Are you a CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) member? If so, fantastic! If not, why not? If you love crochet and you’d like to be part of a national organization that is dedicated to crochet, then CGOA is for you! We have local chapters that hold monthly meetings for members to share with each other and learn from each other, yearly crochet conferences with lots of classes and fun activities, free crochet patterns “for members only” and many more benefits of CGOA membership! Check out all the member benefits on the CGOA website here. To find a local chapter near you, please visit this webpage.
Do you know about the CGOA website? You can find CGOA at www.crochet.org. The CGOA website has a new look and added features this year. We have some crochet lessons and fabulous new crochet videos (done by Kim Guzman) on the new CGOA website, as well! And there will be more additions to the website in the near future, too.
Many of you already know that I am the current secretary on the CGOA Board of Directors. I’m also one of the co-chairs on the CGOA Masters Committee and I’ve taught classes at many of the CGOA Conferences in the last 5 years. As a Board member, I was honored to design and crochet the website banner for the CGOA website this year. If you’re a CGOA member, you can read all about the banner and download the free website banner motif pattern (for members only) here. This is the motif for the CGOA website banner:
CGOA Website Banner Motif
It’s made with popcorns and post stitches, as well as many regular crochet stitches. Here’s a photo of part of the CGOA website banner with many joined motifs:
CGOA Website Banner
I made this banner with 12 colors of Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. This yarn was a dream to work with! You can see the huge range of Cascade 220 Superwash colors here. There are 220 yards of worsted weight 100% wool yarn in each ball. I know the CGOA banner will last for a long time, since this yarn is completely washable!
Happy crocheting everyone! And remember the CGOA motto:
“When you think CROCHET, think CGOA”!!!
Susan
P.S. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with lots of time to crochet! And I hope you learn a new crochet technique in 2014, too!
Last month, at the CGOA Chain Link Conference in Charlotte, NC, there was a design contest, open to all CGOA members. We have the design contest each year and I always enjoy seeing the fabulous designs that are entered. This year was no exception! There were some fantastic entries and the winning entries were spectacular!!! Here are some photos from the design contest:
2nd Prize Afghan by Jessie Rayot1st Prize Afghan by Julia Bryant3rd Prize Artistic Expression by Deborah Bagley
1st Prize Artistic Expression by Sachiko Adams
Grand Prize Winner by Dot DrakeWinner’s Circle
To see a full list of the winners in the design contest, please visit the CGOA blog here.
We also had a fashion show at the conference. Some of the garments in the fashion show were in the design contest and others weren’t. The fashion show has lots of “eye candy” and is part of the dinner at the conference! It’s a lot of fun! If you’d like to see lots of photos from the fashion show and the design contest, visit the CGOA Flicker page here.
I entered 3 designs in the Design Contest this year. I didn’t win a prize, but that’s okay. At least I tried my best! I LOVE the designs that won, so that’s what counts! Here are the 3 designs I entered:
Brandyce modeling my Kauni Poncho
This is Brandyce from Lion Brand Yarn Company modeling my Kauni Poncho in the fashion show. I love the looks of this poncho because the yarn does all the work (well, most of the work!). If you’d like to make a Kauni Poncho of your own, the pattern is available for purchase here on my website, as well as on Ravelry, Craftsy and Etsy. It takes 140 grams (612 yards) of Kauni Effektgarn yarn to make this poncho. This yarn is 100% wool fingering weight and I LOVE the colors it comes in. To see all of the colors of this yarn, please visit the Kauni website here.
Vashti modeling my Alexandria Shawl
This is my Alexandria Shawl, modeled by Vashti Braha. This shawl is made with 100% cotton yarn. The large triangular section of motifs and the inset of motifs are made in the Continuous Crochet Motifs method, with less ends to weave in because the motifs are made continuously, not separately. If all goes well, I’ll have this pattern available for purchase on my website within the next year.
Triple Delight Pillow
This is my Triple Delight Pillow. It’s made with 3 shades of size 10 DMC Cebelia. I made it in 3 techniques: Irish Crochet motifs (the flowers and leaves), Filet Crochet (in the large center section) and Bruges Lace around the edges (hence the word “triple” in the name!). I also added small beads in the center of many of the flowers. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this design, yet.
If you’re a CGOA member, you’ve tried your hand at designing crochet projects and you haven’t entered them in the CGOA Design Contest, you should consider entering your designs next year. Who knows! You might win! And you don’t have to write the patterns to enter your designs (of course, if they’re going to be published, you’ll need to write the patterns eventually!). The prizes are $100 for 3rd place, $200 for 2nd place and $300 for first place in each of the 6 divisions, plus $1,000 for the grand prize winner! That’s nothing to sneeze at!!! And the designs remain yours to do with as you please after the contest.
