September 2013 – The Crochet Architect

September 19, 2013

3 New Crochet Patterns

Ahoy, matey! Shiver me timbers! Happy “International Talk Like a Pirate Day” to everyone! What will they think of next?

But seriously, I wanted to share a few newly published crochet patterns that I designed with you. And best of all, one of them is FREE!!!

Here’s my Mod Flower Necklace, published by Red Heart/Coats & Clark and available on their website here.

This necklace is made with a new crochet thread by Coats called Aunt Lydia’s Baker’s Cotton. This is a size 3 cotton thread that comes in 150 yard balls. It’s currently available in 6 colors, which are all plied with white. It’s very soft and has a great drape to it. You can watch a video about this new crochet thread on the Red Heart website, featuring the editor of Crochet Today magazine, Theresa Gonzalez, who is wearing my flower necklace in the video here. I designed this necklace with double-sided flowers, so whichever side of the flowers is facing will be the right side (no backs of flowers for me on this one!). I also added white buttons in the center of each flower, while sewing the flowers onto the necklace chain. And best of all, this pattern is FREE!!!

I just had 2 more patterns published, both in the October 2013 issue of Crochet World magazine. You can see the projects in this issue of Crochet World here.

First is my Reversible Popcorn Ripple Afghan.

Reversible Popcorn Ripple Afghan in Crochet World magazine Oct. 2013

This afghan is made with 5 shades of Plymouth Encore yarn, which is a worsted weight yarn. I designed this afghan with a one-row repeat, changing colors in every other row. Because of the one-row repeat, the popcorn stitches stick out on the front and on the back of the afghan, making it truly reversible! Be creative and use any colors you desire to make this afghan for yourself or as a wonderful Christmas gift for a friend or family member.

Second is my Autumn Blaze Table Mat.

Autumn Blaze Table Mat in Crochet World magazine Oct. 2013

This design is special because it’s the first design I’ve done for the new column in Crochet World called “What’s Old is New Again”. Basically, I’m taking a vintage pattern from the past and turning it into a modern treasure. This design started with the inspiration from this vintage pattern:

This is the vintage book where I found this pattern:

This book was published in 1940 by Spool Cotton Co. It’s book #147 and sold for only 10 cents back then. What a deal!

Anyway, back to my updated version of this table mat. I used 3/4″ bone rings and Aunt Lydia’s Classic, size 10 cotton crochet thread. In the inspiration design, they didn’t cover all of the rings, but left some white showing at the center of the rings where they joined them together by simply wrapping crochet thread around the adjacent rings. I covered all of the 49 bone rings with crochet stitches and added points around the rings that create 6-pointed stars in the empty space between the groups of 7 rings. And I decided to use 3 colors of thread instead of one in each of the 7 groups of 7 rings: the center ring is covered in yellow, while the 6 rings surrounding the center ring are covered in orange and red. I like the way these 3 colors create more visual interest in the table mat. Of course, you can use 3 different colors for your table mat, if you prefer. Color selection is a very personal choice and anyone can change the colors they use in a crochet pattern to suit their own needs, décor or personal preferences.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at 3 new crochet patterns. There are new crochet patterns coming out all the time by many very talented crochet designers. I’m sure you have your favorite crochet designers, just like I do!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

September 12, 2013September 11, 2013

Book Review/Blog Tour: “Elegant, Fashionable, Chic Accessories to Crochet”

I’m thrilled to take part in Karen McKenna’s blog tour for her first book, “Elegant, Fashionable, Chic Accessories to Crochet”. I haven’t “officially” met Karen in person, but I look forward to meeting her next month at the CGOA Conference in Charlotte, NC. For more information about CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) and this conference, click here.

