Have you ever made a crochet project in the round and couldn’t tighten the center hole to make it smaller or disappear completely? Last week, when I was teaching my mother-in-law how to read a crochet pattern and to work in the round, I realized that she was making her slip knot incorrectly. Her center hole wouldn’t close up after working her first round! So I watched her make a slip knot and it was backwards. I thought there may be many other crocheters who make their slip knot backwards, too. So I’ve made a tutorial on how to make your slip knot the “right” way!!! Please check out my new “Tutorials” page to read more and find out how to make a slip knot correctly.
After you’ve checked out the tutorial, you can practice making the slip knot and working a simple granny square with the “3-Round Granny Square” pattern on our “Free Patterns” page.
I hope everyone who reads my blog is a member of CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) or at the very least, has some crochet buddies they crochet with on a regular basis. I’ve been a CGOA member since 2002 and I love it! CGOA is a great organization and is getting better all the time. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Board member now! We’re planning some great additions for CGOA and the CGOA website in the coming years. If you’d like to find out more about CGOA and all that is available to CGOA members, just check out the website at http://www.crochet.org.
There will be 2 CGOA Conferences this year: one in Indianapolis, IN in July and one in Charlotte, NC in October. I’m pleased to be teaching 6 classes at the CGOA Conference in Indianapolis in July. I love teaching crochet and I always have a great time at the conference. My students are very eager to learn and I meet so many nice people there, who are also having a great time! It’s almost a week of being surrounded by other crochet enthusiasts and all of us speaking the same crochet language!!! What could be better?
The classes I’ll be teaching at the conference in July are:
MAGICAL MOSAIC CROCHET on Wed, July 17 from 6-9PM
CROCHET PATTERN WRITING 101 on Thur, July 18 from 9AM-noon and 2-5PM
BEGINNING BRUGES LACE on Fri, July 19 from 9AM-noon
INTERMEDIATE BRUGES LACE on Fri, July 19 from 2-5PM
WONDERFUL WIGGLY CROCHET on Sat, July 20 from 2-5PM
READING & UNDERSTANDING CROCHET PATTERNS on Sun, July 21 from 9AM-noon
I love Mosaic Crochet, Bruges Lace and Wiggly Crochet. I’m so glad that I get to teach them again at the CGOA Conference this year in Indianapolis. To see the full schedule of classes and to register for the conference, visit http://www.knitandcrochetshow.com or http://www.crochet.org/event/KCSRegistration2013. If you’re planning to go to the conference and you haven’t registered for your classes yet, you really should do it soon. Several of the crochet classes are already sold out, including my Mosaic Crochet and Beginning Bruges Lace classes. There are only 2 spaces left in my Intermediate Bruges Lace class and 1 space left in my Crochet Pattern Writing class as of the time that I’m writing this blog post. To see which classes are sold out and if the class(es) you’re interested in taking are close to being sold out, you’ll need to go to the registration page on the CGOA website (https://crochet.site-ym.com/events/register.asp?id=298542). Click on each of the class times to open the drop down menu of classes. That’s where you can see which classes are sold out. Since the registration process is different than last year, you won’t see the sold out classes on the Knit and Crochet Show website like in past years.
I hope everyone who attends the conference gets into the classes they want to take the most. There are some really fantastic classes being offered by 21 knit and crochet teachers. If you’ve never been to a CGOA Conference before, you can even request a buddy to help answer all of your questions and direct you to where the classes are located.
Mosaic Crochet
Mosaic Crochet is worked in 2 colors (or more). The color is changed every row or two and some of the stitches are worked in front of the other color in a row or two below the previous row to make the vertical lines. It’s a great technique and really fun to see the pattern come to life before your eyes!!! Lily Chin has a book on Mosaic Crochet called “Mosaic Magic: Afghans Made Easy”. She’s designed some great afghans in Mosaic Crochet in this book.
