Do you have any beloved doilies with holes in them? Have you purchased some old crochet doilies or centerpieces at estate/garage sales only to find they have holes, cuts or burns in them? Do you know how to repair the damage so the repairs are invisible? Last September, a friend brought me one of her doilies to repair that had seen its better days! Because I’ve learned to repair crochet projects, I was eager to take on the challenge of repairing her doily. Here’s a photo of the doily with the holes in it:
Frances’ Doily before repair
I’m sure you can see the large hole at the right edge of the photo, but I found a small hole in the doily, too. So I set out to repair both holes.
Small hole in doily
Large hole in doily
Luckily, I had some crochet thread in my stash that was pretty close in size and color, so I was able to invisibly repair the doily last month. It took a few hours, but I think the time is worth the end result, don’t you?
Frances’ Doily after repair
Here’s a close up photo of the repaired large hole:
Large hole in doily repaired
I can hardly even find the hole any more! That’s because I used my “Invisible Repair” technique that I teach in my Annie’s online class called “Crochet ER: Fixing Damage & Mistakes”. I LOVE this technique!!!
If you’re interested in learning to fix damage and/or mistakes in your crochet projects, check out my class here. I’d love to hear your success stories of the repairs and/or fixes you’ve made!
By the way, Annie’s is having a 50% off sale on their online classes today (through 11:59 PM Eastern time). Here’s the link if you’re interested in purchasing any of their online classes, including my Crochet ER class, today.
It’s that time of year when we start wearing lots of accessories to help keep us warm (here in the Northern Hemisphere)! I sometimes wear a scarf or cowl inside my house to help keep my neck warm, which helps keep my whole body warm (my house isn’t that cold, but I often get cold)!
Scarfie, Cowlie & Hattie pattern
I’ve been working on new designs lately and I just finalized a pattern for a scarf, cowl and hat. This new pattern is called “Scarfie, Cowlie & Hattie”. I named this pattern after the yarn that I originally used to make a cowl and hat set for my daughter-in-law and a scarf and hat set for a friend of hers. I used Lion Brand Scarfie yarn for those projects, which took only 1 skein of yarn for each of the 2 projects (scarf and hat or cowl and hat). Because that yarn didn’t photograph as well as I’d hoped for the pattern photos (and because I wanted to test and fine-tune the pattern), I crocheted more of these accessories. Who doesn’t love wearing more accessories or giving them to others?
Scarfie made with Lion Brand Scarfie yarn
Cowlie made with Lion Brand Scarfie yarn
Red Hattie made with Lion Brand Scarfie yarn
Blue Hattie made with Lion Brand Scarfie yarn
My daughter-in-law’s friend wearing her scarf and hat
The pattern is written in both US and UK crochet terms, so you can choose which pattern to download based on which crochet terms you’re used to using. If you like this feature of having my patterns available in UK crochet terms, please let me know and I’ll update my other published crochet patterns to include UK crochet terms. I want my patterns to be as user-friendly as possible!
I’ve included written instructions and symbol crochet charts for each of the 3 projects in the pattern, which is available for $5.95 (that’s just shy of $2 per project!). For more information about this pattern, check it out on the pattern page.
I have another announcement for you this month! It’s my newest Annie’s crochet video class: “Learn Filet Crochet Using Thread and Yarn!”.
Filet Crochet is such a great crochet technique! I’ve been doing Filet Crochet for several decades now! I’ve designed a bunch of Filet Crochet patterns and taught this technique at the CGOA Conference many times, as well as at the 2018 Interweave Yarn Fest. I LOVE Filet Crochet! You can crochet so many different kinds of things with it! You can combine it with other crochet techniques, as well.
Here are a few of the designs I’ve done over the years, some simple and others more complex:
Filet Heart Coaster, published on TheCrochetArchitect website
Give Thanks Placemat Set, published in Oct. 2008 Crochet World magazine
Europa Scarf, published by Caron Yarns
Filet Coaster from my Annie’s class, “Learn to Crochet With Thread”
Lovely Decor in Filet Crochet book, published by Leisure Arts in 2010
If you’d like to see all of my published Filet Crochet designs in the past 20+ years, check out this Ravelry search. Most of these designs are done with crochet thread, but a few of them are done with yarn. If you’re interested in the Europa Scarf, which I designed in 2010 with Naturally Caron Spa yarn (a now discontinued yarn), you can download the free pattern here. You can also download several free Filet Crochet patterns on the Red Heart website.
