The Crochet Architect

March 7, 2014March 7, 2014

2014 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’m very excited to be teaching classes at the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference this year! This conference is special because 2014 is the 20^th Anniversary of CGOA!!! This year’s conference will be held from July 23 – 27 at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH, where we’ve had the conference many times before.

The 3 classes I’m teaching are:

1) Tatting the Old-Fashioned Way on Thursday, July 24 from 9 AM – 5 PM

2) Simplifying Symbol Crochet on Friday, July 25 from 9 AM – noon

3) “Faux” Tatting Crochet Necklace on Sunday, July 27 from 9 AM – noon

You read that right, I’m teaching tatting, not crochet for one of my classes! From time to time, we have a few classes that are similar to or related to crochet and knitting, but not crochet or knitting. In 2011, the fall conference was in Greensboro, NC and Maggie Weldon taught a class on lace pottery. I took that class and LOVED it! My pottery didn’t turn out as nice as hers, but I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the class! Since Maggie lives near Greensboro, she took our class projects home the first night of the class and fired them in her kiln. Then she brought them back the next day and we finished them up in the 2^nd half of the class. You can see Maggie’s amazing lace pottery on her website here. I absolutely LOVE her lace pottery!!!

There have been some classes taught at the conference on making buttons from Fimo clay, too. Of course, many crochet and/or knitting projects use buttons, so buttons are related to the needle arts!

Okay, back to my tatting class. I’ll be teaching shuttle tatting in this class, not needle tatting. If you’ve always wanted to learn to shuttle tat, I’d love to have you in my class. You’ll learn everything you need to be successful in tatting, from how to wind the shuttle through making rings and chains to create your first tatted piece. Two tatting shuttles are included in the class fee, so you’ll only need to bring the appropriate sizes of crochet thread, along with an eagerness to learn! If you want to take this class, please sign up early because this class fills up quickly and I’ve limited it to only 20 students. Here’s a look at the tatted necklace you’ll be making (starting) in the class:

In my 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. 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 with crochet symbols, without having any knowledge of the language! Here are some crochet symbols that you’ll learn in the class:

I love making crocheted jewelry and my Faux Tatted Necklace is one of those pieces of crocheted jewelry that I love to make! I designed this necklace about 5 years ago to look just like the tatted necklace that is part of my shuttle tatting class. But you don’t need to know how to tat to make the necklace in this class! The necklace is crocheted with size 10 crochet thread and approx. 23 buttons, beads or charms of your choice. I think it looks great! I’ve made many of these necklaces in various colors to go with different outfits in my wardrobe. The wonderful things about the necklace are that it’s completely washable and there’s no clasp to fiddle with, since the necklace is big enough to go over your head! The class fee covers the cost of the pattern. You choose (and bring) the thread color and buttons, beads or charms that you’d like to use for your necklace. Here’s one of the necklaces that I’ve made:

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! Check out the full schedule of crochet and knitting classes here.

If you’re not a CGOA member, yet, 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!

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

February 6, 2014February 9, 2015

Wiggly Crochet Article

Wow! Where did the month of January go? Like many of you, I’ve been busy (with lots of crochet time and family time) and the month just flew by!

So here we are in February already and I have some big news for you. I’m excited to tell you that I wrote my very first crochet article on Wiggly Crochet for the Feb/Mar 2014 issue of Crochet Today magazine. This is the cover of that magazine:

To see the fabulous projects in this issue, just visit the Crochet Today website here. This issue is still available for purchase at many craft stores, so if you’d like to learn to do Wiggly Crochet, what are you waiting for? It’s a lot of fun!!!

Included with the article that teaches you how to do Wiggly Crochet, I designed a Wiggly Crochet Heart swatch that you can make into a pillow, since it measures 12” square (that’s a perfect pillow size!). Here’s a photo of the Heart swatch pattern that’s in the magazine:

I used Red Heart “Luster Sheen” for the foundation mesh and Red Heart “With Love” yarn for the wiggly stitches. This pattern, along with the wiggly crochet chart and some symbol charts, are included in the Feb/Mar 2014 issue of Crochet Today.

