Y’all, I absolutely love this design. It’s worked from the center out in two identical pieces, and you are always (or almost always) looking at the right side of the bag, so you can let the raised design lead you through all of the post stitch madness. I finished it with the most perfect bird fabric lining (which hopefully you’ll be able to see if you purchase the e-book) and leather handles. I was really kind of sad when it got cut from the winter magazine due to space constrictions, but it will be interesting to see how this e-book does. I haven’t seen it myself, yet, but I’m told it has full diagrams which will make this a breeze to work! Crochet cables are so much fun to me, and I especially love working them in the round, so I was glad to have the opportunity to use the technique on something other than a hat. (I love my Petal Beret, but I think the lace weight yarn has kept more people from making it).

In addition to my Thundersnow Bag, the E-book contains three other projects: Wintergreen Cowl (made in Bruges Lace) by Ellen Gormley, Snowflake Beret by Doris Chan, and Crystalline Earrings by Natasha Robarge. You can read more about it here (hint: click the Table of Contents tab), be sure to check it out!

Photo by Tracy Harris for KnitCircus.

And while I have you here, I’ve also just released a PDF of my Cherry Cordial Scarf, originally published in KnitCircus Gifts. You can read more about it in my first blog post–it’s just a fun, fast, squishy scarf that adds a lot of texture to your look. It’s lovely worked in the Akpana yarn, which is quite lofty, but any worsted weight yarn will do (check out these projects on Ravelry). The pattern is $5 on Ravelry, and also on Craftsy, where I am now selling crochet patterns as well! More to be added soon. And for those of you who have emailed me about PDFs of designs I had published in Inside Crochet, don’t worry, they’re coming as fast as I can re-edit and re-format them.

Hope you have a nice weekend full of stitching, and that maybe it actually feels wintery where you are!

Just wanted to thank you for such a wonderful treasure in the book, Little Crochet. I finished the owl pillow this summer and he lives in my grade three classroom….Mr. Owl. He sits on the stool at the front of the room until a student happens to have a deskmate absent…in third grade we call deskmates elbow partners . If you don’t have an elbow partner, you may borrow Mr. Owl. He sits nicely in the absent deskmate’s seat, comes to the carpet at opening exercises, becomes your reading partner…he even made a trip to the library! Needless to say the kids love it. Thanks for helping me make some special memories with my class:-)– Mrs. R.

It’s these kinds of emails and stories that make me love what I do–it makes me smile to know that I play that small part in helping people create wonderful things. Thanks to Mrs. R for sharing her story with me– her third graders are lucky to have her as their teacher, don’t you think?

If you’d like to make your own Mr. Owl, you can find the pattern for the Soft Owl Pillow in Little Crochet or individually here: Soft Owl Pillow E-Pattern.  Let me know if you make one, I love to see my designs “in the wild!”

Speaking of wild, I’m off to the National NeedleArts Association trade show in Phoenix this weekend, so all will be quiet on the blog front. Sorry for the lack of regular posting, but I’ve been busy cooking up new patterns for you!

I took some new pictures of my sister Mary modeling it this weekend. She’s wearing it with bike shorts but of course it would be really lovely with a colorful slip underneath. There’s a bit of lace detailing at the hem and an almost hidden contrast color edging. By changing stitch heights, you’ll create a gentle flared shape as you go, without really having to think too  much about the stitching. Tammy generously made most of this sample for me, I just did the finishing. After that we joked about hey, she’s my boss (at the yarn shop) and what the heck happened? She is a great crocheter even though knitting is her true love.

$3.50 thru Jan 31, 2012

The Lace Skirt takes about 860-1100 yards of DK weight yarn, depending on your size, and is written from XS (26″ waist) to XXL (39″) waist. If you don’t actually want to measure your waist, just keep crocheting till it fits comfortably around you. I won’t judge! I used Rowan’s wool/cotton- the blend is nice because wool is a bit lighter and has more m memory than cotton, so it won’t overstretch, but the cotton makes it nice for Spring. Through January, the pattern PDF is on sale for only $3.50, after which it will be $5, so get it while it’s hot!

