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:
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:
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
Thank you so much!!! Now I know what type of crocheting I will be working on this spring!
I crochet all the time, it is my passion. Irish Crochet is on my crochet bucket list. I have yet to dive into this type of creativity because the vintage patterns are so intimidating. I am so looking forward to getting my hands on Kathryn’s book!
I’ve been meaning to try Irish crochet. Kathy’s book would be just the thing to get me started. Such lovely motifs!
Everyone who has commented is entered in the giveaway. Good luck to each and every one of you. I wish I had a signed copy for everyone! I know you’ll all love this book and the newly written patterns for Irish crochet that are easy to understand. Thank you for your kind words about my work (and Kathryn’s work). We both love to design crochet projects!
I have always admired Irish Crochet but have never tried it, it looked very difficult. I see that you have successfully completed a piece and it is beautiful. I think I would like to try attempting this, since you say that her directions are clear and easy to follow. Please enter me in this book give-away, thank you.
Seeing as we have the same first name and are both avid crocheters, I should strongly be considered for this book! 😀
I am so excited to see books on Irish crochet being published. As stated by other websites reviewing this book, it is super frustrating trying to decipher antique patterns. :/ UGH! I’m stoked to see that someone else is doing the hard work, so I can just enjoy creating the beautiful motifs.
I am being married in October of this year… I have considered doing an Irish crochet shrug. If you haven’t seen antique Irish crochet bridal items… check out the plethora of images on Pinterest. It is heaven.
Kathy’s new book is as beautiful as she is “inside and out!” LOVE IT and so timely for my future development right now! Congratulations Kathy and of course would love to have a signed original from you. Thank you Susan, I love following what you both are up to!
Biggest hugs,
Pamela
Pamela’s Patterns
I have an umbrella frame with 16 spokes that would look lovely covered in Irish Crochet. The book would bring me much closer to starting the parasole.
I’ve done lots of lace edging and insertion crochet, but haven’t actually done Irish Crochet. This book looks like a wonderful introduction!
The book looks just beautiful! I would love to try making some of these motifs in yarn. My vision isn’t good enough to do much thread work.
I love Irish crochet. I have tried my hand at it using books from Dover press. Since it is written for English crocheter, I had to translate the terms U.S. crochet terms. I am really excited about this book and am hoping it will help me to learn more about this exquisite art form. I love Kathryn’s designs and so many of them include little irish crochet motifs. I plan on purchasing this book to add to my library of reference materials.
My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was 12, almost 40 years ago. I crochet a lot, worsted, thread and wool felting. After visiting Ireland last year, I’m really excited to try Irish crochet. Please enter me in the book giveaway.
A few years ago, I had the chance to tour a heritage museum in Ireland. It was eye-opening to learn in great detail what the potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century did to that country and the long-lasting implications of that tragic era. Since then, I’ve been drawn to all things authentically Irish, particularly the handwork that women took on to try to earn a little money in that impoverished country. It was fascinating to learn that in one form of Irish crochet the hook was actually a sewing needle with a broken eye. How’s that for ingenuity and desperation. I’d love to add Kathryn White’s Irish Crochet book to my assortment of craft publications and to try my hand (and conventional hook) at these time-honored techniques. Thanks!
This is just gorgeous. I have always envied the beautiful lace. I may have to give it a try. This book would make a wonderful birthday gift. (Jan 18) 🙂
I love Irish crochet. Have done a bit for a ren faire costume, but could have really used these patterns! 🙂 I would love to re-do it with some of the prettier lace shown in this book. Wonderful!
This looks amazing. I would love to extend my crocheting skills with learning Irish Crochet
I love her work. And she is an awesome person. I’ve never met her but I’ve chatted with her on the internet. I will be buying this book because I’ve always wanted to master the padding and Irish crochet intricasies . I love to learn vintage crochet and Kathy is the best.
This book looks so interesting, I can make Irish roses and would love to be able to make much more. The book looks so fun and interesting.
This is so pretty! Like you, I wish I had more time for crocheting the finer things. I barely have time for regular crochet. One thing I like to do in regular crochet is make patterns with cables in them.
This is a beautiful book! I just love Irish crochet! I am a beginner at it and would just love to have this book as encouragement to greatly improve my skills. I crochet quite a bit with regular worsted yarn and love to make items for friends and family. Irish crochet techniques are so flowing and lyrical. One of my favorite things to do is make outfits for dolls to give to children. Have a beautiful day!