Check out Odessa’s rockin’ Spaceman Tee, made from the Tiny Tee Appliques pattern. I love the look of the round buttons here, and that adorable smile.  I still need to make one of these for my nephew.

Whittni stitched up this adorable Petite Cardigan (Ribbed Cardigan pattern) with just a few minor changes. I know she worked hard on this sweater–her very first–and I was happy to help her through it.

Shara made this eye-catching Rainbow Ball using the Tegue’s Jingle Ball pattern. I love the colors she chose, and if you read her project notes you’ll see that she popped a rattle inside instead of the jingle bell. Very cute! (P. S. Shara also makes the cutest little brooches and hat patterns, read her blog for more info!)

And here are some upsized Cozy Crawlers that Amy made (pattern page), by simply calculating the  new gauge for her 6-year-old friend. Since many of the patterns in the book are made in finer gauge yarns, more experienced stitchers can definitely upsize them by using larger yarn + hooks. It’s very easy to do that with this pattern, and I think these cotton leggies turned out great.

See all of the Little Crochet projects on Ravelry right here! Note that you must be a ravelry member to see them, but it is free to join (and really, I don’t know how you can crochet or knit and not be on it!).

I’ve noticed more patterns popping up from Crochet Adorned, too, which is so great! The combination of seeing these and the hot hot Texas heat of the past week has made my sewing urge kick in again. In my head, the unnofficial title for this book was “Crochet Loves Sewing”, even though there are plenty of non-sewing projects in there and a lot of the sewing is just applique. By the way, I still want to write an official Crochet Loves Sewing book, just throwing that out there to the universe. Hint.

I absolutely love Kristin’s take on the Butterfly Apron. She took the applique pattern and stitched it at a larger gauge, then added it to the back of her scoop-neck tee. Brilliant! I love details like this on clothing, and especially like her choice to put it on the back of the tee. This would also be a great way to fix up a tee that hangs off of your shoulders. You can read more about it on her blog, Briney Deep Designs.

Here’s an amazing version of the Pretty Petals Tank Top by Nona. She used Little Folks voile fabric and drafted her own pattern for the shirt, rather than going with a ready made tank. It’s lovely!

You can view all of the finished pretties from Crochet Adorned by clicking here. Thanks so much to everyone who shares their projects with me, and for buying my books. Enjoy!

Carrie made these bottle covers using her brilliant mind + some stitch patterns from Crochet Adorned.

In addition to being a crafter, mama, and maker of a creative first journal for kids, Carrie’s also an inspiring athlete who runs and bikes, sometimes while pregnant! I knew I wanted to include Carrie on my blog tour because she recently had a baby boy, so I thought some of the projects in Little Crochet might be perfect for her.  I made a special effort to include a lot of boy and unisex patterns in my book, after trying (+ failing!) to find cool patterns to make for my nephew. Carrie was happy to give one of the patterns a test run, and is sharing the results with you on her blog today. Head on over to see what she made!

I’m headed to Quilt Market this weekend and am excited to see some old friends. My lovely sister is chauferring me (what can I say, I was meant to be rich! And I. hate. driving.) and we’re going to go hang out with Drew Emborsky (aka The Crochet Dude) and Brett Bara at Sheryl Means’ shop, Yarntopia, on the way back.  Drew’s having a soiree for his new line of tools and book, Crochet It. Love It. Wear It! (amazon link). It should be lots of fun–swing by on Sunday (scroll down here for info)  if you are in the area.

For now, I’ll leave you with a gratuitous photo of some of the stitch pattern swatches from my book,  Crochet Adorned. You might not know it from looking online, but there are about 30 stitch patterns in the dictionary that you can use for baby blankets, scarves, wraps, bags, and anything else you want to make out of a rectangle. My idea was that you could start with a stitch pattern then add flowers and a trim, or whatever your heart desires, from the same stitch dictionary. These have been an awesome teaching tool to have around the shop, too, I just love showing off crocheted textures. I’ll tell you more about the reason I was photographing them sometime in the near future.

