With only 2 weeks left until Christmas, these One-Skein Scarves are perfect for some last minute gifts! The crochet patterns are available separately or as a “special value” set. They’re sure to please many friends and family members on your holiday list!
Each of our “One-Skein Scarves” patterns includes a symbol crochet chart for those of you who are “visual learners”, like me. As always, each pattern includes the finished size, skill level, materials list, gauge, abbreviations used in the pattern, special abbreviations and full written instructions.
Autumn Romance Scarf
The Autumn Romance Scarf was inspired by the beautiful colors of Patons Kroy Socks FX that I saw in my local yarn store. I knew I simply had to design something beautiful with it! It’s a one-skein scarf worked from one end to the other. Then some fringe is added at each end. There is no edging involved in this scarf. It’s a quick project and I absolutely LOVE the colors of this yarn!
Glamour Scarf
The Glamour Scarf was something I decided to design with a skein of Vanna’s Glamour yarn one day. It’s another quick project with an easy stitch pattern to memorize. It’s worked in 2 halves, from the center to each end of the scarf, making each end symmetrical. The scarf includes a simple edging to finish it off. And the shimmer in this yarn is wonderful!
Pediwick Scarf
The Pediwick Scarf is made in a beautiful shade of green, but you can make your Pediwick Scarf in any color you desire, of course! It’s also made in 2 halves, from the center to each end. This scarf doesn’t require an edging, since the edges are so straight already. It has a nice stitch pattern on the ends, finishing it off nicely.
Whether you choose one of these scarves or all 3 of them, I’m sure you’re going to love crocheting them up in a jiffy! Each scarf pattern is available for $3.95, or the set of all 3 One-Skein Scarves patterns is available for the special price of $7.95. That’s like getting the 3rd pattern for free! To see more about these new scarf patterns, visit our “Pattern” page here.
I hope you’ll enjoy these One-Skein Scarf patterns and will share photos of your scarves with me. I’d love to see what creative scarves you make with these patterns!
We all love scarves for keeping our necks warm during the cold winter months! I know I do! But there’s one thing even better than a scarf because it doesn’t fall off easily or become crooked with wear. That item is a “cowl”! If you’ve never heard of a cowl, it’s basically the same thing as an “infinity scarf”, which is a scarf that is joined together at the ends into one big, long tube. There are no ends to be concerned about being straight or even when wearing it. You just put the cowl over your head and wrap it around your neck once or twice, depending on your preference of length and neck warmth! And presto! You have a beautiful and functional accessory to proudly wear or give as a gift. And it’s one of those gifts that doesn’t have to be a certain size, too!!!
This year, I started designing lots of scarves and cowls, since they’re a lot of fun to crochet and wear (and don’t require sizing!). I recently had my first cowl design published in the Dec. 2014 issue of Crochet World magazine and I have a new cowl pattern for you right here on The Crochet Architect. It’s called the “Unforgettable Ripple Cowl”, named after the Red Heart Boutique “Unforgettable” yarn that I chose for this cowl. This yarn comes in some absolutely “gorgeous” colors! It’s 100% acrylic, so it’s machine washable, which is a big plus for anything you might get dirty (not that I get my cowls dirty, but it could happen and I want to make sure I can get it clean without felting it)! I really enjoy crocheting with this soft, squishy yarn. Anyway, here is my new cowl design:
Unforgettable Ripple Cowl
Aren’t the colors pretty? I chose a ripple stitch pattern for this design because I like the way the changing colors are shown off to their best advantage. It’s also an easy pattern to memorize and crochet, as well as being quick to make! This cowl uses only 1 skein of the Unforgettable yarn, making it an economical project, too. There is only 1 seam to sew to join the bottom and top edges to form the tube-shaped cowl, as well as 2 tails to weave in (that’s not bad considering all the beautiful colors that change on their own!).
Here’s a photo of the cowl worn doubled:
Unforgettable Ripple Cowl worn doubled
I’m really going to enjoy wearing this cowl during the winter, which isn’t too far off now (we had our first frost on Sunday night, so winter is right around the corner here in the higher elevations of Arizona!).
