Crochet designers – The Crochet Architect

January 25, 2017

Celtic Cable Crochet Book Review

Have you tried any textured crochet stitches before? You know, like a front post double crochet (FPdc), back post double crochet (BPdc) and similar stitches? I love the texture that can be created using these textural stitches! I’ve been using them for years. I used FPdc and BPdc in my Pediwick Scarf and Swanky Cowl designs.

Just a few months ago, I came across a new book that uses a lot of textural stitches in it. It’s called “Celtic Cable Crochet” by Bonnie Barker, published by Interweave. I met Bonnie at a CGOA Conference many years ago. She’s a very talented designer and a super sweet person, too! Bonnie came out with her first book using textured stitches called “Contemporary Celtic Crochet” that was published in 2014 by Fons & Porter Books. To read my book review of that book, check out this blog post. Both of these books are fabulous for crocheters who love texture in their crochet projects!

Anyway, here is Bonnie’s newest book, published in October, 2016:

As you can see by the cover, there are 18 projects in this book for garments and accessories. There are cardigans, sweaters, ponchos, cowls, wraps, scarves, wristers, boot cuffs, hats, bags and more in this book. Here are my favorites:

These are the Cabled Boot Cuffs. They are made with DK weight yarn and come in 2 sizes: x-small/small and medium/large. They look like a lot of fun to make and wear! I haven’t crocheted or knit any boot cuffs, so I think this one may be put on my list of projects for 2017!

This is the Emerald Celtic Weave Infinity Scarf. This infinity scarf can be worn over your shoulders with a brooch or shawl pin. Or it can be doubled and worn as a cowl. I love cowls, don’t you? They’re so easy to wear and they never fall off like scarves!

This is the Lavena Poncho that is shown on the front cover of the book. It is made with worsted weight yarn. It looks so stylish to me! If you’re a poncho person, this one looks scrumptious!!!

This is the Satinées Wine Wristers. They are made with superfine weight yarn. I love the color of this yarn and the texture of these mitts/wristers! They’d be a great addition to any outfit to keep your wrists warm in the winter! And mitts/wristers are quick projects to make!

This is the Tic-Tac-Toe Messenger Bag. It is made with worsted weight yarn. The bag and strap are lined with fabric, which helps them keep their shape. If you’re not afraid of sewing machines, this bag would be quite stylish to wear!

This fabulous book has step-by-step instructions & photos for the textural stitches at the back of the book. Also, Bonnie has a Youtube channel with lots of videos for her designs and many of her textural stitches here. So, if you’ve never crocheted any textural stitches before, you’ll be quickly learning how to work them and will soon come to love textural stitches, as I and many crocheters already have!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at Celtic Cable Crochet. You can purchase this book on Amazon here or on the Interweave website here. To read about Bonnie and follow her designing career, check out her website here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

February 13, 2015

The Crochet Awards for 2015

Have you heard of “The Crochet Awards”? They used to be called the “Flamies” or the “Flaming Hook of Justice Awards”. They were started by Laurie Wheeler, the founder and fearless leader of The Crochet Liberation Front. Each year, many crochet designers, bloggers, yarn companies and more are nominated for these awards. Anyone can vote for their favorites in each category, starting on Feb. 23rd. You can even nominate your “wildcard” favorite starting on Feb. 16th. For more information about The Crochet Awards, check out this page.

To see who won in last year’s awards, check out this page. Here is one of my favorites from last year’s awards:

It is the Happypotamus, designed by Heidi Bears! Isn’t it pretty with all those vibrant colors? This design won in the category of Best Pillows or Cushions. If you’d like to make one of these, you can find the pattern for sale in Heidi’s Ravelry shop here.

Now back to this year’s awards. The Crochet Awards are being split up into quarterly awards in order to feature more great crochet stuff! All of the nominees for the first quarter of 2015 are listed on this website. This quarter’s awards are all about apparel, from jackets to scarves and everything in between! To see all of the categories for each quarter of the year, check out this page.

I’d like to share a few of my favorite designs that are nominated for the first quarter of 2015.

This is the Fun in the Sun Cover-up by Marly Bird that is nominated in the category of Best Beachwear (swimwear, coverup). It was published in the Summer 2013 issue of Love of Crochet magazine. I like this design because of the nice motifs that Marly used and the possibility to wear it as an everyday top (with the addition of a solid top underneath, of course). It looks very comfortable and easy to make, too.

This is the Jordan Sleeveless Pineapple Top by Vicky Chan that is nominated in the category of Best Tank/Tunic Top. I like the relaxed look of this top and the crochet pineapple is one of my favorite designs! I think this top would look great on many different sizes and figures! You can find this pattern for sale on Ravelry here.

