Crochet Journey

I have decided at this point to discontinue the blog posts for the foreseeable future.  This blog has been an adjunct to my crochet and knitting instruction classes and those have, of COVID-19 necessity, been discontinued, and I have no idea when or if I will be holding classes again.  I did consider virtual classes online, but there didn't seem to be much interest.  Also, there is much online instruction on YouTube and various fiberwork blogs; there is no need to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.  The emphasis in my classes was to provide individualized personal attention and foster a sense of community as we traveled our fiberwork journeys together; that really can't be reproduced adequately online. Those of you who crochet and/or knit, I hope you will continue to do so, and embrace the calming quality of fiberwork during this stressful time.  I thank you for your attention to and appreciation of this blog, and hopefully we will journey again together a l...

Not long ago I was participating in a local knitting/crochet group when the conversation came around to the first item we'd ever knitted or crocheted.  A couple of the members still actually had that first sweater or scarf!  I couldn't claim that, but I knew there was a picture of me wearing that first finished project, and I found it while rummaging through old pictures this weekend. I wrote a bit awhile back about how I first started crocheting , but I didn't mention what I'd crocheted first.  The McCall's magazine that touted crochet as an accent to sewing offered a free pattern for both a hat and a scarf, and this is the hat in the picture.  I decided to make the hat first and went to Woolworth's to buy a skein of their classic yarn in orange, since I was in high school and our school colors were orange and black.  It was Christmastime, and I wanted to be sure I could make this first test hat before making hats for others.  I worked on it at home, b...

Monday is my busy day; I teach a crochet class, go to a knitting group, and some weeks have a long meeting to attend.  And then I write a blog entry and various newsletters; it's a pretty full day.  But not this Monday. I developed a cold over the weekend, so I've canceled my usual activities and have chosen instead to "lie low" until I recover a bit.  I could take some over-the-counter medicine and just push on, but as I get older I'm increasingly unwilling to do that.  I'm reminded of a friend about my age who a few years ago kept pushing through a cold and ended up with pneumonia, sidelining her for six weeks.  No thanks! So this gives me time to do some comforting, rhythmic, zen-like crochet.  On top of making me feel better from my cold, it's a good antidote to all the terrible news out there these days.  Coronavirus is in my area and those of us over 60 have been advised to stay home as much as possible.  I'm not usually one who enjoys...

March is National Crochet Month!  How will you celebrate?  For me, it's a time to appreciate having learned, and continuing to learn, the skill that's stood me in good stead these past 50 years!  One of my favorite crochet activities is learning new stitches and techniques.  In the picture you see my favorite crochet stitch, the Catherine's Wheel.  It's not a stitch I learned recently, but I remember buying a stitch encyclopedia many years ago and being excited to try each new stitch, and this stitch quickly became a joy to produce. However, there is also joy and beauty in the most basic of stitches; here is a collection of, in clockwise order:  the Shell Stitch, Ribbed Half-Double Crochet, Ripple Stitch, and the Chevron Stitch.  In our classes, we make a point of learning a new stitch every month, to increase our skills and stitch repertoire.  For the March Square of the Month, however, I've asked my students to make a square with th...

I had to chuckle on reading a comment from a lady who had just received two very nice, and pricey, crochet hooks for a birthday present, and both hooks were the same size!  She was very appreciative, but asked her husband about the two sizes being identical.  "Don't you need two of those things?" he asked, thinking instead of knitting. Or the people whose spouses ask, "What is it you do again?  Knitting?  Crochet, you say?  What's the difference?" Crochet and knitting are both methods of looping fibers to make fabric.  Knitting consists of multiple loops on needles, loops that build on each other and are dependent upon each other, while crochet consists of only one loop on one hook at a time; each stitch is complete and independent of the others (in traditional crochet; there are other crochet techniques where that's not the case, but that's for another discussion).  Knitting can be done by hand or machine; there is no machine that can produce ...

There are some "un-fun" aspects to crochet, such as weaving in ends, running out of yarn in the middle of a row and having to add a new ball, and blocking.  Blocking is the process of pinning a crocheted item, or portions of an item, such as sweater parts, to specific dimensions and applying heat or moisture, or sometimes both, to provide a professional finish with straight edges and sharp corners; it improves the look of any crocheted piece. But is it always necessary to block?  Blocking a large, unwieldy afghan isn't necessary, but for almost everything else, if you care about the finished product, yes, I believe it is.  I have to say in my earlier years of crochet experience I rarely blocked anything, but these days I block every item I make. Why?  Take a look:  Here are two identical double-crocheted squares, using Lion Brand Pound of Love acrylic yarn.  The square on the left has not been blocked, and the right one was pinned and steam blocked...