Have you started any new scarf or cowl patterns lately before winter hits where you live? Do you have someone on your Christmas list who loves scarves and cowls?
To purchase the “Unforgettable Ripple Cowl” pattern, just check out our “patterns” page!
I’ve been busy designing lots of scarves this past 6 months and I’ve had a blast with them! I have one of the patterns ready for your crocheting pleasure. This scarf is called “Easy Rainbow Scarf” because it’s an “easy” pattern and because of the rainbow colors I used to crochet it! I just love rainbows, don’t you? Here’s a photo of the scarf:
Easy Rainbow Scarf
As you can see, the scarf is completely reversible, thanks to the special stitch worked in the black rows. This scarf, as shown, measures 4 ½” wide x 54” long, plus the fringe. However, the size is adjustable in width by working more or less rows and in length by working more or less repeats across the rows. So you can make your scarf whatever size you desire!
I used 6 colors (plus black) of Caron Simply Soft yarn to make this scarf, but you can use as few as 2 colors to make your scarf, if you wish. I used worsted weight yarn for this scarf, but feel free to use a heavier or lighter weight yarn instead to make your scarves. This is a great pattern for using up scraps of yarn, since only 25 yards of each color are required (for each colored strip in the scarf), plus 175 yards of black, to make the scarf the size shown. You can use whatever colors you like to coordinate with your outfits, coats or jackets.
This scarf is quick and easy to make. The skill level is “easy”, so if you haven’t been crocheting for very long or simply want an easy pattern to make, this scarf fits the bill!
Easy Rainbow Scarf close up
If you’re new to working more than one crochet stitch in a pattern, have no fear! The pattern is easy to follow and includes full instructions for making the scarf with the fringe. It also includes close-up photos of the scarf and fringe, instructions and step-by-step photos for working in the back bump of the foundation chain, making a Long double crochet (Ldc), starting a row (joining) with a sc or a hdc and making the fringe. And there are no yarn tails to weave in, since the tails are included into the fringe!
If you already know how to make a chain, single crochet, half double crochet and double crochet, as well as how to read and follow a crochet pattern, you’re ready to make this scarf. If you’re eager to learn something new and enjoy making new, unique projects, it’s time to get started on this fun scarf today! And Christmas is coming, so this is the perfect time to get started on those Christmas gifts for the loved ones on your list!
This pattern is available right here at The Crochet Architect as an instant PDF download for $4.95. And, as always, I’m available to answer any questions you may have about any of our patterns while you’re making the items. If you find a mistake, please let me know right away so I can correct it. I strive to create fun, error-free patterns for your enjoyment!
I recently met a crochet designer through the internet. Her name is Kristi Simpson and she’s a very talented crochet designer. She has a website and an Etsy shop. To celebrate the release of her new book, “Mommy & Me Crocheted Hats”, published by Stackpole Books, I’d like to do my first “blog interview” with Kristi today. You can see and order this book on Amazon here. I’ll share a few photos of my favorite hats in her book toward the bottom of this blog post, too.
Kristi Simpson
S: How long have you been crocheting?
K: I have been crocheting for 6-7 years! Wow! Time flies!
S: How long have you been designing?
K: I have been designing for 5 years…but I have only been selling designs since 2010. I knew shortly after I learned to crochet that I wasn’t happy with a lot of just plain designs. I wanted to make functional things cute and so I was determined to design things that were fun and cute to crochet. I now have over 350 designs.
S: What are your favorite things to crochet or design?
K: Obviously I have a soft spot for babies and small children. My husband and I have 5 inspirational children: Jacob, Kimberly, Allison, James and Ryan that keep us on our toes! They inspire me to keep my designs fresh, and kid friendly. I understand what it means to be on a budget, but still want all of the ‘cute’ designs for my little ones….and now I make them!…but when it comes down to patterns, I know there’s a demand for all ages. My new book is about giving everyone a chance to jump in on the fun and having cute hats to wear!!
S: Where/when/how do you get your design inspiration?
