Wednesday, July 27, 2011

my favorite project.

baby turtle - amigurumi crochet pattern
by paola navarro



Paola Navarro of Delicious Crochet is one of my favorite amigurumi designers as each one of her unique designs captures so much personality and character. I varied a little from the pattern in that I made this sweet little turtle using 100% wool, and then I felted it until it was soft and fuzzy. Details were then needle felted on. I used Patons Grace to make the bonnet, and although I switched up my fibers and added felting to the mix it worked out that the bonnet fit perfectly. I love it when that happens:)




kim.

Monday, July 25, 2011

yay crochet!

If you've been thinking about entering the crochet business, but you're feeling a little discouraged because you've met with some odd stares and even negative feedback then we've found the article for you! 

For encouragement with your with your business venture click here.


kim & tara.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

heartsy vouchers are all sold out:(


Thanks to Heartsy the last 2 days have been a whirlwind of activity. We're a little blurry eyed but we have managed to keep up with all of the orders. It was crazy busy there for awhile today so if we messed up in any way the please feel free to contact us. 

We are sad to say that all of the vouchers are now sold out, but we will do our best to announce all future sales and special offers on our blog.  Thanks for your support and all the best!


kim & tara.

Monday, July 18, 2011

special limited offer.


We are so excited to share with you a great deal that will be offered to our wonderful customers with the help of Heartsy! On Tuesday, July 19th we will be able to offer you $15.00 worth of crochet patterns for just $6.00! Visit heartsy.me today to find out how you can save 60% on your pattern purchases at our Etsy shop. You can save even more by signing up to be a Heartsy VIP member!  Please feel free to visit our shop today as well to browse through all the patterns that will be offered at such a great price.  Be sure to snap up a voucher soon however, as there will only be a small amount of vouchers available for sale.    

On top of the already great deal through Heartsy, our regular shop offer of "buy 5 patterns and receive a 6th pattern of your choice for free" will still apply. Just leave us a note along with your Heartsy voucher number in the "Message to Seller" section at checkout regarding your 6th free pattern choice.

Also as a reminder, please choose the "Other" option in the payment section and quote your Heartsy voucher number in the "Message to Seller" section. If your order is above your voucher amount we will invoice you the difference as soon as possible. We guarantee to have your patterns emailed to you within 24 hours after payment but our record shows that we are normally much quicker than that as we know you will be anxious to get started on your projects right away.


enjoy!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

this child of mine.

I recently picked up a copy of Rita Weiss and Jean Lienhauser's latest crochet book, "Crochet Master Class", from our local library. This beautiful book features several different crochet techniques and the designers who have mastered them.


My oldest daughter was immediately fasinated and inspired by the chapter on Painted Crochet with Ferosa Harold. With Painted Crochet you are not actually painting, but rather it is a term used to describe gradual colour changes achieved by holding three strands of fine thread together. 


My daughter was anxious to try this technique out on a crochet hat pattern that I had bought for her. She started with 3 three strands of the dark blue as shown and when she was ready for the next colour she simply dropped one strand of the dark blue and picked up one strand of the lighter blue. She crocheted a row and then again dropped one strand of the dark blue and picked up one strand of the lighter blue. She continued this process until all three strands were the same lighter blue colour. She worked a total of four gradual colour changes and as you can see the result was stunning.


The hat was made using DMC® Cotton Perle thread in size 8 and the pattern was created by Jennifer Hansen, who was also featured in the Crochet Master Class book for her work with Hairpin Lace. The pattern is called the " Baroque Toque" and may be purchased from Stitch Diva Studios

kim.

Monday, July 11, 2011

current project - maia shawl by lisa naskrent.

I just completed the Maia Shawl by Lisa Naskrent. I made this shawl once before and it is by far my favorite shawl pattern. The yarn that I chose is Lace Silk by Handmaiden Fine Yarn (100% Hand Dyed Silk). It's the kind of yarn that once you pick it up you know that you will never be able to put it down.

I decided that I wanted more of a scarf then a shawl so made it smaller than what the pattern called for and I did 5 instead of 3 fan rows.








If you are interested in making the Maia Shawl you can find the pattern here.


kim.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

american standard vs. british (uk) crochet terms.


At present all of our crochet patterns have been written using American Standard crochet terms. Much to our delight we have recently noticed an increase in sales in countries that use UK crochet terms, so we have been busy researching the difference between American and British terms. We are currently looking into translating some of our patterns to UK crochet terms, but in the meantime we have developed some crochet tables charting the difference between the two.





kim & tara.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

our etsy shop will be closed for vacation.




