Crochet Design

A look at the Creative Process and Announcements about new Designs

A Confusion of Seasons

Categories Creativity, Crochet Design, Humor2 Comments on A Confusion of Seasons

Yesterday, while in Boulder I took these pictures of some blossoming trees and shrubs.

This morning I woke up to this scene.

One of the challenges for a designer is that you are often required to design items for a season that is 6-8 months ahead of you.  So I guess I should be grateful for the snow, since I am currently coming up with design ideas for Winter.

Still, I really wouldn’t mind if we were getting rain instead of snow. I’m quite ready for some warm Spring like weather, instead of our typical Mountain Spring time weather.

Time to Vote

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Recently I was asked to pick my favorite 3 designs that were published in 2010 for the Crochet Awards ballot.  The 3 I picked are all lace designs. Guess that takes me back to my Tomboy Lace roots.

Lace With A Twist Wrap - DRG Publishing Photo

Lace with a Twist Wrap published in the March/April 2010 issue of Crochet! magazine. This was my first design I ever sold, though a later sell was my first published design.

Lace Embrace Shawl published in Book 1 of the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street Collection. This was at the time one of the largest pieces I had sold and had a very tight turn-around between the time the yarn arrived and when the publisher needed the sample in-house.

Little Wing Shawlette published in the Fall 2010 Issue of the E-zine “Crochet Uncut”. This was maybe the most fun of the 3 designs. I had such a great time stitching up the design. Everything from having the ideal yarn on hand and swatching to find a stitch pattern I adored, to having beautiful colored leaves in my front yard during the photography.

Voting for the 3rd Annual Crochet Awards is now open until March 30th, winners will be announced on the Getting Loopy Podcast , April 18th. You can find the ballot here on the CLF website. I would love your vote for me as Best New Crochet Designer, but either way, please do vote.

Just in Time for Spring

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Meet my Little Lamb Field.  I’m so happy with how he came out.  Not only has he passed the major cuteness test with my children, he is an ideal size for an Easter Basket cuddly.

He was also chosen for the front cover of the April 2011 Issue of Crochet Magazine.  This is my first full cover as a designer and I’m so pleased.

The original Field was a crazy little creation that I stitched from scraps in my odds-and-ends bin. He was part of a fun springtime challenge on Ravelry in the Oddballs group.  When I went to Chain Link 2009 in Buffalo, I showed him to Michele Maks (the editor of Crochet World at that time). She thought he could be a good fit for the magazine.

Life being what it is, things didn’t align for him to make it into the magazine at that time. Then a year later at Chain Link 2010 in Manchester, Michele and I discussed him again.

Finally Field got his star moment.  So it seems quite fitting after all his patience that he is now a Cover Boy.  I hope everyone enjoys making their own versions of this snuggly little Lamb.

Feeling the Love

Categories Celebrating, Crochet, Crochet Design, Pattern13 Comments on Feeling the Love

I always think of February as the month of love, so it is fitting to celebrate my latest pattern release from M2H Designs.  The Luv Bug.

It is available thru my Ravelry Shop. My inspiration for the name for these cute little bugs are my adorable kids.  I call them my Love Bugs or Cuddle Bugs on a regular basis, so creating a cuddly Luv Bug toy was a logical step.

These bugs are great fun to make.  A bit of instant gratification as they require very little yarn and minimal sewing.  Each bug is made up of 4 separate crocheted pieces, with the stitch work creating the nose, antenna and feet.  Sizing of the bugs depends on the thickness of yarn you use.

With Valentines Day just around the corner someone on your list might enjoy having their own Luv Bug to cuddle.

It’s amazing how quickly a year has gone by.  Last year for Valentines Day I offered a little heart pattern here on my blog,  I thought it would be fun to do that again. So here is a new heart…..

SPIRAL IN A HEART

by Andee Graves

Note: All rounds are worked spirally without joining.  Use a stitch marker in the last stitch of the round and move it up as each round is completed. US Crochet terminology used throughout.

Yarns: Caron International Dazzleaire for Heart, Caron International Simply Soft for Spiral.

Hook: I-9 / 5.5 mm & H-8 / 5 mm

Gauge: Finished heart measures 2.5 x 2.5 inches. Gauge will vary depending on yarn and hook size chosen.

Rnd 1: Ch 2, 7 sc in 2nd ch from hook.

Rnd 2: 2 sc in next 7 sts. [14 sc]

Rnd 3: sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, hdc and dc in next st, 5 dc in next st, sk next st, sl st next st, sk next st, 5 dc in next st, dc and hdc next st, hdc and sc next st, sc next 2 sts, 2 hdc next st, fasten off. [6 sc, 5 hdc, 12 dc]

Spiral: Holding working yarn behind heart and smaller hook at front, pull up a loop thru the center of the heart, work surface sl sts at base of each st of Rounds 2 and 3. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Happy Valentines Day

Tomboy Lace

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Lace Embrace Shawl

You know it’s really quite the question.  How did such a tomboy end up being a designer who loves to create lacy crochet projects?

Alpaca Hug Neck Cozy

Those who have known me for a significant portion of my life are a bit surprised when they see some of my designs.  Afterall, as a girl and young woman I was quite the tomboy.