One thing I can show you is another wreath. This one is a small 10-incher. Me and Tammy (my LYS owner) went hurriedly from store to store to try to find enough wreath forms for my class but I guess there was a run on them! So I ended up with a 10″ wreath, and my students got their pick of 10, 12, and 14″.  I used some blues and purples for this one, along with some pretty ribbon that I’ve been hoarding for a while.  I am  not as in love with this wreath, mainly because I brought a different yarn than I’d planned on using to cover the wreath. Whoops! Still cute, though, and I think it’s out of my system for now.

I’m also making some small little gifties for a special group of ladies, and I’m quite pleased with how they came out. Freddie helped by keeping the yarn warm. I kind of wish I’d made a fifth thing-which-shall-not-be-named for myself, but oh well. I know I can make one any time but chances are slim that I’ll do it now that I’ve mass produced the set for gifts.

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In other news, I wanted to mention that a select few of the twenty-four patterns in Little Crochet are now available as individual e-patterns! Perfect for those of you who only wanted to make one pattern in the book, you can now purchase a select few patterns on Amazon,  Barnes and Noble, or wherever E-books are sold. The following patterns are available*: Soft Owl Pillow, , Hooded Capelet, Sunshine Blanket, Sweet Daisy Sundress, and Stripe the Giraffe. Enjoy!

*These are affiliate Amazon.com links. There’s no easy way to see the whole group, so I thought I’d list them.

And, I’ve chosen the winner of the Softies book. Go to that post to see! There were a LOT of great tips in the comments, so if you like to make amigurimi, be sure to read through them. Thanks to everyone who commented!

First, I wanted to share this FREE pattern of mine: the Pill(ow) Popper, courtesy of Caron. The pillow is made with a few skeins of Vickie Howell’s Sheep(ish) and it was pure fun to design it. Vickie requested wanted a retro modern pillow and the yarn is so smooth and has such strong stitch definition that I knew I wanted to do bobbles. I also knew I wanted to start in the middle, for two reasons. One, I like to avoid foundation chains as much as the next hooker. Two, I know *a lot* of crocheters don’t swatch (tsk tsk!!) and this way it’s easier to stop when you achieve the desired size for your pillow–this one is sized for a 16 incher. I started with the whole thing being bobbled but quickly realized I would run out of yarn, so I futzed with it and came up with this rendition, which I absolutely love. I like that the bobbles create these diagonal lines that are punctuated by the tuft of the grey crocheted button. Make this one, it’s fun and inexpensive and fun and fun. And if you like bobbles as much as I do, be sure to check out my Artichoke Hat and Cherry Cordial Scarf pattern PDFs.

In other orange news, I may have started something over at Yarnivore. I think my coworker (and knitter extraordinaire) Wendy has gone over the crochet edge making birdies using my Bird Mobile pattern from Little Crochet (see more info on how in this post). She showed me all of her birdies at work today, there are at least 20 of them and they look GREAT! She said she got about 11 of them from one skein of Noro Silk Garden sock, including tassels and winding off bits of less desirable colors. I would stage an intervention soon except that I’m thrilled that my evil plan is working and have no problem with her hooking away. Plus, she still does plenty of the knitting. Be sure to check out a few of her sock patterns on Ravelry (I’m told there are more to come!).

And for my last update on the orange theme, I’ve been trying to gain speed on this can’t-tell-you-about-it-just-yet tang orange project (made with the wonderful Cascade Pure Pima, delish!) but every time I get going this happens.

In case you’re wondering, this is closer to the true color of the yarn.

Side snorgler view. It’s a good thing he’s cute, but dang, I feel like my productivity is definitely suffering. Oh well. It’s hard to say no to him.

What color is on your radar right now?