For the first time in over 3 years we will be closing our etsy shop for a few days. This will take place on the evening of Thursday July 7th. We will be back up and running on Monday July 11th. You can still find us at any of the other sites listed on the right side bar of our blog. Just so there is no confusion if you are looking for us at ravelry.com our usernames are knotsewcute (Kim) and tearaleaf (Tara). 

If you have any questions over the weekend our response time may be slower than usual but we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.

Sorry for any inconvenience and have a great weekend!!!



kim & tara.

Monday, July 4, 2011

new tunisian crochet pattern - drawstring gift bags.

We have a new release for you today.  This is something new to our shop - Tunisian crochet!!




These little gift bags are the perfect opportunity for you to try your hand at the tunisian knit stitch. It’s a small project that doesn’t take long while at the same time giving you lots of practice and getting a cute and useful product as a result.


These drawstring bags are perfect for gifting. The small ones are just the right size for jewelry.




Finished sizes:
Small - 1.5” wide x 1.75” height
Medium - 4.5” wide x 5.75” height
Large - 7.25” wide x 9” height

Although the pattern doesn’t include instructions on how to do tunisian crochet, we do offer a photo tutorial here showing you the in’s and out’s of how to do the Tunisian knit stitch that is used for this pattern.





tara.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

how to do the tunisian knit stitch.

I have recently been experimenting with Tunisian crochet. It is easy to do and I love the fabric that it can produce. I thought I would share some little hints and tips that I have learned along the way and found helpful.


Tunisian crochet starts out with a traditional chain. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use a chain of 12. Also, I am only going to concentrate on doing the tunisian knit stitch as this is the stitch that I am so keen on right now.

A few notes before starting – with Tunisian crochet you don't turn your work. You are always working on the front of the work. One row is actually worked in two parts. The first pass is called the “forward”, and the second pass is called the “return”. There are sometimes different terms used depending on the designer. On the forward pass you are working from right to left and the loops are left on the hook. On the return pass you are working from left to right and the loops are removed from the hook.

Now let's tackle the foundation row.

Start by making a chain of 12. 
This is the first part of the row or the “forward” pass - In 2nd chain from hook, insert your hook, yarn over and pull through a loop and leave the loop on your hook. Repeat this for each ch across to the end. (pic 1). Here it is just a few stitches done.




At the end, you should have as many loops on your hook as you had stitches in your beginning chain. Here we have 12 loops on the hook.




Now for the second part of the row or the “return” pass - Yarn over and pull through one loop only on the hook. This would be equivalent to your turning chain in regular crochet. Yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook and continue to yarn over and pull through two loops all the way to the end. You should now only have one loop remaining on your hook.




Now lets turn our attention to the tunisian knit stitch (Tks).

Row 2 (forward): Skip the first stitch as the loop on your hook will count as your first stitch.




In the second stitch, insert your hook from the front to the back through the two vertical bars and under the horizontal bar.



Yarn over and pull through a loop and leave the loop on the hook.




Repeat this for each stitch across to the end. See the below picture to see the placement of the the 12th and final stitch. The hook should run behind these two vertical bars.




Row 2 (return): Yarn over and pull through one loop only on the hook. Yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook, continue to yarn over and pull through two loops all the way to the end.

Repeat both parts of Row 2 until you have the desired amount of rows. If you are like me and loose track of your count, look at the right-hand side of your work and count the stitches going up the side. This picture shows 3 rows worked.




Easy right?  And see what you can make knowing just this one tunisian crochet stitch??




Pattern will soon be released for sale. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions/comments about this tutorial or if you see any glaring errors, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me directly at knotsewcute@gmail.com. I appreciate any feedback.

Update: Click here to purchase the Drawstring Gift Bag.

tara.



Friday, July 1, 2011

first friday freebie.

sweet lil' bandana - crochet pattern
by kim miller



You can crochet this sweet lil' bandana using only one 50 gram ball of Bernat® Handicrafter Cotton and scrapes of Patons® Grace. Perfect for when you need a quick head covering for your little one. 

Finished bandana measures 15 ½" across the front and 11" down the sides and will fit 4 years old and up.

Detailed crochet pattern is complete with chart and colour photos.

This crochet pattern is the first in our series of first friday freebies. The first friday of every month we will feature either a free pattern or we will announce a giveaway.



enjoy!