Susan L

July 25, 2016

2016 CGOA Conference Afterglow!

It’s so nice to meet other crochet enthusiasts! I just love it! And teaching them some fun crochet techniques is the best!

It’s been almost a week since I got back from the CGOA Conference in Charleston, SC, which ran from Wednesday, July 13th through Saturday, July 16th. What a conference it was!!! For me, the highlight of the conference was teaching 5 crochet classes to lots of eager students!

On Thursday, July 14, I taught a full day class on Writing Crochet Patterns. These ladies were eager to improve their pattern writing skills and were excellent students! Here is a photo of the fabulous students in that class:

The next day, Friday, July 15, I taught 2 classes: Polish Stars and Intermeshing. I had lots of eager students in these 2 classes, also! The Polish Stars class was the largest of my 5 classes. The students learned how to crochet the rows of stitches and chain loops/spaces, along with how to weave the chain loops/spaces to form the Polish Stars. I demonstrated how to weave the stars and everyone did great! It’s so fun to see the stars emerge before your eyes!!! Here are the students in that class:

Right half of Polish Stars clss — Right half of Polish Stars class

In the Intermeshing class, my students learned how to crochet the alternating rows of stitches and chain spaces so the 2 colors are woven together! This is a fascinating crochet technique that is also called Interlocking Crochet. Intermeshing designs are all reversible and many have different designs on the front and on the back. Here are the students in that class:

Then, on Saturday, I taught 2 more classes: Into to Irish Crochet and Symbol Crochet. This was the 2nd time I had taught the Irish Crochet class. The first time was at last year’s Annie’s Craft Festival in Fort Wayne, IN. I love crochet techniques which utilize crochet thread. I think that Irish Crochet is one of the prettiest crochet techniques! These students did great and asked some very good questions! They learned to make an Irish Crochet rose, 2 leaves, mesh and a border in their class project. Here are the students in that class:

In my Symbol Crochet class, my students learned how to read and follow a symbol crochet chart, both in rows and in the round. If you’ve never learned to read a symbol crochet chart, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s a visual representation of the finished project. It’s a lot easier to follow a symbol crochet chart than a written pattern, too! Here are the students in that class:

I had so much fun meeting the students who I didn’t know and seeing the students who I already knew! They were ALL excellent students and I thoroughly enjoyed teaching EVERY ONE of them! I want to send a special “Thank You” to all of my students for taking my class(es)! You’re the best!!!

More highlights of the conference were (in no particular order):

Meeting and getting to know 4 newbies: Barbara, Renate, Cynthia and Linzi. I was their buddy and answered any questions they had about the conference to help them feel more at home there! I hope you all enjoyed every aspect of the conference! Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of them (boohoo)!

Doris Chan was inducted into the Jean Leinhauser CGOA Crochet Hall of Fame on Friday, July 15. Doris was the 6th inductee into the HOF. The ceremony included a cake walk on stage of everyone who was wearing one of Doris’ garment designs that night! I’m so blessed to know Doris through CGOA! She’s a warm, sharing, caring person and a fabulous designer! She really deserved this honor!

The design competition and the awards ceremony was also held on Friday night. My good friend, Kathryn White, won the grand prize and people’s choice awards for her stunning Baroque Jacket! She made it in size 30 thread and it took her 9 months to complete! Congratulations, Kathy!!! Here’s a photo of Kathryn wearing her winning jacket:

Kathryn White wearing her award-winning Baroque Jacket

The CGOA Masters Pinning Ceremony was on Friday night, too. There were quite a few people who completed the Masters program in the last 12 months. They each received their pin in the ceremony. Congratulation to all of the new CGOA Masters graduates!