K: I honestly LOVE to go yarn shopping. I might walk out with 1 skein…and on the fun days my husband is with me, I might walk out with 10 (I love it when he goes!). He is my biggest support and encourages me to try new designs and yarns! The colors, textures and different weights of yarn will jump out at me and even though I might have an idea in my head, it becomes more real when I can see the yarns. Now, I will never ever say I have enough yarn– and my husband knows that. Ha!
Also, my family inspires me. They know my passion for crocheting and even when we shop in the mall, they’ll bring a jacket or a fabric headband and say– look at this! I am a huge fan of magazine clipping! I have a 3 ring binder with taped down ideas from sales papers, store ads and what others would call ‘junk mail’. I love to see what’s in season and what’s in store for the next! I also have a separate notebook that I jot down my ideas and sketch them out so that I can return to them when specific inspiration hits!
S: Do you use your children as models for your crochet patterns?
K: Yes, all the time! My kids’ ages range from 5 year old twins to 14 and 16 year old daughters…. I never miss that opportunity to use them. Plus, they love seeing their photo online!
S: Do you have a favorite color, yarn brand or yarn weight to use in your designs?
K: One? I have to pick JUST one? Right now I would say it is Yarn Bee, “Hint of Silk” in Oriental Teal. It’s so luxurious! It is 85% Bamboo and 15% silk. It is classified as a weight 4 yarn, but to me it is on the thinner side of the scale. However, it’s perfect for clothing, hats and the new baby–it’s SO SOFT! If you were to ask me last week, I would have said Red Heart Soft in purple…. I can never pick JUST ONE!
S: What does RAKJ stand for?
K: Have you ever tried to pronounce RAKJ? Well, I’m sure you had a tongue twisting try and made some sneeze-like sounds….but it’s actually pretty simple: R-A-K-J. It is our family initials! Ryan, Allison, Kristi, Kim, Jason, James and Jacob!
S: What else can you tell us about your Mommy & Me Crocheted Hats book?
K: The book was a blast to design. I not only managed the patterns in this book but also the photography. It was amazing to have every day people model the hats. I mean, not only models wear them! I enjoyed the ‘almost candid’ theme, and it was so much fun! Not only photographing the hats, but seeing the mom and child (or sometimes grandma or dad!) playing together and being sweet! It is something that I will always remember. I hope the photos make you smile and giggle… and inspire you to make a few sets for you AND your friends and family!
Well, that’s it for the interview with Kristi. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Kristi a little bit. I definitely enjoyed interviewing her! I look forward to many more wonderful designs from Kristi in the future.
I can’t imagine having a career AND raising 5 kids! My 3 sons are grown and out on their own now. My life was very busy while my husband and I were raising them, with all of the things they did in school, sports, Boy/Cub Scouts, church and more! It makes me dizzy just to think about my crazy, busy schedule back then!
As promised, here are photos of some of my favorite hats in Kristi’s new book (and a photo of the cover of the book, too):
Wouldn’t the pirate hat be great to wear on National “Talk Like a Pirate Day”? And what little boy doesn’t want to have a beard? I think the Elf hat is really cute. It could be made with red and white for a Santa hat without the added chain spaces in the last round of the hat. If your little girl (or a little girl you know) likes to wear her hair in pigtails, then the pigtail hat is perfect (with holes to poke the pigtails through)! Since I LOVE snowmen, the snowman hat is great, especially with the ear muffs! And if I had a baby girl, I’d definitely want matching heart beanies for us!
These hat patterns come in multiple sizes and different skill levels, so there’s something for everyone. And with 30 hats to choose from, you’re sure to find some hats that you’d like to make. The book retails for $19.95 in the US and $22.95 in Canada.
You can see all of the hats/projects in this book on the Stackpole website here.
You may ask: What is a doily? And how do you pronounce it? Well, it’s pronounced “doy lee” or “doi´lē” (definitely NOT dolly!). Think of it this way: “doy” rhymes with “toy” and “Lee” is a man’s name. According to Webster’s dictionary, a doily is “any small, ornamental mat, especially one of embroidery or lace”. Of course, many forms of crochet are lacy, so it stands to reason that many doilies are made in crochet! Doilies are used most often to protect wooden surfaces from scratches and moisture.
