Hooked on Hooking

Well, it';s been awhile since I posted, mostly because the projects I've made over the last few months have been gifts, and I don't want to post the pictures until the people they were made for get them. Today, though, I am posting because I have been playing with crocheting jewelry using wire again, and I made something I am so proud of, that I actually wrote a pattern for it. So what I am looking for is 2 or 3 people to test my pattern. This offer is only open to members of the Crochet Talk group on Yahoo, as I don't want to post my email address on my blog, and I certainly don't expect anyone else to post theirs. So, this is the necklace. Let me know your thoughts, and if you are a member of the group, contact me to let me know if you want to be a tester.

I must start this post off by saying how much I love Interweave Crochet magazine. The designs are contemporary and beautiful, and I love how they write the pattern instructions. I'm not a "normal" sized person, and because of how well the patterns are written, I have a much easier time adjusting things to fit me. On to the post at hand. When I saw the Spiderweb Cardigan pattern designed by Marty Miller in the Spring 2007 issue if Interweave Crochet, I just had to make one for myself. I love how it turned out. The pattern had a great flow to it, and I found it worked up quite quickly. I also loved that it started off using a technique they termed "foundation double crochet" rather than a starting chain, a technique I plan to adapt into other patterns wherever I can. It makes the foundation row look exactly like any other dc row, and whereas with a foundation chain, I usually have to use a larger hook than in the rest of my work to prevent warping, With this tec...

Well, I was being lazy today, so I actually ended up crocheting a couple more jewelry pieces. It's rather addicting to make them. First, another bracelet, done in amethyst tones. Secondly, another pendant. I'm not as happy with the pendants so far as I am the bracelets and necklaces, but I am hoping with time and experience I can come up with some great designs.

I've only got 4 more finished pieces to show you. The next is a single strand necklace I made in amethyst shades, which I quite like. Also, I have started to get the hang of wrapping the ends, and I am hoping to get that really nailed down soon. Here is what I originally intended to be a bracelet, but it ended up a wee bit bigger than what I planned, so I have declared it an anklet. I really like the colours on this one too. I decided I wanted a necklace that was colour neutral and that could be worn with anything. This is the one I like best out of all my attempts so far. Lastly, I thought I would try to use a stitch other than the chain or single crochet. I decided to make a pendant using dc's in the round. I think it turned out quite cute. That's it for my crocheted wire pieces so far. I find making the jewlery very enjoyable. Also, so far, I've spent an average of a little over an hour on each piece, which when most of my other projects take me some time to finish ...

I decided I wanted to try something different, so I bought myself Nancie M. Wiseman's book, Crochet with Wire . My older sister quite thoughtfully bought me Annie Modesitt's book, Twist and Loop , wanting to get me a unique Christmas present on the subject that I love. So I spent a while studying both books, trying to get a feel of the general techniques and strategies, such as how to attatch the closures. When I felt I had a grasp of the concept, I headed on down to Michaels, where I got a few things to get me started. The first item I made was a necklace. It turned out a little long for where the neckline of most of my shirts fall, but other than that, I am pleased with it as a first effort. Emboldened by my success, I decided to try my hand at a bracelet. I will say here I attempted to use 24 gauge wire, which to me felt extremely stiff and difficult to work with. I may try that gauge again with more experience under my belt as the finished piece is still flexible enough to...

I know I'm not the only one out there. I hate sewing squares together. I have tried to buckle down and do it, and given up, and donated the squares to a loving home to be assembled and actually used. But, I really like the look of some afghans and other items made from motifs. So, I grit my teeth in determination, and happily began crochet 8 inch squares made in the "Arches" pattern . Then, I decided to give the flat-braid joining method a try. I figured it had to be more enjoyable than sewing. And indeed it was more enjoyable. I actually finished a small lapghan put together with squares. So now that I know I can do it, I am putting a full queen-size throw on my "works I would like to make someday" list. Which has approximately eleventy bajillion projects on it. But then, what crocheter doesn't have a wish list that long?

I actually completed this well before Christmas, but never got around to taking pictures of it. This is made from a pattern I purchased from this site . The pineapple rounds took awhile, but I really love it. I made it with a slightly heavier yarn, as my office can get cold, and I wanted a shawl-type thing to wear that wasn't constantly falling off my shoulders. I am very pleased with the versatility of this pattern, and would not hesitate to recommend purchasing the pattern.

I finished the afghan in the previous post, and had a fair amount of leftover yarn. I thought to myself "what am I to do with this yarn?" And then I stumbled upon the February 2007 issue of Crochet World (who does have a website. I'm looking at you, editors of Family Circle Easy Crochet) I mean, look at it. It's a baby hat. With bunny ears. And a flower. How could I not make it?

Is there anything more fun than crocheting for babies? I have no idea why, but I get so excited when I hear someone I care about is having a baby, not only because I am happy for them, but because my mind starts racing about all the cute baby patterns I have seen. This is a baby afghan I made from a pattern I found in the Fall 2006 issue of FamilyCircle EasyCrochet (who do not seem to have a website. What self-respecting magazine these days has no website?) I used a white and yellow variegated yarn for the main body of it, and plain white for the border. I think it looked great with the open, lacy design of the stitch.

This is an afghan I made for my sister and brother and law. It's just dc's with a scalloped edge, but the boucle yarn makes it rather beautiful. I chose a very neutral off-white to go with their decor, and I think with the simplicity of the design and colour, it's not something that is going to fall out of style.

