Month: September 2012

Posted on

Crochet Jewelry

You’ve probably seen crochet jewelry all over the place, but have you made any of it yet? I absolutely LOVE making (and wearing) crochet jewelry, whether it is one of my designs or someone else’s design!

Crochet jewelry that is made with cotton crochet thread (my favorite) is hand washable, so it will last for years! You can use any colors of crochet thread for making your crochet jewelry to coordinate with your wardrobe. The fasteners on crochet necklaces can be barrel clasps or buttons. Some are even long enough to fit over the head, so they don’t need any fasteners! Many crochet jewelry pieces take just a few hours to make, so they’re instant gratification projects, which I love!!!

Here are a few pieces of crochet jewelry that I’ve made from other designer’s patterns:

My Favorite Necklace

 

This is my favorite necklace, made with size 20 thread. The pattern is from a Magic Crochet magazine, Issue #64, Feb. 1990. I LOVE this necklace! It looks great on and is easy to clean when it gets dirty. I wear it a lot! I even made some coordinating leaf earrings to wear with it. The clasp is a simple button and crocheted buttonhole.

 

 

 
Necklace With Balls

 

This necklace is fun to wear. It’s made with size 10 thread and includes matching “ball” earrings. I think this pattern was from a Japanese book by Kazekobo.

 

 

 

 
Irish Crochet Necklace

 

This Irish Crochet Necklace was made with size 20 or 30 thread. It’s too fancy to wear with just anything! The chains near the back of the necklace (at the top of the photo) twist easily, so I don’t wear this one very often. This necklace may have been from the same book by Kazekobo.

 

 

 

 

Here are some crochet jewelry pieces that I’ve designed for Crochet Today magazine over the years:

Lacy Grannies Bracelet
Jan/Feb 2008
Seashore Earrings
July/Aug 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Crystal Pendant Necklace
July/Aug 2010

 

 

 

There is a large, clear crystal sandwiched in the center of the 2 sides of crochet in my Crystal Pendant Necklace! It’s pretty cool!!!

 

 

Bouquet Earrings
May/June 2012

 

The Bouquet Earrings were made in white for a bride, but can be made in any flower color you choose!

 

Winter Berry Earrings
Nov/Dec 2012

 

The Winter Berry Earrings are made with some shiny crochet thread, called Anchor Artiste Metallic. It’s a very pretty thread. The photo doesn’t do it justice!

 

 

 

Here are some of the other crochet jewelry pieces that I’ve designed:

Beaded Shells Necklace
(longer version)
Beaded Shells Necklace
(shorter version)

This is my Beaded Shells Necklace, available for purchase at TheCrochetArchitect.com. The pattern comes in 2 versions: long and short. They both have small beads throughout, but the longer version includes 1 large center bead and 2 medium beads.

 

 

 

 

Faux Tatted Necklace with buttons
Faux Tatted Necklace with beads

This is my Faux Tatted Necklace pattern, also available for purchase at TheCrochetArchitect.com. This necklace is actually crocheted to look like tatting, which has rings, chains and picots. This pattern can be made with buttons, beads or charms. It is a fun project to make with heirloom buttons or buttons with memories attached!

 

 

I love making these crochet necklaces and earrings because they’re so versatile!

For my Faux Tatted Necklaces (I’ve made quite a few), I’ve used many different colors of size 10 crochet thread and beads or buttons to coordinate with some of the outfits in my wardrobe. This necklace doesn’t have a clasp, so you just pop it over your head and wear it (it’s great if you have an injured hand, wrist or arm!). I should be coming out with a pattern for a coordinating Faux Tatted Bracelet and Earrings soon, so you can wear a complete set of Faux Tatted jewelry, if you like!

Why not make some crochet jewelry for your next project? If you do, please drop me a line and let me know how it turned out!

Happy crocheting!

Susan

 

Posted on

“Leaving a Comment” Update

Because of the number of “Spam” comments I’ve been receiving at The Crochet Architect.com, I have implemented a new way to leave comments on blog posts. Like many other forums and blog sites, you will be required to log in as a friend of my site before leaving a comment. You will only need to sign up for an account once. It is quick and painless, but should alleviate the number of spam comments I’ve been receiving. You will still receive updates to my blog posts without having an account (if you’re subscribed to my blog). The account is only needed if you’d like to leave a comment on a blog post. This account is separate from a customer account for purchasing crochet patterns at The Crochet Architect.com website.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about my blog posts. I’d love to get a dialogue going and discuss any crochet topic you’re interested in discussing. If you have a suggestion for a crochet related blog post, please send me a message on the “About Me” page. If a blog post has touched you, inspired you or taught you something new, please let me know by commenting.