No matter what you use for filet crochet, the technique is the same! It’s just the size of the yarn/thread and hook that makes the difference (and, of course, the pattern)!
This Filet Crochet video was filmed at the same time as my other new video, “Crochet ER: Fixing Damage & Mistakes”, which came out last month. You can read all about that video in my previous blog post here.
Here are a few photos from filming this new Filet Crochet video:
Filet Crochet set and swatch
Learn Filet Crochet set with projects
And here are the 2 class projects from my new Filet Crochet class that you’ll be able to make when you sign up for this class:
Filet Elephant Baby Blanket
Filet Name Banner
In this class, I teach how to work the closed mesh, open mesh and lacets that comprise Filet Crochet patterns. I also teach how to read and follow Filet Crochet charts, as well as how to calculate the number of chains in the starting chain for a Filet Crochet pattern that is only charted (not written). And I teach 2 ways to make your Filet Crochet mesh more square.
The first thing we work on in the class is a practice swatch. With this swatch, you will learn to work the open and closed Filet mesh, as well as lacets. You’ll also get practice following a Filet Crochet chart. Once you’ve mastered the swatch, you can move on to make either or both of the class projects: the Filet Elephant Baby Blanket and the Filet Name Banner.
The Filet Elephant Baby Blanket pattern includes written instructions and a Filet Crochet chart. In the video, I demonstrate how to make the elephant blocks, as well as how to join the blocks to create the blanket. There are 2 edging options, which are both demonstrated in the video, along with the special stitches used in each edging. Because this blanket is made with yarn, it’s a great way to learn to do Filet Crochet (without any intimidation that using crochet thread and small steel hooks might present!).
Seaming/joining blocks for Filet Elephant Baby Blanket
The Filet Name Banner pattern includes a chart for the whole alphabet, as well as the edging, so you can make any name or word you’d like for your Filet Banner. In the video, I demonstrate how to make your customized chart for the name or word you choose to crochet. Then I demonstrate how to crochet several of the rows, following your custom chart.
Making Filet chart for Filet Name Banner project
You can get creative with how you’ll use your Filet Name Banner. You may want to use it as is or mount it in some way. To give you an idea of how you may want to mount your banner, here’s a photo of another Filet Name Banner that I crocheted many years ago showing how I mounted the filet piece on some fabric and hung it on the wall with a painted wooden dowel:
Filet “Lowman” Banner
If you’re not comfortable using crochet thread and you’d like to learn to crochet with thread, you may want to check out my other crochet video class with Annie’s called “Learn to Crochet With Thread”. In this thread crochet class, my goal is to help you feel comfortable using crochet thread for your crochet projects. Who knows? You may come to love thread crochet as much as I do!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at my new Filet Crochet class for Annie’s! If you’d like to take a look at this video class, as well as watch the free class overview and introduction segments, check it out HERE (Note: This is an affiliate link, so if you click on this link and purchase the video through the link, I’ll receive a small commission to help compensate me for my hard work! It won’t cost you any extra to purchase the video through this link and I would appreciate your support!).
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at my new Annie’s video class!
Two months ago, I went to Berne, IN to film 2 crochet videos for Annie’s. Today, the first of the 2 videos is being released on the Annie’s website. I’m SUPER EXCITED about this video! The name of the video is “Crochet ER: Fixing Damage and Mistakes“. I’ve been teaching this topic for 2 years at the CGOA Conference: how to invisibly repair damage to your crochet projects and how to fix mistakes. I LOVE being able to repair any crochet project and I’m THRILLED that Annie’s asked me to do this video!!! Now YOU can learn how to repair damage to your projects (or anyone’s projects) and how to fix the mistakes in your projects (or anyone’s projects) invisibly!
Crochet Stitches Identification Swatch
In this video, I teach you how to “read” your stitches by showing and explaining how each stitch looks on the front and back of the stitch. This is VERY important in learning to repair or fix crochet projects. You have to know what stitches were worked (or were supposed to be worked) in order to replace the stitches correctly! When you know the differences between the stitches (how many horizontal, vertical and diagonal strands each stitch has on the front and the back of the stitch, as well as where those strands are located), you’re able to decipher any crochet project and come up with a “game plan” for how to repair or fix it!
