Showing posts with label Crochet Classes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crochet Classes. Show all posts

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Crochet Flowers and Hearts Make Great Test Shapes!

Two Hearts, Two Stitches: Back-Loop Slsts & Front-Loop Slsts
Back-loop Slip Stitch Heart & Front Loop Slip Stitch Heart
Update: Slip Stitch Heart pattern at my new blog!
I'm testing shaping methods for my upcoming Slip Stitch Crochet Shapes FX class

A sweet surprise is that heart shapes, roses, and other flowers are especially useful ways to try out shaping methods!


Crochet slip stitches can give different effects to rose petals.
Different Slip Stitches in a Variety of Rose Petal Shapes
Not only are hearts and flowers distinctively shaped, they can also be: 

  • Scaled up or down to the swatch size I prefer,
  • A two-dimensional rendition, or as 3-D sculpted as I wish,
  • Recycled later into appliqués, jewelry, patch pockets, pincushions, coasters, etc.
  • Practice for sleeve cap shaping and other useful applications.


I've also been curious about how different kinds of slip stitches respond to the shaping methods. Below are hearts in four different slip stitch patterns.
Inverse and regular slip stitches in different loops, and different row directions.
Four Kinds of Slip Stitches, Crocheted Diagonally and Vertically


The heart in the lower left corner is the oddest-looking one, and retains a slight curl even after blocking. I'd need to tweak the starting row of this one also. Some of them have a strong natural curl or textural grain. 

This same inverse slip stitch type - which doesn't work so well for heart shapes - is perfect for the special kind of curling that a rose petal does! 

In this blog post I'm using newer photos taken after I sent out the most recent Crochet Inspirations Newsletter issue #53. It includes a free crochet pattern for a simple slip-stitch-strip rose. See photo of wee cashmere roses below!
These rose petals have a natural curve, thanks to slip stitches.
These rose petals have a natural
curve, thanks to slip stitches.

Socks, hats, mittens, and bags as shapes for testing are certainly useful. They're also more time-consuming. So, I start with a heart or a flower swatch that shows promise, and then I try applying the shaping method to a sock heel, or toe, for example.
Miniature Cashmere Roses, just in time for the Fall floral fashion trend.
Miniature Cashmere Roses

Right now I'm looking for the best class projects and swatches for students to experience. After that, I'll be able to turn some of the new designs for socks, hats and mittens into crochet patterns for my site. Flowers designs too.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Crochet in Reno: The CGOA Conference Sep. 12-16 2012

On the way to Reno from Lake Tahoe
I've blogged about several crochet conferences since starting this blog many years ago, so by now it feels like a ritual. It was a special conference and here are some highlights:
  • Highlight of teaching crochet in Reno: a surprise caramel mocha courtesy of new pal Laurinda Reddig!
  • Highlight of teaching Tunisian crochet: 3 BEGINNERS were able to keep up in an ADVANCED skill level class!
  • Another highlight of teaching at Chain Link conference: giving Superfine Jelly Yarn® to my jewelry crochet students
  • ...walking to Walmart in the Nevada sun with Doris Chan to get last minute crochet class supplies
    Doris Chan in her new crochet
    Star Trek dress
    CGOA Crochet Design Booth

    • ...and seeing my pretty logo displayed in the CGOA teachers booth that Doris Chan 
      created.
    • Highlight of the Knit and Crochet Show market: The popular Crochet Liberation Front market booth, and seeing Fearless Leader Laurie after so long.
    • I bought reflective crochet-along filament. Can you say...jewelry?
    • At Lake Tahoe with Linda Dean (center),
      Margaret Hubert (right)

    • Highlight of Reno's Grand Sierra Resort: so much free bottled water with electrolytes (especially in classrooms).
    • On our way back from Lake Tahoe, had to
      stop for more pics!

