Archives for October 2013

Frameable Non-Crochet Non-Knit Project Challenge

Frameable Non-Crochet and Non-Knit Yarn Project Challenge

Our local knit and crochet group came up with another quirky challenge. Here’s a list of the criteria:

  1. No knitting or crochet could be used in the project.
  2. It had to be frameable.
  3. It had to be between 8×10 and 11×14 inches in size.
  4. It had to be 25% yarn or more.

Two people were up for the challenge and two people were up for the judging. Interestingly enough, each judge favored a different project…so in the end, it was a tie for first place.

bamboo

Bamboo Plastic Canvas Project

This mixed media piece was inspired by the panda bear, a native species in China. The black and white background is made of yarn stitched on the diagonal over plastic canvas. The bamboo is created with scrapbook paper. The Chinese characters is the word “Bamboo”, which is the common diet for panda bears.

Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Black and White

Measures: 11″ x 14″

This project was designed by Deborah, who also designed the free panda baby hats.

Starry Night – Fauxchet Hook Rug

starry-night-hook-rug

This hook rug project was created with a fauxchet tool and a variety of medium and bulky weight yarns. The image was drawn onto canvas with a marker, then hooked right from the skeins of yarn. The cut loops and the color and texture of the yarns simulate the impressionist style of the original painting.

This frameable piece would require the use of a 3D frame, though the judges thought the softness of the piece would make it better suited as a pillow.

Supercoloring.com has a free coloring page of Starry Night which was used as the template for this project.

Yarn: Lion Brand: Vanna’s Choice and Homespun

Measure: 8″ x 11″

This project was designed by Dana who also designed other free fauxchet patterns.

Published in Love of Crochet – Holiday Issue 2013

Published in Love of Crochet – Holiday Issue 2013

love-of-crochet-holiday-issue-2013Once again we’ve got some cute crochet patterns published in the Holiday issue of Love of Crochet available in stores October 14, 2013. We are so thrilled to bring you these fun designs.

We’ve created some beautiful patterns that can be crocheted as gifts for him, for her and for dog lovers!

While all the patterns are easy, the his and hers cowl were specifically designed as beginner projects. With just a little tweak, the masculine gaitor designed for him transforms into a beautiful cowl for her.

If you want to pamper your pet and crochet something for those who love them, then there are a few patterns just for you.

His and Hers Cowls

his-and-hers-cowl

We’ve created a simple cowl design for him and her that’s perfect for beginners. Check out the “Learn to Crochet” section for the “Ice Fishing Gaitor” and the “Grey Lady Cowl”.

We specifically wanted to make a pattern that a beginner could use for masculine and feminine projects. One that would be easily modified so that a new crocheter can get two very different looking garments from one simple design. Reading a pattern can be stressful, particularly for a new crocheter. We’re alleviating the stress this holiday season with this His and Hers design.

Pictured with the “Grey Lady Cowl” is an alternative yarn: Red Heart Boutique.

Pet Lovers Trio

Pet-Lovers

Update 5/15/2014: These patterns are now available in the store as a set or individually!
Dogs Days Trio  –  Dog Bone Pillow  –  Paw Purse  –  Pocket Organizer

Dog Days Trio pattern on Etsy.

Dog Bone Pillow pattern on Etsy.

Paw Purse pattern on Etsy.

Pocket organizer pattern on Etsy.

This set was born out of practicality and my (Dana) love for my dog, Joy – a white lab. The dog toys, treats and medicines were spilling out of one of my kitchen cabinets and it was driving me crazy. So, I created a pocket organizer that hangs by my back door.

Once I started crocheting dog stuff, well, I couldn’t stop. Thus the treat purse and dog bone pillow!

I chose pink to compliment the brown on the set because the dog and I both love pink. (Ok, she’s probably color blind, but it makes me happy.)

Choose Your Color

The great thing about all five of these projects is that they would look great in any color you or the guys in your life prefer. If, for example, you’re making a cowl for a boy…when they pick camo colors, the gaitor will look great! Or if they want team colors, it’ll look even better!

