September 2014 – The Crochet Architect

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Contemporary Celtic Crochet

What do you like most about crochet? Are you someone who loves the textures that you can make in crochet with a solid color of yarn? I definitely do! One of the crochet techniques that uses a lot of crochet stitches with texture is Celtic crochet.

I’d like to share some information about a book that I recently got by Bonnie Barker, who I met at the CGOA Conference this year in July. Bonnie is a sweet person and has a lot of talent, both in crochet and in music. Bonnie wrote the lyrics for a song called “Ripping Out is Hard to Do” that she, Jennifer Ryan (another crochet designer) and Terri Mitchell (Bonnie’s neighbor) performed at the conference this year. Here’s a photo of the 3 of them performing this song:

From left to right: Terri, Jennifer and Bonnie

The song was a “riot”!!! Bonnie wrote the parody lyrics, which were sung to the tune of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” by Neil Sedaka. As you can see in the photo, Bonnie played the guitar, Jennifer sang the song and Terri did the silly acting out of the words. What a hoot!!!

Now back to some crochet seriousness! Bonnie has a new crochet book this year called “Contemporary Celtic Crochet”, published by Fons & Porter Books (an imprint of F&W). Here’s a photo of the front cover of the book:

This 128 page book retails for $24.99 in the US and contains 24 designs, from scarves to sweaters, vests, baby blankets, sweater wraps and much more. I’ve never seen a sweater wrap before and perhaps you haven’t, either. I’ll explain what a sweater wrap is later on in this blog post. But for now, I’d like to tell you a little about this book and share photos of my favorite designs in it with you so you can decide if this book is something you’d like to add to your crochet library.

One of my favorite projects in this book is the Kells Cabled Sweater. It’s a V-neck sweater with a beautiful edging along the bottom of the sleeves and sweater. The sleeves are loose and comfortable looking in the photo. See for yourself:

Doesn’t this look like a comfortable sweater? It definitely does to me!

Here are a few photos of another one of my favorite projects in this book:

This is the Baby Feet Baby Blanket. Aren’t these baby feet adorable? I don’t think I’ve ever seen baby feet on a baby blanket like this before! This is a pattern that I’ll definitely be looking closer at when my grandchildren start arriving (hint, hint!).

Okay, so what is a sweater wrap? According to Bonnie’s book, she first saw this style of garment while visiting the west coast of Ireland. Bonnie says in the book, “A sweater wrap is a wrap that thinks and acts like a sweater. It is a practical choice when you don’t want to wear a sweater, yet a stole alone is just not quite warm enough. The added back panel attached to the stole keeps you just as warm as you want to be.” Here are some photos of one of the 4 sweater wraps in the book, modeled by one of Bonnie’s daughters:

I think the bottom edging on this sweater wrap is really nice! Each of the 4 sweater wraps is made with different Celtic Crochet stitches. They’re all very nice and don’t require any shaping, like sweaters do, so they’d be much easier to crochet.

Here’s the other baby blanket in this book:

This is the Hialeah Honey Baby Blanket. It sure has LOTS of texture!!!

And here is the backpack and purse, which I really like, too:

The backpack and purse have a basket weave pattern to them.

Bonnie even included a Celtic Cross Afghan in the book. Here is a photo of that afghan (and a coordinating pillow right above it) with a lot of texture, as well:

This is a really nice looking afghan and I love the edging on it, too! Since I’m a Christian, this afghan has a lot of meaning to me.

Unfortunately, I can’t show you photos of all the projects in this book. But I can tell you that there are 36 pages of instructions and step-by-step photos of how to crochet the special stitches and Celtic stitches in this book. These stitches include the arrow, baby feet toe popcorns, back post and front post double crochet, back post and front post treble crochet, basket weave, braided cable, buttonholes, cable, Celtic cross, Celtic weave, diamond, honeycomb, knotted fringe, knurl, low back ridge, low front ridge, popcorn, front post and back post ribbing, shadow box, shell with picot, single crochet ribbing, wheat, woven and more! These stitch instructions are fabulous!!!

Bonnie and her husband, Craig, traveled to Ireland on a business trip in 2012. The inspiration for Bonnie’s designs in this book came from that trip. Here is a photo of Bonnie and Craig in Ireland:

Bonnie also included some photos in her Celtic Crochet book of places in Ireland that she and Craig visited on their trip. It looks like a beautiful country!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at “Contemporary Celtic Crochet”. You can see and purchase the book on Amazon here or through Interweave here. To read about Bonnie and follow her designing career, check out her website here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

September 15, 2014September 15, 2014

What is Amamani?

