Remember when I knit a cozy for The Mister's car way back when?
Well, thought I'd crochet one for my car this time ... with a little tutorial for those of you who would like to do the same.
With worsted weight 12-ply hemp yarn, ch 4.
Rows 1-about 15 or so: Ch 1, sc in each sc across (3 sc).
Fasten off.
Place the crocheted band aroud the inner side of rear view mirror and whipstitch in place with a tapestry needle, and weave in all ends.
Happy crochet. :)
I am super excited to announce a brand new monthly class in Studio CRESCENDOh titled:
Project Home Ec
Make • Mend • Alter
Project Home Ec will meet approximately once a month in Studio CRESCENDOh. It will be a place to make, mend, alter, and gain ideas for creatively making do. It's a place where you can bring:
For each session, Project Home Ec will configure the studio with tables, sewing machines, notions to share, stash fabrics and yarns to share, and expertise aplenty to help you start and finish projects in the spirit of Home Economics.
Regularly on hand in the studio will be Cynthia Shaffer, Tracy Schultz, and Jenny Doh ... available to support projects related to sewing, quilting, fiber arts, altered arts, and needle arts. In other words ... all the great stuff that used to be taught in Home Economics classes.
You can come and just work on your own projects or participate in a special project led by either Tracy or Cynthia or Jenny ... like ...
Project Home Ec will also coordinate special and fun activities like Pre-Owned Accessories Trades, and other artist-driven projects.
Everyone is welcome and no experience is needed.
The first Project Home Ec takes place Sunday, February 26th.
See you in the studio. :)
One of the questions that I get asked a lot is, "Why do you love The Makerie?
"Well, it's a beautiful event where you get to learn how to make wonderful art from highly creative instructors."
That's my short answer.
But I also have a longer answer. I love The Makerie because I feel accepted just as I am ... without having to be fancy. It's a place where I can learn and relax and just plain feel that I belong. It's a place where I realize again and again, the power of all that I can accomplish with my own two hands. The air is fresh and if I want, I can take a hike ... or not. The food is yummy and I can indulge in second helpings ... or not. The cabins are cozy and I can stay up all night laughing with cabin mates while crafting up a storm ... or not. It's a place where I am free to do what I want, as much as I want.
Just like last year, I will be traveling all by myself to The Makerie this coming April. But this time, I will be one of the instructors. I will be teaching Crochetologie. Can you believe it? I'm teaching crochet! What a thrill.
I've been hard at work gathering and assembling my crochet kits that I will have for each student and I'm so excited at how they are turning out.Each kit will have a skein of Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread donated by the good people of Coats & Clark.
It will also contain a pair of embroidery scissors donated by the good people at Gingher.
The kit will also contain hemp yarns and stones, courtesy of CRESCENDOh.
I'm also thrilled to announce that the kit will come with a voucher for a free signed copy of a brand new book that I am authoring to be released later in 2013 titled Crochet Love ... a book filled with oodles of yummy and adorable crocheted projects. :)
I look forward to boarding the plane on April 19th as I head out to beautiful Colorado to join all of the incredible teachers, staff, volunteers and attendees to bask in what I know will be an incredible experience: The Makerie 2012.
I hope you'll join me. Whether you come by yourself or with a friend or a group of friends, I look forward to getting to know you and spending time with you in this magical place.
I stayed up late last night crocheting little hemp yarn hearts. So cute, right?
This morning, I decided that I would use them to create invitations for an upcoming crafty get-together with my girlfriends. I had told them that I would try and make invitations rather than just looking to our email exchanges as our que to get together. You know ... like the good old days ... real invitations in real envelopes with real stamps that get delivered to your home.
I kept it pretty simple. I tore ledger paper into quarters, typed the message, then taped the crocheted hearts onto them with a bit of tape. Then I free motion stitched the papers onto pieces of drill fabric.
So cute, right?
Wishing you days filled with crafty get-togethers, and perhaps the time to infuse good-old-fashioned invitations into the process.
Happy creating. :)
Remember when I wrote about how much of what I create is made within the parentheses of life? Thought I'd show you one of my parentheses "kits" that I have handy so that when I have a moment to spare, I can get to work. This kit is what I call my mini knit/crochet kit. I keep it close by my work area so that when I have to get on the phone, I can put the person on speaker phone and then open the kit up to get some work done. Let's see what's inside, shall we?