Granny Square Swatch before and after repair
Solid Popcorns Swatch before and after repair
Ripple Swatch before and after repair
In the video, I also demonstrate how to repair 3 crochet swatches (the Granny Square swatch, the Solid Popcorns swatch and the Ripple swatch). You’ll be able to crochet each of these repair swatches (with the included instructions for each swatch) and repair your swatches along with me, enabling you to feel confident repairing your own full-size projects!
Popcorn Rows Swatch before, during and after fixing mistake
Uneven Edges and Hole Swatch before and after fixing the mistakes
If you make mistakes in your projects (and let’s face it, who doesn’t make a mistake every now and then?), you’ll be able to fix your mistakes invisibly by following along with me as I fix mistakes in the included class projects (the Popcorn Rows swatch has a missing popcorn in it and the Uneven Edges and Hole swatch has 2 uneven edges and a hole in it). You’ll be able to crochet the class mistake swatches (with the included instructions for each swatch) and follow along with me as I fix the mistakes in those swatches in class. After fixing the mistakes in your class swatches, you’ll feel more confident to repair the mistakes in YOUR crochet projects!
To successfully repair or fix any crochet project, you’ll follow the steps that I outline in the class video (in order). I’ll be with you every step of the way, showing YOU how to successfully repair or fix YOUR crochet projects. This is wonderful knowledge for EVERY crocheter to have! I’ve used this knowledge/technique to invisibly repair many crochet projects, even projects worked in the back loop or projects with post stitches, which can both be very tricky to repair or fix invisibly! Now YOU will be able to repair or fix any of YOUR crochet projects, as well!
I had a blast working on this video and I hope it will enable you to learn to repair and/or fix your crochet projects with confidence! If you have a question, you can ask me in the class question forum and receive an answer from me within 2-3 business days (usually sooner). My goal for this class is to enable as many crocheters as I can to succeed in repairing and fixing their (or someone else’s) crochet projects invisibly (so no one knows where the repair or fix was made!).
Here are some extra photos from filming this video (some serious and some silly!). I really enjoyed dressing for the part of the “doctor” in the crochet “Emergency Room” (ER) by wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope!
Crochet ER class set
The crazy doctor (me) getting ready to perform surgery on a crochet swatch
Checking the “heart beat” of the crochet swatch
Most of Annie’s video crew and me on the set
If you’d like to take a look at this video, including a free preview, check it out HERE (Note: This is an affiliate link, so if you click on this link and purchase the video through the link, I’ll receive a small commission to help compensate me for my hard work! It won’t cost you any extra to purchase the video through this link and your support would be greatly appreciated!).
If you purchase this video, remember that I’m here to answer your repair/fix questions through the “Ask the Instructor” feature on the Annie’s website. I want YOU to succeed in repairing and fixing YOUR crochet projects so no one will ever know where the repair or fix was done (I have a hard time finding the invisible repair I made to the afghan that our puppy chewed a hole in 3 years ago!).
Happy crocheting and happy repairing and/or fixing your crochet projects!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my crochet and knit friends in the US!
It’s that time of year again for gift making and gift giving! I think every crocheter and knitter enjoys crocheting and/or knitting gifts for their family and friends. I know I do! And it’s even more fun when you’re participating in a GAL (Gift-A-Long) with other crocheters and knitters!
Starting tomorrow night (Nov. 23) at 8:00 pm US EST and running for 5 1/2 weeks (ending on Dec. 31 at 11:59 pm US EST), I’m participating in the 6th Annual Indie Design Gift-A-Long on Ravelry. You may be asking yourself, “What’s so special about this Ravelry GAL group?”. It’s a wonderful place to meet other crocheters and knitters, to encourage each other and to see other people’s completed projects!
Last year, I participated in the GAL for the 2nd time and I had a blast! I was both a participating designer and a crocheter/knitter. During the GAL, I knit and crocheted 8 projects from many wonderful Ravelry designers whose patterns I’d never used before! I learned a lot of new things and was pleased with the resulting items. Each of these projects was from a different category of the GAL (there are 8 categories). That meant I finished a Ravelry GAL Opadoo! Here are the 8 projects I made last year for my Opadoo:
My 2017 Opadoo finished projects
Here are the original designers’ patterns that I knit/crocheted for my Opadoo:
2017 GAL patterns I used for my Opadoo
This year, I’m including 20 of my crochet and knit patterns in the GAL. Here’s a collage with all 20 of my sale patterns in it:
2018 GAL Patterns on sale for one week
Each of these 20 crochet or knitting patterns will be discounted 25% during the sale period (from 8:00 pm US EST tomorrow, Nov. 23, to 11:59 pm US EST on Nov. 29). To see my sale patterns closer and to take part in the sale, check out my Ravelry GAL bundle here.
