If you haven’t seen these 2 new designs that Red Heart has published on their website now is the perfect time to check them out. Valentine’s Day is just 3 weeks away.
Photo courtesy of Red Heart Yarns
First up is my “Here’s my Heart Gift Bag” which is an ideal size for a small gift of cookies or other goodies. The picture shows it as a fun little tote for a toddler, but it is a great bag for anyone you want to show your love to this Valentine’s Day.
The lace edged heart on the front is actually a little pocket, where a note or small card can be tucked away.
Photo Courtesy of Red Heart Yarns
Need a gift that you can stitch up super fast? How about my quick little “Valentine Heart Coaster”. These medium sized hearts are worked in Red Heart Super Saver. They only take about 17 yards of yarn, so you can get approximately 21 hearts from a 7 ounce skein of yarn. You could also work them in Red Heart Soft yarn and use them to embellish the ends of a scarf if you have a bit more time.
So pick up your hook and crochet up some hearts for a special gift for your Valentine.
I am so pleased to tell you about this new book that my fellow designer and good friend Kathryn White (Kathy) has out from Annie’s Publishing. “The Go-To Book for Irish Crochet Motifs” is a wonderfully informative and well-written book full of pretty much everything you need to know to get started on crocheting and creating lovely Irish Crochet projects.
When I first saw that this book was coming out from Annie’s I was very excited. I love technique books and the cover looked so pretty that I was itching to get my hands on it. A moment later I realized that the book was written by my friend Kathy, which of course made me even more determined to purchase it. So I was thrilled when Kathy asked me to be one of the stops on her blog tour.
My favorite thing about this book is the informative and friendly tone. It is like having a patient friend sitting beside you helping you understand the stitches and how all the motifs go together. Kathy’s voice comes thru very clearly, I’m reminded of our many conversations about thread crochet and the history of Irish crochet.
The book starts out with an excellent overview of all the terms and materials you may need when working on an Irish Crochet project. Then Chapter One introduces you to the stitches and techniques that will help you make the motifs from the patterns in the following chapters. I liked how Kathy has included both the classic padding cord methods and some easier shortcuts for creating the padded look in the motifs.
Being I am a very visual person I appreciated the fact that the book is filled with photographs of the various motifs. My only complaint is that some of the larger motifs are shown too small to really see the stitch detail well. Detailed written instructions help make it all clear though.
Kathy and I met at the Knit and Crochet Show in Greensboro, NC. We didn’t get to spend a lot of time together at that show, but I remember being very impressed with the beautiful crocheted thread jewelry I saw her wearing. A few months later we met again at the Winter TNNA Trade Show and got to know each other better.
One of the things that she and I have in common, besides the joy of crochet, is a love of horses. I grew up around them and rode almost daily from age 8 to 18. Kathy trained horses and taught people to ride for 20 years. She had a boarding and training facility in Washington State, but in 2007 a riding accident left her with injuries that made it too painful to ride. Though she doesn’t ride any longer she looks back on those days fondly. Fortunately she was able to transfer her passion to crochet design (especially good news for all the Threadie crocheters out there).
Kathy is truly an artist with thread crochet. She has won a number of a prizes from the CGOA Design Competition with her thread and yarn projects. Everything from amazing intricate doilies and hand bags to light-as-air lacy shawls. Her designs have been published by Crochet World, Crochet!, Interweave, Red Heart and MainlyCrochet.com. You can see many of her designs on her Ravelry Designer Page.
Photograph courtesy of CrochetnBeads
You can also find her self-published designs on her website like these beautiful fingerless mitts (pictured above) that I was admiring at the Knit & Crochet Show in Reno. I work in thread on occasion, but these mitts completely blew me away. Not only are they beautifully designed, but she worked them in size 80 black tatting thread. My hat is off to her and her amazing eyesight for that crocheting triumph.
Kathy is a bit shy at times, so I thought my readers would enjoy getting to know a bit more about her. The following are her answers to some of my favorite crochet related questions, and a few especially for Kathy’s specialty.
