Part #2 of the Mystery Crochet Along (CAL) is now posted!!! You can find the pattern added to the end of the original CAL post here: Mystery Crochet Along: A Gift for V-Day
This part is fairly short. You’ll be crocheting 5 of these objects. It is a flat mystery shape that is crocheted in the round. It uses the adjustable ring because there are so many stitches being made into the one stitch. For beginners who haven’t used the ring before, here’s a link to the tutorial: How to Crochet: The Magic Adjustable Ring Don’t forget to pull the ring tightly closed when you are done! If you find the ring isn’t tight enough for you, you can also use the double ring.

Again, here’s the link to the CAL page: Mystery Crochet Along: A Gift for V-Day

If you missed Part #1, no worries! You can still view the pattern on the CAL page and join in on the fun.

Have fun crocheting and don’t forget to share your pics 🙂

We all know that crochet is a beautiful and versatile craft. We can crochet almost anywhere and all we need is just a yarn and hook, right? While that certainly is true, it is also true that crochet can be done with one fewer item. Leave your hook at home, people. You can now crochet with your fingers!

In fact, “leaving my hook at home” is exactly how this technique came to light for me. I was recently on a road trip and I was excited for the drive because I had brought a current crochet project with me to work on in the car. I was excited until I realized that while I thought I had hooks in every size from E through J, for some reason my “I” hook was missing! Doh! Why is it always the “I” hook?
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Welcome to the Mystery Crochet Along (CAL)! I hope you’re ready for a fun adventure! Since this crochet along is a mystery, I can’t tell you exactly what you will be crocheting, but I can give you a hint. The object will be something that you can give to a friend as a Valentine’s Day gift, or keep for yourself if you find it too cute to giveaway. You’re always welcomed to make more than one! It is a small object, sort of like a toy, but is versatile so you can use it in more than one way.

Here is how the Mystery CAL is going to work:

• Start right now! Use the pattern information below to gather your materials and start crocheting the first part of the pattern.
• Every week a new part will be added to the pattern on this page. There will be a total of 4 parts. So be sure to bookmark this page and come back every week! I’ll send reminders out in the weekly newsletter and also on Facebook, just in case.
• Feel free to leave comments on this post to ask questions if you need help while crocheting.
• Feel free to email me ([email protected]) pictures of your work in progress and I’ll upload them to the website and show them off for you! Or you can post a link to your pictures in the comments section.
• After completing the final part of the pattern, be sure to email me a picture of your final object! I’ll create a round up of all the submitted pictures so that everyone can see each others’ work. As a bonus, I’ll randomly select a “winner” who will receive a mystery prize.

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What do you want to do with your crochet in 2014? After the holidays settle down, hopefully you will be organizing your lovely new yarn and hook stash from generous friends and relatives. 😉 It will be time to reflect and set crochet goals for 2014.

One of the nice things about crochet is that although we can share what we do with crochet groups, charities, and of course here on Crochet Spot, crochet is an individual activity. That means our only competition can come from within ourselves. The beautiful relaxation of crochet may come in part from the knowledge that the only expectation placed upon our crochet is our own.

This is why it’s a great time to make an individual crochet challenge for 2014. Take a moment to look within yourself and ask yourself what it is you want to do with your crochet in 2014.
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Oh my gosh! I just learned about a new type of crochet and I am dying to let you all know about it! It’s called “Painted Crochet” and it looks uniquely lovely. Although the finished pieces have the “look” of being painted with a brush, the effect is actually achieved by combining either three or four thin sewing threads in differing combinations. The subtle shifts in color come when those combinations are changed.

This is the back cover of the book called Painted Mini Doilies edited by Carol Alexander and Lisa Forsnaugh

It’s not what you think! We know that crochet makes great little gift and treat bags, but this post is about other ways that crochet can be incorporated into your gift wrapping. For the purpose of this post, imagine a basic gift box which will be wrapped with paper. We’ll use crochet to embellish!

