The Crochet Architect

April 30, 2019

Japan Trip Highlights

My hubby and I had so much fun on our trip to Japan last month! When our youngest son told us that he was going to be in Japan for 3 months for his work, we decided to take a trip to Japan, as well. We just couldn’t pass up that opportunity, especially since we could spend time with our son and have him as a bit of a “tour guide” to help us some days (when he didn’t have to work)! After the 10-hour flight to Tokyo, we took the shinkansen (the bullet train) to Kyoto that same day. We spent 4 days in Kyoto, then took the shinkansen back to Tokyo, where we spent another 7 days. The trains in Japan are very comfortable to ride. Everyone has their own seat and the seats rotate 180 degrees so 4-6 people can face each other. I never got a good photo of the bullet train when it came into the station, but here’s a photo of a bullet train in the railway museum in Kyoto, where we went one day:

As you can see, the bullet trains (aka: shinkansen) are very sleek and stylish!

Here are the highlights from our trip (in no particular order):

Besides touring the Nihon Vogue facilities in Tokyo (which I blogged about several weeks ago), our day in Arashiyama, outside of Kyoto, was the next best thing during the whole trip (it was also what we did the first full day we were there)! We rented kimonos and rode in rickshaws! How cool is that? We saw the monkeys in Arashiyama and the bamboo forest, as well. What a fun day!!!

Another fun thing we did was go to the Toyota Commemorative Museum in Nagoya (on the way back to Tokyo). I thought the museum was only going to have Toyota cars, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of the museum was dedicated to spinning and weaving! Wow! They showed the history of spinning with spinning wheels and lots of spinning machines. They had a ton of weaving machines, as well. It was all so interesting!!! In fact, I decided to look at the spinning and weaving displays/demonstrations again while my husband and son looked at the part of the museum with the cars!

I was fascinated by this manual spinning wheel for spinning yarn/cotton directly onto a drop spindle! I’ve never seen anything like this before and I think it would make drop spindle spinning much faster!

This is a portion of one of the yarn/thread spinning machines. They had so many machines on display and demonstrated many of them.

This machine wove intricate tapestries very fast! It was amazing!

There were way too many spinning and weaving machines for me to show you. This was a VERY fascinating museum to see!

We took a day trip from Tokyo to Hakone, where I saw Mt. Fuji for the first time! My husband had been to Japan while he was in the US Navy back in the 70’s, so he had already seen Mt. Fuji. Hakone was a wonderful place! We rode the cable cars, the rope cars and the pirate ship. If you’re not familiar with the term “rope car”, it’s another name for an aerial tram that takes you to the top of a mountain. Here are some photos from that day:

We saw some other interesting and fascinating things in Japan, too.

One day my husband and I went to the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama (Tokyo). It was amazing to see the bonsai they had there! They had an inside museum with lots of information about bonsai. An English-speaking woman gave us a tour that was great! And we got to see all the bonsai on display outside. They were so interesting and beautiful! These are a few of them, along with a view of the outside display area:

We saw lots of beautiful views from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building observation deck and from the 38^th or 39^th floor of the building where our son was working in the Ebisu area of Tokyo!

We went to Yoyogi Park one morning, where we saw the Cherry Blossoms (Sakura) in full bloom! They were gorgeous!!!

We saw a really unique escalator in Tokyo, too. It was surrounded by mirrors that gave a “prism” look to everything around it! It was really cool! This is the photo that our son took:

And our son took us to the largest Starbucks in the world in Tokyo! It’s 4 floors high and opened in February, 2019! It’s a “Starbucks Reserve Roastery”. This one is 32,000 square feet (that’s 2,000 square feet larger than the one they opened in December, 2017 in Shanghai, China)! It’s HUGE!!! If you’d like to read more about this new Starbucks in Tokyo, check out this article by CNN last February.

We even went to the Costco store in Tokyo! That was a lot of fun! My husband and I each bought a shirt/top as a souvenir and some Kit Kats to give to our family and friends. The Tokyo Costco had a different menu in their food court. They had hamburgers, so we decided to split a double hamburger for dinner that night. It was very good!

