are worked in one color (black), but the rest of the rows are worked with color changes throughout. If you’re a fan of kits, the kit is available through Mary Maxim here.
There are at least 2 ways to work the color changes. All ways involve working the last stitch of one color until you have the last 2 loops on the hook like this: “insert hook in next stitch and draw up a loop, drop old color, yarn over with new color and draw through both loops on hook”. The different ways to work the Intarsia technique involve where to drop the old color. One way has the old color dropped to the front of the work, whether you’re working on a right-side row or a wrong-side row. The other way has the old color dropped to the wrong side of the work. That means you’ll be dropping the old color to the back of the work when working a right-side row and to the front of the work when working a wrong-side row.
The key to working intarsia crochet (or graphghans) is to use bobbins for each of the separate colors used in the rows. This helps keep the yarns from getting tangled across the rows. The bobbins can be nothing more than a simple DIY type made from cardboard. They can also be made from plastic, coming in many different shapes and sizes. You can also use clothespins of various sizes, made from various materials such as plastic or wood. I found a year or two ago at Dollar Tree. They were $1.25 for 6 of them. They can also be round, encasing the wound yarn inside them. Here are some examples of bobbins used for Intarsia Crochet:
Whichever type(s) of bobbins you use, you’ll need to wind them with the yarn colors you’ll be using. You can wind lots of yarn on each bobbin or figure out the amount of yarn needed for a certain section that will be worked with that color and only wind the amount of yarn you’ll need. The way I figure out the amount of yarn to use is by working a gauge swatch to know the number of sc stitches I get with the hook size I’ll be using. Then I count the number of squares of that color in the section I’ll be working on the chart and divide by the number of stitches I got to come up with the number of yards to wind on that bobbin. I ALWAYS add another 18” – 36” of yarn for wiggle room, as well as leaving a tail at the beginning and end of that section of stitches to weave in and/or work over.
Weaving in the ends can be tedious, but well worth it if done securely. When possible, weave the ends in several directions so they don’t worm their way out when the item is used extensively, like an afghan. ALWAYS weave in the ends in a section of the same color, NEVER in a section of another color!
When working from a chart, each square represents one stitch. If the chart has many rows and many stitches in each row, print out sections of the chart on separate pieces of paper and tape them together. If needed, enlarge the chart to do this. The chart for my Majestic Butterfly Afghan is broken up into 4 “quarter” charts for this purpose (top left, bottom left, top right and bottom right). If the chart was just one chart on the page, the squares would be too small to see accurately. With the chart broken up into 4 charts, the squares are much easier to see, since the squares are larger.
One thing I HIGHLY recommend when following a crochet chart is to use a magnetic board. I’ve used mine for decades now! It’s great to use for all kinds of charted crochet projects and makes it so much easier to keep my place, even on small projects. On large projects like my Majestic Butterfly Afghan, it’s a MUST (in my opinion)! If the chart is too big for the magnetic board, you can mark off the squares/rows that you’ve worked with a sharpie, pen or pencil instead of using the board. I have 2 magnetic boards now and if needed, I could place them side by side to make a larger magnetic board (if working at a table and not in my living room chair, which is where I typically crochet at home). Here are just a few of the styles of magnetic boards available on Amazon:
The Majestic Butterfly Afghan is a large project that can be easier to work at a large table, such as a dining room table or crochet/craft table. It’s easier to work right-side rows while seated at one side of the table and wrong-side rows while seated at the other side of the table, minimizing the need to turn the afghan at the end of each row. Simply move yourself to the other side of the table instead (it’s good to get up and move anyway, so this helps us get some exercise during the project). It also eliminates the need to keep moving the multiple bobbins of yarn and straightening them out across the row! Another option would be to work the afghan at the table on top of a towel. When you finish a row, simply rotate the towel (with the bobbins) so you can work the next row.
Go HERE to purchase the Majestic Butterfly Afghan pattern and get started on your next masterpiece crochet project!
I hope you’ll give Intarsia Crochet a try. Start with a small, easy project and work up to this Majestic Butterfly Afghan or a similar intarsia/graphgan project. You’ll be amazed at what beauty you can create!
If you love Mosaic Crochet as much as me, you’ll really enjoy learning this new technique!