I LOVE doilies! I have hundreds, if not thousands, of doily patterns and I still enjoy purchasing new doily patterns to add to my collection. I love to crochet doilies and they make wonderful gifts, too! I have a box of finished, blocked doilies that I can turn to when I need a gift for someone, especially if they love doilies, too. I’ve learned a lot about crocheting and designing through making crochet doilies. I’m a “threadie” at heart, so I love crocheting almost anything with crochet thread (especially cotton crochet thread because it blocks so nicely).
I love the different shapes and stitches that are in doilies. Each one is unique, almost like snowflakes. Doilies come in circles, squares, rectangles, ovals, hexagons, triangles, octagons, or just about any shape. Some doilies are done in Filet crochet, while others are done in Bruges Lace, Irish crochet or regular crochet. Some doilies have lots of textural stitches or aremade in multiple layers. Some are one solid color, while others are made with many colors (and I definitely LOVE colors!). I love anything crocheted that has pineapples in it, too! Two of my favorite doily designers are Patricia Kristoffersen, who designs doilies with textural stitches, and Kathryn White, who designs doilies in Irish crochet. You can see a lot of Patricia’s work on her Ravelry page. Kathryn White has a Raverly page and a website where you can see her designs. I won several books from each of these talented designers!
A few weeks ago, I got a new doily book. It’s called “A Baker’s Dozen Easy Crochet Doilies”. As everyone knows, a Baker’s Dozen is 13. This book has 13 different doilies in it (and one of them is mine; from the October 2013 issue of Crochet World magazine). There are round, octagonal and rectangular doilies in this book. Four of them are filet doilies, one is Irish crochet, one has an added layer in the center, 6 are regular crochet (3 with pineapples) and mine is worked over bone rings (it’s actually a table mat, but it’s in the shape of a doily!). All of these designs are beginner or easy skill levels, so there’s nothing too difficult to make in this book. Here’s the front cover and a few of my favorite doilies in the book:
A Baker’s Dozen Easy Crochet Doilies book cover
Blue Skies DoilyDuck Pond DoilyPineapple Fan DoilyAutumn Blaze Table Mat (my design)
Aren’t these doilies pretty? To see all the doilies in this book, visit Annie’s website. This book retails for $9.95 in both print and digital formats. With 13 doilies in the book, that makes each doily pattern less than a dollar!
I recently got 2 new crochet/knitting books from Annie’s. I love getting new patterns for crochet and knitting projects! There’s nothing like a new project! If you called me a “pattern junkie”, I think you’d hit the nail right on the head!!!
Colorful Tunisian Afghans to Crochet book
The first book is “Colorful Tunisian Afghans to Crochet” by Glenda Winkleman. This book includes 6 patterns for Tunisian crochet afghans with cross-stitches worked on the surface to create the designs. These are really nice afghans! I love the construction of them. Five out of the six afghans are done in either strips or squares of Tunisian crochet. Each strip or square is edged before joining them together. The sixth afghan is done in a large center section that appears to be 2 separate sections, but it’s one big piece with bobbles separating the solid center from the edges where the cross-stitches are worked. Here’s that afghan:
Hope Rose Afghan
Isn’t it pretty? And here are a few of the other afghans in this book:
Summer Blues AfghanPennsylvania Dutch Afghan
The patterns in this book are rated as an “easy” skill level, but they may be closer to “intermediate”, in my opinion! Some of the special stitches used in various afghans in the book are: bobbles, popcorns, crossed sc and picots). Each pattern comes with written instructions and charts for the cross-stitch placement. If you’ve never done cross-stitch on Tunisan crochet before, it’s really easy! The Tunisian crochet makes a “grid” of squares that serve as the background for the cross-stitches. The book even includes a diagram in each pattern showing how to work cross-stitches.
