Crochet for Kids

by Kelly

I know that Steph has been trying to teach her little girl how to crochet. Unfortunately, Steph is a righty and her daughter is a lefty, so that makes things a little tricky.

But that started me thinking about what kind of things a little girl would like to make. Well, doll clothes spring to mind, of course. But what else?

Luckily there are quite a few sources for this kind of thing. The Crochet Guild of America is a great place to start - they have a prepared list of free teaching materials and ideas.

eHow  also has a great tutorial showing how to get started, along with links to easy patterns and projects and even a printable 'graduation' certificate from the Yarn Council of America. 

But where to go for patterns?  This is a bit of a grey area for free pattern sites. Projects that kids could make themselves are mixed in with things like toys and clothes that are sized for children. 
 
Lion Brand Yarn has a couple of pages of free patterns. Sometimes Lion Brand requires a sign in, but these particular patterns seem to be readily available. Yes, there are some complicated amigurumi patterns that would make suitable  toys for kids, but there are also great small projects, including a doll afghan and a Harry Potter scarf bookmark.

Lion Brand Yarn

 


For less of a mixed bag of patterns, it might be better to look for a book. And where are lots of books to be found? Why, Amazon.com,  of course!

Amazon.com

Patterns in this book range from a cupcake shaped pincushion to a sweater with a hood. Stitches are limited to single crochet, with increases and decreases, so as not to discourage kids with too much of a learning curve. Personally, I haven't even made a sweater yet, but have mastered more than single crochet. Maybe I'm not pushing myself enough.




Of course, trying to find patterns that boys would like to crochet is a whole other problem. There are sports hats and  Hacky Sacks, (do kids still play with those??), but not much variety. But the Internet is a big place, so there may be something out there that I missed.


Meanwhile, how about something fun for both girls and boys - a kids playground in Japan, made entirely with crochet? I think this is still installed at the Hakone Open Air Museum, which sounds like a cool place in it's own right.

Crochet Today

Pretty amazing, right? But I have to say that I would hate to be the one keeping that place clean. That sounds like an art in itself. I'm picturing a really big vacuum cleaner...

New Things in the Shop

by Donna

Congratulations to Kimberley R. for winning our giveaway. I couldn't believe all the comments we received and I hope all of you continue to monitor our blog and make comments on our posts. We certainly got lots of new ideas to make for our shop. To start, I have made a pair of fingerless gloves and they are now listed in our shop. Here is a picture of them. I used a free pattern from this site. I really love the way they look. The only thing I would do differently if I made them again would be to add a couple more rows to them to make them a little longer.

I also listed this chenille scarf. I have never worked with chenille. The yarn looks like it is made with a lot of fibers on a string. I found that you have to be careful with the yarn. If you have to take stitches apart the fibers separate and often the stitches knot and you can't get them apart without breaking the yarn. I couldn't get my foundation chain the correct length and when I tried to take it apart, fibers knotted up and I had to cut the yarn off and start again. I will use chenille again but I learned something.

The finished scarf is made from the pattern at this site. It is very warm and pretty and I love the bumpy popcorn detail down the middle of the scarf.

Hooray, Crochet Giveaway Winner

by Kelly


random.org has spoken, and we have a winner! Congratulations, Kimberley R!

While we're waiting for Kimberley to email us, we'd like to thank all who participated for the wonderful and thoughtful comments. We've had a great time reading your suggestions, and all of us have been inspired.

I'd also like to thank all those who advertised our giveaway, including CraftGossip and Contestgirl. You helped us reach an audience all over the world, from Spain and Belgium to Serbia. When I was a kid, I always loved getting postcards from my brother who was travelling in Europe, and I still get a kick out of hearing from far away places.


In the future for us are embroidered baby items, fingerless gloves and mitts, some brightly  colored amigurumi animals, afghans and totes, and much, much more. We've even discussed the possibility of making up kits for beginners and kids, which would include a very simple pattern, yarn, a hook or set of knitting needles, and a sample. Putting the kits together might even reduce Donna's yarn stash...or maybe not, but it's worth a try!

I have a long list of new projects to work on, so I'm going to stop typing and pick up my embroidery needle and floss. Congrats, Kimberly! We'll be waiting to hear from you.

Update - Kim has contacted us, so the giveaway is now officially over. It's been a lot of fun, so we'll probably have another one in due time. Meanwhile, we hope you'll visit us occasionally to see what we're up to and give us your thoughts and suggestions on our projects.  Thanks again!

Year of the Dragon

by Kelly

Chinese New Year has come and gone, and this is officially The Year of the Dragon. I have been trying to find a sewing pattern for a plush dragon without much luck, but I did stumble across some interesting things along the way...

First, there's this adorable little guy from All About Ami. Look at those ears/wings! Aww!

All About Ami

Then there's this more traditional European version from LucyRavenscar.

