Crochet

Twas the Week before Christmas

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7 days and Counting

I hear you all out there scrambling to finish gift projects.  You are crocheting (or knitting) like mad fiends in every spare moment you can find.  Meetings at work are viewed as an opportunity to get a few rows done.  And that long train/bus or subway commute isn’t too bad if you can find a stable spot to sit or stand and stitch.

You are staying up late. You’re stitching for hours on end.  And very likely you are ignoring those twinges and aches in your shoulders, neck, arms and hands.

I know I’m not going to persuade you that you should stop tormenting yourself.  Heck! I’m in a similar boat.  But I’m doing okay because I’m adding in a few ways of taking care of myself.

I like to listen to music or watch movies when I am working.  Sometimes my TV shows are on.  I make sure to set some sort of interval that I am going to stop for a moment and do something else.  Every time the commericials start or at the end of a certain song or scene. 

Yes, that is a sneaky way of saying I take a break.  Remember the rule with breaks is, you don’t have to go do yoga in the corner.  Get up and move! That’s it.

Go switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer.  Get a drink of water. Run to the loo.  Just move your body in a way that is different from crouching over your crafting.

Of course, I’m also reminding myself regularly not to “crouch” over my project. Keeping my shoulders and neck relaxed really gives me more energy and efficiency when stitching.  So between my “Get up and Move” breaks I take little mini-breaks.

Mini-breaks are just a quick moment to take a deep breath, relax my shoulders, maybe look up at the ceiling or gently twist my neck from side to side.  Anymore these are such a habit that I do them without thinking.  I can even keep stitching often times.

I know it seems counter-intuitive that taking time for a break of any sort will speed up the progress of your project, but it really works.  Those little breaks add to your overall energy level and improve your chances of working “smarter” instead of “harder”.

Also a reminder. If you are still looking for some quick gifts for some of the folks on your list my first pattern “Little Christmas Wreath” is very speedy.  You can make it as a brooch or a fun little ornament for the tree.  Even makes a great Fridge magnet.

Take a look over at my Happy Holidays post to get the coupon code for a complimentary copy.

The Gift of Crochet

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Giving crochet as a gift is something that has brought a great deal of joy into my life.  I’ve crocheted many gifts for friends and family over the years, as well as loads of projects for charitable efforts.

Thinking about making gifts reminded me of a discussion on Ravelry in the CLF Group.  The original poster had discovered a handmade gift she had given someone in a thrift store.  The conversation was interesting, and really made me think about why I make a gift or even give a gift.

Sometimes it is a matter of concern or worry for someone in my life.  I love to make gifts for those I care about, especially when they may be going thru a troubling time in their lives.  I like the feeling that the effort I’ve put into the gift will translate to the giftee as love. 

Sometimes it is a matter of expediency too.  I have made many a quick gift either by crochet, sewing, beading, paper-crafting or one of my myriad artsy/crafty pursuits to fulfill the need for a last-minute gift.  In particular are the times I’ve whipped up a cute little toy for a child’s birthday present.  Being we live on a mountain a good 40 minute drive (one direction) from the nearest shopping options, having those skills is very helpful.

With Christmas time almost here many of us will be burning the midnight oil attempting to finish crocheted or other handcrafted gifts in time for our various holiday get-togethers.  Some of us will be lucky enough to receive handcrafted gifts from other people in our lives.

No matter if we are giftee or gifter, it is good to remember what my paternal grandmother always said. “It’s the thought that counts.”  I would add to that “Once it is given, let it go.”

If your gift ends up in a thrift store somewhere trust that it will eventually find its way to someone who will treasure it.  Even if it is you purchasing it at the Thrift store to bring home or to wear to the next get-together with the original giftee.

Maybe the most important “gift” of crochet, is the gift we give ourselves. Challenging ourselves to make something using the magic of hook and yarn, whether for ourselves or to give to others, the joy of the crocheting and the sense of accomplishment when a project is done is tremendous.

Better yet, give someone the gift of teaching them to crochet.

Wishing all of you great joy in this season of giving.

Gift for a Thanksgiving Baby

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Some neighbors just had a baby girl, so I decided she needed some crochet style to see her thru our mountain winter.  She is a petite one, beginning her life journey weighing in at only 6.6 pounds.

Baby Hat and Car Blanket

The car blanket is just a quick 23″ x 23″  V-stitch granny square with an opening for a car-seat buckle to fit thru.  I used my Little Noggins Cap pattern with a worsted weight yarn, which resulted in a slightly larger hat than the gauge on the pattern (perfect for a slightly larger than premie baby). 

The yarn is Premier Yarns’ Deborah Norville Collection EveryDay Soft Worsted.  This is the first time I’ve used this yarn and I am really loving the feel and resulting finished project. I won a bag of 3 balls in the “American Hero” colorway at the CLF Retreat in October.  I used every bit of the 3 balls for this hat and blanket.

I liked the colors because there was some pinkish tones in this yarn without it being too “girlie”.  I’m one of those people who gets very tired of pastel baby yarns and I knew my friends would also prefer something not too frou-frou.

