The Crochet Architect

February 27, 2016February 27, 2016

Book Review & Giveaway: Fair Isle Tunisian Crochet

Do you love Tunisian Crochet? Have you ever tried it? It’s a really fun crochet technique! I’ve been doing Tunisian Crochet for many years now and I always enjoy the rhythm of working the stitches on and off the hook! I also enjoy finding new Tunisian Crochet patterns. One of my designer friends, Brenda Bourg, has a new crochet book out called “Fair Isle Tunisian Crochet”. It’s a fabulous book! If you’re not sure what “Fair Isle” is, it’s a technique where you change yarn colors across the rows to make a certain design, like a snowflake. There are some other techniques for changing colors across the rows, such as Tapestry crochet. But unlike Tapestry Crochet, Fair Isle doesn’t involve working over the unused color. The unused color is just carried across the wrong side of the work until it’s needed again. Anyway, here’s a photo of the cover of Brenda’s new book:

Brenda is a fabulous designer, as well as a really sweet person! She even mentioned me, along with many other crochet designers, on the acknowledgements page of her book! Now that’s really nice!

There are 16 projects in Brenda’s book: 2 boot cuffs, 1 jar cozy, 1 bag, 3 headbands, 3 cowls, 2 mitts, 2 sweaters and 2 afghans. Each project includes written instructions, as well as a color chart. The projects look like they’re knitted because Brenda has worked them in the Tunisian Knit Stitch and the Tunisian Purl Stitch. If you’ve never done these stitches before, don’t despair! Brenda has included complete instructions in the front of the book along with color step-by-step photos explaining how to work the Tunisian Knit Stitch, the Tunisian Purl Stitch, the Tunisian Seed Stitch, increasing, ribbing, the foundation row and binding off. Almost all of the projects in the book have no shaping, except for a little on the 2 sweaters.

Here are my favorite projects in Brenda’s book:

The Ivana Mitts look really nice and don’t look too hard to make. They’re made in flat rows, then the right and left edges are seamed, leaving a hole for the thumb.

I absolutely LOVE the Annabel Bag! I love the striking contrast between the black and the multi-colored yarn (it’s Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable, which is one of my favorite yarns!). At 16″ wide x 14 1/2″ long, the bag is a nice size to use for crochet/knit projects!

The Cora Sweater has a really nice all over snowflake-like pattern to it. It looks super comfy and I can imagine wearing it with lots of outfits!

I LOVE the Elisha Afghan! It looks like it could be made in joined squares, but it’s worked in 1 piece, eliminating the need for seaming. I love the colors in this afghan and the snowflake design, too!

This is just a sampling of the projects in Brenda’s book. To see all the projects in this book, check it out on Ravelry here.

If you’d like to order this book, check it out on Amazon here.

The book retails for $21.95. It has 16 projects on 112 pages with lots of color throughout.

Now for the fun part! The publisher has graciously agreed to let me give a copy of the book away on my blog! If you live in the US and would like to win a FREE copy of Brenda’s new “Fair Isle Tunisian Crochet” book, just leave a comment below and you’ll be in the running! And if you’re subscribed to my blog, you’ll get 2 entries in the book giveaway! I’ll pick and announce the lucky winner at random on Tuesday, March 1^st. So stay tuned to hear who wins!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this book review. Good luck everyone!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

February 12, 2016

The Crochet Express Blog Tour

Did you realize that next month (March) is National Crochet Month? Who doesn’t love a celebration! I certainly do! For the 4th year in a row, I’m taking part in the #natcromo Crochet Express blog tour. I can’t wait to see all of the fun, freebies and discounts that will be happening next month!

Over 90 crochet designers will be featured in this year’s blog tour, along with yarn companies, crochet-friendly yarn stores and daily giveaways. That sounds like so much fun!!!

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

My date in this year’s blog tour is March 7th, so be sure to check out my blog post on that date. To celebrate National Crochet Month, I’ll be giving you 2 fabulous offers next month! Starting on March 7 and running until March 31, I’m offering a FREE pattern, my new “Luck o’ the Irish Scarf” design (no code needed) AND I’m giving a 25% discount on all crochet patterns on my website with a special coupon code that I’ll give you on March 7th.

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

Come ride the Crochet Express with me and celebrate all that is crochet!