Keep watching the CGOA website for more information on the design contest as the 2014 conference gets closer. Next year’s CGOA conference will be July 23-27, 2014 in Manchester, NH. It’ll be the 20th Anniversary of CGOA next year! Yahoo!!! There will be lots of celebrating going on, I’m sure!
Good luck! I hope to see your designs in next year’s CGOA Design Contest.
It’s been almost a month since my last blog post! Wow! Where does the time go? It’s been a busy month.
Earlier this month, I attended the CGOA Chain Link Conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Charlotte/Concord, NC (from Oct. 2-6). It was fabulous, as always! There’s too much to tell you about in one blog post, so I’ll tell you about the classes I took in this post and save the other information for another blog post or two later. I love teaching at the conference, but I also enjoy being a student and stretching my crochet knowledge and skills, too.
I took 7 crochet classes at the conference. The teachers whose classes I took are Margaret Hubert, Jennifer Hansen, Vashti Braha and Dora Ohrenstein (I took 3 classes from Vashti and 2 classes from Jennifer). All of the classes were fantastic! And there were many more classes with other great teachers, too.
Margaret’s class was Freeform Knit and Crochet. Since I can now knit, as well as crochet, I thought this class would be a good fit for me. However, I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a freeform person (I might be too analytical and black/white). But I truly love the freeform look and would like to be able to do it someday (perhaps in Irish crochet with crochet thread instead of with yarn). Maybe with a little practice (or some wine to help me relax!), I might learn to do freeform well. But I enjoyed the class and drooled over Margaret’s gorgeous freeform pieces. Here’s one of them:
Margaret Hubert’s freeform jacket
Isn’t this gorgeous? Margaret is a wonderful teacher and designer. Here she is in the class showing us a jacket that she made from purchased doilies to inspire us:
Margaret Hubert’s doily jacket
I was truly inspired (the photo doesn’t do it justice)! All of Margaret’s freeform pieces are inspirational! You can read more about Margaret and see her fabulous creations on her website here.
The 2 classes I took from Jennifer Hansen were on Hairpin Lace and Tunisian Crochet. Jennifer is a “Master” at both of these crochet techniques. She has boundless energy, too! In the Tunisian class, we learned to do cables and make a keyhole for her wonderful Tunisian Keyhole Cravat pattern (see pattern on her website here). Here’s a photo of this fantastic design:
Jennifer Hansen’s Tunisian Keyhole Cravat from Stitch Diva Studios
I crocheted my cravat from some extra Naturally Caron Spa yarn that I had. I haven’t blocked it, yet, so I hope it turns out as nice as the one in the Stitch Diva photo. Here’s a photo of that for you to see:
My cravat
In the hairpin lace class, we learned how to make many different types of hairpin lace strips and many different ways to join them together. It was great! Here’s Jennifer in the hairpin lace class:
Jennifer Hansen (aka: Stitch Diva Studios)
I learned a TON in both classes! Thanks so much, Jennifer.
The 3 classes I took from Vashti were on Love Knots, Tunisian Filet and Slip Stitches. Vashti is a wonderful teacher with lots of patience. She’s a very laid back teacher and puts a lot of thought into her classes and her designs. Here she is in the love knots class explaining something to Shari White:
Vashti Braha (on right) and Shari White (on left)
If you’ve never seen love knots before, here’s a photo of some:
Love knots
And here’s Vashti in the Tunisian Filet class deep in thought:
Vashti Braha
The Tunisian Filet class was based on her Aero Wrap. Here’s a photo of that wrap:
Aero Wrap by Vashti Braha of “Designing Vashti”
You can see the pattern and read about it on her website here.
I wasn’t able to attend all of the Slip Stitch class because the Board meeting ran late (I’m the secretary on the CGOA Board and we have our annual “face-to-face” Board meeting on Saturday morning at the conference). But I enjoyed what I got out of the class and would like to learn more about it in the future.
Dora’s class was on grading garments (something I don’t like to do and I still need to learn more about it). Dora was very informative, but her class was on the last day of the conference and I was battling “conference brain”! Here’s Dora explaining something about garments:
Dora Ohrenstein of “Crochet Insider”
I took good notes during the class. I think that between my notes and the handout, I’ll learn more when I get a chance to read through it all again. Dora has written several crochet books and they’re all fabulous! To read more about Dora, check out her website here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the 7 crochet classes I took at the CGOA Conference. If you’ve never attended a CGOA Chain Link Conference before and you’re curious about it, check out the CGOA website here, or the CGOA blog here or the CGOA Facebook page here.
Okay, this is really part of my CGOA Conference information, but I think it’s important enough to deserve a separate blog post. If you know me well, you know that I don’t consider myself to be a knitter. You may be wondering why I say that. Well, let me tell you why. When I was a girl, my mom taught me to knit, but I wasn’t very good at it. I remember asking my mom which row I was on as I was knitting some slippers: the knit row or the purl row. So, apparently, I couldn’t tell the stitches apart at that time.
