Crochet Cables: November 9 Meeting Preview

If you think beautiful cables are just for knitting, think again! At this month's meeting we'll learn how to use post stitches to create beautiful crochet cables - from simple to advanced. During the class, you'll have the opportunity to work on a sampler that matches your skill level.

This photo shows a close-up sample of a variety of crochet cable stitches. Think of all the projects you can make when you master this technique: beautiful Aran sweaters, textured afghans, sturdy bags and pouches. If you need some inspiration about what you can do with cables, just take a look at Jean's prize-winning State Fair afghans - both afghans are great examples of what you can do with crochet cables!
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We invite all interested Twin City crocheters to join us Saturday, November 9 at the Textile Center of Minnesota. The meeting will be from 1pm to 3pm but you're welcome to join us from 11am to 1pm for open crochet.

To get the most out of the meeting, you will need to bring the following materials:

• A light-colored yarn of your favorite weight that is suitable for cables. We can't stress enough that you need to use light colors for cables to show up best and no short-repeat multi-colors, it has to be a long gradual color change like the brown swatch in the picture (Mini Mochi by Crystal Palace). You'll want to make sure the yarn has good stitch definition - tightly twisted or perhaps a single ply.
• A hook suitable for the yarn you've chosen).

We hope to see you there!

Meeting Highlights: Irish Lace Crochet (Part 2)

The Textile Center of Minnesota is our new meeting place, and we love it here! There is great light, a podium for the presenters, lots of tables and chairs. Best of all, we have the space from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm so folks can come early for "open crochet" and visiting.

At the recent October 12 meeting, we started with member and visitor introductions, then reviewed some housekeeping details:

• Parking directly behind the Textile Center is very limited so be sure to review the parking information found at http://www.textilecentermn.org/map/. If possible, please use the flat lot 1 ½ blocks northeast of the Textile Center (you need exact change, cost is $3). 
• Feel free to come early for open crochet time starting at 11:00 am.
• It is fine to bring lunch, food, or beverages into the room but we need to remove all trash when we leave.

Next came announcements and November is going to be a busy month!

• A Textile Center fundraiser, Do or Dye, will take place on Thursday, November 7, 2013 from 5:00-9:00 pm. This is a make-and-take fundraiser where you can explore new skills. Tickets are $50. Julie and Rosemary will represent Crochet Twin Cities and offer lessons in crochet headbands, necklaces and bracelets. For more information, see http://www.textilecentermn.org/do-and-dye/
• The Fall Fiber Festival will be on Saturday, November 2, 2013 from 9:00 am- 4:00 pm at the Eisenhower Community Center, 1001 Highway 7, Hopkins, MN  55305. This festival attracts and promotes local fiber and fiber products andCrochet Twin Cities will have a table at this event. We need volunteers to staff the table during the event - to demonstrate crochet and answer questions anyone might have about our craft or our group. Send a note to ctclist@gmail.com if you can help at our table. Further information about the Fall Fiber Festival is available at: http://www.fallfiberfestival.com/
• The membership committee reminded everyone to complete the survey; paper copies are available if you prefer that to the online form. The membership committee will meet on November 9 during open crochet time to review the survey results and plan next year; anyone is welcome to attend.  
• Our new membership year starts in January; dues can be paid anytime in November or December.
• Our next regular meeting will be on November 9, where we will learn about crocheting cables. There is also a 5th Saturday this November so stay tuned for an activity on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

After announcements, Hillary continued our 2nd session on Clones Lace, also known as Irish Lace. She took a class from Marie Trenor at the James J. Hill House several years ago; Jo and Maxine assisted with the teaching as they have also had some experience with this lace.

Once your motifs are made, you need to join them. The background joining is freeform crochet meaning that you design it to be whatever appeals to you. It is best to plan ahead, and keep the pattern consistent. You will need to decide how open to make the design by varying the length of the chains lining areas; shorter chains produce a more traditional, denser look. Hillary prefers to do her joining work on paper rather than a fabric background; she advises using a brown paper grocery bag for ideal stiffness. Pin your central motif to the paper, then attach to your motif and start to work your background design.

A hallmark of Clones Lace/Irish lace is the use of Clones knots in the background pattern. These knots are the hardest part of the process, and most of the session was devoted to practicing them. Hilary provided a step-by-step handout as well as hands-on instruction.