I was introduced to this technique a few years ago by a lady named Stephanie on Ravelry. She had an afghan that was crocheted by her great grandmother in the 1980’s. She couldn’t figure out how it was made and emailed me photos. I looked at them and figured out how the afghan was made. I thought this technique was so unique and fun, so I decided to share it with all of you through some new patterns and a free YouTube video to go along with the patterns.
Do you love the look of reversible mosaic crochet projects? I certainly do! I love having projects with two “pretty” sides! And this technique is so much fun! You get a light side and a dark side with this Alternate Spike SC Mosaic Crochet technique.
To learn this new technique, check out my YouTube video.
And if you love this technique as much as I do, check out the patterns I’ve created for this fabulous technique! The 3 patterns I’ve created are my “Chain Links Scarf”, my “Geometric Mosaic Hot Pads” and my “Heart Mosaic Hot Pads”. Each of the hot pads patterns actually contains 2 designs for one low price.
I hope you enjoy learning this new Mosaic Crochet technique!
Have you seen the new Red Heart All in One Granny Square yarn? It changes colors at set lengths for each round of a 5-round granny square! I LOVE this idea! I had to buy a skein to try it out for myself! And it works great! Now there are only 2 ends to weave in instead of 10 ends on each 5-round granny square!
I’ve watched quite a few videos on YouTube for using this yarn. I think crocheters either love it or hate it! If you’ve experimented with making taller or shorter stitches, you should do just fine with this yarn. One skein makes 14-15 granny squares (6″ square). That’s enough for 1-2 scarves, depending on the length.
I’ve filmed a YouTube videodemonstrating working with this yarn. I’ve also put together a written, as well as charted, pattern to accompany this yarn. I didn’t like the short length left over after crocheting the granny square per the instructions on the yarn label, so I changed the pattern here and there to create a different granny square. Now I have 3-4 feet of leftover yarn at the end of each square, giving me plenty of yarn to join the squares together! I’m planning to make a scarf with some of these granny squares. And I’ll have more granny squares leftover for another project!
If you’d like a copy of the pattern, it’s available here.
In 2016, I became a grandma for the first time! I had so much fun crocheting for my granddaughter! Isn’t being a grandma amazing?
Well, fast forward 7-8 years and life is always busy (even for grandmas)! I’ve gone through 2 family weddings, 4 family deaths and the birth of 3 more grandchildren (all 3 are boys) since the birth of my first grandchild. And there have been many trips/vacations to other states, as well as countries, during the past 8 years, as well! Life is never dull!!!
All this to say, that in 2016, I designed a crocheted baby toy for stacking baby rings. Life got busy and I never published that pattern (okay, I’m a procrastinator and a perfectionist, too, which doesn’t help!!!). This crochet toy is like the plastic ones that Fisher Price made back in the day, and still does. I’ve always liked this fun toy for babies, probably because it’s made with rainbow colors and I LOVE rainbow colors! So without further ado, here is my newest crochet pattern, “Stacking Baby Rings”. Each ring is made with a different color. All 5 rings stack (in the correct order) onto the cone that is attached to the base. The rings, as well as the cone, are stuffed with fiberfill. Each piece is crocheted with basic crochet stitches: chains, single crochet, sc increases and sc decreases. They’re easy to crochet (even for an adventurous beginner) and fun to see come together into a beautiful tower of color!
These stacking baby rings would make a great gift at a baby shower, for a birthday or for Christmas. They’re great for babies and toddlers. They’re super soft and squishy, too!
I really enjoyed designing and crocheting these stacking baby rings. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
I’ve known that I need to get a handle on my yarn stash for a couple of years now. The last time I purged some yarn was 3 years ago when we lived in our previous home. A few weeks ago, I finally took the plunge to purge some of my yarn/thread stash! Boy, does it feel good to have a more manageable stash now!
I started with 1 ½ closets full of yarn and crochet thread. I had a total of 23 plastic tubs full (or partially full) of yarn/thread. My goal was to go down to 10 tubs, but was that realistic? Nope! So I decided to amend my goal to have all my yarn/thread fit into just one closet and eliminate the other half closet full. Now that was an attainable goal that I was able to accomplish! I think downsizing my yarn by 1/3 was a great goal!