Happy crocheting,

Susan Lowman

February 5, 2016

Landscapes Cowl – 1 Skein Project

Last year at the CGOA Conference, I received 1 skein of Lion Brand Landscapes yarn in my goodie bag. When I saw the yarn, I instantly fell in love with the beautiful colors! I knew I wanted to design something with it, but what can a crocheter make with only 1 skein of yarn? It’s not enough for a garment or an afghan, so I decided to design an accessory to show off the gorgeous colors in this yarn.

One of my favorite accessories to design, crochet and wear is cowls. Adding a cowl to an outfit can really dress it up with very little effort! And if the cowl is long enough, you can decide if you want to wear the cowl long or doubled up.

So without further ado, here is my newest pattern, the Landscapes Cowl:

Aren’t the colors in this yarn gorgeous? I think so!

For this cowl design, I used an easy stitch pattern (so the colors of the yarn would grab a person’s attention, not fight with a complex stitch pattern)! This cowl pattern has a 2 row repeat, making it easy to memorize and quick to stitch. I used 1 skein for my small cowl in these photos (5 1/2″ wide x 48″ circumference), but you could use 2 skeins for a wider and longer cowl (the pattern includes instructions for a large size of 8″ wide x 60″ circumference). Either way, it’s an economical project to crochet with only 1 or 2 skeins of yarn! And since I love symbol crochet charts, I made a chart for each size of the cowl (the charts are included in the pattern).

I’m curious! Have you had the pleasure of crocheting with Lion Brand Landscapes yarn? If so, how do you like it? Are you in love with the colors, like me? The color I used was #204 Desert Spring. But there are lots of other really pretty colors in this yarn. You can see all of the colors available in Landscapes yarn on the Lion Brand website here. There are solid colors, as well as self-striping colors, like the one I used in my cowl. This yarn is worsted weight, 100% acrylic and has 147 yards in each skein.

I seem to really be drawn to self-striping yarns these days! They’re so pretty! And the changes in colors help to keep my interest in the project, especially when the stitch pattern is easy! Since the projects made from self-striping yarns have lots of different colors in them, you can wear the items you crochet from them with lots of different outfits!

I hope you’ll give self-striping yarn, like Lion Brand Landscapes, a try soon. You won’t regret it! And if you enjoy easy-to-stitch projects where the yarn does all the work (well, most of the work), check out my Landscapes Cowl pattern here. It’s only $4.95 for the full pattern, including symbol crochet charts. You can crochet as many of these cowls with the pattern as you’d like!

As always, if you have a question about one of my patterns, I’m just an e-mail away! I’m more than happy to help YOU be successful with your crochet projects made from my crochet patterns! And if you’d like to join my group on Ravelry to discuss my crochet patterns, to ask a question about one of them or to join in a CAL (crochet-along), I’d love to have you join us! You can find my Ravelry group here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan

P.S. If you’d like to follow my blog, simply enter your e-mail address in the “subscribe to blog via email” spot near the top, right-hand corner of this page. I plan to bring you more interesting crochet content/patterns this year and for many years to come!

January 29, 2016January 29, 2016

The Art of Patience!

What is it about patience that seems so elusive sometimes? Many people have told me that I’m a patient person. And that’s “somewhat” true. I’m usually patient when I’m teaching a crochet class. However, I’m not patient about everything! Take last Monday, for example.

On Monday, I had to return a DVD to the library because I had already renewed it 3 times! Obviously, I am a HUGE procrastinator! But that’s a subject for another day! (Note: I asked my husband to read this blog post and he said I should tell you about another library book that I renewed 3 times. I never really finished reading the whole book. And the subject of the book: procrastination, of course!).

Anyway, I wanted to watch the DVD before I returned it. When I went to play the DVD on my laptop, I didn’t have a program to play DVDs on my laptop anymore (my husband had changed the hard drive on my laptop to help it run faster and he didn’t download a program to play DVDs on my laptop after the installation, so it wasn’t there)! Now I’m NOT an electronic person (ask anyone who knows me well and they’ll agree). In fact, I call myself “electronically challenged”! I’m not as bad as some people when it comes to electronics, but I have a LONG way to go to be comfortable with them all the time. I can do lots of things on my laptop, like type my crochet/knit patterns, download and manipulate digital photos, create symbol crochet charts, create knitting charts and more! I even have a smart phone now that doesn’t scare me too much! So I’m not a total imbecile with electronics! They’re just not always my friends. And I get frustrated with them easily, unlike my husband, who is an electronic genius!!!