This year, there are over 340 participating knit and crochet designers taking part in the GAL. Each designer has between 10 and 20 of their patterns discounted during the one week sale period, so that’s a lot of SALE patterns!!!
To find out more about the GAL and everything that’s going on in it, check out the official Ravelry GAL group here.
I hope you enjoy taking part in the GAL as much as I’ve enjoyed it the last 2 years (and I’ll be enjoying it again this year)!
I have some exciting news for you today! Two weeks ago, I went to Berne, Indiana to film 2 new crochet videos for Annie’s! I can’t tell you yet what the topics of the 2 videos are, but I can tell you that they should be ready for release around the end of November or beginning of December! Yahoo!!! I’m super excited about both of these videos and I hope you’ll enjoy taking a look at them in a month or two! After they’re released, I’ll share a link to the videos and blog about both of them. But consider this “fair warning” that my new videos will be available very soon!
Here are some photos of me before and after makeup/hairstyle at the Annie’s studio:
Before makeup/hair styling
After makeup/hair styling
There’s not as drastic of a change in my looks for these 2 videos as there was over 6 years ago for my other 2 Annie’s crochet videos (see the previous blog post with makeup photos here). I think the makeup artist did a very nice job! What do you think?
Before the videos, I spent many weeks working on my fingernails and cuticles to get them ready for the videos (you really don’t want to watch me demonstrating with my “regular” nails and cuticles!). Here’s what they looked like for the videos:
My fingernails for the videos
My fingernails never look this nice on a regular basis (without lots of hard work) because I live in a dry climate (Arizona), I do a lot with my hands and I tend to pick at my cuticles! This is how they usually look:
My regular fingernails
As you can see, my fingers are starting to get a little twisted due to age and the fact that arthritis runs in my family. But as long as they keep working so I can still crochet, knit, do bobbin lace and tatting, I’m a happy camper!
I have some other very exciting news to share with you today, too! I’m a Grandma again! My middle son and daughter-in-law had baby #2 the day after I flew to Indiana to film the videos (I had to wait “patiently” until I returned home to see him, which was very hard)! I’d like to introduce you to my grandson, Ryker:
Baby Ryker
Here’s my 2 grandchildren, Rubekah and Ryker wearing the crochet football hats that I made them:
Ryker and Ru in football hats
And here are the 3 of us enjoying some “Grandma” time together:
Me with my 2 grandchildren
I’ve been pretty quiet here on my blog and on social media in general for several reasons: 1) it took lots of time to prepare for the 2 videos, 2) I’ve gone on 3 business trips and one personal/anniversary trip this year, 3) I’ve been crocheting for my new grandson and 4) I’ve been enjoying my 2 grandchildren!
If you’d like to see some of the other projects I’ve made for my new grandson (and 2 year old granddaughter), check out my projects page on Ravelry here. I’ve crocheted a lot of baby booties and baby hats (some of the booties went to my husband’s best friend’s oldest daughter, who is due to have her first child/son in a few months)! Baby booties and hats are both great projects for new babies because they’re quick, they don’t take much yarn and they look great! I had a little trouble with my gauge and with the finished sizes, but that’s okay. I can always donate the booties or hats that came out too small to my local pregnancy center or my local hospital (for preemies). I had a good time crocheting each project and sometimes that’s more important than the finished project (the enjoyment we get from the creative process and the relaxation that crocheting provides!).
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at what I’ve been up to lately. I look forward to sharing more of my crochet news with you very soon!
What does that mean exactly? Well, to me it means whether to join CGOA (the Crochet Guild of America) or not. That’s a silly question, in my opinion! CGOA has been the best thing I ever could have done (and I did) for my crochet career! Even if I wasn’t a crochet professional, it still would have been the best thing I’ve done for my crochet skills and knowledge! I’ve learned so much about crochet since becoming a CGOA member!
CGOA has a conference every year. The first CGOA Conference I attended was in 2003 in Chicago. I’ve attended almost every year since then (15 conferences so far) and I’ve taught at 9 CGOA Conferences since 2009!