    • Tip from Reno resident via Jenny King: Salty food is your friend in Reno -- helps you deal with the altitude and dryness. IT ACTUALLY WORKED for me.
    • Turns out we were just getting warmed up! Dance Party  
    • ...sharing Mai tai drinks—the real and the fake—with Tammy Hildebrand and Linda Dean 
    • ...discussing brands of crochet threads with Kathryn White and Kathie Earle. Yay threadies!
    • ...seeing crochet free former and moderator Jorel again. We bonded in Stitchdiva Jen Hansen's broomstick lace class years ago.
    • ...a fresh ginger martini and Netflix advice with Myra Wood  :)
    • ...comparing with Darla Fanton shades and amounts of the Newton's tencel-linen blend yarn that we both bought
    • ...discussing with Barbara Hynes and Mirtooli how  Jelly Yarn® is trippy bec one can see a stitch's *innards*
    • ...meeting crochet free formers Fermin and Mirtooli and getting swept along into the grand free form group dinner.
    • Free formers rocked the fashion show banquet

    • ...coming home with a special copy of Laurinda Reddig's new Rowan's Learn to Crochet Sampler Afghan book.
    • ...seeing GoCrochet Ellen Gormley and her new Bruges lace crochet designs SHINE on the runway. Go Ellen!
    • Photo ©Ellen Gormley 2012; L to R: Ellen, Jenny King,
      Vashti, at dance party

    • ...introducing two queens to each other: Crochet Liberation Front's Fearless Leader Laurie Wheeler and CGOA president Amy Shelton of Crochetville
    •  I loved the abundant fresh fruit and coffee in the crochet lounge daily! BIG THANKS to Red Heart Yarns and Kathleen Sams.
      If you're in Twitter, an easy way to see what others have tweeted about the conference is to search the hashtag #chainlink2012 or #knitandcrochetshow.


      -:---+---:-

      The June Chain Link conference was held in Manchester, New Hampshire this year. 


      Coming up in 2013, I have the months and cities handy for the summer and fall conferences: Indianapolis, Indiana in July, and Charlotte, North Carolina in early October. I'm already planning to attend the Charlotte conference.

      Monday, April 30, 2012

      How a Calligraphy Passion Inspired "Lovepod" Love Knots

      Top half of my first business card
      When I was a teenager some decades ago, I learned how to do calligraphy. The old-fashioned kind appealed to me the most -- gilded ornate first letters and flowery scripts. I learned about fine old parchments and vellums and 'aged' them with tinting. I even tried charring the paper edges.
      Lovepod inspiration


      Lovepod Boa
      I loved calligraphy so much that my mother's friends paid me to "write pretty" on invitations and on framed parchment as gifts. More requests came from their friends of friends, and I soon had the start of a calligraphy business in my little midwestern town.


      When I moved to Seattle in my twenties, I worked first in a flower shop, then at a dessert cafe and catering company where my employers put my calligraphy to new uses.

      1980's promo dessert price list


      When I look back on it now, the spidery lines that I could make with fine pen tips and ink bottles felt a lot like crocheting lace with fine thread. Thinking about where to embellish lace with beads or special stitches is like adding little flourishes on and around formal lettering.

      A big difference between crochet and calligraphy is that I can just rip out a faulty stitch, whereas with calligraphy, I often had to start over completely!

      These love knots have something of a
      botanical look too. Palestrina Lace
      Love Knot Nakshatra Wrap

      The reason my old calligraphy days have been on my mind lately is that I've been bringing together all of my crochet experiments and ideas for my upcoming Love Knot Adventures class
      (Sorry--that class just sold out. But here's the recent newsletter issue I wrote on Love Knots. See the image gallery links in it. Here's another link too, if you're a Ravelry member: I just created a Love Knots-only category of my Ravelry projects, which are the not-yet-published designs.)
      One of my early calligraphy pieces
      The Lovepod Boa is one of the first crochet designs that I was excited to publish myself. It was directly inspired by my favorite method of embellishing my calligraphy, especially the fancy initial letter: I loved adding leafy, budding vines and sprigs, and tinting them. Sometimes I gilded them with a bit of silver or gold, such as the "Irish Lullaby" title at right (the entire poem is embellished like this!).
      Close up of Love Knot network
      Lovepod Boa, 'gilded'
      I remember travelling to another place in my mind while I added these ethereal little sprigs and flowers. When I first crocheted love knots* with fine mohair yarn, the same daydream came over me again. The idea for the Lovepod Boa came from this place. 


