Susan L

December 17, 2015December 17, 2018

What a Cute (and Destructive) Puppy!

So you’ve lovingly crocheted a gorgeous afghan and you enjoy using that afghan in the winters to help you, or someone in your family, stay warm. Or maybe you’ve received an afghan as a gift from someone else who lovingly crocheted it. And you have a new puppy who loves to chew on everything she/he gets her/his mouth on! You know where I’m going with this, don’t you? Yes, this happened to me last week. Our 6 month old puppy named “Maggie” chewed a hole in our favorite afghan. Here’s a photo of the guilty dog:

Maggie is adorable when she’s being good, playing nicely or sleeping, but she’s not so cute when she’s done something wrong, like last week when she chewed a hole in our favorite afghan. I scolded her and she knew she had done something wrong (she avoided me for about a minute, hung her head low and her tail was between her legs instead of up and wagging), but the damage was already done. So what’s a crocheter to do? Repair it, of course! Here’s a photo of the damage that Maggie did:

I designed this afghan for Crochet World magazine’s August 2010 issue (it’s called “Patchwork Squares Afghan”, in case you’re wondering). You can see the whole afghan on my Ravelry page here. I used Bernat Berella yarn and a size I (5.5mm) crochet hook for this afghan. I actually found that exact yarn and color in my stash (I’m very thankful that some was left over from the afghan itself). Once I cooled down and found the time to do the repair, I got to work on it (just a few days ago). This is how that area of the afghan looks now:

Can you see where I repaired the hole? It’s the bottom 3 rows in the center (the cleaner looking stitches). Well, the repair went so well that I decided to create a crochet class to teach others to repair their crochet projects! I’ll be teaching this class at the CGOA Conference in the very near future!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Susan Lowman

(aka: The Crochet Architect)

November 23, 2015November 22, 2015

Thanksgiving Weekend Sale!

Christmas is just 27 days away! Yikes! What crochet projects are you working on for Christmas gifts this year? I still need to start a few myself! Since I’ve waited so long, I’d better choose quick projects instead of lengthy ones! I just finished a crochet hat for my youngest son, but that’s not going to be a Christmas gift (he needs it sooner, since he’s living/working in Flagstaff, AZ this winter and the weather is pretty cold there in the winter). I never made a hat for him in 2011 when I crocheted hats for many of my family members, so he’s due for a hat made with love from Mom!

I think I’ll crochet some scarves and cowls this year for gifts. I love how fast many scarves are to make and how easy they are to crochet (with no increases or decreases in most scarves). And cowls are just as easy as scarves, but they don’t fall off when you wear them! Now I just need to decide how many scarves I’ll make and which ones to make first (the ones that need to be sent in the mail before it’s too late would be best to crochet first)!

But before I crochet those scarves for Christmas, I’d better think about and plan for Thanksgiving first! I really enjoy getting together with family and all the delicious food we have to eat on Thanksgiving! This year, I look forward to spending Thanksgiving with my husband and 2 of our 3 sons. These 2 sons live within driving distance and it’s always great to spend time with them. But our middle son and his wife live in China right now, so unfortunately they won’t be here for Thanksgiving. But they’re only a Skype call away!

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family and friends! Try not to get too stuffed!!!

To celebrate Thanksgiving (Turkey Day!) and as a “Thank You” for your patronage over the past 6 years, I’d like to offer all of my return (and new) customers 25% off all patterns on my website and in my Ravelry store. This sale runs from Black Friday, Nov. 27, through Cyber Monday, Nov. 30 (all day Arizona time). Just use the coupon code “Thanks25” when checking out (in either cyber store) to receive the discount.

Happy Thanksgiving from the bottom of my heart!!! I hope you all have many things to be thankful for in your life!

Susan Lowman, The Crochet Architect

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015

Too Many Cowls?