This is the Fall Leaves Wrap by Jessie Rayot that is nominated in the category of Best Shawl/Wrap. I LOVE the colors in this wrap and the way it wraps around the neckline. You can see this pattern and purchase it from Jessie’s Ravelry shop here. This is the same wrap that Jessie entered in the 2014 CGOA Design Competition (and won first place in the accessories category), but in different colors:

I was one of the 3 judges in the CGOA Design Competition last year at the CGOA Conference in Manchester, NH. It was a blast! This year, I’m one of the 2 co-chairs who are putting the design competition together. The other co-chair is Bobbie Matela from Coats & Clark (also a CGOA Board member). We’ll have all of the details for this year’s design competition very soon, so stay tuned for that!

I’m getting sidetracked again! Oh well. Such is my life! Here’s another of my favorite designs that is nominated in the category of Best Cowl:

This is the ZigZag Blues Cowl by Yuliya Tkacheva (I believe she’s Russian and is living in the UK). I love this cowl because of the zigzag design done in all front post and back post stitches! It’s brilliant and has lots of texture! You can purchase this pattern here.

The last of my favorites that I’m going to share is the Summer Sprigs Lace Scarf by Esther Chandler. This scarf is nominated in the category of Best Scarf. I love the lacyness of this scarf and the pattern is free on Esther’s website here. If you scroll to the bottom of her blog post, you’ll see the pdf downloads of the pattern and charts. I haven’t made this scarf yet, but 166 people on Ravelry have made it! If you’re not a Ravelry member, you really should join! It’s free and has links to more patterns that you can imagine! Here’s the Ravelry website.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at The Crochet Awards. And I hope you’ll take a few minutes and vote for your favorites when the voting goes live in 10 days. There are so many talented crochet designers all around the world and it’s nice to give credit to those whose designs are the best in their classes! Until next time…

Happy crocheting!

Susan

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Contemporary Celtic Crochet

What do you like most about crochet? Are you someone who loves the textures that you can make in crochet with a solid color of yarn? I definitely do! One of the crochet techniques that uses a lot of crochet stitches with texture is Celtic crochet.

I’d like to share some information about a book that I recently got by Bonnie Barker, who I met at the CGOA Conference this year in July. Bonnie is a sweet person and has a lot of talent, both in crochet and in music. Bonnie wrote the lyrics for a song called “Ripping Out is Hard to Do” that she, Jennifer Ryan (another crochet designer) and Terri Mitchell (Bonnie’s neighbor) performed at the conference this year. Here’s a photo of the 3 of them performing this song:

From left to right: Terri, Jennifer and Bonnie

The song was a “riot”!!! Bonnie wrote the parody lyrics, which were sung to the tune of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” by Neil Sedaka. As you can see in the photo, Bonnie played the guitar, Jennifer sang the song and Terri did the silly acting out of the words. What a hoot!!!

Now back to some crochet seriousness! Bonnie has a new crochet book this year called “Contemporary Celtic Crochet”, published by Fons & Porter Books (an imprint of F&W). Here’s a photo of the front cover of the book:

This 128 page book retails for $24.99 in the US and contains 24 designs, from scarves to sweaters, vests, baby blankets, sweater wraps and much more. I’ve never seen a sweater wrap before and perhaps you haven’t, either. I’ll explain what a sweater wrap is later on in this blog post. But for now, I’d like to tell you a little about this book and share photos of my favorite designs in it with you so you can decide if this book is something you’d like to add to your crochet library.

One of my favorite projects in this book is the Kells Cabled Sweater. It’s a V-neck sweater with a beautiful edging along the bottom of the sleeves and sweater. The sleeves are loose and comfortable looking in the photo. See for yourself:

Doesn’t this look like a comfortable sweater? It definitely does to me!

Here are a few photos of another one of my favorite projects in this book:

This is the Baby Feet Baby Blanket. Aren’t these baby feet adorable? I don’t think I’ve ever seen baby feet on a baby blanket like this before! This is a pattern that I’ll definitely be looking closer at when my grandchildren start arriving (hint, hint!).

Okay, so what is a sweater wrap? According to Bonnie’s book, she first saw this style of garment while visiting the west coast of Ireland. Bonnie says in the book, “A sweater wrap is a wrap that thinks and acts like a sweater. It is a practical choice when you don’t want to wear a sweater, yet a stole alone is just not quite warm enough. The added back panel attached to the stole keeps you just as warm as you want to be.” Here are some photos of one of the 4 sweater wraps in the book, modeled by one of Bonnie’s daughters:

I think the bottom edging on this sweater wrap is really nice! Each of the 4 sweater wraps is made with different Celtic Crochet stitches. They’re all very nice and don’t require any shaping, like sweaters do, so they’d be much easier to crochet.

