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.

read more »

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.

read more »

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.

read more »

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!

read more »

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!
read more »

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?

Hey, guess what! We have a winner of the first prize in our Finish in ’15 Challenge! Crochet Spotter Crystal Wall entered the contest and was chosen at random to receive a free pattern from the Crochet Spot Store! Here are Crystal’s WIP pictures!

read more »

I am very excited to share a technique I recently rediscovered while working on my newest crocheted shawl for spring. The technique is called “double stranding.” It is actually quite simple and it can really come in handy when you’re trying to stash down (as I still am doing!)

read more »

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.