Each of the afghan squares or panels is crocheted with one color of yarn, making the pieces work up quickly. Then you cross-stitch the design onto the squares or panels per the charts. If you’ve ever done stamped or counted cross-stitch on fabric, you already know how to do the cross-stitch portion of these afghans. And if you’ve done Tunisian crochet before, you already know how to do the background of the afghans! If you don’t know how to do Tunisian crochet and you want to learn, Annie’s has a lot of books, videos and materials for doing Tunisian crochet. You can see their assortment of Tunisian items here. Kim Guzman has designed a lot of projects in Tunisian crochet. She has several online classes with Annie’s, too. To read about her class called “Learn to Tunisian Crochet”, click here.
You can see all of the afghans in this book at the Annie’s website here. The book retails for $9.95 in the US and $11.95 in Canada. So with 6 patterns in this book, that comes out to be $1.67 for each pattern in the US ($2.00 each in Canada)!
If you enjoy doing Tunisian crochet (or want to learn), why not add this book to your crochet library?
A Playful Palette of 10 Knitted Accessories book
The second book I got is “A Playful Palette of 10 Knitted Accessories” by Tabetha Hedrick. As the name implies, this is a knitting book. For those of you who are bi-stitchual (you can crochet AND knit), this is a great book. There are 10 projects, ranging from small, quick projects to larger, longer projects. There’s a headband, bracelet, scarf, cowl, hat (in 2 versions), fingerless mitts, scarflette, cape and socks in 2 lengths in this book. All of the projects are made with 1-4 skeins of Koigu Yarn: either Koigu Premium Merino (KPM) or Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM). These are both fingering/sock-weight yarns in 100% merino wool. I’ve never tried this yarn, but it looks really pretty in the book, so I’ll have to give it a try sometime very soon!
Here are a few photos from this book:
Kodiak CowlGarden City Hat & Mitts
Nantucket Socks
You can see all of the projects in this knitting book here.
The skill levels for the projects in this book range from beginner to intermediate. I like having this range of skill levels, since I’m a fairly new knitter with lots to learn! I really like the looks of the lacy socks in this book. I never thought I’d knit or crochet socks before, but I might have to take the plunge sometime soon!!!
This knitting book has 48 pages and retails for $14.95 in the US ($17.95 in Canada). With 10 patterns in the book, each pattern costs just $1.50 in the US ($1.80 each in Canada)!
If you enjoy knitting accessories, you may want to add this book to your knitting library!
Last month, I got the book, “Baby Washcloths & Afghan Squares” by Lisa Carnahan, published by Annie’s. This is a knitting book, not a crochet book. But since I now know how to knit, as well as crochet, I wanted to give some knit washcloths a try. Here is a photo of the front cover of this book:
Baby Washcloths & Afghan Squares book (front cover)
This is a very nice book with some nice washcloth patterns. I especially like it because I’m a relatively new knitter and my knitting skills are still a work-in-progress (I’m not ready for the TKGA Masters program by any means, yet!).
It was hard to pick which washcloth designs I wanted to make from this book because I like them all! But I finally chose the Zigzags and the Triangles washcloths to make. Here are photos of these 2 washcloths in the book:
Zigzags Washcloth from bookTriangles Washcloth from book
The washcloths in this book were made with Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic, which is a DK weight yarn. Since I didn’t have any of that yarn, I used some Omega Sinfonia that I had left over from the “Wiggly Crochet Dishcloths” book I did for Annie’s. I LOVE this yarn! It’s a sport weight 100% cotton yarn that comes in many gorgeous colors. It is 3.52oz (100g) and has 218 yards (200m) for $4-5, so the value is good (and you can buy it for even less than this with a coupon!). I started knitting a pretty pink sweater this month from 5 balls of Sinfonia that I bought on sale for $3 each to learn more about knitting and shaping sweaters! It should be really nice!
But back to the baby washcloths! These washcloths don’t use that much yarn, so using left overs is perfect for these projects. In my opinion, these washcloth patterns aren’t just for babies. Since pretty much all of them are geometric designs, they can be used for much more than babies. At 8” (20cm) square, I think they’re a great size for facial washcloths and smaller dishcloths, too. I LOVE the drape of them and the stitch pattern keeps my interest instead of knitting rows of all knit or all purl! I also LOVE how quick they are to make. I can make a washcloth in just 1 or 2 evenings while watching TV (I’m not that fast of a knitter, yet, either!). Okay, here are photos of my washcloths for you to see:
My Zigzags WashclothMy Triangles Washcloth
What do you think? I think I did pretty well for being a new knitter (since July of this year).