One of my Christmas projects this past season was to crochet snowflakes as ornaments. I got some of the patterns from magazines, some from free pattern sites such as Crochet Pattern Central . There are a lot of possibilities out there. My mom liked them enough that she asked me to make pink snowflakes for a Breast Cancer fund raiser her office is doing next year. It was my first real experience working in thread, and I have to say, I didn't find it tedious, as I thought I would. I almost feel brave enough to face trying a thread table runner or tablecloth.

I haven't updated this blog in quite some time; as you can imagine, I have several finished projects from that time I will be adding now. So, let's get started! First up, we have a little cap I crocheted for myself after picking up a skein of recycled cotton yarn. I was curious to see what it would be like to work with and what the result would feel and drape like. I wish I knew where I put the label, because I quite liked it, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to give it a try. Next time I am out yarn shopping, I will purchase some more for a project I think it would be perfect for, and I will update this post with the name. I didn't really use a pattern for this. It's done in sc, I started by chaining 4 and joining. I then crocheted in the round, increasing until it was just less wide than the diameter of my head. I then worked sc in each sc around until it was almost the length I wanted, and then decreased for about two rows to give it a bit of holding on to my...

So, I saw that Blogger Beta had the option to have post labels, so that your archives can be sorted by category. Which caused me to switch. Overall I like it, but there are some glitches with things such as comments. Apparently, anyone with a Blogger account that isn't a Beta account can't post comments. This does not happen to people who do not have blogger accounts at all, or people who have Beta accounts. That really makes me sad, as I adore recieving comments. Who doesn't? Hopefully they will fix the bug soon, as I can't switch back to a non- Beta account. (A fact that they made me well aware of, it's my own fault for not reading the message boards in the help forums to see all the bugs people were experiencing first.) I'd say that if you had any questions about my experiences with blogger beta, to submit a comment, but as that may not work, I have started a thread on the crochetville message boards here . Feel free to post to it.

After finally learning to make hairpin lace, I decided to make a simple afghan to practice the strips. Overall, I like how it turned out, it makes a nice, light, throw. If I use it in an afghan again, though, I think that I will likely alternate it with strips of either sc's or dc's to make a more dense fabric. This ghan is going to end up donated to that fundraiser at work in place of the ripple one in an earlier post, since my mom has laid claim to the ripple.

For a very very very very very long time, I have wanted to make hairpin lace. I'm not sure why, it's just something that has always caught imagination. So, quite some time ago, I dutifully bought a hairpin lace room at my local craft store, and prepared for the joy of making strips of neat looking loops. Only, it didn't quite work out that way. No matter which instruction site I read, I just couldn't grasp the concept. In vain would I try to make sense of the instructions, making and utter mess on my little loom, before giving up in dispair. And then, today, I found this site . And for some reason, it actually got through my thick skull! Not too bad for a first attempt, eh?

I made this afghan from a pattern I found on a label of Bernat yarn. I liked it, because of the lacy look of the MC. You can get the pattern on the Bernat website here , but it does require that you be a member in order to view the pattern. This afghan was originally meant to be donated to a fund-raising silent auction at work for breast cancer, but I haven't heard whether it is still happening since I agreed to make the afghan for it. I will check when go in this week. If not, my mom saw it while it was in progress, and was kind of salivating over it, so I may have a Christmas present done early for her.

This bag is the result of my attempt to design my own "hobo-style" tote bag. I think it turned out pretty well, and overall, I am pleased with the results. I crocheted it using two strands of worsted weight yarn held together and a size 6.5 mm hook. I did not count my exact number of stitches, but here is the basic design concept that I used: Starting with the bottom of the bag, I made a starting chain of approx. 12. I made 2 sc in the 2nd ch from the hook, then 1 sc in next 9, 2 sc in last ch. Then, working in the bottom loops of starting chain, 2sc in next ch, 1 sc in each of next 9 ch, 2 sc in last chain, join to starting sc. I then crocheted several more rounds, increasing on the ends to make an oval base. When I had made a base the size I liked, I started the sides of the bag by: ch1, sc in same sp as where you joined last round of bottom, ch 3, sk next sc, *sc in next sc, ch3, sk 1 sc*. Repeat * to* to end. Join last ch3 to first sc body row: slip stitch into ch3 space,...

I used a modified version of the Navajo Afghan pattern to make this small throw pillow. It's a great pattern for using up scraps, particularly for something small like a throw pillow, as it only requires a small amount of each colour at a time. As well, the pattern calls for 4 colours, but really, you could use as many as you like and think look good together. I have worked the basic pattern in 2, 3 and 4 colours myself, and there's no reason why you couldn't use more. Because I was sewing the rectangle up to make a pillow, I decided to leave the ends loose, and just make sure they were sewn into the inside of the pillow. Lazy I know, but this pattern does leave a lot of ends to weave in, and that can get tedious.

Good-bye, my friend. I will miss you. The things we worked on together , the laughs and frustrations we shared. You were faithful and true, never balking no matter what task I put to you. Gliding through any yarn with ease. I could never have made many of the afghans, shawls, totes, or my first sweater project without you. Rest well old friend. your legend lives on with me.

Well, this is my first update in awhile. Things got fairly hectic, and I haven't had as much time to crochet as I would like. I did recently finish a shawl for my mom, using the pattern for Seraphina's Shawl . I think it turned out quite well. I decided not to fringe it as it is intended for evening wear, and thought that might make it look more casual than I wanted. I've included some pictures of both the entire shawl and a close up of the stitches. Let me know what you think!