Susan L

December 3, 2020December 20, 2020

Stiffening Crocheted Snowflakes made Easy

I just LOVE the looks of crocheted snowflakes, don’t you? They look so pretty on a Christmas tree or as decorations anywhere in your home! They make great gifts, as well as package decorations, too! And they’re surprisingly easy to make (with a few crochet skills and knowledge)!

But how do you take a crocheted snowflake from droopy and lifeless to stiffened and lacy? You stiffen it with fabric stiffener and pin it out to dry! It’s not hard at all. Just a little time-consuming, like so many things in life! But it’s so worth it when you’re done! I have a free PDF template that you can use for pinning your snowflakes on to shape them perfectly. You can find that template in my written tutorial.

If you’ve never stiffened crocheted snowflakes before, check out my new YouTube video where I’ll take you step-by-step through the process. I also share my favorite pattern book for crocheting the snowflakes, as well as how I store my snowflakes for years of enjoyment!

So what are you waiting for? Learn to stiffen crochet snowflakes today for many years of enjoyment by you or someone you love!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year!

Happy snowflake crocheting!

Susan

P.S. Here’s another way to store your stiffened crocheted snowflakes. It’s a gift card tin from Amazon! I have several of these and they work great for storing my snowflakes. I can fit 4 medium size snowflakes in each tin. The tin comes with a gift card ($25 minimum card amount) that you can use or give as a gift. Then you can keep the tin and use it to store some snowflakes! Here’s a link to the Amazon gift card page with this snowflake tin (the tin is free with the purchase of the gift card!).

November 16, 2020December 27, 2020

Crochet Afghans and Rugs for Sale

Would you like to give a one-of-a-kind handmade gift to someone special this holiday season? Do you love crocheted afghans and/or rugs, but you don’t have the time or expertise to crochet them yourself? Then you’re in luck! I have 3 afghans and 4 rugs for sale in my Etsy shop. Each of these crochet afghans and rugs was expertly crocheted by either me or a talented crochet friend.

UPDATE: Three of these items have sold and are no longer available for purchase. The 3 items that sold are the Filet Bouquet Afghan, the Star Spangled Rug and the Quilt Rug. Thank you to Carol D., who purchased all 3 of these crochet items! The remaining 4 items are still available for sale until Feb 27, 2021. So get them before they’re gone!

Here are the 3 crocheted afghans that are for sale in my Etsy shop:

filet crochet flowers afghan — Filet Bouquet Afghan

Crochet Ripple Afghan — Reversible Popcorn Ripple Afghan

broomstick lace afghan — Broomstick Lace Afghan

Each of these afghans was made in a different crochet technique: filet crochet, regular crochet and broomstick lace crochet.

Here are the 4 crocheted rugs that are for sale in my Etsy shop:

Each of these crocheted rugs was made in the wiggly crochet technique.

I hope you’re inspired to decorate your home with one of these beauties (or snatch up one for a loved one)! Here’s the link to these afghans and rugs in my Etsy shop where you can read all about each of these finished items that are available for purchase, including measurements and materials used to make each one.

Happy crocheting (and decorating)!

Susan Lowman

November 13, 2020December 27, 2020

Brilliant Live Loop Cables in Crochet Book

When I saw Sue Perez’s new crochet book, “Live Loop Cables in Crochet” online a few months ago, I knew this was a crochet technique that I wanted to try! With this brand-new crochet technique, you can make cables that look like knit I-cords on the surface of your crochet project. Who would have thought you could do that in crochet? Certainly not me! But Sue has done it!

Sue is a brilliant designer who came up with a technique for making knit I-cord with a crochet hook several years ago. Sue has a series of blog posts about crocheted I-cord that you can read here. Here’s Sue’s YouTube video for making a crocheted I-cord edging. Sue even has a video for Live Loop Crochet Stitches and Cables here.

Now back to Sue’s new book! When I first starting looking through this book, I noticed that there are 174 pages in the book. Holy moly! That’s a lot of pages for a crochet book! Sue has self-published this book, so it includes everything she wanted to put into it about this new crochet technique. The book was professionally edited, so there is a minimum of errors in it. There are 21 pages of instructions for this technique, including lots of diagrams to illustrate these instructions.

Sue has included a practice swatch to learn the technique before jumping into a project. There are instructions for 25 blocks, each with a different cable (from simple to complex), and 11 projects in the book. I chose 2 projects to make after doing the practice swatch: the Chattermark Bag and the Ropeway Headband.