When I was a teenager, my best friend taught me to crochet. I later married her brother, making us sisters-in-law! I quickly took to the crochet hook like you wouldn’t believe! It was so much easier to use one hook than 2 needles (I used to stick one needle between my legs to knit, which looks pretty silly in my opinion)!
So fast forward almost 40 years to the week before the CGOA Conference last month. I saw the video listings on the Leisure Arts website for the Knook and decided to watch them. If you’re not familiar with the Knook, it’s a wooden crochet hook with a hole at the opposite end from the hook. You can watch the Knook videos here. To use the Knook, you insert a cable (which I think can be just a scrap piece of yarn) into the hole and you can knit with a crochet hook! So I decided to try it, but my local craft store was out of the Knook. I asked my friend, Jane Rimmer, about the Knook and she thought I could do the same thing with a double-ended crochet hook. So I tried it and I was able to knit with a crochet hook! Yahoo! I think using the Knook would be a little easier than using the double-ended crochet hook, but it works for now. I was as happy as a clam with my new knitting skill, since I didn’t have to try to hold 2 knitting needles anymore!!! And the knit stitches are identical, whether they’re made with the Knook (or double-ended crochet hook) or with 2 knitting needles. Can you tell the difference? All of these green swatches were knit with my double-ended crochet hook, not knitting needles. I haven’t blocked them or woven in the ends, so they don’t look too good, but you get the idea!
Knit Check Pattern made with a crochet hookKnit Basketweave Pattern made with a crochet hook
Knit Pennants Pattern made with a crochet hook
But my story doesn’t end there. On the way to the CGOA Conference last month, my good friend, Kathy White (she’s known as Kathryn White for her published crochet designs in books and magazines, as well as on her website), tried to teach me to knit with 2 knitting needles (the long style of needles, which are awkward for me to use). I was still having trouble with the 2 long needles and the slippery yarn. So fast forward 5 days to the last day of the conference, on the way home. Nancy Nehring, another crochet designer in CGOA, was flying home on the same plane as Kathy and me (she was continuing on to San Jose, I believe, while Kathy and I got off in Phoenix). I got to sit between Kathy and Nancy on the plane. They’re both left-handed and I’m right-handed, but they were very patient with me. Kathy bought a set of 5 short, wooden knitting needles at the conference and gave me 2 of them to use. So I kept trying to knit, with their wonderful guidance, until I was successful! I didn’t get a picture of myself knitting on the plane, but here I am in the airport before boarding the plane, thrilled with my new skill (and the shorter needles, which are much easier for me to use):
Here I am in the airport, excited about learning to knit!
I was having trouble with my stitches being twisted, so Nancy explained about inserting the needle in the other direction to keep the stitches from twisting (unless I was supposed to twist them, as patterns sometimes want them to be).
For the last 2 1/2 weeks, I’ve been practicing my knitting. I plan to keep improving and learning more all the time. Here are the first 2 projects I’ve knitted since returning home from the conference and learning to knit again:
Knit Child’s ScarfKnit Doll Blanket
I love the stitch pattern in this scarf, which is my adaptation of a child’s vest pattern from the latest issue of Knit 1-2-3 magazine. And I wanted to try my hand at a lacy knit stitch pattern, so I made a small blanket for a doll. The instructions for this knit stitch pattern are also in the latest issue of Knit 1-2-3 magazine, but it’s a full-size afghan in the magazine.
I’m having a blast with my knitting! I’m currently designing a knitted man’s scarf and I’d like to become a knitting tech editor when I know more about knitting (and can read the patterns comfortably, too). I love the look of knitting and now I can truly call myself “bi-stitchual” or “bi-textural” (that’s someone who can crochet and knit!).
I love knowing how to knit with 2 needles now. I know that it will open up a lot of extra possibilities for me in what I can create. I can add knitted ribbing to my crochet garments or a crocheted edging to my knitting projects! I look forward to the knitting journey ahead and all of the fun of learning something new!!!
If you know how to crochet and knit, in what ways do you enjoy using knitting and crocheting together?
