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Last week, I released the PDF (in US Terms)  of my Artichoke Hat, which was originally published in Inside Crochet. I love this hat, and unfortunately a lot of errors slid through to the original publication, which probably turned off more than one crocheter. So, I put it through rigorous testing and re-edited it, (and turned it back to US terms)–and now that six different people have made it and reported back to me (thank you!!!), I am confident that all of the kinks have been worked out. They happen, I hate when they happen, and I try to correct it when I can. This is a great pattern for a intermediate/advanced crocheter, and I hope you’ll give it a whirl if you’re into bobbles and cables. It’s engaging, so save it for time when other people won’t be distracting you. The good thing is you’ll always be looking at the cable side when you do the post stitches, so you don’t have to confuse yourself with any back post stitches or uncertainty about where they end up.

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I also re-released my Lace Slouch Hat which originally appeared in Knit Circus. I love, love, love this hat. It is so soft and light and I can actually wear it in Texas. I’m looking forward to that. I kind of want to make it again in yellow, like this raveler did, and I’m also eager to try it in a lightweight sock yarn, because I think that would work too. One day! This one is worked bottom up in an easy to memorize pattern, and you can make it a beanie or a slouch hat, depending on your preference. Slouch is shown above.

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And just in case you’re on the other side of the world…. I also re-released my Summer Sun Hat. This was one of my first PDFs and needed some re-working, but thing that motivated me to do  it was we actually got tons of new paper (!) yarn in at Yarnivore.  So Tammy agreed to stitch it and I agreed to tighten up the pattern. It’s so nice to have a paper yarn source where I can actually see the colors in person– I’m itching to try a purse with it, when it gets hot again. Which, around here, won’t be too far away.

So what about you, dear readers? Just out of curiosity, what’s your favorite thing to crochet?

Patrick, Tammy and Moses working away.

You can see in the photo above that Tammy did a speed test on the Soft Owl Pillow from Little Crochet–she started Saturday evening and finished by closing on Sunday–pillow and all. Whew! She is one quick crocheter!

It’s so  nice when a yarn shop feels less like a store and more like a community, and that’s what I love about Yarnivore. If I do say so myself.

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If you live in the San Antonio/Austin area, don’t forget that the Hill Country Yarn Crawl is coming up this Columbus Day weekend.  It’s basically a shop hop, but with your $20 passport, you’ll get to collect a small gift at each store and enter to win a bunch of prizes–hit all 9 stores and you’ll be entered to win the Grand Prize ($500 worth of fiber related goodies!)  I’ll be working all four days at the shop, so please say hi if you drop by.  And check out the fun classes for October, if you haven’t already.

Blocking is relegated by some to that hellish dimension where things like making gauge swatches and weaving in ends live. All of these things are just part of the process to me, and I love to knit and crochet so I don’t quite understand why I would put all of my time into making something fantastic and then skip the last hour or so of work. But some of  you may be  unsure what blocking is or how to do it, so I thought I’d show you.

No one taught me to block, it’s something I started researching when I wrote Crochet Adorned (true confession; I’d never blocked anything until I began writing that book! And I was so converted, I have blocked everything since!). I’ve picked up a lot of tips and tricks from our customers at Yarnivore and from blogs and knitting books, too. It’s not hard, and I actually kind of love it! My latest piece on the slate was the Sumire’s Shawl I made for myself. I was trying not to be distracted by it but it was calling me, so I went ahead and finished it this weekend. I took before and after pics so I could show you the difference that blocking makes, so keep reading.

1. Fill a sink (or bowl, if your sink is not pristine, or larger container, if your piece is large) with cool water and wool wash, gently place your piece inside, and let it soak for at least 15-30 minutes–or perhaps for a few hours, or until you wander back to the bathroom and suddenly remember you were blocking something.

I use Eucalan, because I like the gentle fragrance, but Soak Wash is also lovely if you like stronger scents or don’t want lanolin in your wash. You should be able to find these products locally at your LYS or any fine lingerie store. The great thing about these washes is that you do not need to rinse them. In fact you’ll want to agitate your piece as little as possible, especially if it is wool.

2. When the piece is done soaking, place it atop a clean towel. Roll the towel up, and press it so that it gently absorbs most of the water in your piece. You can step on it if need be, I often do. Then, lay out your piece on a blocking surface.  I use foam tiles that I found at Lowes (they are in the athletic flooring section, and are $20 for four 2×2 foot tiles, they are endlessly modular to block scarves, shawls, sweaters, etc. If you don’t have a Lowe’s, here is something similar on Amazon.