Kristin of Briney Deep Designs blogged about these cute elbow patches she made for a sweater of hers. As a mostly knitter, here’s what Kristin had to say in her post about the book: Perhaps the flexibility of the motifs is why I like Crochet Adorned so much. For example, I made elbow patches for an old sweater using a motif that was originally intended for a table mat. Overall, the book really encourages me to explore different uses for crochet that, as a knitter, I would not have otherwise realized were possible.

Jessica of Ayenforcraft converted an old pullover into a cardigan, then decorated it with bunches of blue flowers patterns she gathered  from the Garden Party Cardigan and Stitch Dictionary patterns. Very anthropologie! She even shares a tutorial for the sweater reconstruction right here–plus she was able to make all of the flowers from a skein leftover from another project.

Last but not least, Allison of Crafty Is Cool took the shoe embellishment idea to the next level and used daffodil pattern in the stitch dictionary to liven  up her flats. She says she absolutely loves them “and so do a few people that stopped me to ask about them when I was wearing them last night“.

Keep some refashioning ideas in mind as you unpack winter clothes that might not look as exciting this year as they did when you packed them away. A crocheted flower is the perfect way to hide a hole or stain, and a quick cut plus an edging can transform a too-snug sweater into a pretty cardigan. If you have a crochet project from my book that you’d like to share, pleaseadd it to the flickr group, post a link or email me to let me know!

Last night was my “Meet the Author” Event at Westfall Library here in San Antonio, and holy crap, a lot of people showed up! Enthusiastic crocheters (okay okay, and my mom and sister) filled up the room and it was a pleasant surprise! I talked a little bit about how I got started with crochet designing and why I decided to write a book (it’s really all Paul’s fault, for making me want to move out of NYC, and Susan’s fault, for suggesting something so crazy that I thought it might work. Thanks guys!).

Anyway, thanks so much to Theresa Ybarra for inviting me to speak,  helping me teach,  and taking the pictures (click through to the SAPL flickr page and you can see some more from the breakout “crochet a flower” section of the talk). We kind of forgot to take pictures while it was a full house, because my brain exploded wondering how I was going to teach 35 people to make a flower without some kind of on-screen display. That’s definitely something I need to figure out, I guess! But lots of people helped each other and  and many flowers were made. It was a great day for crocheting, and for me! I always love to meet new crocheters, so thank you to everyone who came by. Also a reminder– the Westfall Crafters group meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 2 PM and is open to everyone.

When I was living in New York, I only went to a couple of LYSs. I didn’t get cheerful service when I said that I was a crocheter, so after a few tries I stuck to the plentiful scrap boxes we had at Soho publishing. Then I moved to Montana and began to write my first book. Initially I visited the two shops there as a means to research yarns, but what I found on the way was a great community. Barb at the Bozeman Yarn Shop asked me if I wanted to teach crochet, and a few months later asked if I wanted part  time work in the store. I was hesitant at first, but once I started I realized that just being in the store helped generate a lot more interest in my classes and in crochet. It was also totally inspiring for me to see what other people were doing with the yarn we carried. Sometimes I inspired customers, sometimes they inspired me! On a personal level, it also helped me to get out of the house during a very stressful time in my life. Working from  home can be lonely, especially when you are new in town, and living in a basement very far away from my hurting family was making me crazy!!  Having somewhere to go a few days a week was so important for me. To be honest, I think that’s also important for our customers –they come in regularly for yarn, lessons and classes.