The banquet and fashion show on Saturday night. The food was delicious, as usual, and the room was electrifying! I modeled in the fashion show and had a blast doing that! The emcees for the fashion show were Lily Chin and Tamara Kelly (of Moogly). There were lots of door prizes that night such as yarns, patterns, hooks and more! I won a set of Clover Amour crochet hooks while I was modeling! Woohoo!!! Here’s Teresa and me modeling my 4 crochet cowl designs in the fashion show:

Teresa and me modeling in the fashion show

After the conference, I stayed an extra day (Sunday) to do some sightseeing with Jane R. and one of my newbies, Barbara W., who is a Charleston local! We had a really nice time shopping at the City Market, which is a covered area 4-6 blocks long, with local craft, souvenir and food vendors. Since all 3 of us are crafters, we really enjoyed it! Here’s a photo of the market:

We had a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant and some chocolate afterwards! Since it was a rainy day, we drove around to see some of the local architecture. We stopped at Waterfront Park and saw the pineapple fountain. Here’s that fabulous fountain, along with Jane:

We also sat on a swing and relaxed! Here are Jane and Barbara on the swing:

That night, I went swimming in the hotel’s pool and jacuzzi! I haven’t done that in years, which is way too long for someone who grew up with a pool in her backyard in Southern California!!!

The next day, Monday, I got ready for my plane and flew home. When I was downstairs in the breakfast area that morning, I was joined by Tammy Hildebrand, her grand daughter, her mom and Amy Shelton. I had lots of fun meeting Tammy’s grand daughter, Willow, and playing with her! Here we are having lots of fun with Fruit Loops cereal:

So there you have it! Everything you always wanted to know (and more) about the CGOA Conference. I hope you’ll join us at next year’s CGOA Conference in Chicago, July 26-29, 2017!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016

Crochet Classes on Sale!

Are you someone who loves to learn more crochet techniques? If so, do you take classes on a regular basis? I absolutely LOVE to take classes (and to teach classes)! I’ll be teaching 5 crochet classes at the CGOA Conference next week in Charleston, SC. The classes I’ll be teaching next week are: Let’s Get Writing (crochet pattern writing), Playful Polish Star, Intermeshing, Intro to Irish Crochet and Simplifying Symbol Crochet. To read more about these 5 classes, check out my previous blog post.

I love sharing my crochet knowledge and encouraging other crocheters in my classes! There are currently between 13 and 23 students registered for each of my classes. I can’t wait to meet my students (some I already know, but many I will meet for the first time at the conference) and interact with them! It’s so much fun (and hard work, too, but mostly fun)!!!

It’s great to meet new crochet enthusiasts at the conference and in everyday life (I met one yesterday at the bank)! I hope many of you are going to attend the conference and learn more so you can make bigger, better and more challenging crochet projects! To read all about the CGOA Conference (aka: the Knit and Crochet Show), check out this overview of the conference on the CGOA website. The conference is held in conjunction with the TKGA (The Knitting Guild Association) conference, so there will be knitting classes there, too. You can read all about the whole conference, including the knitting classes, here. Oh, I almost forgot: THERE WILL BE SHOPPING, TOO (lots of luscious yarn, patterns and supplies on the show floor)!

If you can’t make it to a conference to learn in person, have you taken any online crochet classes? I’ve taken quite a few crochet (and knitting) classes online. I love the ability to watch them whenever I want, to rewind and rewatch parts that I didn’t understand or got distracted while watching them, take notes in the video and ask the instructor questions. Craftsy is having a 3 day, 50% off sale on their top classes, starting today! I LOVE SALES, don’t you?

You can check out their sale here. And if you’d like to narrow the list of sale classes to crochet classes, you can click on the “Yarn & Fiber Arts Classes” classification on the left-hand side of the page. This will give you the knitting, crocheting and spinning classes that are on sale. There are lots of other classes on sale, including classes on cooking, painting, quilting, and more (there’s a total of 214 classes on sale)!

I hope you’ll explore ways to learn more crochet techniques and improve your skills. It’s wonderful to be able to read crochet patterns, read symbol crochet charts, learn new crochet stitches or techniques, etc. I can’t imagine crocheting without this knowledge! It really opens up a whole new world of crocheting possibilities!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

June 20, 2016June 20, 2016

SHE’S HERE!!!

Less than a week ago, I was in Beijing, China, for a very good reason! I’m a grandma now!!! It is with great excitement that I announce the arrival of my first grandchild, Rubekah!

