The Crochet Architect

March 15, 2016

Announcing 2016 CGOA Conference Classes

Don’t you just love learning new crochet stitches and techniques? I do! And I love teaching others new stitches and techniques, too. I love to encourage others and help them succeed with crochet techniques that may be too confusing to learn through the internet or books. There’s nothing quite like learning something new “in person” from a “real life” teacher!

Well, the class listings are up on the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) website now and I’m very excited to be teaching 5 classes at the CGOA Conference again this year! This year’s conference will be held from July 13 – 16 at the Embassy Suites in North Charleston, SC. I hope you’ll consider attending the conference this year and learning some new crochet techniques from some fabulous teachers!

The 5 classes I’ll be teaching this year are:

Let’s Get Writing on Thursday, July 14 from 9 AM – 5 PM (with lunch from noon – 2 PM)

Playful Polish Stars on Friday, July 15 from 9 AM – noon

Intermeshing on Friday, July 15 from 2 – 5 PM

Intro to Irish Crochet on Saturday, July 16 from 9 AM – noon

Simplifying Symbol Crochet on Saturday, July 16 from 2 – 5 PM

In my 6 hour Let’s Get Writing class, I’ll teach my students how to write their own crochet patterns like a pro! This class is perfect for beginning designers or anyone who would like to learn to write crochet patterns. We’ll go over everything that you’ll need to include in your patterns and you’ll even start writing your first pattern in class! I’ve been writing crochet patterns for close to 20 years now and tech editing patterns for over 11 years. Wow! Where does the time go? I really enjoy teaching others what I’ve learned to help them be successful! It’s a lot of fun to see new designers spread their wings and sell their first crochet design!!! ALL crochet designers were beginning designers at some point in their lives! I wish there had been a class like this when I was a beginning designer!

In my Playful Polish Stars class, I’ll teach my students several ways to crochet their Polish Stars: the “traditional” way and my “new, improved” way. Then we’ll weave the chain loops “correctly” to see the stars take shape before our eyes! Polish Stars may look complicated, but once you know how to make them, they’re a lot of fun!

In my Intermeshing class, I’ll teach my students how to crochet 2 layers of intertwined fabric with 2 contrasting colors of yarn. The intermeshing technique is wonderful because you get 2 different designs: one on each side of the fabric. I LOVE this technique and I enjoy teaching others to do intermeshing, as well. As you can see by the photo above, the right side and wrong side are completely different! If you’ve always wanted to learn intermeshing, now is the time! This is the same technique that’s in Tanis Galik’s book, “Interlocking Crochet”. I just have a little difference at the beginning of my pieces than Tanis has, which I like better!

In my Intro to Irish Crochet class, I’ll teach the basics of Irish Crochet, from crocheting the Irish Rose and Leaves to adding the mesh background and the edging to your Irish Crochet piece. We’ll be making the Irish Crochet piece above that I designed last year when I taught this class at the Annie’s Craft Festival. I really enjoyed teaching that class and my students were so eager to learn this crochet technique. I even learned some things from them (which isn’t that uncommon)! It’s great to learn things together!

In my Simplifying Symbol Crochet class, I’ll teach my students how to read and follow symbol crochet charts, which are much easier than following a written crochet pattern. We’ll read and follow charts for projects in rows and in rounds in this class. Once you can read and follow a symbol crochet chart, you’ll be able to make anything you want, even Japanese, Russian, Ukrainian or Spanish crochet patterns, without having any knowledge of the language! Above are some of the many crochet symbols that you’ll learn in the class.

To read about all of the crochet classes at this year’s conference, check out this page on the CGOA website.

If you’ve never been to a CGOA Conference (aka: Chain Link Conference or Knit & Crochet Show) before, you don’t know what you’re missing! It’s a fabulous time to meet other crochet enthusiasts. You’ll learn more crochet techniques and stitches to further your crochet skills and knowledge at the conference and come away with many new friendships to last a lifetime! If you’re not a CGOA member, there’s no time like the present to join! Just go to the CGOA website and check out everything that CGOA has to offer! It’s wonderful to belong to an organization that is dedicated to furthering the art of crochet!

If you’re already a CGOA member and you’ve attended the conference before, what did you like most about it?

Happy crocheting,

Susan

March 7, 2016April 1, 2016

Celebrating National Crochet Month!

Welcome to The Crochet Architect website. Isn’t National Crochet Month wonderful? It’s great to celebrate a month each year full of crochet goodness!!!

As you can see from my ticket above, today is my day to blog during the Crochetville National Crochet Month Blog Tour.