Beginning Bruges LaceIntermediate Bruges Lace
If you’re not familiar with Bruges Lace Crochet, it’s made to look like the intricate Bruges Lace from Belgium. In the crochet version of Bruges Lace, narrow strips or tapes are made, then joined to form circles, squares, triangles and more. The Russians have some really awesome Bruges Lace designs in their crochet magazines. And many Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet magazines have Bruges Lace designs in them, as well. Bruges Lace Crochet can be combined with traditional crochet techniques, as well, or even with Irish Crochet. I love Bruges Lace and really enjoy designing in this fun crochet technique.
Wiggly Crochet
I’ve been enjoying the Wiggly Crochet technique for many years. You may be familiar with some of my wiggly crochet designs. This is another really fun technique to learn. I was first introduced to this technique when a friend asked me to crochet a new hot pad for her. Her grandmother had crocheted a wiggly crochet hot pad for her many years before and it had seen its better days! I had never seen wiggly crochet before and was intrigued with it. So I analyzed the stitches and crocheted a new hot pad for her. Then I got to thinking that I could design some Wiggly Crochet hot pads with designs on them instead of just concentric squares, like my friend’s hot pad. So I got out my graph paper and colored pencils and started drawing different shapes until I came up with some designs of my own in Wiggly Crochet. I love the textural, dimensional look to Wiggly Crochet. It is a great technique for hot pads, coasters, rugs and more! You can see all of my Wiggly Crochet designs on my Pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/susanlowman1/wiggly-crochet-patterns/. I love Wiggly Crochet so much that I have 3 Wiggly Crochet booklets published! And I have a few self-published designs in Wiggly Crochet here on my website, too. If you’re intrigued with Wiggly Crochet, I hope you’ll give it a try very soon.
I love to teach others more about crochet in my classes, whether it’s a crochet technique, learning to read crochet patterns or learning how to write crochet patterns (for new designers). If you’re a new designer and you’re struggling with writing patterns for your designs, I’d love to have you in my Crochet Pattern Writing 101 class. I’m aiming to cover all the bases of pattern writing in this full day class! I’ve been designing and writing crochet patterns since 1999 and I’ve edited crochet patterns for nearly 10 years. I’ve learned a lot along the way and I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with my students!!!
If you’re planning to attend the CGOA Conference and we haven’t met, yet, please leave a comment on this blog post and let me know. I’d love to meet you at the conference this year! I look forward to seeing many friends and making new ones at the CGOA Conference in July.
Have you ever wanted to learn to crochet with crochet thread? How about learning to crochet doilies? I’m a huge advocate for crocheting with thread. I really love thread crochet and I know some of you do, too.
In previous blog posts, I told you about the online class I have with Annie’s called “Crocheting with Thread” and my experience going to Berne, Indiana in January to film the class. But did you know that I now have a short online class with Annie’s called “Beginner’s First Doily”? It’s a mini class to teach you how to make a beginning doily. This mini class is excerpted from the full-length class on “Crocheting with Thread” and it’s a great way to get your feet wet with online classes. The cost of this mini class is only $4.95. What a bargain!!! If you sign up for this class and decide to take the full length class later on, you’ll get $5 off of the full length class.
To read all about this mini class and to get started on crocheting your first doily, just click on the “Crocheting with Thread” class link on the right-hand edge of this page (it’s also on many other pages of my website). It will take you directly to the online videos on the Annie’s website.
Here’s a photo of the doily made in both classes:
Beginner’s First Doily
This doily is made with size 10 crochet thread, but you could make a larger doily with size 3 or 5 crochet thread, if you’d like.
All of the projects in the full-length class are made with either size 10 or size 5 cotton crochet thread and a size 7 (1.65mm) or a size 0 (3.25mm) steel crochet hook. Since size 3 and size 5 crochet threads are so close in size, you can easily substitute size 3 for the projects in the class that are worked in size 5.
