NatCroMo – Mamas2Hands

Find Your Tribe

March 24, 2024Celebrating, Crochet, NatCroMoLeave a Comment

We are starting into the last week of March and the end of National Crochet Month, though it’s always time to celebrate crochet for me. One of the best ways to celebrate is to find a tribe of fellow crochet and yarn enthusiasts to gather with. I spend a lot of time with my group at Longmont Yarn Shoppe “Casual Crochet”. We meet each month on the first and third Wednesday of the month (and the 5th Wednesday if the month has five).

Last week we got together and we had some fun celebrating the end of NatCroMo. We had a lovely spread of snacks and drinks. Gail, the owner of Longmont Yarn Shoppe, treated us to these goodies. The core of our group, including myself, have been gathering together to crochet and learn from each other for at least 8 years now. Might actually be longer, I’ve sort of lost track of when exactly we started getting together.

I even brought in my latest big crochet hook. This hook is 31 mm in diameter (approximately 1.22 inches) and is a bit of a workout to crochet with. The smaller hook in the photo is a Clover Amour P/Q 15mm. Big difference in size between the 2.

Karen was the only one that was game for trying it out though. We had a lot of fun crocheting and laughing.

I am planning on working the 2 balls of Bernat Blanket Extra Thick I got to test out the hook into a lapghan. I picked a simple single crochet rectangle for the pattern as I plan on putting this on my lap when my cat wants to sit with me. Otherwise his claws get a bit pokey.

That was the second large hook I made this month. The first is hanging in the shop window and is even larger.

It was made from a 2 inch diameter pine dowel and was quite the workout to carve. The small hook in the picture with the dowel is the same in the photo further up with the big hook. I’ll be making a paper mache version of this giant hook after we take it out of the window. That way the shop can have one for display that isn’t quite so heavy. Seriously, this hook is like a baseball bat.

I hope you all have a great start to your last week of NatCroMo 2024. I’ll have a few more blog posts for you before April rolls around.

Yarn Bombing the Tree

March 9, 2024Crochet, NatCroMoLeave a Comment

2023 Yarn Bombing of Tree
at Longmont Yarn Shoppe

Last year the crochet group (Casual Crochet) at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe covered the trunk of the tree in front of the shop with a multi-textural yarn bombing. It was a big hit with the community and so yarn-bombing the tree is now becoming a regular thing for the shop. In December the machine knitting folks made a red and white striped fabric that they wrapped the tree with.

This year Gail, the shop owner, and I decided for National Crochet Month we needed a new yarn-bombing. We got going on this a little late, so we did it in stages. Yesterday we finally finished it.

The exterior of building the shop is housed in is currently undergoing some renovations, so it is harder for folks to find us at times. This means the yarn-bombing will help make our location easier to spot. I used one of the colorful shopping bags and turned it into the first stage of our yarn bombing that we put up on March 1st.

Then this past Wednesday we put up Stage 2, which is our Random Acts of Crochet Kindness (RAoCK) section. It has been really popular and the group is going to be busy keeping up supplies to re-stock it.

It was also our first Wednesday of the month gathering, and we spent a lot of our time sewing pieces to the Stage 3 piece. My friend Margie helped me a lot on this project and has really been the inspiration for lots of our RAoCK projects.

Finally yesterday, Margie and I got together for a couple hours at the shop and finished attaching all the pretties to the Stage 3 section and put it on the tree. I think it came out really well. Yesterday was pretty chilly with snow in the air, so our colorful spring and summer feeling yarn bombing was a fun way to add some warmth to the day.

Our group has more crochet activities planned for NatCroMo at the shop. Stop by again regularly this month for all the excitement.

There’s No Place like Gnome

March 5, 2024March 4, 2024Celebrating, Crochet, Crochet Design, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, NatCroMo, Paid Pattern Links1 Comment

Happy National Crochet Month my friends! March has started off with a bang for me. I”m helping out with all sorts of fun stuff at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe and will be sharing more about that. Suffice to say that I’ve been so busy that I didn’t get a chance until today to do my first post of March to celebrate NatCroMo.