If we haven’t met, yet, my name is Susan Lowman. I’ve been crocheting since I was a teenager, back in the 70’s! I love to create anything with my hands, as I’m sure you do, too. I’ve done lots of crafts throughout my life (many since I was a child), including counted cross stitch, tatting, paper crafts and wood crafts, but I always come back to crochet! I’ve been designing crochet patterns since 1999 and I’ve been a member of CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) since 2002. I was on the CGOA Board of Directors for 3 1/2 years and I served as co-chair of the CGOA Masters program, as well as a CGOA Masters Senior Portfolio Reviewer for 3-4 years. For more information about CGOA and the CGOA Masters program, check out their website here.

I also love to teach crochet whenever I get the chance. I’ve taught at many CGOA Conferences and at last year’s Annie’s Craft Festival. I’ll be teaching again at this year’s CGOA Conference in Charleston, SC in July! The conference details should be up on the Knit and Crochet Show website sometime this month. You can read about all the classes and events here. TKGA (The Knitting Guild Association) has their conference at the same time, so you can take crochet and/or knitting classes at the conference! It’s so fun to meet other crochet enthusiasts and to share my love of crochet with them at the conference! I’d love to have you in any of my crochet classes and get to know you. If you ever feel like you’re the only crocheter around, the conference is a breath of fresh air where we all speak the “language of crochet”! It’s a great time to meet other crochet enthusiasts and to make new friends!

In the past, I did a lot of technical editing of crochet patterns before they’re published (to find and fix the errors). One of the companies/magazines that I worked for was Crochet Today magazine. I enjoyed working for them for almost 6 years and helping that magazine be successful. Unfortunately, Crochet Today was cancelled 2 or 3 years ago (boohoo!). I haven’t done much technical editing lately because I’m focusing on self-publishing my designs now and not being quite as busy as I was in past years (to reduce the amount of stress in my life and live healthier).

I have plans to start recording some crochet videos this year, too! If there is a particular crochet stitch or technique that you’d like to learn, please let me know and I’ll add it to my list of videos to make. I love watching crochet and knitting videos to learn new techniques, whether they’re paid or free videos. Speaking of paid videos, I have 2 crochet videos with Annie’s. They’re “Learn to Crochet with Thread” and “Beginner’s First Doily”. Thread crochet is very enjoyable for me (and for lots of other crocheters I know). I LOVE to crochet doilies! I think it’s because the stitch pattern changes in just about every round, which helps keep my interest and challenges me! Don’t get me wrong. Plain stitch patterns (aka: mindless crochet projects) have their place, but unless I’m watching TV or attending a local crochet group, I like to have a challenge! And doilies come out so nice after they’re blocked. It’s almost like they transform into something even more beautiful! I’ve probably crocheted over 100 doilies in my life (maybe even more than 200 doilies)!

Anyway, enough about me! This is National Crochet Month (yahoo!). To celebrate, I have 2 special offers for YOU for the rest of this month (March 7 – 31).

First, I have a new FREE crochet pattern for you as a “thank you” for visiting my blog. It’s my Luck o’ the Irish Scarf. It’s free for the rest of this month. After that, it’ll be $3.95.

This scarf is made with one skein of Caron Simply Soft yarn. I’m not sure of the exact shade of green that I used because it came straight from the Caron office/factory years ago when I was designing my Majestic Butterfly Afghan (you can see that afghan on Ravelry here). Some of the skeins of Simply Soft had yarn labels on them and others didn’t, so I had to guess what colors they were! The shade of green that I think I used in this scarf was discontinued since then! Anyway, you can use whatever shade of green (or even another color) to make your scarf.

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

The stitch pattern in this scarf is a 4 row repeat, so it’s easy to memorize (especially since every other row is “sc in each st across”!). The pattern includes written instructions and a symbol crochet chart, as well as step-by-step photos for making the 4-dc cross stitch (many of my self-published patterns include symbol crochet charts and step-by-step photos, too). This scarf has a simple sc edging to give it a finished look. I hope you enjoy this free pattern and will share photos of your finished scarves with me when you’re done. If you have any questions about the pattern, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m just a message or e-mail away! I want my customers to be successful with their projects and I’m always happy to answer questions about my patterns.

The 2nd special for the rest of this month is 25% off the price of ALL crochet patterns on my website (with code “NatCroMo2016”). Whether you enjoy crocheting accessories, jewelry or home decor items in filet crochet, wiggly crochet, crochet that looks like tatting, or regular crochet, there’s something for almost everyone in my pattern store. If you haven’t heard of wiggly crochet, I have a wiggly crochet tutorial on my tutorial page to help YOU be successful with wiggly crochet. I love to design and crochet items with lots of color, so please take a look around and take advantage of the sale prices while they last!