This year’s CGOA Conference was held last month in Portland, OR. I taught 5 crochet classes there: Symbol Crochet, Multiple Motifs, Invisible Repairs, Beginning Bruges Lace and Intermediate Bruges Lace. I had the best classes this year! All of my students were fabulous! I’ve met so many crocheters at the conference who are just as passionate about crochet as I am! The attendees come from all over the US, as well as a few other countries such as England, the Netherlands, Australia and a few more. Here I am teaching in one of my classes:
Teaching Invisible Repairs
You may be wondering what exactly happens at a CGOA Conference. Well, it depends on the year! Some years we’ve had a Pajama Party or a Fun Night! Those were both lots of fun!
At every conference we have dozens of crochet classes (and sometimes a few other similar crafts) that are taught by very talented and accomplished teachers (I am in awe of my fellow teachers’ accomplishments!). Here are some of the students in my classes this year:
Beginning Bruges Lace classBeginning Bruges Lace classIntermediate Bruges Lace classMultiple Motifs classMultiple Motifs classSymbol Crochet class
Every year we have a show floor/market place where we can purchase yarn, thread, hooks, books and lots of yummy fiber goodness!!! This year we had a “yarn tasting” table outside the show floor where you could try out some of the yarns that were being sold in the market place. I really enjoyed “tasting” some of the yarns there!
Yarn Tasting table
Every year we have a banquet and fashion show. That’s so much fun (with yummy food, of course!). You get to see some gorgeous crochet fashions (or be a model yourself)! I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone for almost 10 years and have modeled in quite a few fashion shows over the years! It’s a lot of fun, mixed with some butterflies in my stomach, of course!
Modeling in Fashion Show
Almost every year we’ve had a Professional Development Day (PDD). That’s one of the best investments I’ve made at the CGOA Conference because I learned so much about how to run a professional crochet business. I’ve even presented the topic of Contract Crocheting at PDD a few times in the past!
Every year we hold a Member Meeting where we vote on the minutes of last year’s meeting and discuss new business for CGOA. The meeting is run by the volunteer board members. I was a board member for several years and it was great to learn more about what goes on “behind the scenes” of CGOA!
For many years now, we’ve held a Design Competition that is only open to CGOA members. Doris Chan started this (I can’t remember what year it started, though). It’s fabulous! Thank you, Doris, for working so hard to start the design competition! I think it’s been a great help for many budding crochet designers. I was too busy to design anything for the Design Competition this year, but I saw a lot of really nice designs in the competition! Here’s a look at it for you:
We have an editorial “Meet and Greet” where designers can sit with a book publisher or magazine editor and show them their designs. Many editors actually purchase (or commit to purchase) designs right then and there! It’s a fantastic benefit for designers who attend the conference!
Almost every year we have a CGOA Masters ceremony where we pin the newest CGOA members who have passed one of the Masters courses. This year, I earned my Fundamentals pin. This was because I helped test the new Masters course, Fundamentals of Crochet. This is a fabulous course and I learned a lot while taking it. I also helped tech edit the course last year, so I earned a Writer pin for that! You can read about the current Masters programs here. Here’s a photo of the Masters reviewers and graduates from this year’s conference:
2018 CGOA Masters graduates and reviewers
Since 2011, we’ve held the CGOA Jean Leinhauser Crochet Hall of Fame. The first inductee was Jean Leinhauser, who passed away unexpectedly the month before her induction ceremony. There have been 8 inductees into the Hall of Fame so far: Jean Leinhauser, Margaret Hubert, Rita Weiss, Gwen Blakley Kinsler (the founder of CGOA), Lily Chin, Doris Chan, Carol Alexander and Pauline Turner. This year’s inductee was Pauline Turner. What an interesting crochet career she’s had!
For new conference attendees, we have a buddy program where new attendees are paired up with volunteers who answer their questions before the conference and help them out, as needed, at the conference. Of course, everyone there is more than willing to help anyone else with their questions at the conference! We have a Buddy Breakfast where the buddies and newbies can all spend time together and meet each other. It’s a fabulous program!