3 Colorful Crocheted Gnomes on a Gray background. Front Gnome had yellow body, gray beard and orange hat with floppy brim. Middle Gnome has bright blue body, white beard and magenta hat with small brim. Last Gnome has orange body with arms up in air, cream beard and green hat with small brim.

First of all say hello to my newest design, this is my “Cute Lil Gnome” pattern. This fun amigurumi is made using small bits of worsted weight yarn. Approximate yardage for each of the 4 pieces are: body -14 yards, Hat – 8.5 yards, Nose – 2 yards, and Beard – 3.5 yards.

Gnome held in hand with gray background. Gnome body is bright blue with a white beard, taupe nose and magenta hat. Hat has small brim.

I’ve been having fun making these little gnomes from various weights of yarn. The worsted weight gnomes are worked with Berroco Ultra Wool using a H (5mm) size hook and are 4.5 inches (10.6 cm) tall.

All my current crop of gnomes were having a little party with the Luv Bug at the shop on March 1st. The majority of the gnomes were made with Berroco Ultra Wool. The tiny one was made with KFI Collections “Teenie Weenie Wool”. The big one in pastel colors was made with some discontinued Lion Brand “Jiffy” that I had in my stash.

Crocheted toys, different sizes of gnomes surrounding a large Luvbug.

The big Gnome and Luv Bug are being crochet mascots at the Longmont Yarn Shoppe, so if you are in the area stop by and get your photo taken with them. We are also looking for suggestions for a name for the Gnome. If you stop in with a finished crochet project to get your photo taken at the shop, you can get a cute little butterfly or sheep stitch marker and enter the shop drawing to win an awesome product prize at the end of NatCroMo.

I designed this project so you only have to sew one seam. The hat is worked top down with the nose and beard crocheted at the end of the hat. The body is worked bottom up with the arms crocheted along the way. You fasten off the body with a long tail and use it to sew the body to the hat/head. A couple of fancy cluster stitches make the nose and hands, post stitches create the first round of the hat brim, but the rest of the project is single crochet, slip stitches and chain stitches.

The pattern currently has written instructions with some clarifying photo tutorials and 1 stitch chart. I’ll be updating the pattern at the end of March with stitch charts for all the parts and more photo tutorials. Once it is updated the price will go up. If you purchase your pattern now at the lower price, you will get the updated version for no additional cost when it is available.

Purchase the “Cute Lil Gnome” pattern here on Ravelry.

Make sure to check back regularly this month as I reveal more new patterns and all the creative ways I will be celebrating crochet with my local crochet community.

2021 National Crochet Month CAL

March 2, 2021Crochet, Crochet Event, NatCroMoLeave a Comment

Another National Crochet Month is here and I am helping the Longmont Yarn Shoppe celebrate by doing a Virtual Crochet Along project. I’ll be helping folks crochet my “Cool Snowflake Motif” via FaceBook Lives on the Longmont Yarn Shoppe page. The first session will be this Wednesday, March 3 starting at 1:45 p.m.

3 hexagonal crocheted motifs, 1 in single color of light blue, 1 in 2 colors of light blue in center with violet outside, 1 with yellow center surrounded by peach colored petals finished with bright green as leaves.

The pattern is available for free here on the blog or you can purchase an Ad-Free version in my Ravelry Shop that also includes some extras for planning your motif projects.

I made a fun spring time wrap using all the colors in the above photo. I’ll be unveiling it during the FB Live and later here on the blog.

2 motifs side by side. Darker blue one on left larger than light blue one on right.

I used Ella Rae “Cozy Worsted” yarn for this project, my motifs were a little smaller than the ones I worked in Red Heart “With Love” yarn. The Cozy Worsted is 75% Acrylic and 25% Wool, so the fibers are a little easier to block. I used my steamer to block the finished motifs and wrap. For the individual motifs I pinned them out then steamed. For the wrap I used wires to pin out the edges and steamed.

2 motifs worked in blue colors stacked on top of each other. Light blue one is smaller.

