The Ins and Outs of INTERMESHING

I took Margaret Hubert's class on Intermeshing at the CGOA regional conference held in Portland, Oregon last week. Intermeshing is like crocheting two separate pieces of fabric, usually simple filet (chain 1, double crochet in the next double crochet), but you are interweaving them as you work a row of one piece and then the other, so it's a whole new way of experiencing filet crochet. The possible variations are infinite!

Although I had learned how to do this intriguing technique months ago thanks to Bonnie Pierce's downloads (scroll halfway down) and James Walters' excellent material generously made available via the internet, intermeshing is a type of crochet that is also exciting in a class setting. When I saw that Margaret was offering this class, I knew I had to be there.

I brought enough yarn for two very different swatches: one is that new Glow in the Dark yarn (white) by Bernat paired with a ball of blue discontinued Debbie Bliss yarn; my son loves how brightly the Bernat yarn glows in the dark, so I plan to turn this swatch into a small pillow that doubles as a nightlight. This yarn glows all night long! It glows brighter and less green than my camera captured here.

Margaret's class project was a simple bag and that's what I'll turn my second swatch into, so I brought colors for me: a deep rich red chenille (discontinued Reynolds Paris) paired with charcoal Lion Brand Cotton Ease. (see first photo, above.)

Intermeshing requires a certain kind of focus at first. I find that after awhile I can get into a comfortable rhythm, but until then, the logic of it is tricky for me--especially the beginning and ending of rows. Can you spot all the errors? Keep in mind that the edge is meant to end with a solid vertical bar of blue....

Below is my first swatch from months ago, in size 10 threads, turned into a wrist cuff. I was curious how it would look to pair a variegated thread (Manuela) with a solid neutral color (Cebelia). I wear it often because it goes great with jeans, but as a jewelry design I think it would have more punch if both colors were solid instead of variegated. Photos of it "in action" can be seen here.
I recommend Margaret's class to anyone interested in learning intermeshing. She brought some inspiring samples and her class handout is first-rate. I haven't shown any variations here, but Margaret had an afghan with a combination of intermeshing variations. Check out her blog entries about the class (scroll down to Sept. 16 and Aug. 3).

Update: see also this site about "Double Filet" as intermeshing is called in the UK (thank you, nic): http://www.craftgroupsevenoaks.co.uk/dfCrochet.php
In the US for 2010, Susan Lowman will be teaching a class on this technique at CGOA's Chain Link conference (July, Manchester NH).

Swatching Storm Front

I've emerged from a high pressure inner-weather system with a report. It's similar to Robyn's latest entry about her designing process. Coincidence? Or does blogging about a Day in the Designing Life lend itself to blogging about the designing process?

I think I identified the sources of the pressure: there are 6 yarns I want to use first with equal passion + I'm making a personal garment but using a professional process (more on this below) + I have a tight time limit if I'm going to wear a new design (or 6?) to TNNA!

The 6 yarns that cast a spell over me: Kollage Yummy in Foggy Dew, Sirdar Baby Bamboo in a heathery metallic lilac (see both in 3rd photo below), Tess Cascade Silk in handdyed pewter, Plymouth Shire Silk in radiant tweedy aqua (both at right), Plymouth Royal Llama Linen in 3 earthy neutrals, and Great Adirondack Sierra (see above) in a painted rainbow. (These are on my Ravelry Stash page.)

I swatched 5 like crazy (the storm part) and noticed something new about that. As I mentioned, it's been 2+ years since I could design a sweater for myself rather than for professional deadlines. The swatching resulted in a number of good designs from a professional standpoint, but none that made me commit to making one now for me. It was weird--I enjoy a good swatching marathon in its own right and I've got a stack of some great swatches now--but for future reference. Huh? I need something now! What's going to close the deal?

Luckily I didn't stop swatching. I picked up the 6th yarn, Baby Bamboo, and magic happened. My fingers and eyes tingled (a personal response to the yarn). I tried a new stitch pattern that captured my imagination (I call it "Waterlily"). After two rows I was hooked personally, not professionally. I guess that after 2-3 years I forgot that there's a difference LOL!

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.)

Freeform Shell Subversion

Welcome to all the freeformers who have subscribed to this blog. Thank you Mel for your warm recommendation! Normally I would have blogged before now but whew, a flu came out of nowhere! (All better now.)

