I hope everyone is enjoying National Crochet Month, which takes place every year in March. What will you do to celebrate your love of crochet this month? Will you learn a new crochet technique or find a crochet designer who is new to you? Will you start or finish a crochet project? How about trying a new yarn that you’ve never used before?
If you’d like to learn Irish Crochet or Bruges Lace Crochet in person, please consider signing up for one of my classes at the IOLI Convention in Mesa, AZ. This convention takes place the week of July 20-26 at the Hilton Phoenix/Mesa. I’m really looking forward to teaching these classes and meeting new people there! To find out more about this convention, check out the IOLI website. There are lots of other lace classes being taught at the convention, as well!
March is also a month to be grateful, especially for the knowledge and ability to crochet. There is so much for each of us to be grateful for in our lives. I’m grateful for my family, friends, a place to live, good health, and so much more! Crochet is another blessing to me and I’m very grateful for the ability to do what I love! I’ve met so many wonderful people throughout my crochet adventures and made many friends, near and far, because of crochet!
To celebrate National Crochet Month, I’d like to share a small blessing with you this month. You can enjoy a 25% discount off every one of my crochet and knitting patterns right here on my website throughout the whole month of March. To take advantage of this discount, use the code “NatCroMo2020” when you checkout.
I hope you enjoy National Crochet Month by trying some new patterns and/or expanding your crochet skills and knowledge, either face-to-face with someone, through in-person classes or online classes. If you’d like to try a few of my free crochet patterns, check out my “Free Patterns” page!
Do you love crocheted afghans and/or rugs, but you don’t have the time or expertise to crochet them yourself? This is your lucky day! I have a sale going on that you don’t want to miss!
If you’ve been eyeing one of my finished crocheted afghans or rugs in my Etsy shop, now is the time to make your purchase! I’ve discounted the finished afghans and rugs in my Etsy shop by 10% until the end of day on March 4, 2020. So get them while they’re on sale, before they’re gone (or their listings expire)!
Here are the 3 crocheted afghans and 4 crocheted rugs that are on sale in my Etsy shop:
Reversible Popcorn Ripple Afghan
Filet Bouquet Afghan
Broomstick Lace Afghan
Star Spangled Rug
Flowers Rug
1950s Music Rug
Quilt Rug
The afghans are made in various crochet techniques, while the rugs are all made in the wiggly crochet technique.
I hope you’re inspired to decorate your home with one of these beauties (or snatch up one for a loved one)! Here’s the link to these afghans and rugs in my Etsy shop.
Do you love fresh flowers at weddings, but don’t like it when they wither afterwards? Can you imagine a bridal bouquet and boutonniere that don’t wither? These beautiful crocheted floral pieces are such keepsakes and can be friendly on the wedding budget, as well!
In November of 2019, I was inspired to create this bouquet and boutonniere for my youngest son’s wedding in December (it only took me 3-4 weeks to complete both pieces!). They didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a wedding, so they got married at the local courthouse. It was a beautiful day spent with our children and grandchildren celebrating our son’s marriage and our new family member (yay for adding another daughter-in-law to the family)!
My youngest son & his beautiful new bride!
So what’s a crochet designer supposed to do when she gets the urge to create something new? I did what I almost always do: get inspiration on the internet and in published crochet patterns to see how others are making their crochet designs (and I looked at photos of real floral bouquets, as well)! I saw lots of ideas and gleaned a lot from those patterns. I’m pleased with my finished bridal bouquet & boutonniere and I’m very excited to share this pattern with you on my crochet pattern page here!
To celebrate the launch of this new pattern, I’m offering $1.00 off the price of my Bridal Bouquet & Boutonniere pattern with coupon code “BBB1off” from today through next Monday, January 27, 2020.