Five days after returning home, I’m still basking in the afterglow of last week’s CGOA Conference (aka: the Knit and Crochet Show) in Indianapolis, Indiana! It was 5 days of fun, fun and more fun! I taught 6 classes there: Mosaic Crochet, Crochet Pattern Writing, Beginning Bruges Lace, Intermediate Bruges Lace, Wiggly Crochet and Reading/Understanding Crochet Patterns. The times of my classes were: Wednesday night from 6-9PM, Thursday from 9AM-5PM with a 2 hour lunch, Friday from 9AM-noon, Friday from 2-5PM, Saturday from 2-5PM and Sunday from 9AM-noon. It was a busy schedule, but I endured and actually had enough energy to teach each class. I had between 5 and 16 students in each class, which is ideal for me (and for them). Every student was a joy to have. They were all eager to learn what I had to teach them during the class. And I believe that they all enjoyed the class(es) they took, which is always a plus! I took 2 photos in the Beginning Bruges Lace class (I tend to forget to take photos when I’m busy teaching). Here are the ladies on the left-hand side of the room and the ladies on the right-hand side of the room:
Ladies on left-hand side of room in Beginning Bruges Lace classLadies on right-hand side of room in Beginning Bruges Lace class
Don’t they look focused on their work?
Also at the conference, I did my first book signing (in the Annie’s booth) on Thursday night, during the Shopping Floor Preview. I should have a photo of that soon (hopefully). It was a lot of fun and I will probably do it again at the CGOA Conference in Charlotte, NC in October of this year. I signed my new “Jewelry to Crochet” book, published by Annie’s, that I blogged about on June 30th. The folks from Annie’s were giving copies of my new book away during the book signing. I met many nice ladies (and a few men, too) at the book signing.
We had our CGOA Members Meeting on Thursday night before the Shopping Floor Preview. Since I’m a CGOA Board member (I’m the Secretary), I was seated at the front tables with the other Board members. Here’s a photo of Jane Rimmer (the CGOA Treasurer) and me there:
Jane Rimmer and me at the CGOA Member Meeting
Jane and I are also the 2 Co-Chairs of the CGOA Masters Committee. We make the policies for the Masters program, make corrections to the program, as needed, and answer questions from the Masters portfolio reviewers (I’m a portfolio reviewer, too). Six out of the ten portfolio reviewers were in attendance at the conference. We all met and had lunch together on Thursday. Here we all are:
CGOA Masters reviewers at conference in Indi
From left to right are Phyllis Nabakowski, Beth Hall, Jane Rimmer, Kathryn White, me (Susan Lowman), Linda Dean and Patti Giorgi. We have 2 levels of portfolio reviewers (junior and senior) and each portfolio is reviewed by 2 reviewers (one from each level). To find out more about the CGOA Masters program, check out the CGOA website here: www.crochet.org.
On Wednesday, Jane Rimmer and I went to the TKGA (The Knitting Guild of America) Masters Day, which was an all-day event. We took this day to find out how TKGA runs their Masters Day so we can put on a CGOA Masters Day at the CGOA Conference next year. It was time well-spent! We learned a lot and will be starting to prepare for our very first CGOA Masters Day soon.
On Friday night, we had our Fashion Show and Dinner. The food was excellent and the fashion show was great, as usual. I laid low and didn’t have to model this time, so I enjoyed the show. Here are a few photos from the fashion show:
Shari modeling her Ebb & Flow shawl designKathy modeling her jacket designAndee modeling her scarf designDragon shawl in fashion show
Also at the Fashion Show Dinner, I met Donna Stinson and Terri Geck from Coats & Clark. Here’s a photo of the 3 Coats ladies at the dinner:
The dynamic trio from Coats & Clark
From left to right are: Donna Stinson, Terri Geck and Bobbie Matela (who I met years ago and enjoy seeing each year at the conference).
I spent some time with several friends at the conference, too. Here are some of my friends and me with big grins on our faces:
Shari and me
This is Shari White, who is my first mentee in CGOA and my roommate at most conferences.
Kathy and me
This is Kathy (Kathryn) White, who I met at the CGOA Conference in 2011 in Greensboro, NC. Kathy lives 2-3 hours away from me, in Arizona, but it took going to the conference in NC to meet her!!!
Marcella and me
This is Marcella Clayton, who I met in the Crochet Pattern Writing class I taught on Thursday. Marcella showed me her design in class and I encouraged her to show it to an editor at the Meet & Greet on Saturday morning. Needless to say, Marcella sold her first crochet design that morning! Go Marcella!!!
At the CGOA Conference last year in Manchester, I encouraged another new designer, Patricia Ritchie, to show her designs to the editors at the Meet & Greet, too. This is the first published design by Patricia Ritchie:
Petite Spring Hat from Crochet World magazine, April 2013, designed by Patricia RitchieCandle cover – a “thank you” gift from Patricia Ritchie
Isn’t it gorgeous? Patricia is so sweet and her design is fabulous!!! She gave me a little “thank you” gift in one of my classes this year. That was very nice and totally unexpected! Here is the candle cover that Pat made and gave me last week:
On Saturday morning, we had the Board meeting at 7AM (I’m sure glad I’m a morning person!). It went well and we got a lot accomplished. I can’t tell you what we discussed because it’s still a “secret”! But all will be revealed in time.