A few minutes after I realized that I didn’t have a program on my laptop to play the DVD, my husband called. He tried to talk me through downloading the program to play the DVD, but I clicked on the wrong “download” button and something else was starting to download instead! Also, the internet went down (I can’t remember if it was before or after trying to download the program). He talked me through unplugging the power to the modem and plugging it back in (and telling him which lights were flashing so he’d know if there was a big problem or if it was just resetting itself). Is this starting to sound like an “I Love Lucy” episode? Wait, it gets better!

After closing the window where the “other” program was downloading, my husband suggested that I watch the DVD on the TV. Well, you have to realize that I’m much more comfortable with the “old-fashioned” TV and DVD set up (where you push the power button and play button on the device itself), not the complicated set up that we have now! There are 6 remote controls in our living room! That’s right, 6!!! Some of them are labeled, but I am NOT the person who uses them in the evening, that’s my techie husband (I just sit happily crocheting and/or knitting and look up at the TV sometimes when the show gets good)! So I’m not familiar with what each remote actually controls. There’s the TV, the receiver and the DVD player (and possibly more that I don’t know about and frankly, don’t care about!). We also have DirecTV, which is a whole ‘nother ball game, especially for this wife who doesn’t usually even touch the remote controls (unless I’m straightening up or cleaning), much less USE them!

So imagine an episode of “I Love Lucy” when Ricky is trying to get Lucy to understand how to do something. Do you have that image in your mind? Good. Obviously, I’m Lucy and my husband is Ricky. He’s trying to tell me (over the phone) which remote control to use and which button to push on each remote control. There’s a certain progression of which electronic to turn on first and sometimes you have to push a button on the right remote control to change the control to the specific electronic element that you want to control! I told you it was complicated, especially for those of us who are “electronically challenged”! Well, the story has a good outcome and he talked me through everything I needed to do with the TV, DVD player and receiver in order to watch the DVD before having to return it. The DVD was Doris Chan’s video from Interweave Crochet. The subject was crocheting a garment from the top down, which I’ve done before, but I wanted to learn more from the “master” of top down garments, Doris Chan! And I finally found the “right” button to push to control the volume (each remote control has a volume button or two, but none of them was working for me until I used the “right” one!). If you’d like more information on Doris’ crochet video, you can see it here. The video is available in DVD format, regular video download or high definition video download.

Well, what does this story have to do with crocheting and knitting? Here’s my take on it…

When you’re new to learning something (whether it’s a skill like crocheting/knitting or using remote controls for electronics), you NEED to have patience with yourself. Obviously, I didn’t have much patience with myself and was totally frustrated (which my puppy picked up on right away, making my frustration worse!). It’s funny how I usually have patience with myself when I’m learning something new in the fiber realm (crocheting and knitting), but I have little patience when it comes to learning electronics! But I AM improving, since a year or two ago, I never wanted to have a smart phone and here I am with one now! Sometimes I’m patient when I’m learning something new on my smart phone and other times I’m not. But at least I’m learning and not shying away from it. Now if I can just learn to use the remote controls for the TV, receiver and DVD player (until my husband reconfigures the electronics once again and it’ll all change!).

So how much patience do you have with yourself when you’re learning something new? Are you like me, trying to learn something about electronics and getting frustrated with it? Or do you have patience with yourself when learning a new crochet/knit technique (or learning to crochet or knit for the first time)? Like most things in life, having patience with yourself (and others) is something we should all strive to have more of each day. I fell flat on my face on Monday, but each day is a new day and I’m striving to do much better!

It’s funny how being stressed out and frustrated can affect other people (and animals), too. Our puppy, Maggie, did something on Monday afternoon while I was at my weekly knit/crochet group at the library. She decided that her bed was a chew toy and chewed up about half of it. I came home to pieces of foam and fluff all over the living room floor! It was a big mess! About 10 minutes later, my husband came home and we both cleaned it up (I waited on cleaning it up so he could see what a mess our “cute little puppy” had made)! Well, the bed may not be a total loss, but it definitely won’t be the same as it was before she chewed the hole in it and removed half of the stuffing! We were both ready to spit nails (again)! The rest of this week, Maggie has been happy and hasn’t chewed up anything else, I think because I haven’t gotten that stressed out again!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this true life story and you’re encouraged to be more patient with yourself, especially when you’re learning something new (whether it be electronics or fiber/crochet/knit)!