I’ll be sharing more tips and tricks thru-out the month here on the blog, including a photo tutorial on the Join-as-you-Go method I use in this pattern. Be sure to check back. Meanwhile I hope your NatCroMo is full of lots of crochet fun.

Half Shell Summer Cowl

March 19, 2019March 18, 2019Celebrating, CGOA, Crochet, Crochet Design, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, NatCroMo1 Comment

This is my newest pattern release from M2H Designs: Half Shell Summer Cowl. I wanted to create a cowl with beautiful drape that could be a fun summer layer. Summers up on my mountain are a bit cooler than in some parts, but even when I travel to warmer climes I like having a layer to wear in hotels and other air-conditioned venues. The cool and colorful “Vogue” cotton yarn from King Cole was the perfect match for this design.

This design takes advantage of the natural tendency of crochet fabric to bias to the right (for right-handed crocheters). It is worked in the round off of my favorite foundation: stacked rows. If you get confused by this foundation I have a video tutorial on my YouTube channel.

I’m participating in the International Crochet Month Designer Showcase with Underground Crafter. Come join the fun! Every day in March, 2019, we’ll highlight a different crochet designer who is also a member of the Crochet Guild of America. Each designer will share a free crochet pattern or a 25% discount on a premium pattern.

I’m sharing a coupon to get the “Half Shell Summer Cowl” for free in my Ravelry Shop. The coupon is only good until 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time) April 11, 2019. Enter ICMDS2019 in the shopping cart to get your free copy before April 11, 2019. Please don’t post this coupon anywhere else, instead encourage others to come visit my blog.

We’ve also partnered with some of our favorite companies to get some great prizes for you — including yarn, crochet hooks, notions, pattern books, and more! Find out more information about other participating designers, the schedule, and how to enter to win the prizes on Underground Crafter.

2×2 Shawl

March 19, 2018March 19, 2018Celebrating, Crochet, Crochet Design, NatCroMo, Online, Pattern14 Comments

As part of my continuing celebration of National Crochet Month I am sharing a pattern for my newest shawl design the 2×2 Shawl. I wanted to create a top down shawl in a simple stitch pattern that is relaxing and meditative to crochet. It is a perfect project to work on when crocheting with friends.

The simple stitch pattern really lets the vibrant color changes of Lion Brand Yarns “Shawl in a Ball” shine. Watching how the colors will come together is half the entertainment. I wanted a big snuggly shawl that would really provide some coverage so I used 2 balls of this yarn.

I had only 22 g/70 yds of yarn left from the second ball. My favorite thing about a top-down shawl is that you can stop wherever you want, depending on the size shawl you want and the amount of yarn you have.

2×2 Shawl

Skill level: Easy

Finished Size:

2 balls = 74” (187.96 cm) wide x 32” (81.28 cm) tall

1 ball = 54” (137.16 cm) wide x 18” (45.72 cm) tall

Materials:

Yarn

Lion Brand Yarns “Shawl in a Ball” 58% Cotton, 39% Acrylic, 3% Other fiber (5.3 oz/150 g, 481 yd/440 m)

2 Balls of Color # 201 – Restful Rainbow

Hooks

J-10 / 6 mm

Notions

Yarn/tapestry needle

Stitch markers

Gauge:

Approximately 14 stitches and 5.5 rows = 4” (10.16 cm)

Special Stitches or Abbreviations:

PM – Place stitch marker

Pattern Notes:

Shawl is worked top-down with 3 increase points from a stacked rows foundation.

If you wish to make a smaller shawl work the instructions for the body of the Shawl for fewer rows being sure to stop with a repeat of Row 4, then working the edging row (Row 35) to finish.

Instructions:

Foundation Rows

Row 1: Ch 2, sc in second ch from hook.

Row 2: Ch 3, turn, 2 dc in sc.

Row 3: Ch 1, turn, sc in first dc.

Rows 4 – 41: Alternate repeating Rows 2 and 3 (ending with a Row 3).