The EveryDay Soft Worsted is named aptly. It is super soft even before being washed.  I machine washed and dried the finished hat and blanket to be sure they wouldn’t be a pain for my friends to launder.  Hopefully these will be well used by them, as this new baby and their 4 year old son keep them on their toes.

Welcome baby K.

Crochet At Cama – The First Ever CLF Retreat

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Just got home to Colorado this past Sunday after spending an inspiring, exciting and hilarious 9 days in the Pacific Northwest.  My trip began and ended in Portland and the entire trip was quality time with the Lovely Sarah.  My main reason for scheduling this trip was the CLF Retreat – Crochet at Cama, that was held at Cama Beach State Park (October 17-21) on Camano Island, Washington.

I flew into PDX the afternoon of the 15th, and Sarah and I spent Saturday shopping and cooking in preparation for our journey north to Camano Island.  Sunday morning I managed to pack Sarah’s little red car fuller than it has ever been before.  In fact Sarah really didn’t believe all the stuff we were taking was going to fit in there (I confess I had my doubts too).  Especially as we were picking up the Brilliant Janet at the Sea-Tac Airport on our way.

Despite a late start beginning our trip north all things worked out perfectly.  The car was certainly filled to capacity once we added Janet’s suitcase and bags to the mix, but we all fit and we traveled safely onward to our destination at Cama Beach State Park.

First descriptive for this lovely stretch along the Puget Sound is Wow! When we saw our little cabin and how close the water was to our front porch we were delighted beyond description.

The next 24 hours passed in a bit of a blur.  Sarah, Janet and I got moved into our cabin, grabbed some dinner then headed over to the Firehall to join up with the rest of the folks arriving for the retreat.

Monday morning I had an informative and interesting class with Laurie Wheeler about Yarn.  The next thing I remember is a lovely dinner with our friends Jim (Jimbo) Price and Karen (KRW Knitwear) Whooley.  I was getting a bit antsy at that point as later that evening was to be my debut doing a presentation on Crochet Ergonomics and Hand Health.  My dinner companions jollied me along and helped me set up for the presentation.

Once I was in front of the group and started talking about my subject the audience was a blast.  There were many faces in the crowd that I knew and could call on by name (and my friends refrained from flinging tomatoes as had been threatened before).  Everyone was very interested in the topic and Laurie Wheeler (Fearless leader of the CLF) extracted a promise from me that I will teach at least one class at the retreat next year.

Sad Little Partial Sock

Tuesday morning I was in Karen Ratto-Whooley’s Toe Up Sock class, where I demonstrated my poor pattern reading skills.  My sock did not turn out well. But I had loads of fun and am hopeful that my next attempt will be better.  I’ve decided that it will take lots of stitch markers for me to find the right stitches to work into.  I really want to make sock/slippers for my family for this Christmas.

Karen, as always, was a fun and well prepared teacher.  She even managed to help me figure out what I had done to create such an oddly shaped sock.  The picture was taken after I frogged the 2nd part of my heel flap.

Walking back to our cabin after the class I hiked around and took some pictures of the gorgeous shoreline and scenery.

Close up of my Bullions

That evening Jimbo held an auction for a chopstick Bullion hook that he developed with Bonnie Pierce.  Bonnie had signed the hook.  The bidding was fun and Janet and I joined forces to win the bidding.  Using the hook that evening (and with some coaching from Bonnie) I successfully made my first ever bullions.

Jimbo Teaching

Wednesday morning was my Hook Whittling class with Jimbo Price.  Another fun teacher and an informative class with lots of students.  I got my hook looking like a hook during the class and did some further shaping of it once I got back to Sarah’s house after the retreat.  I wanted to try and create a hook with a similar shape to the Etimo hooks from the Tulip Company.  I’m still having fun shaping this hook and am not 100% sure I’ve finished carving and sanding on it.

I’ve been playing with wood carving for about 20 years, but I still learned many new things and different ways of approaching the challenges of making the wood into the object you visualize.  As well as new ways of looking at how I hold my hook and what shape is best for my style of crochet.

My Cherry Wood Hook

That evening was the Good-bye party where Deb and Don Burger gave a wonderful musical performance.  Then it was visiting til we were getting too tired and silly.  The next morning was misty and cold which seemed fitting as final hugs and good-byes were shared.

Our Last Morning at Cama Beach

I am looking forward to next year’s CLF Crochet at Cama Retreat.  Mark your calendars and save your pennies to join us there. October 16 – 20, 2011.

New Foundations

Categories Creativity, Crochet, Crochet Design, Tips and Tricks1 Comment on New Foundations

As many of you that have worked my designs know, I love simple foundations.  Any pattern that asks me to chain more than 50 to start out tends to make me cranky.  A cranky Andee is not that fun to be around, just ask my family.

My favorite designs begin with what I like to call “small starts”.  Nothing makes me happier than to have the beginning directions in a crochet pattern say, “Chain 2, single crochet in 2nd chain from hook.”  Or a variant of that. Which is one of the many reasons I love the foundation single crochet (FSC) for my designs.