Here’s the other baby blanket in this book:

This is the Hialeah Honey Baby Blanket. It sure has LOTS of texture!!!

And here is the backpack and purse, which I really like, too:

The backpack and purse have a basket weave pattern to them.

Bonnie even included a Celtic Cross Afghan in the book. Here is a photo of that afghan (and a coordinating pillow right above it) with a lot of texture, as well:

This is a really nice looking afghan and I love the edging on it, too! Since I’m a Christian, this afghan has a lot of meaning to me.

Unfortunately, I can’t show you photos of all the projects in this book. But I can tell you that there are 36 pages of instructions and step-by-step photos of how to crochet the special stitches and Celtic stitches in this book. These stitches include the arrow, baby feet toe popcorns, back post and front post double crochet, back post and front post treble crochet, basket weave, braided cable, buttonholes, cable, Celtic cross, Celtic weave, diamond, honeycomb, knotted fringe, knurl, low back ridge, low front ridge, popcorn, front post and back post ribbing, shadow box, shell with picot, single crochet ribbing, wheat, woven and more! These stitch instructions are fabulous!!!

Bonnie and her husband, Craig, traveled to Ireland on a business trip in 2012. The inspiration for Bonnie’s designs in this book came from that trip. Here is a photo of Bonnie and Craig in Ireland:

Bonnie also included some photos in her Celtic Crochet book of places in Ireland that she and Craig visited on their trip. It looks like a beautiful country!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at “Contemporary Celtic Crochet”. You can see and purchase the book on Amazon here or through Interweave here. To read about Bonnie and follow her designing career, check out her website here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

April 11, 2014April 9, 2014

Interview with Kristi Simpson: her new book, “Mommy & Me Crocheted Hats”

I recently met a crochet designer through the internet. Her name is Kristi Simpson and she’s a very talented crochet designer. She has a website and an Etsy shop. To celebrate the release of her new book, “Mommy & Me Crocheted Hats”, published by Stackpole Books, I’d like to do my first “blog interview” with Kristi today. You can see and order this book on Amazon here. I’ll share a few photos of my favorite hats in her book toward the bottom of this blog post, too.

S: How long have you been crocheting?

K: I have been crocheting for 6-7 years! Wow! Time flies!

S: How long have you been designing?

K: I have been designing for 5 years…but I have only been selling designs since 2010. I knew shortly after I learned to crochet that I wasn’t happy with a lot of just plain designs. I wanted to make functional things cute and so I was determined to design things that were fun and cute to crochet. I now have over 350 designs.

S: What are your favorite things to crochet or design?

K: Obviously I have a soft spot for babies and small children. My husband and I have 5 inspirational children: Jacob, Kimberly, Allison, James and Ryan that keep us on our toes! They inspire me to keep my designs fresh, and kid friendly. I understand what it means to be on a budget, but still want all of the ‘cute’ designs for my little ones….and now I make them!…but when it comes down to patterns, I know there’s a demand for all ages. My new book is about giving everyone a chance to jump in on the fun and having cute hats to wear!!

S: Where/when/how do you get your design inspiration?

K: I honestly LOVE to go yarn shopping. I might walk out with 1 skein…and on the fun days my husband is with me, I might walk out with 10 (I love it when he goes!). He is my biggest support and encourages me to try new designs and yarns! The colors, textures and different weights of yarn will jump out at me and even though I might have an idea in my head, it becomes more real when I can see the yarns. Now, I will never ever say I have enough yarn– and my husband knows that. Ha!

Also, my family inspires me. They know my passion for crocheting and even when we shop in the mall, they’ll bring a jacket or a fabric headband and say– look at this! I am a huge fan of magazine clipping! I have a 3 ring binder with taped down ideas from sales papers, store ads and what others would call ‘junk mail’. I love to see what’s in season and what’s in store for the next! I also have a separate notebook that I jot down my ideas and sketch them out so that I can return to them when specific inspiration hits!

S: Do you use your children as models for your crochet patterns?

K: Yes, all the time! My kids’ ages range from 5 year old twins to 14 and 16 year old daughters…. I never miss that opportunity to use them. Plus, they love seeing their photo online!

S: Do you have a favorite color, yarn brand or yarn weight to use in your designs?

