Heeeeyyyyy! Remember how we started this cool contest all about finishing our WIPs and UFOs in 2015? Remember, it wasn’t a resolution, it was a CHALLENGE! And like all good challenges, there are rewards. And guess what? The rewards get better as we go along! Read on, ’cause this is BIG & involves FREE YARN!
While Mother’s Day seems to have just passed, Father’s Day is sneaking up on us quickly! Even if you haven’t chosen the perfect gift for Pops, you still have time to whip him up something handmade and from the heart.
Hello, my Crochet Spot friends! My crochet life has been full and inspiring as of late. I have been working on a lot of different projects which will be used as samples at my local yarn store! It’s all very exciting and it has led me to this post about how to hold your crocheted pieces together for seaming. In case you need a refresher, here is my post on How to Join Crochet Pieces Using Slip Stitches and the Outside Loops.
For the longest while, I had wanted to make a tissue box cozy that looks like a piece of cake, and finally, I did it! Since the cozy is crocheted in pieces, seaming was required. Furthermore, this particular pattern is really helped by pinning or holding the pieces together in some way. Today I’m going to share four ways to hold your crochet together for seaming.
Hello hello! Are you getting excited for the summer? Woohoo! Warmer weather has found its way to the Northern Hemisphere and soon it will be beach season! Whether you’re near a lake, ocean, or pool you can get into the fun by crocheting up some of this beachy goodness.
It has happened! The thing that all yarn crafters fear has happened to me! I have hand and arm pain! 🙁 I have been pretty lucky so far, considering how much I use my hands for typing, mousing, manipulating my smart phone, and of course crocheting.
Since there is an abundance of information about crafter’s hand and arm pain on the web, I’m going to outline the steps I am personally taking to deal with my own problem. Needless to say, I am not a doctor, and this is not meant to be medical advice.
My pain is in my right hand, mostly between my thumb and forefinger. It extends to my wrist and is also sometimes shooting up my forearm. Boo! For a few days I couldn’t use my right arm to do a lot of things like holding anything or operating the computer or smart phone. Of course I have also been unable to crochet in the normal way.
Crochet is a hobby that will never let you down. No matter how long you’ve been crocheting, there is always something new to learn. There will always be another technique, pattern, or yarn and hook combination that will send you into a different direction. And even if you know well beyond the basics of the craft, there will always be great techniques and tricks that individual crocheters will come up with. Crochet is very individual.
The purpose of this post today is to challenge you to think of crochet in a different way. In order to do this, I am offering you four great ways to boost your crochet skills. I hope that whatever you choose to do to increase your skill set will be a pleasure!
Remember back a while ago when I asked you to pay attention to what inspires your crochet? Well, I have been doing just that lately and I have two wonderful inspirations that have led to a big case of Crochet Startitis and I am loving it!
The first source of inspiration is the opening of a new and great yarn store in my local area! The beautiful store is called Sheep Thrills of Lauderhill, FL and it is focused upon creating an open & welcoming environment filled with uniquely beautiful, inspiring yarns. One of the great things I noticed was that the yarn prices varied greatly! I got a ball of really high quality and adorable t-shirt yarn there for $5, which is much less than what a comparable skein cost at my local big box!
When I gave you Five Fine Reasons to Frog Your Crochet, fellow Crochet Spotter Cindi commented to ask about how to pull back crochet without stretching the yarn out further and also how to get rid of the kinks. In this tutorial, I am addressing the first part of the question – how to pull back without stretching the yarn out further. In the future, I will show you how to get rid of the kinks.
Previously it hadn’t occurred to me that we might need a photo tutorial about frogging, but then I remembered back to when I was a beginning crocheter and I wanted to soak up everything possible about the craft. (Well, I still want to learn absolutely everything about crochet, but some of it has become second nature to me.) While this tutorial may be very familiar to many of you, I hope that it will serve as good information for beginners and researchers. Also, please feel free to share your frogging tips in the comments!
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I have come to realize, through griping about my crazy & out of control stash, that some Crochet Spotters may want a large stash. I also have come to realize that since buying yarn can be expensive, I should share some of the great thrifty tips that have helped me to amass such a vibrant & (well, now getting under control) stash.
Yarn is lovely and I am obsessed. That means that I budget for yarn each and every month. Through careful budgeting, shopping, and swapping, I have amassed quite a stash. It has taken me a long time to accumulate it! Truth be told, I am a very thrifty person. I have to be. Yet I still have yarn. If you want to amass an enormous stash, maybe these tips can help!
Photo modified from Jaydot via flickr. License
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been toting my crochet around with me wherever I go these days. It makes me so happy! I bring my crochet with me to work and gaze upon it, though I never have time to work on it while I’m there. It’s okay because it keeps me motivated and if I do get a rare moment to make one or two stitches, well, that’s progress!
I’ve been taking a little of my own advice and I’ve been Finding My Crochet Time. For me that means just doing a few rows or a few repeats every day. It feels great to see my projects grow and I’ve been enjoying the beautiful yarn from my local yarn shops (and my stash, of course!) I had been using a variety of different project bags, but the one I decided to take with me just last night felt completely perfect. Here’s a picture!
It’s cute, right?
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Hi! I'm Rachel the crocheter behind Crochet Spot. Read more... |
