Summer Idea

I first have to apologize for not posting in a while. I've been rather busy with moving. Since most of my crochet stuff is in storage at the moment, my ability to crochet has been limited. I'm now in the state of my final move, but still have one more move next month when my house is finished being built. None the less, I've managed to try a couple of new things since I've moved.

Here's my latest creation. Using the ruffle yarn, I've been able to create some very plush flip flops. Just in time for summer!

Here's a picture of a completed pair.

Want a pair? You can purchase a pair by visiting my Etsy store. 

 

Here's a picture of some of the colors I had on hand. I had to see what each color would look like. :)









I've also added some patterns to my Etsy store. View my Etsy store.  Use the coupon code Blogger2013 to receive 15% off your purchase. (This includes custom orders.) Expires June 30, 2013.

I hope to post more soon! Happy summer!

Crochet-Along

Normally, I"m not a huge fan of crochet-alongs. Most of them seem to take forever, or I'm just not interested in whatever is being made. However, I did come across this one that I thought I'd share with you.

http://www.knotyournanascrochet.com/2013/04/granny-square-cal-week-one.html

Knot Your Nana's Crochet is doing a granny square crochet along. Each week, she'll post 3 granny squares. Her end project is going to be a queen size blanket, but you can use the granny squares to make just about anything. Pillow cases, scarves, etc. It might be fun to follow along. I know I'm surely thinking about it!

Inspired Crochet magazine giveaway winners!

Our winners from the March 30th giveaway for an Inspired Crochet magazine are:

Iinara Hesken and Hooknread. 

Congratulations! 

Please send me an email (KristinDragos@gmail.com) from the email you'd like your magazine sent to. 

Thanks to everyone who entered! I enjoyed reading your comments!

Day 30 of National Crochet Month Blog Tour with Crochetville!

Hi everyone! I'm glad you've stopped by to visit. I'm glad to be a part of National Crochet Month's blog tour organized by Amy and Donna from Crochetville, and I'm sharing today with Linda Dean. (You can visit her page here.) Don't forget you can view previous posts by visiting the Crochetville Blog post.

There are many things I love about crochet, but what I truly love is how creative people are with different materials. Pop tabs, plastic bags, and so much more. If it's flexible enough and string like, you can crochet with it. I'm hoping that I can possibly provide a little inspiration for your future projects.

While I was working, a woman came up to me to ask if I've ever crocheted with tulle. At this point I hadn't. (I went home that day to experiment with it though.) This sparked my interest in the many different things that people crochet with - and of course, I had a giant roll of tulle hanging around the house. One day I decided that I wanted to try something else with it, so this is one of the things I came up with.

Free Basic Crochet and Tulle Bracelet Tutorial - Get the tutorial for free!
If the link doesn't work try this link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-tulle-bracelet-photo-tutorial

   

While this bracelet is rather simple looking, it can be a great way to highlight a pretty, decorative button or add flowers, edgings or other adornments to the center of the tulle. You could even add the five petal flower pattern I added a couple of days ago. (Click here to see the free flower pattern.)  You could also use this as a starting point to create unique veils by adding a boarder to a larger piece of tulle. In the next few days, I'll post a couple of ideas for personalizing this bracelet. Be sure to stay tuned.

I'd love to hear about what you come up with. Visit my Ravelry Page to get the free tutorial. 

Through April 6th, you can also get 25% off any pattern in my Ravelry store by entering the promo code: NatCroMo2013.

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Giveaway

Inspired Crochet magazine giveaway!

Two winners will receive a free copy of any Inspired Crochet issue of your choice. To enter to win a copy, simply post a comment on this blog post with an answer to the question: 

Where do you get your crochet inspiration from? 

Comments must be posted by midnight CST on March 31st to be eligible. Winners will be chosen at random and announced April 1st. Winners will need to give me their email addresses, so if you're not comfortable giving me your email address you won't be able to win. 

If you'd like to subscribe to their magazine, they have a current deal: Purchase a subscription for 3 months and get access to ALL of their previous issues! You can subscribe here: http://inspiredcrochet.com/Subscribe

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Other ways to find me: 

Facebook page (Crochet Instructor Kristin Dragos)

Etsy (Kristin's Crochet)

Pinterest (KristinDragos)

You can also sign up for my mailing list by clicking the link at the top of my page. I'll do my best to have mailings out each month (though realistically it may be every other month). I'll be adding free patterns, my tips, tricks, crochet news, as well as information about opportunities to test patterns for me before they are released. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Designing your own crochet patterns (Part 2)

Last time, I wrote about paying attention to patterns and the way many patterns are put together. Today's post is all about inspiration.

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. When someone (or myself) says, "I wonder if I can crochet [x]?" I see that as a challenge to do just that. (Maybe it's too much How I Met Your Mother watching, but that's how I see it.) I might be tempted to see if someone else has made whatever x is already. If not, I get the pleasure of playing scientist to see if I can do it. If they have, I might skim through their pattern and wonder "How would I do that?" or "That seems like a weird way to do this part (or the whole thing). I wonder why they didn't do it this way?" etc.

2. Sometimes I like going to manufacturers websites to look for inspiration. I may look at jewelry, for example, and think "How would you crochet that?" or "How would I get the same effect if it was crocheted?"

3. People in your life. Many people in my life (sorry if you're reading this, but you know it's true!) are a little quirky. I tend to use those quirks to inspire my crochet. For example, one of my friends is a big Star Trek fan. Knowing that, I knew I wanted to make her something related to Star Trek. Thus my Star Trek pillow collection idea was born. (See the patterns link on the top of my blog if you'd like to see them.)