Who says it’s possible to have too many cowls? Certainly NOT me! Cowls (or infinity scarves, as they’re also known) are wonderful accessories for any woman or girl (or possibly for men and boys, as well). They look great and help keep your neck warm when the weather gets cold! Since they’re basically a big tube that goes around your neck, they won’t fall off like scarves have a tendency to do. Cowls come in many widths and lengths. You can wear longer cowls as a long tube or double them up for a shorter, more dense cowl to hug your neck.

I love cowls and I’ve got a new crochet cowl pattern for you, just in time for Christmas! It’s my Swanky Cowl, named for the special yarn that I used. If you haven’t seen Red Heart Boutique Swanky yarn yet, it’s made with acrylic and polyester fibers for washability (hand wash only). It has little oval-shaped sequins in it that are dyed the same color as the yarn. The sequins give projects a nice “glitz” that is so pretty! You can read more about this yarn and see all the pretty colors on the Red Heart website here. I love the color I used (Berry Glamorous) because it coordinates with many of the outfits in my wardrobe!

I used only 1 skein/ball of this yarn to crochet my Swanky Cowl. The resulting cowl is 3 1/2″ wide x 40″ circumference. If you’d like a longer and/or wider cowl, simply use a 2nd skein of the yarn.

Of course, you could use any worsted weight or DK weight yarn you’d like to make your Swanky Cowl! I think it would be beautiful in a color-changing yarn, too!

I love the texture of Front Post and Back Post double crochet stitches, so that’s what I used in this cowl. Because these 2 stitches are mirror images of each other, the cowl is reversible!

If you’re a confident beginner all the way up to a seasoned crocheter, this pattern is perfect for you! It includes photo tutorials for working in the back bump of the foundation chain, as well as working the Front Post and Back Post double crochet stitches. I’ve included right-handed and left-handed photos in the tutorials section of the pattern, too. So if you’re a leftie and you’d like to learn to work FPdc and BPdc, give this pattern a try!

To read more about my new Swanky Cowl pattern and to purchase this pattern for only $3.95, check out the pattern page here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

November 6, 2015

Annie’s Craft Festival Review

I had a LOT of FUN last weekend! On Thursday, Oct. 29, I flew to Fort Wayne, Indiana to teach 3 crochet classes at the 1^st Annual Annie’s Craft Festival on Friday and Saturday. Yes, you heard that right. Annie’s will hold this craft festival once a year! The next one will be Sept. 16-18, 2016 at the same place, the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne, IN.

I absolutely LOVED teaching my 3 classes: Introduction to Irish Crochet, Polish Stars and Intermeshing! My students were fabulous and really enjoyed learning these 3 crochet techniques! The Irish Crochet class that I taught on Friday morning had the most students. There were 20 or 21 students in that class! I waited too long to take a photo of the class, as the students were packing up and leaving when I remembered to take a photo. Everyone was so patient with themselves and their rate of crocheting. The class project was an Irish Crochet rose, 2 leaves, a background and an edging. You’ve probably already seen it, but here it is again:

There were several things that I taught the ladies how to do in this project. By far the hardest is carrying the padding cord along the edge and working the edging, which turns twice to create the arches. I demonstrated these before the end of the class in small groups of students so everyone could see what I was doing. Also, creating the chain loops BEHIND the previous round of petals on the rose was new to most of the students. I think it’s always much better to learn something like this in person in a class rather than trying to learn it on your own! And working into the back loop of the sc on the leaves to give them the ridges was new to some of the students, as well.

All in all, everyone did great with their projects! One student finished crocheting her piece and another student only got the center rose done in the 3 hour class (she hadn’t done thread crochet before, so it took her a while to get the hang of the small thread and small steel crochet hook, which is totally understandable). Everyone else got to somewhere in between, with many of the students finishing the rose, both leaves and starting on the background mesh around these motifs. It really didn’t matter how fast or slow the students worked, as long as they understood how to work everything correctly.