Today we began to build on the fitting techniques introduced in December when making pet sweaters!  We have chosen an adult/child-sized sweater to take these fitting skills to the next level, and we will be working on these through the remainder of February, ending with an introduction to garment finishing techniques. When thinking of a handmade sweater, one most often thinks of knitting, but there are many terrific patterns out there for crocheted sweaters, both fun and fast to make!  This project was a special request of one of my students, who is very interested in making an actual article of clothing for herself.  After swatching to be absolutely sure of correct gauge, we dove in and made a start during today's class.  Sweaters of grays, pinks, blues and greens began to emerge, and everyone was pleased with their progress. Yarn is Simply Soft in Kelly Green by Caron, wooden hook is Streamline by Furls Crochet. This is what we do in our Crochet Journey class...

It's the first Monday in February, which means it's time for another Square of the Month!  This square is number six in our series of twelve sqaures for assembly in September.  This is the Shell Network stitch, an easygoing openwork shell that works great for scarves, shawls, cowls, and squares!  It's based on a multiple of 8 stitches plus 6, and has better stretch and drape than the basic all-over shell stitch pattern. We're alternating solid squares with openwork squares to make sure the September afghan has enough body and stitch strength.  Yarn is KnitPicks Brava Worsted in Almond, hook is Cherry Streamline Swirl by Furls.  This stitch is a particular favorite of mine because it's relatively easy to do, it always looks great and is very versatile.  Here's the stitch in a much lighter weight yarn that I used last year for this shawl/scarf with rows of treble crochet interspersed for interest.  In this case, the yarn is Red Heart "It's a Wra...

Being it's a new year, and a new decade, and because I've seen many posts regarding "de-stashing" and reorganizing one's yarn and projects, I decided to tackle mine.  The things I found!  That purple tam in the upper right corner I knitted 10 years ago and had never worn it (until today)!  I moved, donated, trashed, reorganized for several hours last Saturday, and also finished a few unfinished objects (UFOs in the yarn world).  What a satisfying feeling when it was done.  And I can now find everything easily! In other news, I recently completed my course work and received my Craft Yarn Council knitting instructor certification!  I am currently offering one-on-one knitting instruction in Portland.  Join our crochet class on Mondays at 10 a.m.!

I have always been fond of small items -- little boxes, little baskets, little stuffed animals and amigurumi, little trinkets, even little notepads and kitchen utensils.  So it was fun for me to design this simple tapestry pattern for a little basket; but why stop at one?  I had to make another, and Stella and Stanley were so taken with them that they had to jump right in!  This was our second class on tapestry crochet; last week we made a small flat design, and today we did tapestry crochet in the round.  The continuous rounds and single direction crochet make for a sharper, clearer design than back-and-forth flat tapestry crochet.  The stitches have a rightward lean, but in most cases this is unimportant.  There are a couple of ways to correct the lean so the stitches stack more evenly; one is to crochet in the back loop only, but that causes a ridged effect.  The other is to wind the yarn around the crochet hook in the opposite direction, but th...

Today's lesson was an introduction to tapestry crochet, a colorwork technique that involves carrying strands of yarn along with single crochet to produce graphic designs in crocheted fabric.  It looks complicated, but it's not difficult, though carrying the yarn can be a bit awkward at first.  We started with this simple design today to train our fine motor coordination to crochet smoothly while carrying the yarn.  Tapestry crochet can be done flat (as in the photo here) or in the round (as we will be doing next week).  Yarn is Lion Brand Pound of Love in Lavender and Pastel Green. Tapestry crochet has been a favorite technique of mine for many years; I first learned of it from Carol Ventura , who popularized the current wave of tapestry technique.  I especially enjoy making bags, belts, hats and baskets, and it's easy to map out a design on graph paper.  Any design can be crocheted into fabric! Something new again to learn in our Crochet Journey...

New year, new month, new square, new stitch!  Actually, it's a very old stitch, the Wattle Stitch. Many, many years ago crochet consisted of one stitch only, the slip stitch.  First called "Shepherd's Knitting," the early crochet patterns were for bags made of nothing but slip stitches.  In the mid-1800s single crochet had been added to the craft, and shortly thereafter the Wattle Stitch was brought into being, using a 1 sc-1 ch-1 dc repeated pattern.  It's considered a solid stitch, but it's rather stretchy, has some bounce to it and, if soft yarn is used, makes crochet fabric with a very nice drape.  And so it makes a beautiful addition to our growing collection of squares for our eventual sampler afghan, to be completed next September.  The Wattle Stitch square is number five in the series.  Yarn is KnitPicks Brava Worsted, this time in Tidepool.  There's always something new to learn in our Crochet Journey classes!  We meet Monday m...