I left for Beijing on May 31, arriving there on June 1st. Because of the 15 hour difference between Arizona and Beijing and the 10-11 hour flight from the US to Beijing, I lost a day (but I got it back when I returned to Arizona last Thursday)! My middle son and daughter-in-law have been expecting their first child for 9 months and 3 out of 4 of their parents were there for the big occasion (my husband had to stay behind to go to work)! Her due date was around June 10th, so we booked our flights to return to AZ on June 16th. However, it appeared that she wasn’t going to come on time, so my DIL’s mom and I looked into extending our stays so we wouldn’t miss her birth. Then unexpectedly, my DIL’s water broke last Monday, June 13th, in the early afternoon. So we all headed to the hospital that was quite a distance from the university they’re attending in Beijing! My son and DIL took a taxi and the 3 of us grandparents took the subway to the international hospital. My DIL was in labor for 8 hours and gave birth to my adorable granddaughter around 10:20 pm that same day!

Rubekah is here now and I couldn’t be more pleased! She’s so cute and has stolen my heart! I only had 2 full days with her before I headed home last Thursday, so I got in as much baby time as I could. My husband and I will be going out to Beijing again in the Fall and I’ll get more of my “baby fix” then! Here’s a photo of me holding Rubekah with that “I’m so glad I’m a grandma” look on my face!:

As you probably already know, I’ve been knitting and crocheting for my first grandchild for months! Here are some of the many projects I’ve made for her:

I just love knitting and crocheting for babies, don’t you? How many of you are grandparents? How many grandchildren do you have?

Happy crocheting for those you love!

Susan

May 19, 2016

More Crocheting for my First Grandchild!

It’s been a while since I last blogged and for good reason (in my mind!). I’ve been doing more knitting and crocheting for my first grandchild! I feel bad that I only kept this New Year’s Resolution (to blog every week) for 4 months, but I’m having the time of my life with these cute baby projects! Here’s a few photos of a crochet sweater and hat that I made this past week for my granddaughter, who’s due to arrive in our lives in less than a month:

I just LOVE this set! It’s made from a FREE Red Heart pattern called Twin Sweater Set. You can find this free pattern here. One of the ladies (Rae) at my weekly knit/crochet group was making this exact sweater last month and I immediately fell in love with it! She shared the location of the free pattern and the yarn name/color with me that day. The sweater and hat in the pattern are made with 2 skeins of Red Heart Baby TLC. However, Rae and I made our sets from 1 skein of Lion Brand Baby Soft yarn in the color, Parfait Print. After seeing Rae’s adorable baby sweater and hat, I immediately got to work finding the yarn and purchasing it so I could make my own set for my granddaughter. I think it turned out great and I look forward to seeing my granddaughter wearing this sweater and hat this fall/winter!

In the past few months, I’ve designed a few other things for my granddaughter, which I hope to be ready to self-publish later this year, when my life slows down a little. I think most of you know that my mom passed away earlier this year. Well, I’m the executor and trustee for her estate, so I have plenty to do to get all that squared away. And I’ve never done this before, so I have lots to learn!

I can’t show you the other 2 designs that I’ve made for my granddaughter, but I can tell you that one of them is a knit blanket and the other is a crochet bib. I’m not quite sure if the bib is large enough around the neck, so I’ll try it on my granddaughter when I see her next month.

I’m getting very excited about the BIG DAY coming soon! I really look forward to being a grandma and spoiling my grandchild!!! I promise to share photos of her in about a month from now, if not sooner. I just hope I don’t bore you with TOO MANY photos of her (I’m sure you know how proud grandparents can be)!!! For now, here’s a photo of her from a recent ultrasound:

Happy crocheting,

Susan

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016

Crocheting for My Grandchild!

As you can tell from the title of this blog post, I’m going to be a grandma! Yahoo!!! My husband and I are expecting our first grandchild, who is supposed to be a girl, at the beginning of June, which is quickly approaching! We are thrilled that we’re going to be grandparents! So in preparation for my first grandchild (granddaughter), I’ve been crocheting and knitting lots of things for her (that’s why I’ve taken some time away from designing lately)! Here are some of the things I’ve made:

I really enjoy crocheting baby booties and thread baby booties always look so adorable to me! So for the past few weeks, I’ve made these 4 pairs of baby booties and sandals. The patterns are all from a Leisure Arts book called “Booties by the Dozen”, by Kay Meadors. Here’s a photo of the front of that book:

Last year, after finding out that we’re going to be grandparents, I made a few other pairs of baby booties with yarn. Here’s a photo of those booties:

As you can tell, we didn’t know if it was going to be a boy or a girl at that time! According to the latest ultrasound from a few weeks ago, there is a 90-95% chance that it’s a girl!!! Since my only daughter is in heaven and I have 3 grown sons, a granddaughter is exactly what I was hoping to get (of course, it’s my son and daughter-in-law’s baby, but I’ll be one of her 2 grandmothers)!