K: One? I have to pick JUST one? Right now I would say it is Yarn Bee, “Hint of Silk” in Oriental Teal. It’s so luxurious! It is 85% Bamboo and 15% silk. It is classified as a weight 4 yarn, but to me it is on the thinner side of the scale. However, it’s perfect for clothing, hats and the new baby–it’s SO SOFT! If you were to ask me last week, I would have said Red Heart Soft in purple…. I can never pick JUST ONE!

S: What does RAKJ stand for?

K: Have you ever tried to pronounce RAKJ? Well, I’m sure you had a tongue twisting try and made some sneeze-like sounds….but it’s actually pretty simple: R-A-K-J. It is our family initials! Ryan, Allison, Kristi, Kim, Jason, James and Jacob!

S: What else can you tell us about your Mommy & Me Crocheted Hats book?

K: The book was a blast to design. I not only managed the patterns in this book but also the photography. It was amazing to have every day people model the hats. I mean, not only models wear them! I enjoyed the ‘almost candid’ theme, and it was so much fun! Not only photographing the hats, but seeing the mom and child (or sometimes grandma or dad!) playing together and being sweet! It is something that I will always remember. I hope the photos make you smile and giggle… and inspire you to make a few sets for you AND your friends and family!

Well, that’s it for the interview with Kristi. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Kristi a little bit. I definitely enjoyed interviewing her! I look forward to many more wonderful designs from Kristi in the future.

I can’t imagine having a career AND raising 5 kids! My 3 sons are grown and out on their own now. My life was very busy while my husband and I were raising them, with all of the things they did in school, sports, Boy/Cub Scouts, church and more! It makes me dizzy just to think about my crazy, busy schedule back then!

As promised, here are photos of some of my favorite hats in Kristi’s new book (and a photo of the cover of the book, too):

Wouldn’t the pirate hat be great to wear on National “Talk Like a Pirate Day”? And what little boy doesn’t want to have a beard? I think the Elf hat is really cute. It could be made with red and white for a Santa hat without the added chain spaces in the last round of the hat. If your little girl (or a little girl you know) likes to wear her hair in pigtails, then the pigtail hat is perfect (with holes to poke the pigtails through)! Since I LOVE snowmen, the snowman hat is great, especially with the ear muffs! And if I had a baby girl, I’d definitely want matching heart beanies for us!

These hat patterns come in multiple sizes and different skill levels, so there’s something for everyone. And with 30 hats to choose from, you’re sure to find some hats that you’d like to make. The book retails for $19.95 in the US and $22.95 in Canada.

You can see all of the hats/projects in this book on the Stackpole website here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

February 21, 2014April 1, 2014

Book Review: Tunisian Crochet Baby Blankets by Sharon Silverman

There are so many wonderful crochet techniques that I enjoy and Tunisian Crochet is one of them. It’s a technique that yields a wonderful fabric that is similar to knitting. With Tunisian Crochet, you add loops to the hook and then work them off. It’s fun and relaxing to do!

I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Sharon Silverman, yet, but I’ve enjoyed her Tunisian crochet designs and books for many years. You can read all about her and see her designs on her website here and on her Ravelry page here. Sharon has a new Tunisian book called “Tunisian Crochet Baby Blankets”, published by Leisure Arts, that I’d like to review for you. Here’s the front cover of Sharon’s book:

Tunisian Crochet Baby Blankets front cover

This fabulous book has 8 baby blanket designs, each worked in various Tunisian Crochet stitches. There are 4 “easy” blankets, 3 “intermediate” blankets and 1 “intermediate plus” blanket. You’ll find lots of instructions and diagrams teaching you how to do these Tunisian stitches in the book, if you’re unfamiliar with some of them. Also, Leisure Arts has videos on their website showing how to work the stitches within each pattern of this book. You can find the videos for this book here. The book has a little video camera symbol printed next to each section of the pattern that includes an online video, so if you’re uncertain about that stitch, just watch the online video. It’s almost like having your own personal crochet teacher right there with you! Online videos are fabulous and I’m so glad that Leisure Arts has starting including them in their new books.

Here are photos of some of my favorite Tunisian blankets in this book:

This is “Bright Stands” and is done with color changes, which I think look fabulous in Tunisian crochet because the stitches are nice and square, not distorted as they are in some other methods of crochet color changes. The instructions in the book show you how to do the color changes for this afghan. I absolutely LOVE the geometric design that Sharon has used in this afghan!

This is “Basket Weave Blocks” and is done with 2 types of Tunisian stitches, which gives it that wonderful basket weave texture!