On Friday afternoon, I didn’t teach a class. After eating a quick lunch, I sat in the Annie’s booth with Patty Lyons (a knitting teacher) and Ellen Gormley (a crochet designer and teacher, as well as the editor of Crochet! magazine), who have lots of videos with Annie’s (I only have 1 at this point in time). Patty took a photo of me wearing the same Japanese crochet cardigan that I wore in my Annie’s crochet video and holding my Annie’s video (she got a kick out of that!). Here’s that photo for you to see:

And here’s Ellen and me in the booth after Patty went to teach her afternoon class:

After being in the Annie’s booth for an hour, I walked around the marketplace and bought some pretty yarn, crochet thread and knitting patterns. Here are the “goodies” that I bought:

First, I bought two 5-packs of size 10 Lizbeth crochet thread. These packs are already color-coordinated for fall and autumn, which I thought were the same thing, but that’s how they’re labeled, so I’ll go with it! I can envision lots of beautiful designs using some or all of these threads!!! And they were on special (normally $19.95 each) for $15.80 each plus an additional 15% off! How could I pass them up at those great prices? Obviously, I couldn’t! I got all 10 balls for just $28.47. They’re normally $3.95 each before taxes!

The 2^nd thing I bought was 3 knitting patterns by Pam Powers. These are fabulous patterns. They’re photographed nicely, they’re laid out well, they’re printed on tri-fold heavy cardstock and they have wonderful charts, too. They were buy 2 (at $7 each), get 1 free! So I picked out my favorite 3 patterns to make or learn from to design other knitting patterns. I bought the patterns named Clair De Lune Shawl, Battenburg Lace Scarf and Brooklyn Boot Liners & Mitts. I really enjoyed meeting Pam in her booth and talking with her at the show. She has a book of knitting designs called “Dress-to-Impress Knitted Scarves” by Stackpole Books. I really like a lot of the projects in that book, so I’ll have to add it to my ever growing “wish list”!

The 3^rd thing I bought was 2 balls of beautiful yarns for knitting or crocheting. They are Louisa Harding Yarns Amitola and Lang Yarns Mille Colori Baby. I have some 1-skein projects in mind to design with these yarns!

While in the marketplace, I also met Linda Krag in the Cast Off Chemo booth. She is working hard to raise awareness and funds for the cancer research of Dr. David Krag that will do away with chemotherapy and cure cancer. For more information about Cast Off Chemo, please visit their website. Here’s Linda and her assistant in the Cast Off Chemo booth (Linda is on the right in the photo):

Cast Off Chemo has some very nice knit and crochet patterns for sale. All of the proceeds from the sale of their patterns go straight to the cancer research. You can see all of their patterns on their Ravelry page here. I got a skein of some really pretty pink yarn (by Wool2Dye4) from Linda to design something for this project. I’ll have to put some thought into what I can design with the 400 yards in the one skein of yarn. Of course I’ll let you all know what I design and when the pattern is available for purchase from Cast Off Chemo!

There was a Gala Banquet on Friday evening with Debbie Macomber as the keynote speaker, but I decided to relax that night and not try to do everything at the craft festival! Often, I try to do too much and suffer the consequences when I do! It’s rough getting old!!!

On Saturday, I taught the other 2 classes: Polish Stars and Intermeshing. Here are photos of the students in each of those classes:

As you can see, these classes were pretty small, but they were enjoyable and went great! All of the ladies in the classes (except for one who left early) learned the techniques. Two of the ladies in the Polish Stars class actually took my Irish Crochet class the day before, too! I was able to sit and demonstrate the Intermeshing to the 3 students in that class, which helped immensely!

At lunchtime on Saturday, I went out to lunch with 2 friends: Beth and Melissa. They both live in Indiana. Beth is one of the senior portfolio reviewers for the CGOA Masters program. She and Melissa work together and they both crochet. We had a delicious lunch at a nearby Irish Pub called J. K. O’Donnell’s. I had the lamb pasty and their potato & leek soup. It was SOOOO good (and reasonably priced, as well)! Here’s a photo of the 3 of us at lunchtime:

After teaching my afternoon class, I went to my hotel room and changed into my Star Trek Halloween costume (yes, it was actually Halloween that day). I met Beth and Melissa, who also had on their costumes, down the hall in the hotel. We went to the Annie’s Crafts & Cocktails Halloween Party. I had a blast! Here we are with our costumes on:

There was another lady there who dressed up in a Star Trek dress, too. She sewed her dress, whereas I crocheted mine. Here we are waiting for the room to open:

At the party, there were some carnival-type games to play to win tickets (like throw a yarn ball into a basket, toss an embroidery hoop onto the stem of a pumpkin and guess the weight of the yarn with the yarn label covered up). After winning tickets, you could cash them in for prizes. Here’s the “loot” that I won that night:

The Denise interchangeable knitting needle set was a bargain at only 8 tickets! And each of the skeins of yarn was just 1 ticket each! Woohoo! I got 13 skeins of yarn, the knitting needle set, some natural wool roving (I might try to spin with it), some yarn bobbins and some cable stitch holders. There was also a photo booth to take your photo for putting on social media (or just for personal use). Here I am posing in the photo booth:

Since my classes that were originally scheduled for Sunday were cancelled, I flew home on Sunday. I really enjoyed the 2 days that I was there and look forward to attending/teaching again next year!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into the fun that I had at the Annie’s Craft Festival. And I hope you’ll consider attending next year! Keep your eyes and ears open for more information about the 2016 Annie’s Craft Festival! I look forward to seeing/meeting you there!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

October 22, 2015

Annie’s Craft Festival Free Class Giveaway!

It’s been a month since my last blog post and I’ve been really busy! I’m preparing to teach at the Annie’s Craft Festival in 8 days! And I’m working on a “top secret” project, as well (I’ll tell you all about it once I’m all done and it’s ready for announcing!) But until then, I’d like to hold a giveaway! Read on for more information…

Are you attending the Annie’s Craft Festival in Fort Wayne, IN a little over a week from now? The dates are Oct. 30-Nov. 1. I’m going to have a wonderful time there teaching 3 crochet classes:

I love meeting new students and sharing my love of crochet with them! To read about these classes, just check out my previous blog post here or the Annie’s Craft Festival classes page here.

To learn all about the Annie’s Craft Festival and see the listing of classes being offered in each of the 10 crafting categories, check out this website. There are lots of extra events going on at the festival besides the classes, too. There’s a marketplace and 2 evening events (one with Debbie Macomber). So check it out and see what all the excitement is about! I’ll be attending the Crafts & Cocktails Halloween Party on Saturday night, all decked out in my crocheted Star Trek dress and accessories! It’ll be a lot of fun!!! I’m sure I’ll have some photos of that night to share with you after I get back!

If you haven’t registered to attend the Annie’s Craft Festival yet (or didn’t register for all the classes you wanted to take), this could be your lucky day! Annie’s has graciously offered a FREE class for me to give away to someone who is going to the Annie’s Craft Festival. That’s one FREE class to the lucky winner of this giveaway (any class you choose in any craft category)! The class is a $65 value! If you’re the lucky winner, you’ll get the class for FREE!!! I love things that are free, don’t you?

Here are the details of this giveaway:

1 – You must be able to attend or already be attending the Annie’s Craft Festival.

2 – You must LOVE crafting in one or more categories of crafts that will be taught at the Annie’s Craft Festival (crochet, knitting, beading, cake decorating, cross stitch, embroidery, floral arranging, painting, paper crafts, quilting or sewing).

3 – You must have a valid e-mail address and check it during the 24 hours after this giveaway ends for notification, if you’re the LUCKY WINNER!

4 – You must know or have a good idea of the FREE class you’d like to take!

To enter this giveaway, just leave a comment below about what craft category (or categories) you enjoy! You’ll need to have an account on my website to leave a comment, as this cuts down on spam comments being left. If you don’t have an account, it’s simple to do. Just go to the “Login” button at the top of the page and scroll down to “Register”. Then fill in the “user name” and “password” blanks, check for the e-mail that will be automatically sent to you and verify that you’re registered. You only need to register once and I promise I will NOT sell your information to anyone! It’s just used here on my website to leave a comment (which is how I typically pick the winner for each of my giveaways). Once you register, you can leave comments on any of my blog posts. I love to hear from the people who read my blog, so please leave me a comment as often as you like! It’s a lot of fun to meet other crochet enthusiasts, whether in person or through the internet!