Here are 2 baby blankets that I’ve crocheted for her, too:

The top blanket in pastels is the one that I finished for my mom after she passed away in February. It was a “labor of love” to finish it for her. You can read all about this blanket in my previous blog post here.

The bottom blanket is the turquoise blanket that I designed last year before I knew if it was going to be a boy or a girl. I think turquoise can be used for either one and it’s one of my daughter-in-law’s favorite colors! I used almost a full skein of Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn, which has 1,020 yards in it! The contrasting white sections in the edging didn’t take much yarn, though.

Here are a few sweaters that I’ve knit for the baby, too:

Baby's First Sweater — Baby’s First Sweater

The top sweater is knit with half of a skein of Lion Brand Ice Cream in color #206 Tutti Frutti. I really enjoyed knitting this sweater because of the colors of the yarn! And I have enough yarn left over for another sweater or possibly matching booties!

The bottom sweater is knit with half of a skein of Moda Dea Tweedle Dee that I had leftover from years ago (I don’t think this yarn is made any more, though). It’s a bulky yarn and this sweater knits up in just 2-3 hours (from the top down)! It’s a really quick project and I like the final sweater. My youngest son went to China in February and took this sweater, along with a couple of other baby items that I made, to my middle son and daughter-in-law for me. My daughter-in-law said that this sweater reminds her of ewoks from Star Wars! It doesn’t look like what the ewoks wore in the movie, but the colors do kind of look like ewok colors. If you’re a knitter and you’d like to knit one of these quick baby sweaters, you can find the free pattern on Ravelry here. It’s called “Wee Speedy”.

And here’s a bib that I crocheted for her from a pattern than I designed years ago:

This is a Tunisian baby bib. If you’ve never tried Tunisian crochet before, you should check it out! It’s a lot of fun! I find it rhythmic to do and the resulting texture lends itself very well to cross stitching on top of it!

And last, but not least, here is a diaper cover and coordinating hat that I crocheted last year for her:

This diaper cover and baby hat were from the book, “Baby Brights” by Kathleen McCafferty. You can see that book on Amazon here. I have no idea how well this diaper cover will work, but my son and daughter-in-law are planning to use cloth diapers, so I may be making more of these, if they work out well for them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the things I’ve made (so far) for my granddaughter. Of course, I’ll share photos of her after she arrives (which will be in China because my son and daughter-in-law are living there and attending a Chinese university to learn Chinese/Mandarin). I’m planning to fly over there for the birth of my first grandchild, God willing! So until then, you’ll probably find me knitting and/or crocheting more things for our little “bundle of joy”!!! Yippee!!!!!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

April 11, 2016

More Skinny Scarves!

Since my last blog post, I’ve used up 2 more single skeins of yarn by designing 2 more “Skinny Scarves”! These are really fun to design and crochet! And they take almost no time at all!

I thought you might like to see my 2 newest skinny scarves, so here they are:

You’ll probably recognize the yarn that I used in the Windows Skinny Scarf. It’s the yarn that I showed you in my last blog post: Plymouth Yarn Stained Glazz. It’s a worsted weight yarn made of 51% wool and 49% acrylic fibers with only 99 yards in this skein, so I had to be careful what stitch pattern I used to make it long enough. This stitch pattern worked perfectly! I really like the colors in this yarn. I think it will coordinate with lots of outfits in my wardrobe.

The yarn that I used in the Bruges Lace Skinny Scarf is Berroco Cirrus. It’s 42% superkid mohair, 40% nylon and 18% merino wool extrafine. There are 114 yards in this skein of yarn. I really enjoyed working with this yarn (I like mohair yarn, but I realize that not everyone does)! It’s very soft!