Leaves for bouquet
Covered Styrofoam cone for bouquet
Covered Styrofoam half ball for bouquet
This pattern includes a list of all the materials I used to make both pieces. I used yarns and crochet threads for the flowers, leaves, fern and Styrofoam coverings. The pattern also includes specific instructions to crochet the leaves and the coverings for the 2 Styrofoam shapes: the half ball and the cone. Step-by-step assembly instructions and photos are included for the bouquet and boutonniere.
Crochet flowers for bouquet
PLEASE NOTE: The pattern does NOT include specific instructions for crocheting the flowers on both pieces and the fern on the boutonniere. I used some free patterns for some of the flowers as well as some paid/copyrighted patterns for both the bouquet and boutonniere. In the pattern, I have included photos of the flowers, information about the name and designer of each flower/fern pattern and links to where you can find or purchase the flower/fern patterns that I used. Because of US copyright laws, I did NOT include the specific instructions to make these pieces. I did, however, include information about the changes I made to the flower and fern patterns, which can be used in conjunction with the free and paid patterns themselves.
You should use any crochet flower patterns, as well as colors of yarn and/or thread you choose to make your bridal bouquet and boutonniere. If desired, you could use an artificial fern piece for the boutonniere instead of crocheting a fern (and stiffening it with wire). You could also use artificial leaves instead of crocheting the leaves.
Let your imagination run wild to create a one-of-a-kind bridal bouquet and boutonniere for a friend or family member! You’ll be glad you did!
I’d love to see your finished bridal bouquets and boutonnieres! Please tag me (or send me an email) so I can share your bouquet and boutonniere success with you!
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you had a wonderful 2019 and are looking forward to a great 2020!
What kind of New Year’s resolutions do you have for this year? I’m resolving to self-publish more patterns this year than I did last year. Last year I self-published 4 designs: Scarfie, Cowlie & Hattie; Sassy Stripes Baby Blanket (knit); Polish Stars Potholder; It Takes All Colors Snowflakes Afghan. But that’s more than the previous year when I didn’t self-publish ANY designs! However, I was working hard on my 2 Annie’s videos in 2018 (Crochet ER: Fixing Damage & Mistakes and Learn Filet Crochet), so self-publishing took a back seat that year! If you’d like to take a look at my new Annie’s videos, you can find the Crochet ER video here and the Filet Crochet video here.
I have a stockpile of crochet and knit designs that I’ve designed over the past 5 years and they’re beginning to get out of hand! So my biggest New Year’s resolution is to self-publish a good amount of those patterns this year (and over the next few years, as well!). I like to make sure my patterns are as clear as they can be before publishing them, so I don’t like to rush things! And I also get distracted with other things along the way (are any of you like that or is it just me?)!
A year or two ago, I came up with a new twist on a crochet technique and I’m eager to release a few patterns using that new technique twist to the public so you can enjoy this new twist, too!
Did you learn any crochet techniques last year? Are there any crochet techniques that you’d like to learn this year? I love learning new techniques/skills and passing along what I’ve learned along the way to the students in my classes, whether that’s in person or through videos!
I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be teaching 2 crochet techniques at the annual IOLI Convention (International Organization of Lace, Inc) in Mesa, AZ in July of this year! I’ll be teaching a 12-hour class on Irish Crochet and another 12-hour class on Bruges Lace Crochet! I’ll also be teaching two 6-hour classes on Irish Crochet. This all takes place the week of July 19 – 25, 2020. For more information about this convention, check out the IOLI website here. There are lots of teachers and lace techniques being taught. It’s going to be a fantastic convention!
Here are photos of the projects in my 12-hour Irish Crochet and Bruges Lace Crochet classes at the IOLI Convention:
Irish Crochet class projects
Bruges Lace Crochet class projects
Here is a direct link to my 12-hour Irish Crochet class. And here is a direct link to my 12-hour Bruges Lace Crochet class.