This is “Bubbling Bobbles”. I’ve never done bobbles in Tunisian crochet, so I’m going to have to give this one a try!

This is “Color Waves”. As you can tell, it’s done in ripples. I’ve never done ripples in Tunisian crochet, either, so this is another one I’m going to try out in my “spare” time!

These are just 4 of the Tunisian baby afghans in this book. To see all of the afghans in the book, check out this page on Ravelry. Here’s the link for this book on the Leisure Arts website. It’s available in both printed book (for $9.99) and in e-book (for $7.99) formats. And it’s also available on Amazon.com in print, as well as for Kindle.

If you’ve never done Tunisian Crochet before, I hope you’ll give it a try with this wonderful book. And if you’re looking to learn more Tunisian Crochet stitches, you’ll find plenty of them to learn in this fabulous book!

Happy crocheting (and Tunisian crocheting),

Susan

January 17, 2014April 1, 2014

Book Review: Crochet Wraps Every Which Way by Tammy Hildebrand

I’m honored to review the first crochet book done by my good friend, Tammy Hildebrand today. Tammy’s name and crochet designs have been gracing the pages of crochet magazines and books for many years, but this is Tammy’s first book with ALL of the projects designed by Tammy herself. You’ve probably seen some of Tammy’s designs in Crochet!, Interweave Crochet, Crochet 1-2-3 and Crochet World magazines. Many times, Tammy’s designs have graced the cover of these magazines, too! To see Tammy’s published designs, visit her Ravelry page. Tammy is a wonderful crochet garment designer who I’ve admired for years! She is also the Vice President on the CGOA Board of Directors and has served on the Professional Development Committee of CGOA for many years.

Crochet Wraps Every Which Way front cover

Anyway, back to Tammy’s new book, “Crochet Wraps Every Which Way”. This is a great book with 18 patterns for wraps, ponchos, shawls and stoles in 6 techniques: hairpin lace, broomstick lace, Tunisian crochet, double-ended crochet, motifs and traditional crochet. There are 3 designs/projects for each of these 6 techniques: 1 design for each of these skill levels: easy, intermediate and experienced. So you can pick a project based on your skill level, making the book relevant to almost all crocheters! And there is even a “how-to” section in the back of the book with step-by-step instructions and photos to help you learn the new techniques that appeal to you!

Tammy has pushed the envelope with many of these cutting-edge designs. She even works some of these techniques in the round that are traditionally worked in rows! How cool is that? I’m in awe of Tammy’s creativeness! Here are some of my favorite projects in the book:

The “Perfect Pineapples” shawl is essentially a big, round doily with the pineapple pattern throughout, made with yarn. I love the way you can fold it over wherever you want to make it the length you like (and the folded portion forms a collar!).

The “Purple Passion” wrap is also made with pineapples. This wrap is made with Lion Brand Silk Mohair yarn, which is one of my new favorite yarns! It’s a dream to work with and it’s light-as-a-feather!

The “Chica Mala” shawl looks like it’s made with regular motifs, but it’s made with broomstick lace motifs, worked in the round! I had to do a double-take on this shawl! I have to give this a try soon when I have some spare time.

I love the colors that Tammy has chosen for these wraps. Of course, you can choose different colors for the wraps you make from these patterns to coordinate with your wardrobe or the recipient’s wardrobe, if the project will be a gift for someone else!

I know how to do all of these crochet techniques, but I’m not very proficient with some of them! I’d like to learn more about them and practice my skills with them (like hairpin lace and broomstick lace). I took a hairpin lace class at last year’s CGOA Conference in Charlotte, NC from Jennifer Hansen, who is a genius with hairpin lace, broomstick lace and Tunisian! That was a lot of fun! I’ve enjoyed Tunisian crochet for many years and I love crocheted motifs! What are your favorite techniques out of the 6 techniques in this book? Which ones would you like to learn?

If you’d like to purchase this fabulous book and learn some new crochet techniques or expand on the ones you already know, the book is available at Amazon.com here. It is also available at many local craft stores and book stores nationwide. Tammy’s book has 104 pages and retails for $19.95 in the US ($22.95 in Canada). That’s just over $1 per pattern!

I hope you’ll take a look at Tammy’s new book and learn a new crochet technique in 2014!

Happy crocheting!

