August 2015 – The Crochet Architect

I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Jane Hall many years ago at a CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) conference. She’s a very talented crochet designer and I love many of her designs! I’ve also had the pleasure of tech editing one of Mary Jane’s previous crochet books, “Crochet That Fits”. In that book, Mary Jane designed many crochet projects using her “graduated stitch method” for shaping garments. She uses this fabulous method to shape many of the projects in her new book, “Colorful Crochet Lace: 22 Chic Garments & Accessories”, too.

There are 22 garment and accessory projects in Mary Jane’s new book. Each one is made with lace: from a little lace all the way up to lace in the whole project. The projects range from small projects like belts, scarves, bags and capelets to larger projects like shawls, wraps, shrugs, skirts and garments. Each project is made with a pretty color of yarn (lace doesn’t always have to be made with white or off-white!). The yarns used range from lace weight to worsted weight, with the majority of them being fingering, sport and DK weight. The hooks used range from E (3.5 mm) to L (8 mm). Many of the garment projects include sizes XS to 3X. Each project includes crochet symbol chart(s) for parts of the projects (or the whole project for the small projects in the book). Those of us who LOVE visual instructions always appreciate crochet symbol charts in patterns!

Some of my favorite projects in this book are:

I love the shape of this pullover!

I love the stitch pattern and the collar in this bolero!

I love the comfortable look of this tunic!

I love the pineapples along the bottom of this peplum top!

I had hopes of crocheting one of the projects in Mary Jane’s book before my scheduled blog tour date, but life got in the way (in several very good ways). Here’s what’s been going on at my home in the past few months:

First, my son and daughter-in-law were here from China for a visit. It was wonderful to spend time with them again. When we went to China in April/May of this year, we spent the whole 2 ½ weeks with them, along with our youngest son, who was living there at the time. If you’d like to read about that trip, check out this blog post. It’s so nice to be able to spend time with our grown children, especially since our “nest” is empty! We even went to a Diamondbacks baseball game with all 3 of our sons and our DIL! It was great to spend some time with all 4 of them, which happens even less these days!

Second, we got a new puppy! Her name is Maggie and she’s adorable, fun, exhausting, funny and more! This is Maggie:

We rescued her after she was left behind when a family moved away across the street from my mother-in-law in CA (we were in CA for my niece’s wedding almost 3 weeks ago). I don’t know how anyone can leave a puppy behind when they move, especially a cute puppy like Maggie! We’re guessing that she’s a cross between a Jack Russell Terrier and a Beagle (that was the vet’s guess and we think it’s pretty accurate). Apparently, there’s a name for that cross in breeds: it’s called a Jack-A-Bee! We’re working on lots of “appropriate” behaviors, like “no biting”, “no chewing”, “no digging”, etc! She has so much energy when she’s awake, but drops after a few hours of play and takes many naps during the day. I’m finding that taking a nap is more appealing to me these days, too!!!

Third, I was the co-chair of the 2015 CGOA Design Competition, which meant that I received almost all of the design entries, cataloged them, photographed them, drove them to the conference last month (which was held in San Diego, CA), drove them back home and shipped them back to the designers. I finally finished shipping them all back last week, so now I have a little time to get back to crocheting! I just need to decide what project I should start on first!

Mary Jane Hall’s new book, “Colorful Crochet Lace”, retails for $24.99 and can be seen/purchased directly from Interweave/F&W here. You can also take a look at the inside of this book and purchase it on Amazon here. If you’d like to see all 22 of the designs in this book, check out this page on Ravelry.

Now for the giveaway part of this blog post. If you’d like to win a FREE copy of “Colorful Crochet Lace”, just leave a comment about the book in this blog post to be entered to win. If you live in the USA, you’ll have your choice of a hard copy or a digital copy of the book. If you live outside the USA, you’ll receive a digital copy. This giveaway will end on August 31, so don’t delay in entering! I’ll pick the lucky winner on Sept. 1 and will announce the winner right here on my blog. Good luck everyone!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at Mary Jane Hall’s newest book, “Colorful Crochet Lace”, and that you’ll check out this fabulous book soon.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

Are you a crafty person (someone who likes to do crafts)? Do you want to learn more about your craft(s) or learn a completely new craft? I love learning more about crochet, knitting and tatting, as well as lots of other crafts. In the past, I’ve done counted cross-stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, quilting, paper crafts, macramé and paper quilling, which are all lots of fun!

