Have you tried Overlay Mosaic Crochet, but can’t quite get it to come out right? Well, there’s a fascinating crochet technique called Woven Crochet. It can look a lot like Overlay Mosaic Crochet, but it’s worked completely differently (and it’s quite fun)! It’s also reversible!!!
I was first introduced to this technique last year when an acquaintance showed me a hot pad/potholder that she had. I was intrigued by it and asked to borrow it. She said “yes” and I proceeded to analyze the hot pad to see how it was made. I found that the woven chains were continuous, not separate for each row, which made for WAY less ends to weave in, which I like!
On and off for the past year, I’ve been playing around with this technique and coming up with new Woven Crochet patterns for your enjoyment. And I decided to make a YouTube video demonstrating how to do Woven Crochet, to go along with the patterns. I’d like to introduce my new Woven Crochet patterns to you.
Persimmon Flower Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Bullseye Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Stairstep Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Squares Woven Hot Pad & Coaster
Check out these new patterns here. If you purchase all 4 patterns, you can receive a $4.00 discount by entering the code “WovenCrochet” at checkout (code is valid indefinitely).
To learn how to do Woven Crochet, watch my free YouTube video.
I hope you enjoy learning this new (to me) crochet technique.
Introducing my Majestic Butterfly Afghan! This afghan was previously published many years ago by Annie’s, but has since been retired. I recently received the copyright back to this beauty, so I wanted to make the pattern available to other crocheters instead of it never being available again!
This beautiful afghan is made in the Intarsia Crochet technique with sc stitches used throughout. Another term that is used for this crochet technique is “graphghan”. In this afghan, the first and last 2 rows are worked in one color (black), but the rest of the rows are worked with color changes throughout. If you’re a fan of kits, the kit is available through Mary Maxim here.
There are at least 2 ways to work the color changes. All ways involve working the last stitch of one color until you have the last 2 loops on the hook like this: “insert hook in next stitch and draw up a loop, drop old color, yarn over with new color and draw through both loops on hook”. The different ways to work the Intarsia technique involve where to drop the old color. One way has the old color dropped to the front of the work, whether you’re working on a right-side row or a wrong-side row. The other way has the old color dropped to the wrong side of the work. That means you’ll be dropping the old color to the back of the work when working a right-side row and to the front of the work when working a wrong-side row.
The key to working intarsia crochet (or graphghans) is to use bobbins for each of the separate colors used in the rows. This helps keep the yarns from getting tangled across the rows. The bobbins can be nothing more than a simple DIY type made from cardboard. They can also be made from plastic, coming in many different shapes and sizes. You can also use clothespins of various sizes, made from various materials such as plastic or wood. I found a year or two ago at Dollar Tree. They were $1.25 for 6 of them. They can also be round, encasing the wound yarn inside them. Here are some examples of bobbins used for Intarsia Crochet:
Whichever type(s) of bobbins you use, you’ll need to wind them with the yarn colors you’ll be using. You can wind lots of yarn on each bobbin or figure out the amount of yarn needed for a certain section that will be worked with that color and only wind the amount of yarn you’ll need. The way I figure out the amount of yarn to use is by working a gauge swatch to know the number of sc stitches I get with the hook size I’ll be using. Then I count the number of squares of that color in the section I’ll be working on the chart and divide by the number of stitches I got to come up with the number of yards to wind on that bobbin. I ALWAYS add another 18” – 36” of yarn for wiggle room, as well as leaving a tail at the beginning and end of that section of stitches to weave in and/or work over.
Weaving in the ends can be tedious, but well worth it if done securely. When possible, weave the ends in several directions so they don’t worm their way out when the item is used extensively, like an afghan. ALWAYS weave in the ends in a section of the same color, NEVER in a section of another color!
When working from a chart, each square represents one stitch. If the chart has many rows and many stitches in each row, print out sections of the chart on separate pieces of paper and tape them together. If needed, enlarge the chart to do this. The chart for my Majestic Butterfly Afghan is broken up into 4 “quarter” charts for this purpose (top left, bottom left, top right and bottom right). If the chart was just one chart on the page, the squares would be too small to see accurately. With the chart broken up into 4 charts, the squares are much easier to see, since the squares are larger.