We ate at all kinds of restaurants, as well as picking up things to eat at the corner 7-11 or Family Mart quickly and inexpensively. Tokyo has convenience stores in almost every block, which makes it “convenient” to grab something to eat when you’re hungry! We even ate sushi with our son one day for lunch! It was really good and fresh, made right in front of us!

Japan was a very clean place. The subways and trains were convenient, clean and not that crowded (even in rush hour). Yes, you feel like a sardine, but somehow it wasn’t that bad (maybe because we’ve already navigated the subway systems in Beijing and London!).

We felt that the people in Japan were friendly and helpful. We even asked a stranger for help when we needed to catch the correct bus to get somewhere.

There were English signs everywhere in Japan, so it wasn’t as hard to navigate as in China, where there aren’t as many English signs.

One of the big differences in Japan was the size of the hotel rooms. They have very small hotel rooms, probably so they can fit more rooms into each hotel. In the US, we’re used to hotel rooms with plenty of room. But in Japan, they’re quite a bit smaller than here. But that’s okay because we don’t travel to stay in the hotel rooms. We travel to see the sights! We just need a clean place to sleep, shower and change clothes. Below are a few pictures of the 2 hotel rooms where we stayed.

This was the very small room where we stayed in Kyoto. The bed was pretty small and was only accessible from one side and the foot of the bed. The bathroom seemed like a bathroom you’d find in a travel trailer or motor home. You had to step up into it! That was very different. It was a clean room and served its purpose for the price we wanted to spend (around $80/night), so it was fine.

This was the room where we stayed in Tokyo. It was close to a subway/train station and had lots of places to eat nearby (I think all of Tokyo has places to eat nearby!). It was clean and a little larger than the hotel room in Kyoto. It even had a small washer/dryer combo in the room so we could do a load of laundry. And the bed was accessible from both sides with small nightstands on each side. What luxury!

Oh, I almost forgot! A lot of places in Japan have “heated” toilet seats! Need I say more?

We loved our trip to Japan and would go back in a heartbeat! What lovely memories we made and beautiful sights we saw!

Where is your favorite place to travel? What do you like to see when you’re traveling?

I hope you’re able to travel (if you have that desire) and enjoy life with the ones you love!

Until next time!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

April 8, 2019

Crochet Highlights of Japan Trip

I’ve always wanted to travel to Japan and last month, that dream came true! I LOVE Japanese crochet patterns and I wanted to visit the country where all this crochet loveliness originated! Since our youngest son was working in Japan for the first 3 months of this year, my husband and I seized the opportunity to travel there while he was still in the country. He’s back now (and we’re back, too), so it’s time I shared about the great crochet fun I had there (I’ll write another blog post about the other fun we had there being tourists and seeing some of their beautiful country)!

The highlight of the trip for me was visiting the Nihon Vogue Publishing Corporation main office, their Vogue Academy and their Keito Yarn Shop, all in Tokyo! I arranged for this tour several months ago through email with Mr. Toshiharu Tsuda, who works for them. He set up a fabulous tour of their 3 facilities! I had an absolutely wonderful time, especially at their corporate office and their Vogue Academy.

At the corporate office, which has 4 floors, I met several people: Mr. Toshiharu Tsuda, who I had been emailing for several months, Mr. Kenichi Funyu, who is an Adobe Illustrator extraordinaire and an editor at Nihon Vogue, Ms. Akiko Taniyama, who is the chief editor of Keitodama and Mr. Nobuaki Seto, the president of Nihon Vogue Corp! I felt like royalty there! They showed me all around their corporate office, including their Keitodama editing area. They brought out samples from the newest issue of Keitodama magazine (Vol. 181), too! They treated my husband and I to lunch in their cafeteria. Mr. Seto, the president, even showed us his office, along with several keepsakes he has; one made from his father’s ties! And he showed us their conference room with a bookshelf that runs from corner to corner along one long wall, filled with every issue of books and magazines that Nihon Vogue has published since the beginning of the company over 60 years ago (in 1954)! Wow! I was in crochet (and knit) heaven!

My husband and I with the Nihon Vogue staff

Books and magazines in Nihon Vogue editing department

Nihon Vogue bookshelf wall with every issue they’ve published!