When did you learn to crochet? And who taught you?
I think I was about 10 or 11 when I finally got a chance to learn. The wonderful person who taught me to crochet was my great-aunt on my father’s side. Actually my mother informs me she was a second cousin, but I always knew her as Aunt Haydee so to me she’s an aunt, if only in an honorary position. Whatever relationship she had to me, I bless her every time I pick up my hook for enabling me to do what I so dearly love.
I am the only left-handed person in my family and no one was around that could teach me to crochet. I taught myself to knit, but I just couldn’t make that tiny crochet hook work right. Of course I was trying to teach myself with a size 13 hook and size 30 or 50 thread. Was a threadie before I even got started. When she came to visit one Christmas I saw her crocheting, and realized she was left-handed like me. I begged her to teach me. She gave me some yarn and a G hook and taught me how to chain and single crochet, I took it from there. Wasn’t long and I moved back down to thread, since that is what I really wanted to do. Only now crochet made sense to me.
Has the majority of your crochet work been with thread?
Thread has always been my favorite medium. I love the intricate look you can get with thread. It shows off the stitch definition much better than yarn. And I love seeing what I can do with the stitches. That to me is the ultimate challenge. I can paint a much more intricate picture with my stitches with thread than I can with yarn.
When (if) you work with heavier yarn is it a difficult adjustment for you?
It takes me a bit to adjust. But once I get going I am fine. I don’t like to work with the bulky yarns. There just isn’t enough stitch variety in a piece to hold my interest. You can only do so much when you can only fit so many stitches into a piece.
Have you ever had any trouble with your hands hurting from working with such tiny hooks?
Crocheting has never really bothered my hands. But then I try to take precautions. The only time they ache a bit from crocheting is when I switch over to the larger hooks and yarns. I am not used to the weight and bulk in my hands. I have to remember to take more breaks with yarn. The small hooks have never bothered my hands. But then I don’t grip the hook. it rests in my hand and I move it only as much as needed. No gripping, no tension. no pain.
What do you do to prevent injury to your hands and body when crocheting?
As I said I take precautions to make sure my hands last me as long as possible. I want to crochet forever you know. I take breaks every 15 minutes or so. No marathon crocheting for me. I go check out posts on Face book or do something about the house for 5 min. Then go back to work. Less stress on the hands this way. Have been doing this for years. I have 2 chairs I normally work in. The one at my desk and my TV chair. Both fit me well so I can work comfortably while maintaining a good posture, which I think is very important. I also remember to stretch my hands and body when I take my breaks. It only takes a second and I think it helps immensely. I try to remember the exercises you showed us during Professional Development Day at the Knit & Crochet Show.
You know I still manage to get an incredible amount of crocheting done working this way.
What is your favorite thing about crochet?
I love the fact that with nothing more than a piece of string and hook we can make the most intricate and beautiful pieces of art. It’s literally making something from nothing. I absolutely love watching an idea take shape and substance. I love making my ideas become a reality you can physically touch and visually see. If it inspires a sense of beauty and wonder I am thrilled beyond measure.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Kathy a little better. She is an inspiration to me and I am going to enjoy spending more time with her book. As it says on the back cover of her book, “Kathryn White has taken lovely vintage Irish crochet motifs, as well as her own original designs, and has rewritten them in a way that makes sense to the modern-day crocheter.”
Annie’s Publishing very generously provided me with an extra copy of Kathy’s book to give away to one lucky reader. Because of postage costs, this give-away offer will only be available to readers with a U.S. mailing address. Just leave a comment on this blog post before noon (Mountain Time) January 24, 2014 and I will announce the winner on Saturday, January 25th.
Those of you that know my obsession with all things crochet will not be surprised by this news. I have many many crochet hooks. At last count over 200. I’ve acquired a few since that tally was made so that number has been surpassed, but I’m not counting them all again.