On Saturday night, we had the first ever “CGOA Fun Night”! It was great!!! Amy Shelton, of Crochetville, was the emcee. We had “Show and Tell” throughout the room. We also played “Let’s Make You Squeal”, where Amy called out an item’s name and the first person who had that item in their crochet bag (or purse) squealed with delight to win a prize. There were lots of prizes given out that night, as well as prizes at the Member Meeting and the Fashion Show Dinner (we love prizes in CGOA!).
We also love all the goodie bags filled with fiber goodness that are donated by many sponsors of the CGOA Conference. A big “thank you” to Lion Brand, Red Heart and Annie’s for the fabulous goodie bags! We really appreciate your support of the CGOA Conference!
On Sunday afternoon, the conference was over (boo hoo!). But I made lots of fabulous new memories of fun times with lots of wonderful people. I always feel so energized after a CGOA Conference!
If you’ve ever thought about attending a CGOA Conference, you really should. It’s almost a week of fiber-loving events spent with like-minded people. We speak the “language” of crochet all week! Everyone is so friendly and encouraging of each other. If you can’t make it to a CGOA Conference, I hope you at least have friends who you get together with regularly to crochet together and encourage each other with your crochet projects.
I’ve been getting ready for the CGOA Conference (aka: The Knit and Crochet Show or the Chain Link Conference) for weeks and I’m almost ready to go (except for packing on Monday)! I’m teaching 6 crochet classes at the conference next week in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is a lot to prepare for. It’s going to be a blast…it always is!!! For more information about the conference, check out this website. The things I love about the CGOA conference are (in no particular order):
1. The friendly crocheters (and knitters) that I meet there.
2. The wonderful classes I get to take (when I’m not teaching) and the new things I learn about crochet (I love to learn more to expand my crochet knowledge and ability).
3. The market (show floor) with lots of gorgeous yarn, crochet hooks and patterns!!!
4. Professional Development Day where we learn more about earning an income through designing, technical editing, teaching, contract crocheting, etc.
5. Seeing and spending time with crochet friends that I’ve made over the years.
6. The Fashion Show dinner.
7. The design contest.
I’ve been a CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) member for over 10 years and I’m hooked (pun intended)! There are so many wonderful, friendly, helpful crocheters in CGOA who are happy to share what they know with each other (mostly about crochet, but sometimes about life in general, too). I’ve made so many really good friends by attending the CGOA Conference each year. I am truly blessed to know so many crocheters from every walk of like, whether they’re professionals, associate professionals or CGOA members at large (these are the nicest people)! I love to encourage new crochet professionals and share my crochet knowledge with others through my classes. I certainly don’t know all there is to know about crochet, but I’m learning more all the time (and that’s what CGOA is all about…learning about crochet).
I’ve been working on a shawl for this year’s CGOA Design Contest for several weeks. I can’t show you a picture of it because one of the judges might see it before the contest and the entries are supposed to be kept secret. But I can share with you the struggles and trials I’ve had designing this shawl (it’s confession time!). First, I made countless mistakes in this shawl and had to rip out a lot of stitches several times to correct the mistakes (I really should have been paying closer attention to what I was doing!). Oh well. Live and learn! Second, I ran out of yarn before the end of the shawl, so I had to frog (rip out) hours and hours of work on it so I can redesign it a little differently to use just the amount of yarn that I purchased last year at the conference (about 950 yards from the Newton’s booth).
One of the “challenges” with this design (besides all of my mistakes and ripping out so many stitches) was the stitches that I worked into the chain spaces sliding around and not staying evenly spaced. The yarn I’m using is a rather slick mercerized cotton (not all mercerized cotton is slick like this one). I do enjoy the sheen this yarn has and the lighter weight of the yarn, so I’m willing to overlook the sliding stitches “challenge”!
I’d like to share a hint to help your stitches stay in place and not slide around, like mine were doing. I normally work my stitches in a chain space into the space and not into the chains. But with some slippery yarns (like the one I’m using), the stitches can slide around and not be evenly dispersed across the chain space. So I decided (after ripping out a huge chunk of my work) that I’d work into the chains themselves instead of into the chain spaces. Here are a couple of photos showing the difference between working into the chains themselves and working into the chain spaces:
Working in Chain SpaceWorking in Chains
Can you see the difference? The photo on the left shows the center 5 red double crochet stitches worked in the blue chain-5 space below. The photo on the right shows the center 5 red double crochet stitches worked in the chains of the blue chain-5 space below (one double crochet is worked in each of the 5 chains). Can you notice how the red stitches are more evenly spaced in the right-hand photo? And they don’t move around anymore. Of course, working into the chains themselves works best when you have the same number of stitches to work into the same number of chains (like 5 chains and 5 stitches).
Well, I’d better get back to preparing for the conference. I hope you all enjoy the rest of this month and are able to enjoy many relaxing hours of crochet!
