Free Crochet Pattern for Mothers Day

I awoke from a dream about crochet love knots (a.k.a. "Solomon's knots") covering two sides of a string of beads like airy cages or nets. As I went about my day I planned out the crochet yarn and beads for the experiment: wire would make the love knots stand out from the beads the most. I could use any beads I liked, even big heavy beads with little holes.

Here is today's result, which only took about a hour at most. I describe below how to crochet it, in case you wish to try it with whatever beads and wire or string you have on hand. It would make a nice Mothers Day gift. If your mother is a crocheter too, she would appreciate how the love knot stitch in wire has a fancy new look wrapped around special beads.

In appreciation of mothers everywhere, here is my....

Love Knot Embracelet

copyright Vashti Braha, all rights reserved

For this project you'll need to know how to crochet a love knot. (To learn how, google for a how-to video, such as this one. Try it first with smooth light-colored yarn before you try wire.)

Materials (and substitution tips)

• 26 gauge wire (I used a copper one from a craft store. You can find it in many colors. If 26 gauge is not available, I recommend 28 gauge, which is a little finer.)
• A 25-inch long piece of 22 gauge wire (I used a spool of copper from Radio Shack! 22 gauge is too thick to crochet but still easy to cut and bend. You can try using 20 of 24 gauge.)
• Wire cutters (I used kitchen shears from the dollar store)
• One steel crochet hook in the size range of #3 to #0 (whatever works best for you. Some folks crochet wire very loosely.)
• Any medium-large-sized beads (I bought mine at Michaels.)
• A hammer or pliers, for flattening and compressing the stitches of the hook and loop closure. (Or use a ready made bracelet closure of your choice.)

1. Loosely fold the 25-inch piece of wire in half so that the fold is a round loop. Do not string on the beads.

2. With the thinner wire, make a slip knot, place on hook, single crochet (sc) into the loop of the thicker wire piece so that the stitch is wrapped around the thick wire. *Make a love knot that is approx. one-quarter inch longer than the bead you're using, slide a bead onto both ends of the thicker wire and slide up so that it's snug against the sc, then sc around the thick wire on the other side of the bead. Repeat from * to * until 2.5 inches of thick wire remain.

If this is your first time trying wire crochet, don't worry about how your stitches look! Try to avoid crumpling up your stitches too much as you go, but a certain amount of crumpling can't be helped when you crochet with wire. It looks unsightly but you can spiff it up later. Notice in this photo that like ugly ducklings, the love knots look nothing like the swans they will become. (Actually, I was tempted to try leaving them as is, only twisted a bit. See what you think.)

3. Sc over the remaining thick wire ends, leaving one-half inch unworked. Then flatten the sc's a bit and fold that strip of sc's in half. Flatten and compress it. Wind the unworked thick wire ends around the sc strip and hide the ends so that they don't snag or poke when bracelet is worn.

4. Fold the sc strip in half again, loosely, to create a hook for the clasp. I like to fold it around the shaft of my steel crochet hook; then compress the stitches some more. (See first photo.)

5. Continue working along the other side of the thick wire: *make a love knot of the same size as the others, sc around the thick wire on the other side of the next bead.* You can scrunch the beads apart so that you can fit your sc in there. Continue from * to * until you reach the thick wire loop end.

6. Scrunch together the beads so that about one inch of the thick wire loop is free of stitches. Sc around this loop until it is covered. Fasten off and hide the ends. Flatten and compress the sc's.

7. Now you can coax your love knot strands into a pretty look. Each love knot has 3 strands, so each bead is enrobed with 6 floaty wire strands.

For more photos and comments, please look for this project in Ravelry. If you make your own version, I hope you'll upload a photo and let me know!

Crochet and the Obamas

I'm watching televised coverage of the U.S. Presidential Inauguration Day. As the cameras scan the massive crowd, I notice crochet-textured hats and scarves. Occasionally I can identify actual crochet stitches, as in the case of the gentleman who salutes throughout President Obama's inaugural speech: he wears a heathery purple hat crocheted of stacked shells that changes to plain-textured stitches toward the crown. Someone else wears a cream-colored hat with widely-spaced vertical ribs of post stitches.

Like many people I've been enjoying First Lady Michelle Obama's fresh and adventurous fashion style and if today's inaugural dress is a signal, it is exciting for me as a crochet designer.

Mrs. Obama wears a sumptuous sheath dress and matching coat ensemble designed by Isabel Toledo. I thrill to the rich texture of the fabric, which is reminiscent of fine crocheted lace over a silk satin lining. It speaks volumes in subliminal texture-speak.

Crochet designing trains the eye to read textures of fabrics, not just their colors or fiber content or cut and shaping. This is because texture is one of the central defining elements of every crochet stitch; one can either design with it or around it.