LucyRanvenscar shop

Also available on her site is a free pattern for a wee knight to do battle with the fierce crochet dragon:

But to be more true to the chinese style of dragon, this knitting pattern can't be beat:

Ellen's Whimsical Wonders

 This pattern is supposed to be intermediate level, using both knitting and crochet techniques.  Hmmm.... sounds like an interesting challenge.

Heart Scarf Lifeline

by Kelly

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I'm working on a tricky heart scarf.

Even though this isn't a lace pattern, it's a 15 row repeat, so after a few episodes of frogging, I decided to try using a lifeline. I saw this technique on KnittingHelp. That link goes to a video showing how it's done.

Pardon the pun, but I heart this technique!

   How it works

First, complete one repeat of the pattern. Then thread a tapestry needle with some contrasting yarn and pull it through the loops on your needle, leaving a little bit hanging out on either side. Then begin another repeat of the pattern. If you make a mistake,  just take your knitting needle out of your work and begin unravelling. When you reach the lifeline, the stitches are trapped on that spare bit of yarn, so you can't accidentally unravel past it. Then just slip the stitches back on your needle and you're ready to try again.

If you're like me and make a lot of mistakes, you already know how to put the stitches back on your needle. If not, check out this link to a YouTube video.

This has saved me a ton of hair pulling! I can't recommend this method enough.

The scarf is for sale in our shop here.

Wow! And an Apology

 by Kelly


Such a wonderful (if a bit overwhelming) response to our giveaway!

Hopefully I have all the bugs worked out now, and there should be no further mistakes on my part. I am working on restoring the deleted comments on the giveaway post. The draw itself will be done with information from the email account that holds all the posted comments, so my meddling will have no effect on the draw. No personal information will be displayed when the winner is posted - only the user name provided. Once again, I sincerely apologize for what has happened.


On a more positive note, I am amazed by all the beautiful and creative ideas and suggestions we've received! Your help in inspiring us is much appreciated. I personally have quite a list of possibilities that I can't wait to explore.

There were a number of questions asked which may be answered in individual posts as the week goes on. And a little birdy told me that one of us may be working on developing patterns, so that's an exciting development. Whether they will be free or for sale in the shop hasn't been determined yet.

So thank you, everyone who has responded so far! We are having a great time reading the comments, and can't wait to see what the rest of the week will bring.

Hooray! Crochet Giveaway

by Kelly

We're having a giveaway!

Lately we've been working on improving our shop, and we've decided that we could use a little impartial advice. In return for your help, you'll earn a chance to win some cool crochet stuff. We'll get to the rules in just a second, but first let's talk about the prizes.

We worked hard to choose things that would be useful and interesting to all crocheters, whether they're just starting out or are very experienced.

 Here are the items that you might win!

•  an exclusive 50% off coupon code for our shop.
• Two sets of Susan Bates crochet hooks.  Eleven hooks total.
• 2012 Crochet pattern calendar
• 50 More Crocheted Afghan Borders by Jean Leinhauser

The Susan Bates crochet hooks are Silvalumes and Crystalites, size F5 (3.75mm) through size K10.5 (6.5mm) And yes, folks, those are the old style Silvalumes. There's a bit of controversy over their recent redesign, so if you've been looking for the originals, here's your chance to win a set.

There are three ways to enter our Hooray! Crochet giveaway.

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Check out our shop over there in the sidebar or at this link and pick out your favorite item, then tell us what it was in your comment.

3. Give us ideas! Name one thing that isn't in our shop that you would like to see. And no, it doesn't have to be a crochet item or crochet supplies. Between us we also embroider, cross stitch, do plastic canvas work, quilt, knit, and spend a lot of time in our respective gardens.

If you do all of the above, you will receive three entries for the giveaway.

That's all you have to do! And don't worry if your comments don't appear right away - our moderation is on to prevent spam from clogging the giveaway.
 
 The giveaway will end on  February 7th, 2012. The winner will be announced in a blog post on February 8th, and contacted by email if that information is provided. The winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen. When the winner has contacted us, we will officially close the contest with a final giveaway post.

                                    Technical Stuff

Please make sure your name is unique. Example: 'Kelly 178' or 'applejacks' would be good choices.

Winner will be chosen by use of random.org.

International shipping available for the giveaway, so if you're outside the U.S. you're welcome and eligible to win!


Good luck everyone! We can't wait to see your comments and suggestions!

 You will notice a lot of deleted posts in the comment section. This is solely because of my inexperience in handling this amount of action on our blog. If your email has been accidentally posted so that it is visible, you have my sincerest apologies. I am currently reading through every comment to ensure that all private info is indeed private. If your comment was deleted, it will be restored in such a way that your privacy is ensured. This may take some time.
Once again, I am truly sorry that this happened.  - Kelly