I’ve long confessed that I have a serious case of H.A.S. (Hook Acquisition Syndrome), and I am not looking for a cure anytime in the near or distant future. There seems to always be another hook I need to add to my growing collection.
I’ve been staying up late a lot the past week. My 2 boys missed returning to school from winter break, due to a nasty cold cough bug, so late at night is really the only time it’s quiet around here.
Last night the late night got me in a wee bit of mischief. I’ve been wanting a set of Hamanaka Crochet Hooks for some time. This desire was further fed by getting to see the hooks in real life when I took a class with Jennifer Hansen at the Reno Knit & Crochet Show in Fall 2012.
Then there was an ad in my email yesterday from Stitch Diva Studios showing the hooks. I had some Christmas gift money that I hadn’t assigned to any of my wish list as of yet, so I decided (after suitable internal debate) that I “needed” to finally get these hook.
One reason I have always liked the look of these hooks is the squishy triangular-shaped center handle. It looks like it will be ergonomically kind to one’s hand. Something I am going to be very excited to test when I receive my set.
I also love that there are 2 sizes of hook to each tool, so you can fit twice the hooks in the same amount of space as 1 regular crochet hook. Super handy when traveling and wanting to limit the weight of your luggage.
One reason I had put off purchasing these hooks in the past is that the sizes run a bit smallish (fairly common for Japanese hooks), the largest hook is a J-10, 6mm. But, I’ve been working with finer weight yarns quite a lot the past year, so the smaller hook sizes have become more useful to me.
Now I’ll just be watching the mail box like a hawk the next week waiting for my new hooks to arrive. I’ll definitely post about them again once I get a chance to use them. If you are too impatient to wait for my review and you want to try them out for yourself, pop on over to the Stitch Diva Studios.
2014 has had an interesting start for me. My whole family has been down with a nasty cold cough bug, so I am only beginning to come back up for air from our holiday celebrations. Fortunately the crud didn’t get too bad until after all our visitors had left, so we got out and had lots of fun seeing friends and family over Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Photo courtesy of MainlyCrochet.com
If you have a subscription to MainlyCrochet.com you may have already seen my latest published design “Twisted Granny Mobius”.
One of my favorite geometric shapes to crochet is a Mobius. This design approaches that shape a little differently. Instead of making a foundation round that is twisted at the join, you make a strip of little squares that are joined together as you work them. The last square is joined to the first with the required twist. Then rounds are worked off the edges of the strip to create the rest of the fabric for the project.
The finished loop is long and narrow, which gives you some fun fashion options. You can wear it as a long scarf, great option for adding a pop of color to an outfit indoors, then double the end over your head like a cowl for added warmth under your coat when you head outdoors.
Check out MainlyCrochet.com for this pattern and lots of other really great crochet patterns. A subscription to MainlyCrochet.com is only $24 a year and gives you access to lots of marvelous patterns.
It was a bit breezy on my mountain this Christmas Eve day, fortunately it has finally calmed. We got quite a bit of snow today as well.
Fortunately most everyone is here staying with us. So we won’t have to get out in the wind and snow to go anywhere for Christmas visiting.
I made up a flurry of crocheted thread snow flakes to celebrate the season. The larger 2 snowflake designs come from the pamphlet of snowflakes that I designed for Universal Yarns Nazli Gelin thread. The smaller 3 are just some “doodles” that I came up with whilst playing with the thread.
Sometimes my favorite thing to do is “doodle” with my crochet hook. It is a great way to un-lock the creative juices and can often inspire new design directions. Playing with snowflake ideas is a great way to explore the possibilities of geometric motifs. It is also a really fun experiment to see what will happen when I pin out the snowflakes and use the fabric stiffener on them. Sometimes a design that looks a bit “blah” will be converted into a beautiful lacy surprise.
For those of my readers that celebrate Christmas I am wishing you and yours the very Merriest of Christmastimes. Everyone else, I hope you are having a wonderful day enjoying the slightly slower pace that Christmas seems to bring.