An excellent resource is “Clones Lace” by Marie Treanor.  It includes history of the lace, copious photographs, lots of examples, and directions for both motifs and finishing. (This book can be ordered from http://lacis.com/catalog/, just type Clones Lace and click the Search button to locate the title.)

Project Gallery October 2013

Joy has been busy making accessories.  She used a merino/cashmere blend fingering yarn to make this Swallowtail Cowl in Tunisian crochet.  The cowl is crocheted flat and seamed in the back.  This photo depicts the cowl inside out to show the seaming; the tails have been flipped up to show the pretty stitchery pattern of the cowl.  This fabric has a soft cushy feel.

Joy’s second cowl was crocheted in a chunky yarn—quite the change from her usual thread.  This cowl is crocheted flat and buttons closed.  She used Tunisian crochet to make a narrow scarf.

And now for something completely different.  “Beastly Crochet” is the pattern source for these little guys.  A pear-shaped blob with arms is crocheted with two white bars (beast on the left).  Then the blob is felted and an opening cut for a mouth; the white bars then become teeth (beast on the right).  Joy is looking for just the perfect eyes to apply to these little buys.  The beasts could serve in any way you might you use a small basket.  As for me, I think they should be filled with Halloween candy.  Here’s looking at you, kid!

Melanie crocheted these Adirondack Socks (Interweave Crochet, Fall 2009) using a Malabrigo sock yarn.  They worked up surprisingly fast due to the shell pattern.  Since crocheted socks don’t have as much give as knit socks, Melanie had to make an alteration to the heel to allow for a better fit.  Bet you wish you had a pair of these.

Gail came up with a clever solution to a vexing problem.  She was working on these mittens for a charity project and wasn’t sure she had enough yarn to finish the pair.  How could she make her yarn go farther?  She left off the thumbs.  She will use a solid color yarn matching one of the colors in the mitts to make the thumbs.  She turned what could have been a project breaker into a fanciful design element.  Nice solution, Gail.

Mary used Vanna’s Glamour to make this lovely gray shawl.  If you are unfamiliar with this yarn, it has a thin metallic thread in it, giving finished projects a little sparkle.

Mary is looking help with a problem that is all to familiar to most of us.  She started a thread crochet project ages and ages ago, crocheted up a large pile of motifs.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t have enough thread to complete the project and has no idea where to find more of it.  Here’s a picture of the label front and back.  Any suggestions?  How about using a modern thread in a different color to crochet the rest of the motifs, then assemble the bedspread in a way that uses the new motifs to make a make a design within the whole?  It would be a shame to waste that pile of motifs.

Hillary crocheted this bunny lovey using a Sirdar baby bamboo yarn.  The lovey is soft as can be and has lots of little things for small fingers to grab onto.

Hillary also made this work-in-progress, a scarf using short rows.  Short rows like this show off self-striping yarns; the subtle stitch pattern gets lost in a solid color.  Hillary shared with us a new book by Marion Madel, “The New Crochet,” which features process shots of all sorts of stitch patterns; if you are a beginner and don’t know how to execute various stitches, this book shows you in photos every step necessary to make the stitch.

Theresa didn’t even want to show us this easy market bag project but we begged her.  Plastic bags are cut into loops, which are then linked using a lark’s head knot.  The crinkly sort of bags work the best for this project.  Just make a chain to desired size, hdc around the chain to make a base, then crochet a mesh to make the sides.  The best thing about these bags are you can hose them off, they dry quickly, and dirt falls right through.  Too lazy to recycle your plastic bags?  Crochet them into door mats!  When they wear out, throw them away.

If you have ever used a walker, you know you need some way to carry your stuff around.  Carol made this carry walker carry bag.  The middle and two outer loops secure this bag to the walker.  The other two loops close the bag.  All this one needs is to have the buttons sewn on.

Carol finished her “unsquare” granny sweater.  This sweater does have three squares in it—but also hexagons and rectangles.  The very large grannies allow for drape and stretch, minimizing the shaping usually necessary in a plus-sized garment.  A large rectangle creates the front of the sweater and shawl collar.  Plymouth Encore Colorspun worsted was used to make this prototype.  Carol is already at work on design refinements for the next version, which will be in a DK weight yarn that uses V stitches instead of the standard three double crochet.