Top 6 Favorite Things about the CGOA Knit and Crochet Show 2013

My sister and I attended the Knit and Crochet Show in Charlotte, NC last week which is sponsored and/or organized by the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA). Wow, what an experience. This was our first time attending such an event. Here were 6 of our favorite things about the show:

1: Design Competition

The CGOA has an annual design competition that is open to all of its members. And since friendly competition inspires us, we couldn’t resist entering 4 crocheted items.

deborah's entries

Congrats to Deborah for taking 3rd place in the Artistic Expressions category with her owl bean bag chair. And for receiving honorable mention in both the afghans category (granny square blanket) and artistic expressions category (lamp and faun outfit).

twins-with-doris-chan

The photo’s not great, but Doris is!

The event was organized/directed by Doris Chan. We tip our hats to her for making it a seamless and enjoyable event to participate in. Organizing 100 entries is a big task. And we are beyond thankful for her efforts.

Photos of all the entries and the winners can be seen at dorischancrochet.com.

2. The CGOA Dinner & Fashion Show

We were particularly moved by Rita Weiss’s acceptance speech as the newest inductee into the Jean Leinhauser Crochet Hall of Fame. She is truly a gifted writer and hearing about her advocacy of crochet was inspiring.

Margaret and Rita

Rita Weiss (right) with Margaret Hubert

One humorous highlight in Rita’s speech was hearing her describe the different between crochet and knitting to a former boss as being a matter of working with one pencil vs. two. I’ve never heard it described quite like that. Her speech inspired us to want to pick up a pencil and crochet (or at least, write down a pattern or two).

The Dinner ended with a beautiful fashion show of crocheted (and knitted) pieces created by CGOA members. The diversity was splendid and included elegant wraps, intimate apparel and cozy afghans.

A special thank you to Marcy Smith for MCing the event and making us chuckle a time or two with her creative interpretation of the hand written descriptions of the fashions.

3. The Friendships and Comradery

Being a shy pair, the friendliness and encouragement everyone showed toward each other came as a bit of a surprise. And a pleasant one! It’s exactly what we’ve been needing and longing for…to be among people who understand and love being crochet designers.

The support and encouragement that CGOA members share with each other is, in a word, heartwarming. I arrived underestimating its value, but left understanding how priceless it is.

We met several well known designers and lots of lesser known ones.

Lilly Chin called us out in one meeting for not wearing a crocheted items at the event…but she was mistaken because we sported our “Twin 1” and “Twin 2” bags (inspired by The Cat in the Hat) with us everywhere we went. We love the spunk that this Queen of self promotion has.

twiins-with-mickey

Love that hat, Mikey!

Mikey from The Crochet Crowd was a lot of fun to chat with. The King of video impressed us with his business savvy. If he’s ever speaking at a crochet show…I definitely want to attend!

Twins-with-Margaret-Hubert

Forgive the crazy eyes! Dana apparently needs more sleep!

We stopped Margaret Hubert in the hall to rave about her sweaters…not realizing that we were talking to the Goddesss of free form. Her work is breathtaking and she is super sweet.

4. A Buddy for Newbies

Being newbies, we requested to have a buddy at the show, someone who could answer questions and show us the ropes. We thoroughly enjoyed our buddy group. We enjoyed lots of laughs and many pleasant conversations about crochet. We love these ladies and look forward to meeting up with them at future shows! Thanks, Nirmal, for taking care of us. It was great hanging out with you Barabara.

show-buddies

Awesome buddy group: Barabara, Nirmal and us.

A big hug goes to Kate Steinke for coordinating the buddy groups. She is a ball of energy full of laughs and encouragement. Such a doll.

5. Knowledgable Instructors

We took a few classes while at the event. The instructors blew us away with their knowledge of their craft. The samples they brought that showcased the techniques we learned was impressive.

dana-with-jennifer-hansen

Jennifer’s designs are definitely beyond the basics!

A big thank you to Jennifer Hansen (Craftsy Instructor I’ve blogged about in the past), Vashti Braha, Karen Klemp and Dora Ohrenstein for sharing your passion with us!

6. Editor Meet and Greet

It was a treat to meet and chat with several magazine and book editors. We shared some of designs and learned a bit more about their submission process. We so appreciated that they took the time to attend the show to meet us newbies! Thank you Leisure Arts, Red Heart, Crochet! and Interweave Crochet!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

A special thank you to all the sponsors of the show. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting several people from Lion Brand, Red Heart, Annie’s and Crochetville, as well as the goodies we got from several other companies.