Had a wonderful trip home to Kansas to visit my family. Lots of good food and cuddles with the little ones. Especially fun was holding my great niece, Ms. L. She was only 3 1/2 months old at the time of our visit and very snuggly.
The Adorable Ms. L.
I made her a blanket and a little hat from Lion Brand Cotton-Ease. Keep an eye out on MainlyCrochet.com this coming Spring as I will have a pattern on there in Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Baby yarn that is based on the same pattern I created for the blanket. Haven’t decided about the hat design yet.
Now Christmas is less than a week away. Yikes! I really am not ready this year. Between all the distractions of dealing with the fall-out from the flood in September it seems that I am further behind than usual. I am not alone though.
Most of my stitchy friends are all scrambling to finish gifts for the holiday. Many of them say they don’t start their gift stitching until Thanksgiving weekend. If you are making small things that can work out. But a few of them are making sweaters. Hopefully they will be finished in time.
I have been so busy with crocheting samples for upcoming designs in 2014 that I have barely had any chance to make gifts. The baby blanket was finished in time for our Thanksgiving trip only because I ordered the yarn in July.
One of my favorite things to crochet for Christmas gifts are snowflakes. Best bit is they are relatively flat, so easy to mail. Unfortunately I don’t think that will be happening this year. I might get a few little snowflakes done to wrap with gift cards.
I have had a few small designs published in the last couple of years. So if you are looking for something quick to finish for the big day these might fit the bill. I know I may be looking into some of these myself for my holiday celebrations.
Little Christmas Wreath – M2H Designs
My little Christmas Wreath is super quick to crochet. It can be an embellishment on a gift or card, even works as a brooch when sewn to a pin back. You can purchase the pattern for this on Ravelry. The pattern has photo tutorials as well as stitch diagrams to make it easy to crochet and complete.
For snowflakes check out my Little Snowflake here on the blog from December 2011. It is only 5 rounds of simple stitches so is very quick to crochet up.
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday surrounded with people you love.
When I was first coming up with this design I had my own clutzy tendencies in mind. I tend to get distracted and set things down in a spot where they get bumped or knocked onto the floor. So I wanted to use a stitch that would create a fairly “cushy” fabric.
This little squished cluster stitch was ideal. Using a single crochet st on either side of it gives the mini “popcorn” look. It reminds me a bit of the doilies my grandmother had on the kitchen table with bunches of grapes decorating them.
I also used a smaller size hook than I normally do, because I wanted a denser fabric. The fabric is still elastic enough to fit snugly around the phone, but it maintains the “cushion” effect with the tighter stitch work. So if you are substituting yarns, remember to adjust your hook size to get a firm fabric.
I liked how this little bag came out so much that I decided to make a slightly larger version in Red Heart’s Boutique “Unforgettable” for my phone (minus the strap). If you need a larger version of the bag for your phone, just add chain stitches to the beginning foundation in groups of 2 until you reach the width you want your baglet to be. To fit my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone I made my foundation chain 30 and worked 5 extra rows on each side.
A smaller version works great for a business card case. I made the example above in Aunt Lydia’s Size #3 Cotton Crochet Thread using a size E-4/3.5mm hook for the foundation chain and a D-3/3.25mm hook for the baglet. I followed the same instructions for the original baglet just leaving off the chain handle.
You could even make the original baglet in the size it is written for and use it to hold a gift card this holiday season. The baglet is the gift wrap and part of the gift.
I hope you enjoy making this fun little project as much as I did designing it.
Back when I first began to sew and crochet my mother and grandmother were my tutors. One thing that was always emphasized was that your work should be finished nicely. The back (or wrong side) of projects needed to look just as nice as the front. I have always tried to continue in this tradition with my work, sewing neatly and tidying up all ends of thread and yarn at the completion of a project.
Photo courtesy of Crochet World/Annie’s Publishing
This year I found this habit to be rather a minus instead of a plus, when my “Greek Squares Afghan” was photographed for the August 2013 issue of Crochet World. If you look at the photograph above you wouldn’t notice, unless you knew, that it was photographed from the wrong side. So my take is now that it is a reversible afghan.