I'm seeing more rich textures displayed by the Obamas and their extended family than in the rest of the politicians and audience at large. The lady whom I believe is Mrs. Obama's mother wears a chunky-textured red hat and scarf set that has a handknit or crocheted look. Another possible relative wears a dark red furry scarf that reminds me of a knitting and crochet yarn like Bernat Boa or Sullivan's Sashay. President Obama himself chose a solid red necktie with distinctive texture as its design statement, rather than the matte satin ties I'm used to seeing politicians wear.

Textures like these communicate on an emotional level because they are visually warming and cozy; they look (ideally are, as all crochet is) handmade, which conveys loving care. They reassure because they are visual reminders of traditional and practical basic skills that are used to build something new and real, stitch by well-placed stitch.

So far (the day is still young), comments about the inaugural dress have to my mind been texture-deaf. It is extraordinary that a solid lace dress ensemble was chosen for this day; even more remarkable is what it communicates. In addition to the usual constructive and nurturing messages that texture can signal, Mrs. Obama wears the power lace of queens: an assertive depth of texture and play of light created by the painstaking work of artisans. (See Isabel Toledo's description.)

Taken all together, it manages to empower the wearer, the role, and the country simultaneously.

Triple Crochet vs. the Granule Stitch

I've been having fun experimenting with a new kind of crochet stitch! It has a unique braided look and is easy to make. A few days ago Teresa posted a Youtube link to a video tutorial on "Triple Crochet" in the Crochet Partners forum. This is no ordinary Triple Crochet.
In the first photo, the 4 swatches on the right are my experiments. On the far left is a swatch of some rows of standard dc and tr for comparison. Click on each pic to enlarge.

Part of the fun of having stitch dictionaries and patterns designed by different crocheters is learning new stitches. Some stitches have more than one name, some have no name, and others are so standardized that they always go by the same name and are always made the same way.

The 2nd photo shows the back sides of the same 4 swatches in the first pic above. Note the long single strand along each stitch.

I think it's safe to say that most crocheters for most of crochet history begin what Americans call a triple or treble, and what Brits and Aussies call a double treble, by yarning over the hook twice before placing the hook into the stitch to be worked, and then working the loops off of the hook in twos. Check out the how-to video at Nexstitch for this stitch. Any "learn to crochet" section in books or magazines shows the same standard way and standard name: Triple/Treble (US, often abbrev. "tr") or Double Treble (UK "dtr"). (The UK Treble is equivalent to the US Double.)

The "Triple Crochet" taught in the Youtube video has nothing in common with the standard tr. For example, you begin the stitch with no yarn-overs as if to make a Single Crochet (US sc/UK dc), and one loop is worked off twice, which creates 2 chain stitches, before working off the last two loops at once. Instead, this stitch is similar to the "single crochet picot stitch" that forms the basis of what is called "Granule Stitch" in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet (p. 139) and in the Harmony Guides vol 6, p. 36. It also appears under the name "Bead Stitch" in the 365 Crochet Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar for May 22. In all of these cases, however, you make 3 chains, not 2, before working off the final two loops together. (By the way, the same Granule Stitch appears on p. 75 of the reprint of the Harmony Guides ed. by Erika Knight called Basic Crochet Stitches, but the swatch is so wrong!)

The biggest difference is what gives the Granule Stitch its picot or beadlike look. You chain 1 to begin the row and work a sc in the stitch before and after the "sc picot stitch" and this causes the 3-chain sc sts to scrunch over and make cute bulges.

In this 3rd photo you can see my attempt at a Tunisian version--this is the front view. I like it!

The new "Triple Crochet" stitch in the Youtube video stands straight and tall, no bulging. Something that doesn't show up in the video is the strand of yarn running vertically along the length of each stitch. (It reminds me of the lone strand alongside bullion sts.) I've provided photos of both front and back views of my swatches so that you can see what I mean; the strands tend to recede to the back of the stitches.

To keep this strand from limiting the height of this chained stitch you must make the first chain loosely. Watch how loose the tension is in the video while the stitches are made, especially at the foot of each stitch. When you pull the finished stitches up to their full height, that lone strand tugs the "feet" of the stitch tighter.

Photo #4: back view of my Tunisian version of the stitch in which you can see the long strand of each stitch.

I wish to thank Elissa (hope I spelled that right), the person in the video who opened my crochet world to a new kind of stitch!

I'd like to suggest that we call it something else. The "Extended Single Crochet" (esc) is the same except that it has only 1 chain added to the sc before completing it. So by adding 2 chains the way Elissa does it, it would make sense to call this stitch a tall esc, perhaps abbreviated "tesc". The stitch looks braided to me, so for a more poetic name I think of my Tunisian variation as "Tunisian Braid Stitch".