Susan

January 11, 2014June 15, 2014

Irish Crochet Book Review & Giveaway

I am thrilled to be taking part in Kathryn White’s blog tour for her new book, “The Go-To Book for Irish Crochet Motifs”! Kathryn (Kathy) is a good friend of mine and an extremely talented designer. She is an expert with a steel crochet hook and cotton crochet thread! I’ve loved her designs for years and met her at the CGOA Conference in Sept. 2011 in Greensboro, NC. I think it was Kathy’s first CGOA conference, but I’d been to many CGOA Conferences before that one. I didn’t get a good photo of Kathy at that conference, but I did get a photo of the Irish crochet motifs that she made and appliqued to the sweater she was wearing when we met. Here it is for you to see:

Kathy's Irish motif appliques — Kathy’s Irish motif appliques

These are beautiful Irish crochet pieces and they show up so nicely on that sweater (or perhaps it was a sweatshirt).

Here is a photo of Kathy and me from another CGOA Conference last year:

Susan & Kathy at CGOA Conference in 2013

You can find Kathy on Facebook, as well as on her website here. And you can follow the rest of the stops on her Irish Crochet blog tour on her blog here.

Now on to her fabulous Irish Crochet book! Here’s the front and back covers of the book:

As the front cover says, there are over 100 motifs, edgings and insertions in this book, along with fill-in lace and tips on putting it all together. The motifs include various types of flowers, leaves and fill-in motifs. There are also dangles and overlays in this book. There are many motifs to choose from and combine into your very own Irish crochet masterpiece!!!

If you’re not familiar with Irish crochet, it’s a fabulous technique of making motifs (typically with crochet thread), many with something called a “padding cord” or a “padded ring” to give more dimension to the pieces (Kathy explains the padding cord and padded rings in this book, along with giving hints to make them easier). The motifs are then joined together with “fill-in lace” to make a large piece or project. Many of the old Irish crochet patterns are difficult to understand, but Kathy has made them easy to understand with modern crochet terms and updated Irish crochet patterns in her new book. There are motifs for every skill level in this book, as well. And if you don’t want to use a padding cord or padded ring, Kathy gives updated patterns for making the same motifs without them.

Here are photos of some of the pieces in the book:

: Irish crochet roses

As a thread crochet lover, I absolutely LOVE this book! As one of Kathy’s friends, I actually saw part of the book before it was published. And I got to try out a part of the book last year, too. Here’s my fill-in lace sampler from last year:

I learned a lot while making this sampler piece, which is in Kathy’s book. I learned how to use padding cord (successfully) and how to work the fill-in lace between the motifs (successfully, too!). Kathy is a patient teacher and she’s very thorough, too! I love that in a crochet designer/teacher.

You can see more of Kathy’s Irish Crochet book and purchase it as a printed book or in digital format on the Annie’s website here. The book has 96 pages and retails for $14.95 in the US ($17.95 in Canada). It’s a fabulous book and I can’t wait to make more of the motifs in it. I also want to try joining more motifs with more of the fill-in lace methods in this book. Now if I just had more time or some clones to do my work so I could sit and crochet more, which is what many of us would love to do!!!

To celebrate Kathy’s new Irish Crochet book, I’m giving away an autographed copy to one very lucky winner. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this blog post about Irish crochet or crochet in general (or tell me what crochet technique is your favorite). You must live in the US to qualify, since shipping the book to another country is very expensive. I’ll pick the lucky winner on Jan. 21, so you’ll have plenty of time to enter! Good luck everyone!

Happy crocheting (and Irish crocheting),

Susan

October 18, 2013

Happenings at the CGOA Conference

It’s been almost a month since my last blog post! Wow! Where does the time go? It’s been a busy month.

Earlier this month, I attended the CGOA Chain Link Conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Charlotte/Concord, NC (from Oct. 2-6). It was fabulous, as always! There’s too much to tell you about in one blog post, so I’ll tell you about the classes I took in this post and save the other information for another blog post or two later. I love teaching at the conference, but I also enjoy being a student and stretching my crochet knowledge and skills, too.

I took 7 crochet classes at the conference. The teachers whose classes I took are Margaret Hubert, Jennifer Hansen, Vashti Braha and Dora Ohrenstein (I took 3 classes from Vashti and 2 classes from Jennifer). All of the classes were fantastic! And there were many more classes with other great teachers, too.