I have to admit that I wasn’t quite sure how to do this technique until I watched Sue’s YouTube video on “Live Loop Crochet Stitches and Cables” that I linked to above. That video helped a lot, in conjunction with the extensive instructions in the book. I learned this technique while taking a 4-week motorhome trip with my husband last month, so I had a bit of “vacation brain” going on (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it)! Plus I’m no spring chicken anymore and my brain isn’t as fast as it once was! But I stayed with it, learning this fabulous technique and finishing my 2 projects, as you can see:

I think they turned out quite well, don’t you? I lined the bag with fabric, following the instructions in the book, so it’s very functional. And I added some cute buttons to the headband to give to my granddaughter.

I’m so glad that I persevered and learned this fascinating crochet technique! Way to go, Sue, in bringing this wonderful technique to life in your new book! I look forward to crocheting more projects and/or blocks from this wonderful book!

I hope you’ll give this new crochet technique a try. You can find Sue’s book on Amazon here.

Until next time! Happy crocheting to all of you!

Susan Lowman

September 24, 2020December 27, 2020

Teaching Crochet in Alaska

A few weeks ago, I flew to Anchorage, AK to teach 4 crochet classes to 11 wonderful ladies in the Ididachain Crochet Guild! They are one of the many local guilds/chapters of CGOA (Crochet Guild of America). This was their Fall Retreat, which they held at a camp in Big Lake, AK. The area was absolutely beautiful and relaxing, right next to the lake. And each of the ladies was friendly and eager to learn what I had to teach them! The camp had great accommodations and delicious food! And the weather was perfect! I had so much fun!!!

This was my first time being in Alaska, as well as the first crochet retreat I’ve attended and the first retreat I’ve taught at! What a wonderful experience I had (except for having to wear a face mask in all 3 airports and on each of the 4 flights I took to get there and back to AZ)!

The crochet topics/techniques I taught there were:

Faux Knitting (how to knit with a crochet hook)

Irish Crochet (the basics)

Filet Crochet (beginning to intermediate)

Invisible Repairs (how to repair damage to any crochet project)

Here is a photo of all of us at the retreat:

I really enjoyed getting to know these ladies. Each of them has been crocheting for a different length of time and each has their favorite type of crochet projects to make! Some of them are Alaska natives and some of them are transplants from other parts of the US. I want to say “Thank You” to each of you for making me feel welcome! You’re the best!

I want to give a HUGE “Thank You” to Mickey for asking me to teach at the retreat, picking me up at the airport, driving me to the hotel, giving me a personal tour of the new JoAnn Fabric “flagship” store in Anchorage, helping to alleviate my fears involving the need to take a Covid test before flying to Alaska and so much more! Thank you to Debbie and Amy for driving me to lunch and the yarn shop (Fiber N’ Ice) the day before teaching. Thank you to everyone at the retreat (and everyone in the guild) for the beautiful gift of 2 hanks of local hand-dyed yarn from Denise at the Fiber N’ Ice yarn shop! I hope you each learned a lot and will use some of what you learned in your crochet projects (and/or repairs).

Here are photos of the yarn/fiber I bought, along with the 2 hanks of yarn that the guild gave me as a thank you gift:

This sparkly yarn is gorgeous! The color is called “Aurora” for the Northern Lights! I’m not sure what I’m going to make or design with it yet, but it’ll be something substantial, since each hank has 400 yards of superwash yumminess!

Here are photos of the students’ class projects/samples and the other projects they were working on in the evenings:

Here are photos of the beautiful lake:

This was a trip that I won’t forget! I’d go back to Alaska in a heartbeat! It’s gorgeous there, especially since I live in a desert state with lots of brown instead of green!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this update and the eye candy!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

September 4, 2020December 20, 2020

Free Baby Booties and Beginner Scarves Pattern

If you’ve always wanted to learn to crochet baby booties, then now is the time! I have a new YouTube video that goes along with my FREE Baby Booties pattern where I teach how to make these baby booties from start to finish! They are great projects to make quickly for a baby shower. Or make some for a local charity, or for your own baby!

The other new YouTube video I’ve made is for crocheting a beginner-friendly scarf. This scarf is made with rows of dc throughout. I’ll teach you where to begin and end your rows of dc and share a tip to help you keep the edges even. I’ve got a FREE crochet pattern that goes along with this video, as well. This project is great for practicing your double crochet stitches.

I hope you enjoy both of these videos and learn something new to further your crochet skills and knowledge!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

August 17, 2020December 27, 2020

Fun Wiggly Crochet Video

I’m excited to announce that I have a new YouTube video on learning to do Wiggly Crochet! I’ve enjoyed this crochet technique for many years. It’s one of my favorites to do and to teach!

In this Wiggly Crochet YouTube video, I’ll teach you how to crochet the foundation mesh, crochet the wiggly stitches on top of the mesh and read the wiggly crochet chart.

There is a FREE Wiggly Crochet pattern that you can download right here on my website to go with the YouTube video, so you’ll be able to get started with this wonderful crochet technique today!