Color Play! Great Sites for Inspiration

(Below find the promised pic of puppy Rosebud)

At the same time that I've been researching upcoming color trends for the Trendy Crochet class, color came up in the International Freeform yahoo group. This summer I just want to play with colors. I can't name a favorite color because of how they change in combination with others. Below are my favorite links.

Colorcube has lots of color games. My favorite is "Color Scrambles" because I love competing with myself to distinguish subtle shades. See also the articles and screensavers.

Colorjack is great for sophisticated color combinations. Many interesting options.

Fun, fun, color news at the Colour Lovers Blog! Best of all, create COLORED PATTERNS!!

Wellstyled has a color wheel that is so well designed that it seemed simplistic to me at first. Then I looked closer and saw the refinements possible. Nicely designed, concise. I learned what my color combining biases are.

Colr.org uses actual random Flickr images (or others images of your choice) for real-life color schemes. It took me awhile to figure it out. Includes the ability to tag colors and if I understand correctly, the tags are communal.

Check out Lollygirl's Project Spectrum. It's not just for knitters anymore.

Lines and Colors blog has a pretty cool discussion of the color wheel and its development.

I bookmarked this list of color names because I learned such things as, I've had heliotrope (not neon yellow), olivine (not acid olive-green), and puce (not dirty caramel-chartreuse) wrong all my life! And, that I'm probably not the only one confused by "indigo" which sometimes appears as a deep herby edgy teal, and other times as a vivid violet. Check out all of the lavenders. How many people know what "zinnwaldite" looks like? Or Mountbatten pink??

And here's Rosebud, Queen of the Couch, circa 1999 (full name Rosebud Fu Fu Shen). If she could speak: "We both know that I'm not supposed to be on the couch, but I was just about to take a delicious nap, so you could waive that rule just once, right? I won't make a regular practice of it."

Rosebud was the most beautiful dog I ever had and probably the most intelligent. Also the closest thing to a tawny pet lion.

A Day in the Designing Life

I love Robyn's "Day in the Life" idea, so here's mine. Good thing I committed to this particular day because if I'd waited for a "typical" day I would never have blogged one. There is no typical day and that's exactly what I like about designing! So here's how yesterday went:

7:10 a.m. - Today I woke up earlier than the usual 7:40-8:00 range. That meant that I could help Mr. Designingvashti get our 3rd-grader to the bus stop in time. He's excited about Field Day today. My beverage of choice is Yogi Green Tea Goji (I'm exploring the Japanese matcha tea scene). I'll be taking a brisk 45-min. walk so I nibble on mulberries from our tree, which I much prefer over raspberries or blackberries, and inhale deeply from our neighbor's true jasmine bushes OMG. Most other mornings I wake up with a design brainstorm or project that gets me out of bed so then I make a pot of my favorite jasmine green tea with some raw honey, and try to get a walk in later in the day. The jasmine and the frangipani smell different at different times of day :-)

9:30 - OK, back from a brisk preoccupied walk because I realize I'm in an end-of-week pileup. Listing them here might help:

1. Prepare for a crochet jewelry class I'm teaching at my LYS this weekend–I need new handouts and I can never have enough samples. Last night my LYSO said that more people signed up at the last minute, which is exciting!!

2. Write up two patterns for designs that will be in a book–can't talk about them yet.

3. Continue my marathon swatching for designs I have in mind to wear to TNNA in 3 weeks. This is the first time in 3 years that I have the chance to do this; usually I'm too busy working up designs for editors to make something special and new for myself. The last time I did this the Mermaid Shrug, my favorite, happened. Of course I have 5 projects in mind and that's just crazy.

4. Make decisions clustered around the issue of branding, which affects how I'll upload new patterns to Ravelry, how my site map would be laid out, etc.

5. Complete the teacher's gift I designed which will also become a pdf pattern that I'll offer for sale in Ravelry. (I always procrastinate when I have to put a face on something. The face is everything, you know?)

10:30 - Reality check during my mid-morning u-betcha espresso ritual: the class samples and supplies are rounded up. Who knows how long the handouts will take (always longer than I expect). I will carve items 3 & 4 into smaller steps; most of #4 can be tabled for a few days. I don't usually have a class weighing on my mind while having patterns to write. Item 2 must be completed today before Mini-D.vashti comes home from school--I need 100% concentration to write patterns. Item 5 except photography can be done tonight if I don't have a glass of shiraz with dinner :-). It's great that the phone has not been ringing.

3:30 p.m.- Emailed the first pattern complete with three variations just before the school bus comes. It won't be a problem to do the 2nd pattern first thing tomorrow, there are no variations and it's already mostly written. Rounded up all of my jewelry patterns which just makes we want to create more jewelry!