I hope everyone who reads my blog is a member of CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) or at the very least, has some crochet buddies they crochet with on a regular basis. I’ve been a CGOA member since 2002 and I love it! CGOA is a great organization and is getting better all the time. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Board member now! We’re planning some great additions for CGOA and the CGOA website in the coming years. If you’d like to find out more about CGOA and all that is available to CGOA members, just check out the website at http://www.crochet.org.
There will be 2 CGOA Conferences this year: one in Indianapolis, IN in July and one in Charlotte, NC in October. I’m pleased to be teaching 6 classes at the CGOA Conference in Indianapolis in July. I love teaching crochet and I always have a great time at the conference. My students are very eager to learn and I meet so many nice people there, who are also having a great time! It’s almost a week of being surrounded by other crochet enthusiasts and all of us speaking the same crochet language!!! What could be better?
The classes I’ll be teaching at the conference in July are:
MAGICAL MOSAIC CROCHET on Wed, July 17 from 6-9PM
CROCHET PATTERN WRITING 101 on Thur, July 18 from 9AM-noon and 2-5PM
BEGINNING BRUGES LACE on Fri, July 19 from 9AM-noon
INTERMEDIATE BRUGES LACE on Fri, July 19 from 2-5PM
WONDERFUL WIGGLY CROCHET on Sat, July 20 from 2-5PM
READING & UNDERSTANDING CROCHET PATTERNS on Sun, July 21 from 9AM-noon
I love Mosaic Crochet, Bruges Lace and Wiggly Crochet. I’m so glad that I get to teach them again at the CGOA Conference this year in Indianapolis. To see the full schedule of classes and to register for the conference, visit http://www.knitandcrochetshow.com or http://www.crochet.org/event/KCSRegistration2013. If you’re planning to go to the conference and you haven’t registered for your classes yet, you really should do it soon. Several of the crochet classes are already sold out, including my Mosaic Crochet and Beginning Bruges Lace classes. There are only 2 spaces left in my Intermediate Bruges Lace class and 1 space left in my Crochet Pattern Writing class as of the time that I’m writing this blog post. To see which classes are sold out and if the class(es) you’re interested in taking are close to being sold out, you’ll need to go to the registration page on the CGOA website (https://crochet.site-ym.com/events/register.asp?id=298542). Click on each of the class times to open the drop down menu of classes. That’s where you can see which classes are sold out. Since the registration process is different than last year, you won’t see the sold out classes on the Knit and Crochet Show website like in past years.
I hope everyone who attends the conference gets into the classes they want to take the most. There are some really fantastic classes being offered by 21 knit and crochet teachers. If you’ve never been to a CGOA Conference before, you can even request a buddy to help answer all of your questions and direct you to where the classes are located.
Mosaic Crochet
Mosaic Crochet is worked in 2 colors (or more). The color is changed every row or two and some of the stitches are worked in front of the other color in a row or two below the previous row to make the vertical lines. It’s a great technique and really fun to see the pattern come to life before your eyes!!! Lily Chin has a book on Mosaic Crochet called “Mosaic Magic: Afghans Made Easy”. She’s designed some great afghans in Mosaic Crochet in this book.
Beginning Bruges LaceIntermediate Bruges Lace
If you’re not familiar with Bruges Lace Crochet, it’s made to look like the intricate Bruges Lace from Belgium. In the crochet version of Bruges Lace, narrow strips or tapes are made, then joined to form circles, squares, triangles and more. The Russians have some really awesome Bruges Lace designs in their crochet magazines. And many Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet magazines have Bruges Lace designs in them, as well. Bruges Lace Crochet can be combined with traditional crochet techniques, as well, or even with Irish Crochet. I love Bruges Lace and really enjoy designing in this fun crochet technique.
Wiggly Crochet
I’ve been enjoying the Wiggly Crochet technique for many years. You may be familiar with some of my wiggly crochet designs. This is another really fun technique to learn. I was first introduced to this technique when a friend asked me to crochet a new hot pad for her. Her grandmother had crocheted a wiggly crochet hot pad for her many years before and it had seen its better days! I had never seen wiggly crochet before and was intrigued with it. So I analyzed the stitches and crocheted a new hot pad for her. Then I got to thinking that I could design some Wiggly Crochet hot pads with designs on them instead of just concentric squares, like my friend’s hot pad. So I got out my graph paper and colored pencils and started drawing different shapes until I came up with some designs of my own in Wiggly Crochet. I love the textural, dimensional look to Wiggly Crochet. It is a great technique for hot pads, coasters, rugs and more! You can see all of my Wiggly Crochet designs on my Pinterest board here: http://pinterest.com/susanlowman1/wiggly-crochet-patterns/. I love Wiggly Crochet so much that I have 3 Wiggly Crochet booklets published! And I have a few self-published designs in Wiggly Crochet here on my website, too. If you’re intrigued with Wiggly Crochet, I hope you’ll give it a try very soon.