I’m happy to announce that Annie’s is holding a big craft event this fall called “Annie’s Craft Festival” in Fort Wayne, IN from Oct. 30-Nov. 1. There will be classes taught there in beading, cake decorating, crochet, cross-stitch & embroidery, floral arranging, knitting, painting, paper & card, quilting and sewing. If you live in Indiana, anywhere near Indiana or love to travel, this is a great opportunity to learn more about your chosen craft(s) or to learn some new ones!

I’m thrilled to be teaching 6 crochet classes at the Annie’s Craft Festival this year! Here are the 6 classes I’ll be teaching, along with some information about these classes:

Intermeshing 101

Learn the fascinating technique of intermeshing (or woven crochet). Intermeshing produces a reversible fabric with two different looking sides. During this class you will learn to intertwine two different colored layers of crochet mesh while making 3 different swatch designs. This technique can be used to create almost anything you can imagine. Come and let your imagination run wild!

Introduction to Irish Crochet

Do you love the look of Irish Crochet, but are intimidated by it? Don’t be! In this introductory class, you’ll learn to make the basic Irish Crochet rose and leaf motifs. You’ll also learn to make a background for joining your Irish Crochet motifs together into a project. To finish it off, you’ll work a simple Irish Crochet edging around the edges of your assembled project. Irish Crochet is typically worked with cotton crochet thread, but if you’re not comfortable using crochet thread and steel crochet hooks, cotton yarn can be used instead. Come and learn this beautiful crochet technique!

Playful Polish Stars

Polish Stars may look hard to make, but they’re really quite easy once you know the secret. No special skills are needed, just an eagerness to learn a new technique. Learn to work the basic stitch pattern in several different ways and weave the chain loops to see the “stars” take shape before your very eyes! It’s “almost” magic!

Reading & Understanding Crochet Patterns

Do you keep making the same crochet item because you don’t know how to read a crochet pattern? Do you long to be able to read a crochet pattern, but don’t know where to start? In this class, you’ll learn the “rules” for reading a crochet pattern accurately, plus some extra tips on making your crochet work even better! Bring your crochet pattern questions to be answered by Susan Lowman, a crochet designer and technical editor with years of experience deciphering crochet patterns. After learning to read a pattern, start crocheting that project you’ve been dying to make in class!

Round and Round We Go!

If you know how to work in rows, but working in rounds scares you, then this is the class for you! You’ll learn many different ways to start a round, when to turn or not to turn, where to place your stitches, and more. Leave your fear behind! Come and learn to crochet in the round so you can tackle that amazing pattern worked in rounds that you’ve been yearning to make!

Wonderful Wiggly Crochet

Have you seen it? It’s 3-dimensional! Wiggly Crochet is all the rage now in crochet. From hot pads and coasters to plush rugs, this crochet technique will be a wonderful addition to your crochet repertoire. Learn the basics of Wiggly Crochet while making a flower coaster in this class. You’ll soon be addicted and won’t want to stop! Susan Lowman has dozens of published wiggly crochet patterns, including leaflets called “Hot Stuff for the Holidays”, “Wiggly Crochet Rugs” and “Wiggly Crochet Dishcloths”. Come and learn this fantastic crochet technique.

There are some other events going on at the Annie’s Craft Festival, too, like a gala dinner with keynote speaker, Debbie Macomber, a Halloween party and a marketplace to purchase craft supplies! I hope you’ll consider attending this event. You can check out all the classes, read about the special events and register early for the best prices on their website here.

I’d love to see/meet you there!

Happy crocheting,

Susan Lowman