So I knew when I moved back to San Antonio that I needed to march right on in to one of the LYSs and beg for a job, which is exactly what I did.  It wasn’t  hard, and I didn’t end up having to beg because Tammy at Yarnivore snapped me right up! One of the things I love about working there is connecting with crocheters. I have no idea what it was like before I got there, but there are a ton of crocheters in the greater San Antonio area. Now that they know I’m there to answer questions, they keep coming in to see what’s new.  I was completely thrilled last weekend when Jeannie (above) walked in wearing the Pretty Petals Tank Top she made  from Crochet Adorned. I hadn’t met her before (she lives in another city), but she bought the  book on an earlier visit and just happened to be wearing the top. Her version was so well made and I was honored to see it in action.  I know leisure time is limited and I often tell my students that I get paid in appreciation, it’s really exciting when someone takes the time to work one of my patterns.

I also get  the opportunity to teach*, which keeps me in touch with what counts as easy or difficult in crochet.  Crocheting is not hard, but reading patterns can be– and teaching crocheters makes me really think about what makes a pattern easy to understand, and what I can do to motivate crocheters to explore the possibilities of creating beautiful fabric. I get to be a show-off –not only of my work, but of other skilled crochet designers (like Robyn Chachula, Doris Chan and Dora Ohrenstein). In my “spare time” (ha, ha) I make samples and teach classes based on their patterns. I love that we have so many crocheted samples in the store that are not just granny squares or double-crochet swatches (not that there’s anything wrong with those)– we have the same advanced samples that are abundant for knitters, to show crocheters what they can aspire to. I know I’ve done well when I hear knitters admiring crocheted pieces in the store. There are many, many needlecrafters who do both but haven’t thought about crochet in a while, and it’s only now working its way into the spotlight.

I think that as a craft, crochet is finally primed for its heyday, and that’s exciting. But without a community to share, it’s hard to get the fire going. So I’m writing this post to encouarage you, wherever you are, to seek out your local yarn shop. You don’t have to want to work there. But, bring samples of your best work. Show the owner what crochet can do. If you feel you are skilled enough and have the time, offer to teach or make samples for the store. I’m not saying that every yarn shop is friendly to crochet, but to be frank, some of them aren’t friendly to knitters either. It’s not you, it’s them, so it’s worth a shot to extend an offer.  And it really doesn’t need to be an us/them (knit/crochet) battle- we all love yarn, and most people do not actually look down on one craft or the other–they just know their craft, and they are having fun with it. So be a crochet ambassador and find your local community. Maybe it’s not in your shop, maybe it’s in a library or a CGOA guild. But the only way we can move crochet forward is by sharing and inspiring each other. It really is up to you!

And hey- if you already have a crochet friendly yarn shop, I’d like to hear about it! Please post in the comments and describe what it is about the shop that inspires you. And actually, I’d even like to hear what makes a good yarn shop in general, for any fiber artist–knitter, crocheter, tatter, spinner. It’s good fodder for an article I’m putting together, so I may even email you to learn more.

*Ps. The photo above is of my Broomstick Lace Workshop. Yes, we’re wearing pipe cleaners on our heads. We know how to have a good time!

The first mag was Inside Crochet, a UK crochet magazine that has a good mix of garments, home decor and other stuff to crochet (I like a good mix!). My design is the Summer Picnic Wrap, an airy wrap worked with join-as-you-go motifs. My inspiration for this motif started with a granny square, but I wanted to make it lacy and modern, so what I came up with is the very-simple-to-work  hybrid of geometry and lace. The sample is worked in a DK weight organic cotton yarn (a light one at that) but I also think this would be gorgeous in a worsted weight yarn with nice drape and tonal color variations, so I can’t wait to see if people make it. This is my first contribution to the mag and there are more on the way!

The second envelope I opened contained Knit Simple’s Fall 2010 issue. Y’all –I can say that, now that I’m back in Texas– this is a really great magazine. Although I admit they don’t have a ton of crochet designs–mine is the only one in this issue–the designs on these pages have a truly classic and simple style. I think I may even knit one of them! And I know their editor does try to include crochet designs, so the more we speak up the more we might see them.  My contribution was this layette set–pullover, hat, booties and blanket. I worked each piece with slightly different stripe widths, because I wanted them to go together without being overwhelmingly matchy. Handy tutorials on working bobbles, decreases, and changing colors seamlessly are included. I think any little boy–or girl–would look cute in this, and of course you can change the colors to your liking. I worked the sample  in Paton’s Grace (DK weight), so you can even size it up for older kids by using a worsted weight yarn and a larger hook, if you like. There’s a great article on the Lion Brand  Notebook about just how to do that, if you’re interested.