Karen’s book is published by Annie’s and can be purchased here as a pdf download. It will also be available in print in a few weeks. Here’s a photo of the front cover of Karen’s book:

"Elegant, Fashionable, Chic Accessories to Crochet" front cover — “Elegant, Fashionable, Chic Accessories to Crochet” front cover

Now many of you know that I like “challenging” patterns. But from time to time, I enjoy an “easy” pattern and that’s exactly what you’ll find in this book. Karen has done a great job of designing these patterns. There are 6 sets of accessories in this book. All sets have 2-3 items in them for your head, neck and/or hands. The patterns in this book include 4 hats, a headband, a head wrap, 4 scarves, 3 pairs of mitts, 1 pair of mittens and 2 pairs of gloves (each mitt/mitten/glove has either no fingers, partial fingers, full fingers or finger spaces). So there are lots of options to choose from! The Metro set (below in black) includes seed beads. And the thumb, as well as the index finger, have tips that fold back to allow you to text. How clever! The Pacific Northwest set (below in red and shown on the front cover) includes nice buttons for a finishing touch.

Here are some photos of these lovely sets:

I had some Cascade 220 Superwash yarn in my stash, so I decided to try one of the patterns last week. I chose the mitts of the Heartland set (the set with the cute guy model!). These mitts have partial fingers in them, which I think is great! How do you like my mitts?:

My Heartland gloves — My Heartland mitts/gloves

Yes, I crocheted 2 mitts, but I had to hold the camera with my other hand to take the photo! You can see that it “fits like a glove” (pun intended)!

If you’re a fan of “easy” patterns and you’d like to win a copy of this book, Karen is giving away a signed copy, along with a skein of Casablanca yarn by Cascade Yarns on her blog here. Just follow the instructions and you might be the lucky winner! You can read about the other participants in Karen’s blog tour on her site, as well. There are many talented people taking part, so you won’t want to miss any of them!

Good luck and happy crocheting,

Susan

September 7, 2013February 9, 2015

New Wiggly Crochet Hot Pads & Coasters Patterns Available

Are you a fan of Wiggly Crochet? Or are you curious about this fabulous crochet technique? I LOVE wiggly crochet and I really enjoy designing wiggly crochet patterns. I’ve had dozens of wiggly crochet patterns published over the last 10 years, from hot pads & coasters to rugs and dishcloths. Most of my wiggly crochet patterns are under copyright with a publisher, but 6 sets of hot pads and coasters that I had published fell out of copyright recently, so I have the rights back to them now. And what better opportunity to reintroduce them for your enjoyment than on my website? So here they are…

These designs were previously published in the booklet “Hot Stuff for the Holidays” by Jeanette Crews Designs in 2003. This is how the front and back covers of that booklet looked:

"Hot Stuff for the Holidays" booklet — “Hot Stuff for the Holidays” booklet front cover

"Hot Stuff for the Holidays" booklet back cover — “Hot Stuff for the Holidays” booklet back cover

Here are our new and improved hot pad and coaster patterns for you:

We’ve taken new photographs, remade the wiggly crochet charts and updated the instructions for each set of hot pads & coasters. All 6 of these holiday Wiggly Crochet Hot Pads and Coasters patterns are available both individually and as a set of 6 right here at The Crochet Architect. The individual patterns are $4.95 each and the complete set of 6 patterns has a special price of just $11.95. That’s a little less than $2 per hot pad & coaster set!

When I first designed these sets of hot pads and coasters, I designed a set for each month of the year (and 2 sets for December). Unfortunately, they didn’t all get published together! The other 7 sets (for January, May, June, August, September, November and December) were published in several books and magazines over the years. Here’s where you can find my other wiggly hot pad & coaster patterns, in case you want to make one for each month of the year:

The July set (Watermelons) was published in Crochet World magazine in June 2008. The November set (Fall Leaves) was published in Crochet World magazine in Oct. 2008. The June set (graduation cap & tassel, along with a scroll) was published in Crochet World magazine in June 2009. The other December set (Christmas wreaths) was published in Crochet World magazine in Oct. 2009. The May set (May flowers) was published on the Coats & Clark website as a free pattern. Here’s the link for that pattern. The September set (an apple for the teacher) was published in the new Leisure Arts book, “Treasury of Holiday Crochet”, by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. The January set (snowflakes) was sold to a publisher, but hasn’t been published, yet.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at my wiggly crochet hot pads and coasters patterns. And I hope you’ll give wiggly crochet a try to expand your crochet skills. You’ll be glad you did!

Happy crocheting,

Susan