In honor of my freeformin' buddies, here's a "shell game" that I've been playing lately. Like many crocheters I start out enjoying shell (or fan) stitch patterns, but after awhile I get a tad rebellious. I think, "5 double crochets all in this stitch? Let's mix it up a bit." I swatched up two stitch patterns: a widely available one (called "Peacock Fan Stitch" in the Harmony Guides) consisting of stacked shells of 13 double trebles (dtr). The other is less common: offset shells of 7 triple trebles (trtr) each separated by a chain stitch (ch).

In the case of the Peacock Fan Stitch, the shells are dramatically solid, and the fact that they stack up in columns helps direct the eye. In the blue swatch I took out some wedges, asymmetrically. Where I removed 4 dtrs I replaced them with 4 chs. There are many things I did not try, such as linked stitches, piggybacks, and more wedges.

In the white swatch, a shell of 7 trtr and 6 chs means I have a total of 13 stitches (sts) to mess with. This pattern starts out more lacy, so the variety of changes don't show up so well. The swatch will serve as a handy shell menu for me though. I tried a variety of linked st combos, and the 3-trtr/10ch shell catches my eye. I wonder how a fabric would look of linked shells mixed with some 2-trtr/11ch shells!

While swatching I noticed the following:
- the asymmetry is more dramatic and effective when there is a bold contrast between open and solid space. The eye needs to be able to organize all of the details that crochet fabric brings to the table.

- the grid gets smudged out the most if the center stitch of a shell or fan is eliminated; in other words, retaining the center stitch of a shell helps everything look regular and balanced. I think of the center stitch of a shell pattern as the Grid Keeper.

- The thinner and smoother the yarn and the larger the shells, the bigger the effect.

Classic stitch patterns are basically grids with symmetry and predictability as part of their charm, but I like to deconstruct them and see crochet also get subtly asymmetrical and random. Surely others have already done this kind of shell subversion and if so I hope someone will leave a comment and let me know. It has been a fun experiment.

The "Picot Fans" Stitch Pattern

Though there are many crochet stitch patterns, and they can be known by many names and variations, the Picot Fans stitch pattern is not one of them. It is remarkably standardized by name (in the stitch dictionaries that use names) and I have found only two minor variations in any dictionaries so far. (See comparison of dictionaries at end of this entry.)

It forms a wide decorative band on the hem and sleeves of the new "Helon Dress"; pattern is available in Rowan Yarn's new summer 2008 pattern book. You can also see a full-size pic of it on the first page of the Spr-Sum'08 issue of Vogue Knitting.

For the sleeves of the Baroque Tabard I wanted a richer, more dramatic, more baroque version of Picot Fans, so instead of a (ch 3, sl st in 3rd ch from hook) type of picot, I used a (ch 4, sc in base dc) picot; I like to work the sc into one front loop and one side loop of the base stitch to add a subtle defined ridge to the fan. I also developed a way to work it in the round with turning after only some rounds for design reasons: I wanted all picot and dc rows to be facing the right side of the garment. (I also added an 8th picot to each fan in case it wasn't 'baroque' enough already.)

Jane Rimmer, CGOA member extraordinaire, wrote a wonderful post for Crochetpartners members in which she compared the many ways to make picots.

Dictionaries in which "Picot Fans" appears:
Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet, p. 147
Harmony Guides v.6 (1998), p.65
A Japanese dictionary with "Crochet 262 Patterns" on the cover, p. 82
280 Crochet Shell Patterns by Darla Sims (2006), p.42 (Row 3 varies slightly)
The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs by Linda P. Schapper (reissued 2007), p.166 (picot varies slightly)

Some stitch pattern collections in which "Picot Fans" does not appear:
The Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese de Dillmont (1886; 1978 reprint)
A Treasury of Crochet Patterns by Liz Blackwell (1971)
A Complete Guide to Crochet Stitches by Mary Dawson (1972)
Crochet and Creative Design by Annette Feldman (1973)
Handmade Lace and Patterns by Annette Feldman (1975)
Stitches, Patterns and Projects for Crocheting by Wanda Bonando (1978)
New Directions in Crochet by Anne Rabun Ough (1981)
Vogue Dictionary of Crochet Stitches by Anne Matthews (1992 reprint)
Crochet Stitch Bible (German ed.: Die Hakel-Enzyklopadie) by Betty Barnden (2004)

The Complete Book of Crochet by Pam Dawson (1985) has something called "Shell Arch Pattern" (p.156) which is like Picot Fans minus the picots. See Sambuca Jacket in Amazing Crochet Lace by Doris Chan.