In case you haven’t seen the projects in my full-length “Crocheting with Thread” class, these are the other 6 projects included in that class:
Seed Stitch BookmarkV-Stitch Bookmark
There are 2 bookmarks. One is a seed stitch bookmark and the other is a V-stitch bookmark. They’re both beginner/easy projects to get you started with thread crochet. I demonstrate working the rows and the edging on these projects in the video, as well as how to make the tassel in the V-stitch bookmark project.
Flower PinFlower Pin Card
This is the flower pin. If you’ve never worked a crochet project in rounds, this is an easy project to learn how to crochet in rounds. The folks at Annie’s even used this flower to decorate a handmade card! I think the card is very pretty! The instructions for the card are included in the class handout, as well.
Towel Edging
Here’s the towel edging that I designed for the thread class. It can be made with 2 edges of shells (shown in the green edging) or with only 1 edge of shells (shown in the turquoise edging). You can use size 10, 5 or 3 thread for the edging. I’ve woven some ribbon through one of the rows of the edging for added visual interest. A towel with a crochet edging such as this would make a great gift any time of the year!
Filet Coaster
The class also includes a filet crochet coaster project. If you’ve never done filet crochet before, I’ll teach you how to read a filet crochet chart in the class. A filet crochet chart is almost always included in filet crochet patterns to help shorten the pattern and to make it easier to follow “visually”. I’ll take you step-by-step with this coaster, teaching you how to work the open and closed mesh in filet crochet. The coaster has an edging and 2 layers for added absorbency!
Necklace & Earrings Set
What thread crochet class would be complete without some crochet jewelry? The necklace and earrings in this class are worked in the round with size 10 thread. The necklace has 2 crocheted “chains” for more strength when it’s worn. You can make this thread crochet jewelry set in any desired colors to coordinate with your favorite outfit!
Each of the 7 projects in the full-length class includes a symbol chart for all of the “visual” people out there! If you’re not familiar with symbol crochet charts, you’ll LOVE them! They are a visual representation of the project itself, showing what stitches are worked in the project and where each stitch is worked. I love symbol crochet charts and I think you will, too!
I really enjoy taking crochet classes to expand my crochet knowledge and skills. Whether I take an online class or an “in-person” class, they’re all very enjoyable and I learn a lot from them! And I love to teach crochet classes, as well. I hope you’re continually learning new crochet skills and techniques to challenge yourself, too.
Please check out both of my thread crochet classes and all of the other fantastic online classes by many talented teachers on the Annie’s website. There’s a lot more that we can all learn about crochet and Annie’s has been in the crochet industry for decades!
I hope everyone enjoyed the National Crochet Month Blog Tour last month. Wasn’t it great? I enjoyed it immensely!!! In fact, I still have a few websites to visit to see what the other CGOA professionals and associate professionals blogged about and what they might have been offering for NatCroMo. There were so many great crochet hints, behind the scenes photos, free crochet patterns, giveaways of yarn and projects, etc. I am blessed to be part of the fantastic organization that is CGOA! And attending the annual CGOA Conference is always a thrill! I learn so much, even when I’m the teacher! I never want to stop learning more about crochet and improving my crochet skills.
Can we have a drum roll, please? Without any further ado, the winner of the faux tatted necklace giveaway is… Marsha Stockton. Congratulations, Marsha! I’ll be e-mailing you today to get your address to send you the necklace. May you enjoy wearing it often! Thank you to everyone who entered. I really enjoyed your comments about thread crochet.
I hope everyone has a fantastic April and the weather warms up for a lot of you in colder climates.
Have you ever made a crochet project in the round and couldn’t tighten the center hole to make it smaller or disappear completely? Last week, when I was teaching my mother-in-law how to read a crochet pattern and to work in the round, I realized that she was making her slip knot incorrectly. Her center hole wouldn’t close up after working her first round! So I watched her make a slip knot and it was backwards. I thought there may be many other crocheters who make their slip knot backwards, too. So I’ve made a tutorial on how to make your slip knot the “right” way!!! Please check out my new “Tutorials” page to read more and find out how to make a slip knot correctly.