If you are wondering what the afghan looks like from the “right” side the above photo shows you. The crocheted joining (in brown) is supposed to create ridges that emphasize the multicolored blocks.
This is a surprisingly speedy project to work up. The afghan is made with 25 rectangles that are then crocheted together. All worked in bulky weight yarn so progress is quick for a generous sized afghan. Could even be made with only 16 blocks as a nice sized “lapghan” or child sized blanket. Each block is approximately 8 x 5″ and are easy to carry with you to work on individually.
My friend and “secret weapon” Val actually crocheted up all the blocks for the sample and I did all the joining and tail weaving. When I got the sample back from Crochet World I spent an afternoon snuggled up in it crocheting in my design office. It is super cuddly.
If you are wanting to make this afghan you may not be able to find the August issue on newsstands any longer. You can get back-issues or subscribe to the digital version of Crochet World at their website. A digital subscription gives you access to 2 year’s of digital back issues as well as the current issue.
So November is zipping along already and that means big holidays just around the corner. I’ve been preparing for our Thanksgiving, ordering our turkey and coordinating with family members for getting together.
Thanksgiving is the usual starting gun for me for my Christmas panic. Suddenly it’s time for Holiday parties, school programs, and family coming to visit. This year Thanksgiving is falling a bit later in the month, so I am trying to get myself motivated early.
Photo courtesy of Red Heart Yarns
I was very excited to be reminded of a design I created for Red Heart Yarns: Ruffled Rose Pin. This fun little pin takes about 4 yards of smooth worsted weight yarn (sample used Red Heart Soft Yarn), and 15 yards of Red Heart’s Boutique “Sassy Fabric” yarn. You can get 2 pins out of one skein of the Sassy Fabric, and it comes in 9 different styles/colors.
You could even substitute their “Sassy Lace” that comes in 7 different colors.
Working with a “yarn” like these is a bit different. I’m always fussing at the raw end of the fabric strip, I like my projects to look tidy and neat when I finish. I discovered some nifty tricks as I developed this design, I hid the ends inside the backing.
As you can see in the above photo the back of the pin looks as nice as the front (my grandmother would be so proud of me).
Even with the finishing work on the back of the pin, this is a quick little project, perfect for a last-minute gift. It took me about 30 minutes from start to finish to make the Lace version of my Ruffled Rose Pin. Granted, I am a very speedy crocheter, but even someone working at half my speed can finish a couple of these in an evening.
It is fall and the trees down in town have been putting on a show with colorful leaves. I couldn’t resist taking some photos this week when I was off my mountain.
With Fall adding a chilly nip to the air (and the snow we have had up here on my mountain) I’m definitely feeling the holiday season just around the corner.
Photo courtesy of MainlyCrochet.com
Which is why I’m so excited to share my design the “Granny Fans Scarf”
It is available thru the MainlyCrochet.com website. If you haven’t had a chance to check out MainlyCrochet.com you will be delighted with all the wonderful patterns you can have access to for a small annual subscription fee.
This is a really fun to stitch scarf that I designed especially to work well with color changing yarns like the lovely “Unforgettable” from the Red Heart Boutique line. The finished scarf looks like painstaking color changes were worked and all those lovely little tails were tidied away. Instead the yarn does all the heavy lifting and you get the accolades.
This is a super fast project to work up for a holiday gift. You can make it as the scarf length in the pattern. Or work fewer “fans”, add a button and you have a lovely neck cozy.
Just be warned though. This is a rather addictive project to crochet. I found myself happily lulled along as I stitched up the sample.
Update September 30, 2015 – The pattern for this scarf is now available thru my Ravelry Shop as “Granny Fans Redux” as well as thru the MainlyCrochet.com website. You can see the pattern page on Ravelry by clicking this link, and you can read a few more details about the new version on my blog post here.
Mamas2Hands 