If anyone has historical information on the "Picot Fans" stitch pattern, please let me know. I suspect someone modified a scalloped edging pattern.

Yarn Club Update: Free Form Crochet Club

Remember when I posted about the 3 yarn-of-the-month clubs I've been enjoying? And then in a later post I compared how far the yarn samples get me from two of those clubs, by working up some coffee cozies?

Well: just in time for Christmas I worked up a Coffee Cozy du Cheer using two samples from the Free Form Crochet Club's handspun yarns. I used a blended yarn with giant red nubbies*, which I then edged with a blended chenille yarn that has giant white nubbies**. I did the chenille in giant picots to amp up the texture theme going on. The reds are so intense that they vibrate!

Since the cheer is just baking off of this thing, I've used it for lots of mochas and I'm happy to report that the yarns are showing zero pilling, abrasion, sagging, fading, etc.

I love what Laurie says about her yarn: "As a crocheter who spins I have learned the secret to creating functional, beautiful works of art that any crocheter can use to then create NEW orginal works of art. That's right BEAUTY GROWS!"

*Spuntastik! Naughty Fine Yarn Crochet Cotton

**Spuntastik! Knaughty Yarn Chenille/Pearl Cotton

Crochet Content Alert: Vogue Knitting Magazine

You might think I'm being melodramatic, because Vogue Knitting does include at least a pinch or two* of crochet in each issue; sometimes there is even more if you look closely, because the C-word might be missing from a depiction of crochet that's labeled "knit" instead.

The occurrence of crochet in the Holiday 2007 issue merits a special ALERT though: on page 46+ is an article by Dora Ohrenstein, founding editor of Crochet Insider, spotlighting an obscure CROCHET stitch pattern. Not only does it provide a photo tutorial, it is accompanied by a pattern for a hat and muff set.

Thank you, Vogue Knitting, for some way-cool content-rich crochet! I've been crocheting a very long time, which makes me hard to please, and I thoroughly enjoyed this article. I can never get enough of unusual, inventive, vintage, or otherwise obscure crochet stitches.

And a big thank you to Dora for persisting until she found someone who could crack the mystery stitch, and for including us in the discovery.
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*There have occasionally been crochet designs in other issues of VK which do count as more than a "pinch"; designs by Kim Kotary and Jennifer Hansen come to mind.

Update: Yarn of the Month Clubs; Brush Strokes Stitch

Exhibit A: two nubby coffee cozies using sample skeins from two yarn-of-the-month clubs. The mossy green one on the left is made with 3 full samples I received from Sara Lucas' Yarn of the Month Club (for more info please see my Sept. 5 entry.) The other one is made with 3 full elann.com samples. The stitch pattern is a version of the "Granule Stitch" and the 2nd photo shows the inside.

I wanted to find out:
1) How far do these cute little samples get me, anyway? They are intended for knitted swatches. I purposely chose a crochet stitch pattern with a moderate amount of texture, which takes more yarn than Tunisian or some more basic stitches.

2) How does the yardage compare between Elann's and YOTM clubs? I chose samples with similar yarn weights and fiber content. As you can see, all samples seem to have the same yardage.

3) What can I make with these samples besides motifs for a future scrapghan, shapes for applique, or scrumbling? I discovered that while making the coffee cozies, I learned a lot about not just the yarns but also the stitch pattern as I worked it up in different kinds of yarns.

The biggest difference is that Elann's shipments of samples are color-coordinated so I didn't sift through my samples to find 3 to combine; whereas I went through all of my YOTM samples before I found 3 that I'd want to put together.

Regarding the Brush Strokes stitch pattern that I posted about on Sept. 9, here's a photo of the swatch turned into a notebook cover that I describe at the end. I get nervous adding a 4th photo to a blog entry (the Sept. 9th entry has 3); when I exceeded 3 photos in the past, Blogger got glitchy.