Shawl Body

Row 1: Ch 3, turn to work into sides of sc rows, (3 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in first sc row, PM in ch-2 sp just made, *ch 2, skip next dc row, 2 dc in next sc row*, Repeat from * to * 8 times, ch 2, skip next dc row (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next sc row, PM in ch-2 sp just made, Repeat from * to * 9 times, ch 2, skip next dc row, (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in last sc row, PM in ch-2 sp just made. [23 ch-2 sps, 50 dc]

The marked ch-2 spaces will be the increase points for the rest of the body of the shawl.

Row 2: Ch 3, turn, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st, ch 2, skip 1 st, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in marked ch-2 sp, move marker up to ch-2 sp just made, [*ch 2, skip next 2 sts, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp*, Repeat from * to * until work in marked ch-2 sp, (ch 2, 2 dc) in same marked ch-2 sp, move marker up to ch-2 sp just made] 2 times, ch 2, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st. [27 ch-2 sps, 58 dc]

Row 3: Ch 3, turn, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st, skip 1 st, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp, ch 2, skip 2 sts, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in marked ch-2 sp, move marker up to ch-2 sp just made, [*ch 2, skip next 2 sts, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp*, Repeat from * to * until work in marked ch-2 sp, (ch 2, 2 dc) in same marked ch-2 sp, move marker up to ch-2 sp just made] 2 times, ch 2, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st. [29 ch-2 sps, 66 dc]

Row 4: Ch 3, turn, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st, ch 2, skip 3 sts, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp, [*ch 2, skip next 2 sts, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp*, Repeat from * to * until work in marked ch-2 sp, (ch 2, 2 dc) in same marked ch-2 sp, move marker up to ch-2 sp just made] 3 times, Repeat from * to * until work in last ch-2 sp of Row, ch 2, skip 3 sts, 3 dc in next st. [33 ch-2 sps, 70 dc]

Row 5: Ch 3, turn, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st, skip 1 st, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp, [*ch 2, skip next 2 sts, 2 dc in next ch-2 sp*, Repeat from * to * until work in marked ch-2 sp, (ch 2, 2 dc) in same marked ch-2 sp, move marker up to ch-2 sp just made] 3 times, Repeat from * to * until work in last ch-2 sp of Row, skip 1 st, 3 dc in next st. [35 ch-2 sps, 78 dc]

Rows 6 – 34: Alternate repeating Row 4 and Row 5 ending with a Row 4.

Stitch count at end of Row 34 [123 ch-2 sps, 250 dc]

If using only 1 ball of “Shawl in a Ball” stop at Row 22. [87 ch-2 sps, 178 dc]

Edging

Row 35: Ch 2, skip 1 st, sc in next st, ch 2, 2 dc in next st, *skip next ch-2 sp, sc in next st, ch 2, 2 dc in next st*, Repeat from * to * until work in next to last st of Row, slip st in next st. Fasten off. [124 sc, 124 ch-2 sps, 248 dc]

Finishing

Weave in tails and block.

The CGOA Mega CAL continues

March 9, 2018March 9, 2018CGOA, Crochet Design, Indie publication, M2H Designs Ravelry Shop, NatCroMo, OnlineLeave a Comment

We are still celebrating National Crochet Month, which means a new pattern is now available for the CGOA Mega CAL.

This week’s pattern is “Almost Spring Mitts” designed by Karen McKenna. Be sure your CGOA membership is current because you won’t want to miss this out on this pattern and the others being offered the rest of this month.

Shining Day Wrap as Scarf 800 - Andee Graves M2H Designs

If you missed out on my Shining Day Wrap pattern don’t worry. It is now available for purchase thru my Ravelry Shop.

Ring Around the Posies

March 5, 2018March 2, 2018"I Like Crochet", Celebrating, Crochet Design, NatCroMo, Online6 Comments

Springtime is in the air, today it is warmer up here on my mountain and the snow is melting. Of course it’s all a bluff as we will likely have more lots more snow before we are completely finished with winter weather. In the meanwhile it is time to celebrate my latest published pattern “Ring Around the Posies Skirt”, worked in Designing Vashti’s: Lotus Yarn, in the April issue of “I Like Crochet” online magazine.