Remember that you must be attending (or be able to attend) the Annie’s Craft Festival to enter this giveaway (it’s a waste of time for me to give a FREE class to someone who isn’t attending!).

I’ll pick the lucky winner at random at 7pm (Arizona time) on Sunday evening, October 25^th (that’s only 3 days to enter). If you’re the lucky winner, I’ll send you an e-mail right away to let you know you’ve won! And I’ll notify Annie’s on Monday morning so you can pick your FREE class!

Good luck to everyone who enters and I look forward to seeing you at the Annie’s Craft Festival in 8 days!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015

How Many Scarves Are Enough?

If you’re anything like me, you can never have too many scarves! I LOVE to crochet scarves for many reasons. I can try out different crochet techniques (and not be committed to make an afghan or some project that takes up a lot of time and energy). Obviously, I can crochet a scarf in a short amount of time (like 2-6 hours for most scarves). Scarves make wonderful gifts for the Holidays! A crocheted scarf doesn’t break the bank, either! And some scarf patterns are a great way to use up scraps of yarn, too.

Well, I’ve gone and done it again! I have a new crochet scarf pattern for you. It’s my Crochet Mosaic Scarf and I really love this one! The pattern includes 2 versions of the scarf, so you can choose which one you’d prefer to make. Here’s the scarf, in the 2 versions that I designed:

The turquoise scarf is 4 rows wider than the black/pink/orange/yellow scarf. It’s made with light weight yarn, whereas the black/pink/orange/yellow scarf is made with worsted weight yarn. Both scarves are 4″ wide x 55-56″ long, plus the fringe.

And do you want to know the best thing about this scarf? THERE ARE NO ENDS TO WEAVE IN!!! I LOVE that! The ends are incorporated into the added fringe instead of weaving them in! Can I get an AMEN to that?

If you’ve never tried the mosaic crochet technique, it’s really quite easy and satisfying. The pattern takes shape as you crochet each row. I love this technique! The rows are crocheted in alternating colors (dark, light, dark, light), which creates the horizontal lines of the pattern. Each row is worked on the right side of the piece and a special stitch is used to make the vertical lines of the pattern.

I hope you’ll give this scarf (or any beautiful, fun, interesting, exciting scarf) a try. And put some on your holiday crochet gift list, too. You’ll have them whipped up in no time!

You can read more about this scarf and purchase the pattern for $4.95 on our Pattern Page here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

September 2, 2015

“Colorful Crochet Lace” book winner!

The winner has been chosen! Congratulations to Carmen, who is the winner of a copy of the book, “Colorful Crochet Lace” by Mary Jane Hall! 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, tutorials and helpful information about the wonderful world of crochet!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

August 21, 2015August 20, 2015

Book Review & Giveaway: Colorful Crochet Lace by Mary Jane Hall

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

August 10, 2015August 8, 2015

New Craft Classes Coming Soon!

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

July 27, 2015

2015 CGOA Design Competition Results

Last week, I attended the CGOA Conference (aka: the Knit & Crochet Show) in San Diego, CA. The conference was a blast, as usual! There were fabulous classes from Wed night through Sat afternoon, lots of shopping on the show floor on Fri & Sat, as well as a “sneak preview” for registered conference attenders on Thur night and a celebration of crochet on Fri evening, which included the Masters Pinning Ceremony (for those who have passed the Masters program since last year’s conference), the Design Competition Awards Ceremony and the Hall of Fame celebration (for the new inductee into the Jean Leinhauser CGOA Crochet Hall of Fame). This year’s Hall of Fame winner is Lily Chin. Congratulations, Lily! You’re a HUGE force in the crochet field!

We had our grand finale Banquet and Fashion Show on Saturday night, as well. The food was delicious, the fashion show was fabulous and the attendees are some of the nicest crocheters you’ll ever meet! Ellen Gormley, the editor of Crochet! magazine, was the emcee. The evening was relaxing, exciting and inspiring! It was a great way to end the conference (although nobody wants the conference to end)!