Unusual 100% Linen Yarn, Explored

Update: photo of red swatch shows the same yarn worked as tightly as possible. Feels like a soft basket and I think it would hold up very well.

I've finally gotten around to doing a few serious swatches of elann.com's Linus . It's 100% linen, made in Italy, hand wash and dry flat. All linen yarns are distinctive and this one is particularly so.

I've come to expect a papery feeling from linen yarns, like crocheting softened slivers of corn husks (in a good way). But Linus doesn't have this papery feeling at all. It's hardly twisted and feels to me like I'm crocheting a hank of supple glossy hair! Very intriguing. Reminds me of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale in which flax (i.e. linen) is spun into gold. I can see how someone could be described as "flaxen-haired".

When people pick up these swatches they're intrigued and keep touching them, examining them in different kinds of light, etc. Out of the corner of my eye the stitches look kind of like raffia or rayon straw but it feels soft and drapes stylishly. It's an uncommon mix of qualities.

I love this yarn in Tunisian crochet and these photos just don't show how beautiful it is! Now I know why people complain about photographing black. The yarn and stitch took an instant liking to each other. I didn't like it as much in regular crochet until I went down to a tight gauge with a 4mm hook [red swatch photo to go here].

It sheds a tiny bit as you work it--like a bit of field dust or something. I didn't even notice it until one night I crocheted the black yarn over a white pillow. The label says to hand wash and dry flat so I machine washed and dried the black swatch just to see why I shouldn't (after all, linen is famous for improving with some machine washing and drying). This yarn shed quite a bit and did release some color. Machine drying made the surface fuzzy, so I'm thinking this yarn is made from the "tow" instead of the "line" fibers of the plant. (I'll blog about that.) Definitely do what the label says! This is not a yarn for kitchen accessories.

Like almost all linen yarns I own, Linus gives an authentic organic or earthy look and feel, even though there are no natural-colored fibery nubbies like linen content brings to a yarn sometimes. This is what I love about linen--it's an extremely ancient fiber and it shows in a 21st century yarn, even when it's boldly color-saturated or has a polished finish. The colors of Linus seem particularly saturated and the black looks lacquered! I would use it for a strikingly stylish wrap that won't need washing often, such as a ruana or cape. You can see the excellent drape in the last photo.

This post is part of a blogging mini-series I'm doing about my linen yarn stash. To see related posts, click on "Fiber Talk" in the right-hand column.

'Quest for Bling' Purse: Visual Aids

This bag is one of my personal favorites and appears in 100 Purses to Knit and Crochet ed. by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. It's been one big trip of fun from the swatching to the finishing to the wearing! I even lined it with silk. I've always wanted to use the "Brush Strokes" stitch pattern, the lucite handles, the flat-backed rhinestones, and the small piece of silk I had stored away and it's all in this one design. In the second photo you can see the piece before seaming and adding handles.
There's a discussion going on right now on the CGOA members' yahoo group about this very stitch pattern (a.k.a. "Woven Shells" in Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet p.170; also in the Harmony Guides vol.6). The "brush strokes" come out shiny and padded in this yarn and the rhinestones nestle nicely among them.
Over on Crochet Partners they're talking about yarns that we miss; I miss this yarn, Berroco Quest. Yeah, it's a weird one and yeah, I have a thing for weird yarns, but especially this one because it shows off crochet stitches so beautifully. I think of this as more of a crocheter's yarn than knitter's yarn. You just never know 'til you swatch. It also has incredible drape. I wrote a thorough rave of this yarn back when CGOA members' started doing yarn reviews for the guild newsletters.
For the Helping Hands Silent Auction I had a hard time deciding whether to offer this bag or this one. I ended up wearing this one to the auction instead. If the model in the 3rd photo looks familiar, it's because I blogged about this special crocheter earlier.

A few months back the International Freeform Crochet group discussed how to recharge or get past a crochet slump and I described going through my swatch pile to find a swatch that I could quickly turn into a small usable gift to myself. I chose the original swatch I did for this bag and it was the right size to cover a smallish notebook; I just glued it to the notebook and crocheted a shoulder strap right onto it and now I wear it to every conference for keeping notes. It makes me insanely happy.

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.