Since I learned to do bobbin lace 2 years ago this month, I’ve been even more fascinated with all kinds of lace techniques: crochet, knit, bobbin lace and more! I’ve gone to a couple of Lace Days that the IOLI Lacey Ladies Guild puts on in Phoenix, AZ and I’ve just begun to learn a needle lace technique called Aemilia Ars. This is my first attempt at making that lace:
My first Aemilia Ars needle lace piece
It’s by no means perfect, but it’s a start! I have a long way to go in improving my needle lace skills, but at least I’ve made the initial jump into learning how to do this gorgeous lace technique! It’s challenging to learn a new skill or technique, but it’s a great way to keep our brains active!
I hope you all have a great year learning new things and improving your skills. I look forward to meeting some of you at the IOLI Convention in July!
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just self-published my “It Takes All Colors Snowflakes Afghan” pattern! This pattern was previously published on the Mainly Crochet magazine website, but that website is shutting down by the end of this year. So I thought it was high time that I made this pattern available as a single PDF download, not as part of a subscription.
So without further ado, here’s a picture of this colorful afghan:
It Takes All Colors Snowflakes Afghan
I LOVE the colors in this afghan and the design (I’m partial to snowflakes and snowmen)! I designed this afghan after a knit sweater that I had in my wardrobe with these colorful snowflakes on it.
This afghan is made with rows of single crochet, mostly in the back loop. There are color changes in most of the rows to form the snowflakes. Since all of the rows are worked on the right side and there are so many ends because of this, I decided that it would be best to turn the ends into fringe instead of weaving them in, which would distort the edges (there are 2 ends/tails at the beginning and 2 ends/tails at the end of each row).
This pattern is both written and charted. I have included some step-by-step photos of several aspects of the pattern, which you can read about on the pattern page.
If you’d like to check out this pattern, here’s the link to the pattern page. This pattern is available for $5.95 and would make a great addition to any holiday celebration (or just to use to help you stay warm)!
To celebrate the release of this pattern, I’m offering a 25% discount on this pattern from Nov. 14 – midnight, Nov. 16, 2019 with the code “snowflakes”. The code is only valid here on my website. Since I live in Arizona, it’s for Arizona time, which is 2 hours behind New York and 1 hour ahead of California (at this time of year).
If you like the looks of this snowflake afghan, but don’t want to commit to a large project like this, my Stained Glass Snowflake Scarf is made in the same technique and takes a fraction of the time to make!
I’ve been meaning to publish this pot holder pattern for several years, but everyday life has been getting in the way! That’s not a great excuse, but I’m going to run with it!
I first learned to do the Polish Stars crochet technique many years ago. I can’t remember if I took a class or learned it through a pattern. The original way to work the Polish Stars technique was a little jumbled (in my opinion), so I made a little adjustment to the technique, making it easier to do!
I’ve seen a few videos on this technique. In one of them, the stars are woven incorrectly, making the end result look pretty bad! So I decided I’d better add more information and a weaving diagram to the instructions in this pattern to make it easier to learn the technique and execute it correctly. I plan to make crochet videos in the near future (God willing) to help others with their crochet skills and knowledge. This is one of the techniques I’ll cover in those videos.
If you’ve never done the Polish Stars technique, let me tell you a little about it. Basically, you crochet rows of stitches with 2 solid contrasting colors, alternating the color on every row (I’ve used extended double crochets in this pot holder, which I explain how to make in the pattern: they’re between the height of a dc and a tr). Within those rows of stitches, you work chain loops per the instructions. When the instructions say to weave the loops, you do that, then you crochet the last row of the pattern, which secures the chain loops in place.
Pot Holder front before weaving chain loops
Polish Stars close up
Like I said, I’ve included a weaving diagram in this pattern, which shows how each chain loop is woven into the appropriate adjacent chain loop. There are also detailed written instructions for weaving the chain loops.
Since I LOVE symbol crochet charts, I included one of those for the front of the pot holder, for those who also enjoy working from a symbol crochet chart.
Polish Stars Pot Holder front
I included 2 layers in this pot holder design. The front has the stars and the back has stripes to mimic the colors of the rows worked on the front. However, there are no chain loops on the back. The purpose for the back piece is to make the pot holder thicker and eliminate holes that fingers can go through. With 2 layers of cotton yarn, the pot holder is safe to use in the oven (no fingers will go through to touch hot casserole dishes, cookie trays, etc).