We have door prizes and goodie bags at the conference, as well! These are always lots of fun to receive and they change from year to year! In addition to the goodie bags, I won a door prize this year! It’s a Yarn Pop bag! This bag is awesome!!! It’s HUGE and is big enough to fit a whole afghan while working on it (it measures 17” wide x 15” high x 5” deep)!!! The bag has an outside pocket, 3 grommets to feed your yarn through, if desired, 3 inside pockets, 2 zippered inside pockets, 2 magnetic clasps and a lanyard inside to attach your keys, or possibly even your cell phone (if you have a cell phone cover with a grommet, of course). You can see all the bags that Yarn Pop makes on their website here. You can see (and order) the very big bag here. Here’s a photo of all the goodies I came home with this year:
Goody bags and door prize
But one of the best things about the conference is seeing and spending time with the friends I’ve made over the years! We’re all like-minded when it comes to crochet! We each have our favorite crochet technique and fiber to work with, of course. But we all LOVE crochet and LOVE learning more crochet techniques! That’s where the conference comes into play! The classes are fabulous! I’ve learned so much in CGOA classes!
Brenda and meCarolyn, me and KristinShari, Kathy and meSharon and meVashti and me
In addition to the annual conference, CGOA has over 120 chapters across the USA. Chapter members get together either weekly or monthly to encourage each other, teach each other, share their work, attend workshops and more. To find out more about CGOA chapters, check out the CGOA website here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at CGOA and the 2018 CGOA Conference. Until next time!
This blog post is a continuation of yesterday’s blog post about our 40th Anniversary trip to England and Ireland. If you haven’t read yesterday’s post, please check it out here!
After seeing some of London, we went to Ireland for a week. We saw the Cliffs of Moher on a good weather day! Wow! What a sight that was! The cliffs are very high and beautiful!
Cliffs of Moher
We toured a tower castle called Dysert O’Dea in County Clare. There’s a circular staircase in one corner of the castle that takes you to each floor and room of the castle. That was fascinating!
Dysart O’Dea Tower Castle
One of the highlights of Ireland for me was visiting the remains of the Ballyheigue Castle that is in my family ancestry! The castle was built in 1295 by Timothy de Cantelupe and held by his descendants, a line of Barons de Ballyheigue, until 1690. Many of my ancestors were born in Ireland and some of them emigrated to Canada in the 1840’s, around the time of the potato famine. What a thrill it was to be there where my ancestors lived many generations ago!
Ballyheigue Castle
Standing on the Ballyheigue Castle
Ballyheigue Castle plaque
What’s a trip to Ireland without seeing the Ring of Kerry? There were so many pretty views there! I got to hold a lamb for the first time in my 60 years of life! What a thrill that was! The lamb was so soft!
Me holding a lamb
I also visited a lace shop in Kenmare called the Kenmare Lace & Design Centre. It was on the 2nd floor near the Heritage Centre. I met Nora Finnegan there, the lady who runs the Lace Centre. She showed me how Kenmare Lace is made. And I bought a few souvenirs from the Lace Centre, too! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take photos inside. But take my word for it, the lace was exquisite! Kenmare lace is a needle lace and the quality of the pieces there was amazing!!!
Kenmare Lace & Design Centre
Kenmare Lace Centre with Nora Finnegan
Kenmare Lace & Design Centre souvenirs
My husband and I toured the Muckross House, a Victorian house built from 1839 to 1843 in Killarney National Park, and walked through the gardens. We also had lunch at their cafeteria. The house and gardens were gorgeous! I LOVE old houses and various types of architecture! The most fascinating story about the house is that the owners, Mr and Mrs Herbert, spent a lot of money to fix up the house and gardens for Queen Victoria’s visit in 1861. The queen only stayed 2 nights in the house! The expense almost bankrupted the Herberts!
Muckross House
There was a wool shop in County Kerry called Kerry Woollen Mills. I stopped in there and brought home a few souvenirs from that shop! The shop had lots of beautiful finished knit items to buy, but I just bought a hank of wool yarn and a cute sheep!
Kerry Woollen Mills
Wool and sheep from Kerry Woollen Mills
Another old house that we toured was the Fota House. That was an amazing house with gorgeous architectural details inside! The gardens were amazing, too! We had our own tour guide, Brian, who showed us many fascinating things in the house! What a fun tour that was!!!
Fota House
Us with Fota House tour guide, Brian
We stayed at Air BnB’s in Ennis, Killarney, Cork, Waterford and Wexford. The BnB in Killarney was exceptional! The host, Adah, was so sweet and helpful! She even put an anniversary card and a box of chocolates in our room! Now that’s a great host!
Most of the Bed and Breakfasts met our expectations and most included breakfast, which was wonderful!
