January 2020 – The Crochet Architect

Do you love fresh flowers at weddings, but don’t like it when they wither afterwards? Can you imagine a bridal bouquet and boutonniere that don’t wither? These beautiful crocheted floral pieces are such keepsakes and can be friendly on the wedding budget, as well!

In November of 2019, I was inspired to create this bouquet and boutonniere for my youngest son’s wedding in December (it only took me 3-4 weeks to complete both pieces!). They didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a wedding, so they got married at the local courthouse. It was a beautiful day spent with our children and grandchildren celebrating our son’s marriage and our new family member (yay for adding another daughter-in-law to the family)!

My youngest son & his beautiful new bride!

So what’s a crochet designer supposed to do when she gets the urge to create something new? I did what I almost always do: get inspiration on the internet and in published crochet patterns to see how others are making their crochet designs (and I looked at photos of real floral bouquets, as well)! I saw lots of ideas and gleaned a lot from those patterns. I’m pleased with my finished bridal bouquet & boutonniere and I’m very excited to share this pattern with you on my crochet pattern page here!

To celebrate the launch of this new pattern, I’m offering $1.00 off the price of my Bridal Bouquet & Boutonniere pattern with coupon code “BBB1off” from today through next Monday, January 27, 2020.

This pattern includes a list of all the materials I used to make both pieces. I used yarns and crochet threads for the flowers, leaves, fern and Styrofoam coverings. The pattern also includes specific instructions to crochet the leaves and the coverings for the 2 Styrofoam shapes: the half ball and the cone. Step-by-step assembly instructions and photos are included for the bouquet and boutonniere.

PLEASE NOTE: The pattern does NOT include specific instructions for crocheting the flowers on both pieces and the fern on the boutonniere. I used some free patterns for some of the flowers as well as some paid/copyrighted patterns for both the bouquet and boutonniere. In the pattern, I have included photos of the flowers, information about the name and designer of each flower/fern pattern and links to where you can find or purchase the flower/fern patterns that I used. Because of US copyright laws, I did NOT include the specific instructions to make these pieces. I did, however, include information about the changes I made to the flower and fern patterns, which can be used in conjunction with the free and paid patterns themselves.

You should use any crochet flower patterns, as well as colors of yarn and/or thread you choose to make your bridal bouquet and boutonniere. If desired, you could use an artificial fern piece for the boutonniere instead of crocheting a fern (and stiffening it with wire). You could also use artificial leaves instead of crocheting the leaves.

Let your imagination run wild to create a one-of-a-kind bridal bouquet and boutonniere for a friend or family member! You’ll be glad you did!

I’d love to see your finished bridal bouquets and boutonnieres! Please tag me (or send me an email) so I can share your bouquet and boutonniere success with you!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you had a wonderful 2019 and are looking forward to a great 2020!

What kind of New Year’s resolutions do you have for this year? I’m resolving to self-publish more patterns this year than I did last year. Last year I self-published 4 designs: Scarfie, Cowlie & Hattie; Sassy Stripes Baby Blanket (knit); Polish Stars Potholder; It Takes All Colors Snowflakes Afghan. But that’s more than the previous year when I didn’t self-publish ANY designs! However, I was working hard on my 2 Annie’s videos in 2018 (Crochet ER: Fixing Damage & Mistakes and Learn Filet Crochet), so self-publishing took a back seat that year! If you’d like to take a look at my new Annie’s videos, you can find the Crochet ER video here and the Filet Crochet video here.

I have a stockpile of crochet and knit designs that I’ve designed over the past 5 years and they’re beginning to get out of hand! So my biggest New Year’s resolution is to self-publish a good amount of those patterns this year (and over the next few years, as well!). I like to make sure my patterns are as clear as they can be before publishing them, so I don’t like to rush things! And I also get distracted with other things along the way (are any of you like that or is it just me?)!

A year or two ago, I came up with a new twist on a crochet technique and I’m eager to release a few patterns using that new technique twist to the public so you can enjoy this new twist, too!

Did you learn any crochet techniques last year? Are there any crochet techniques that you’d like to learn this year? I love learning new techniques/skills and passing along what I’ve learned along the way to the students in my classes, whether that’s in person or through videos!

I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be teaching 2 crochet techniques at the annual IOLI Convention (International Organization of Lace, Inc) in Mesa, AZ in July of this year! I’ll be teaching a 12-hour class on Irish Crochet and another 12-hour class on Bruges Lace Crochet! I’ll also be teaching two 6-hour classes on Irish Crochet. This all takes place the week of July 19 – 25, 2020. For more information about this convention, check out the IOLI website here. There are lots of teachers and lace techniques being taught. It’s going to be a fantastic convention!

Here are photos of the projects in my 12-hour Irish Crochet and Bruges Lace Crochet classes at the IOLI Convention:

Here is a direct link to my 12-hour Irish Crochet class. And here is a direct link to my 12-hour Bruges Lace Crochet class.

Since I learned to do bobbin lace 2 years ago this month, I’ve been even more fascinated with all kinds of lace techniques: crochet, knit, bobbin lace and more! I’ve gone to a couple of Lace Days that the IOLI Lacey Ladies Guild puts on in Phoenix, AZ and I’ve just begun to learn a needle lace technique called Aemilia Ars. This is my first attempt at making that lace:

It’s by no means perfect, but it’s a start! I have a long way to go in improving my needle lace skills, but at least I’ve made the initial jump into learning how to do this gorgeous lace technique! It’s challenging to learn a new skill or technique, but it’s a great way to keep our brains active!

I hope you all have a great year learning new things and improving your skills. I look forward to meeting some of you at the IOLI Convention in July!

Happy crocheting and lace making!

Susan