If you are using blocking wires (also available at your LYS), thread them through the outer edges of your piece. Blocking wires produce nice straight edges because if you thread them at regular, frequent intervals, you’ll be able to evenly pull your piece into a straight line. Otherwise, plan on using lots of T-pins. Even with wires, you’ll need T-pins to hold the blocking wires in place. You can see here that I’ve laid out the left side roughly, and the right side is yet to be pinned. This alone illustrates the amazing difference that blocking makes. Click any of the pictures in this post to go to flickr, where you can zoom in.

3. Go back with your T-pins and pin out anything that needs extra shaping. I wanted to spread the edging half-circles out a bit on mine, so I pinned each one. Twice. 52 T-pins right there–so make sure you buy a couple packages of them. You can be as particular as you want when pinning things out, so go wild. Note that I used two wires per decorative edge, one to iron out the shawl and one to evenly space the edging.

Now, all that is left to do is let the project dry completely. If you’re in a hurry, aim a fan at your piece.

Here are some before and after shots of my Sumire’s Shawl:

See how  much it opens up the lace?

See how much longer and wider the shawl is?

See how much prettier it is to wear? It was hardly big enough to wrap around my neck before.
Also, It appears that I even “blocked” my hair in this after shot.

By now you should be sold on blocking, but some of you are probably saying, “But, do I really need to do that every time I wash it?” Sure, but how often do you wash a shawl? Hmm? Yeah. Not that big of a deal. I also find that of all of my chores, blocking is probably the one I like best. It sure beats washing the dishes. I mean, they get dirty again EVERY TIME. So frustrating.

If you want more in-depth details on blocking, why how and when, sign up for my Beyond Rectangles class on Craftsy. I devote an entire lesson to blocking, and I bet you’ll pick up a lot of other tricks as you peruse the course. There’s also a great thread on Ravelry that shows people’s projects pre and post- blocking: Blocking– Before and After. It’s kind of amazing! Oh, and I love my new shawl! Now to wait for cooler weather…

Granted, I changed some things to flatter the female figure, but the basic idea is still the same: there is no shaping/increasing/decreasing in this pattern, it’s all made from squares and rectangles. The crocheting is very simple to do, but,  yes, let me warn you now, you’re going to weave in a lot of ends. BUT, the motifs are join-as-you-go and are really the only way to get this look. Totally worth it, in my book, but I’ve made my peace with ends.

I worked up the sample  in super soft Malabrigo Arroyo, a new sport weight yarn from one of my favorite yarn brands. It’s going to be in the Stitches Midwest fashion show later this month, so if you are going to Stitches, please snap a pic for me!  The yarn is classified as a fingering weight, but in my opinion is more of a sport or even DK weight yarn (I used a size H hook to crochet it). It should be available in yarn stores very soon, and is fast becoming a favorite of mine.

Starry Night Cardigan comes in a range of eight sizes, from 33″ all the way up to 60″. One of the trade-offs when working with  motifs is the ability to vary the sizing in small increments, but the pattern gives lots of advice on customizing the size–fit and length. It also includes schematics and assembly diagrams, and I worked with KJ Hay to tech edit it (who also edits my books). I hope you enjoy it! You can purchase it for $6.50 through Ravelry, whether or not you are a member of the site (if you’re not, just click here to have it added right to your paypal cart).  Happy Crocheting!

**Special thanks to Hannah at Malabrigo for providing yarn support for this pattern, and to my friend Flor for modeling it!

Once I blocked it and sewed up all the pieces, I tried it on again BEFORE weaving in the ends. I really suggest you do this too, with any garment you make that allows it. I found that I needed to lose about 6 rows in each shoulder for it to fit me as desired –otherwise the armholes were a bit too deep and neckline a little low (this might have been because I was going between sizes with my altered gauge).  Taking those rows out raised the neckline (and I’d already made it a bit higher for my version), so if I wanted to go crazy I could have ripped out all of the straps and re-crocheted that part too, but I chose not to.

I’m really happy with how it came out and I think it’s a totally wearable piece. Ok, maybe when it gets a little cooler than 105 and I can bring myself to wear two layers. The Hempathy is really breathable and gets softer and softer each time I wash it, and I just LOVE this color. The first time I worked with Hempathy I really didn’t like how it felt in my hands, for whatever reason (maybe because I was alternating it with soft mohair, and the contrast was just too much?). But this time around I liked it much better. Although it’s a little bit harder on my hands than a springy merino wool, I would use it again in a heartbeat.

All told, I used 7 skeins (really, 6.5 skeins, or just under 1000 yards).  I’m wearing it with about 1″ of ease  and I love the fit. There are a few shells popping up on Ravelry, and so far they all look great!

***Just an FYI,  While I was crocheting this, I noticed that the shell was photographed inside-out in Interweave Crochet. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a bit more textured on the inside than the outside. I’m not sure how that happened, but in case you thought yours didn’t look quite like the picture, this would explain it. Hey, now it’s reversible!

That bear almost caught me!