******

The rest of the day is a blur so this is the gist: spent rest of afternoon making a poster of ways Mini-D.vashti can earn more allowance $. It's a new system I've been working out that involves crocheted allowance tokens {{giggle}}

Spent the whole rest of the evening crocheting new jewelry for the class (sigh. I couldn't help it).

Mulberry season wanes as LYCHEES prepare to take their place. As of today they're starting to turn red. Yay!

Local Design Inspiration: Peacocks

I was writing an entry for my other blog the other day, about peacocks that were born in our backyard. All this time I've felt a guilty pleasure when blogging about the peacocks (even over on my play blog) because they have nothing to do with crochet, toys, or designing! I simply love them and so does my son.

Turns out the peacocks have inspired my designing self for a long time in an indirect way. Most recently the influence shows when I design crochet jewelry such as in this post. Here's a different view of the same "Peacock Fan Stitch" swatch (in peacock blue thread with a test of iridescent beads in peacock colors)!

A few 2007 peacock males born with rich black and cobalt colors captivated my imagination and inspired this piece:

In my ongoing efforts to organize my crochet jewelry stash, I found out that peacock-colored beads, of all sizes and shapes, make up almost half of all beads that I own forheavenssake. My imagination is besotted with peacocks and I didn't even know it.

(Peacock at top of page: adult male at end of mating season--tail feathers are getting ready to fall out. Peacock at right: young male practicing his dance for when he has real tail feathers to show off.)

Jewelry Design Tips: Bead Organization, Simple Starts

Turns out that I must be able to see my newest and most favorite beads at a glance, just like I need to see my yarn to inspire new ideas. For years I have dutifully sorted beads into little compartments and packets and drawers. Many of my beads remain there, such as seed beads and recycled parts of old jewelry. But when I come home with a batch of fresh bead stash enhancement, I need to see them sparkle in the sun! (Photo taken at sunset, hence the pink cast.)
It's a thick, small cork board that I covered with felt. It's for macrame and so the pins are able to hold the weight of the larger glass beads. I can carry the board around to where I daydream and swatch up designs for them.

While I'm here, how about some tips* for creating your own metal-free crochet jewelry? These ideas come from a post I wrote for a Crochetpartners Yahoo group regarding crochet jewelry for a girl who's allergic to metal.

- I love crocheting my own metal-free jewelry fasteners and findings! Or, sew on a pretty button.

- Kids love Jelly Yarn® for jewelry.

- Take a bookmark pattern that you like and turn it into a bracelet or choker by make it longer, then add a button.

- Some belt patterns could make great bracelets or chokers if you use thread and beads instead of yarn.

- Take a pretty edging pattern and make it long enough for suspending a pendant. I'm often complimented on mine. I used size #20 crochet thread in modern colors.

- Just crochet a chain and feed it through big-holed beads. The craft stores have some exciting new beads and more of them now have big enough holes for crochet. Use thread that is strong and durable, and beads without rough hole edges. (A bead reamer--available at craft stores--will smooth the edges.)

- Take an interesting pattern from a stitch dictionary and do it in tiny thread; sprinkle in some seed beads. Sometimes just the first few rows of a fancy stitch pattern look beautiful as jewelry. Sometimes the opposite is true: many rows with just 1 or 2 or 3 stitch repeats in each row create a special jewelry look.

- Crochet some flowers and slide them onto ribbon. You can do this with any crochet motif, or vintage insertion pattern that is already designed to have a ribbon woven through the middle of it.

- When445t54ee you don't need your crochet jewelry to be metal-free, try any of the above with fine wire (28 gauge or finer) for a special effect and instant style.

Some of my jewelry blog posts:
http://designingvashti.blogspot.com/2007/05/my-shangri-la.html
http://designingvashti.blogspot.com/2007/10/rowanberry-pendant.html
http://designingvashti.blogspot.com/2007/12/icy-bling-for-warm-climes.html

*These tips are for readers who are making jewelry for private, nonprofessional, noncommercial use. For other uses, please consult current intellectual property laws in your country.

Handmade Valentines

Here's my twist on Bella Dia's Sweet Heart Crochet Pattern, in which I find yet another way to marry crochet with 3D fabric paint LOL! (I blogged another way here, and I have more ways I'll blog about when the designs let me.) The full glittery gold effect doesn't show in this photo but in the morning sun it was ardently ablaze with my love for Mr. DesigningVashti.

Bella Dia offers her irresistible pattern as a full-color tutorial. It's an elegantly simple pattern and be sure to scroll to the end to see the color and edging variations.
I'm a big fan of handmade valentines and used to sell beribboned cloth and watercolor ones at local fairs back in the '80's. I don't know why it didn't occur to me back then to design some crocheted versions! I would have enjoyed the process more. On the other hand, I remember swooning over the fabrics and trims at the time.
I hope everyone has some close encounters with chocolate, roses, and snuggle time.