I hope you’ll consider learning Wiggly Crochet. It’s a great technique that yields 3-dimensional projects that are perfect for hot pads and coasters, to absorb heat or moisture. I taught a class on Wiggly Crochet at the CGOA Conference in 2010 (in Manchester, NH) and again in 2013 (in Indianapolis, IN). My students loved learning to do Wiggly Crochet and I think you will, too!

Over the last 12 years or so that I’ve been designing crochet patterns, I’ve had 3 books with Wiggly Crochet patterns published: “Hot Stuff for the Holidays” by Jeanette Crews Designs in 2003, “Wiggly Crochet Rugs” by Annie’s in 2009 and “Wiggly Crochet Dishcloths” by Annie’s in 2013. While the first 2 books are out of print, the dishcloths book is still available here. And since Jeanette Crews Designs went out of business, I got the copyright back to the patterns in that book.

If you already know how to do Wiggly Crochet and you’re looking for some Wiggly Crochet patterns, we have some here at The Crochet Architect. We have a wiggly fish rug pattern, 7 wiggly hot pad & coaster sets (most are for specific holidays) and a wiggly playing card set (with the 4 suits: hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades). Check out these patterns and more on our pattern page.

What new crochet technique do you plan to learn this year?

Happy crocheting (and wiggly crocheting),

Susan

January 21, 2014January 20, 2014

And the winner is…

I’m pleased to announce the winner of Kathryn White’s book, “The Go-To Book for Irish Crochet Motifs”. Congratulations to Kathylovescrochet! You’re the big winner. I’ll e-mail you today to arrange to send your autographed copy of the book this week.

Thank you all for your comments/entries and please stay tuned for another crochet giveaway soon.

Happy 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

January 3, 2014January 3, 2014

Book Reviews: One Crochet Book and One Knitting Book

I recently got 2 new crochet/knitting books from Annie’s. I love getting new patterns for crochet and knitting projects! There’s nothing like a new project! If you called me a “pattern junkie”, I think you’d hit the nail right on the head!!!

Colorful Tunisian Afghans to Crochet book

The first book is “Colorful Tunisian Afghans to Crochet” by Glenda Winkleman. This book includes 6 patterns for Tunisian crochet afghans with cross-stitches worked on the surface to create the designs. These are really nice afghans! I love the construction of them. Five out of the six afghans are done in either strips or squares of Tunisian crochet. Each strip or square is edged before joining them together. The sixth afghan is done in a large center section that appears to be 2 separate sections, but it’s one big piece with bobbles separating the solid center from the edges where the cross-stitches are worked. Here’s that afghan:

Isn’t it pretty? And here are a few of the other afghans in this book:

The patterns in this book are rated as an “easy” skill level, but they may be closer to “intermediate”, in my opinion! Some of the special stitches used in various afghans in the book are: bobbles, popcorns, crossed sc and picots). Each pattern comes with written instructions and charts for the cross-stitch placement. If you’ve never done cross-stitch on Tunisan crochet before, it’s really easy! The Tunisian crochet makes a “grid” of squares that serve as the background for the cross-stitches. The book even includes a diagram in each pattern showing how to work cross-stitches.

Each of the afghan squares or panels is crocheted with one color of yarn, making the pieces work up quickly. Then you cross-stitch the design onto the squares or panels per the charts. If you’ve ever done stamped or counted cross-stitch on fabric, you already know how to do the cross-stitch portion of these afghans. And if you’ve done Tunisian crochet before, you already know how to do the background of the afghans! If you don’t know how to do Tunisian crochet and you want to learn, Annie’s has a lot of books, videos and materials for doing Tunisian crochet. You can see their assortment of Tunisian items here. Kim Guzman has designed a lot of projects in Tunisian crochet. She has several online classes with Annie’s, too. To read about her class called “Learn to Tunisian Crochet”, click here.

You can see all of the afghans in this book at the Annie’s website here. The book retails for $9.95 in the US and $11.95 in Canada. So with 6 patterns in this book, that comes out to be $1.67 for each pattern in the US ($2.00 each in Canada)!