The tin is a vintage sewing machine accessories tin, which measures 6 x 3 x 2. Surprisingly, the tin holds quite a bit: vintage buttons, hemp yarn, perle cotton, tapestry needles, scissors, crochet hooks, knitting needles, pearls and baubles.
If you happen to be on the phone with me, chances are that I'm using the contents of this tool kit to knit or crochet while we are talking. Not to worry ... I find myself better able to focus on the convo at hand when I have something going on in my hands. This kit is also the perfect thing to grab when you're headed out the door and you know that you'll be at an activity where you want your hands busy ... back to school night, your kid's event, the dental office, the movie theater ... ;)
The key to this and all other types of creativity kits is to make sure you have everything in it that you need to be successful. There's nothing worse than working on a project that you need to trim with scissors and there are no scissors to be found. Once the kit is prepared and fully equipped, you'll be ready to optimize any down time you run into. (I'll try and share other types of kits I have in my life for different types of life's parentheses.)
Happy creating. :)
I'm thrilled to let you know that I'll be debuting my very first live class titled crochetologie at The Makerie in beautiful Colorado April 20-21, 2012.
The very first thing we will do in the morning is to learn how to crochet in a round so that we can create a small rock. Then we will learn to crochet a flower and use it to decorate the rock.
After that we will learn to crochet a flower necklace with buttons ... and then we will break for lunch.
After lunch, we'll rip old bed sheets into strips that we learn to join together to create a ball of upcycled yarn. And with this yarn, we will learn to crochet coasters. For the extra ambitious, we will move beyond the coaster and crochet a small rug.
I'm so honored to be part of the stellar 2012 faculty that includes: Flora Bowley, Aran Goyoaga, Allison Boseman, Liesl Gibson, Marisa Anne, and Alessandra Cave.
To experienced crocheters, I hope I've packed the class with enough to keep you busy and happy.
To beginning crocheters ... especially those who have said repeatedly in the past, "I wish I could crochet," my aim is to invite you into the beautiful world of crochet to show you how to create so many wonderful objects with a bit of string and a hook. I will help you define success in ways that make sense for you.
The class is desinged for artisans at all levels to define and experience customized success.
I've worked hard to develop this class and I know that in addition to the skills we learn and patterns walk away with, we will develop relationships and experience community. And that is what excites me most.
I hope to see you at The Makerie. And for those who are super duper new to crochet, I invite you to take a look at this video and practice the very basics before you come to class. See you in Colorado. :)
Q: What's better than a nice juicy apple?
A: An apple with a cute crocheted cozy, of course.
I used worsted weight hemp yarn to crochet in a round with single crochet stitches.
And then I adorned a little toothpick with paper and felt. A great little idea for a Thanksgiving table with each person's name written on the paper flag, right? So cute.
Happy creating.
I've been playing around with my crocheted rocks.
Turns out that they can be inked and stamped to make the coolest little marks.
Perfect for adding special effects to journals and such.
Happy creating. :)
Check out my new knitted and crocheted bow & button necklace. I love it. I designed it during a late-night parenthesis of life.
And of course now I'm obsessessed as I make several more for my Etsy shop and for assorted friends who also love it.
Happy Saturday. :)
You know I love pencils, right? Right. So you shouldn't be too surprised that I decided to knit some cozies for them. So cute, right?
Here's a closer look.
All I did was take my trusty hemp yarn ... and for the larger cozy, I cast on 20 stitches and then worked 8 rows of knit. Then I cast off, and then wrapped it around the pencil and used a tapestry needle to secure the sides together. For the smaller cozy, I cast on 10 stitches.
To finish, I placed a white button onto a length of red perle cotton that I wrapped around the pencil and tied it into a bow. Easy peasy.
By the way, over the years, so many people have asked me about the hemp yarn that I use for my projects. I'm excited that I am finally able to offer this hemp yarn on our shop site. It's a humongous cone. It'll probably last you for a few years, depending on how much you knitting/crocheting/macrame work that you do.
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