In other crochet news, I was on Mary Beth Temple’s Getting Loopy podcast last night. We talked about Crochet Adorned, how hot it is in New Jersey, and other fun stuff. Go have a listen, and during the podcast we’ll reavel the top secret information you need to know to enter to win a copy of the book  for yourself.

Also, I can’t remember if I mentioned it here, but I started a group on Ravelry for my designs called Happy Crocheting with Linda Permann,  so please join and introduce yourself. And for the last time, join Ravelry already!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. I know my feet were happy to rest, but it’s back to the Yarnivore trenches tomorrow. First, to tackle the box of yarn the UPS man just brought me. Happy crocheting!

I hope you all have as much fun for the Fourth of July as this cute little lady seems to be having.  My twitter friend Carrie (also of  This Mama Makes Stuff) sent me this photo to of her daughter wearing an adorable dress she made using the trim pattern from the Seaside Dress in Crochet Adorned.  It affirms my belief that crochet doesn’t have to hit you over the head to be beautiful. And it also doesn’t have to be time consuming–she’s working on another dress for her older daughter to wear on the 4th, too.   I can’t wait to see what she comes up with!

Do you have any special plans (or project plans) for the holiday weekend?

1. Doily Earrings / On Ravelry

When I was writing Crochet Adorned, my goal was to show people how modern and beautiful (and instantly gratifying) crochet can be, and ultimately, to lure people to crochet. For me to learn a new craft, there has to be something I want to make with it. So I wanted to make the book that would make people want to crochet. The whole idea of Crochet Adorned is that you can use the crocheted touches on knitwear, crochet wear, sewing, quilting, scrapbooking or whatever your heart desires. There’s even a stitch dictionary in the back with more trims and motifs, and 30 solid stitch patterns in case you also want to make a foundation piece, such as a scarf or bag. If you don’t like a particular color or design, that’s cool, cause I tell you all about how to make it yours!

2. Tank Top/ On Ravelry

And just so nothing gets automatically dismissed, I want to show you how very NOW these designs are. I found examples of readymade clothing that are pretty darn close to the techniques I outline in the book. So, here we go. The items on the left are available for purchase on websites right now. The items on the right are patterns in Crochet Adorned.  Links to purchase-able items below each picture (photos are from the listed websites, please don’t sue me!), links to ravelry page of projects for inspiration are on the right. (Please, please, upload your pics to Ravelry if you’ve made projects. I started a group for the book, so join us over there, too!)

3. Crochet Back Tank / On Ravelry (Yes, I realize that’s machine-knit lace, but you get the idea)

4. Inset Sleeve Trim Tee / On Ravelry (same deal about the lace)

5. Floral Cardigan / On Ravelry

6. Flower Trimmed Tank/Dress / On Ravelry

7. Trimmed Dress / On Ravelry

8. Two Pair of shoes / On Ravelry

There you have it. Crochet is fashionable, and if you tell me otherwise, I’m sending you to bed without your dinner!

Just a last-minute heads up to let you all know that I’m going to be on the Yarn Thing podcast tonight (9 PM EST/ 8 Central) ! We’ll be giving away a copy of Crochet Adorned on the air, so listen live and call in for your chance to win. Imagine that I look like I do above while you listen, because in reality it is laundry day, and I have to go to my mom’s house to use her land line. Hah!

And check out Marly’s blog (she’s the host) while you’re at it.

(If you can’t listen live, don’t worry, the podcast will be up afterwards, too.)