Other than the selling off of things, we mostly relaxed and went to the playground (with Tegue) a lot.

I affectionately refer to this slide as My Nemesis. Twenty five years ago, I fell off the top off it and broke my wrist. Six year old me was bored at my grandma’s 80th birthday party, and since the town was small and walkable, I asked permission to go to the playground by myself. I had my dress shoes on, the steps were sandy, and the kids behind me were pushy and ready to go.  As I stepped up to the top step, I slipped and fell right off the slide. A man ran over and asked me where I lived, and I told him that I was staying with my grandma (and her name). He scooped me up and ran me right to her place. In retrospect, it was only 2 blocks, but it seemed far and amazing at the time! My family was out on the lawn and I  was scared that I would be in big trouble. According to my sister, I didn’t even cry. My parents had to get the guy who owned the gas station to open up so that they could fill their car up and drive me to the nearest hospital in Bismark (2 hours away). That summer, I got good at sliding bread bags over my arm so I could shower, and I remember having to have my corn sliced off of the cob for me, and not being able to submerge my arm when I went swimming. Of course, that damn slide was the first thing my nephew wanted to go on so I just  had to hold my breath and hope for the best. It all worked out fine, but it’s amazing how things like this can bring you back. I did feel slightly better seeing it again and realizing that at least it was a tall slide (and maybe I wasn’t a total wuss.)

We also drove a LOT (from here, to there, and back again but with a side trip to Kansas City), and the Dakotas were especially green due to the flooding . The intense yellow hue of these wildflowers made me want to dig out my paintbrushes again. I have a skein of Madeline Tosh laceweight yarn in a similarly lovely yellow, though, so one day I suppose I will just “paint” with that.

Other notable stops were the Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon, SD,  Mount Rushmore (I’m the 5th face, har har), several fun yarn shops (although my faves were in Missouri), and three dinosaur related things, cause Paul loves ‘em.

Oh, and we finally went to Wall Drug–we saw the zillion signs the last time we were driving through SD, but at that time we had a budget truck containing my whole life in it, so we didn’t make the side trip. It was fifteen minutes of quick cheesy fun. We also saw some friends in KC, which was great. I have to say, road trips are  not so bad.

Right now, for me, it’s everything– lots of projects here and there cluttering up my mind. Which is a good thing, of course! Sometimes I have to remind myself that even though I’m slated for X number of projects, they aren’t all due at the same time. Breathe! But since I know I’ll be busy in coming weeks, I wanted to show you the sock yarn that I dyed at TNNA before it slips into the black hole of my stash.

These were dyed the way you see them- one in a hank and one as a knitted sock blank (2 strands knit together, so if you make socks, they’ll be identical). After I took this photo, I spent some time unraveling the sock blank into balls and then center pull balls,which was fun.  And which clearly should not have been a priority, but sometimes it just feels good to ….unwind. Pun gold, I didn’t even plan it.

Also before I forget, I wanted to review this excellent Namaste bag, the Monroe, that was generously given to me at Marly Bird’s Designer Dinner. I switched to using it at TNNA and have not switched back! Now, I’m very picky when it comes to purses, and my usual purse is about 1/8th of the size of this one. Because usually the bigger the bag, the more I put in it. But what I love about the Monroe is that it has several easy-reach compartments, some close with a magnet and some with zippers (some both). I keep my necessities in one side and the things that relate to the place I’m going  (for instance, crochet project,  or water bottle, towel and ipod) on the other side.  It’s really easy to get them out of their separate compartment, because they aren’t all mixed in with my other stuff. Which means I can still find my phone, and I don’t end up carrying my life with me (personal goal!). I also love this bag for travel, because it’s quite roomy and I can fit my laptop inside, and look like a professional instead of a student.  It’s got nice long handles that are easy to slide over your arm and purse feet (so the bottom won’t touch icky floors at restaurants, in train stations, etc) and there’s even a mostly hidden center compartment in case I decide to throw even more things inside.  Oh, and that pocket? Perfectly sized for my book–makes a nice billboard, don’t you think? I’m not giving my Monroe away–sorry! But I will be doing a goodie giveaway in the next couple of weeks, when I get it together, so stay tuned.

Of course, I didn’t sneak my book in the pic for no reason. You probably already know this if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, but I also wanted to let out a self congratulatory woo-hoo. I got word from my publisher that Little Crochet will be translated to Finnish! I’m excited to see it in another language, wheee!

The show kicked off with an awesome party–Marly Bird’s Designer Dinner. Here I am with my roomie Robyn Chachula and Marly herself, apparently arranged in height order. The dinner was great–I got to meet so many new designers and reconnect with others. One of the things I love most about the show is getting to talk to “my people”–other designers who do what I do, so this was a very fun event. We also got amazing swag bags–check out this video blog by Sarah Wilson to see what was inside. I absolutely love the Namaste Monroe Bag that I got– I am super, super picky about purses but this one has an generous amount of pockets and organization (plus, it looks so professional!). Little Crochet fit perfectly in the outside pocket so I arranged it there like a little billboard and carried it throughout the show. I have already been singing its praises to everyone who asks about it. More photos of the fun that was getting the bags to the hotel can be seen here.