Since time is ticking down, we may have to resort to buying our Christmas gifts, but we can still incorporate crochet into the gift giving. 😀
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See? I told you it would be quick! I can’t believe our crochet along has almost ended. I wanted to give you all one last little push in order to get your hooks working and your cameras clicking.

Don’t forget! You can win a free pattern from the Crochet Spot store, or a free month of membership for premium members! 🙂 How cool is that?

You’ll be glad to know I’ve finished my rectangular vest and it’s completely fabulous. Sorry, no pictures of me modeling it, but I will post an instagram of my credit card holders, which will end up being gift card holders this holiday season! Those little cuties will be part of the final push, happening now!!

So get to stitching and posting, my friends!! The winner will be announced on December 1! Click here for the post with the patterns and where you can enter!

Hey, Crochet Spot readers! Are you making scarves for this chilly season? Before I moved to the hot and humid climate of the tropics, my favorite thing to make was a scarf. I would choose my projects by pattern or by yarn and just crochet away. I must have crocheted dozens of scarves in all different lengths and at different levels of complexity. One thing I realized is that I very seldom have added fringe to my scarf projects. I’m not sure what it is about fringe… I do like the look of it most of the time, but I don’t typically decide to add it myself. Weird, huh? Maybe it’s just a habit.

At any rate, I was thinking about scarves and how we adorn them and I decided to round up a few fringe and fringe-alternative tutorials. Adorn the ends of your scarves with any of the following:

Fringe. It’s classic. It’s versatile. Fringe can be made long or short, in matching or contrasting yarn, and thick or thin. It’s one design element that can completely change the look of your project.

Chain Loop Fringe. This variation on the classic lends a completely different look to the ends of your scarf. It’s creative and unexpected. Why not add this to your next project?

A Floppy Ruffle. If you want to go all out girly, why not add a ruffle to at least one end of your simple scarf? That unexpected floof can make your scarf look great (and a lot more complicated than it actually is!) People will wonder how you did that!

Curly Fringe. This takes your fringe adventure to the nth degree! Curly fringe is fun and feminine, and much easier than it looks. BONUS: It looks great with curly hair!

Now that I have all these ways to make scarves look even cuter, I’m inspired to break my fringe-free habit and get to crocheting a scarf today! 😀 Which of these ends, if any, would you like to try?

Have you seen that TV series on Netflix called Orange Is the New Black? Well, it’s like one of those series that just sucks you in and before you know it you’ve watched the entire season in just a few nights. The story is about a woman who spends 15 months in jail for being a drug mule – transporting drug money in a suitcase. The twist is that the “unlikely” protagonist is well educated, cultured and affluent. As you could guess, she seems like a fish out of water at the minimum security women’s prison in Connecticut.

It’s a fun show with rich stories, but the reason I’m writing today is of course about CROCHET! While watching the series, I was delighted to find several scenes where the prisoners sport crocheted fashions, like this adorable hat.

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Have you ever had to increase your productivity? Have you been busy at work but had a tight crochet deadline to meet? Ever wish it were possible to crochet with your feet?

I don’t know why, but this idea popped into my head and I did a youtube search for “crocheting with feet.” As it turns out, there is one video with uniquely talented crocheter Sarah Kovac actually crocheting with her feet!

The video shows Sarah creating a blanket by working modified double crochets with her toes! The blanket is spread on the floor in front of her. One foot holds the hook while the other wraps the yarn. She uses her big toe to ensure even tension while pulling the yarn through the loops. It really is quite impressive. While I imagine that foot crochet can be slow-going, at least you can do something else, like type or maybe fold laundry at the same time. Heck, maybe you can even crochet two items at once with this technique! That gives a new meaning to double crochet. 😀

Have you ever tried this? I haven’t yet but maybe one day if I’m bored, I’ll give it a try! 😀 At any rate, it’s good to know that someone can crochet “hands-free.”