This was my yarn stash before purging:
Here is my reorganized yarn stash in both halves of my one closet after purging:
Here are some extra photos of my yarn stash in the purging process in my living room:
If you’re ready to purge/downsize your yarn/thread stash, here are some tips and suggestions to help you:
-Make sure you’re in the right frame of mind to downsize your stash (this is the most important point because if you’re not in the right frame of mind, you won’t be successful).
-Make sure you have lots of time (it took me 6-8 hours, so most of one day).
-Make sure you have plenty of room to work in. I used the living room to look at all the yarn and crochet thread. This gave me a good idea of how much stash I actually had! Putting it all in one area is a real eye-opener!!! The yarn can really accumulate over the decades of crocheting/knitting!
Ask yourself these questions:
-What do I know I want to keep for use in upcoming projects or designs?
-What do I want to keep for later projects or designs?
-What do I think I’ll need for later?
-What do I know I don’t want?
-How long has this yarn been in my stash? Why aren’t I using it?
-What fibers do I enjoy working with and which do I not like/enjoy?
-What colors do I like?
-What colors will I use/wear?
-What colors and fibers would my project recipients use/wear?
-What type of projects do I typically make?
-What type of yarn do I use for these projects?
-How much yarn do I use for these projects?
-Do I need multiple skeins of the same color or small amounts of different colors?
-What can/will I reasonably use in my remaining lifetime?
-Should I sell or donate the yarn and thread I don’t want (or a combination of them)?
-How should I organize my smaller stash (according to fibers, yarn weights, etc)?
-Do I need some smaller tubs/containers for some of my yarn categories?
To help make a decision about some of the yarns/threads to keep or purge, look up the yarn on Ravelry, and specifically the projects made from the yarn, to get an idea of how you can use the yarn. If nothing speaks to you, purge that yarn! Someone else will undoubtedly enjoy using it.
If you’re uncertain about what you want to keep, don’t give away or sell any of the yarn for about a week. This will give you time to change your mind and move something from the give/donate/sell area to the keep area or vice versa. I changed my mind on a few yarns this past week and I’m glad I waited to give/sell the purged yarn!
When I was done with destashing, I ended up reorganizing my smaller stash into some different tubs. I used to have them separated into my personal stash (according to yarn weight) and my business stash (because the yarn manufacturers sent me the yarn for free to use for my designs). I had tubs for different manufacturers so I wouldn’t mix different manufacturers’ yarn in the same design (this is a no-no when designing for publication in books and magazines). But now that I’m not designing for publication anymore (and haven’t been for a number of years), separating them into different manufacturers isn’t that important. What I decided now is to separate them into the yarns/threads I’m going to use for my self-published designs and the yarns/threads I’m going to use for my own personal enjoyment projects. I also sub-separated them into wool/animal fibers or acrylic/cotton so I could keep the animal fibers separated and put a lavender sachet in those tubs to help control bugs eating my wool yarn!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at my 2024 yarn destashing project and how I organized my smaller stash. How do you organize your yarn stash? Do you have a larger stash than you can realistically use in your lifetime? What suggestions do you have for purging and reorganizing yarn/thread stash?
If you’re looking for an easy, quick baby blanket project, I’d like to introduce you to my Easy Clusters Baby Blanket pattern. I started this baby blanket in June of 2020 during a camping trip in Zion National Park with our youngest son and his wife. The pretty colors of the yarn inspired me to design a pattern using the 4 colors of yarn, plus a white.
The pattern is a 2-row repeat with a 2-stitch repeat, as well. That means you can customize the size of your baby blanket (or doll blanket or full-size blanket) with this pattern! You can use the same colors as I did or customize the colors any way you want! This would even make a great scrap-busting project!
I purposely designed the blanket with less ends to weave in by working 2 right-side rows, followed by 2 wrong-side rows. The white (or main color) is carried up the side edge to be used again instead of finishing it off. The contrasting colors are finished off at the end of each row using them (every other row).
This past week, my husband and I filmed aYouTube video where I demonstrate working the blanket from the beginning chain to several repeats of the 2-row repeat in the pattern, including how to work the clusters. I also demonstrate how to carry the main color yarn up the side edge, crochet the edging and weave in the ends securely and professionally. In the video, I made a doll-size blanket to use up some of the scraps of contrasting colors that I had left over from the baby blanket. I think the doll blanket will make a nice Christmas gift for my granddaughter, who turned 7 years old this past summer!