After touring the corporate office and having lunch there, Mr. Toshiharu Tsuda took my husband and I to their Vogue Academy. This is where their certified instructors teach all kinds of crafts, such as crochet, knitting, porcelain painting, embroidery, quilting, sewing and lots more (even cooking classes)! They have 8 locations in Japan with 1,350 courses and 18,000 students! Wow! Now that’s serious teaching! The Tokyo location, which we visited, has 13 classrooms. Mr. Hiroki Hashimoto gave us the tour at Vogue Academy. He showed us every class that was in session and we could see what the students were making in each classroom. It was so much fun, especially in the 2 crochet/knitting classes! The students had finished or were working on garments in both classes. I was amazed at their skills and their projects!

The Tokyo Vogue Academy even has a store there with yarns, books, and lots of tools/supplies that students can purchase. I showed Mr. Hashimoto my 2 favorite Nihon Vogue books from their store and he was so nice to give me those 2 books!

After the Vogue Academy tour, Mr. Toshiharu Tsuda took us to the Keito Yarn shop. It was a somewhat small shop, but it was laid out very nicely. They had yarns from all over the world, making it hard to decide what I wanted to buy there! I bought 2 balls of Lana Gatto Nuovo Jaipur, a 100% combed cotton yarn, which is made in Croatia and 1 skein of Hasegawa, a silk/mohair blend, which is made in Japan! I look forward to knitting and/or crocheting with both of these yarns!

All in all, that day was magical for me! I LOVED meeting the Nihon Vogue employees, who were all very friendly and kind. I LOVED seeing their office, academy and yarn shop! I was surrounded with yummy goodness everywhere I turned! Their corporate office has a main lobby with tables covered in crocheted doilies and centerpieces! The entrance to their corporate office has a spinning wheel, which is part of their logo! And everywhere I turned, there were beautiful, inspirational things to see, from quilts on the walls to published books and magazines! That is a day I will never forget for the rest of my life!!!

Crochet centerpiece in Nihon Vogue lobby

In addition to the Nihon Vogue tour, I also visited 2 craft stores and a 100 Yen store while we were in Tokyo, where I purchased yarns and crochet books! At the Yuzawaya store in Kamata (3 floors high), I bought a Disney crochet book for 1,111 yen and 3 skeins/hanks of cotton and cotton/acrylic yarn, both made in China. At the Okadaya store in Sinjuku (6 floors high), I bought 2 Nihon Vogue crochet books for 1,200 yen and 1,100 yen. At the 100 Yen store (called “Can Do”), I bought 4 skeins of cotton yarn made in China for 100 yen each! The exchange rate is currently around .009 yen to 1 dollar, so 1,000 yen is about $9.00. So as you can see, the yarn and books were quite reasonably priced!

Japan crochet books and yarn I got/bought

If you love to knit and/or crochet, Japan can be a wonderful place to purchase yarn/thread/supplies and books/magazines!

If you’d like to read about the rest of our trip to Japan, subscribe to my blog to get an email when a new blog post comes out.

Until next time! Happy crocheting!

Susan

March 6, 2019July 27, 2019

2019 CGOA Conference

I LOVE to teach crochet! And I LOVE to learn new crochet techniques! Don’t you?

I’m happy to announce that I’ll be teaching 5 classes at the CGOA Conference this July in Manchester, NH. Not all of my classes are crochet, though. I’ll be teaching shuttle tatting again this year, too!

First, I’ll tell you a little about the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) Conference. This takes place every year (sometimes twice a year) in various cities across the US. It is open to CGOA members and non-members. There are dozens of classes taught by many talented teachers, some very well-known! We have a marketplace with vendors who sell everything from luscious yarn/thread to hooks, books and supplies. We also have a banquet and fashion show, as well as some fun events in the evenings. And I can’t forget about Professional Development Day (PDD) where established crochet professionals share what they know about running a successful crochet business. PDD takes place the day before classes begin, on Wednesday, July 10 from 9 am – 4 pm.

For all the scoop about the conference, visit the CGOA conference pages. Here is a list of the events going on at this year’s conference. Read this page to find out about all the classes being offered. And one last thing, CGOA has a design competition each year for CGOA members only. There are prizes in 6 categories ranging from $100 – $300, with a grand prize of $1,000! There have been some fabulous entries each year! It’s so much fun to see the entries at the conference and find it who wins in each category!