I love to teach others more about crochet in my classes, whether it’s a crochet technique, learning to read crochet patterns or learning how to write crochet patterns (for new designers). If you’re a new designer and you’re struggling with writing patterns for your designs, I’d love to have you in my Crochet Pattern Writing 101 class. I’m aiming to cover all the bases of pattern writing in this full day class! I’ve been designing and writing crochet patterns since 1999 and I’ve edited crochet patterns for nearly 10 years. I’ve learned a lot along the way and I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with my students!!!
If you’re planning to attend the CGOA Conference and we haven’t met, yet, please leave a comment on this blog post and let me know. I’d love to meet you at the conference this year! I look forward to seeing many friends and making new ones at the CGOA Conference in July.
I hope everyone enjoyed the National Crochet Month Blog Tour last month. Wasn’t it great? I enjoyed it immensely!!! In fact, I still have a few websites to visit to see what the other CGOA professionals and associate professionals blogged about and what they might have been offering for NatCroMo. There were so many great crochet hints, behind the scenes photos, free crochet patterns, giveaways of yarn and projects, etc. I am blessed to be part of the fantastic organization that is CGOA! And attending the annual CGOA Conference is always a thrill! I learn so much, even when I’m the teacher! I never want to stop learning more about crochet and improving my crochet skills.
Can we have a drum roll, please? Without any further ado, the winner of the faux tatted necklace giveaway is… Marsha Stockton. Congratulations, Marsha! I’ll be e-mailing you today to get your address to send you the necklace. May you enjoy wearing it often! Thank you to everyone who entered. I really enjoyed your comments about thread crochet.
I hope everyone has a fantastic April and the weather warms up for a lot of you in colder climates.
Welcome to The Crochet Architect website. I’m thrilled to be taking part in the National Crochet Month blog tour through Crochetville today! You can read all about the blog tour and see the list of scheduled bloggers here. There’s a lot of crochet talent and knowledge between all of these bloggers, so why not visit each and every blogger this month. The other blog tour participant today is Michele Maks, a very talented crochet designer and the previous editor of Crochet World magazine. You can read her blog post here. Please consider supporting our charity for this blog tour, Project Night Night, either with a financial donation or by donating crocheted blankets. Project Night Night provides security to homeless children. You can read all about Project Night Night here and on the Crochetville blog tour post.
If you’ve never been to my blog and website before, welcome! I hope you’ll take a few minutes and look around. There are 3 free crochet patterns here: one for baby booties and 2 for coasters (one worked in rows and the other worked in rounds to practice increases and decreases). I also have patterns for sale here on my website. I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Susan Lowman. I am a crochet designer, technical editor and teacher. I am a proud member of CGOA (the Crochet Guild of America). If you haven’t heard of CGOA before, please visit the CGOA website to learn more. I am the secretary on the CGOA Board of Directors, as well as one of the 2 Co-Chairs and a portfolio reviewer on the Masters Committee. As you can see, I’m very involved in CGOA! It’s a fabulous organization dedicated to preserving and advancing the art of crochet. We have a conference or two every year. This year I’ll be teaching 6 classes at the conference in Indianapolis. I’d love to meet you at the conference and/or in one of my classes!
When I was asked to take part in this blog tour, I wondered what I would blog about. But then it came to me a few weeks ago: blog about what you love doing! Of course, in general, I love to crochet. But more specifically, I love to crochet with thread! I’m not sure when I started to crochet with thread. I think it was in the 80’s, but I’m not positive. I love to design and crochet with thread. I’m not particular whether I’m going to design something of my own with thread or crochet a thread project from someone else’s design. It makes no difference to me! As long as it’s made with crochet thread, I’m game!!! I love thread crochet so much, that when Annie’s asked me last year to put together an online class on Crocheting with Thread, I said “yes”! You can read all about that class and all the other online classes at Annie’s by clicking on the banner on the right-hand side of my website.
As part of National Crochet Month, I wanted to include something to give away, so please keep reading for the giveaway information a little further down.
I don’t know how many of you reading this now are threadies, like me! If you’re already a threadie, what is your favorite thing to crochet with thread? Do you love making doilies, jewelry or something else with crochet thread? Do you have a favorite crochet technique with thread (filet crochet, Bruges Lace, Wiggly crochet, etc)? Do you always use white thread for your thread crochet projects or do you like using certain colors of crochet thread in your thread projects? What is your favorite brand of crochet thread?