Check out the pattern page hereto see what supplies I used and purchase the low-cost pattern. Get started on your baby blanket, doll blanket or full-size blanket today!
Do you enjoy traveling and seeing other parts of the world? My husband and I, along with our youngest son (30 something), his wife and their 9 month old baby, took a nice, long, 5 week trip to Europe in August and September of this year. It was amazing! We went to 7 countries: Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy and France. The weather was between the 30’s (near the glaciers in Switzerland) to the 90’s (in Italy and Paris), so we had to pack accordingly.
I planned to visit and see several places with lace during our trip and I was pleasantly surprised to see several more! The first place I/we visited was in Belgium. I knew about the city of Bruges (from Bruges Lace Crochet that imitates Bruges Bobbin Lace), so I planned to visit the Kant Centrum (lace center and museum) in Bruges during our trip. I definitely wasn’t disappointed with the lace center at all! The museum was very nice, but the highlight of the trip for me was actually taking a bobbin lace class while I was there! I had read online a few weeks before our trip that they were having “lace days” during the time we were going to be there. I found a class online that I wanted to take the exact day we were planning to be in Bruges and contacted them. They said the class was full, but they’d let me know if someone had to cancel. Low and behold, the day before the class, someone had to cancel and I was able to take the class! I was giddy with delight! I had planned ahead for taking the class, just in case I could get into it. My local bobbin lace teacher loaned me some of her beautiful bobbins and some linen thread for the class. The lace center said I could borrow a bobbin lace pillow during the class, so I didn’t have to bring my own pillow, which would have been with me during the whole trip, taking up extra room in my luggage.
During the bobbin lace class, I sat next to the nicest lady named Ruth. She let me use some of her blue film to cover the bobbin lace pricking pattern. And when the class was over, she carefully pinned my piece in progress to her bobbin lace pin cushion that a friend had made for her and gave me the beautiful pin cushion to safely take my lace piece home with me! Wasn’t that a loving gift from someone who was basically a stranger to me before the class? I will remember Ruth and be thankful for her kindness for the rest of my life!
My bobbin lace piece isn’t perfect, but I learned more during the class. I’ve improved since returning home and working on it more, as you can see by the bottom part of the lace being more even than the top. What do you think? This style of bobbin lace is called Milanese. It’s a style of tape lace, which is one of my favorite bobbin lace styles.
When we were in Norway, my son’s friend, Fredrik, who lives in Hamar, took us to the local mall. It was a large mall for the size of the town (at least I thought so). Inside the mall was a yarn shop. Of course, I went inside! I didn’t want to take up a lot of room in my luggage with yarn, but I found some size 80 DMC cotton thread for tatting and bobbin lace. I bought some for me and some for a few lacy friends!
I went into another yarn shop during our trip, this one was in Bergen, Norway. None of the yarn “spoke to me” and said “take me home”, but it was fun to look!
Another one of the highlights for the trip for me was going to the island of Burano in Venice. Burano is famous for lace! There is a museum there called “Museo del Merletto”. It had a lot of lace to see. The museum also had lace making books for sale. Some of them were on Aemilia Ars needle lace, which I love and am slowly learning to make! I have book 1 of 3 in the series of Aemilia Ars books, but it’s in Italian (I use Google translate to help me understand it, but I’ve found Google’s translations are a little odd for craft instructions). They had the books in both Italian and English! However, they only took cash for the books and we only had 20 euros between us. Since each of the books was 15 euros, I decided to buy the second book in the series. I would have LOVED to purchase all 3 books in English, but we didn’t have the time to get to an ATM and back before they closed. So I had to choose between the 3 books. I think I made the correct choice so I can practice needle lace and improve!
Another highlight of the trip was visiting the lace shop near the lace museum in Burano. The name of the shop was “Merletti dalla Olga”. They had hundreds, if not thousands, of lace items for sale there! There was a nice lady who worked there (I didn’t get her name or a photo of her), who took my husband and me to the third floor and showed us some pieces that are absolutely stunning! She showed us a needle lace tablecloth that took 10 years to make and costs $85,000 euros!!! It was exquisite, to say the least!!!
