Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Too Busy Crocheting To Write Lately! Here's What's New!

One evening recently I was playing with decorating a new potholder I had made for my potholder exchange partner. When I realized what I was doing, I put down my crocheting, turned to my husband and said "Oh my gosh – I think I just invented a whole new craft!" In the strictest sense, it is probably  more like a new embellishing technique using crochet chain stitches... as embroidery! I giggled and said "Hey, I'll just call it "CroBroidery!"

I completed my potholder and was really tickled with how it turned out!

My Picket Fence Potholder, Featuring CroBroidery
This week my new CroBroidery technique will be featured in SoCrafty Magazine online. Check it out! Also coming this week is my new Picket Fence Potholder free crochet pattern, which will be available at this link.

I guess necessity really is the mother of invention sometimes! When I was working on my previous potholder exchange, I was not able to climb the stairs to the attic where I keep my yarn stash. All I had downstairs were white and blue cotton yarns. While my yarns may be stashed upstairs, my thread stash is always close at hand! I thought to myself, "Hey - this thread is 100% cotton..." What if I were to stack a bunch of different crochet threads together, until they were like a rope of fibers equal in thickness to the white cotton yarn? I tried it, and was very pleased with the idea! I ended up using seven different crochet threads held together all at once. Here is what I came up with using this technique... You can see its article here.

Potholder In Multiple Threads

I recently finished a really fun project, a Design-Your-Own Spring Decoration. In the pattern, I give you flower motifs, leaf motifs, a doily center, and a mesh connecting pattern. The rest is then up to you – you can create fun things like a mini doily, a mini wreath, a Cross, a hanging strip decoration... or whatever else your imagination creates! You can see the article, free pattern and tutorial here


 
Motifs With Optional Doily Center


Motifs Arranged In Cross Pattern, To Be Connected With Mesh

Other than crocheting, I've been busy trying to recover from my February knee surgery. Had a few complications, it's been a struggle, and enough said about that! Things are starting to look up and hopefully within a few more weeks I'll be able to be out planting all these spring bulbs! We picked up on a good sale and bought lots of assorted spring bulb plants, while the snow was still covering the ground. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed watching them grow and bloom on my dining room table the last few weeks! We definitely decided this is a "do-again." 


Well, back to work now... I need to finish another exchange potholder! Happy Spring, crochet yourself something beautiful! 



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