Learn to do Wiggly Crochet Hot Pad and Coaster Video

Here are some of the Wiggly Crochet projects that I’ve designed over the years:

I hope you’ll give this fantastic crochet technique a try very soon! You’ll be glad you did!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

August 4, 2020December 27, 2020

Very Cute Crocheting Amigurumi Tips and Tricks Video

I’m excited to let you know that I’ve released 2 new YouTube crochet videos. In both of these videos, I share lots of tips and tricks to help you be successful in crocheting amigurumi animals.

In Part 1, you’ll learn how to read amigurumi patterns, crochet the pieces and do color changes.

In Part 2, you’ll learn how to stuff the pieces (how much fiberfill is enough?), 2 ways to sew the pieces together and how to embroider faces, spots, etc onto your amigurumi animals.

These are so much fun to make a play with! My grandchildren, grown children and I love them!

Just click on the video images below to watch these new videos!

I’ve enjoyed crocheting amigurumis for many years, especially during the past 4 years of crocheting for my grandchildren! Here are a few of the amigurumis that I’ve crocheted for my grandchildren, children and myself:

Have you ever crocheted amigurumis? Do you enjoy crocheting them? Are you successful in crocheting them? If you’ve never crocheted amigurumi animals before or you don’t like how yours turned out, check out my 2 new videos to help you be successful with these adorable crochet projects!

Happy amigurumi crocheting to all of you!

Susan

July 25, 2020December 28, 2020

Quick and Easy Foundation Double Crochet Tutorial

Here’s a wonderful crochet stitch/technique to add to your crochet toolbox: the foundation double crochet (fdc). I’ve just finished a short YouTube video on how to do the fdc, along with where/why you’d want to use it.

I hope you enjoy this video and it helps you be successful with making the foundation dc. Thank you to Tammie on Facebook for suggesting this video!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

July 17, 2020December 20, 2020

Tapestry Crochet Tutorial with Free Pattern

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just released a new crochet video on my YouTube channel to teach the Tapestry Crochet technique. This video was a lot of fun to put together! I really like this technique because it’s one of the techniques that uses more than one color in a row or round! Plus the designs you can create with it are endless! Check out my new Tapestry Crochet video here.

With this technique, you use 2 or more colors in each row/round. You change colors, according to a chart, and “carry” the unused color(s) underneath the stitches being worked. It’s a great technique to use when you don’t want to have long strands of yarn on the back of your work!

This new Tapestry Crochet technique video teaches you how to begin and end rows of Tapestry Crochet, carry the yarn, change colors and make the fringe. All while having fun making the snowflake coaster project that’s included in the video. The Snowflake Coaster chart is available for free on my Free Patterns page.

I love designing small projects for learning a new technique. There’s nothing like being able to finish a crochet project quickly, all while successfully learning a new technique! And small projects are great for practicing a new technique. If you make a mistake, your huge project isn’t ruined!

If you enjoy the this technique, you may want to make something larger than a coaster in this technique. That’s where my “Stained Glass Snowflake Scarf” and “It Takes All Colors Snowflakes Afghan” patterns come into play! Both of these designs use the exact same Tapestry Crochet technique that I’m teaching in this new video.

If you haven’t tried the technique before, what are you waiting for? It’s a wonderful technique with many fabulous projects that can be made from it! Check out my new Tapestry Crochet video here.

And speaking of Tapestry Crochet, I bought a new Tapestry Crochet book last week called “Colourful Wayuu Bags to Crochet” by Rianne de Graaf. You can see this book on Amazon here. Rianne has designed some really pretty bags in the Tapestry Crochet technique. These bags are so cool! Rianne even teaches how to make the straps and cords for the bags in this book.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at Tapestry Crochet and will give it a try. You’ll be glad you did!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

July 7, 2020December 20, 2020

Mosaic Crochet Cuffs on Family Slippers Pattern

I’ve just finished and released my first video to support one of my self-published crochet patterns. This video is for my Family Slippers pattern. The cuff is made with the mosaic crochet technique, which is one of my favorite crochet techniques! In this video, I demonstrate how to crochet the 4 rows of the mosaic pattern on the cuff. Mosaic crochet is a lot of fun and it’s exciting to see the mosaic pattern take shape in front of your eyes!!!

I have lots of other crochet videos planned to help you be successful with your crochet projects from my patterns. If you have any questions about my patterns (or certain parts of my patterns) that you’d like to see covered in a video, please let me know. I’m open to more video suggestions and look forward to bringing you more quality videos to help you advance your crochet skills and knowledge!

If you’d like to watch this new video, you can find it on my YouTube channel here.

Happy crocheting (and video watching/learning) to all of you!

Susan