These skinny scarves are lots of fun to make and I’m going to enjoy wearing them! They’re both about 4″ wide, so they’re the perfect width to wear as more of an accent than a functional scarf to keep you warm! But that was my intention for them: looks over function!

I’ll be shifting my focus for a little while away from designing. I’ll tell you why in my next blog post (in about a week).

Happy crocheting,

Susan

April 1, 2016

Stash Busting – A Little at a Time

Do you ever get in a “stash busting” mood? I’m in one currently and I think it’s great to get into this mood every now and then (otherwise my stash would be uncontrollable, which some might say it already is!). I’m also in a “quick to make” project mode, especially after working on some blankets/afghans for several months! I have many single skeins of yarn in my stash with 100-150 yards in each skein. That’s not enough for a sweater or shawl, so I thought I’d design some skinny scarves with them. I’ve been wanting to have some skinny scarves that are more decorative than functional (they won’t keep me warm, but they’ll jazz up my outfits a little!). Here’s the first skinny scarf that I designed earlier this week:

First Skinny Scarf with FibraNatura Cobblestone yarn

It’s made with 1 skein of FibraNatura Cobblestone yarn in a pretty multi-color that will coordinate with many things in my wardrobe! I think this yarn is discontinued, but that’s okay with me. I still like the colors in it and I love how the colors change within one of the 2 plies. The other ply stays the same color (in this case it’s pink, which I love!), which tones down the color changing ply so it’s not too “in your face”! This yarn is 100% superwash merino wool and has 153 yards in the 50 gram skein. It’s a sport weight yarn, which is about the weight I wanted to use for this skinny scarf. I stumbled upon this skein of yarn at one of my local thrift stores last year for 99 cents! That’s a great price for a skinny scarf (or any scarf/project), as far as I’m concerned! Because there’s so much going on with the color changes in this yarn, I chose to use a simple stitch pattern to show off the colors of the yarn better. This scarf turned out exactly how I had imagined it and I think it’ll work out great in my wardrobe!

The 2nd skinny scarf that I started is going to be made with Plymouth Yarn Stained Glazz. I started this scarf last night, but when I looked at it this morning, I changed my mind to make it differently, so I frogged what I had started. According to our digital kitchen scale and a ruler, it was going to be about 27″ long, which isn’t anywhere near as long as I want it. So it’s back to the drawing board for this skinny scarf! This is a worsted/aran weight yarn with only 99 yards in the 50 gram skein. The yarn is a little heavy for a skinny scarf, so I have to be careful what stitches I use with it. I think it’ll make a pretty skinny scarf, too. It looks to be a one-ply, roving type of yarn, with solid black throughout and the rest of the ply changing colors with muted shades of red, orange, yellow, green and blue in it. It’s made with 51% wool and 49% acrylic fibers. I won this skein of yarn at the Halloween Party at the Annie’s Craft Festival last year (that was a ton of fun!). If you’d like to read about my adventures there, check out this blog post. Here’s what the Plymouth yarn looks like before this skinny scarf is made:

Plymouth Stained Glazz yarn for 2nd Skinny Scarf

What about you? What do you like to make with one skein of yarn? Do you like to make hats, scarves or something else? I’m not much of a hat person because of my curly hair. If I put a hat on, I’d better leave it on for the rest of the day, or else hide my flattened out “hat hair” at home (it’s really bad)!

I hope you’re enjoying the spring (or fall, if you live “down under”) and are taking time to enjoy the relaxing, creative benefits of crochet!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

March 21, 2016

A Labor of Love

Have you ever worked on a crochet project that you considered a “labor of love”?

I’ve been working on one ever since the day after my mom’s memorial service on Feb. 20^th, 2016. My mom passed away at 82 years young on Feb. 11 unexpectedly (not from a long illness). Just 23 days before she passed away, she bought some baby yarn at her local Michaels craft store to crochet a baby blanket for my first grandchild that we’re expecting at the beginning of June (in China). My mom had a favorite baby blanket pattern that she enjoyed crocheting and she wanted to make it for her great grandchild, even though her fingers weren’t working as well as they used to due to having arthritis for many years and the crippling effect it can have on a person’s hands/fingers. Here’s a photo of the baby afghan that my mom enjoyed making:

Mom's Favorite Baby Afghan pattern — Mom’s Favorite Baby Afghan pattern

This afghan pattern came in a kit with the yarn and pattern way back when (probably in the 70’s or 80’s). My mom kept the pattern and purchased new yarn whenever she wanted to crochet another baby blanket. I think the colors are fabulous, especially since I love pastels!