If you enjoy doing Tunisian crochet (or want to learn), why not add this book to your crochet library?

A Playful Palette of 10 Knitted Accessories book

The second book I got is “A Playful Palette of 10 Knitted Accessories” by Tabetha Hedrick. As the name implies, this is a knitting book. For those of you who are bi-stitchual (you can crochet AND knit), this is a great book. There are 10 projects, ranging from small, quick projects to larger, longer projects. There’s a headband, bracelet, scarf, cowl, hat (in 2 versions), fingerless mitts, scarflette, cape and socks in 2 lengths in this book. All of the projects are made with 1-4 skeins of Koigu Yarn: either Koigu Premium Merino (KPM) or Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM). These are both fingering/sock-weight yarns in 100% merino wool. I’ve never tried this yarn, but it looks really pretty in the book, so I’ll have to give it a try sometime very soon!

Here are a few photos from this book:

You can see all of the projects in this knitting book here.

The skill levels for the projects in this book range from beginner to intermediate. I like having this range of skill levels, since I’m a fairly new knitter with lots to learn! I really like the looks of the lacy socks in this book. I never thought I’d knit or crochet socks before, but I might have to take the plunge sometime soon!!!

This knitting book has 48 pages and retails for $14.95 in the US ($17.95 in Canada). With 10 patterns in the book, each pattern costs just $1.50 in the US ($1.80 each in Canada)!

If you enjoy knitting accessories, you may want to add this book to your knitting library!

Happy crocheting (and knitting),

Susan

December 28, 2013November 25, 2020

Stiffening Crocheted Snowflakes

Many years ago, I crocheted some snowflakes for my Christmas tree. But, true to my procrastinating nature (aka: other things were more important to do, so this got pushed to the bottom of the list), I waited until last week to stiffen these crochet snowflakes. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t always procrastinate. But I find myself doing the crocheting of projects quite easily, while the finishing of many projects takes me a lot longer to warm up to doing! Are you the same way? Also, I don’t relish the idea of getting the stiffening solution all over my hands! I suppose I could always wear rubber gloves, but where’s the fun in that?

Last week, I was inspired to stiffen these snowflakes because of a crochet design that I just finished for a major crochet magazine (the design is still a secret, but you’ll find out in about 6 months what it is when the magazine comes out).

I’d guess that not too many people have stiffened crochet snowflakes or know how to do it, so I decided to write a tutorial on how to stiffen them. You can find it right here on my “Tutorials” page. So if you’d like to learn how to stiffen snowflakes, then please take a look at the tutorial.

Update (11/25/20): I have a YouTube video for learning to stiffen crochet snowflakes. You can find that video here.

Anyway, here’s a photo of the 9 snowflakes I stiffened to use on next year’s Christmas tree (I already had this year’s tree decorated, so I didn’t want to change it!):

Aren’t they pretty? I crocheted them from the Leisure Arts book called “White Christmas in Thread Crochet” by Kathryn A. Clark, a very talented crochet designer. This book includes 54 projects from snowflakes to icicles to tree toppers to tree skirts and garland. It’s a great book! Here’s a photo of the front cover of this book:

I’ve had this book for many years (it was published in 2001). My copy isn’t that pretty anymore because I’ve taken it with me to many places, including little league baseball games when my sons were much younger. Since I love thread crochet, these snowflakes were a natural project for me to make!

If you enjoy working with crochet thread, why not give some crocheted snowflakes a try! You’ll be glad you did and your Christmas tree will look fabulous!!! Or if you’re looking for a unique gift, these snowflakes make fabulous gifts!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

December 20, 2013December 20, 2013

New CGOA Website and Banner

Are you a CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) member? If so, fantastic! If not, why not? If you love crochet and you’d like to be part of a national organization that is dedicated to crochet, then CGOA is for you! We have local chapters that hold monthly meetings for members to share with each other and learn from each other, yearly crochet conferences with lots of classes and fun activities, free crochet patterns “for members only” and many more benefits of CGOA membership! Check out all the member benefits on the CGOA website here. To find a local chapter near you, please visit this webpage.

