Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Finishing Techniques and CAL III: October 10 meeting preview

Our CAL project is nearing the end and one of the biggest challenges in completing a crochet project is how to finish it professionally. At this month's meeting you'll get a chance to learn tips and ticks for three of the most common tasks needed to finish crochet projects: blocking, seaming, and finishing edges. Even if you aren't participating in the CAL, everything you learn in this meeting can help in other crochet projects.

The meeting will be Saturday, October 10 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 (Finishing Techniques)
To get the most out of this meeting, you need to bring:
  • Two to four prepared swatches (at least 4" square) to practice finishing techniques
  • Extra yarn to practice techniques
  • Appropriate size hook for the yarn
  • A tapestry needle
If you are participating in the CAL we'll have a quick check-in so you'll need to bring:
  • Completed left front piece (Steps 5 and 6 of the pattern)
  • Any questions or problems you have
  • Your printed copy of the Level 1 Crocheted Vest
If you're new to Crochet Twin Cities, you can join us by downloading our membership form and bringing the amount shown on the form to the meeting or you can pay the non-member fee of $5 for attending one meeting.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

What's on your hook? Rosemary's top

Rosemary has been working on this top for quite a while and it's such a lovely color and a beautiful lacy stitch pattern that we wanted to know more.

Rosemary, can you tell us some basics about the pattern and yarn you're using?
The pattern is Quartz Lace Top by Dora Ohrenstein; it was originally published in the Winter 2013 issue of Interweave Magazine but can ordered electronically as an individual pattern. For the yarn, I swatched different yarns and hooks but ended up deciding to use the recommended yarn, Malabrigo Merino Lace. For hooks I am using Clover Amour - size B (2.25 mm) and C (2.75 mm).

Who is this top for and how long have you been working on it?
I’m not making it for anyone in particular – I just fell in love with the pattern and wanted to make it. I've been working on it off and on for a year. I don’t recommend this approach when working on a complex pattern such as this because continuity of gauge and pattern instruction interpretation is important. I have kept extensive notes which are helpful.

I am having a lot of fun making the top and learning a lot along the way. Dora’s pattern is brilliant - an intricate design with clear, concise and easy-to-follow instructions, charts and schematic. I keep wondering what her thought process was as she developed the pattern.

What challenges have you had with this project that you'd like to share with us?
My journey making the top hasn’t been without challenges which have, of course, turned out to be learning experiences:

The shade variations in the yarn - part of its charm - caused blotches of darker shades here and there
in the crocheted rows which don’t work to my advantage on a small garment with tiny stitches. I frogged the large middle section once to cut out long sections of yarn to keep the color shade consistent. I also frogged the middle section a second time because I had crocheted it too tightly and redid the section using one size up hook. Considering each round in the body of the top takes about 20 minutes to crochet, redoing 24 rows 2 times has added considerable time to the project. 

Although a dream to work with, the yarn is inconsistently spun with thick and thin sections (I think I just got a bad batch of yarn) which are very conspicuous when using a small crochet stitch and an intricate pattern. I’ve been picking out extra unspun wool fiber in the thicker yarn and do my best to camouflage the skinny spun sections, sometimes needing to cut these sections out.

Half done, I decided to use my battery-operated fabric shaver to remove the yarn ‘bloom’ in the first finished areas which have occurred from normal handling. It was going well until I noticed that the shaver had cut the yarn a couple of times within crocheted shells and in chain stitches between shells. I have used a stitch marker to hold these stitches together to prevent unraveling until I can fix them. What I think I’ll do is use a loose piece of yarn to tie the cut ends, trim the extra yarn, and hide the mending inside the crocheted shell. I may need to rehook a couple of stitches where the yarn was cut. Another learning experience…

Would you use this pattern again?
It’s likely I’ll crochet this pattern again and, having worked out the kinks in the first run, I’m sure the second pass would be a breeze.

Thanks Rosemary, can't wait to see it when it's done! To check out more photos, see Rosemary's Ravelry page (DancingKatz).

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

4th Saturday meetup: September 26

Meetup time just around the corner! We hold meetups every month on the fourth Saturday, at a spot in the metro where we can grab a cup of coffee and sit and crochet and chat. It's all very informal - but lots of fun! You can drop in any time and stay as long as you're able.

This month's meetup is Saturday, September 26 from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Panera Bread in Eagan. (It's located at 1260 Promenade Place, near 35E and Yankee Doodle Road.)

There's no charge to attend a meetup so it's a great way to check out the group and see who we are.

We hope you can join us!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Tips for crocheting short rows

One of our members has recently added two free patterns to Ravelry that feature crochet short rows and we've asked her to give us some tips for this technique.

Maxine, could you first define short rows?
Short rows are deliberate partial rows that you work back and forth to shape your work. These partial rows are called short rows because they contain fewer stitches than the surrounding rows. Short rows are a fairly common technique for knitting but, until recently, have not been used very often in crochet designs. For one thing, they are more difficult to execute successfully in crochet than in knitting.