Birthday Crochet from Mom

I had a birthday last week and here's a lovely thread crochet heart doily from Mom. Doilies for me reserve a spot for something special. When I received a stash-enhancing shipment of Opera thread a few days later, I knew what this sweet lacy spot was waiting to be: a threadrest. Between swatches, crochet thread accumulates "yin" (kind of like fruit ripening) while it rests until it spilleth over into another swatch. See? Doesn't it look like it's getting juicy and sweet?

If you think I'm nuts, then you don't know about stash-love. Think of it as being a visual poem.

Crochet Ruts, Blocks, Slumps

Periodically the question comes up in a crochet forum: "What do you do when you find yourself in a crochet slump?" It just came up today in the Crochet Partners Yahoo group. It reminded me of the answer I gave when a similar question came up in the same group back in June '07. I refer back to this post myself occasionally so I thought I'd post it here, with additional tips and links:

- I flip through my favorite stitch dictionaries, like the Harmony Guides. I always see a stitch pattern that I want to try. Sometimes it's one I've tried but this time I try adding beads to some of the stitches, or I change colors where I never have before.

- I take a familiar pattern and try it with a very different material and hook size. For example, Doris Chan says she "exploded doilies" by doing them in drapey yarn and larger hook. Others have taken doily patterns and with 3 strands of Red Heart held together, they made beautiful porch doilies. I made a doily with colored wire and beads once--the pattern is simple but the materials made it look fancy. If there's an afghan square that has beautiful colorwork, I try it with embroidery floss and a small steel hook instead--with floss you can have all the colors of the rainbow for just $1 each or so and it makes a beautiful piece of jewelry, headband, etc.

- I try to crochet "badly" or the wrong way or as if I don't even know how. If I yarn over one way, I try the other way. Or I try going into the "wrong" part of a stitch. You can invent new stitches this way or understand how stitches came to be.

- I make up games like I roll the dice and put that many stitches in the next stitch and roll again. Or do a bobble in that many stitches, etc. Or I try some other "code" like turning someone's birthday into stripes.

- I start a swatch some weird way. Kind of like freeforming. Instead starting with a foundation chain then working rows, maybe I work both sides of the chain but in a "U" shape (not in the round), or maybe a figure-8 of bobbles or something.

- I go through my box of swatches and see if there's one that I can turn into something right away for an instant FO (finished object). Like the time I glued a fancy swatch to the cover of a small spiral notebook: I love everything about it! I love the swatch and yarn so now I get to SEE and USE it; the notepad was old and now it looks like new; the crochet makes the notepad soft to hold; it was easy to add a strap for carrying; and best of all I have an instant FO. Add a tail to a flower and you have an instant luggage identifier. I have found swatches that can become instant coffee cozies or wrist cuffs or short neckscarves or throw pillows with just 1 seam or decorative edge!

- When I go through my swatches, I use them for experimenting with new techniques. I stay focused on that liberating word "experiment". The crochet part is already done, now I can try felting the swatch if it's animal fiber; or I can try embellishing with surface crochet, or cross stitch, or beads, fabric paint, weaving, etc.

- I pick up an unusual material to crochet with, for example, rag or tshirt strips, Jelly Yarn, macrame jute, covered elastic cord, leather lacing, waxed linen cord, and yes, even the aerial roots of strangler fig trees.

- Crocheting something for a child really renews my crochet fun and often gives me new design ideas, especially when I let the child suggest a color scheme or type of toy. (Some of these are/will be on my other blog or my Ravelry page). Yesterday at lunch my son's friend imagined a sweater with 3 sleeves. It would be easy and quick to crochet a tiny version and then see a child's face light up--there's nothing like it. One time my son kept stretching a Jelly Yarn swatch then watching it spring back into a curled up shape, and it gave me this worm idea.
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This list is from a designing perspective. Some of the other responses to this topic, by non-designers, are sometimes very different from the above; for example, many people get past a slump by crocheting for a charity, or they go yarn shopping :-)

Mailorder Catalogs for Design Inspiration

Happy New Year! I have a few newly published designs to blog about but today, a bit about January clean-up for designers: I'm staring at mailorder catalogs that have piled up over the holidays. Before I throw them out, I go through some of them for crochet design inspiration. Below are my favorites.

So much copyright infringement goes on and so many people seem fuzzy about what makes a design original that I feel I must say: I'm in no way encouraging or recommending that people copy designs, nor do I do it myself.

When I say "design inspiration", I mean that:
-- the way someone pairs a particular shade of brown with a shade of blue can spark a creative journey that ends in a design that might not even have anything to do with that brown or that blue or the way they are paired or the object on which they are displayed.

