My life has been engulfed in yarn, crochet, and having good crafty times lately and I couldn’t be happier about it. I recently made a really beautiful crochet lace poncho that looks fabulous on everyone! It was crocheted in the beautiful Louet Euroflax Sport Weight Linen. The pattern was from Rustic Modern Crochet by Yumiko Alexander.

I had a lot of fun crocheting this poncho, but I knew that it would have to be specially blocked when I was done. Maybe you are wondering what blocking is and how you can do it. If so, read on to follow my process step by step.

Have you ever wondered how much yarn you have left to go in your skein? How about how much yarn you’ve used in your finished project? I didn’t realize this when I first started crocheting, but it is possible to know the length of yarn used or how much yarn is left in a skein without taking out a yard stick. All you need is some information and a kitchen scale.

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Flip flops are pretty much the unofficial footwear of summer. If I’m not at work, you can probably find me wearing one of the many pairs from my colorful collection. Unfortunately, the straps and toe pieces of flip flops can be irritating.

Replacing the original straps work both as a remedy for this problem and as a way to make your flip flops unique. With crochet straps, you have a wide range of possibilities. Maybe you’re fine with a simple single crochet strap or maybe you’ll use a lace edging pattern with your favorite color base. The choice is yours!
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Now that you have completed your first row in How to Crochet: Tunisian Entrelac (Part 1), you have a choice for your subsequent rows. You can turn your work (results in wrong sides being visible in the final project, but leaves fewer ends to leave in if working in one color). Or you can finish off then start at the beginning of the previous row without turning (leaves you with all right side rows but leaves more ends to weave in. This tutorial uses the latter method, but they both follow the same basic idea.
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Entrelac is a knit and crochet technique that involves working with interconnected blocks that are worked on the diagonal. One method for executing this involves using tunisian crochet. To be able to do this technique, you need to be familiar with Tunisian crochet, including the starting row and Tunisian Simple Stitch (TSS) as well as decreasing on the forward pass and finishing off.
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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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The concept for this tutorial came from a wonderfully fun event a funky college friend of mine used to host. The event was called a “sister circle” and it was based on the idea that one woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure.

A group of us would gather our extra clothes, shoes, and accessories and bring them into her dorm room. My friend would set the mood with great music and refreshments. We’d artfully arrange everything and swap to our heart’s content!

It was so much fun to see the cool stuff that everyone brought but no longer needed. And to think that any one of us could have it – for free! Everyone would leave feeling lighter. We’d all gotten rid of some stuff, chosen some cool stuff, and had a great time with friends!

More recently my local crafting group has did something similar but much yarnier! You betcha. It was a sister circle with yarn! I’m going to give you a step-by-step about how you can host your own Crochet Giving Circle.

Image modified from photos by TheKarenD, Kristin Roach, librarykyle, and splityarn, all via flickr. Links to licenses.

I recently received an email from Sister Margaret Mary, a Crochet Spot reader, who uses an adaptive method for crocheting because she is legally blind. She made a nice video demonstrating the method she uses while crocheting a variety of stitches. After watching the video, I was able to relate to a lot of the tips that she provided, although I am not legally bind. The tips can be use by anyone who crochets, and if you do have trouble seeing your stitches for whatever reason (forgetting your glasses, dim lighting, etc.) then this video is worth checking out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_VkPUK-12M

Do you have trouble seeing your crochet stitches? Do you use an adaptive method to crochet? Join the conversation in the comments below!

If you’ve already tried increasing broomstick lace, you probably know shaping isn’t too complicated. Like the broomstick lace increase, the decrease is worked on the single crochet row. If you are not familiar with broomstick lace or you need a refresher, take a look at the How To Crochet: Broomstick Lace tutorial.
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When we think about going to a day spa, we rarely think about crochet. Even when we are creating an at-home spa environment, we never think about involving crochet, unless we are working on a project while we soak our feet. Perhaps, it’s time to get some to create some crochet items that will assist us in having a wonderful day spa or at-home spa experience.

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