I hope you’re enjoying National Crochet Month and the Crochetville Blog Tour. There are many talented designers taking part this year. I trust you’ll find something that will inspire YOU to create a WORK OF ART!!!

To learn more about the festivities, freebies and giveaways going on all this month 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.

If you’d like to follow me on social media, you can find me on Ravelry here. I also have a group on Ravelry to discuss my patterns, hold CAL’s and all kinds of other fun here. I’m holding a CAL for my Crochet Mosaic Scarf this month and I’d love to have you join us in this CAL (or other CAL’s I hold in my Ravelry group).

I look forward to meeting you and sharing our common love of crochet! It’s great to learn from each other and to encourage each other along our crochet journeys!

Happy crocheting,

Susan Lowman

P.S. If you’d like to follow my blog, simply subscribe to my blog with your e-mail address near the top right-hand side of this page. I don’t write blog posts all the time. I aim to post once a week. Sometimes I miss a week for various reasons, but I promise you won’t get inundated with e-mails from my blog posts!

March 2, 2016March 1, 2016

Crocheting on a Budget

Do you love to crochet, but don’t have an unlimited supply of money to buy yarn? If so, you’re going to LOVE these new crochet cowl patterns!

For the past few years, I’ve been drooling over the colors in Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn. In Nov, 2014, I published a new cowl pattern called Unforgettable Ripple Cowl. Well, I’ve had so much fun with this yarn since then that I’ve designed 3 more crochet cowls with this fabulous yarn!

Since each cowl takes just one skein of yarn and the yarn costs around $5 per skein, these cowls are economical projects to crochet, which is what I LOVE! I don’t like to spend lots of money on yarn, so I love it when I find a yarn that gives me lots of “bang for my buck”!!! Now YOU can crochet gorgeous cowls for less than $10 each! These cowls make fabulous gifts for family and friends, too.

So without further ado, here are my One-Skein Cowls:

I am absolutely in LOVE with these cowls! Sometimes I wear them long and sometimes I wear them doubled around my neck for extra warmth (or I go back and forth on the cowl length throughout the day, depending on if I’m having a hot flash or not!). These cowl colors coordinate with so many of my clothes and they really help finish off the look of my outfits! The drape that I get from this yarn is fabulous, too!

I had so much fun with the Unforgettable Trefoil Cowl that I made another one a few weeks ago in a different colorway of the yarn! I LOVE this colorway, too!

Unforgettable Trefoil Cowl alternate colors

Each pattern is available separately for $4.95 or you can get all 4 cowl patterns as an economical set for $11.95 (that’s just under $3 each!). You can find them on our Patterns Page.

Note: If you’ve already purchased the Unforgettable Ripple Cowl pattern and you’d like to purchase the other 3 cowl patterns (the full set of 4 cowl patterns), please send me a message and I’ll e-mail a special discount code to you (upon verification of your previous purchase) to get $4.95 off the set of 4 cowl patterns.

Each pattern comes with 2 photos of the cowl (worn long, or doubled around the neck, as these photos show), plus a close up of the stitch pattern. Each pattern is fully written and includes a symbol crochet chart, too (there are 4 charts in the set of 4 cowls: one for each cowl). Each cowl is worked in rows, then seamed together to form the long loop. Each stitch pattern has a 1, 2 or 4 row repeat, making the patterns easy to memorize. Because this yarn is 100% acrylic and washable, you don’t have to worry about your cowls getting dirty or shrinking! Just gently wash them in a sink of warm water, rinse them and lay them flat to dry.

I realize that winter is almost over, but who says you have to crochet cowls in the wintertime! They’re also fun to make in the summertime (to wear in the wintertime) because they are NOT huge, heavy and hot projects!

I hope you’ll give these crochet cowls a try. I think they’ll become some of your favorite accessories to crochet and wear, just as they are mine!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

March 1, 2016

Giveaway Winner Announced!

Thank you to those of you who entered to win a free copy of Brenda Bourg’s new crochet book, Fair Isle Tunisian Crochet. The winner was chosen this morning. Congratulations to Ruth Ticknor! You’re the lucky winner of Brenda’s wonderful new book! I’ll e-mail you shortly and get your contact information for sending your new book.

Happy National Crochet Month everyone! Don’t forget to follow the Crochetville National Crochet Month Blog Tour with daily giveaways!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

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!!!

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