The first project I have to tell you about is in a book by Tanis Gray,  called Knit Local: Celebrating America’s Homegrown Yarns. It’s a charming book, full of mostly knitting (and 2 crochet!) patterns, all inspired by American-made yarns. The best part about this book, if you ask me, is reading all of the stories about the history of over thirty yarn companies. In my opinion, many of the people working in the yarn industry, myself included,  do it  for love–and I love to read about the whys and hows, plus see pretty pictures of cute sheep, alpaca, goats and more.  The patterns are wonderful too, ranging from pillows and shrugs to cowls, vests and gloves. Many of them only take a few skeins of yarn, which is great because it makes supporting local yarn companies doable, even if you are on a budget.

My project is the Wildflowers scarf, a very simple lace pattern that utilizes increases and decreases to make the pointy petal shapes. At the time, I was interested in experimenting with them, because most crochet patterns tend to use chains and skipped stitches–for instance, filet crochet. I also wanted to do something in jut one skein of the luxurious–and boy howdy is it luxurious–yarn, Buffalo Gold Lux. The finished scarf measures about 5″ wide by 74″ long, but if I had it to do again I’d probably start with a shorter foundation chain and make a shorter, wider ascot-style scarf. It was really a treat to work with such a high quality fiber (a blend of bison, cashmere, silk, and tencel) and I’m honored that Tanis asked me to contribute to the book. Even if you don’t knit, Knit Local is worth checking out just for the sheer volume of information about American yarn companies. That is, assuming you are a dork like me.

Full Disclosure: Book links are Amazon affiliate links, and I have a project in this book, so they sent me a free copy of it. Also, I used to eat lunch with Tanis at least a few days a week for a couple of years, so, I might be biased.

Today we went to two Thanksgivings, one in Austin and one here in San Antonio. We’re thankful for our families, our health, and our new little pup, among other things. I’m also thankful for Thanksgiving- making the above pies reminded me of how much I like to cook!

I’m also thankful for you, crochet fans! Now through Saturday, 11/26 at midnight, get 25% off of the patterns in my Ravelry shop with coupon code: FOODCOMA. You do not need to be a Ravelry member to purchase, just be sure to enter the code before you check out (if you click this link it should already be entered for you–then click “view available items” to get to the shopping).

And, please remember to support small businesses (such as your local yarn shop) as you shop for the holidays. Yarnivore is having a sale from Friday through Monday, with twenty percent off featured yarns. Great for last-minute gifts or to treat yourself for being nice all year!

For this wreath (ravelry link), I ended up using Brown Sheep Burly Spun in Fuschia to cover the form and crochet one of my favorite ornamental edgings. Then I went to town on flowers and leaves, using my free Autumn Leaves pattern and the flower patterns I teach in Crafty Crochet Embellishments, modified to have 8 petals. Of course, any flowers and leaves you like will do. I used a variety of yarns in my stash: Harrisville Chunky (the pink flower the bird is on, and the large leaf), Noro Cash Iroha (light pink flower), Anzula Cricket (the leaves and flower with hand-dyed tonal variation that goes perfectly with the birdie), and Stitch Nation Full O’ Sheep (the purple flower). I also started a blue and white rendition, and you should have seen the MESS I made trying to dig out and mix all of the yarns. I loved every minute of it….but I didn’t love putting it all back in its place.

I even blocked the flowers before I sewed them on, which I thought I should show you so that you believe me. I actually used every last T-pin to spread out all of the flowers and leaves. People always ask me if they should really block things, even after I’ve spent several sentences explaining the benefits. “But what about afghans? And small things? And acrylic? Is it really worth blocking them?” Yes, in my opinion, it really is. Try it, and you’ll see. There is no harm in trying.

If you’re in San Antonio (or nearby), I’d love you to join me in making a wreath at Yarnivore on Saturday, December 3rd from 3-5 PM. Classes are always more fun when they are full, because we can share our ideas and stories as we crochet. We’ll even pick up the wreath forms for you if you sign up in advance.  I’ll also give you free patterns for all of the flowers and leaves I used, and I’ll probably save my blue/white wreath assembly for that day. Hope to see you there!