If you’ve purchased one of my patterns and have any questions about it, please ask by sending me a message. If you’ve crocheted a project from one of my patterns, please send me a photo of it. I’d love to see it!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

Posted on

“Learn Bruges Lace” by Ellen Gormley

 

Learn Bruges Lace back cover
Learn Bruges Lace front cover

When I taught my Beginning Bruges Lace class at the CGOA Conference in 2010, I had no idea that one of my students would go on to design so much in Bruges Lace. But she did! That student is Ellen Gormley. She not only has had many Bruges Lace designs published, but she’s also come out with a new crochet book/leaflet called “Learn Bruges Lace”, published by Annie’s. You can see and purchase this book at http://www.anniescatalog.com/detail.html?prod_id=90152.

Ellen has done a great job with this book. It includes step-by-step instructions for 10 stitch patterns in Bruges Lace to learn this crochet technique. Once you’ve learned the technique, you’ll want to make some (or all) of the 8 Bruges Lace patterns in the book, which Ellen has designed: 3 hats, 2 scarves, a blanket, a bracelet and a cowl. Each pattern (and each beginning stitch pattern) includes written instructions, as well as a symbol chart. If you haven’t learned to read crochet symbol charts, you’ll really want to learn. Crochet symbols are a visual representation of the project, showing all the crochet stitches worked in the project in symbol form. Here is an example of crochet symbols:

Crochet Symbols

Once you learn to read crochet symbols, you’ll never be the same! You can make many more crochet projects from patterns which are only written in crochet symbols, such as in Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet magazines, along with Japanese and Russian crochet magazines, such as Duplet. I’ll be teaching a class at the CGOA Conference next week in Reno on Crochet Symbols. If you’re in the area, there is still room for a few more students in this class! You can read about the CGOA Conference and all the classes being offered here: http://www.knitandcrochetshow.com/fall-special-events.asp?i2s3. There are a lot of great classes to choose from, both crochet and knitting!

Back to Ellen’s book! If you’ve never tried Bruges Lace, it’s easy (and fun) to do once you know how. You can use crochet thread or yarn, whichever you prefer. Ellen’s book is easy to understand, laid out well and has great stitch patterns, as well as projects. My two favorite projects in this book are the Spiral Cowl and the Dune Throw. Here are photos of those two projects:

Spiral Cowl
Dune Throw

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruges Lace uses regular crochet stitches, such as chain, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and sometimes treble crochet. It’s just the way the stitches are laid out that makes it Bruges Lace! If you’d never heard of Bruges Lace before, it is a lace technique which originated in Belgium. The “real” Bruges Lace is made with many tiny wooden bobbins that are filled with thread and crossed over each other to create intricate lace. Here is a photo of the bobbins that are used for the “real” Bruges Lace:

Lace making bobbins

Doesn’t that look confusing and difficult? There are master lace makers in Belgium, as well as other parts of the world. They put us to shame here in the US! I love lacy things, so I might learn to do bobbin lace someday, but not for a while. There are many more crochet projects that I’d like to design first!

Crocheted Bruges Lace is much easier to make than this “real” bobbin lace! All you need is a crochet hook and some yarn or crochet thread. You can combine Bruges Lace with crochet motifs in the same project, too. You can use one color of yarn/thread or multiple colors in different sections of the lace.

Here are a few photos of some crochet Bruges Lace that I’ve designed:

Daisy Tablecloth

This is a tablecloth that I designed with colorful center flower motifs which are done in regular crochet (not Bruges Lace). Only the white around the edges of each motif is done in Bruges Lace. This tablecloth was published in Crochet World magazine’s Spring 2011 special issue called “The Joy of Thread”. It was actually on the front cover, too. The tablecloth is made with size 10 cotton crochet thread. You can see all of the projects in this magazine here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/crochet-world-magazine-spring-2011.

Vail Mountain Wrap (Bruges Lace)

 

 

This Bruges Lace Wrap that I designed is a free pattern on the Naturally Caron website. It is made with Naturally Caron Spa yarn. This yarn drapes beautifully and the wrap is very soft! You can download this free pattern here: http://www.naturallycaron.com/projects/vail_mountain/vail_mountain_1.html.

In conclusion, please check out Ellen Gormley’s new book, “Learn Bruges Lace” on the Annie’s website or at your local craft store to learn this crochet technique. You’ll be delighted with the Bruges Lace projects you’ll be able to create with your knowledge of this fascinating crochet teachnique!

Happy crocheting!

Susan

Back to top