Well, she told me that she was crocheting this blanket for my coming grandchild shortly after she started it. I was surprised and delighted that she was crocheting again! A few days after she died, I remembered the baby blanket. So when I was at her house after her memorial service, I asked my step-dad about the blanket. He helped me locate it and I brought it home with me to finish for my mom. She had finished a full strip of 19 curved sections and a partial strip with the first 7 curves done. This blanket has 7 strips with 19 curved sections in each strip.

My mom tried to teach me to knit when I was a child, but I wasn’t very good at it. So I stuck with embroidery and counted cross stitch instead until my best friend taught me to crochet in high school. My mom said she did a lot of knitting for our family when we were little. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of her knitting. I suppose it got lost over the years, especially after my parents divorced back in the early 70’s. I do have a green afghan that my mom crocheted for me about 10 years ago, though. I don’t know when my mom learned to crochet. Maybe she learned before me or maybe after me. It’s a mystery to me. But I think I got my creativeness from her. Here’s a picture of my mom from my middle son’s wedding in 2009 (the same son who’s having his first child in June):

For 3 weeks, I worked on this baby blanket for my son, my daughter-in-law and their baby-to-be. I finished it about a week ago. It has been a true “labor of love” to be able to finish this blanket that my mom started before she died. I felt close to her whenever I worked on it and I know my mom would be pleased that I picked up where she left off. I’m so glad that I know how to crochet so I could finish it! Here’s the finished afghan for you to see:

Have you ever worked on a “labor of love” similar to this? Did you feel closer to the person who started the project while you were crocheting it?

I can’t wait to see my grandchild wrapped in this beautiful afghan! It will bring tears (of joy and sadness) to my eyes, I’m sure!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

March 15, 2016

Announcing 2016 CGOA Conference Classes

Don’t you just love learning new crochet stitches and techniques? I do! And I love teaching others new stitches and techniques, too. I love to encourage others and help them succeed with crochet techniques that may be too confusing to learn through the internet or books. There’s nothing quite like learning something new “in person” from a “real life” teacher!

Well, the class listings are up on the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) website now and I’m very excited to be teaching 5 classes at the CGOA Conference again this year! This year’s conference will be held from July 13 – 16 at the Embassy Suites in North Charleston, SC. I hope you’ll consider attending the conference this year and learning some new crochet techniques from some fabulous teachers!

The 5 classes I’ll be teaching this year are:

Let’s Get Writing on Thursday, July 14 from 9 AM – 5 PM (with lunch from noon – 2 PM)

Playful Polish Stars on Friday, July 15 from 9 AM – noon

Intermeshing on Friday, July 15 from 2 – 5 PM

Intro to Irish Crochet on Saturday, July 16 from 9 AM – noon

Simplifying Symbol Crochet on Saturday, July 16 from 2 – 5 PM

In my 6 hour Let’s Get Writing class, I’ll teach my students how to write their own crochet patterns like a pro! This class is perfect for beginning designers or anyone who would like to learn to write crochet patterns. We’ll go over everything that you’ll need to include in your patterns and you’ll even start writing your first pattern in class! I’ve been writing crochet patterns for close to 20 years now and tech editing patterns for over 11 years. Wow! Where does the time go? I really enjoy teaching others what I’ve learned to help them be successful! It’s a lot of fun to see new designers spread their wings and sell their first crochet design!!! ALL crochet designers were beginning designers at some point in their lives! I wish there had been a class like this when I was a beginning designer!

In my Playful Polish Stars class, I’ll teach my students several ways to crochet their Polish Stars: the “traditional” way and my “new, improved” way. Then we’ll weave the chain loops “correctly” to see the stars take shape before our eyes! Polish Stars may look complicated, but once you know how to make them, they’re a lot of fun!