There was a very nice shop in Brussels, Belgium that I looked in, also. They had beautiful baby clothes and lace doilies, tablecloths, etc. It’s fun to see lace for sale and know that it’s still going strong in Europe!
I’ve been learning a new crochet lace technique called “Veronese Crochet Lace”. This technique comes from Verona, Italy. Since we visited Verona, I decided to wear a Veronese Crochet Lace necklace and earrings one day while we were there! Here’s a photo of my husband and me in Verona at the Arena, which was built in the 1st century and is still standing! It’s used for operas and more. In fact, our son and DIL went to the opera one night at the Arena while we babysat our grandson. What fun!
We went into a lot of churches in Europe. They were spectacular! The architecture is wonderful to see. And the stained glass windows! Oh my!!! Many of them had beautiful bobbin lace or crocheted lace altar cloths. Here are a few of them:
It was lots of fun to see so much lace in Europe! I’m sure I’ll find more lace there when/if we go back for another trip/vacation! Have you seen lace, crochet, knitting, etc in Europe? If so, where? Where was your favorite place to see lace in Europe?
We had a wonderful time on our trip. We saw so many beautiful, stunning, scenic places in each of the countries we visited. And we got in lots of “grandparent” time, which was a blessing!
Do you enjoy decorating your home? I definitely do! This pattern has been several years in the making. Two years ago, 2 of our 3 grown sons bought their first house (and we bought our new/used house that year, as well). Then last year, our third son bought his first house, too! So there have been lots of houses purchased in our family lately! What a blessing!
What’s a mom to do when she sees a need and gets an idea? Fill that need, of course! So I set off to design and crochet a “Home Sweet Home” piece for each of my sons. Filet Crochet is one of my favorite crochet techniques, so that’s what I used. Now I’m releasing this pattern so you can crochet your own “Home Sweet Home” for you, your family or friends, too.
The first son/daughter-in-law I made this for didn’t want to frame it. She chose to mount it on canvas. She’s very creative and she painted the canvas before we mounted it (with the help of spray adhesive). Here’s their finished “Home Sweet Home”:
Isn’t that beautiful? I think so!
The second son who bought a house has a Japanese wife, so she chose washi paper and some strips of wood (with magnets) to mount her “Home Sweet Home” piece. This is where she purchased the magnetic strips to hang their piece. This is their finished “Home Sweet Home”:
I love her choice of mounting, too!
My husband and I bought a home in 2021, as well. So I set out to crochet one for our new/used home. I’m more traditional than my daughters-in-law, so I decided to frame mine. I used a 16″ x 20″ frame that I painted to match the blue matboard. Here’s our “Home Sweet Home”:
I gave a “Home Sweet Home” to my oldest son and daughter-in-law at the end of last year, after they purchased their first home. They haven’t framed theirs yet (I don’t think). I know whatever they choose will be just right for their first home!
If you love Filet Crochet as much as me (and you don’t mind using size 30 crochet thread), check out my new Filet “Home Sweet Home” pattern here. If you’re not a fan of size 30 crochet thread, you could always use a larger crochet thread to create a larger “Home Sweet Home” piece of your own! And don’t forget to block your piece for professional results!
I’ve enjoyed doing the Thermal Stitch for quite a few years now. Last month, Heather (on my YouTube channel) asked if I could make a video showing how to do a potholder in Thermal Stitch with 2 different colored sides. I thought about it and I’ve been playing around with it for a few weeks now. However, I took it to another level! I’m happy to introduce the marriage of Tapestry Crochet with the Thermal Stitch in my new YouTube video and my new Tapestry Thermal Stitch Potholders and Coasters patterns!
If you’ve ever done the Thermal Stitch, you know that you insert your hook in a completely different place than in regular crochet. And if you’ve ever done Tapestry Crochet, you know that you carry the unused yarn under the stitches you’re working and change colors across the row, as needed. So when I thought about doing color changes in Thermal Stitch, I immediately thought about using the Tapestry Crochet technique! And it works!!!
If you’d like to take your Thermal Stitch projects to the next level with designs on one or both sides, watch my YouTube video.
And if you’d like to give Tapestry Thermal Stitch a try, check out my new Tapestry Thermal Stitch Potholders and Coasters patterns on the crochet patterns page.