Are you electronically challenged (like me), an electronic guru/genius (like my husband), or somewhere in between?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

January 22, 2016January 22, 2016

I Love Textural Crochet!

I love learning new crochet techniques and stitches, don’t you? Earlier this month, I watched a new Craftsy class called “Fun & Fantastic Textured Crochet Stitches” by Beth Graham. I think this is a really nice class, especially for those who don’t know some of the textured crochet stitches out there, like front and back post dc and tr, bobbles, puffs, popcorns and lots more. I know how to do most of these stitches, but I learned a few new things myself from the class!

When I first started watching the class, my first impression was that Beth portrayed enthusiasm and knowledge! She remained enthusiastic and knowledgeable throughout the class. I’ve never met Beth in person, but we’ve corresponded through e-mails and social media for a few years. She’s actually married to one of my cousins in Canada! One of these years, we must meet in person!!! In her Craftsy video class, Beth is patient and explains everything she’s doing. She shares lots of great tips on how to make your projects more successful, too!

Like most Craftsy classes, there are 7 lessons in this class. Beth teaches 16 stitches, or variations of stitches. The basic stitch categories are: Effortless Texture, Puff Stitches, Bobble Stitches, Popcorn Stitches, Post Stitches and Elaborate Texture. Beth starts with the easiest textural stitches at the beginning of the video and ends with the most complex textural stitches. In the class, Beth demonstrates where to insert your hook to create each of these textured stitches, like working in the front or back loop, around the post of the stitch, in the chain spaces, in the back bump of the foundation chain and more.

Every textural stitch that Beth demonstrates has a stitch sampler square pattern included in the class. You can have fun practicing these stitches while making each 7 ½” square and join them all together when you’re done to make an afghan, if you wish. Or you can make dishcloths out of some of them. But either way, it’s nice to practice on something this small instead of committing to a large project, especially when learning something new!

I found a few stitches in the video that Beth called a different name than I do. But that’s fine because they’re worked the same way! As in most crochet projects and instructions, the same stitch can be called something else, depending on the person who’s naming it or what book it’s in. Several years ago, I learned the “berry stitch” from the “365 Crochet Stitches a Year” calendar by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. I noticed that Beth calls this stitch a “picot sc”. So I did a little research online and found that Tamara Kelly of Moogly also calls this a “picot sc”. No matter what you call a certain stitch, it’s great to know lots of crochet stitches and be able to use them to their best advantage!

Playful Textures Cowl — Playful Textures Scarf & Cowl

Once you’ve mastered the textured stitches in the class, you’ll probably want to crochet the class project, which is the Playful Textures Scarf & Cowl. I love this project! It has such nice textures and is symmetrical, which appeals to me! The scarf and cowl are crocheted the same, but if you want yours to be a cowl instead of a scarf, then you’ll seam the 2 short edges together.

For more information about this class, check it out on the Craftsy website here. The class is regularly $29.99, but it looks like it’s discounted to $19.99 today! I think it’s a bargain at either price!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of this new Craftsy crochet class and that you’re inspired to learn more in 2016!

What crochet techniques do you want to learn this year?

Until next time…

Happy crocheting,

Susan

January 15, 2016

Book Review & Designer Interview: Cold Weather Crochet by Marly Bird

If you’re like me, crocheting accessories to keep me warm (and to give as gifts) is really enjoyable (and the projects are very useful, too!). I love crocheting scarves, shawls, cowls and lots more! Scarves and cowls are great, quick projects to make and to give as gifts to almost anyone on your gift giving list!

There’s a new crochet book by Marly Bird called “Cold Weather Crochet: 21 Cozy Garments, Accessories, and Afghans to Keep You Warm”. This book has a great assortment of patterns: 6 hats/caps, 3 cowls, 4 scarves, 2 shawls/wraps, 3 afghans/blankets, 1 mitt, 1 slipper and 1 sock pattern. The projects range from beginner to intermediate, so there’s something for everyone’s skill level. Most of the projects are for women, but there are a few hats for men in the book, as well!

