Fun Fiber Events: April 11

We're publishing this post early to make sure everyone knows that the Crochet Twin Cities meeting for Saturday April 11 is cancelled. Our regular space is not available - but this actually turns out to be a blessing in disguise. It's finally spring in Minnesota and the fiber arts community is celebrating with a bang - there are many other fun fiber activities on April 11 so we hope you can check out one or more of the following events.

• Textile Center Garage Sale - Image a warehouse building (U of M ReUse Program Warehouse) full of yarn, fabric, arts and craft books, tools, and equipment - some barely used, some a little more worn - and all at great prices. It truly is the world's largest textile garage sale and makes this table - from CTC's own destash - look minuscule.

• Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop - In the Twin Cities, we are incredibly fortunate to have a large number of quality yarn shops - and this year 17 of them are participating in the 9th annual hop. It's a fun way to visit shops you don't normally frequent - the hop features door prizes, special yarns and patterns, and it's a fun festive adventure alone or with friends. If you'd like more information, one of the best places to ask questions is the Hop's Ravelry group.

• American Craft Council St. Paul Show - This show is in St. Paul's RiverCentre and features a wide variety of contemporary arts and crafts - from fiber to jewelry to leather goods to woodworking - something for every member of the family. If you want ideas for clothing and decor, be sure to check out this show.

• Upper Midwest Bead Society Annual Demo & Do - UMBS is another guild member of the Textile Center and they'll be holding their annual extravaganza of classes at the Textile Center. If you'd like to learn more about beading techniques, check them out.

We hope each and every one of you find something fun to do in the list - and we look forward to hearing about your adventures when we resume our regular meeting schedule in May.

4th Saturday Meetup: March 28

It's meetup time again - when we gather for crochet, chat, and coffee. This month we're back at a spot that offers even more fun - a great selection of craft books - the Cafe at the Barnes and Noble at HarMar Mall in Roseville.  The meetup will be from 9 AM (when the store opens) until  noon - the cafe is in the center of the store and we'll be the crowd with the crochet hooks.

Meetups are our informal gathering each month - open to all crocheters with no fee for attending. Bring a project to work on - or not, if you just want to chat or ask questions - and come when you can and stay as long as you're able.

We hope to see you there!

Project Idea: Crocheting of the Green

With St. Patrick's Day next week, we thought it would be fun to show an easy idea for making something green in honor of the day. And what could be more useful on St. Patrick's day than a beverage cozy - a great big one to put around a big glass that you fill with the beverage of your choice!


First order of business - finding a pattern. There are lots of free patterns on Ravelry for crocheted cup cozies and one of them, Felted Crochet Coffee Cup Cozy is designed by GrannyMax (CTC member Maxine) so we decided to use it - with some slight modifications.


The first modification was type of yarn - we wanted a big cozy for a big glass - and the easiest way to do that was to simply increase the size of yarn and hook. The yarn we selected was Lamb's Pride Bulky by Brown Sheep, a blend of 85% wool and 15% mohair that felts beautifully and the hook size K-10.5 (6.50 mm).




The second thing was to add a trim to fit the holiday - a quick search in Ravelry showed many fee shamrock patterns. We chose One Piece Crochet Shamrock by Jan Baxter - it was one of the simplest and easiest and has a great shamrock shape!

The felting was actually the simplest part, it just requires patience! The pictures to the left shows before and the picture to the right shows after. The notions case (green as well, had to keep with the holiday theme) shows how the cozy has shrunk.




We hope this gives you some inspiration for a quick and easy project. Let us know what other ideas you have for crocheting of the green!

Crochet Skills Workshop: March 14 Meeting Preview

We've had two months of intense education sessions so this month we thought we lighten up with a hands-on workshop.

This meeting will be like other workshops we've had in the past - we'll give a brief preview of each skill area for everyone. Then we'll split into separate tables for each skill area so you can try your hand at any or all skills that interest you. The skill areas this time will be:

• Tools for winding and managing your yarn. We'll have several types of swifts and ball-winders on hand plus we'll also show you how to wind your own by hand.
• Tricks for joining yarn. We'll have information and demonstrations about several methods for joining yarn with a chance for you to practice.
• And maybe the most important tool of all, crochet hooks. There's a seemingly endless variety of materials, styles, and sizes. You'll get a chance to practice with hooks other than your "normal" one and compare the result. 

 The meeting will be Saturday, March 14 at the Textile Center of Minnesota, 3000 University Ave SE, with the following schedule:

• 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Open Crochet
• 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM - Announcements and Show n Tell
• 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM - Crochet Education

To get the most out of this meeting you'll need to bring:

• Practice yarn for winding, joining, or trying new hooks
• You're also welcome to bring any tools and ideas that you'd like to share with others

We hope you can join us!