I really like that the lessons can be watched over and over again, and that over-my-shoulder view is very helpful for learning. I really enjoy responding to all of the questions and seeing the progress of my students, and seeing the completed projects, of course! I love to teach one-on-one, and this gives me a way to do it on a larger level than just my private lessons at the shop–I have students as far away as Paris, Hong Kong and Australia–which I think is awesome. I learn so much just by teaching–both because of students sharing tips I might not know, and also learning what is difficult for people to understand. It is super helpful to keep in mind when I design patterns.

Here are just a few favorites from my Beyond Rectangles Class (click this link and get it for only $30, same for my Crafty Crochet Embellishments class.)

Top Left: Caitlin Baby Cardigan by Sally B; Top Right: Hello Kitty Cardi by Sammy (in Hong Kong!)
Bottom Left: Isobel’s Cardigan by Angela Tong; Bottom Right: Pumpkin Cardi by WolfeHart

And here are some of the nice comments that people have sent to me about the class:

tsitsifly30997: After crocheting scarves & afghans and baby blankets for 52 years, it’s nice to finally learn how to make sweaters. I have always admired garments but just didn’t know how or have the confidence to tackle them. This is so easy to follow and learn. Thank you so much for making this video. I’m really enjoying it and learning so many tips and tricks that will help me with all my crocheting projects.

Charlotte Norwa: Just wanted to say: thank for the way you teach – calm and friendly – giving the oportunity to learn in an easy-going way. Love to hear you mention possible issues – and show us a way to solve these little problems that we may meet as we go along with this learning project.

theangelloft: I have been crocheting for almost 38 years and I’m basically self taught since there were no crocheters when I started. Now with the advent of internet online classes a whole new world has opened up to me. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve learned in taking your class, Linda. It is such a blessing. As mentioned earlier, I teach as well and it has made the most enormous impact on my teaching view and what I can pass on to my students. I have always used a crochet hook to weave ends and I am now a die hard convert to needle weaving. Not to mention blocking. My sweater is just perfect and I can’t imagine how I’ve gone this many years without blocking. Your class has changed my crochet life. Thank you SO much.

harpyknight:I have the same neurological response to patterns that I used to get to Algebra, so I really appreciate the casual, friendly way you broke it down. I even stopped hyperventilating! Thanks, Linda!

If you’re on the fence, I encourage you to try it. There is nothing like learning from a person who you can ask questions! And, just to let you know because the holidays are coming, you can also give any of these classes as a gift–or, receive them, of course!

First up is the Jeanne Lois Bandit, a triangular shawlette that I like to wear ‘granny bandit’ style. (No, I didn’t design the yarn bomb in the photo! But yes, that confused a lot of people.)  I wanted to create a triangular shawl that got wider faster than it got tall, in order to create a good length so I could wrap it around my neck without a huge triangle of fabric hanging in front. The stitch pattern is really easy to memorize, and there are little lace diamonds worked along the border to give it a little something.  They’re tough to see in the photo and yarn selected, but here is a photo I took of the sample before I sent it off. This has more contrast so you can make out the design.

I’ve made this one about four times now (here are two examples), and it’s a fun intro to lace for those of you who might be scared by the tiny yarn. Why? Because you’re pretty much only working into chain spaces (no long foundation chain), and you can make the shawl as large or small as you want, the pattern gives tips on how to do this.

My second pattern in this issue is an any-size slipper pattern, called Mary Janes, Little Slippers and Loafers. For all its simplicity, I struggled with this one a bit because I really wanted to write a pattern that would work for any size foot. I get a lot of emails requesting more slipper patterns, so here’s my answer.

Each of the slippers is embellished in a different way, so I also contributed an article on ways to personalize yours. I got to showcase one of my favorite techniques–surface slip stitch (which was used to make the stripes on the blue slippers), and also talked about edgings, flowers, and stars. These work up quickly from worsted weight yarn, and if you don’t have the recipient’s foot handy, you can just ask them to have someone trace it (while they are standing up) and send the outline to you, then work from those measurements.

Be sure to check out this issue when you have a chance–it should be on newsstands and in LYSes by now.