Here’s an excerpt from Marly’s new book:

“Whether you live somewhere cold or with someone who just loves to crank the air-conditioning, my goal is to give you patterns and pieces that you know that you can crochet and enjoy,” muses Marly. “Many of the pieces seem to defy the seasons. Once you finish your piece, you can revel in the fact that YOU made the item that’s keeping you warm.”

Some of my favorite projects in Marly’s new book are:

This is the Lace Motif Wrap. I LOVE the laciness of this wrap! It has a ruffled edging that gives it a little more weight and helps to open up the lace motifs while wearing it.

These are the Thrummed Slippers. The slipper on the front, right is shown inside out so you can see how much added warmth and cushioning the thrumming gives the slippers. The slipper in the back, left shows how the slippers look when worn. Here’s another photo of these slippers:

Aren’t they cute? Knitters have done thrumming for a long time and I think it’s genius that Marly has designed a pair of thrummed crochet slippers! I HAVE to give these a try!

This is the Cross Creek Hat. Obviously, it’s made for a man (at least that’s how it’s shown in the book), but I bet it would look equally as good on a woman! I LOVE the design that’s made at the top of the hat and the texture around the sides of the hat! This one looks like a lot of fun to make and wear!

This is the African Flower Afghan. I LOVE the colors that Marly used in this afghan! And the African Flower motif is a really pretty motif!

This is the Slouchy Hat. I LOVE the laciness of this hat! And the color is gorgeous, too!

I met Marly at a CGOA Conference. She’s a dynamic lady with lots of talent and energy! I’d like for you to get to know her, too. Here’s a little interview I did with Marly:

Susan: How long have you been crocheting? How did you learn to crochet or who taught you to crochet?

Marly: I’ve been crocheting since 1999. I learned from my grandmother.

Susan: What is your favorite type of item to crochet?

Marly: My favorite things to design are sweaters but I enjoy crocheting accessories because they are fast and I get to play around with stitches and color without a lot of commitment.

Susan: Do you have any favorite crochet techniques that you enjoy?

Marly: I love learning new techniques. I just taught myself how to do Interlocking Crochet (I am calling it interwoven as Interlocking is a trademarked term). I love the look of it and it is entirely new to me.

Susan: How do you manage to juggle all of your job titles and family life?

Marly: Ha! First, God Bless you for thinking I am juggling well 🙂 I always feel like that circus performer who is spinning plates on a stick and when one is about to fall I haul butt over to it so it keeps spinning! LOL. Honestly, managing my time is the hardest thing I do but I have a great deal of help from my social media medusa, Tammy Burke; my contract knitters/crocheters, Marly’s Minions; and my family…who pick up the slack when mommy is on a deadline or traveling for work 🙂

I hope you’ve enjoyed this book review of “Cold Weather Crochet” and interview of the book’s author, Marly Bird. This 128 page book is published by Interweave/F&W and retails for $22.99.

For more information and to purchase this book, check it out on the Interweave website here.

The book is also available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle edition here.

Happy crocheting,

Susan Lowman

January 6, 2016

Filet Heart Coaster CAL

Are you familiar with CALs (crochet-a-longs)? CALs are organized groups of crocheters who often crochet the same project at the same time, kind of like a group of people crocheting together in person! However, many CALs are held through cyber-space instead of in person! Some CALs are held for a specified length of time and some are ongoing. But one thing that is common to all CALs is encouraging each other and helping each other with our projects. Questions are very common about what yarn/thread to use, the pattern and more. There’s lots of sharing going on in CALs, too. KALs are much like CALs, except KALs pertain to knit patterns, not crochet patterns.

If you read last week’s blog post, you’ll know that I started a Ravelry group as one of my New Year’s resolutions. In that new group, I’m holding my very first CAL (in time for Valentine’s Day!). Around 10 Ravelry group members will be crocheting my Filet Heart Coaster pattern, starting next week and running until Feb. 14. And I’ll be there to answer any questions that may arise while these participants are crocheting their coaster(s). This coaster is crocheted in the filet crochet technique and has 2 layers for added absorbency. If you would like to learn to do filet crochet, this is your chance! I’m discounting the cost of this pattern by 50% for CAL participants, too. So for less than $2, YOU can learn to do filet crochet!