In my Intermeshing class, I’ll teach my students how to crochet 2 layers of intertwined fabric with 2 contrasting colors of yarn. The intermeshing technique is wonderful because you get 2 different designs: one on each side of the fabric. I LOVE this technique and I enjoy teaching others to do intermeshing, as well. As you can see by the photo above, the right side and wrong side are completely different! If you’ve always wanted to learn intermeshing, now is the time! This is the same technique that’s in Tanis Galik’s book, “Interlocking Crochet”. I just have a little difference at the beginning of my pieces than Tanis has, which I like better!

In my Intro to Irish Crochet class, I’ll teach the basics of Irish Crochet, from crocheting the Irish Rose and Leaves to adding the mesh background and the edging to your Irish Crochet piece. We’ll be making the Irish Crochet piece above that I designed last year when I taught this class at the Annie’s Craft Festival. I really enjoyed teaching that class and my students were so eager to learn this crochet technique. I even learned some things from them (which isn’t that uncommon)! It’s great to learn things together!

In my Simplifying Symbol Crochet class, I’ll teach my students how to read and follow symbol crochet charts, which are much easier than following a written crochet pattern. We’ll read and follow charts for projects in rows and in rounds in this class. Once you can read and follow a symbol crochet chart, you’ll be able to make anything you want, even Japanese, Russian, Ukrainian or Spanish crochet patterns, without having any knowledge of the language! Above are some of the many crochet symbols that you’ll learn in the class.

To read about all of the crochet classes at this year’s conference, check out this page on the CGOA website.

If you’ve never been to a CGOA Conference (aka: Chain Link Conference or Knit & Crochet Show) before, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s a fabulous time to meet other crochet enthusiasts. You’ll learn more crochet techniques and stitches to further your crochet skills and knowledge at the conference and come away with many new friendships to last a lifetime! If you’re not a CGOA member, there’s no time like the present to join! Just go to the CGOA website and check out everything that CGOA has to offer! It’s wonderful to belong to an organization that is dedicated to furthering the art of crochet!

If you’re already a CGOA member and you’ve attended the conference before, what did you like most about it?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

March 7, 2016April 1, 2016

Celebrating National Crochet Month!

Welcome to The Crochet Architect website. Isn’t National Crochet Month wonderful? It’s great to celebrate a month each year full of crochet goodness!!!

As you can see from my ticket above, today is my day to blog during the Crochetville National Crochet Month Blog Tour.

If we haven’t met, yet, my name is Susan Lowman. I’ve been crocheting since I was a teenager, back in the 70’s! I love to create anything with my hands, as I’m sure you do, too. I’ve done lots of crafts throughout my life (many since I was a child), including counted cross stitch, tatting, paper crafts and wood crafts, but I always come back to crochet! I’ve been designing crochet patterns since 1999 and I’ve been a member of CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) since 2002. I was on the CGOA Board of Directors for 3 1/2 years and I served as co-chair of the CGOA Masters program, as well as a CGOA Masters Senior Portfolio Reviewer for 3-4 years. For more information about CGOA and the CGOA Masters program, check out their website here.

I also love to teach crochet whenever I get the chance. I’ve taught at many CGOA Conferences and at last year’s Annie’s Craft Festival. I’ll be teaching again at this year’s CGOA Conference in Charleston, SC in July! The conference details should be up on the Knit and Crochet Show website sometime this month. You can read about all the classes and events here. TKGA (The Knitting Guild Association) has their conference at the same time, so you can take crochet and/or knitting classes at the conference! It’s so fun to meet other crochet enthusiasts and to share my love of crochet with them at the conference! I’d love to have you in any of my crochet classes and get to know you. If you ever feel like you’re the only crocheter around, the conference is a breath of fresh air where we all speak the “language of crochet”! It’s a great time to meet other crochet enthusiasts and to make new friends!

In the past, I did a lot of technical editing of crochet patterns before they’re published (to find and fix the errors). One of the companies/magazines that I worked for was Crochet Today magazine. I enjoyed working for them for almost 6 years and helping that magazine be successful. Unfortunately, Crochet Today was cancelled 2 or 3 years ago (boohoo!). I haven’t done much technical editing lately because I’m focusing on self-publishing my designs now and not being quite as busy as I was in past years (to reduce the amount of stress in my life and live healthier).