Polish Stars Pot Holder back
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at my Polish Stars Pot Holder pattern and that you feel more confident to give this crochet technique a try very soon! If you’d like to give this a try and make a unique pot holder, check out the pattern here.
It’s been 3 weeks since I returned home from the CGOA Conference in Manchester, NH. This year is the 25th Anniversary of CGOA! Wow! I’ve been a member since 2002, so I’ve been with CGOA for 17 of their 25 years. Happy Birthday, CGOA!
As always, I had a great time at the conference. I saw lots of friends, made new ones and was surrounded by everything crochet! This year, I taught 5 classes: Shuttle Tatting, Invisible Repairs, Irish Crochet, Intermediate Filet Crochet and Symbol Crochet. I had rooms full of wonderful students, each eager to learn what I was teaching. I even had a blind student in 2 of my classes! She was a treat to meet and teach (and what an inspiration to me!). Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the students in my classes. But I still have a few photos to share with you from the conference.
Here are photos of some of my friends:
Carlotta Craig and me at the Banquet/Fashion Show
Bonnie Barker and Carlotta Craig at the Banquet/Fashion Show
Kristin Lynn and me after the Banquet
Carolyn Calderon, Pia Thadani and me with our tatting shuttles the day after the conference
I stayed an extra day after the conference for some sightseeing! My roommate, Shari White, and I went to the Currier Museum of Art that day. It was a very nice museum with lots of beautiful exhibits. They even had a special exhibit about guitars. My favorite guitar was one made from an armadillo shell! Here are some photos from the museum:
My roommate and me at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester
Guitar Exhibit sign
Armadillo guitar at Currier Museum of Art
On the way to the conference, I saw some other guitar items. At Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, they had an exhibit about making guitars. Here’s a photo from that exhibit:
Guitar making exhibit at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix
And at the airport in Nashville, where I had a layover on the way to Manchester, there was a Gibson Café. Here’s one of the tables that’s shaped like a guitar pick:
Guitar pick table in Nashville airport
My oldest son is really into music, so I tend to take notice of music-related items!
At the conference, there was the usual Design Competition, which I love! I didn’t have time to make anything for it this year, but I always enjoy seeing the entries from other designers. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Rockabilly Swing Dress by Nancy Nehring
This is the Rockabilly Swing Dress by Nancy Nehring. She won the Grand Prize for this dress! And here’s her daughter, Katie, modeling the dress for the fashion show:
Katie modeling her mom’s dress
These are some other garments in the Design Competition. The one at the bottom left is the Blue Willow Dress by Susan Walsh. She won First Place in the Fashion category for this design.
Garments in Design Competition
Here’s Susan modeling her dress for the Fashion Show:
Susan Walsh modeling her Blue Willow Dress
I LOVE this dress! And it looks fabulous on Susan!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the yarn bombing at the conference. One of the CGOA members, Jennifer Ryan, who lives in NH, put together the yarn bombing this year, both inside and outside the conference hotel (the Double Tree by Hilton). Here is one of her yarn bombing displays:
CGOA yarn bombing
Of course, there were pieces of crochet almost everywhere you turned at the hotel! I thought this one was really nice!
One of my favorite things to do at the conference is model in the fashion show. I’m not a professional model, but it’s a lot of fun! Here are a few things I modeled there:
me modeling Margaret’s cardigan
This is Margaret Hubert’s Pot Pourri cardigan. Isn’t it beautiful? It was very comfortable! I don’t know where this cardigan is published, though.
me modeling my Frosty Lace Cardigan
This is my Frosty Lace Cardigan (a thread crochet top) that I designed a few years ago. I lengthened it by about 3” in April or May of this year, after the trip that my husband and I took to Japan in March.