      *Here's the usual string of alternate names for this stitch: Lover's Knot, Solomon's Knot, King Solomon's Knot, Knot Stitch, Hail Stone Stitch; in Portuguese ponto segredo). It's used in Turkish Oya crochet too, but I don't know what the stitch is called.

      Friday, March 23, 2012

      Crochet Jewelry Class: Resources

      Tomorrow I teach a class in Sarasota, Florida on crocheting jewelry--a.k.a. "jewellry," "jewerly," "jewellery" and other favorite spellings :-)  
      Love-Latches (convertible crochet jewelry)
      For all of my crochet classes I include a page of resources in the handouts (helpful links, books that I recommend, etc.). However, my jewelry class handout is already several pages long due to so many close-up photos

      The best class handout for jewelry crochet needs to show several close ups of those precious little details and special crochet stitches that make crochet bracelets, necklaces, rings, brooches, and earrings so fun to make and give as gifts. What to do? 
      Irish Pearls

      Today I hit on a great idea: I'm going to post the Crochet Jewelry Class Resources list HERE IN THIS BLOG POST! See below. Cool idea, right? This way they're clickable URLs. Also, crocheters anywhere can refer to it, even if you can't attend the Sarasota crochet class tomorrow. (If you think you can attend, it will be held from 1 - 4 pm on March 24, 2012 at an easy-to-find yarn shop on South Tamiami Trail called A Good Yarn.)

      [Hi, this is FutureVashti from 2018. See the class resources for all of my classes at my new blog!]


      Crochet Jewelry Class: Resources
      All class content ©Vashti Braha. Resources recommended for a three-hour class held March 24, 2012 at A Good Yarn yarn shop in Sarasota, Florida USA; and taught nationally at the CGOA Chain Link conference in Reno Nevada in 2012. Please see this blog post also for more crochet jewellery resources I like.



      Crochet Inspirations Newsletter Topics:
      Issue #16 "Flavor-Burst Crochet" (Get jewelry effects with simple stitches) 
      Issue #8 "Crochet's Commutative Property" (Convertible crochet projects) 
      Issue #18 "Deep Crochet Research" (Foundation Stitches)

      Blogged:
      "How to Crochet Spiky Puff Stitches" (as used for Palmetto Cuff pattern; with video)

      Books I've consulted. The most recently published are listed first with short descriptions of the books I recommend and use the most & why:  Click on a title to go to the book's Amazon page for more information.

      2010. Ann Benson, Tapestry Bead Crochet: Projects and Techniques. Lark Crafts. This is my favorite source for this specific type of bead crochet. Not only is it very inspirational for me, it also is written by someone who is obviously a good teacher. She even created many of the excellent illustrations.     Author's site: beadseast.com


      2009. Pat Harste, Hooked on Jewelry. Sixth and Spring Books. This is my resource for how to use stylish and traditional metal jewelry findings with fiber crochet jewelry designs, and why I might want to. I usually prefer to crochet them, but this author uses them in such an inspiring way. I also love the way the book makes it clear and fun to learn about the jewelry tools and supplies.  Author's Ravelry page.

      2007. Waejong Kim and Anna Pulvermakher, Crochet Jewelry. Interweave Press.  This book combines a creative and exciting array of jewelry designs by several crochet designers. I use it as a resource of other designers' "lab notes" and results crocheting jewelry with eclectic materials. (Scroll halfway down through my other blog post for more on this.)


      Size #20 crochet thread pendant cords;
      some are published in Jewelry With a Hook.
      2007. Terry Taylor, Jewelry With a Hook. Lark. Like the Waejong Kim book above, this book is a wide-ranging compilation of creative jewelry crochet designs and materials. So I use it foremost as a source for "lab notes" (how other designers combined eclectic materials). In addition, I like the "Crochet Basics" section at the back of the book. (I would still value this book the same way even if it didn't include four designs of my own.)