For the past 6 months, I’ve had the pleasure of working as co-chair of the 2015 CGOA Design Competition, which was held at the CGOA Conference last week at the Town & Country Resort & Conference Center in San Diego, CA. I was amazed at the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to put on the design competition! I tip my hat to Doris Chan, who has handled the design competition for 5 years (mostly by herself)! You’ve done a fabulous job, Doris!!!

There were many hands helping in the design competition this year. First, I want to personally thank my co-chair, Bobbie Matela, for all the hard work you put into the design competition. You were a fabulous co-chair and I couldn’t have done what I did without you! Next, I’d like to thank our judging manager, Karen McKenna, the many helping hands at the conference, including (but not limited to) Edith Smith, Diane Miller and many, many more, Kaytee Sumida for loaning us so many display pieces, as well as everyone who helped “man the booth” on the show floor (there are too many of you to list, but you know who you are)! We couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!

We had 7 categories in the Design Competition this year, including 2 new categories (First Time Entrant and Young Designer).

Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the announcement of the winners in the 2015 CGOA Design Competition! Can I get a drum roll please?

In the “First Time Entrant” category, sponsored by Susan Bates, the winners are:

3^rd place – Harem Nights by Amy Curtin

2^nd place – Woodland Winter Jacket by Heather Galluzzi

1^st place – Emily Rose by Kayt Ross

In the “Young Designer” category, sponsored by The Marian G. Wilburn Foundation for Fiber Arts, the winner is:

1^st place – Catherine Wheels Skirt by Grace Rosburg

In the “Artistic Expression” category, sponsored by Creativebug, the winners are:

3^rd place – Danakil Depression by Kayt Ross

2^nd place – Cobblestones by Kayt Ross

1^st place – Spiral Blues by Ann Wicker

In the “Accessories” category, sponsored by Clover, the winners are:

Honorable Mention – Ombre Celtic Knot Necklace by Jennifer Ryan

3^rd place – Spring Floral Pin by Jean DeMouy

2^nd place – Eleanor Shawl by Kathryn White

1^st place – Hearts Galore by Sandy Gold

In the “Afghans & Home Décor” category, sponsored by WEBS America’s Yarn Store, the winners are:

Honorable Mention – Shades of Teal Afghan by Kayt Ross

3^rd place – Behind the Picket Fence Throw by Shari White

2^nd place – The Long & Short of It by Vicki Buford

1^st place – Country Gardens Pillow by Joyce Geisler

In the “Thread Crochet” category, sponsored by Bernat, the winners are:

3^rd place – Blue Bird Doily by Kathryn White

2^nd place – Spring Leaves Wedding Dress by Brandi Isham

1^st place – Free Spirit Doily by Kathryn White

In the “Fashion” category, sponsored by Interweave Crochet / Love of Crochet, the winners are:

Honorable Mention – Lollapalooza by Julia Bryant

Honorable Mention – Blue Poppy Lace Coat & Poppy Pin by Alla Koval

Honorable Mention – Checkerboard Cardigan by Shari White

Honorable Mention – Aegean Dress by Kristin Lynn

3^rd place – Velella Poncho by Shari White

2^nd place – Tunica Geometrica by Susan Walsh

1^st place – Legacy by Kathryn White

For “Technical Merit”, sponsored by Mary Maxim, the winner is:

Spring Leaves Wedding Dress by Brandi Isham

For “Peoples’ Choice”, sponsored by Happily Hooked Crochet Magazine, the winner is:

Spring Leaves Wedding Dress by Brandi Isham

And the “Grand Prize” winner, sponsored by Red Heart, is:

Emily Rose by Kayt Ross

Please join me in thanking all of our generous and supportive sponsors this year. And a big “CONGRATULATIONS” to all the winners in each category of the competition!

Now it’s time to get those hooks busy designing entries for next year’s CGOA Design Competition!

Happy crocheting,

Susan