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Types of sleeves
Sleeves have always intimidated me. I never really made anything with sleeves until fairly recently, except a few baby sweaters with very basic sleeves. As I started branching out though, I got more familiar with some of the different types and found that they all have their pros and cons and all add their own distinctive feel to a sweater design. Here are a few of those sleeve types, and some sweaters I love which illustrate them. Most of these sweaters are from KT & the Squid, I’m a little hooked on her designs right now. Drop Shoulder The easiest sleeve I’ve come across is the drop shoulder sleeve. If you do not add any sleeve shaping…
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#DIW2 – Mystery blog hop CAL scarf section 1
It’s finally time to start the Design Improv Workshop (#DIW2) Mystery blog hop scarf CAL! For the rules, social media links, etc, please check out this intro post. Section 2 will be posted by Mistie Bush of American Crochet on 4/3/15. I will update this link once her post is available. Remember, there are purposely no recommendations as to yarn and/or hook. We want to see variety! Without further ado, here are my first 5 rows: Each section of this pattern is protected by the author’s respective copyright. Please do not distribute or share any section without prior permission in any way other than by sharing a link to it. Click here for copyright information. This post contains affiliate links (click…
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#DIW2 – My yarn choice
I’ve finally decided which yarn I want to use for the Design Improv Workshop #2 scarf (#DIW2). Here it is – this lovely skein of Madelinetosh Merino Light. This has been one of the nicer skein in my stash for almost a year now. It’s extra special because it’s a souvenir from my visit to Churchmouse Yarns and Teas near Seattle. I keep thinking of using it, but then no project quite seems worthy. I think it has just been waiting for this one. The Moorland colorway is such a beautiful, mottled shade of green, which is my favorite color. It will be perfect for a light, spring scarf. I had concerns about…
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#DIW2 – Mystery CAL blog hop scarf
Here it is! the big news I’ve been hinting at! Some of you may remember the first Design Improv Workshop from back in October, where a bunch of designer friends and I got together to create an impromptu pattern. That was SO much fun that we just had to do it again. This time though, we’re going to make it a lot more exciting, and we hope you will all join in. Instead of putting the pattern together by ourselves, we’re going to make it a mystery CAL blog hop! I will kick things off with a post on April 1st (no joke), with the first few rows of a scarf pattern. After that, another designer…
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Free Pattern – Bunny Bag
This cute drawstring bag is the perfect addition to any Easter basket! It can be used in so many different ways. It’s just large enough for a few treats. You could also fill it with potpourri and sew it shut just under the drawstring for a pretty sachet. You can make it larger or smaller by using thinner or thicker yarns too. There are so many options! This pattern is protected by copyright. Please do not distribute or share this pattern in any way other than by sharing a link to this page or to the pattern page on Ravelry. Click here for copyright information. This pattern contains affiliate links (click…
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Pattern Review – Knitapotamus by Heidi Bears
I’ve had my eye on Heidi Bears’ crochet patterns for a while now. It’s so creative, the way she takes all different regular polygons and magically creates wonderful creatures with them. But at $6.50 each, I always hesitated to try one. I didn’t really have any NEED for a stuffed dragon, after all… 4 of my friends are having babies this year. I was browsing through Ravelry hoping to find inspiration to create some new, fun baby designs, when instead I stumbled upon the Knitapotamus. This is the knit version of Heidi’s Happypotamus, and appears to be the first knit version of one of her polygon motif animals. I could…
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Week 10 – Jake’s Blankie Crochet Along
Have you been crocheting along with the Jake's Blankie CAL on Jessie at Home? The cal goes on for another few weeks, but I finished early with a thinner border. Here's my Week 10 Jake's Blankie CAL update.
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So how do you hold it? (Part 2)
Earlier this week, we talked about how different people hold and tension their yarn for crochet. It was so much fun to see all the different styles! That discussion led to the related question – how do you hold your crochet hook? In general, there are two ways to do it, but there are many variations of each. One way is a pencil or underhand hold, where the hook is held the same way you would hold a pencil. That’s how Janaya from Charmed by Ewe does it: Tamara from Moogly does it that way too, but the position of her hand is much further from the end of the…
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Week 9 – Jake’s Blankie Crochet Along
Have you been crocheting along with the Jake's Blankie CAL on Jessie at Home? Here's my Week 9 Jake's Blankie CAL update.
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So how do you hold it?
I mean your yarn, of course. Specifically, how do you tension your yarn when crocheting? I’ve always done it the way my mom first taught me. I mostly control the tension between my pinky and ring finger, while my index finger positions the yarn. This leaves my thumb and middle finger free to grip the project: I know everyone does it differently, and I was curious, so I asked some other crochet designers to show me how they do it. As expected, the results were quite varied! Lorene of Cre8tion Crochet and MandaLynn of MandaLynn’s Crochet Treasures both hold it the same way I do: Kati of KatiD Creations does something similar as well,…