Okay. Now to list the classes I’m teaching and when each one is offered.

Thursday, July 11 from 9 am – 5 pm (with lunch from noon – 2 pm)

Tatting the Old-Fashioned Way

Tatting is such a fascinating and delicate craft. I taught myself to tat over 20 years ago. I’ve learned more since then and I really enjoy teaching others so they’ll be successful in their tatting projects. In this class, my students will learn the basics of tatting and start tatting this beautiful necklace with buttons, beads or charms. This is the only 6 hour class I’m teaching at the conference this year. Yes, it takes that long to learn to tat and get your head wrapped around how to do it! But I’ll be there to teach my students and answer all their questions. If you’ve always admired tatting and want to learn to tat, sign up for this class early. I’ve limited this class size to only 20 students.

Friday, July 12 from 9 am – 12 pm (noon)

Invisible Repairs

I’ve taught my Invisible Repairs class at the conference for the past 2 years. This has been a popular class and I’m thrilled to be teaching it again this year! In this class, I teach my students how to repair their damaged crochet projects, no matter where the damage is located. There is homework for this class so we can all do the repairs to the same swatches in class. And I’ll be demonstrating how to do the repairs in class, as well. This technique also works great to invisibly seam the last row to the first row on crochet cowls!

Last year, I filmed a crochet video class for Annie’s on this same topic called “Crochet ER: Fixing Damage and Mistakes”! If you can’t make it to the conference and would like to learn to repair your crochet projects (or someone else’s crochet projects), check out my Annie’s video class.

Friday, July 12 from 2 pm – 5 pm

Intro to Irish Crochet

I LOVE Irish Crochet and I really enjoy teaching this class to other Irish Crochet enthusiasts (who don’t know where to begin). In this class, I’ll be teaching how to make the Irish Crochet rose and leaf motifs. I’ll also teach how to make the background and the edging that you see in this photo. This is an introduction class, so we won’t get into more advanced Irish Crochet techniques. But once you know the basics of Irish Crochet, you can always learn more on your own or with books.

Saturday, July 13 from 9 am – 12 pm (noon)

Intermediate Filet Crochet

This is my Filet Crochet class for those who already know the basics of Filet Crochet (open mesh, closed mesh and lacets). In this intermediate class, you’ll learn to do increases, decreases, diagonals and a whole lot more! Once you learn these intermediate Filet Crochet skills, you’ll be ready to tackle that more complex Filet Crochet pattern you’ve had your eye on for so long!

If you don’t know the basics of Filet Crochet yet, and you’ve been wanting to learn to do Filet Crochet, check out my Annie’s class called “Learn Filet Crochet Using Thread and Yarn”. Then if you want to take your Filet Crochet to the next level, why not sign up for my intermediate class at the CGOA Conference (or before for the best rates)!

Saturday, July 13 from 2 pm – 5 pm

Simplifying Symbol Crochet

This class is always a lot of fun to teach! I learned to read symbol crochet charts several decades ago through Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet magazines. I love to make doilies and the patterns in these magazines were mostly written in crochet symbol charts. As a visual learner, I find these charts so much easier to follow than a lengthy written crochet pattern! And they look so similar to the finished project, too!

If you haven’t learned to read symbol crochet charts yet, this is your chance! You’ll learn all the basic crochet symbols and lots of more complex symbols, too. You’ll learn to follow a symbol crochet chart, both in rows and in rounds. And you’ll practice what you’ve learned making 2 small projects/swatches in class. Once you learn to read and follow symbol crochet charts, a whole new world of crochet patterns will open up to you! You’ll even be able to follow symbol crochet patterns in other languages including Japanese, Chinese, Russian and Ukranian!

If you’ve taken any of my classes in the past, you know how much I like to have nice, precise class handouts. I print them in color and bind them like a book to they’re a great keepsake to refer to later on after the conference. I charge $5-$8 for these handouts (depending on the quantity of photos/pages), which is what it costs me to print them at home, with the price of toner cartridges, nice paper, card stock and binding combs (to use with my binding machine). Here’s a look at my class handouts:

If you’re going to the CGOA Conference, class registration begins next Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00 pm (noon) Central time. Once again, here’s the CGOA website to find out more about the conference and CGOA in general. And if you have any questions about the conference, I’d be happy to answer them for you.