One thing I HIGHLY recommend when following a crochet chart is to use a magnetic board. I’ve used mine for decades now! It’s great to use for all kinds of charted crochet projects and makes it so much easier to keep my place, even on small projects. On large projects like my Majestic Butterfly Afghan, it’s a MUST (in my opinion)! If the chart is too big for the magnetic board, you can mark off the squares/rows that you’ve worked with a sharpie, pen or pencil instead of using the board. I have 2 magnetic boards now and if needed, I could place them side by side to make a larger magnetic board (if working at a table and not in my living room chair, which is where I typically crochet at home). Here are just a few of the styles of magnetic boards available on Amazon:
The Majestic Butterfly Afghan is a large project that can be easier to work at a large table, such as a dining room table or crochet/craft table. It’s easier to work right-side rows while seated at one side of the table and wrong-side rows while seated at the other side of the table, minimizing the need to turn the afghan at the end of each row. Simply move yourself to the other side of the table instead (it’s good to get up and move anyway, so this helps us get some exercise during the project). It also eliminates the need to keep moving the multiple bobbins of yarn and straightening them out across the row! Another option would be to work the afghan at the table on top of a towel. When you finish a row, simply rotate the towel (with the bobbins) so you can work the next row.
Go HERE to purchase the Majestic Butterfly Afghan pattern and get started on your next masterpiece crochet project!
I hope you’ll give Intarsia Crochet a try. Start with a small, easy project and work up to this Majestic Butterfly Afghan or a similar intarsia/graphgan project. You’ll be amazed at what beauty you can create!
If you love Mosaic Crochet as much as me, you’ll really enjoy learning this new technique!
I was introduced to this technique a few years ago by a lady named Stephanie on Ravelry. She had an afghan that was crocheted by her great grandmother in the 1980’s. She couldn’t figure out how it was made and emailed me photos. I looked at them and figured out how the afghan was made. I thought this technique was so unique and fun, so I decided to share it with all of you through some new patterns and a free YouTube video to go along with the patterns.
Do you love the look of reversible mosaic crochet projects? I certainly do! I love having projects with two “pretty” sides! And this technique is so much fun! You get a light side and a dark side with this Alternate Spike SC Mosaic Crochet technique.
To learn this new technique, check out my YouTube video.
And if you love this technique as much as I do, check out the patterns I’ve created for this fabulous technique! The 3 patterns I’ve created are my “Chain Links Scarf”, my “Geometric Mosaic Hot Pads” and my “Heart Mosaic Hot Pads”. Each of the hot pads patterns actually contains 2 designs for one low price.
I hope you enjoy learning this new Mosaic Crochet technique!
Have you seen the new Red Heart All in One Granny Square yarn? It changes colors at set lengths for each round of a 5-round granny square! I LOVE this idea! I had to buy a skein to try it out for myself! And it works great! Now there are only 2 ends to weave in instead of 10 ends on each 5-round granny square!
I’ve watched quite a few videos on YouTube for using this yarn. I think crocheters either love it or hate it! If you’ve experimented with making taller or shorter stitches, you should do just fine with this yarn. One skein makes 14-15 granny squares (6″ square). That’s enough for 1-2 scarves, depending on the length.
I’ve filmed a YouTube videodemonstrating working with this yarn. I’ve also put together a written, as well as charted, pattern to accompany this yarn. I didn’t like the short length left over after crocheting the granny square per the instructions on the yarn label, so I changed the pattern here and there to create a different granny square. Now I have 3-4 feet of leftover yarn at the end of each square, giving me plenty of yarn to join the squares together! I’m planning to make a scarf with some of these granny squares. And I’ll have more granny squares leftover for another project!
If you’d like a copy of the pattern, it’s available here.
If you’re looking for an easy, quick baby blanket project, I’d like to introduce you to my Easy Clusters Baby Blanket pattern. I started this baby blanket in June of 2020 during a camping trip in Zion National Park with our youngest son and his wife. The pretty colors of the yarn inspired me to design a pattern using the 4 colors of yarn, plus a white.
The pattern is a 2-row repeat with a 2-stitch repeat, as well. That means you can customize the size of your baby blanket (or doll blanket or full-size blanket) with this pattern! You can use the same colors as I did or customize the colors any way you want! This would even make a great scrap-busting project!
I purposely designed the blanket with less ends to weave in by working 2 right-side rows, followed by 2 wrong-side rows. The white (or main color) is carried up the side edge to be used again instead of finishing it off. The contrasting colors are finished off at the end of each row using them (every other row).
This past week, my husband and I filmed aYouTube video where I demonstrate working the blanket from the beginning chain to several repeats of the 2-row repeat in the pattern, including how to work the clusters. I also demonstrate how to carry the main color yarn up the side edge, crochet the edging and weave in the ends securely and professionally. In the video, I made a doll-size blanket to use up some of the scraps of contrasting colors that I had left over from the baby blanket. I think the doll blanket will make a nice Christmas gift for my granddaughter, who turned 7 years old this past summer!
Check out the pattern page hereto see what supplies I used and purchase the low-cost pattern. Get started on your baby blanket, doll blanket or full-size blanket today!
Do you enjoy decorating your home? I definitely do! This pattern has been several years in the making. Two years ago, 2 of our 3 grown sons bought their first house (and we bought our new/used house that year, as well). Then last year, our third son bought his first house, too! So there have been lots of houses purchased in our family lately! What a blessing!