If you’d like to watch a video of the fashion show, check out this video on Facebook. And here are some photos, along with the line-up, of entries in the Fashion Show on the CGOA blog.
Another fun event at the conference was the Friday night sign-along, hosted by Bonnie Barker and Jennifer Ryan. It was so much fun! If you’d like to see a few videos from that night, check out Bonnie’s YouTube channel. Some of the song names were “Will You Crochet Friend, Crochet?”, “Ms. MacDonald Had a Bag of F-I-B-E-R”, “On Top of My Craft Bag” and “Ripping Out is Hard to Do”. It was so fun to sing these silly songs!!! Bonnie and Jennifer did a fabulous job that night, along with 2 of Jennifer’s daughters!
As you can see, the CGOA Conference was a ton of fun! It always is! I met some very nice new friends and enjoyed teaching all of my classes. I hope my students enjoyed my classes and learned everything they wanted to learn in them!
I wanted to let you know that Annie’s is having a 2-day sale on their online classes right now! Yes, you heard me right! For 2 days (Tuesday, July 2 and Wednesday, July 3), you can save 40% off the regular price of ALL their classes (not the DVDs, but the streaming classes). They have classes in crochet, knitting, quilting, sewing, needlework and more! You can even save on my Annie’s classes (Crochet ER: Fixing Damage & Mistakes and Learn Filet Crochet). Check out this link to find out more and get the special code to save big! Enjoy!
What? You haven’t heard of KnitCrate? Let me tell you all about them (or at least a little about them). KnitCrate is a company that ships out monthly knitting and crocheting boxes/crates which include both a knit and crochet pattern, along with 2 skeins/hanks of yarn to make either of the 2 designs.
This month, I’m the designer of both designs in KnitCrate’s Membership crate: 1 crochet and 1 knitting. This is the first time I’ve designed for KnitCrate and it was a great experience!
About a year ago, I was approached by KnitCrate to design something for their June 2019 crate. I love designing in both knit and crochet, so I agreed to design both patterns for June! Earlier this year, they sent me 4 hanks of yarn (2 of each color) for the knit and crochet designs. I had so much fun designing these 2 patterns for them! The yarn they sent me was squishy and very soft. It’s the same yarn that is included in the June 2019 KnitCrate membership crate. The yarn is called Vidalana Aloft DK, a chainette-plied yarn that’s made with 48% merino wool, 20% baby alpaca and 32% organic pima cotton. This yarn is lovely to work with! The 2 colors I used are Tiger Lily and Wee Violets. When I received this yarn, I knew I wanted to design my projects with lots of texture and some lace! So without further ado, here are some photos of each design, along with information about them and the designing process behind them.
Golden Afternoon Scarf
Golden Afternoon Scarf
First up is my crochet design called “Golden Afternoon”. This is a reversible scarf or cowl made with lots of post stitches and chains. I designed this stitch pattern myself to mimic one of the knitting stitch patterns that I used in the knit design.
Once I came up with the crochet stitch pattern, I realized that it looked really nice on the back, so I decided to take advantage of that and make the scarf reversible! I decided to make diagonal lines where the changes occur between the front and back of the stitch pattern. Then I calculated how long and wide I could make the scarf/cowl with the 548 yards total that was sent to me. I’m thrilled with the final result of this scarf! You can find this pattern for sale on Ravelry here.
Rows of Lavender Shawl
Rows of Lavender Shawl
The 2nd design is my knit design called “Rows of Lavender”, which I actually started designing first, but finished it last. This is a really soft crescent-shaped shawl that can be worn in a variety of ways. I used 2 stitch patterns in the body of the shawl and a coordinating border at the bottom. The shawl is started at the top, center with increases worked throughout to achieve the crescent shape. You can find this pattern for sale on Ravelry here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these 2 new designs. For more information about KnitCrate, check out their website here. If you decide to purchase the June 2019 KnitCrate membership crate and make either of these 2 projects, I’d love to see your finished projects or answer any questions you may have about the patterns.