I hope to see many of you at the conference!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

March 1, 2019July 27, 2019

National Crochet Month

It’s that time of year again: the time we celebrate all things crochet with National Crochet Month (NatCroMo) during the month of March. Crochet is so good for our emotional health! It’s relaxing, it can be challenging (if we push ourselves and learn something new), it results in some great gifts for family and friends, plus it can bring like-minded people together to encourage each other and learn from each other. I’ve met so many friendly, encouraging people throughout the 40+ years I’ve been crocheting, especially in the past 16 years that I’ve been a Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) member. If you’ve never heard of CGOA, check out their website. You’ll be glad you did!

National Crochet Month seems to grow each year! This year, there will be designer blog tours, crochet-a-longs (CALs) and all kinds of crochet celebrations throughout the month of March. To help celebrate National Crochet Month, I’m offering a 25% discount on all of my patterns here on my website, along with in my Ravelry shop. Just use the code “NatCroMo2019” in either shop to enjoy the discount! The 25% discount is good on all of my crochet patterns and ebooks (plus my knitting patterns in my Ravelry shop). The discount is good from March 1-31, 2019 (Arizona time).

How do you celebrate National Crochet Month? Do you follow designer blog tours? Do you take part in crochet-a-longs? Do you learn a new crochet technique? Do you buy more yarn (who needs an excuse to buy more yarn, though)?

How many crochet projects do you make each year? I made dozens of crochet projects this past year and I learned a few new techniques (maybe not totally new, but new to me). In June of 2018, I learned to do Planned Pooling. If you’ve never heard of it, you can watch some videos by Marly Bird on Youtube. Planned Pooling is a very different technique. Most patterns are written for the moss stitch (sc, ch 1), but I used groups of 3 dc in my project. In planned pooling, it’s not the size/gauge of each stitch that’s important, it’s the number of stitches in each color and their placement that matters. Here’s a photo of the planned pooling afghan that I made in a month from 9 skeins of Caron Simply Soft yarn:

I also learned to do corner to corner crochet (aka: C2C). I tech edited a few C2C patterns years ago, but I never actually did this technique until January of this year! When I saw some photos of an adorable Grinch Scarf on Pinterest, I knew the time was right to learn this technique and make the scarf, since I LOVE the movie “The Grinch”! Here’s a photo of that scarf for you to see:

Last year, my 2nd grandchild was born in September. His name is Ryker. Here he is wearing one of the many hats that I crocheted for him:

I crocheted lots of baby booties for him, too! Here are a few of them:

I also crocheted a top from a Chinese crochet pattern from April – June of last year. I love following foreign crochet patterns (I don’t read the language, I just follow the symbol crochet charts). This one has a gorgeous pineapple yoke and hem. Here’s that top for you to see:

These are only some of the projects I crocheted (or knitted) last year. To see all of them and get some ideas for your next crochet project, check out my Ravelry projects page.

I hope you find many enjoyable ways to celebrate National Crochet Month! If you haven’t already downloaded my FREE crochet patterns, you can find them here. If you like what you see in these free patterns, you may choose to use the 25% discount on my other patterns for sale this month!

Happy crocheting (and knitting)!

Susan

January 25, 2019

Crochet Doily Repair

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:

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.

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?

Here’s a close up photo of the repaired large hole:

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.

Happy crocheting and happy repairing/fixing!

Susan

January 8, 2019

New Crochet Pattern for Winter!

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)!

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 hope you’re staying warm wherever you live!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

January 4, 2019January 4, 2019

Another new Annie’s video!

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

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:

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:

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:

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!

Happy Filet Crocheting,

Susan

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018

Big Announcement: My New Annie’s Video

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!

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

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!

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!

Susan

November 22, 2018January 14, 2019

2018 Ravelry Gift-A-Long

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:

Here are the original designers’ patterns that I knit/crocheted 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:

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)!

Happy crocheting (and knitting),

Susan Lowman

October 18, 2018

Lots of Exciting News!

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:

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 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:

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:

Here’s my 2 grandchildren, Rubekah and Ryker wearing the crochet football hats that I made them:

And here are the 3 of us enjoying some “Grandma” time together:

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!

Happy crocheting,

Susan