Color Fun for Designing & Stashbusting

I own more than one book about color and this one is my favorite. It's an inspiration recharge for me because the subjective effects of the color schemes are included. As I flip through it, some schemes grab me and put me in a mood, which then unlocks a cascade of designs.
The book seems to be geared toward interior decorating, so of course it would be wonderful for those who design home decor, but it works for me for fashion too. The newish home decor magazine, Domino, tends to tie in fashion and accessory trends.

Flipping through this book is a fun way to use up your yarn stash with updated color combinations. If you have 2 colors in your stash and you find an inspiring color scheme using them, then just bring the yarn and book with you to shop for a few balls of these colors, an you've got yourself a very stylish project (afghan or whatever).

Keeping a folder of multicolor stitch patterns near this book would result in some fresh, exciting swatches!

CGOA Conference: The Free Yarn, The Classes

Or, Goody Bag Swatchin'.
Seriously thanks to Coats & Clark, conference attendees received plump goody bags when they registered. As you can see, the new yarns were so touchable that I got right to swatching. My first class was "The Savvy Single Crochet" taught by Karen Whooley. Yeah, sure, I brought suitable yarns from home for the class, but I preferred using these new goodies:

Moda Dea Washable Wool. Very soft and bouncy! No scratchiness and no squeaky-plasticky feeling that washable wool can have. It's my favorite washable wool, period. The swatch is one of SIX stitch patterns using the "Savvy" technique. It became a coffee cozy. Click on the photo to enlarge but you might not be able to tell how different the stitches are from standard single crochet. You can get fascinating effects from the technique and I recommend this class AND teacher (Karen Whooley) highly. I'm so glad she is teaching nationally again.

Moda Dea Tweedle Dee. Not only is it sooo soooft, it has mellow color shifts. (Two more "Savvy" swatches, one I turned into a wrist cuff.)

Moda Dea Fashionista. You wouldn't believe what this one feels like either, and the sheen is beautifully stylish.

I started a hat in the Red Heart Hula while in Joan Davis' [sold out!] "Go Round the Pi: Creating Perfect Hats" etc class but didn't get far because of the Chaps (for another blog post).

Goody bag aside, those bottom two balls of thread were were generously donated by Skacel for Professional Development Day and the Chapter Tea. The Optima thread came in a gorgeous array of colors. I made the flower in the class I took with McKenzie, taught by Kathie Earle (see earlier blog entry; see some of Kathie's work here). McKenzie coveted my ball of pale green Optima so I had to give it to her. Speaking of Skacel, be sure to see Dora's interview with Karen Skacel-Haack in the latest issue of Crochet Insider.

I took another class, Single Crochet Entrelac taught by Joyce Renee Wyatt, but that's for another post because I need to take a photo of the swatch!

TNNA Report #2: Illusion Crochet Class

I took one class at the TNNA show: Illusion Crochet taught by Darla Fanton (a first-rate crochet teacher by the way! It's no wonder her illusion crochet class is already sold out at the upcoming CGOA conference).

This technique has exciting possibilities and I enjoyed its unique rhythm. It's a new way to experience crochet. The second photo shows what the back looks like.

Sometime during the 3-hour TNNA class Darla mentioned that people won't finish the project during class, and I privately turned that into a challenge. Turns out that my designing cohorts, Marty Miller and Drew Emborsky, did too. Maybe we get conditioned to crochet for deadlines? The good news is that I did indeed finish with time to spare; the bad news is, I came in THIRD! I'm pretty sure Drew came in FIRST.

If I were a better blogger I'd have a photo here contrasting the 3 potholders done by Drew, Marty, and me, all with size H/5mm hooks: all three potholders were different sizes! It's the infamous "Crocheter's Hand" effect. (None of us were aiming for a stated gauge so it means our native gauges were all different.) Not only that but earlier, I had to rip out the first 4 rows and start over because the class started at 8 a.m. and when do I ever crochet at 8 a.m.? My starting gauge was changing as I warmed up. I wonder if my 8 a.m. gauge would have matched Marty's....

TNNA Report #1: Crocheters Unite!

I just returned from The National NeedleArts Association's summer trade show in Columbus OH and I have lots of things to share so this blog entry is one of a series. Yes folks, there's a revolution going on, a groundswell. Spidey senses were tingling! Plans were hatched! A fist pounded a table!