4. Books. This may sound lame, but lately I've been really into books that have "stitch patterns" in them. I like to see how the different combination of stitches work to create different effects. Looking through them, I always find at least a few (okay, typically more than a few) that I really like. I instantly go into "what can I make with that" mode. Something really lacy, for example, wouldn't make a very sturdy purse/bag without a good lining.

5. Yarn colors. Ever look at a yarn and think, that's the perfect color for Kermit the frog or something else? That actually happened to me the other day. I was teaching a student and we were working on the crocodile stitch. She was using her red yarn, and I thought "If I ever make a hand puppet, that color with the crocodile stitch would make a great tongue!"

6. Movies. Yup! If you look closely enough, you'll almost always notice something in movies or television shows that is knitted or crocheted. Ever notice the blanket that's draped over the back of Amy's couch on Big Bang Theory? It looks like it's made entirely of granny squares. You can catch a glimpse of it here.

I'm always surprised where my inspiration comes from. To keep track of my ideas, I try to write them down on whatever paper I have handy. (I know, a better method would be to keep a little notebook with me at all times. I always manage to forget the idea before I dig out the notebook from my purse.) Sometimes it's a note card that I have on my desk, or another pattern that I'm currently working on. Either way, sometimes these notes get "lost" for a bit, but I always manage to find them later. I guess this method makes me feel like my ideas don't overflow and overwhelm me. I can work on or think of one as I stumble across it later.

The next post in this series will be about my thinking during the designing process. (This will likely be next week, as my next blog post will be about and for the National Crochet Month's blog tour organized by the amazing people at Crochetville.)

New Pattern: Five Petal Flower

As National Crochet Month draws to a close, I am preparing for my scheduled date for the National Crochet Month blog tour organized by Amy and Donna over at Crochetville. Even though my date isn't until the 30th, I thought I'd share a recent pattern with you. This one would be great for an embellishment on a hat, purse, scarf, or anything else. Paton's Metallic yarn makes this flower really impressive.

Five Petal Flower Pattern
This pattern was inspired by the crocodile stitch. It could be worked in one or more colors.

Materials: 

Crochet Hook: G (4.0 mm)

Small amount of worsted weight yarn

(I used a pale yellow for the center and Paton's new Metallic yarn for the purple petals.)

Round 1:  Create an adjustable ring and ch 3 (Counts as a dc). Work 19 more dcs into the center of the ring. (20 total sts)  If using another color for the petals, fasten off and join new color to any stitch.

Round 2: *Ch 2. Work 2 dcs into the next st. Ch 2. Work 2 dcs in the next st. Ch 2, Sl st into the next dc st. (One petal made.) Sl st into the next st. Repeat from * across until 5 petals are made. 

Round 3: 

Before starting round 3, let's take a look at each petal. We'll be working a variation of the crocodile stitch on each of the petals, but we'll only be working over the two double crochet posts in the center of the petal and the ch-2 space in the center of the petal. 

Ch 1. *Work 5 dcs UP the first inside post. (This will probably require you to turn the flower to ensure you're working UP the post. i.e. If you crochet right handed, you'll turn the flower so the top of the petal you're working on is to your left.) Ch 1.

Work 3 dcs into the ch-2 space between the two inside posts at the top of the petal. Ch 1.

Work 5 dcs down the second inside post of the petal. Ch 1. This completes your first petal. Repeat from * around to complete your 5 petals. At end of round join with sl st to first ch 1 of row. Fasten off and weave in  your ends. 

Don't forget to stop by on March 30th to see my post for National Crochet Month's blog tour! 

Designing your own crochet patterns (Part 1)

I designed my first pattern over almost two years ago now. It was a Yoshi scarf for my friends daughter. Looking back on it, I wish I had written down the pattern, as I would have loved to share it. When I first had that thought - the I want to design my own pattern thought - I wondered how most people go about making their designs. I did a Google search hoping to find some help getting started. (I laugh at how silly that sounds now.)

What I managed to find was limited and didn't seem to work for me. Some people suggested drawing out their ideas. Sure, that's great in theory. What if you don't know what you want to make, but you want to make something? That's the boat I was in. I was clearly going about it all backwards. I had, well I guess, the crochet equivalent to writer's block. I didn't think I had any creative ideas at all.

This post is going to be the first in a series of posts about my start into and process of designing my own patterns. I'm hoping that it will help someone out there who was like me and looking for someplace to start.

For today, I'll simply add this bit of information. There are many ways of doing things with crochet, but there are many "patterns" within patterns you find. For example, a flat circle is typically done with a round of single crochets, followed by a round of increases in each stitch. After that the round is a pattern of either (a) an increase, followed by one (or more depending on the round) single crochet stitches, or (b) the inverse (i.e. one or more single crochet stitches followed by an increase.

To find these patterns you have to do a few things.
1. Start looking for the patterns! If you aren't paying attention to the patterns and repetitions within a pattern, you won't see them.
2. Crochet outside of your comfort zone. Try patterns for different things. If you normally crochet one thing, try something else. Like amigurumi, afghans, or apparel, etc.
3. Try to remember some of the patterns you notice when working on new patterns. Eventually you'll see that most circles are made the same way, squares, triangles, etc.
4. Crochet a lot of different patterns! There are many ways to do anything in crochet. Take granny squares for example. How many different granny squares are there? Way too many to count! Working on different patterns will help you figure out the different ways to accomplish different (or the same) results. You'll be able to figure out which way you prefer to do something. (Which is key for when you decide to write your own patterns.)

Next post will be about finding your inspiration for projects.

If you design your own patterns, what else would you add to this list? If you don't design your own, what would you like to know about designing? I'd love to hear what you have to say. Add your comments below!