Inside Crochet - new designs

I'm very pleased with the latest edition of Inside Crochet which is featuring the pattern for my mesh dress and their back page column of some of my crochet musings!! My friend and collaborator in makedomend, Claire Montgomerie, has taken over the editorial helm so I'm expecting some super new designs to start appearing between the pages!!!

The mesh dress was actually a project for myself but Claire saw it and whisked it away to the IC studios for featuring in their revamp edition. I had been inspired by the sport wear on the catwalks this season and particularly the shift tunics of the Y-3 collection.

Magazines are often a great way to pick up on good patterns, tips and interviews and coming from the Yarn Forward stable, I'm sure Inside Crochet will become a 'must have' for any ardent crocheter.

Joining up the grannies

One of our lovely guests at the makedomend London workshops recently wrote to me to ask how to join the motifs of a blanket she's making as a gift. Our granny square workshops are very popular and it would be nice to pass on the knowledge of how to join all the lovely squares that we make.

Well, it's really a question of how many ways are there? Hmm, alot. So here are a few tips I found on the net but if you've got others then send them in!!

http://www.crochetnmore.com/joiningsquares.htm

http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa010999.htm

The last one has some pictures to help you along which always is a step in the right direction.

wood and wool stool

As you know, I love to bring you little precious gems from the world of crochet and this is a particularly lovely one that I discovered - well, I just don't know how - it was like discovering treasure. Ingrid Jansen is a designer from the Netherlands and she is a very modest person! Her blog profile is so understated but I'll let you draw your own conclusions! I love the inspiring images on both the blog and her website and she has many fans worldwide for her 'little company'! Hope you like it too! And you who love granny squares, it's summertime, so be inspired by Ingrid's bunting garland. The wonderful colours are one of the particular attractions of Ingrid's work and her images perfectly capture this. I really loved the colour punch of the Ionie hanger, you can almost hear the Mediterranean at your open window!!Hej, I'm Ingrid Jansen and I run a little company called WOOD & WOOL STOOL in the Netherlands. A few years ago I designed my first (recycled) wooden stool with a crocheted cover for my home. Since then I've made a lot of stools and other interior objects.'

Projects galore

I've been away from the chaincreative desk these days for a variety of reasons, the most important being that I've been doing some designing for two publications that might be of interest to you. The Art of Crochet is an subscribe-online publication that mixes patterns with tips and techniques so is a big mix of all that you might need to get started with crochet without having to leave your home. I've been welcomed on board with a pattern for an evening top which will be coming out during the summer so if you're interested then mosey on over to them.The other publication I've been contributing to is Inside Crochet which is the sister publication of Yarn Forward and is available through newsagents. It has a good mix of patterns and interviews (look out for my Q & A with Jo Hamilton who've I've featured here at chaincreative!) and has some nicely up-to-the-minute designs which are sorely needed. Keep your eyes peeled for designs by yours truly and I'm really enjoying putting my crochet talents (!) to good use. Hope you agree!!

Jo Hamilton - artist and crocheter

Well, I must have been dozing on duty because I missed this Portland, Oregon-based artist. Although trained in Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art, Jo Hamilton has branched out into using crochet as a medium of expression. I'm going to link you to some of the bloggers who have already featured her as her work has been noticed by more observant people than me!!!I'm going to just say that her cityscapes are what attracted me and I'm going to use this introduction to Jo Hamilton's work as a springboard for featuring some other 'landscape' crochet in the future. So - watch this space...crocheted of course.

The BibliophileWeblog

Dangerous Minds

Emma Lamb

Lace and crochet

Ooo, lace is sooo crochet. Or crochet can be soo lace(y). We do tend to neglect the lovely laceyness of crochet. I'm up to my eyes in work but can just see the wood for the crochet hooks and wanted to just say that I've been mostly thinking - lace and fashion.

Maybe it's La Gaga or just the passing of the fantastic(al) Lee McQueen but I just can't wait to get my finest crochet hooks out and get cracking on something lacey. Maybe similar to my Nico dress in Vintage Crochet.
Inspiration have come from the fashion shows in Milan and latterly London and it will be a feature of the catwalks for evermore I'm sure. Crochet gets a peek in there too. The lovely striped Missoni top is fresh, trendy and crochet!!! Hurrah.