Have you seen the new Annie’s book called “Amamani Puzzle Balls” by Dedri Uys? I couldn’t resist adding this book to my collection! Here’s a photo of the front cover:

I LOVE this book! It has the cutest crochet animals I’ve seen in a long time! There are 6 designs to make from this book and they’re all absolutely adorable! Each one is made up of 3 pieces that fit together like a puzzle. I can’t wait to finish up some designs for publication so I can make one of these adorable animals for a future grandchild, since my kids are all grown up and out of the house! I’m a puzzle lover and a crochet lover, so marrying these two loves is right up my alley! Let me show you the 6 animals in this book.

This is Dexter the Dinosaur. Isn’t he cute? This is what he looks like taken apart into the 3 pieces I was telling you about:

It’s hard to tell exactly how to put him back together, isn’t it? To see how that happens, you can watch the video on the Annie’s website showing the puzzle ball coming apart and going back together again here.

This is the description of the book, directly from the Annie’s website:

“Amamani is short for Amigurumi Amish Puzzle Animals. They are based on the traditional Amish puzzle ball and, as such, come apart into three segments or rings, which have to be assembled to form the animal. Gauge isn’t important in these projects. However, it is important that you work as tightly as you comfortably can. Helpful tips and step-by-step photos are included. Each of the six projects are made using Deborah Norville Everyday worsted-weight yarns. Projects include a dinosaur, elephant, giraffe, turtle and two versions of the lion.”

Here are photos of the other 5 animals in this book:

There are 62 pages in this book. The first 15 pages are instructions and photos for making the basic pieces of the animals. This book has written instructions and lots of step-by-step photos to show you how each of these animals is crocheted and put together, which is very helpful, since they’re somewhat complex to make! I’m looking forward to making one of these very much (as soon as I get some free time)! The book retails for $10.99 and can be purchased on the Annie’s website here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at “Amamani Puzzle Balls” as much as I’ve enjoyed looking at the book. I’m itching to make one of these toys, aren’t you?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

September 5, 2014September 5, 2014

Design Inspiration behind Snowflake Afghan

Have you ever wondered where designers get the inspiration for their designs? Well, inspiration comes from many places. For me, it can come from seeing something in a store, on a website or in a book. It can also come from seeing a garment or accessory that someone is wearing. My newest design, “It Takes All Colors Snowflakes” afghan, was inspired by a knitted sweater in my own closet! I don’t always get inspired by my sweaters, but this sweater was truly inspiring to me! It’s an older sweater and has seen its better days, especially around the bottom of the sleeves. But I love the snowflake pattern on it and the bright colors that were used, so I knew I had to use this design in a crochet pattern someday. Here’s a photo of the sweater (and a close up photo of it) for you to see:

Here are photos of my snowflake afghan to compare to the sweater:

I used 8 colors (plus black) of Red Heart “With Love” yarn to make this afghan. It’s worked in the Fair Isle crochet technique in which each row is worked on the right side. The tails are all turned into fringe on the left and right edges afterward, so there are no tails/ends to weave in (yahoo!). Fair Isle crochet is a great technique that yields a fabulous finished design! And since the non-working color is worked over instead of being carried across the back, the afghan is reversible, too! Here is a close up photo of a section on the back of the afghan to see:

You can find this pattern on the Mainly Crochet website here. If you’re not familiar with Mainly Crochet, it’s an online magazine started by Michele Maks, the former editor for Crochet World magazine. I met Michele in person at a CGOA Conference (possibly in 2009, but I could be wrong about the year!). Michele purchased quite a few of my crochet patterns during the years that she was the editor of Crochet World! She started out as a designer several decades ago, before she was the editor for Crochet World magazine. She’s a fabulous designer and a great magazine editor with a keen eye! A few years after leaving Crochet World, Michele decided to start her own online magazine called “Mainly Crochet”. The Mainly Crochet website went live in the summer of 2013 and has been going strong ever since! It is a subscription magazine that costs $24 per year. There are over 190 patterns on the website now. They’re all accessible to paid subscribers to download as PDF files onto their computers or tablets. Mainly Crochet has a lot of fabulous patterns by many talented designers! There are patterns for all skill levels and for all types of projects: from afghans to accessories to doilies and lots more! Check it out!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the inspiration behind my “It Takes All Colors Snowflakes” afghan design and will give this crochet technique a try.

Happy crocheting,

Susan Lowman