      2006. Carol Ann Ventura, Bead and Felted Tapestry Crochet. Self published, ISBN 978-09721253-2-1. Carol Ventura is the queen of tapestry crochet in crochet circles, and her self-published books are the next best thing to taking her classes at the CGOA conferences. The one I have includes sections specially for left handers, and for working flat vs. in the round. Author's site: tapestrycrochet.com

      2005. Adele Rogers Recklies, Bead Crochet Snakes: History and Technique. This book fascinates me. I had no idea of the history and art of bead crochet ropes as snakes. Beautiful examples. Self published: Reckless Beading Press, ISBN 978-0-9791649-0-3.     Author's site: beadcrochetsnakes.com 

      2004. Bethany Barry, Bead Crochet. Interweave Press. This book used to strike me as odd (like the Neiman book below), but not anymore, now that I understand the differences between beaded jewelry that happens to be crocheted, vs. crochet that is used for jewelry and that may include some beads. In other words, jewellery crocheting lies at an intersection of two industries: the crochet ('handknitting') yarn industry, and that of the beaders and other non-crochet jewelry making hobbies, like wirework/wire-wrapping, micro-macrame, etc. The basic materials, tools, and vocabulary can be very different. It's more obvious when you visit a bead shop and then a yarn shop; or the crochet aisle, then the jewelry aisle in a craft store!  Author's site: bethanybarry.com


      2004. Lily Chin, Knit and Crochet with Beads. Interweave Press.  A masterful reference especially for exploring the choices crocheters and knitters have when incorporating beads into several kinds of projects besides jewelry.  Author's  site: lilychinsignaturecollection.com

      2004. Sherri Haab, Designer Style Jewelry. Watson-Guptill. I enjoy having this one on hand for the techniques I hope to try someday, for example, using resin to create pendants and charms, which would be easy to combine with crochet; or updated possibilities with that "ShrinkyDink®" material I LOVED as a kid. So it has a great list of suppliers at the back of the book.

      2004. Mary Libby Neiman, Bead Crochet Basics. Design Originals booklet, ISBN 978-1-5742153-4-2. This slim book is a good reference for me because I'm a newbie when it comes to a particular type of crochet jewelry: "beaded ropes" a.k.a. "tubular bead crochet." The idea is to see all seed beads, no crochet stitches. (Also see Ann Benson's Tapestry Bead Crochet, above.) Like I described Bethany Barry's Bead Crochet book above, this one used to confuse me as a crocheter. Part of the confusion is that both titles use "bead crochet" in a much more limited way than I would with the crocheters I know. Both also seem to be written by and for a general beading/bead shop audience rather than a crocheting audience.   Author's site: d-originals.com

      1997. Lydia F Borin, Beadwrangler’s Hands On Crochet with Beads and Fibers. I was happy when a copy of this book fell into my lap because I'd tried to locate a copy for several years, after learning so much about the topic at the author's site, below! Self published: Lyden Enterprises, ISBN 1-891302-01-9.     Author's site: beadwrangler.com

      Monday, February 20, 2012

      Quick Update: Crochet Ribbing Comparisons & More


      Naturally biases!
      Alternating rows of slip stitch
      and single crochet.
      Hdc in lower third loop;
      simply alternate the colors!
      I'm buffing and polishing this blog a bit. Isn't the new color scheme refreshing? It's as if I spritzed some tangerine-vanilla room spray.

      I'm also trying to figure out how to reproduce my newsletters here. In the meantime I've created a special tab for them (see tabs above this post). Importing the content, especially with the newsletter columns preserved, is surprisingly complicated.

      So: crochet ribbing. I have more photos of ribbed crochet stitches that I didn't have room to include in the latest Crochet Inspirations Newsletter issue (#36)

      Another slanter.
      Half double crochet (hdc; UK: htc
      or htr) rows in different loops.
      Good to know about ribbings that
       bias, no?
      Here's the photo set I've created for them so far. 

      UPDATE: See the follow up newsletter issue #37: "When Stitches Lean."
      Isn't slip stitch ribbing amazing?