Margaret’s class was Freeform Knit and Crochet. Since I can now knit, as well as crochet, I thought this class would be a good fit for me. However, I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a freeform person (I might be too analytical and black/white). But I truly love the freeform look and would like to be able to do it someday (perhaps in Irish crochet with crochet thread instead of with yarn). Maybe with a little practice (or some wine to help me relax!), I might learn to do freeform well. But I enjoyed the class and drooled over Margaret’s gorgeous freeform pieces. Here’s one of them:

Margaret Hubert's freeform jacket — Margaret Hubert’s freeform jacket

Isn’t this gorgeous? Margaret is a wonderful teacher and designer. Here she is in the class showing us a jacket that she made from purchased doilies to inspire us:

Margaret Hubert's doily jacket — Margaret Hubert’s doily jacket

I was truly inspired (the photo doesn’t do it justice)! All of Margaret’s freeform pieces are inspirational! You can read more about Margaret and see her fabulous creations on her website here.

The 2 classes I took from Jennifer Hansen were on Hairpin Lace and Tunisian Crochet. Jennifer is a “Master” at both of these crochet techniques. She has boundless energy, too! In the Tunisian class, we learned to do cables and make a keyhole for her wonderful Tunisian Keyhole Cravat pattern (see pattern on her website here). Here’s a photo of this fantastic design:

Jennifer Hansen's Tunisian Keyhole Cravat from Stitch Diva Studios — Jennifer Hansen’s Tunisian Keyhole Cravat from Stitch Diva Studios

I crocheted my cravat from some extra Naturally Caron Spa yarn that I had. I haven’t blocked it, yet, so I hope it turns out as nice as the one in the Stitch Diva photo. Here’s a photo of that for you to see:

In the hairpin lace class, we learned how to make many different types of hairpin lace strips and many different ways to join them together. It was great! Here’s Jennifer in the hairpin lace class:

Jennifer Hansen (aka: Stitch Diva Studios)

I learned a TON in both classes! Thanks so much, Jennifer.

The 3 classes I took from Vashti were on Love Knots, Tunisian Filet and Slip Stitches. Vashti is a wonderful teacher with lots of patience. She’s a very laid back teacher and puts a lot of thought into her classes and her designs. Here she is in the love knots class explaining something to Shari White:

Vashti Braha (on right) and Shari White (on left)

If you’ve never seen love knots before, here’s a photo of some:

And here’s Vashti in the Tunisian Filet class deep in thought:

The Tunisian Filet class was based on her Aero Wrap. Here’s a photo of that wrap:

Aero Wrap by Vashti Braha of "Designing Vashti" — Aero Wrap by Vashti Braha of “Designing Vashti”

You can see the pattern and read about it on her website here.

I wasn’t able to attend all of the Slip Stitch class because the Board meeting ran late (I’m the secretary on the CGOA Board and we have our annual “face-to-face” Board meeting on Saturday morning at the conference). But I enjoyed what I got out of the class and would like to learn more about it in the future.

Dora’s class was on grading garments (something I don’t like to do and I still need to learn more about it). Dora was very informative, but her class was on the last day of the conference and I was battling “conference brain”! Here’s Dora explaining something about garments:

Dora Ohrenstein of "Crochet Insider" — Dora Ohrenstein of “Crochet Insider”

I took good notes during the class. I think that between my notes and the handout, I’ll learn more when I get a chance to read through it all again. Dora has written several crochet books and they’re all fabulous! To read more about Dora, check out her website here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the 7 crochet classes I took at the CGOA Conference. If you’ve never attended a CGOA Chain Link Conference before and you’re curious about it, check out the CGOA website here, or the CGOA blog here or the CGOA Facebook page here.

Remember, “When you think crochet, think CGOA”!!!

Until next time!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

August 7, 2013

I’m Knitting (with 2 needles)!!!

Okay, this is really part of my CGOA Conference information, but I think it’s important enough to deserve a separate blog post. If you know me well, you know that I don’t consider myself to be a knitter. You may be wondering why I say that. Well, let me tell you why. When I was a girl, my mom taught me to knit, but I wasn’t very good at it. I remember asking my mom which row I was on as I was knitting some slippers: the knit row or the purl row. So, apparently, I couldn’t tell the stitches apart at that time.

When I was a teenager, my best friend taught me to crochet. I later married her brother, making us sisters-in-law! I quickly took to the crochet hook like you wouldn’t believe! It was so much easier to use one hook than 2 needles (I used to stick one needle between my legs to knit, which looks pretty silly in my opinion)!