Do you know about the CGOA website? You can find CGOA at www.crochet.org. The CGOA website has a new look and added features this year. We have some crochet lessons and fabulous new crochet videos (done by Kim Guzman) on the new CGOA website, as well! And there will be more additions to the website in the near future, too.

Many of you already know that I am the current secretary on the CGOA Board of Directors. I’m also one of the co-chairs on the CGOA Masters Committee and I’ve taught classes at many of the CGOA Conferences in the last 5 years. As a Board member, I was honored to design and crochet the website banner for the CGOA website this year. If you’re a CGOA member, you can read all about the banner and download the free website banner motif pattern (for members only) here. This is the motif for the CGOA website banner:

It’s made with popcorns and post stitches, as well as many regular crochet stitches. Here’s a photo of part of the CGOA website banner with many joined motifs:

I made this banner with 12 colors of Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. This yarn was a dream to work with! You can see the huge range of Cascade 220 Superwash colors here. There are 220 yards of worsted weight 100% wool yarn in each ball. I know the CGOA banner will last for a long time, since this yarn is completely washable!

Happy crocheting everyone! And remember the CGOA motto:

“When you think CROCHET, think CGOA”!!!

Susan

P.S. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with lots of time to crochet! And I hope you learn a new crochet technique in 2014, too!

November 15, 2013December 5, 2013

Book and Yarn Review: “Baby Washcloths & Afghan Squares” book and Omega Sinfonia yarn

Last month, I got the book, “Baby Washcloths & Afghan Squares” by Lisa Carnahan, published by Annie’s. This is a knitting book, not a crochet book. But since I now know how to knit, as well as crochet, I wanted to give some knit washcloths a try. Here is a photo of the front cover of this book:

Baby Washcloths & Afghan Squares book (front cover)

This is a very nice book with some nice washcloth patterns. I especially like it because I’m a relatively new knitter and my knitting skills are still a work-in-progress (I’m not ready for the TKGA Masters program by any means, yet!).

It was hard to pick which washcloth designs I wanted to make from this book because I like them all! But I finally chose the Zigzags and the Triangles washcloths to make. Here are photos of these 2 washcloths in the book:

The washcloths in this book were made with Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic, which is a DK weight yarn. Since I didn’t have any of that yarn, I used some Omega Sinfonia that I had left over from the “Wiggly Crochet Dishcloths” book I did for Annie’s. I LOVE this yarn! It’s a sport weight 100% cotton yarn that comes in many gorgeous colors. It is 3.52oz (100g) and has 218 yards (200m) for $4-5, so the value is good (and you can buy it for even less than this with a coupon!). I started knitting a pretty pink sweater this month from 5 balls of Sinfonia that I bought on sale for $3 each to learn more about knitting and shaping sweaters! It should be really nice!

But back to the baby washcloths! These washcloths don’t use that much yarn, so using left overs is perfect for these projects. In my opinion, these washcloth patterns aren’t just for babies. Since pretty much all of them are geometric designs, they can be used for much more than babies. At 8” (20cm) square, I think they’re a great size for facial washcloths and smaller dishcloths, too. I LOVE the drape of them and the stitch pattern keeps my interest instead of knitting rows of all knit or all purl! I also LOVE how quick they are to make. I can make a washcloth in just 1 or 2 evenings while watching TV (I’m not that fast of a knitter, yet, either!). Okay, here are photos of my washcloths for you to see:

What do you think? I think I did pretty well for being a new knitter (since July of this year).

There are 10 solid washcloths and 1 striped washcloth (done with slipped stitches) in this book. There’s even an afghan made with all 10 of the solid squares and 10 of the striped squares in the book (the afghan can be seen on the cover of the book and there is a full-size photo of the afghan inside the book). Here’s the striped washcloth for you to see:

You can see larger photos of all the washcloth blocks in this book and purchase it online on the Annie’s website here. If you love to knit washcloths and dishcloths, you’ll really enjoy this book!

Happy crocheting (and knitting),

Susan