Why are short rows harder to do in crocheting than in knitting?
Because crochet stitches are so tall you have to take extra care that you don't leave gaps or puckers in the fabric when you use short rows. On the other hand, knit and purl stitches are very short so the transition from short row to regular row is easy to hide.

So just how do you work short rows in crochet?
Let me show you using the Pike Pumpkin Patch pattern as an example. In this pattern, after the initial single crochet row, you work a 3-row repeat that is two short rows followed by a regular row. In addition, the pattern uses stitches of varying heights within the row for shaping - most stitches are single crochet but some are slip stitches and one part of the pattern uses a chain stitch that actually counts as a stitch. So you're able to practice two shaping techniques - short rows plus varying stitch heights - and end up with a cute holiday decoration.

To get the most out of the rest remaining part of this blog post, you must download the pattern because I won't be including every step that's in the pattern here. (The pattern is free for anyone with the link; you don't need a login to Ravelry to download it.)

To start, make the first row of 21 sc as instructed in the pattern.

The photo below shows the completed first row. Note for all the photos - I'm a right-handed crocheter.


Turn and work the second row of 18 stitches as instructed in the pattern.

  • The first four stitches are back loop slip stitch (BLslSt).
  • The next thirteen stitches are back loop single crochet (BLsc).
  • The last stitch is a BLslSt.
The photo below shows the completed second row, with three stitches from the first row left unworked. Notice that I have placed a stitch marker in the first stitch of the row - and I'll move up this marker as work progress. Slip stitches at the beginning of a row can be difficult to locate and it's critical that you keep the stitch count accurate in this simple project. The last stitch of the row is a slip stitch to help "taper down" the height of the short row so that it's easier to eliminate any gaps or holes in the fabric when you work the regular row (the fourth row).


Turn and work the third row of 18 stitches as instructed in the pattern.

  • The first stitch of this row is a chain (ch) and it counts as a stitch.
  • The next fourteen stitches are BLsc.
  • The last three stitches are BLslSt; if you do this row correctly, the last BLslSt will end up in the stitch you marked at the beginning of the second row.
The beginning of this row is critical. This photo shows the beginning of the third row - just after you have completed the second row and turned (but in this picture I have not yet made the chain 1). Make sure that you work the second stitch of this row (the first BLsc) into the stitch indicated by the green arrow so that you skip the stitch indicated by the blue arrow.


The photo below shows the completed third row. Notice that I have placed a stitch marker in the first row of stitch of this row as well - and that the chain is counted as the first stitch. Yes, counting the chain as a stitch is completely different that normal - but the reason is to continue the "tapering down" in preparation for the regular row.


Turn and work the fourth row of 21 stitches as instructed in the pattern.

  • The first eighteen stitches are BLsc; if you do this row correctly the eighteenth BLsc will end up in the stitch you marked at the beginning of the third row.
  • The last three stitches are BLsc but are worked into the unworked stitches from the row below (the first row).
The photo below shows the completed fourth row. The tapering that you did at the end of the second and third rows is to make the "jump down" between stitch #18 and stitch #19 as smooth as possible.


Are short rows always worked like this?
No, there are other methods of working them as well. For example, the Simple Christmas Stocking pattern (also a free pattern on Ravelry) starts with a small number of stitches on the first short row and gradually adds additional stitches to each row. There are probably endless variations of how you can work short rows, limited only by imagination!

Where can I learn more about short rows?
I haven't found a lot of general information available about this technique; for the most part, you learn about it by trying patterns that use short rows for shaping. However, this is one book that I would recommend that contains a nice introduction to short rows, plus it contains a wealth of other useful crochet information. That book is The Crocheter's Skill-Building Workshop by Dora Ohrenstein; it's available to member for check-out from the Textile Center Library and was recently reviewed here on our blog.

Thanks Maxine - this sounds like a really exciting technique and we can't wait to see projects from our members that use this tips!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Holiday Decorations and CAL II: September 12 meeting preview

This month we have a fun topic planned - Holiday Decorations - that will also help you learn short rows and several other techniques for shaping crochet pieces. We'll also include time on the agenda for check-in on the CAL vest project for participating members.

The meeting will be Saturday, September 12 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 (Holiday Decorations and CAL II)
To get the most out of this meeting you'll need to bring:
  • Two to four ounces of yarn in holiday colors - some of the decorations will be fall decorations like those pictured and others will be Christmas decorations - so choose your palette as you prefer!
  • Appropriate size hook for the yarn
If you are participating in the CAL, you need to bring:
  • Completed vest back piece (Steps 1 - 4 of the pattern)
  • Any questions you have
  • Your printed copy of the Level 1 Crocheted Vest
If you're new to Crochet Twin Cities, you can join us by downloading our membership form and bringing the amount shown on the form to the meeting or you can pay the non-member fee of $5 for attending one meeting.

We hope you can join us!