If you’re not a threadie (a person who loves to crochet with thread), what is holding you back from learning to crochet with thread? Do the small crochet hooks intimidate you? You don’t have to crochet with size 10, 20 or 30 thread for your first thread crochet project. You can start out with size 3 or 5 thread for your first thread crochet project (and use a size D or E crochet hook with these sizes of thread). Yes, I suppose it does take a little time to adjust your tension when using smaller thread and hooks. But it’s so worth it! Here are some of the projects I’ve crocheted with thread in the last few years:
My Crocheted Tablecloth
This is my favorite project (and one that took a lot of time, too!). It is the Pineapple Ovals Tablecloth from the book, Crochet Lace, by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. Here’s a photo of the front cover of that book:
Crochet Lace book
In 2005, I was extremely blessed to be asked to write all of the patterns in this book (except for the green tablecloth). Rita sent me all of the stitched models for the book from Jean’s collection. I had them in my possession for several years while I wrote the patterns for them. I also made some filet charts and stitched small pieces for the book. It was a true “labor of love”, since they’re all made with crochet thread! The tablecloths and bedspreads in this book are works of art!!! In 2010, I spent 11 months crocheting my tablecloth from the pattern in this book. I always use a clear plastic cover over it to protect it from spills! I think it turned out really nice and it’s the perfect size for my table, too. You can see more photos of this tablecloth in progress on my Ravelry projects page. You’ll be able to distinguish the different motifs of the tablecloth in these Ravelry photos. If you’d like to purchase a copy of this book, it’s still available through sellers at Amazon.com and other websites, as well.
Here’s a small part of the tablecloth pattern that I crocheted and turned into a framed piece of art:
Framed Piece of Tablecloth pattern
I made 2 of these and gave them as Christmas gifts in 2010, after I finished my tablecloth. This piece has 4 of the marquise shaped motifs around the edges and 1 fill-in motif in the center of them. These framed pieces were a lot of fun to make, too!
Another one of my favorite thread crochet projects is this Crinoline Lady:
Crinoline Bride framedCrinoline Ladies leaflet
I crocheted her from a Maggie Weldon leaflet called “Crinoline Ladies”. Here’s a photo of the cover of that leaflet:
The Crinoline Lady that I made is called the Bride Doily. It was designed by Soledad Davis. I framed this Crinoline Lady and have her hanging above my bed. If you’re interested in making this Crinoline Lady, the leaflet is available on Maggie’s website.
Here’s a doily I crocheted last year from one of Kathryn White’s patterns:
project from Kathryn White’s doily pattern
Kathryn is an extremely talented thread crochet designer and a very good friend of mine. We met at the CGOA Conference in Greensboro, NC in 2011. I love her thread crochet designs! They’re fabulous! Don’t you agree? If you’d like to make this doily, the pattern is available on Kathy’s website.
I could go on and on with photos of beautiful thread crochet designs, but this blog post would get way too long! So I won’t.
Okay, as promised, I’m going to give away something to a lucky blog reader in honor of National Crochet Month. I’ve chosen one of my thread crochet necklaces to give away. Here’s a photo of the necklace that you have a chance to win:
Faux Tatted Necklace prize
It’s my Faux Tatted Necklace. No, it’s not tatted, it’s crocheted to look like tatting! The pattern for this necklace is available in 2 ways: as just the necklace itself or as part of a set of jewelry (the necklace, bracelet and earrings). I love making these necklaces and I hope the winner will love her necklace, as well. If you don’t win this necklace and would like to make one of your own, the pattern is available here on my website.
To enter for a chance to win this necklace, simply leave a comment on this blog post with the answer to one (or more) of these questions:
1. What is your favorite project to crochet with thread?
2. What is your favorite brand of crochet thread to use?
3. If you’re not a threadie, what is holding you back from learning to crochet with thread?
I’ll draw the lucky winner at random on April 1st, so you have 6 days to enter. The winner’s name will be posted on my blog on April 1st, as well. Good luck!!! (Note: Because of high shipping costs, this giveaway is limited to US residents only.)
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at thread crochet and are ready to give it a try! Please check back often to read new updates on my blog and to see my new crochet patterns. Or simply subscribe to my blog for automatic updates!
There are still more stops on the National Crochet Month Blog Tour, so keep reading the blog posts through the end of this month. I’m sure you’ll learn more! And there are sure to be more giveaways, free patterns, etc from the other blog participants!
I was asked a few days ago to post on the CGOA Now blog (as a Board member of CGOA) as part of the National Crochet Month Blog Tour through Crochetville. If you’d like to know what I do as a CGOA Board member and Co-Chair on the Masters Committee, just read the CGOA Now blog here.
There is an updated schedule for the blog tour that you can read here. A few people have been added (including more CGOA Board members), so please check it out to see who’s new!
I’ll still be taking my turn on the “designer” part of the National Crochet Month Blog Tour on March 26th. Please check back that day to see what I have to blog about and give away!