There are 10 solid washcloths and 1 striped washcloth (done with slipped stitches) in this book. There’s even an afghan made with all 10 of the solid squares and 10 of the striped squares in the book (the afghan can be seen on the cover of the book and there is a full-size photo of the afghan inside the book). Here’s the striped washcloth for you to see:
Slip-Stitch Washcloth from book
You can see larger photos of all the washcloth blocks in this book and purchase it online on the Annie’s website here. If you love to knit washcloths and dishcloths, you’ll really enjoy this book!
Are you a fan of Wiggly Crochet? Or are you curious about this fabulous crochet technique? I LOVE wiggly crochet and I really enjoy designing wiggly crochet patterns. I’ve had dozens of wiggly crochet patterns published over the last 10 years, from hot pads & coasters to rugs and dishcloths. Most of my wiggly crochet patterns are under copyright with a publisher, but 6 sets of hot pads and coasters that I had published fell out of copyright recently, so I have the rights back to them now. And what better opportunity to reintroduce them for your enjoyment than on my website? So here they are…
These designs were previously published in the booklet “Hot Stuff for the Holidays” by Jeanette Crews Designs in 2003. This is how the front and back covers of that booklet looked:
“Hot Stuff for the Holidays” booklet front cover“Hot Stuff for the Holidays” booklet back cover
Here are our new and improved hot pad and coaster patterns for you:
Wiggly Valentine Hot Pad & CoasterWiggly Shamrock Hot Pad & CoasterWiggly Easter Hot Pad & Coaster
Wiggly July 4th Flag Hot Pad & CoasterWiggly Jack-O-Lantern Hot Pad & CoasterWiggly Christmas Tree Hot Pad & Coaster
We’ve taken new photographs, remade the wiggly crochet charts and updated the instructions for each set of hot pads & coasters. All 6 of these holiday Wiggly Crochet Hot Pads and Coasters patterns are available both individually and as a set of 6 right here at The Crochet Architect. The individual patterns are $4.95 each and the complete set of 6 patterns has a special price of just $11.95. That’s a little less than $2 per hot pad & coaster set!
When I first designed these sets of hot pads and coasters, I designed a set for each month of the year (and 2 sets for December). Unfortunately, they didn’t all get published together! The other 7 sets (for January, May, June, August, September, November and December) were published in several books and magazines over the years. Here’s where you can find my other wiggly hot pad & coaster patterns, in case you want to make one for each month of the year:
The July set (Watermelons) was published in Crochet World magazine in June 2008. The November set (Fall Leaves) was published in Crochet World magazine in Oct. 2008. The June set (graduation cap & tassel, along with a scroll) was published in Crochet World magazine in June 2009. The other December set (Christmas wreaths) was published in Crochet World magazine in Oct. 2009. The May set (May flowers) was published on the Coats & Clark website as a free pattern. Here’s the link for that pattern. The September set (an apple for the teacher) was published in the new Leisure Arts book, “Treasury of Holiday Crochet”, by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. The January set (snowflakes) was sold to a publisher, but hasn’t been published, yet.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at my wiggly crochet hot pads and coasters patterns. And I hope you’ll give wiggly crochet a try to expand your crochet skills. You’ll be glad you did!
Complete Guide to Symbol Crochet book front coverComplete Guide to Symbol Crochet book back cover
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a new book, so I thought I’d review a new book for you. This one is special to me because I did a lot of the work in it (and my name is on the cover, too). The name of this book is “Complete Guide to Symbol Crochet” and it’s published by Leisure Arts. I worked on this book, on and off, with Rita Weiss over the course of 5 months during the last year. It was another one of those “labors of love”, just like another book I worked on with Rita Weiss and Jean Leinhauser 5-10 years ago called “Crochet Lace”. I love working on crochet books, whether I’m designing projects, tech editing patterns, writing patterns, making filet crochet charts or symbol crochet charts for them.