All in all, it was a fabulous trip! The weather in Ireland was sunny 4 out of 7 days! I guess that’s about average for there. If Arizona got that much rain, I bet we’d have as much green as Ireland! But then Arizona wouldn’t be a desert, would it?
Driving on the other side of the road was quite different! My husband drove and I was the co-pilot! Besides being the navigator using Google maps on my hubby’s phone, I got to say things like “you’re getting too close to the curb” or “there’s a rock wall coming up”! Sometimes I just felt like closing my eyes because it’s a little scary on that side of the car, especially when it’s your first time driving (or being the passenger) on the left-hand side of the road! But all in all, my hubby drove great and we survived the other side of the road! By the way, if you didn’t already know, some of the roads in Ireland are only wide enough for 1 car, not 2! Those are the really “thrilling” roads!!!
There are fields of sheep everywhere in Ireland and England! Some of the sheep are even colored so if they get out of the field, they can be identified by their color(s) and returned to the proper field.
Sheep in Ireland
We had such a good time in both England and Ireland. It was a trip we’ll remember with fond memories for many years! I’m so glad that we took the time and spent the money to go on this 40th Anniversary trip! Both countries are beautiful and have so much history to them! And it was wonderful to see both countries where some of my ancestors lived!
It’s been over a month since I’ve written a blog post and for good reason. From April 29 through May 17, my husband and I took a 40th anniversary trip to England and Ireland! Where does the time go? It seems like it was yesterday when we got married! Now it’s 40 years later!!!
Wow! What a trip we had! In today’s and tomorrow’s blog posts, I’d like to share the highlights of the trip with you (England today and Ireland tomorrow). Here are the highlights of the England portion of our trip:
At the beginning of our trip, we spent 3 days in London and saw some fabulous sights! We went up to the top of the Shard, which overlooks London. The sights were gorgeous from 70 stories up! Here are a few photos of us at the top:
View from top of the Shard in London
London lights from the top of the Shard
We also toured Westminster Abbey and took a river boat cruise along the Thames.
Westminster Abbey
Tower Bridge in London as seen from Thames River boat cruise
I was able to squeeze in a trip to a London yarn shop called Loop. What a nice place to see lots of gorgeous yarn and crochet thread! Some crochet thread by Scheepjes spoke to me in the shop, so I came home with 10 balls of thread! I look forward to designing something with these gorgeous colors after I’m all done with the 3 crochet contracts I’m working on right now!
Loop London yarn shop
Crochet thread from Loop London yarn shop
We saw a lot more than this in London, but for the sake of this blog post not being WAY too long, I’ll stop with these places.
We went to Ireland after London, then back to the southwest part of England, known as Devon and Cornwall. We rented a car during this portion of our England vacation (we didn’t dare drive in London, but took lots of public transportation there, which was fabulous).
One of the highlights of this part of the trip was visiting Port Isaac, where the British show, Doc Martin, is filmed. If you haven’t seen Doc Martin, you’re in for a treat! It’s a wonderful show that we’ve enjoyed for quite a while now. We could almost envision Martin and Louisa there! Port Isaac was a really nice, beautiful place! Here are a few photos from Port Isaac:
Port Isaac
Doc Martin house
We toured an old house in England called Cotehele House & Gardens. It was a fabulous tour! This house had tour guides in each room to tell about the specific rooms!
Cotehele House
We went to the All Hallows Museum in Honiton to see some Honiton Lace. Wow! The lace there was AMAZING! They had large drawers with huge pieces of lace that were exquisite! Each large piece took thousands of hours of work!!! Now that’s dedication to a craft! Lace making, and Honiton Lace in particular, was a cottage industry in the Devon area in the 16th and 17th centuries. Making lace provided an income for many families for several hundred years. Unfortunately, the invention of machine made lace made hand made lace virtually obsolete.
Since I learned to do bobbin lace this past January, I bought some souvenirs at the museum to help further my bobbin lace knowledge and skills!
All Hallows Museum
All Hallows Museum souvenirs
The England portion of our trip was so much fun, just as the Ireland portion was also lots of fun! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post about Ireland!
Now that I’m back from teaching at the Interweave YarnFest in Loveland, CO last week, I thought I’d write a blog post about my next teaching engagement this year.