-- the way the border of a garment contrasts with lacy panels is exciting in a general kind of way.

-- the way a traditional crochet stitch pattern is rendered in a nontraditional color or fiber or gauge or wardrobe piece frees me to see familiar crochet a new way.

-- when I imagine something made of metal or glass in crocheted fiber instead, the radical change in style, subtext, and other effects can be startling.

-- the direction of sewn seams, pleats, knitted rows, or contrasting fabric nap sparks ideas for using crochet shortrowing decoratively rather than just for shaping or random free-form.

-- a toy in a catalog, or just a fabric print in a kid's decor item, might remind me of the general principle that a cool toy results from anthropomorphizing anything; and then my own imagination soars.

-- sometimes when I look at a woven rug, I see crocheted motifs that aren't really there, and the motifs would make a great bag or afghan or jacket. Sometimes when I look at leather belts I see crocheted bag straps or headbands, or when I look at metal jewelry I see lace garment edgings or headbands.

Women's fashion catalogs:

anthropologie--the ultimate in sweater art! I know many would agree with me because there's a Ravelry forum devoted to anthropologie knits. (The Ravelry links might not work for you yet if you're not a Raveler but I've provided them because Ravelry will eventually go fully public, and some forums already show up in my Google searches.)
Newport News--many crocheters would agree with me on this one too! This company tracks fashion fads and trends closely so a designer can use it like a trends newsletter--right down to the super-trendy catchphrases (see above photo). Usually lots of real crochet for dessert.

Peruvian Connection--for more ethnic and folkloric looks, textures, & color combos.

For jewelry, bags, other accessories:

Sundance--Rustic, western looks. I've been inspired most by the jewelry and sometimes the bags.

Chicos--Chico's fashions used to have more artistic, artisanal, and/or ethnic flair. I still scan the clothing but now am more likely to be inspired by their belts, and occasionally the jewelry.
Peruvian Connection and anthropologie can also be great for accessories.

For home decor:

Chiasso--My favorite for modernist chic. Also, West Elm.

Pottery Barn--The overall style is generally inspiring. (I guess that could be said of many catalog companies such as J.Crew, Crate and Barrel, Spiegel, etc.)

Home Decorator's Collection--mainly the rugs.

For kitsch, kids, useful items, etc:

Flax Art & Design--Fun, creative, and colorful designs, especially for kids. See also Chiasso.

There must be some good ones missing from this list so please mention them in the comments if you have a favorite. I have other favorites that I visit online rather than receive in the mail; but for a list of those you'd need to take my Trendy Crochet class at the next CGOA Chain Link conference!

German Crochet Magazines: Hakelmode

The new Diana magazine is on the newsstands in Europe for 2008; the two Lea magazines pictured are from 2004 and 2005. My friends are visiting from Switzerland right now and they were kind enough to bring me these three issues, after much sifting through knitting magazines in yarn shops. One of them was found at the last minute in the Zurich airport!
The yarns used are brands like Austermann, Junghans, Lana Grossa, Lang, Online, Schachenmayr, and Schoeller + Stahl. The Diana issue has 15 women's fashions, about 9 of them crocheted. The average hook size is 5-6mm and the garments look chunky and more casual, bringing to mind American crochet patterns. The poncho in the second photo, for example, is described as youthful and trendy; it calls for a 12mm hook.
The 2004 Lea issue (top photo, far left) has 34 designs, all of them crochet, most also in medium-weight yarns. There's a pullover in tunisian (Tunesischer Hakelei) and two wraps in "schlingenmuster"--it looks like drop stitch rather than loop stitch, so maybe it uses a broomstick? (not pictured)

One of the magazines is mostly stitch patterns with fashion sketches offering ideas for how to use the stitch pattern in one's own design.
I'm happy to add these Lea and Diana magazines to my collection of Sandra and Sabrina issues. If there are any Rebecca issues with more crochet than knit in them, please let me know!

Free Yarn Company E-Newsletters

I subscribe by email to free newsletters published by yarn companies and yesterday I received five. FIVE. Usually they're spread out throughout the month. Hearing from so many yarn companies in one day brings out the blogger in me. In case you aren't aware of these newsletters, I'll list them below in alphabetical order.

Why sub?
-Trendwatching: I keep up with what floats knitters' boats because it's interesting to me when it differs from crocheters; for example, both groups fell for felting, but the next big thing for knitters seems to be lace knitting, whereas I'm not seeing crocheters go whole hog for lace crochet. (More than usual, I mean. It's hard to ever fully separate lace from crochet.)

-To learn about new yarns, patterns, colors, and color combos.

