Tag Archives: Stitches

Summer Crochet My Salvation

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Often people think that the most productive time of year for crocheting is during the cool months of autumn and winter, however I have always found that I create more crochet in summer than any other season.

I thought that in my youth this was due to school being out and my having the extra hours of boredom that what seemed like then, a long summer break. However it continued through high school when I had a summer job and still found time to hang out with friends, so boredom did not seem the likely cause of the warm weather crochet.

Summer Crochet www.lindadeancrochet.comLooking back over project I have created, the majority have been completed when the sun created temperatures that did not require being bundled up. Granted living in California means that I have more days of shine then rain, but still November through February tend to be fairly quiet on my hook. Maybe it is the holidays and being busy with other commitments, or the fact that hearty foods are needing cooking, and those are always my favorite to make.

One of the more practical explanation actually comes from the weather itself. Maybe I crochet more in summer to actually keep cool. I have only lived in a home with air conditioning for a few years of my life, mostly apartments in my early twenties, other than that I have used the old fashion method of cooling your home, windows. Windows are opened every night, and closed every morning, I still do this today, so during the day I do not really want to run around in the hot sun I prefer to stay seated by the fan. So maybe it is my lack of activity that lends to the movement of the hook.

Or maybe it is simply that the new life of the season stirs a creative spark in me. Maybe I need more daylight to get my ideas flowing and my craft progressing. Whatever the reason, it helps me to remember that I get this bit of crochet flurry especially around January when I feel like I have no energy and ideas. Maybe the warmth stirs me, and that is odd since summer really is not my favorite season, I could do with less heat.

 

Cotton & Linen Perfect Zooey for Summer

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When the temperature climbs to numbers that have more than two places in them, yarn does not sound like the leisure activity that it usually is. Fortunately there are nice plant based yarns that do not trap the heat like wool or even acrylic does. Juniper Moon Farm creates one such yarn in Zooey.

Zooey is a 60% cotton, 40% linen yarn that feels cool and is durable. I have to admit, I am not always drawn to linen, but the blend with cotton in this yarn makes it softer and less stiff than I have experienced in other yarns. It can take a hardy blocking, and I recommend that you plan on blocking this yarn, it brings an entirely new quality to it. Once it takes water, which it generously absorbs, it blossoms and becomes softer. It then can really open up stitch work and make some beautiful lace work with relatively little effort.

The yarn is listed as a fine weight, also referred to as a 2 weight, but easily works up with larger than expected hooks, even if the yarn is rated for a 3.5-4.5mm (F-G) I like it on a 6mm (J) for a more open effect.

The hank has some decent yardage at 284 yards (260 meters) for a 3.5 ounces (100 gram) ball. Even has a 4 ply yarn, plied with 3 strands of linen and 1 strand of cotton, it does not seem to have a really round nature. It seems a little flat, but that is something to be expected form the fibers. The ply is not real tight, however this did not seem to cause any splitting.

I think this yarn would do well as a market bag, maybe even a cover up for the beach. That also lends me to think that it could pull off a sun hat. It really does make me think of summer projects, this might limit my creative sense, but overall I think it can have some great uses.

 

Batiste- Some Nice Texture and Color

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What some may not realize about my yarn reviews…they are really just for me. Yes, I am a bit selfish. However I have found that by reviewing a yarn weekly, it helps me hone my skills. Don’t get me wrong I hope you, the reader, gets some insight too, but I helps me focus on a fiber that I have in my working stash and imagine its possibilities. So you will see me discuss the fiber content, as this can really effect the drape and performance of the yarn, I also will remind myself of how it feels and if it works up well. I note the weight and length of the skein so that I can keep a mental note of how many skeins it would take to work up a desired project.

www.lindadeancrochet.comI recently travels to a yarn trade show. There are many various companies and different yarns to touch hold and get inspired by. Honestly, it can be a bit overwhelming, but it has provided me with some new yarns to critique and make notes about, such as Batiste from Knit One Crochet Too.

I cannot say that I have ever worked with yarn from this company before, I have seen it and heard the name, but never had the pleasure of crossing paths with a skein before. Batiste is made up of 50% fine merino wool 30% linen and 20% silk. The soft nature of the merino really shines through, while the linen offers a bit of a heather appearance in the color. The linen also offers the yarn a bit more structure and can allow the fabric to appear wrinkled or creased if put under pressure.

