Back to School Earrings

Six months ago, the oldest daughter finally put aside her fear and decided to have her ears pierced.

The protocol for taking care of her ears called for her to wear post earrings for 6 months. After that time, she would be able to wear drops (or hangy-downs, as we call them). As it turns out, the 6 months is up just as she is ready to go back to school. To mark this momentus occasion, I pulled out thread, a steel hook and Edie Eckman's book Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs. Due to size, I worked one less round than the motif called for, but the result is quite cute and I will be making more of these.

And here is my little lovely modeling the new earrings.

The Next Thing

My hiatus didn't last long! It's hard for me not to have hook or needles in hand.

While at Chain Link 2011, I took a class taught by Lily Chin on Circular Tunisian Tapestry Crochet.  It was quite facinating and once I realized that the dress she was wearing was made using this technique, I lost all of my focus for the topic she was teaching in the morning class I was in!

Annie's Attic has a book titled Double-ended Hook Crochet and I had worked with that technique before taking Lily's class.  Items can be worked in the round (such as socks, hats, mittens or gloves) and the concept is much like that of using double-pointed needles--several double-ended hooks are required.

Lily's technique is different and uses contrasting colors to the max.  Supplies for the class included 2 balls of contrasting yarn and a double-ended hook.  For the class, I bought a short double-ended crochet hook, made by Clover.  These hooks come in sizes G through J.

Lily started by showing us how to join our chain to make a circle, and then how to begin using the double-ended hook.  Basically, you should pick up stitches with one end of the hook (the traditional forward pass of Tunisian crochet), then turn the same hook and work those stitches off with the contrasting color (the traditional return pass of Tunisian crochet). This process is repeated around (and around) the work.

As Lily pointed out, you are really working in a spiral, like Tapestry crochet.  She showed us how to increase and decrease, as well as which kind of Tunisian stitch to use to control the color of each stitch.  In the Winter 2010 issue of Interweave Crochet, she has demonstrated the technique in the Mesa Pullover. 

Here is a picture of something I've worked on with this new technique:

I know that I'm going to be spending lots of time with this new technique!



The Lull

I've just finished one project and taken it to the post office. I still have to make some revisions to the pattern before I e-mail it.

So, what is next . . .? I always have a period of aimlessness between projects.  My mind races through ideas and my hands wander over my stash of yarn.  I don't know if I am waiting for a yarn to speak to  me, or if I'm just feeling the freedom to go out with others.  This lull can be frustrating rather than liberating. I am eager to get on with the next thing, whatever that next thing might be.

In the meantime, I'm putting away all of the materials related to the last project, cleaning up my work area (putting all of my stray stitch markers back into their box, putting away balls of yarn that served as a diversion during my "down" time), and trying to get my desk cleaned off so I can digest all of the information that I brought back from Chain Link.

A few cool things I've noticed on the internet . . .

April Garwood of Banana Moon Studio has posted pictures of skirts that she made for her girls. Adorable!

Ellen Gormley of Go Crochet! has posted pictures from the fashion show on Saturday night at Chain Link. She and Haley Zimm both looked outstanding!

Do we really need to plan?

There seem to be (at least) 2 kinds of designers -- organic and planners.  During Lily Chin's workshops at Chain Link 2011, she emphasized the benefits of planning before stitching, one being the loss of time due to stitching, stitching, stitching only to find out that all of that stitching was done in vain.  During those workshops, I nodded my head in agreement because I am a planner, especially a visual planner.  I make drawings, I make notes, I use software to plot out "things", and being a lover-of-all-things-math, I calculate until the cows come home.

Yesterday, I received a model back with notes about adjustments that need to be made. Of course, I am mortified that I have turned in a project that has to be "adjusted".  That certainly goes against the advice that Margaret Hubert gave us on Professional Development Day-quality.

So, what happened.  There are no excuses, but there are reasons--the children are home for the summer, my father-in-law was visiting and I was enjoying having time with him, I was getting ready for Chain Link . . .

But the main reason is that I didn't take time to review the design between proposal and stitching. I jumped in because I loved the colors that the editor picked, I loved the design and I couldn't wait to see it materialize.

Now what? I have spent the morning with my software working out the adjustments. The result will be a much better product, one I think the editor will be pleased with.

And Lily, I'm still nodding my head in agreement.

Chain Link 2011

The Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) held its national conference (Chain Link) in Minneapolis MN last week. Each day was so awesome, it's hard to decide where to start . . .

Wednesday was Professional Development Day. The morning speakers were Ellen Gormley of Go Crochet!, Margaret Hubert, and Vickie Howell.

Ellen's speech was about the characteristics that make a project a showstopper or a project maker. A showstopper is a project that makes you go "WOW!" when you see it; it reaches from the pages of the book or magazine and grabs you. A project maker is one that people will make over and over; one that is their go-to project. It is the type of project that makes the crocheter feel successful.

I thought it was interesting that Ellen said that not all showstoppers are project makers. At first thought, all designers probably want that showstopper, that pattern that will possibly grace the cover. But, having a pattern that is a project maker is just as important.  From the feedback I've received, my Adirondack Socks is just that kind of pattern.  They are not complex, yet there are some stitches that make them interesting.  They also look great in any type of varigated or self-striping yarn.