-Many newsletters provide helpful tips that are often as useful to crocheters as to knitters, even if the tip is written only with knitters in mind.

-The suspense of never knowing when some GREAT crochet will show up in the knitcentric newsletters. I'd like to thank the yarn companies that do remember the crocheters and don't make us sigh and whimper and beg and cajole!

The list:
Berroco's KnitBits (every Friday)
Caron Yarn's Caron Connections (daily for 12 days in Dec.)
Classic Elite's CEY Web-Letters (3-4 times a month)
Coats and Clark's Keep in the Loop (monthly)
Garnstudio's Drops Design Newsletter
K1C2's Knit One Crochet Too Newsletter (monthly)
Lion Brand's Lion Brand Newsletter (weekly)

If you know of one that should be on this list, please let me know in the comments, thanks!

Pop Tops and Crochet: A Fashion Alliance?

Feast your eyes upon this actual runway design by Ronaldo Fraga for the 2006 Brasilia fashion week!
There's something about pop tops that makes people want to crochet them together, like here and here. A remarkable Brazilian site (in English) offers stylish bags of pop tops crocheted together. The same site offers a poptopflower tutorial here and you've GOT to see these pop top fashions of the '70's!

I'm speechless, almost; I just have to point out that ok yeah, "being green" (in the eco-recycling sense) might be the in thing now, but crocheters have always had an irascible green streak--we crochet plastic bags into coasters, totes, rugs, ropes, hats, welcome mats, outdoor decor, incredible objets d'art, and even indestructible mattresses for the homeless (some with built-in air pockets)! We crochet fabric strips into rugs, video and cassette tape into evening purses and doll clothes, butcher's twine or other reclaimed string into market bags, clothesline into baskets, bottlecaps into trivets (video here), Christmas cards into boxes and ornaments, and used CD's into room dividers (Jen Hansen's), coasters, hotpads, and bottoms for purses and baskets. Crocheters were cool long before the planet got too hot.
Now I'm speechless.

Electroluminescent Yarn!

Weaving or knitting the yarn in a particular manner, so that more yarn per unit area is achieved, improves the luminance of the EL yarn. (Dr Tilak Dias, Head of the WLIC)

Woo-hoo, crocheters get ready! Who needs light-up hooks when it's the yarn that lights up?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=730
I want to crochet some of this NOW.

Quoted from here:
Dr Tilak Dias, Head of the WLIC, said: "At the moment the EL yarn we have developed is less flexible than conventional yarns. But it is more flexible than current optical fibres that are incorporated within fabrics to provide illumination. EL yarn can be easily incorporated into a knitted or woven fabric and the resultant active illuminating fabric provides illumination when it is powered. The luminance of a single strand of the EL yarn is greater than that of photoluminescent glow yarns, which are currently used in some high visibility applications."

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to me mum, who taught me how to crochet. We bought lots of yarn, pattern books, and beads together when I was growing up, with a wonderful spirit of adventure--we learned all the new techniques we could find: Broomstick lace (aka "Jiffy Lace"), Hairpin, and "Cro-Hook" for example. Mom helped me get the tools and info I needed to learn spinning and weaving too.

Back then we decided on a big joint project: a bedspread of sparkly yellow granny squares with a sparkly white flower in each center. I'm thinking that the yarn was the legendary but discontinued Dazzleaire.

Nowadays we live in different states so we haven't gone yarn-buying together for a long time, but Mom sends me some of her crochet and she's excited for me about mine. (See photo of me mum's crochet.) A few years ago we both were really into crocheting with wire and beads. Then Mom went whole-hog into thread crochet, the finer the thread the better! Also, needle-felting.

If I still had one of the sparkly granny squares I'd post a photo.

Oakland CGOA Conference: Design "Lab"

It is becoming a tradition among a small group of designers that after the conference fashion show we meet in a convenient place (i.e. the hotel bar) and try on each other's crochet. Yes it's FUN (REALLY fun) and yes it usually draws a crowd, but don't be fooled, it's research.

I described it recently in a comment on jd wolfe's blog:
"At the crochet conferences some of us get together and try on each other’s designs and learn LOTS about the design itself this way. For example three different size Large people could all wear your design differently because one has wide bony shoulders, another is short and rounded, another needs a very different color or texture for it to look good at all on her. Not only that but it’s amazing how differently people stand and move, so if you design something with a lot of drape, it will also look very different from person to person. A lot of the time, one size really does fit many when designers try on each other’s designs, because crochet stretches (despite what knitters say). But one size can look like many different sizes."

Photo #1 L to R: Laurie Wheeler et moi are wearing & flaring Karen Klemp's shawls while Karen sports the "Chain Link Capelet" I designed for the CGOA Pattern Line (pattern purchase benefits the guild). A better view of Laurie's top is at her blog entry--it's her own design featuring real feathers spun into the yarn.