I have plans to start recording some crochet videos this year, too! If there is a particular crochet stitch or technique that you’d like to learn, please let me know and I’ll add it to my list of videos to make. I love watching crochet and knitting videos to learn new techniques, whether they’re paid or free videos. Speaking of paid videos, I have 2 crochet videos with Annie’s. They’re “Learn to Crochet with Thread” and “Beginner’s First Doily”. Thread crochet is very enjoyable for me (and for lots of other crocheters I know). I LOVE to crochet doilies! I think it’s because the stitch pattern changes in just about every round, which helps keep my interest and challenges me! Don’t get me wrong. Plain stitch patterns (aka: mindless crochet projects) have their place, but unless I’m watching TV or attending a local crochet group, I like to have a challenge! And doilies come out so nice after they’re blocked. It’s almost like they transform into something even more beautiful! I’ve probably crocheted over 100 doilies in my life (maybe even more than 200 doilies)!

Anyway, enough about me! This is National Crochet Month (yahoo!). To celebrate, I have 2 special offers for YOU for the rest of this month (March 7 – 31).

First, I have a new FREE crochet pattern for you as a “thank you” for visiting my blog. It’s my Luck o’ the Irish Scarf. It’s free for the rest of this month. After that, it’ll be $3.95.

This scarf is made with one skein of Caron Simply Soft yarn. I’m not sure of the exact shade of green that I used because it came straight from the Caron office/factory years ago when I was designing my Majestic Butterfly Afghan (you can see that afghan on Ravelry here). Some of the skeins of Simply Soft had yarn labels on them and others didn’t, so I had to guess what colors they were! The shade of green that I think I used in this scarf was discontinued since then! Anyway, you can use whatever shade of green (or even another color) to make your scarf.

Luck o' the Irish Scarf close up — Luck o’ the Irish Scarf close up

The stitch pattern in this scarf is a 4 row repeat, so it’s easy to memorize (especially since every other row is “sc in each st across”!). The pattern includes written instructions and a symbol crochet chart, as well as step-by-step photos for making the 4-dc cross stitch (many of my self-published patterns include symbol crochet charts and step-by-step photos, too). This scarf has a simple sc edging to give it a finished look. I hope you enjoy this free pattern and will share photos of your finished scarves with me when you’re done. If you have any questions about the pattern, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m just a message or e-mail away! I want my customers to be successful with their projects and I’m always happy to answer questions about my patterns.

The 2nd special for the rest of this month is 25% off the price of ALL crochet patterns on my website (with code “NatCroMo2016”). Whether you enjoy crocheting accessories, jewelry or home decor items in filet crochet, wiggly crochet, crochet that looks like tatting, or regular crochet, there’s something for almost everyone in my pattern store. If you haven’t heard of wiggly crochet, I have a wiggly crochet tutorial on my tutorial page to help YOU be successful with wiggly crochet. I love to design and crochet items with lots of color, so please take a look around and take advantage of the sale prices while they last!

I hope you’re enjoying National Crochet Month and the Crochetville Blog Tour. There are many talented designers taking part this year. I trust you’ll find something that will inspire YOU to create a WORK OF ART!!!

To learn more about the festivities, freebies and giveaways going on all this month to celebrate National Crochet Month, check out this Crochetville blog post. You can also follow the National Crochet Month blog tour on their Facebook page and on Crochetville.com.

If you’d like to follow me on social media, you can find me on Ravelry here. I also have a group on Ravelry to discuss my patterns, hold CAL’s and all kinds of other fun here. I’m holding a CAL for my Crochet Mosaic Scarf this month and I’d love to have you join us in this CAL (or other CAL’s I hold in my Ravelry group).

I look forward to meeting you and sharing our common love of crochet! It’s great to learn from each other and to encourage each other along our crochet journeys!

Happy crocheting,

Susan Lowman

P.S. If you’d like to follow my blog, simply subscribe to my blog with your e-mail address near the top right-hand side of this page. I don’t write blog posts all the time. I aim to post once a week. Sometimes I miss a week for various reasons, but I promise you won’t get inundated with e-mails from my blog posts!