How crochet is this handbag from Zagliani.

Leanda Xavian - crochet and colour

With all the crochet going on here at chaincreative I should be beginning to look like a crochet hook. Preparations for the makedomend are going apace and the granny square workshop is full to bursting and waiting for all the lovely patterns we've devised for them. I wanted to introduce the workshop, not only to the more simple methods of making squares, but to the more challenging and interesting. I felt it was important that we introduced everyone as to how to make the designs really zing. As you know, Sarah London is a big favourite here so we shall certainly be checking out her work. Emma Lamb is another new discovery and we shall be definitely exploring all her beautiful crochet. In addition, we'll take a peek at the designs of a good crochet friend of chaincreative, Leanda Xavian, of One Loop Short and her new persona, One Little Bird. Her inspirations are beautifully illustrated in one of her many lovely mosaics above. Leanda certainly knows how to photograph her work to make it really leap out from the screen and drive you to the yarns you've been saving and get going on yet another blanket.

She very kindly agreed to jot down some thoughts on crochet and her inspirations which I think you'll find very instructive and may ring some bells for you. How many of us learnt some of our skills from a member of the family only to find that there were more things to learn and not enough time.

'I’ve wanted to be able to crochet since I can’t remember. Both my grandmothers crocheted, but they lived too far away for me to sit down with them and watch. My mother taught me to knit a bit. But I always wanted to learn crochet, but thought it was just too difficult.'

Teaching yourself crochet is a minefield. Alot of the students I teach are refugees from their own attempts to learn on their own. Doing so can lead to disappointment and a sense of failure and frustration.

'Every time I picked up a ‘learn-to-crochet’ book I was throwing my hook down in frustration after 5 minutes. That’s because a lot of these ‘teach yourself’ books start with a foundation chain, which you are then supposed to build on with single crochets and double crochets and so on. Not only is working back along a chain one of the hardest things to do in crochet, it’s also boring to work row upon row of the same stitch.'

So using a book or having tuition are one way into the craft. The starting point can be in a variety of ways but Leanda has some suggestions for that.

'If you are learning to crochet you must start with a granny square, as a child would. Working in the round is so much easier than row work and if you end up with something pretty after half an hour you feel like you’ve really achieved something. And this is good news if you have always hankered to make a doily. It’s a lot easier than it looks. Crochet is easier than knitting full stop.'

Now for some design tips. Listen up and really get some inspiration.

'The other advantages of crochet are the amount of yarn you use compared to knitting. Much less that’s for sure. You can make something beautiful from the merest scrap of yarn. And what is particularly exciting about crochet is that there are absolutely no rules when it comes to colour combinations. Just go for it! Just look at all those amazing vintage blankets that your grannies made. They used anything that was to hand. And it just works. So experiment, go wild. You will be pleasantly surprised!'
The next few tips are straight out of chaincreative wish-list. Thank you, Leanda, you've listed all the most important advise I would offer any serious student of crochet. Look and learn!!! I've italicised the bits I particularly love.

'I don’t have any particular method when I’m starting a project. I just remember wanting to be able to do everything at first, so I pushed myself to use a tiny hook very early on. I thought if I could make a vintage doily I could make anything. So I’m very into thread crochet and how beautiful and delicate it is. But I equally love big chunky yarns so it just depends on my mood. I discovered Japanese pattern books, which are simply amazing and they’ve inspired me greatly. And if you can I would advise you to learn to read symbol charts early on. They really are so much easier to follow than written instructions so persevere if they seem alien at first.'

Thank you again, Leanda, for your kind words and help on writing this blog and for the use of all your beautiful images.

I love these designer interviews as they open up a windown on how people go about a skill that I think can give endless possiblilities to your creative instincts. I never thought that after so many years of writing this blog I would still be discovering new designers and ideas. I'm hooked!!

Romanian lace crochet

We've had a few posts about workshops and other such excitement so now it's back to crochet techniques. This is one that I certainly recognise but didn't realise it's name or that it is very much a skill strongly linked to a country, Romania. Lace making is obviously a completely different technique to crochet but this does incorporate the making of crochet cord. The cord forms the basis for the design of the piece being made and then needleweaving is used to fill the remaining space. It's a skill that is mainly 20th century in origin and is hugely popular in Romania.
It's used for decorative work as in this baby's cap and as an embellishment to linen as you can see in the pictures.
The Lacis museum gives a clear rundown on it's history and a slide show of examples and, if you're so minded, you could try your hand at producing your own Romanian cord with Sunshine Creations' own pocket guide with video.
If you're an upholsterer as well you'll soon recognise the cords from your trimming work and now you can make your own!! I think the needleweaving may be for another day!

