Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Time for a Sub?

Substitute blogger: Barbara Skoglund

I was one of those studious, front row kids who was always a little sad when we got a substitute teacher. I felt like it was going to be a wasted day in school. When we had subs we were usually ordered to read quietly or watch a filmstrip. (I can’t be the only boomer who remembers film strips.) The naughty kids loved substitutes because they were usually able to be rebellious. What do substitute teachers have to do with crochet? Well, I’m writing to share a great sub with you. The rebels who want to do their own thing and the studious fiber artists will both love YarnSub. Yarnsub.com is a wonderful resource for all fiber artists, crocheters, knitters, weavers, and all other yarn users.

 YarnSub was designed to help fiber artists find alternate yarns, yarns they can substitute in patterns. It does so much more than that. First up is the primary use. You find a great pattern, but the yarn has been discontinued. YarnSub to the rescue. For example, I loved ordering yarn from Elann, then in 2021, after 28 years the owners retired. The website, the yarn, and all the wonderful free patterns went away. I still have some of those lovely patterns. I always wanted to make their Side to Side shawl. The pattern calls for Elann Luna. Ravelry tells me it’s a DK yarn. YarnSub tells me much more, including that Valley Yarns Southwick is a 95% match for Luna. Reading line by line I learn through the description why this is a good match. The texture, gauge, fiber content and other qualities are a very close match. I learned that I need 1.1 balls for every one ball of Luna the pattern calls for. If I’m not quite sure Southwick is what I want to use, I can read through a list of several other suggested substitutes.

Spincycle’s Dream State is very popular right now. It is dyed wool, worsted yarn that self-stripes into beautiful multicolored marls. It also retails for $36.00 for a 70-gram skein. A YarnSub search for Dream State brings up several solids that have the same gauge and fiber content. But what I really want to find is a yarn with a comparable marled color look. So, for my second search, I ask YarnSub for “self-striping marls,” the terms it uses to describe Dream State. Up pops Berroco Median, the fibers are different from Dream State, but the beautiful color patterning is similar. Retail price is $16 for twice the yardage of Dream State. I keep looking. Red Heart Gemstone has beautiful marls too and it’s 200 grams for $10. Gemstone is bulky, but since I’m looking for a colored marl yarn and don’t have a specific project in mind, I need to find a pattern that fits the yarn.

 YarnSub not only lets you search by brand name and yarn properties, it also filters for source of fiber (animal, animal-derived, synthetic and plant) and price. It has great photos of the yarn and interesting descriptions of the texture and different fiber qualities. The database has over 10,000 yarns and you’ll find both high end yarns and house brand yarns from all the big box stores.

 I use the site all the time and just learned they have a newsletter for yarn geeks like me. The site has links to new crochet and knit books published between 2016 and 2024. There is also a treasure trove of technical articles and past newsletters. Yarnsub.com is one substitute we can all admire!

March 23 meet up at Rosedale Center


Tuesday, March 19, 2024

April update, CGOA Chapter Challenge & more

Gloria's Market Day Cardi
I forgot to share last week's post, so scroll down to get the details of the March meeting & upcoming events, or click here.

There's been talk of a change to our April calendar; while there's no meeting and education due to the shop hop, there may be a meetup at Rosedale Center on 4/13!   

The Crochet Guild of America has posted new online classes Online Education (crochet.org),  Classes are open to non-members, however CGOA members do get a discount on classes.   

The Chapter Challenge has started.  Note: only CGOA members can get credit for participating in the contest, but all are welcome to make items to donate.  Details about the chapter challenge are live on the CGOA website: crochet.org

I've been a bit busy the last couple of weeks,, but hope to be able to focus on the blog a little more.  If anyone is interested in helping with the blog, please reach out to: ctclist@gmail.com

Monday, March 11, 2024

How to embellish your crochet projects

 

19 members attended our March 9 meeting, and it was such a great meeting.  Education was surface embellishment on your crochet projects.  Marissa did a fantastic job introducing us to 3 methods for embellishing crochet projects, including slip stitch, cross stitch & embroidery.   