But, I know not everyone has my fondness for the FSC.  In fact, it took me a very long time to become friends with the FSC.  I purchased Doris Chan’s books “Amazing Crocheted Lace” and “Everyday Crochet” years before I felt able to tackle the FSC.

I would drool over her patterns and attempt over and over to do the FSC.  Finally one day it all came together and I have mastered the FSC (or at least have a good handle on it).

Recently, I wanted to do a shawl design that would require a long foundation to work off of.  The idea of starting a pattern with nearly 200 chain stitches made me break out in a cold sweat.

I also knew there were quite a few folks that would not be too happy with me if I started it off with that number of FSC (I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to make a foundation with that many FSC). What to do?

I wanted a foundation that wasn’t a complete pain to work, that would look attractive on its own.  Something that wouldn’t need an additional edging to seem complete.

I started looking at single crochet stitches.  What would happen if I worked a bunch of single crochets one on top of the other, then worked into the side of them for the rest of the garment?

Now, I’m pretty sure some other designer has done this at some time or another, though I can’t recall having seen it.  Happily the resulting foundation is stretchy and attractive. Basically everything I was looking for.

One thing I did observe is that with my style of crochet the foundation made this way seems a bit too loose.  I adjusted for this by working the foundation with a smaller hook than that used for the body of the shawl.  Knitters have been casting on for ages with different size needles than the rest of their project is worked with.  So I was borrowing from that tradition.

It could also work to just be very aware and crochet the foundation stitches a bit tightly with the larger hook, then work with a more relaxed gauge for the remainder of the garment.

Either way, this may become one of my favorite new techniques for foundations.

Super Secret Projects

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I know I’ve been a bit slow posting lately.  My recent blog posts could convince you that I never crochet anymore.  It isn’t true. 

Piles of Work

I’m actually working on 7 different crochet projects, but as is often the case for designers, I can’t tell anything about them. I am really looking forward to being able to share the stories of each of them and celebrate with my stitching friends once the designs are published. 

Also I still have lots of work to do for getting my Design Office and Art Studio spaces in order.  Hopefully then I’ll be working smarter instead of harder. Of course, everything was a bit side-lined with the wildfire excitement, but I’m back on task again. 

Thanks for popping in once and awhile.

CLF Crochet Retreat

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Oh boy, I can hardly wait! In just a little over a month I take off for the Crochet Liberation Front Retreat at Camano Island.  This is going to be a fun time of stitching with pals, taking classes and enjoying the beautiful North West.

Photo from CLF Website of the Ocean at Cama Beach

I have a passion for the ocean. Maybe it is because I was born and raised in land-locked Kansas, and currently live in land-locked Colorado.  The rhythm of ocean waves is one of my favorite sounds. 

Combining the joy of being near the ocean with the joy of crocheting and comaradery of fellow CLF friends. Heaven!  If you haven’t registered for the retreat yet go check out the CLF website.

If being there everyday isn’t an option for you, there are day passes available.  You can join in the retreat activities of the day and take a class or two.  There is a great line-up of classes and teachers, and I’ll be giving a talk Monday evening on Crochet Ergonomics.  Hope to see lots of folks there.

A Different Point of View

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One of the wonderful things about going to the Knit and Crochet Shows has been the opportunity to learn from other crocheters.  I’ve learned new techniques and finishing tricks both in classes and just sitting stitching in the lounge with others.  I’ve also discovered ways of looking at crochet fabric that I had never considered.    

I’ve always thought of myself as an “outside the box” kind of thinker.  But one of my teachers at Chain Link this year showed me that she isn’t even thinking “inside the room”.  This would be the lovely, talented and brilliant Dee Stanziano.    

Dee Stanziano and Me at Chain Link 2010

I had the pleasure this year of taking the class “Pushmi, Pullyu” with Dee.   She has an amazing eye for crochet fabric and an insatiable curiosity about how it is created.  Her understanding of how the fabric of crochet can be influenced by the way we hold our hooks and manipulate the yarn is a bit mind-boggling.     

Dee promised by the end of her class we would be forming new neural pathways and looking at our crochet in a whole new way.  She was correct in her predictions (and when she made us crochet with our non-dominant hand her promise that we would curse her name also came true).   I am now having a great time playing with different approaches to creating stitches in my crochet designs.    

Of course one of the benefits of taking this class for me is a better understanding of both the visual differences in fabric, as well as the way left-handed crocheters compensate with their grip and movements in crochet.  Since the majority of left-handed crocheters learn from right-handed folks, like myself, I’m hoping this will improve my skills in teaching them.  As well as giving me a look into hand-health issues for left-handed crocheters.    

In many ways Dee is contagious in her enthusiasm for Crochet, the CGOA and just life in general.  We should all be so involved and alive.  I strongly urge you, when the opportunity arises, take a class with Dee.  It will be money well spent and will gift you with the opportunity to see your crochet (and possibly even life) from a Different Point of View.