Hook Heaven

Well, I'm back and today the weather is a lovely Autumnal glow. The trip away was divine and restful. I know when people go away some like to go shopping too but I certainly lose my shopping mojo - and a good thing too, I hear you say.

I didn't completely go off the radar, however, and found myself back in my old home town of Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula and just happened to drift into Monarch Knitting and Quilts. Sadly I didn't have too much space for yarn but I could easily slip in a crochet hook and the one I chose is proving to be a bit of a find. I don't think it's stocked here in the UK (anyone know?). The hook in question comes from Laurel Hill handmade needles and hooks with the tag-line Exotic, Handmade and Sustainable. All at Reasonable Prices. I like the sound of that and certainly the hook I bought was all of that. Mine was made of palmwood which I couldn't find on the online store but they are such a nice bunch at the end of an e-mail that I'm sure I could track down more.

The hooks are so smooth and are light and comfortable to hold with it's special finger hold. I still love my Clover Soft Touch but this lovely natural alternative is coming into the favourite's paddock as a close second.

The Solomon's Knot

On my recent trip to Belgium I went to the Antwerp Museum of Fashion, MOMU for a fascinating exhibition on the paper dress. It doesn't sound desperately relevant to a crochet blog but you would be surprised!! Displayed were 19th centuryJapanese Samurai underwear (yes, even they need knickers!!!) made from knotted paper. As you can imagine it was the knotted stitch they used that caught my attention.

The Solomon's knot is as much macrame as crochet but students are still intrigued as to how to make the stitch. Created by lengthening a chain stitch and then crocheting into the back of the chain, this is a simple stitch and a lovely way to create an airy and open-work piece. But don't take my crass description as gospel. Nexstitch offers a very clear, visual tutorial of this and many other stitches.

It has been popular for use in quite utilitarian items (such as underwear) and bags and this little pouch from the 1920's is a lovely example.

A lot has happened

Last week was so buzzy with creative stuff that I'm not quite prepared to not go steaming off with a bag packed full of patterns and crochet hooks instead of boring old shopping!
It all kicked off by Tower Bridge on Sunday with Claire Montgomerie at Kioskiosk. It wasn't the best weather that Doctor London could have ordered but we tied down the table and stopped a few crochet hooks from blowing away on the breeze!! It began to warm up pretty soon with some lovely familiar faces from our classes who started to crochet up a storm that quickly brought out the sunshine.
This began to tempt a few of the curious to try their turn with hook and yarn and by early afternoon we'd managed to inspire quite a number novices and others who had fun showing us how to knit Romania style.

This guy was certainly loving the attention his skill with the needles created! Hmmm.Next step was over to west London for a lovely day of sewing (I'll have some pics soon to post on Sewing Bee). I'm absolutely loving these workshops and really look forward to developing them

through Make & Bake. I'll be featuring contact pages for all the different workshops on offer and would love to see any of you there!!

The week finished with the Felt Workshop held here in Kent.

I tried to bring in some crochet by using the ever reliable felting yarn of Cascade 220. There are so many fab shades but we were going to use a neat little pattern from knotsewcute for a pear doorstop. After that, things got a bit messy in a fun kind of way. Out came the yarn rovings and a bottle of warm water and dish wash liquid! Wet felting is such a magical thing. One minute you have some very sheepy looking wool and then next minute it's fabric!

We certainly had a very amusing time with it, despite some slight mishaps as you can see above, and everyone was able to tuck some nicely felted fabric away to take home.

The big success of the day was the needle-felting as we were able to satisfy our inner child by making some cute little critters.

I'd supplied some lovely goodie bags of needles and holders from Blooming Felt and foam pads so the team was able to create to their heart's content.

Workshops are continuing with a beaded crochet course in London and more sewing tuition. It's such a pleasure to settle into a day of really productive teaching and helping people get to grips with their creativity. If you're keen to brush up your skills then do contact me through the blog.