Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Crocheting with Beads: January 8 Meeting Preview

Our next meeting will be held on Saturday, January 8th at 2:30pm in the meeting room at Borealis Yarns, 1340 Thomas Avenue in St. Paul. Here's what we have planned:
  • Maxine will show us several techniques for crocheting with beads. Then everyone will get a chance to practice these techniques on one or more projects such as bracelets, necklaces, small bags, or coasters.
  • Finalize plans for our January "fifth Saturday" (Sat, Jan. 29) excursion to the Midtown Global Market on Lake Street in Minneapolis.
  • And, of course, share our latest projects!
Instructions for the crochet beading projects will be provided at the meeting but you'll need to bring the following supplies:
  • One or two ounces of size 5 crochet thread OR 1/8" wide ribbon yarn
  • Size F-5 (3.75mm) crochet hook
  • Some beads with a hole large enough for the thread or ribbon to fit through - the beads used in the sample projects are labeled as size 6/0 in the bead store where they were purchased
  • A tapestry needle that is small enough to use for stringing beads on the thread or ribbon
  • Note: You can use a different sized yarn and hook if desired, just make sure that the beads you've chosen have a large enough hole for stringing.
Ribbon yarn can be purchased at Borealis, but Maxine will be bringing some to share that was purchased in October at the Color Crossing outing. The beads in this illustration were labeled 20mm and are larger than the most popular size of seed beads and smaller than pony beads. Since one of the crochet beading techniques involves stringing the beads on the yarn before crocheting, you might want to bring along a small paper plate to catch stray beads and ease the process.



Sunday, December 19, 2010

Meeting Highlights: Tapestry Crochet

Carmelle demonstrated the basics of tapestry crochet. The distributed pattern makes this small bag.

For more information about tapestry crochet - including free videos and patterns - see http://www.tapestrycrochet.com/. Some of the important points to remember in tapestry crochet are:
  • tapestry crochet uses single crochet only and is often worked in the round
  • crochet over the tail and over any strands not in use (do not carry to the back side)
  • for this particular pattern, use a repeat with nine stitches
  • when you add new a color, start by crocheting over the tail end

  • when switching colors, make the change in the stich before the new color; work the last stitch in the old color until two loops remain on the hook, then make the final yarn over and loop with the new color



There was plenty of show and tell, including a lovely baby blue cardigan modeled by Melanie (sorry, not photo) and some amigurumi done by Peggy's 13-year-old son. See the project gallery post for some of the projects shared.

January is a five-Saturday month. We decided to meet on the fifth Saturday at the Midtown Global Market on Lake Street--plenty of places to sit, all sorts of food vendors, and easy parking. A notice will be sent out in mid-January. There is a lot of interest in visiting StevenBe's Chicago Avenue store, but we won't go until springtime when the snow is gone.

Project Gallery December 2010

Peggy brought a variety of projects to share, including a stuffed penguin and a variety of felted purses.  She makes makes these purses and has them on hand for when she needs a quick gift.  Smart girl!




Monday, December 13, 2010

Meeting Scheduled for December 18 at Different Location

The winter weather won't get us down!

We've decided to meet on Saturday, December 18 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm but at a different location since the meeting room where we normally meet at Borealis is not available.

Our location for this meeting only is Mendoberri Cafe and Wine Bar (http://www.mendoberri.com/ - same exact location as the Sage Wine Bar and Market where we used to meet). The cafe is located at The Village in Mendota Heights, intersection of Hwy 110 and Dodd Road - in the same shopping center as 3 Kittens Needle Arts shop.

Carmelle will be teaching a tapestry technique. Please refer to previous post about December meeting for details.

Friday, December 10, 2010

December 11 2010 Meeting Canceled

Our next meeting will be Saturday, January 8, 2011.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Looking forward to seeing you in the new year.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Tapestry Crochet: December 11 Meeting Preview



We meet Saturday, December 11th, at 2:30 PM at Borealis Yarns in St. Paul. Carmelle will be teaching a tapestry technique. The pattern will be handed out at the meeting. Those on our mailing list who are not able to attend the meeting can request a copy from me by email.

Materials
To learn the technique, you need:
  • Two balls of yarn, contrasting colors, similar weight
  • Appropriate-sized hook
To follow the actual pattern, you need:
  • One blue and one white 100 gram ball (185 yards each) worsted weight mercerized cotton yarn.
  • Crochet hook size E/4
Helpful web resources for this technique:
Other business

Bring along your work-in-progress or something for show-and-tell. It is always great to see what other people are working on, and help is always available if you are stuck on something.

Directions to Borealis can be found here: http://www.borealisyarn.com/directions.html
Hope to see you there!