Photo #2 L to R: Myra Wood flauntsMarty Miller's Spiderweb Cardigan while Margaret Fisher exploits the brimming savoir faire of Myra's Wild Fiber Tunic Dress.

Photo#3 L to R: Vashti and Doris Chan opportunistically explore pseudocasual subtexts: V finally gets to try on Doris' tank top (or 'sleeveless vest' if you will) and throws on a belt for the heck of it, while D begins with her own black lace tunic then tops off the look with Marty's flirtatious red cardi; Myra's eclectic ensemble daringly taunts that edge between blue and gray with Vashti's Chain Link Capelet and Doris' denim hemp pineapple skirt over peacock tights; and Marty pulls out all the stops with her SF Bay look in Myra's dress. Marty, in fact, jolted us out of our usual composure earlier that evening by wearing red and looking fabulous in it. And, half of my photos show Myra wearing that skirt--it's a superfun skirt to wear! I SO WISH that the video I took of her twirling and twisting in it was not too dark to post.

Missing this time were "founders" Tammy Hildebrand and Dora Ohrenstein, and "charter" participants Diane Moyer, Lisa Gentry, Victoria Vigyikan. Present this time but missing from photos: Margaret Hubert, Bonnie Pierce and her DH, Mel Gill, Lang Anh, Deanna Van Asshe, more? See more photos at Margaret's blog, Oct4 entry.

I look forward to the after-show as much as the fashion show itself!

Stashbusters Class (CGOA Conference Report)

My class swatch project fits Lambchop! Lambchop says, "You have the best smile."

I was not my usual attendee-self at this conference. It's the first time I've only taken ONE class! I was in Oakland most of all to be able to spend time with my dear friend Kalli. This is the true source of my self-discipline. (Here's a pic of us on a ferry that took us under the Golden Gate bridge.)

I chose Marty Miller's Stashbusters class and looked forward to an afternoon of playing with my stash. I also felt a wee bit o' guilt over my big yarn stash and hoped to make it more manageable. Marty's visual aids whetted my appetite to go stash-diving and she demonstrated a variety of fun ways to create a whole garment as you go, with any kinds of stash.

I'm proud to report that I left the class refreshed and recharged, pleased with my stash and promptly visited the Knit and Crochet Market to buy more yarn :-)
(Pictured: 750 yds. Louet KidLin in Spanish Blue; 864 yds. Malabrigo in Pollen; 1000 yds. Shetland Cobweb 100% Pashmina 1-ply.)

'70's Crochet Book Review Update

Welcome Interweave Crochet readers! If you are looking for my reviews of '70's crochet books, just click on "70's Crochet Read-Along" in the right hand column of this blog (it's the 3rd clickable link down from the top).
I have one more crochet conference to attend this year and then I can get back to reviewing '70's crochet books. In the meantime I've read a few 21st century books on yarn and color: The Yarn Book by Penny Walsh (read an excerpt here), and Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. (You can read an interview with the author here.)

You can also read CPer JD Wolfe's reviews of some '70's crochet books here.

Yarn Clubs

Yarn clubs are great, especially if you have Yarn ADD. I belong to three: Elann.com's Sample Club, Sara Lucas' Yarn of the Month Club, and Laurie Wheeler's Freeform Crochet Club. Would you believe there's no overlap among them?

Elann gives 4 or 5 good-sized, color-coordinated samples of in-house and discontinued higher-end yarns that will be going on sale for that month. I don't know what it is, they're like candy to me! I've been a member for about 3 years. Color snips are also included, and I rely on them more than I expected to. I appreciate the color-coordinated samples for scrumbling and combining swatches. For designing, I can't use the discontinued yarns but Elann's own yarn line is growing. I plan to point out the merits of 3 of their yarns in the near future.

The Yarn of the Month Club is fantastic for designing because all yarns are current. I've referred to these samples often when swatching up design proposals. Often I'll see a new yarn announced and wonder when it's ever going to show up at my local yarn shop, and then a sample of it shows up in the YOTM mailing. Every month 4 samples and a free pattern arrive (they're almost all for knitters though) plus every other month a truly informative newsletter, Knit Dish, is included. I've been a member for about 2 years. You can hear a short interview with Sara Lucas at Craftsanity.

The Freeform Crochet Club is new to me: I've only received the first month's installment and have not yet been able to log in successfully to read the newsletter. Laurie Wheeler is not only a hand spinner, she creates yarns with crocheters specially in mind. So how can I not join? When I opened the package, I smelled the lanolin before I even saw the yarns! A handy dandy laminated info sheet was included. I'm looking forward to finally meeting Laurie at the Oakland CGOA conference this month. I hope to get her talking about yarn twist.