One of the most exciting and beneficial aspects to being a mother is being able to share the things you love and enjoy with your children.  It can also be one of the most disappointing aspects as well…especially when the child does not enjoy something as much as you might!

I learned this the hard way when my oldest daughter Rosey was five.  I had been waiting and waiting her whole life until she was old enough for us to read A Wrinkle in Time together and within the first five minutes of reading it she exclaimed, “Momma!  This book is so boring!!!!”.  Bummer.

Thank goodness she is very much into crochet, or I might have lost all hope! Click Here To Read More »

Looking to donate your crocheted items to a great cause? The Preemie Project is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization that was founded in 2005 to comfort premature and critically ill babies. Crochet and knit items such as hats, blankets, and booties are donated to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

So far Preemie Project volunteers have donated 1,700 hat and bootie sets, 1,500 blankets, 300 bereavement packages, and counting! Here are some free crochet patterns on Crochet Spot that you can use to create items to donate to The Preemie Project and other wonderful organizations:

Crochet Pattern: Basic Preemie Hat
Crochet Pattern: Newborn Baby Hat
Crochet Pattern: Shell Stitch Blanket
For more patterns, check out the Crochet Spot Archives.

To learn more about this organization and how you can get involved, feel free to visit The Preemie Project website.

Out there in Crochet Land there are many ‘special’ stitches that I call ‘YO Stitches’ (the abbreviation for yarn over is yo).  These stitches include the popcorn stitch, the bobble stitch, the puff stitch etc…etc…

My favorite of these type of stitches is the star stitch.   A lot of ‘star stitch’ patterns have you break off at the end of each row…which leaves a lot of ends to weave in upon completion.  The instructions I use and am including below use a turn and a row of hdc instead.

This tutorial is for both right and left handed people. For left handed pictures, roll your mouse over the image and it will change for you. Click Here To Read More »

In all my years of crocheting, I have yet to make a granny square, let alone an entire afghan of pieced-together granny squares. This is probably due to the fact that I already have an excessive number of crocheted afghans from more than one crocheter, including one of my grandmothers. Now, there’s nothing wrong with granny square afghans! It just isn’t something I find myself wanting to make. (There’s also a heat index of 100 today, so I am definitely not in any mood to think about afghans!) I have, however, seen some interesting uses of the proverbial granny square in totes, shawls and clutches, elevating this common crochet motif to new heights. This Smart Car, covered in crochet granny square goodness, takes the cake.

Photo by StartTheDay

These lace fingerless gloves are fast to crochet with an easy, repetitive stitch pattern. The pattern includes instructions for making the gloves as wide and long as you like to create the perfect fit for your hands. The gloves in the photo use size 10 thread, but any weight yarn can be used to create a different look! Finished Size: 3” (7.5 cm) wide, 7” (18 cm) long Note: size may be adjusted to fit any size hand using the instructions within the pattern Skill Level:

Click Here To Read More »

Vintage Crochet Pattern Series: Week 1

“…model and tool, craft of culture, how we go on.”
Axe Handles Gary Snyder

Crafting items by hand is one of the oldest and most revered traditions we know.  Crocheting is one of these traditions and a way we have of passing down our knowledge is by making patterns.  This pattern is for a Starburst Afghan and is from a very old handwritten pattern, one of many that will be featured in the ‘Vintage Crochet Pattern Series’ over the next few weeks.  It’s been changed a bit from the original, mainly being turned into a throw size afghan rather than a Queen sized one and changes in the pattern’s phrasing, but in essence is still the same. Using two or three colors in corresponding rows of two creates the starburst effect.

Click Here To Read More »

A Guest Post by Dannee Wood.

Wow, you’ve just finished your latest or even your first crochet project and you’re anxious to start something else…but what? If you’re like most crafters you might have an ever-growing list of “to-do” projects or projects saved to your Ravelry account. Maybe you have a binder or two full of projects, organized by categories/colors/yarn weights, etc. Perhaps you have them downloaded to your computer or a thumb drive. Or maybe you only work on one project at a time not concerned about the next project…not! Sometimes, you may want a simple or small project after tackling a large or complex project. How do you go about choosing your next project? It may seem over-whelming to select a new project; there are a lot of good resources out there. Click Here To Read More »

When planning out a crochet project, in addition to choosing yarn colors, you have to take into account the texture and functionality of different yarn fibers. Even if they are both worsted weight, for instance, using a bamboo cotton compared to an acrylic will change how your project turns out. What kind of yarn fibers are out there? What are the differences? Here is a general breakdown:

My acrylic stash, and some acrylic projects

Although it has been 6 months since the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, the already impoverished country is still struggling on just about every level. How could crochet possibly come into play? Here goes: Pat Eidsness is the pastor of South Dakota’s Peace Lutheran Church and she recently spent time volunteering in Haiti. While there, Eidsness tried instructing mothers to avoid letting their children play in or sleep on the dirt-covered ground.

Upon her return to Sioux Falls, SD, she wanted to do something more for the people of Haiti, so she started brainstorming. Her memories of the mothers and children sparked an idea: cutting up t-shirts into strips and crocheting mats from them. Soon enough she was requesting t-shirt donations from the community and asking for volunteers, from experienced crocheters to those who have never crocheted (but are willing to learn!). The collective effort has already resulted in dozens of completed mats and it’s fortunately an ongoing effort.

You can read more about crocheting for Haiti here.

A great way to add to your crocheting arsenal is to learn and implement special stitches. With special stitches you can make a plain scarf, blanket or washcloth more interesting and special. It’s easy to apply the instructions for a special stitch into your upcoming project.  Below are instructions for a few special stitches, some photos of the stitches and tips on using them in your project.  Check out the crochet abbreviation chart for help with abbreviations and symbols. Click Here To Read More »