I’m not quite sure who to thank for all the behind the scenes work. There were a myriad of volunteers who helped create a smooth and delightful experience. Thank you all for everything you did.

 

Smiley Face Sugar Cookie Recipe & Crochet Smile

Smiley Face Sugar Cookie Recipe and Crochet Smile Cozy

Make any day a happy day with this smiley face sugar cookie recipe and crochet smile cozy!

smiley face sugar cookie recipe

With the wild and crazy colors available in food coloring and yarn…this project will have you grinning from ear to ear all day long.

If a friend or family member needs a little pick me up…this smiley face duo is sure to do the trick!

Let’s start with the sugar cookies because they need time to refrigerate before baking.

smiley face sugar cookiesSmiley Face Sugar Cookie Recipe

This sugar cookie recipe is quite sweet so we recommend that you make mini sugar cookies (approximately 2” diameter). We used a champagne flute as our cookie cutter.

COOKIE DOUGH INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup agave nectar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla

ICING INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • Dash of salt
  • Food coloring gel

cutting cookiesCOOKIE DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. With a wire whip, whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat butter, sugar and agave together until smooth.
  4. Stir egg and vanilla into butter mixture.
  5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix until blended.
  6. Chill cookie dough for at least 30 mintues.
  7. Roll out dough on a floured surface until ¼” thick. Cut out cookie shapes (we used a champagne flute).
  8. Place cookies on cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes.
  9. Place cookies on wire rack to cool.
  10. While cookies are cooling, make icing.

sugar cookies iced

ICING DIRECTIONS:

  1. Pour all icing ingredients together into a bowl and stir until smooth.
  2. Separate icing into 5 bowls (or number of colors you’ll be using).
  3. Add a few drops of food coloring into one of the bowls and stir until color is consistent.
  4. Repeat step 3 for all the colors you want.
  5. Ice the cookies with the colored icing.
  6. For dark grey icing, add a bit of several colors of the food colorings into one of the bowls and stir, adding more of needed colors until you get the color desired.
  7. Place dark grey icing into a sandwich bag and squeeze it to one corner of the bag. With scissors, cup off the very tip of the corner. The bag can now be used as a pastry bag.
  8. Draw smiles onto cookies with pastry bag.

crochet smile cozyCrochet Smile Cozy

You can’t wipe the smile off the face of this mason jar cozy! No matter what you say or do, it will keep smiling that cheeky grin.

This is a great stash buster for all of the bright and cheerful colors you have in your remnant pile. We’ve used several fun colors from Vanna’s Choice yarn.

Skill Level: Easy

Stitches Used: Chain, Slip Stitch, Single Crochet, Double Crochet

Techniques Used: Crochet in the Round

SUPPLIES:

  • Vanna’s Choice Yarn: Worsted Weight (4)
    Yellow: DUCKIE, BLACK
    (Pink: Berrylicious, Black)
    (Green: Fern, Black)
  • Crochet Hook: H
  • Yarn Needle for Sewing
  • Mason Jar

3 cozies flat

COZY INSTRUCTIONS:

Duckie

Hook: H

Ch 34, join with a sl st.

Rnd 1-10: Sc around. (34)

Sl St. Finish off. Weave in end.


Black
EYE INSTRUCTIONS: (make 2)

Hook: H

Ch 3

Row 1: Dc in 3rd ch from hook.

Finish off leaving a long tail for sewing.

MOUTH INSTRUCTIONS:

Black

Hook: H

Ch 8

Finish off leaving a long tail for sewing.

ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Pin then sew Eyes to cozy. Weave in ends.
  2. Pin then sew Mouth to cozy. Weave in ends.

More Cozies in Store

coffee cup cozy patterns ebookLove this smile cozy? There are more seasonal, holiday and just for fun cozies in the store in our Crochet Cup Cozy eBook. We’ve created an entire collection with 28 designs one ebook.

Looking for the cup and mug version? They’re in the ebook.

Each design in the ebook has instructions to fit Mugs, Cups and Mason Jars. Every design has a delicious recipe or fun craft.

All 3 smiles pictured at the beginning of this post are in this ebook! AND the ebook includes 4 new designs – Dracula, Vampire, Mummy and Blue Jeans.

Available in the StoreRead more about the set:

Blog: Coffee Cup Cozy Collection

Store: Coffee Cup Cozy Collection