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Hanks, balls, and skeins – oh my!
Yarn comes in many formats, with different names. Sometimes it’s wound by a machine, sometimes it’s wound by hand, and sometimes it’s just twisted together. There are cakes, skeins, hanks, balls, cones, and even spools – do you know the difference? Here are some examples:
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Filet Crochet Butterfly Square
A pretty butterfly dances on a field of mesh in this filet crochet butterfly square. Learn filet crochet with this fun and easy pattern! Make it with any yarn or thread, with solid wings or lacy wings, and as a stand-alone square or as part of a larger project. So many possibilities!
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My Mandala for Marinke
If you’re not familiar with the #MandalasforMarinke and #MandalasforWink projects, you can read more about them here. For my mandala, I chose her Crochet Mandala For Your Home pattern. Her main pattern picture, which is done in grey, yellow, and white, looks so sunny and bright that I had to pick that one. Here’s my version. I used some yarns from my…
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Free Pattern – Last Minute 4th of July Headband
Do you need a last minute accessory for tonight’s festivities? There’s still time! I waited until the last minute too, and this headband is what I came up with. This design combines 2 of my previous patterns with a simple red chain. It only uses basic stitches, but combines knitting and crochet. This is a great project for a beginning…
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Tutorial – Basic Filet Crochet
Filet crochet can look intimidating, but it’s really an easy technique and can be used to make just about any design! You can make something simple, like this Heart Filet Block by I’m Hooked, or something more complex, like this Four Rose Doily by Elizabeth Ann White. There are even filet versions of the Last Supper and the signing of the Declaration of Independence! Below is a…
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Remembering Wink
As you probably already know, the crochet world lost one of its rising stars this past weekend when Marinke (Wink) of A Creative Being lost her battle with depression. The overwhelming response is shock and sadness, but also love and support for her family and a need to DO something…to somehow make some small positive come out of all of this. I…
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Loving lover’s knots!
Have you heard of lover’s knots or Solomon’s knots in crochet? I’ve been coming across them a lot recently, and decided to try them out. I’m officially in love. Basically, this stitch is made with very long chains and single crochets. You can adjust the size of the chains to get the look you want, though the key is consistency…
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Product Review – Susan Bates Digital Row Counter
As you may remember, I recently received a package of free items to review, from Red Heart. Included in the package was a Susan Bates digital row counter. This is a brand new product for 2015 (UPDATE: it’s now available on Red Heart’s site and I have updated the links in this post!). I’m not typically a big fan of row…
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Free Pattern – Criss cross apple sauce
The back and forth, crossed post stitches (cables) at the center of this square form a lattice like texture. There is a Jacob’s ladder / braid stitch in each corner, tucked under smaller chain spaces for a more criss-crossed look. The back of the square has a completely different, but also interesting texture, which looks a bit like layered shell stitches. The pattern is written with…
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A package from Red Heart!
Look at the free goodies the postman brought me the other day, from the lovely people at Red Heart! There’s a skein of Boutique Twilight in the “Romantic” colorway, and a coordinating skein of Boutique Infinity in the “Enchanted” colorway. Hmm…an enchanted romance indeed! They’re both generous skeins in gorgeous shades of purple, and both with a subtle sparkle. They’re surprisingly…