So fast forward almost 40 years to the week before the CGOA Conference last month. I saw the video listings on the Leisure Arts website for the Knook and decided to watch them. If you’re not familiar with the Knook, it’s a wooden crochet hook with a hole at the opposite end from the hook. You can watch the Knook videos here. To use the Knook, you insert a cable (which I think can be just a scrap piece of yarn) into the hole and you can knit with a crochet hook! So I decided to try it, but my local craft store was out of the Knook. I asked my friend, Jane Rimmer, about the Knook and she thought I could do the same thing with a double-ended crochet hook. So I tried it and I was able to knit with a crochet hook! Yahoo! I think using the Knook would be a little easier than using the double-ended crochet hook, but it works for now. I was as happy as a clam with my new knitting skill, since I didn’t have to try to hold 2 knitting needles anymore!!! And the knit stitches are identical, whether they’re made with the Knook (or double-ended crochet hook) or with 2 knitting needles. Can you tell the difference? All of these green swatches were knit with my double-ended crochet hook, not knitting needles. I haven’t blocked them or woven in the ends, so they don’t look too good, but you get the idea!

Knit Check Pattern made with a crochet hook

Knit Basketweave Pattern made with a crochet hook

Knit Pennants Pattern made with a crochet hook

But my story doesn’t end there. On the way to the CGOA Conference last month, my good friend, Kathy White (she’s known as Kathryn White for her published crochet designs in books and magazines, as well as on her website), tried to teach me to knit with 2 knitting needles (the long style of needles, which are awkward for me to use). I was still having trouble with the 2 long needles and the slippery yarn. So fast forward 5 days to the last day of the conference, on the way home. Nancy Nehring, another crochet designer in CGOA, was flying home on the same plane as Kathy and me (she was continuing on to San Jose, I believe, while Kathy and I got off in Phoenix). I got to sit between Kathy and Nancy on the plane. They’re both left-handed and I’m right-handed, but they were very patient with me. Kathy bought a set of 5 short, wooden knitting needles at the conference and gave me 2 of them to use. So I kept trying to knit, with their wonderful guidance, until I was successful! I didn’t get a picture of myself knitting on the plane, but here I am in the airport before boarding the plane, thrilled with my new skill (and the shorter needles, which are much easier for me to use):

Here I am in the airport, excited about learning to knit!

I was having trouble with my stitches being twisted, so Nancy explained about inserting the needle in the other direction to keep the stitches from twisting (unless I was supposed to twist them, as patterns sometimes want them to be).

For the last 2 1/2 weeks, I’ve been practicing my knitting. I plan to keep improving and learning more all the time. Here are the first 2 projects I’ve knitted since returning home from the conference and learning to knit again:

I love the stitch pattern in this scarf, which is my adaptation of a child’s vest pattern from the latest issue of Knit 1-2-3 magazine. And I wanted to try my hand at a lacy knit stitch pattern, so I made a small blanket for a doll. The instructions for this knit stitch pattern are also in the latest issue of Knit 1-2-3 magazine, but it’s a full-size afghan in the magazine.

I’m having a blast with my knitting! I’m currently designing a knitted man’s scarf and I’d like to become a knitting tech editor when I know more about knitting (and can read the patterns comfortably, too). I love the look of knitting and now I can truly call myself “bi-stitchual” or “bi-textural” (that’s someone who can crochet and knit!).

I love knowing how to knit with 2 needles now. I know that it will open up a lot of extra possibilities for me in what I can create. I can add knitted ribbing to my crochet garments or a crocheted edging to my knitting projects! I look forward to the knitting journey ahead and all of the fun of learning something new!!!

If you know how to crochet and knit, in what ways do you enjoy using knitting and crocheting together?

Happy crocheting (and knitting),

Susan

February 28, 2013February 28, 2013

March: National Crochet Month and Blog Tour

Locomotive Toy (published in Crochet World magazine, Dec. 2009)

Where did February go? It’s almost March already! And that means National Crochet Month will be starting! Yahoo!!! Do you have plans to do anything “special” for National Crochet Month? I do!

Dragon Ship (published as a web bonus online in Crochet World magazine, Feb. 2011)

There will be a blog tour called “A Tour through Crochet Country” starting tomorrow, March 1^st, and running every day in March on Crochetville. Each of the 31 days in March, 1 or 2 crochet designers from the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) will be blogging about crochet. Most of the crochet designers live in the US, but there is at least one designer taking part in the blog tour who lives outside the US (in Australia). Go here to see the list of designers and the schedule for the day each one is participating in the blog tour. There will be some really fantastic crochet designers participating; some you may not know yet! I’ll be blogging on March 26^th for this blog tour. It should be a blast!!! I can’t wait! I’m sure we’ll all learn something new about crochet or about some of our favorite crochet designers. I hope you enjoy this blog tour and have a wonderful “National Crochet Month”!!!

Stay tuned for the announcement of the winner in my Wiggly Crochet Dishcloths giveaway tomorrow morning! Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog this month! I really enjoy the feedback!

Happy crocheting,

Susan