Not only did a CROCHET SUMMIT happen but a galvanizing '60's-style CROCHET-IN electrified the show lounge in the dead center of the room. It's obvious now: there's no keeping crochet down anymore. It's NOT just some supporting player for knits when you need a bag, a belt, an edging. It's NOT just some funky style departure from knitting. (It's all this and waaaay more.) It's NOT okay to leave out the word 'crochet' as if 'knit' is a satisfactory umbrella term and crochet is merely a subcategory. Enough is enough. It's a new day and there's no going back. I can't believe I didn't have my camera but VIDEO FOOTAGE EXISTS. I'll keep you posted on that.
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I needed yarn and fast! So I managed to find some nearby yarn company friends and offered to CRIP (Crochet In Public) with their yarn at the Crochet-in. Kathleen Greco of Jelly Yarns graciously donated some striking neon-lime Jelly Yarn, and the folks at Universal Yarn blessed the cause with a ball of their new Tango. Some knitted-up Tango is meeting with raves but crocheting with it seems to be pretty uncharted territory. The exciting design possibilities of this yarn guarantee that I have lots of experimenting to do now that I'm home.
In the case of Jelly Yarn I've got plenty of preliminary swatching under my belt so all I needed to do was decide what to make that would be a souvenir of the event. I knew I'd always treasure a jellyjavajacket. As if I need another one. And yet....as if a collection is complete without one.

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I'll try to update this entry with links to other blog entries on this topic:
Dee's blog entry.... WEBS blog entry .... from Noreen's blog .... Crochet me armband project .... The July 3, 2007 issue of Carol Alexander's Talking Crochet newsletter (online, free subscription).

Marty's New Crochet Blog!

Today is Marty Miller Day on the Designingvashti planet! Check out her blog here:
http://notyourgrannyscrochet-marty.blogspot.com/ The focus is swatching and I'm hoping newer crocheters will be inspired by Marty's blog to find out what an art swatching is. For me it was a consciousness shift. I guess it happened sometime when I started designing. For my younger crochetself a swatch didn't used to be an end in itself--swatching was not a process that I enjoyed for its own sake. Instead, it was a means to an end that I had to get through to make something "more" or "real" such as a sweater (a.k.a. the "gauge swatch").

Besides finding one's gauge, a swatch is a content-rich research document. I save them like I save notes to myself. Like poetry fragments. Or like maps to secret gardens.

Here's a pic of Marty and me in the old-style CGOA booth (before it got a facelift by our competent Offinger staff), circa 2005, Oakland Chain Link conference.

We had just finished breakfast and were about to leave for a field trip to the legendary Lacis, hence the sunglasses I have handy.

New Uses for Coffee Cozies

I have this compulsion to crochet coffee cozies. I've made dozens and no two are alike. So far 2 designs are published, one in Crochet Today! and one by Berroco (scroll down to see pics in righthand column). It's a fun way to turn a swatch into something or to use a small amount of highfalutin' yarn that I'll see and touch a lot. I never have to use a cardboard coffee sleeve again--they're ugly, boring, and wasteful, and so is the doubled-up paper cup. The colors and textures of a crocheted cozy, on the other hand, fire up some brain neurons while the fresh-roasted coffee fires others.
I have too many now, so the ones I haven't given away have little jobs to do. My first attempt at felting a cozy works well as a bungee thingee in my car. The cup holder in my car was SO LAME until I stuck a coffee cozy on it. Now things are bungeed to it.
A coffee cozy that I made in a basket shape (has a bottom) out of stiff hemp is a perfect place for my sunglasses. I have also put crochet hooks in it in a pinch.
Exhibit C demonstrates the way a coffee cozy is the perfect size for keeping a ball of crochet thread from unwinding. (Even though this cozy has an open bottom, the thread doesn't fall out.) I first discovered this use when I had a cozy in my purse and wanted to throw a ball of crochet thread in there but didn't want it rolling around.
Some other uses for coffee cozies are:
- Tunnel for pet hamster
- Experimental sleeve cuff swatch
- Wrist cuff, watch band --see Robyn's "Beer Bracelet"

'69 Iris Rathbone Followup; other news

In my review of Iris Rathbone's 1969 book, I mentioned a stitch pattern that caught my eye.The purple and red swatches on the left only are the Rathbone stitch pattern in two very different yarns. I can't show more of the swatches because then we get into confidential designing information.... It's basically clusters of chain-3 loops so that they look like a cross between picots and a shell or v-stitch. Works up fast, faster than the picot-laden stitch pattern on the right (also shown in two very different yarns. You can can see the instructions for this one here.)