What’s a mom to do when she sees a need and gets an idea? Fill that need, of course! So I set off to design and crochet a “Home Sweet Home” piece for each of my sons. Filet Crochet is one of my favorite crochet techniques, so that’s what I used. Now I’m releasing this pattern so you can crochet your own “Home Sweet Home” for you, your family or friends, too.
The first son/daughter-in-law I made this for didn’t want to frame it. She chose to mount it on canvas. She’s very creative and she painted the canvas before we mounted it (with the help of spray adhesive). Here’s their finished “Home Sweet Home”:
Isn’t that beautiful? I think so!
The second son who bought a house has a Japanese wife, so she chose washi paper and some strips of wood (with magnets) to mount her “Home Sweet Home” piece. This is where she purchased the magnetic strips to hang their piece. This is their finished “Home Sweet Home”:
I love her choice of mounting, too!
My husband and I bought a home in 2021, as well. So I set out to crochet one for our new/used home. I’m more traditional than my daughters-in-law, so I decided to frame mine. I used a 16″ x 20″ frame that I painted to match the blue matboard. Here’s our “Home Sweet Home”:
I gave a “Home Sweet Home” to my oldest son and daughter-in-law at the end of last year, after they purchased their first home. They haven’t framed theirs yet (I don’t think). I know whatever they choose will be just right for their first home!
If you love Filet Crochet as much as me (and you don’t mind using size 30 crochet thread), check out my new Filet “Home Sweet Home” pattern here. If you’re not a fan of size 30 crochet thread, you could always use a larger crochet thread to create a larger “Home Sweet Home” piece of your own! And don’t forget to block your piece for professional results!
I’ve enjoyed doing the Thermal Stitch for quite a few years now. Last month, Heather (on my YouTube channel) asked if I could make a video showing how to do a potholder in Thermal Stitch with 2 different colored sides. I thought about it and I’ve been playing around with it for a few weeks now. However, I took it to another level! I’m happy to introduce the marriage of Tapestry Crochet with the Thermal Stitch in my new YouTube video and my new Tapestry Thermal Stitch Potholders and Coasters patterns!
If you’ve ever done the Thermal Stitch, you know that you insert your hook in a completely different place than in regular crochet. And if you’ve ever done Tapestry Crochet, you know that you carry the unused yarn under the stitches you’re working and change colors across the row, as needed. So when I thought about doing color changes in Thermal Stitch, I immediately thought about using the Tapestry Crochet technique! And it works!!!
If you’d like to take your Thermal Stitch projects to the next level with designs on one or both sides, watch my YouTube video.
And if you’d like to give Tapestry Thermal Stitch a try, check out my new Tapestry Thermal Stitch Potholders and Coasters patterns on the crochet patterns page.
Do you enjoy crocheting decorations for holidays? I certainly do! I’ve got a brand new crochet pattern for an Easter Egg Potholder for you. This potholder is worked with 2 pieces: a front and a back for double thickness. Using worsted (#4) weight cotton yarn, it’ll keep your hands and fingers protected when removing a hot dish from the oven.
Easter Egg Potholder
The potholder is worked in rows of single crochet with increases and decreases, as necessary, to form the egg shape. After crocheting 2 egg-shaped pieces, one round of single crochet is added to join the pieces together and to form the hanging loop at the top.
This pattern is easy enough for a beginner crocheter, since basic stitches are used. I’ve done a YouTube video for this pattern, as well, so you can follow along with me in the video and learn to read a crochet pattern while making this cute, useful potholder!
Here’s the pattern page to snag a copy of this pattern at a great price! Then you can crochet some potholders for your Easter celebration (with about 27 days until Easter!) or give one/some to a friend or family member.
I hope you enjoy this pattern and all your crochet projects!
My oldest son is getting married next month (woohoo!) and I wanted to help out with the wedding somehow. My soon-to-be daughter-in-law said she wants to wear a hair comb for the wedding and she texted me a photo of an expensive one to see. I asked if she’d like to have me crochet one for her and she said “yes”! So I did some online research and found more photos of hair combs that are really pretty for inspiration. She didn’t want one that was too big; just something pretty and functional. So I started looking for good flower patterns to use (instead of taking extra time to design my own flowers).
My future DIL picked out the crochet thread colors she’d like me to use from my stash of crochet threads. Since I didn’t have a lot of the iridescent white thread for the flowers, I tried out some of the flower patterns with the pink thread first to see how I liked them. Once she and I picked out which ones we liked best, I crocheted the top 4 flowers in white with size 10 crochet thread and a 1.5mm hook. Then I crocheted some pink leaves to go around the edges.