This book is special because it teaches how to read crochet symbol charts, which I absolutely LOVE!!! I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t know how to read symbol crochet charts. They are a visual representation of the crochet project and if you’re a visual person, like me, I’m sure you’ll love them, too. I learned to draw crochet symbol charts a few years ago with Adobe Illustrator. It’s really quite fun (and challenging sometimes) to draw them. But since I love a good challenge, it’s right up my alley!
Our symbol crochet book includes symbols for 47 crochet stitches (or combinations of stitches, such as clusters, popcorns, etc) as well as instructions and diagrams for how to work each of these stitches. It also includes photos, symbol charts and written instructions for 9 projects: 8 of the projects are “easy” and 1 is “intermediate”. Here are photos of the 9 projects in this book:
Granny SquareLittle Doily
Crossed Stitch HatSnowflake Earrings
Striped ScarfSweet Sachet
Kitchen Angel DishclothGalaxy Doily
Pineapple Centerpiece
This book is a digest size book (8.5” x 5.5”), so it’s perfect to take along anywhere and it will fit in just about any size of crochet bag, too!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this new symbol crochet book and you’ll give symbol crochet a try. Some of the current crochet magazines include symbol crochet charts in them, such as Crochet Today. And some good “older” magazines with lots of symbol crochet patterns in them are Magic Crochet and Decorative Crochet. They are/were both published in France and have lots of thread crochet patterns in them. Each pattern starts out with some written instructions, but then says to “follow chart”. And if you’re really adventurous, you can purchase some Japanese crochet books or Russian crochet magazines. Both of these have symbol crochet charts in them. I have many of each, but I can’t read a word of Japanese or Russian to save my life! However, I can follow the symbol crochet charts in both of them. In fact, I crocheted a cardigan several years ago (the one I’m wearing in my Annie’s videos) from a Japanese crochet pattern. The symbol charts were fantastic and the cardigan turned out really nice. I used 2 strands of size 10 DMC Cebelia thread to make my cardigan. Here are photos of the project in the book and me wearing it:
Japanese CardiganMy Japanese Cardigan
Isn’t it beautiful? I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Because I have gauge issues (I crochet too tightly quite often), I had to block the heck out of it so it would fit me! I added some waist shaping to my cardigan, too, which wasn’t in the original pattern. My cardigan came from this book:
Japanese Crochet Book front cover
It’s a great book and was well worth the $20 or so that I paid for it (directly from Japan).
To celebrate the publication of the Complete Guide to Symbol Crochet book, Rita and I would like to give away a free, autographed copy to a lucky winner. To enter this contest, you’ll need to leave a comment on this blog post (like if you know how to read symbol crochet charts, if you’d like to learn how to read them or something like that). You’ll also need to be subscribed to my blog. Both of these are quick and painless! To leave a comment, you’ll need to be registered on my website (this cuts down on “spam” comments, so registering is necessary these days). There’s a tab at the top of each page of my website that says “Login”, then a drop down tab that says “register”. Just fill in the blanks and click on the button at the bottom. After you’re registered, you can leave your comment on this blog post (and you can comment on any other blog posts here, too). To subscribe to my blog, simply scroll down a few inches and type in your e-mail address in the field that says “Subscribe to blog via email” on the right-hand side of the page. Now wasn’t that easy? Oh, this contest will end on August 28th (my youngest son’s 21st birthday). So enter today for your chance to win!
I wish everyone the best of luck in winning a free copy of this new book (although, realistically, only 1 lucky person will win). And if you don’t win, I hope you’ll consider adding this new symbol crochet book to your crochet library.
In May of last year, I blogged about the Continuous Crochet Motifs method of making and joining motifs so there are less ends to weave in at the end of the project. This is a really cool crochet technique/method. You can read that blog post here and see photos of the Japanese crochet book that I bought to learn this crochet technique. Since then, I purchased Kristin Omdahl’s book called “Seamless Crochet”. I haven’t had the time to make anything from that book, but it’s definitely the same method of joining motifs as in the Japanese book I bought.