I’ll be crocheting along with the other group members. I decided to make my coaster larger with some Omega Sinfonia yarn instead of using size 10 crochet thread. It’ll be interesting to see what size it turns out! I think it’ll be potholder/hot pad size, which will be nice!

If you’d like to join my Ravelry group and participate in this CAL, I’d love to have you join us! You can find the group on Ravelry here. Why not take the first step and learn your first crochet technique this year?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

December 30, 2015

4 Crochet Resolutions for 2016

Who doesn’t love the new year? It’s a chance to start afresh and take a look at what’s important in life. I love to make goals for myself, even if I don’t achieve all of them! At least I’m moving in the right direction! Here are my 4 business goals for 2016:

Film some crochet videos and start a YouTube channel. I’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time, but never seem to make it a priority, so I haven’t even started on this goal. But I hope that 2016 will be different and that I’ll take the plunge into filming some crochet videos for others to enjoy and learn from to help increase crochet knowledge and skills throughout the world! I love to share my crochet knowledge with others and to encourage them, so this is a good way to do that (in addition to teaching classes in person)!

Publish 12 new crochet/knitting patterns. This is a big goal for me because my track record on self-publishing patterns isn’t this high! I only published 9 patterns last year and 4 this year (this year was hard because of the loss of my brother, getting a new puppy and taking a 2 1/2 week trip to China to visit our son and DIL). But I’m aiming to make this goal a reality by taking good photos of these 12 projects this weekend so I’ll be one step closer to achieving this goal! I have at least 12 new crochet/knitting patterns that are almost done, so I should be able to meet this goal (and possibly exceed it).

Blog weekly. Wow! This goal is also a big one for me because I have fallen short of this many times! But at least I get back up on the horse (or the blog) to try again! I will try a few different ways to schedule blogging into my life and see which one works best to stay on track with this one! Obviously blogging when I feel like it is NOT working! My emotions are way too fickle and I fall into slumps quite often!

Start and run a Ravelry group. This one is actually already started/done! Yesterday, I started a group on Ravelry to discuss my crochet and/or knitting patterns (and crochet in general)! And I have some friends who have already joined! Woohoo!!! I’ve had this goal for at least a year and I decided to stop putting it off. In the words of Shia LaBeouf, “JUST DO IT”!!! If you’d like to join this Ravelry group to ask questions about my crochet/knit designs or to simply discuss crocheting, you can find the group here.

I also have some personal crochet/knitting goals for 2016. I want to learn to do mosaic crochet in the round and brioche knitting next year. I have the books for both of these techniques, so I just need to make the time to learn them. I already know how to do mosaic crochet in rows, but not in rounds. I love teaching this technique because it’s so fascinating to see the design start to emerge with each new row that’s worked! Here’s a photo of a mosaic crochet project:

This is my mosaic crochet scarf pattern. This scarf is worked in rows with no ends to weave in because the ends are all turned into fringe when you’re done crocheting it! Mosaic crochet is worked with only 1 color of yarn in each row, so you don’t have to change colors across the rows. I LOVE this technique because I LOVE geometric patterns and it’s really fun to do! Here’s a photo of the mosaic crochet project worked in rounds that I want to learn to do in 2016:

This afghan is called “Sudoku” and the pattern is found in a leaflet called “Herrschners 2014 National Afghan Contest Winners Crochet Afghans”. You can find that leaflet for sale on the Herrschners website here. They also sell a kit to make the afghan here. I don’t know if I’ll take the time to make the whole afghan, but I’d like to make a few of the squares to learn how to do mosaic crochet in the round instead of in rows! The square in the center of the afghan looks the most interesting to me!

If you’re not familiar with Brioche knitting, it creates a thick knitted fabric that looks so intriguing! I have a book on Brioche knitting, as well as on the Twigg Stitch, which is Brioche knitting “on steroids”, as far as I’m concerned! Both of these knitting techniques should provide a good challenge, but I need to make sure that I’m having a good thinking day and not too many distractions to learn them (they seem intense to me as a fairly new knitter)!

So there you have it! I may change some of these goals throughout the year and possibly add to them, but at least I have a “plan of action” to move forward instead of stagnating!

What are some of YOUR crochet goals/resolutions for 2016? What new crochet and/or knitting techniques do YOU want to learn next year?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

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