Even with the heathering it still has nice stitch definition, showing texture a bit more subtly than some yarns, but still very nice. It is listed as a Fine weight yarn, but I felt really comfortable using a 5.00mm hook (size H/8) so it didn’t feel at all too fine.

I can easily see this worked up as a garment or accessory close to the skin. The hank has a decent size with 208 yards/190 meters at 50 gram/1.75oz, so a small light shawl might take only 2 hanks, but I would prefer to use at least 3 to get a nice size.

Overall, a nice yarn that spurs some ideas. If you want to check out more of my yarn thoughts select the “Yarn Play” under the website categories.

 

Teaching Inspired

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It is a bit amazing all the accomplishments my crochet students have made. This last week at the El Dorado County fair in Placerville, CA they were awarded Best of Show, several Blue ribbons, and even swept entire categories. I am proud of each and every one of them, even those that did not enter.

 

Thinking back over the several years of teaching, I can remember my first student, and the lessons I learned from her. I live in a smallish community, and am multiple generations within it. I don’t look too hard for additional family as I probably have more relations or connections then one person really needs in life. So when my kindergarten age son began taking art lessons after school, it was not much of stretch when I found out the teacher was a cousin. Technically she was married to my second cousin, but why get to technical.

 

www.lindadeancrochet.comMy son took lessons all year and over the summer she invited him to her home to continue. During conversations over these lesson she learned that I had successfully completed the Crochet Guild of America’s Masters of Advanced Stitches and Techniques program.  As a result she requested that I teach her to crochet in trade for payment for the art lessons. I know that part of the reason she wanted me to teach her was to have more discussions, and help her gain insight into the childhood of her husband as he is a quiet man that doesn’t speak much on this topic.

 

She took lessons from me for about a year, encouraging me to attend the CGOA annual conference, which ended up launching my crochet career. She encouraged me to begin teaching at a local coffee shop, which I did for 4 years…one night a week with drop in lessons, until the shop moved twenty minutes away, now I teach regularly at my local yarn store as well as at national conferences and events. She was a support, she helped add a new spark to my life.

 

She passed away a few years later, only months after her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, but I remember well the lessons I learned from our crochet time, the class is about more than just the stitches. It is about the relationships, it is about the community, it is about the stories, and it is about sharing the confidence of your own ability and fostering confidence to grow in others. My current students may not realize how my teaching style was built, but they continue to help me remember the important lessons every time we meet. Thank you for the early education Judy, it will forever be with me.

Reinvent Too- A Yarn to Make You Think

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Sometimes you can stumble across a yarn that can just make you think a bit. It might have an interesting color, a different construction, an unusual ply or twist, or in the case of Ancient Arts Yarns Reinvent Too for me it was the fibers that it is comprised of.

Not that the fibers used are all that unusual, it is more that I do not know if I have seen them put together in this way before. It is comprised of 49% Wool, 34% Mohair, 11% Nylon, 4% Acrylic, 2% Silk, so at a glance I can tell that it is going to have some warmth, some strength, some softness, and some durability. I cannot recall seeing wool combined with mohair, and having an addition of silk. These are all natural fibers with varying qualities to provide nice yarns all on their own, so often I see them highlighted in a skein where they alone are the shining star and there might be some other small contributors of support.

I guess the part that threw me the most was the large amounts of wool and mohair. Wool I have seen everywhere, but mohair I usually see in yarns that allow its fine quality and natural halo be the defining quality of the yarn. This is not the case in Reinvent Too. The mohair is a work horse of sorts adding its softness and warmth to this blend.

This yarn offers a very nice stitch definition, and even though it is listed as a worsted weight, I feel it is on the lighter side of this definition and would personally treat it more as a light weight or DK. It is not quite as soft as I would have expected, but still pretty nice. It may soften up after a hand washing, I have not tested this theory however. I think that it would work up nicely as a shawl, or a cardigan or jacket. I don’t know how well I would enjoy it as a scarf as it seems a bit rough to the skin on my neck, but a hat would probably be fine. I could also easily see this creating a small throw, it would easily work up great for spring and fall temperatures.

The color selection for this yarn is beautiful, as is normal for Ancient Arts, so you could definitely find a color to inspire you. The hanks have 198 yds/180m per 3.5oz/100g skein, that may limit it to small yarn projects, but I think you may be pleasantly surprised with it.