At the time I wrote that blog post, I was designing a shawl to enter in the CGOA Design Contest, made in the Continuous Crochet Motifs method. Well, I got the shawl finished and entered it in the contest. Unfortunately, I didn’t win anything for this shawl and I think the reason was that I didn’t have an edging on it (I couldn’t think of an edging that would work at that time). A few months ago, I added an edging to the shawl and it really finishes off the shawl nicely. I tried many different color combinations for the edging, but in the end, I decided to make the edging all black so it wouldn’t take away from the beauty and design of the shawl itself. I’ll be publishing this shawl design when the pattern is ready (it still needs a little tweaking first!). Here’s a photo of the shawl before I added the edging:
Byzantine Shawl in 2012 CGOA Design Contest
I still need to take some new photos of this shawl with the edging added before I can publish this pattern. But I promise to get to it sometime soon! I’ve veered from my original topic of the Continuous Crochet Motifs method a little, so I’ll get back to that topic now.
After designing the shawl, I designed a scarf using the same Continuous Crochet Motifs method and some of the same motifs as the shawl. It’s called the “Byzantine Scarf”. I just finished up the pattern and added it for sale here yesterday. You can see the pattern here.
Here’s a photo of the Byzantine Scarf:
Byzantine Scarf
What I love about this scarf (besides the colors) is the Continuous Crochet Motifs method I used for the 2 rounds of black, which are joining the red and orange motifs together (not the final round of black, but the black rounds inside the lime green rounds). With this method of crocheting, I was able to work these 2 rounds of black edging around each of the 15 motifs in the scarf in one long pass! And that means I only had 2 tails of black yarn to weave in on these 2 rounds.
Okay, I realize that the rest of this scarf has plenty of tails to weave in. But by using the Continuous Crochet Motifs method of joining the motifs, I saved myself 28 whole tails to weave in (30 – 2 = 28). I don’t know anyone who enjoys weaving in the tails/ends on their crochet work and I don’t, either. But it’s a necessary evil and has to be done! I love using color in my crochet designs, so I’ve been known to weave in hundreds of tails on larger projects with multiple colors. I just bite the bullet and do it!
I realize that not everyone wants to learn a new crochet technique, so I included the instructions for joining the motifs in the traditional motif joining method (joining with a sl st to the adjacent motif). But when you join the motifs this way (in the traditional method), you’ll have 30 tails of black to weave in on these 2 rounds of motif edging (2 tails for each of the 15 motifs in the scarf). So to me, it’s a “no brainer” to use the Continuous Crochet Motifs method to join the motifs together! But I’m an adventurous crocheter and I love to learn new techniques. I’m sure that not everyone is as adventurous as me, so that’s why I included the instructions for joining the motifs the other way.
Here’s a close up photo of the scarf:
Byzantine Scarf close up
Now you can see the 2 rounds of black around the red and orange motifs better. I also made a symbol crochet chart for each method of joining the motifs (these charts are included in the pattern). So if you like symbol crochet charts and learning new crochet techniques, you might want to give this scarf pattern a try!
Here are photos of 4 swatches of motifs that I made from the Japanese Continuous Crochet Motifs book a few years ago (right after I got the book in the mail!):
Motif swatch #2Motif swatch #6
Motif swatch #36Motif swatch #43
These swatches haven’t been blocked, so they don’t look as good as they could. What I want you to notice is the number of tails and the number of motifs in each of these swatches (I didn’t weave in any tails at all on them). Each swatch has 4, 7 or 9 motifs that are joined. But since I used the Continuous Crochet Motifs method to make these swatches of motifs, there are only 2 tails that would need to be woven in (if I were going to make these into projects). There would normally be 2 tails to weave in “per motif”! This is a HUGE time saver!!! It means I can spend more time crocheting and less time weaving in ends! Of course, it only works when you’re using the same color of yarn/thread for each motif (or to join each motif). But it’s not a bad thing to use 1 color of thread/yarn. It’s a design decision! And the savings in time it takes to weave in the tails is HUGE!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this closer look into the Continuous Crochet Motifs method and will come back again soon.