AJ's project
3-d printed tools
Show and tell is always fun, but I think the highlight was Andrew's 3-d printed swift & yarn winder. While he's not taking orders (rats!!!), Andrew was generous enough to offer to donate a door prize for our June meeting, and another for the destash in November.   

Our March 23rd meetup will be at Rosedale Center in Roseville, and based on recent months, I expect to see a lot of friendly faces and some new ones as well.  There's still space for a couple more people in Brenda's van, so don't hesitate to email or call to reserve your spot.  If you are shop hopping on your own, but would like to meet up with us, send an email to ctclist@gmail.com to get a copy of the itinerary. We will meetup at the Mall of America in Bloomington on April 27.  

In May we'll be at the Wescott Library in Eagan with Gloria sharing her experience with Red Heart's All in One Granny Square Yarn, and leading us in a fun project.   For June, we'll be road tripping to Isanti, Brenda has offered her van, and I'm sure there will be a couple of carpool options.   We'll discuss details at the May meeting.

We had a lot of discussion at the board meeting and it was great to have so many members stick around to participate and share their thoughts with us.   We'll be creating a survey to get feedback from everyone, so please look for the link in the April newsletter and on the blog in early April.  

Monday, February 26, 2024

Leap, jump and hop with Crochet Twin Cities

picture of gathering
February 24 meet up at the MOA
 
There were 30 members and guests at the February meetup.  It was wonderful to see everyone and welcome 5 new members who joined - that makes 13 new members in 2024, be sure to welcome them when you see them at meetings & meetups.  Seeing so many people crocheting together is enough to make me want to jump with joy.  One of our new members Amelia is making some adorable hoppers: you can find CrochetCroChey's pattern for Froggy Pops in her Etsy shop. 
Froggy Pop

Note: We are missing contact information for 3 of the new members: Jo, Heather H & Katy.  If you know them or see them, please have them reach out to ctclist@gmail.com to update their email address & phone number.

As we leap into March, I am looking forward to our next meeting on March 9, at Penn Lake Library with surface crochet being taught by Marissa.  There will be a board meeting this month as well - the agenda will be included in the newsletter and all members are invited to participate in the board meeting. 
MOA meetup in February
Next up: in April we Yarn Shop Hop. Our navigator and driver are working out the route, for maximum yarnification (is that word?).  8 members are currently signed up for Friday, and 9 are planning on Saturday.  There's still room for a few more, and it's never too late to sign up (unless we fill up first); email ctclist@gmail.com or use the member roster to send a text or call if you make a last-minute decision to join us.  Last year Ann met us at Needle & Skein since it was close to home, If you live near a shop and just want to meet us there, we'd love to see you.  


Sunday, February 11, 2024

Don't fall victim to CROMO - Join CTC and experience CROJO

Thermal Crochet 
I really suffered from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) knowing that I would not be able to attend the February 10 Crochet Twin Cities meeting.  And even though the conference I attended instead was very valuable, I am still struggling with ROMO (Regret of Missing Out).  I guess it's really just an overall symptom of my constant CROMO - fear of missing out on crochet!  

I've heard rave reviews of the excellent education on thermal crochet provided by Tony and will admit to being envious of all those who were able to attend.  Check out the reel from the February 10th meeting on the CTC Instagram. 

Instead of CROMO, you can experience CROJO - crochet joy, by joining us at a meeting or meet up. Check out our calendar for the details for the February meet up at the Mall of America, and the March meeting and meet up.

Looking ahead: March's education topic is surface crochet with Marissa instructing us. In April, we'll be yarn shop hopping, email ctclist@gmail.com to sign up for the hop, or if you are interested in planning an alternative meeting for those who won't be participating in the Yarn Shop Hop.  Visit the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop website for general details the hop.  In May, we'll meet at the Wescott Library in Eagan.  Our topic will be granny squares, and Gloria will share her experience with Red Heart's new granny square yarn.  For June, we'll be road-tripping to Isanti for a potluck at Susi's. Carpooling information will be available closer to June. 

I am working on recovering from my CROMO and experiencing CROJO by participating in Marly Bird's Game Day Make-A-Long.  Enjoy the Super Bowl, commercials, half-time show or whatever brings you joy today!  See you at the Mall!  Theresa