Margaret Hubert's speech was about what it takes to survive in the crochet publishing world.  She certainly should know because she has been designing since 1975.  Margaret gave us 7 things that were most important for survival. Many centered around quality: quality of ideas, quality of proposals and finished products, and quality of the written patterns. She also advised us to be flexible and pro-active, but the final piece of advice fits Margaret to a T -- be nice. 

Vickie Howell was the last speaker of the morning and she wowed us all with her knowledge and tips for using social media.  My head was swimming with all the ideas that she gave me! I must say that my roommate and awesome designer, April Garwood, taught me how to use Twitter before we left on Saturday night.

Tidbits:  both April and Ellen have give-aways on their websites, so click on the links above and register to win.

More about the conference later . . . .

Friday Morning Knitting Club Finale

Today was the Finale ceremony for the FMKers.  The whole class sat on the floor in a group.  I called each FMKer up to the front and presented them with their bracelet, a project bag which included needles, pattern and yarn, and a certificate. In addition, there were 2 children that tried their hand at knitting, but decided it wasn't quite their "thing", and I gave each of them a bracelet as well.

As each child received their goodies, the whole class would applaud for that person. What a wonderful group of children this has been!

Bringing a Design into Focus

If you ask 10 different designers how a design comes to life, you would probably get 10 different answers. Each designer may also have more than one answer for that question.

Recently, I was working on proposals and an image popped into my mind. I grabbed my sketchbook, but the design didn't translate well to a sketch; yet it remained firmly attached to my mind's eye.

Next, I reached for hook and yarns and rushed headlong into the swatch. I experimented with different methods, and swatch #3 finally yielded what I was looking for stitch-wise.

But something was wrong. It was more of a feeling. The swatch didn't quite match the image stuck in my head. I kept staring at it, but no enlightenment came, just that niggling feeling that something was "off".

I put it aside and worked on other projects. The design waited patiently, never leaving me.

Then one night as I lay down to sleep, I had it! I knew what was wrong! My mind started running through ideas for correcting that pesky problem. The next day, the swatching started all over. This time, I nailed the "look" on the 2nd swatch.

Sometimes, designs don't come to me in full focus, like this one did, and there is more reliance with being true to the "feeling" that the idea is giving off. Only as I work on swatches does it come into focus, gradually, like a picture being developed in a dark room.

No matter how it comes, the satisfaction I get from bringing something from nothing gives me a buzz and keeps me designing!

Friday Morning Knitting Club Update

The Friday Morning Knitting Club is going strong!  The children (girls and boys) were learning well beyond my expections (remember, the children are 7 & 8 yrs old).  The children were separated into 2 groups of 4 - 5 students each.  As with any group, some had immediate success, some had very little success, and the majority were trucking along somewhere in between.  The teacher (fabulous woman!) helped me to divide the groups so that the skill levels worked well within each group and that allowed me to help some while giving others more direct attention.

Both groups had started on a beginning project -- a beaded bracelet.  I put together a project bag for each child that contained a ball of cotton yarn, a set of size 8 needles and a written pattern.  I wrote the pattern in a standard pattern format, but with more detailed steps.  I wanted them to learn more than just the knit stitch, but how to start a project, how to read a pattern, and how to finish a project.

I gave each child a packet and asked them to take out the contents.  We started by reading the Materials (Things You Will Need) section, and I asked them to make sure they had all the items.  I had the beads on paper plates (bowls would have worked well too) in the center of the table, so it gave the children the chance to note that an item was missing from the list.

They each picked out 7 beads. Then we turned to the Pattern Instructions (Things You Will Do) section and began by reading the first step.  Everyone began to move at their own pace from here on out and I was able to float among them as needed.  We kept the time for each group to about 20 to 25 minutes.  Attention spans waned and wandered after that, and it allowed me to work with all of the students each week.

By the 3rd week, the children were comfortable with each other and looked forward to coming.  Their skills were not progressing as much as their enthusiasm, but that wasn't important at that point.  On that 3rd week, something unexpected and amazing happened.  Each group morphed into a real knitting group!  By that I mean that they did just exactly what all of us adults do when we sit down to knit or crochet with others--they began to talk about whatever was on their minds, to share ideas, family tidbits, and successes.

I was reminded of times when my own girls were toddlers and just getting their feet to take flight. They would take off running in one direction while looking in another, and run smack dab into a wall or doorway (it only took once for each child).  The Friday Morning Knitters (FMK) were doing the same; their hands kept moving and they looked at each other when they talked--with about the same success.  Stitches slipped off, or the yarn didn't get wrapped around the needle.  But all that gave me great opportunities to teach them the correct way to do things, and gave me many chuckles.

Things were going quite well . . . until standardized testing interrupted! During the testing, no volunteers are allowed on campus, and we had to stop for several weeks.  So today, my expectations were not very high; they are quite young, after all.  But, again, I was surprised by these little people.  Their muscles still remembered the basics, but most importantly to me, their enthusiasm had not flagged during the hiatus.

I don't hold any lofty thoughts of how they will go home and knit this summer, but I do hope that each one has had a positive experience with a craft. And that the next time a needle or hand-craft opportunity presents itself, they will take it with the same enthusiam and joy that they did this year.