Possible flowers for hair comb
These are the flower patterns I used:
Large flower in center: 6-petal frilled rose with 3 layers from page 14 in the book, “The Go-To Book for Irish Crochet Motifs” by Kathryn White (book #871388), published by Annie’s. A digital edition of this book is available (as of this blog post) here.
free pattern from https://persialou.com/make-crochet-flower-hair-combs/ This is a great blog post about how she made a hair comb. She used hot glue to attach her flowers and leaves to the hair comb, but I sewed mine in place. Either way works!
I decided the iridescent flowers could use a little more bling, so I sewed a small iridescent white pearl bead to the center of each one (I don’t know what size I used because I just found some in my stash of beads!). Since the large flower in the center had a somewhat large hole in the middle, I used a little larger bead and added an iridescent sequin behind the bead to keep it in place. I used a package of iridescent sequins from my local Hobby Lobby. They worked out great!
Here is a quick, free pattern for the leaves that I made up off the top of my head:
Ch 8, sc in 2nd ch from hook, *hdc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, dc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, hdc in next ch, sc in last ch**, ch 2, sl st in top of last sc made to form a picot; working in free lps on other side of ch, sc in first ch (in same ch as last sc); rep from * to **; join with sl st in first sc. Finish off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
For the hair comb, I bought a package of 5 silver hair combs from Amazon. Here’s a link to the hair combs I purchased. Some of the teeth were a little bent when I got them in the mail, but they straightened out nicely with very little effort! And the metal is a really nice quality! They also come in black or gold, if you’d prefer another color/finish. These hair combs have 20 teeth. They also come in other sizes, with more or less teeth, which would make them narrower or wider. The one I used with 20 teeth is about 3” wide.
After I crocheted all the flowers and leaves, I arranged them a few times until my future DIL and I liked the arrangement. I also tried an arrangement with a tatted piece that I had made quite a while ago. It’s too frilly for my future DIL, but you might consider something like this for your hair comb.
Trial flower arrangement
Another trial flower arrangement
Trial flower arrangement with tatted lace
Then I had to decide how I wanted to attach the flowers and leaves to the hair comb. I decided to buy an ebook of Irish Crochet patterns by Kathryn White from Annie’s (on sale), since there was a hair comb in that ebook (book #871106E). Here’s a link for that ebook.
While the hair comb in this book is lovely, it wasn’t what the bride wanted (I LOVE the doily in this book, so I’ll be crocheting that in the near future). However, I liked the way Kathryn attached the flowers and leaf sprays to her hair comb in the book, so that’s what I did. Basically, you wrap some extra crochet thread around the top of the hair comb between the teeth of the hair comb and secure the ends of the thread. That gives you a nice base of thread to attach the flowers and leaves to the hair comb. I actually sewed the leaves to the back of the flowers (not to the hair comb) after I sewed the flowers in place on the hair comb.
What do you think? Do you like this hair comb? What would you do differently?
I can’t wait to see my future DIL wearing this hair comb in her upcoming wedding to my son!
I’ve been wanting to film a video to teach the Thermal Stitch for quite a while and I finally have one for you. But first, a little background on how/where I learned this fabulous stitch.
I first learned the Thermal Stitch from Darla Fanton at the 2008 CGOA Conference in Manchester, NH. Darla is a great teacher and I learned a lot in that class. However, life got in the way and I never pursued doing anything with the Thermal Stitch.
Fast forward to around 2015 when a good crochet friend named Jackie showed me the thick potholder she had made from a free pattern on the internet. She shared the link to the free pattern (by Heather Tucker of Stitchery Project) and taught me the stitch (which I had somehow forgotten from Darla’s class). I was immediately hooked! I’ve been making Thermal Stitch Potholders ever since! They’re so easy to make once you learn where to insert your hook! It’s just simple rows of single crochet, which is pretty mindless (sometimes I need a mindless project!).
Thermal Stitch Potholder
One thing I changed in Heather’s pattern was the placement of the hanging loop. Heather makes her hanging loop at the bottom of the potholder. I decided I wanted to make my hanging loop at the top of the potholder. The reason for this is sometimes I want to make a hot pad without a hanging loop instead of a potholder. So I just don’t work the hanging loop at all. Since I changed Heather’s free pattern, I decided to type up my version of this potholder as a free pattern. You can download my free pattern here.
You can find Heather’s free potholder pattern (named “The Best Crocheted Potholder”) here.
The potholders are economical to make. When I see a sale on worsted weight cotton yarn, I stock up on it. This makes the potholders about $1 each, which I love!
These potholders make great gifts! I’ve given them to friends and family for Christmas and/or birthdays, as “thank you” gifts, and as wedding (or bridal shower) gifts, as well.
To learn the Thermal Stitch, watch my new YouTube video here.
I hope you enjoy crocheting these potholders as much as I do!
