October 2014 – The Crochet Architect

October 25, 2014March 16, 2015

New Snowflake Scarf Pattern

It’s time to get ready for winter and what better way than by crocheting a new scarf! Here, for your crocheting pleasure, is the newest scarf pattern at The Crochet Architect: our “Stained Glass Snowflake Scarf”!

This scarf may look complicated, but it’s not. It is worked in rows of single crochet, all on the right side with color changes. There are long tails at the beginning and end of each row to turn into the fringe when you’re all done crocheting this beauty! And we all know what that means, right? NO TAILS TO WEAVE IN!!! Do I hear a “hallelujah”?

If you’ve seen my “It Takes All Colors Snowflakes” afghan on the Mainly Crochet website and you’re not quite ready to jump into a large afghan project, this scarf is the thing for you. It is worked the same way as my snowflake afghan, but is much faster to make. In case you missed seeing it last month, here is a photo of my snowflake afghan:

As you can see, the afghan and scarf look very much alike, except the afghan has more rows of snowflakes and the scarf has more snowflakes wide (10 snowflakes, to be exact). They’re made the exact same way, which makes it nice. If you like my snowflake afghan and are intimidated by its size, why not try making the snowflake scarf instead. Then when you have the confidence, you can move up to making the snowflake afghan! The snowflake afghan pattern is available on the Mainly Crochet website here. If you haven’t heard of Mainly Crochet, it’s a digital crochet magazine that is available to subscribers. You can get all the information about their service on their website.

So what types of projects are you going to crochet this fall/winter? Are you going to make some afghans or scarves? How about a sweater? It’s a lot of fun to crochet new projects and give them as gifts (for those recipients who appreciate them, of course!).

To purchase the Stained Glass Snowflake Scarf pattern, just check out our “patterns” page!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

October 9, 2014

“Tunisian Crochet for Baby” book winner!

The winner has been chosen! Congratulations to Pamela, who is the winner of the “Tunisian Crochet for Baby” book giveaway! I know you’re going to love this book!

Thank you to all who entered this giveaway. Stay tuned for more book reviews, giveaways, hints and helpful information about the wonderful world of crochet!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

October 1, 2014September 30, 2014

“Tunisian Crochet for Baby” Book Review and Giveaway

Are you a big fan of Tunisian crochet? I really enjoy the rhythm of this wonderful crochet technique. I enjoy putting the stitches on the hook and taking them off. In my mind, Tunisian crochet is like marrying the best of crochet and knitting! In fact, many of the stitches in Tunisian crochet look just like knit stitches (at least on the right side of the work). If you’ve never tried Tunisian crochet, what are you waiting for? Why not give it a try today?

I recently came across a new Tunisian crochet book with baby patterns in it. It’s called “Tunisian Crochet for Baby” by Sharon Hernes Silverman. The book is published by Stackpole Books and retails for $21.95. It has 140 pages with 23 patterns, along with instructions and step-by-step photos for working basic crochet stitches, as well as Tunisian crochet stitches. There are projects for every skill level, too. I recommend this book if you’ve done Tunisian crochet before and are looking for some really cute Tunisian crochet baby projects to make. There are blankets, hats, a pullover, pants, a headband, mittens, a hoodie, a skirt, a poncho, a turban, a nursery box, washcloths, a cocoon, as well as a christening gown, bonnet and booties. Here are some of my favorite projects from this book:

This is the Harlequin Blanket. It is worked in the entrelac method of making squares and attaching the new square to the previous square as you go, so there are no seams involved. I’ve seen this technique before, but I’ve never tried it. I intend to do that one of these days because it looks like it would be relaxing to make, but have enough interest to hold my attention!

This is the Sherbet Stripes Blanket and Hat. I LOVE the colors in this set! And I also love how the hat is made with Tunisian knit and purl stitches, which look just like a knitted hat! The blanket is made with Tunisian simple stitch and edged with crocheted shells. I’m looking forward to learning to decrease stitches in Tunisian crochet by making this baby hat someday soon!

This is the Nursery Box filled with the Washcloth Quartet (4 different washcloths). I LOVE quick projects, and these washcloths are just that. They’d make great baby shower gifts for any mother-to-be!

Besides the wonderful projects, another thing I really like about this book is the charts showing which stitches are worked in each row or round. I’ve never seen Tunisian crochet charts before (or never really noticed them). I really like being able to see visually what the written instructions are saying to do!

So if you’re looking for a really nice book with Tunisian crochet projects to make for babies, I hope you’ll consider adding this book to your crochet library! You can check out all the projects in the Look Book that Stackpole Books has on their website here. The book is available in paperback or as an ebook in pdf format through Stackpole Books here or as a printed book through Amazon here.

As a bonus for this blog tour, I’m having a giveaway for a pdf download of this book. The giveaway runs through October 8^th. To enter the giveaway and receive a complimentary, instant pdf download of this fabulous book, simply leave a comment on this blog post to be entered. The lucky winner will be randomly drawn and announced on October 9^th. Good luck and happy crocheting!

Susan