This skirt is one of my most ambitious designs to be published so far. It’s an advanced level project written in 5 sizes and will definitely build your skills. The most challenging aspect is the floral motif hemline, so I created placement and joining illustrations to help. These are offered as downloads in the sidebar of the pattern page.

This design includes a center back zipper. I have an article on adding a zipper to your crochet project in the same issue to help with this aspect. If you haven’t had a chance to get a subscription to “I Like Crochet” it is a great way to celebrate National Crochet Month. Every issue is full of a variety of fun and exciting projects and your subscription allows you access to all the previous published issues as well.

Good Bye to NatCroMo 2017

March 31, 2017Celebrating, Latest News, NatCroMo3 Comments

Wow! What a month. I had some grand plans for NatCroMo and some came together, others…not so much. 2017 seems determined to keep me on my toes with surprises around every corner. Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family I think I’ll continue to meet the challenges, I definitely couldn’t do it alone. I am so grateful for all the kind messages and the folks that took a bit of my burden from my shoulders.

I had wanted to post on the blog every day of this month. Despite all the madness, I got pretty darn close to success. The purple stars above are the days I posted. I only missed 3. I would be interested to know what you all thought of it.

Experiencing it from my side of the computer it was really a challenge. The more time I spend working on the blog the less time I have to develop crochet designs, work on exciting art/craft projects or create new classes. So I think I am going to stick to my 2 times a week schedule. That is usually challenge enough. I still may do a solid month of blogging here and there, but I’ll hopefully plan it out ahead of time better.

I thought I would end NatCroMo with a re-vamped Stitch Chart of my Crochet Love heart. You can find the original pattern for the first 2 rounds on my blog post here, and the border round is in my blog post from this February here.

How did everyone’s crochet month go? Did you learn something new about your yarn art? Maybe this was the year that you learned to crochet, if so, a big welcome to you. I hope whatever your crochet status you had a month that gave you a bit of time to celebrate playing with hook and yarn.

We are driving again today, so I’ll be putting in some serious crochet time. Road trips are a great time for me to crochet. At least while I have daylight.

Today I was clever and also packed a booklight for crocheting after dark. We’ll see if that works out for me. Either way, it seems an appropriate way to end NatCroMo. Be sure to stop by regularly and see what new crochet and crafting fun I have for you.

Pet the yarn and hug your loved ones.

Another Hat for Thing 2

March 3, 2017Creativity, Crochet, Latest News, NatCroMoLeave a Comment

One of my crochet traditions is making hats for my family. A couple of years ago I realized that my husband and sons all considered hats for Christmas part of our holiday traditions. This year I made a hat for my husband for Christmas using a cake of Premier Yarns’ “Sweet Roll”. But I didn’t make hats for the boys. I had made a hat for Thing 1 at the start of the school year that he was still happy with and Thing 2 had his hat from the previous Christmas that he liked.

The other day Thing 2 asked me if I had seen his hat. We looked all over the house and even checked in the cars, but it was nowhere to be found. He checked in the Lost & Found at school that day, still no hat. We had to accept that his hat was gone.

I decided to start a new hat for him as part of my NatCroMo celebration since making something for someone else is an important part of crocheting love for me. The original hat had been worked in some discontinued yarn “Lion Wool” that I had in blues, teals and navy. I didn’t have more of that color, but I did have this colorway that I thought he would like. I took the photo above while waiting for an appointment today. The lighting was indirect natural sunlight and the colors on my monitor are showing a bit warmer than the actual colors of the yarn.

By this evening I had finished 10 rounds and will be starting the sides of the hat tomorrow. I took this photo using my daylight fluorescent lamps and played with the Pro settings on my smart phone camera to adjust the white balance and the exposure. The color and detail are good, but now they are a bit cooler than the actual colors.

I’ll experiment more tomorrow to see if I can get a better color match. At least the hat is coming along nicely and Thing 2 has approved the colors.