I’ll be teaching at the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference in Portland, Oregon from July 25-28, 2018! I always LOVE teaching at the CGOA Conference! There are so many lovely, friendly crocheters at the conference, both professionals and hobbyists! It’s great to meet new crocheters there and spend time with so many of the crocheters who attend every year (or almost every year)! I’ve been attending the CGOA Conference since 2003 and teaching there since 2009. It’s so much fun! If you’ve never attended, I hope this will be the year you make the decision to go and meet like-minded crocheters who all speak the same language of crochet!
To read all about the conference, check out the CGOA website here. To register for the conference, go to this page.
Here are the classes I’ll be teaching in July:
Wed, July 25, 6 – 9 pm:
SIMPLIFYING SYMBOL CROCHET
About the class:
Symbol crochet diagrams are much easier to read and follow than written crochet patterns. Once you learn symbol crochet, you’ll wonder what you ever did without it! You’ll learn what each symbol means, thus enabling you to read and understand symbol crochet diagrams from any pattern, even foreign crochet patterns with international crochet symbols! You’ll even try out your symbol crochet knowledge by making 2 small projects from symbol crochet charts in class. This class includes instructions on starting/working in the round and making motifs, both techniques found in the CGOA Masters of Advanced Crochet Stitches and Techniques program.
Simplifying Symbol Crochet class
Thur, July 26, 9 am – 12 pm:
MULTIPLE MOTIFS
About the class:
Do you love the look of projects made with crochet motifs, but don’t enjoy weaving in all the ends? Then this is the perfect technique for you! With this method of crocheting motifs continuously, instead of separately, the number of ends is decreased dramatically, saving you time and energy! In this class, we’ll make continuous crochet motifs worked in joined rows. You’ll learn how to follow the necessary symbol crochet charts with this motif method. Once you’ve learned how to make many motifs using one continuous strand of yarn or thread, you’ll feel confident tackling any continuous crochet motif pattern.
Multiple Motifs class
Fri, July 27, 9 am – 12 pm:
INVISIBLE REPAIRS
About the class:
Do you have a crochet project that’s gotten cut, torn, chewed, etc? Do you want to learn how to professionally repair it? Then this is the class for you! In this class, you’ll learn how to repair all sorts of crochet projects, replacing the “bad” stitches and making your repairs “invisible”! You’ll learn how to replace stitches and chain spaces in the middle of a row, locking the top of the new stitches to the bottom strands of the stitches in the row above. Your work will look as good as new! Learn how to bring your damaged crochet projects back to life again! This technique also works great to “invisibly” seam the first and last rows in a crochet cowl!
Invisible Repairs class
Fri, July 27, 2 – 5 pm:
BEGINNING BRUGES LACE CROCHET
About the class:
Bruges Lace Crochet mimics the decorative Bruges Lace made with bobbins in Bruges, Belgium. Bruges Lace Crochet is a fabulous technique and is easy to learn. In this beginning class, we’ll make several different styles of Bruges Lace, as well as curve the lace and join it to make circles, squares and triangles. Once you’ve learned the basics of Bruges Lace Crochet, you’ll be ready to tackle more complex Bruges Lace patterns. If you’re not a “threadie”, don’t fret! Bruges Lace isn’t just for thread crochet. It can be done with yarn, as well. Come and learn to make basic Bruges Lace in crochet.
Beginning Bruges Lace Crochet class
Sat, July 28, 2 – 5 pm:
Intermediate Bruges Lace Crochet
We’ll take Bruges Lace Crochet to the next level in this intermediate class. You’ll learn many more variations of the lace itself, more joining techniques, and how to curve the lace over itself for more variety. We’ll explore more intricate Bruges Lace designs and you’ll learn how to achieve them in this class. Prerequisite: Beginning Bruges Lace Crochet class should be taken before taking this intermediate class (or have knowledge of the Bruges Lace technique).
Intermediate Bruges Lace Crochet class
I’m excited to be teaching these classes. Last year, my Invisible Repairs class sold out and I was able to add a 2nd class for this “technique” of repairing crochet projects invisibly. This year, I’m teaching Multiple Motifs for the first time (this is also called Continuous Crochet Motifs, which I’ve blogged about before)! I always enjoy teaching Bruges Lace Crochet and Symbol Crochet!
I hope you’ll consider attending the conference. If you attend for the first time because of reading my blog, please stop me at the conference and let me know (or leave a comment below)!
If you’ve attended the CGOA Conference before, what do you enjoy most about the conference?