My left brain says these 2 stitch patterns have nothing in common but my right brain says, "I'll always love the look of the picot one even though it's kind of slow-going. When I want the same picot effect but fast, Rathbone's could do the job." (By the way the lefthand swatches look flatter than they really are. The free ch-3 lps form lacy nubbies.)

In the same review I also mentioned that I might find a photo of my attempt at safely removing previous rows from crocheted fabric. Does this old photo make sense? The stitch pattern is double-treble (dtr) filet. First I threaded a contrasting cord through the feet of the dtr that would become the new bottom row. Wherever the dtr were connected to the dtr below it, I wove the cord. That way, when I cut through the middle of the dtr row below and removed the remnants, the cord gave the dtr's of the next row something to hold onto.

So in the photo you can see that 4 dtr have been freed from the row below it (click on it for a closeup). It was so scary at the time that I took this picture. I suspect it's as terrifying for a crocheter as steeks are for knitters!

Then you just make a new foundation chain for the feet: In the case of this filet pattern, slip stitch into the feet of the first dtr, (chain 1, sl st in the feet of the next dtr) across. It looks 100% like it has always been the foundation chain.

Sorry it's novelty yarn but the open filet pattern helps make the photo informative. If have time someday I'll do this to a swatch of smooth yarn for a better pic.

Surprise Felting Result

I live in a beach tourism hub where tourists severely outnumber locals during Spring Break month. Maybe you wonder, what does this have to do with felting? Well, at this time of year, it's pointless to casually go out and do errands because traffic is at a standstill both directions. So this weekend I had my own Felting Festival right here. I had everything I needed: wool, crochet hook, hot water, soap, me, and a possibly bored kid/assistant. I rounded up every yarn I could find with a minimum of 50% wool content, to see which ones felt and how. Of course 75% or 100% wool is ideal, so with only 50% wool all bets are off and I doubted that Classic Elite Miracle (50/50 alpaca/tencel) would felt at all. I googled it and found no mention of felting.

As you can see from the pre-and post-felting photos, it THOROUGHLY felts. See how the picots melted away into zero stitch definition? Not only that, I might like the yarn even better felted! It heightens the sheen (which the photo doesn't convey well), I love touching it, and I love the surface--it's a luxuriant kind of boucle. (I love boucle fabric but hate crocheting most boucle yarns.)

This blog entry is dedicated to my felting mentor, Marty Miller!

Swatch Management

This new Swatch Bank, founded in 2007, yields high interest and I can make speedier withdrawals than with other Swatch Banks I've tried.
I suppose this might look like a heap o' mess but this madness has a careful method. Not only that, despite how it looks the tags do not get tangled. Maybe I should try to take a better photo.
The gist of the system is, I have a huge closed metal ring, and smaller metal rings that click open and closed hang from the big ring. Each small ring holds swatches of a certain type. For example, 1 ring holds all variations of single crochet, another is for all variations for hdc, etc.; more swatch categories that work for me:
- trebles and beyond
- colorwork
- aran
- lace
Most swatches have hang tags (on very short leashes) that tell me the hook size, the stitch pattern or what pg. in which book I found it, maybe the yarn.

What do other people do?
- Some Victorians used to baste swatches to fabric pages bound into a kind of scrapbook. I find I need my swatches to be free agents--I need to compare drape, stretch, loft, etc. I also hate basting.

- Other Victorians made one long continuous strip and rolled it up. I like the look but it's even less usable as a swatch bank than the scrapbook method, and my swatches are not uniform in size or color.

- Some people join them into afghans. If I stop designing someday, I'll probably do that.

- Many probably do what I used to: store some with the design proposals or completed patterns and stash the rest of them into a big box. Sad--the swatches can't show off this way. It's a swatch account that yields zero interest with no easy withdrawals.

- Is there a method I've left out? At one time I toyed with mounting each swatch on a large index card then filing them. One time I experimented with covering big stiff felt pages with elastic bands so that I could slip the swatches under the bands and remove as necessary (like how some people informally display photos on the wall). The hang tags got all tangled in that system and it took up too much room anyway.