I also had the chance to squeeze in two classes.The first one was a hands-on class on dyeing sock yarn with Rachael Blackledge--and how could I not love it? It was so much fun, even at 8 AM. I can’t wait to make something with the 2 skeins we dyed, and I really love the first skein I dyed (not pictured, but hopefully I’ll show you soon!). I learned a lot but most importantly had fun and left the mess there! I’d definitely take this class again. Tammy from Yarnivore and I both took the class, and we had to laugh at the end when her side of the table was spotless and mine was covered in every color imaginable. We like to ask “Can  you tell who is the artist, and who is the engineer?” The second class I took was Gwen Bortner’s Making the Most of Handpainted yarns (see a theme?)–which was fun and informative, and I hope to apply some of the things I learned about knitting with handpaints to crochet in the near future. Gwen is a great teacher and I’m looking forward to diving into her Entree to Entrelac book, which was also in my swag bag.

I got to catch up with lots of old friends including Brett Bara, who was on her way to tape a fourth season of Knit and Crochet Now right after the show! We did a little interview which will be coming soon to an internet near you. I’m sporting my Peanut Butter Cardigan here–everyone always asks what you are wearing at the show and how nice to be able to say that it was a Linda Permann original. But, the best part was when I was walking toward the exit and heard these three ladies say “Stop, we’re following you!” They couldn’t believe my sweater was crocheted and wanted to check it out for themselves. TNNA: the place where it’s ok to pet strangers. Heh!  I was flattered.

Ooh, and here I am later in the day crocheting with Vashti Braha, Doris Chan and Ellen Gormley (who took this shot) at the Great Wall of Yarn. Here, you can sample all of the new yarns at the show but for some reason, there were hundreds of pairs of knitting needles and not a single crochet hook with which to try them. No problem, we got out our own and crocheted some swatches anyway. I picked up some stitches and knit mine back onto the needles to possibly cause some head scratching later. Maybe no one noticed, but it was fun nonetheless.

On Sunday, I did a book signing for Little Crochet in the Unicorn booth.  The signing is intended for yarn shop owners and lots of them lined up, so I had the chance to ask some of them whether they did crochet in their shops (and a lot answered yes!) and see some of the great crochet they were wearing. I got a lot of good feedback on the book, and some of it made me blush. My favorite feedback had to be when I asked Peggy Jo Wells (of Brown Sheep Company) if she received the copy that I mailed her [since she provided yarn support]. At first, she wasn’t sure, till I showed her the Strawberry Patch Party Frock–then she remembered, because she gave the book to a friend who crochets so that she could make one for Peggy’s new granddaughter. That’s what I like to hear!

One of the other cool things that happened at this show was that I got to meet one of my Craftsy students, Angela Tong.I had been chatting with her a little bit on twitter, but I didn’t realize that she also does her own knitwear designs, too! She’ll be posting a review of my class in the near future, so watch for it. I also found myself on the same plane as Stefanie Japel on the way home, and we talked about some of the classes they’re developing now, I’m excited to see where it goes.

All in all it was a fun–albeit exhausting–show, and this post doesn’t even begin to cover all of the lovely yarn, people, and dinners I attended, but I hope it gives you a taste of what TNNA is about. You can also check out more of my pictures on flickr, since I couldn’t fit them all here!

Meet Ricky, who came in for a crochet lesson with me this week, so that he could make flowers to embellish his amazing knit cabled scarf.

That’s me holding the “scarf” (and laughing hysterically). Because well, Ricky is a new knitter and he held four strands of worsted weight yarn together (instead of the 1 strand the pattern called for) not realizing how drastically that would change the finished size. And so, this “scarf”  is now a beautiful baby blanket for a friend who just gave birth. And we may somehow deck it out in crochet flowers to make it more girly, although I tried to convince him it is just lovely as is. But hey, I’ll take any chance I can to hook people when they’re interested.

Now, this turned into a happy accident/creative challenge, and the blanket is beautiful, so no problems there. But when you’re picking yarn for a project, always go with the recommended weight category and check your gauge to make sure you’ll end up with something that’s the same size as the finished item. (Second hint: LOOK at the finished size on the pattern! Many people never do, and it tells you exactly what you’re making, which may be a different size than you were visualizing).

Many thanks to Ricky for letting me use him as a cautionary tale–it was just too perfect an example not to document it. Can you believe this is only his fourth knitting project?  I see lots of great knitting and crochet in his future!

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!