I grew up in the middle of Kansas farm country and hard work was the watch word of the day.  My dear mother despaired of me ever staying neat and ladylike for more than 10 minutes.  She has been known to tell folks to this day that if there was a mud puddle to be found I would find it.

Most of my days were spent trying to keep up with my older brother.  Tramping about “exploring” the wooded areas around our pastures.  Climbing trees or on to the roof of the barn.  Horseback riding, bike riding, later on a bit of motor bike riding.

Somehow in the midst of all of that I did manage to learn to crochet, embroider  and sew.  I even grew to have a fondness for feminine and pretty clothing, though wasn’t much of a frou-frou person.  I’ve always loved draping flowing looks in garments though.

When I moved to Colorado in my early twenties I was in heaven.  There were lots of opportunities for a gal that likes the outdoors to stretch her wings.  I dressed during the week in appropriately feminine attire for the office, but my weekends were filled with hiking or skiing.

Fast forward nearly 20 years and I am living in a house in the wilderness with my husband and 2 kiddos.  Between my husband, son and our pets (both males) there is a lot of testosterone in my household. I am definitely needing more estrogen.

So it is fitting actually that I now seem to gravitate designing crochet items that use Lace and Open-work as a main feature.  Part of it is I have a love of creating fluid garments and lace or open-work is a good match for that, as well as being very yarn economical.

Little Wing Shawlette

I’m sure that over time there will be many other stitch styles I’ll utilize, but I’ll always enjoy exploring my “Tomboy Lace”.

Happy Holidays

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Here on the Mountain the days are getting shorter and colder and 2010 is nearly over.  It’s that time of year when I run thru my list of folks that I’m giving gifts to.  In just 2 short weeks my family will be celebrating Christmas with each other.

M2H Designs - Little Christmas Wreath

I’m also celebrating the launch of M2H Designs with my first independantly published pattern, Little Christmas Wreath, now available in my Ravelry Shop.  As a special thank you and gift to all my supporters I’m going to offer a complimentary copy of this pattern to everyone thru January 7th.

I created this fun little wreath to celebrate the holiday season.  The pattern is a PDF that includes stitch diagrams and photo tutorials along with written instructions (US terminology).

These are fun festive touches to add to gift packages and greeting cards or to make into a brooch to wear on a jacket or as a shawl pin. Quick to crochet up and ideal for using up leftover bits of yarn from other projects. 

To get your copy go to Ravelry and use the “Buy Now” button to purchase the pattern, when you get to the cart enter the coupon code LCW2010G  where you see the “use a coupon code” option.   The code will only be good until midnight Mountain Time on January 7th, 2011.

I hope you enjoy making your own little wreaths and look forward to seeing project photos on Ravelry to see what everyone did with this idea.

Happy Holidays from M2H Designs.

Scrubbie Scrubbie

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It’s not my usual design project, but last fall I was asked by the lovely Bobbie Matella of Coats and Clark to adapt a 1940s dishcloth pattern for a book they would be releasing.

The book, “Vintage Crochet for Your Home” is now available. My adaptation of Mitered Dishcloths is on page 24.  They are worked in Coat’s Creme de la Creme cotton. 

The citrusy colors are cheerful and the ridges on the cloths make them ideal for getting stubborn bits off the dishes when washing up, or could be great in the bath for exfoliating.

Seeing this design again is reminding me of some other ideas I got while working on it.  I may have to clone myself to get even half of my design ideas done.

Christmas Crochet

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Oh boy, it’s time for some quick work with the hooks.  Christmas gift making season seems to have snuck up on me once again.  Though I had thought about it earlier.  In fact, was happily reminded when the Special Newstand issue of Crochet! Magazine came out the end of August.

It was particularly exciting for me as the hat  on the cover is my design, Roundabout Hat (thanks to Carol Alexander, the talented editor of Crochet! Magazine for the name).

Fortunately, I already have a hat done for my beloved because of this design, the hat below was actually the proto-type and will be one of his Christmas presents this year.

I had the ball of Universal Yarns Classic Worsted Long Print in the Black Heathers colorway for ages, intending it for a hat for my beloved.  When Carol asked me for a warm earflap hat design for this issue my mind went to that yarn right away.  

One thing I really love about this design is the simplicity of the color work as the yarn does all the heavy lifting.  The hat is worked top down in half double crochet for a lovely stretchy fabric.  The earflaps are worked in the round as well so there is a cozy extra layer over the ears, which is super handy in cold winter weather.

I may be making a few of these hats this Christmas as they are quick to stitch up and can be embellished to make them more feminine or fun.   There are loads of other fun gift projects in this magazine as well.  So if you are looking for some inspiration for your gift list, this issue is a great place to start.

Fallin’ Behind

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According to the calendar Autumn began a week ago, and according to the Aspen trees in my neighborhood it may have crept up on me even earlier. 

Whatever the case may be, I’m a bit behind on my plans for my independent pattern line.  I’ve said that I would be launching it in Fall 2010.  Now, technically that means that if I launch it before December 21st it is still Fall. 

I’ve benn kept away from working on my indie line by the wonderful good fortune of being busy with designs for magazines and yarn companies.  I am getting caught up though and hope to be back on track with my work on my pattern line very soon. I won’t make any promises of exactly when the launch will really happen, but it will be before the official start of winter.