a new baby crochet pattern: florette

In my last post, I was talking about crocheting with cotton, and that I would soon share with you my projects. Here is the first one. It is the sweetest little baby sweater, a true heirloom.
I was inspired by the shapes of vintage "tulip" baby sweaters, and the soft colors of roses. Even though, the tulip sweaters were my starting point, I was never really fond of their exaggerated shapes, and the slightly odd fit at the shoulders. So instead of working a chevron to get the tulip shape, I discretely placed increases on each side of the post stitches. The post stitches accentuate the tulip shape.

I placed my increases carefully to guarantee a good fit at the shoulders and around the arms, and a graceful bloom of the body of the sweater. I actually crocheted the sweater in all the sizes offered to make sure the pattern's appearance would stay true as the sizes increased.

Three buttons keep the sweater closed. A delicate scalloped edging completes the petal touch.

I crocheted the sweater in many different wools before settling on cotton as my favorite. For my final choice I used Sirdar Snugly cotton DK for the body of the sweater, and rowan revive for the edging.

A lot went in the design, accurate sizing, minding proportions, design placements to insure a truly graceful garment, that will become a family heirloom. The pattern is offered in 5 sizes, from preemie to 2-3 year old. The directions are written in full for each pattern which will make it very easy to follow. No confusion at all, rather a smooth crochet experience. I am offering this pattern for purchase as a PDF on Ravelry and on Craftsy. I hope you will join me in making some florettes of your own.

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in love with a new yarn

My two latest crochet projects which I will soon share with you have been crocheted with cotton or cotton blends. So when I went to my local yarn store, the Quarter Stitch in Wilmington NC, I went to find more of the great Cotton Fleece yarn I had just used, and loved, but the even though there were some great color choices, none quite matched what I had in mind.

Then I saw Berroco's Maya yarn. A soft blend of cotton and Alpaca in a nice range of colors. I fell in love with the muted tones of some of them. I picked a muted taupe, a pale muted lavender, and a slightly darker muted lavender.

I got home and started working with the yarn and I just love it. It is a worsted weight which is great if you want your project to grow fast. The yarn is very soft, and has an amazing drape, no stiffness, but not floppy either, and best of all, the cabling of the yarn means it does not split nor snag at all. It crochets up like butter!

I just love it when I discover a new yarn, in particular a great new yarn. I cannot wait to share my project with you. For now here is a little bit of yarn porn!

 

 

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Pom free crochet hat pattern

Pom is my latest little creation. I have to say my inspiration for the hat was not the unusually cold weather, but rather a ski hat worn by Claudia Cardinale in the first Pink Panther Movies with Peter Sellers and David Niven. I got the yarn at my new local yarn store, the Quarter Stitch in Wilmingon, NC. I picked a smooth and round cushy yarn, Rowan Pure Wool Worsted.

I loved the look of the beanie with the big pompom, and the slight texture. I simplified the texture to simple front post double crochet stitches against a background of double crochet stitches.

The pattern is so simple all sizes from newborn to adult follow the same pattern at the beginning. A simple rib edging finishes the hat.

For the pompom to be substantial, the best is to make the pompom circumference half of the hat circumference. I like a big pompom!

The hats were so quick to make, I have already made 4, all of which have been claimed. It is time to make more. All I need is a little worsted weight yarn. I will go check my stash for odds and ends, and might come up with a wild hat or two! Striped or not striped, I tell you these are fun to make.

Pom is offered as a free pattern on Ravelry.

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fragonard free crochet cowl pattern

After finishing the writing of the building blocks pattern, I told you I had already started thinking about my next project. I had some yarn left from the sweater and wanted to make something that would require no more than 200 yards.
I went for a walk with my daughter, and during our walk I ran into a neighbor who told her she looked like a Fragonard painting.
We came home from the walk, and I knew what I was going to crochet a rushed cowl, that would re-interpret the beautiful gathers and drapes of the garments worn by the beautiful women Fragonard painted.

The pattern is a simple play on increases and decreases and uses only 2 stitches, single crochets and double crochets. There is really nothing to it. But the result is rich with texture.

The texture catches the light beautifully. It makes this cowl very special. You know what the best part is ? You can have it done in an evening of crochet. I crocheted it watching one of my favorite series, Downtown Abbey.

I am offering the pattern as a free pattern on Ravelry !

I hope you will enjoy crocheting Fragonard. One word of warning these cowls are addictive. I have already made 2!

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building blocks free crochet pattern

The sweater I have been working for the last few weeks is now a free pattern available on Ravelry. I called it building blocks.

Publishing a pattern always gives me great satisfaction. I adore the creative part of designing. Testing is my chance to fine tune, and I love to take my time. Then there is picture time. We took pictures this morning, and my little Leo was in a wiggly mood which made my life a little hard in particular with the low light. I was determined though, because I knew the light would play beautifully with the natural colors.

Then came the pattern transcribing into a word processor, the proof reading and the formatting. I just finished uploading to Ravelry, and I feel happy. I have already started sketching the next project...
This little sweater is a classic with an updated fit. I really like playing on this classic / modern feeling. I picked neutral colors to create subtle textures in the stitches. The sweater is crocheted using a worsted yarn. It is so quick and simple to make that I think you could have a newborn size one ready even if the baby was due tomorrow!

The sleeves are drop sleeves for an easy fit. There is a back neck buttoned opening to allow for easy putting on and taking off. Sizes range from newborn to 3 years. I recommend you use the chest measurements to select the size.

I am offering this pattern as a free Ravelry download. I hope you will give it a try. Happy crocheting!

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a new life

If someone had told me last year where I would be today, I would not have believed them. Our lives have changed completely. We changed our lives completely.

We sold our home in Boston, left our jobs, and moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. We dropped our belongings in our new 1930's cottage. We helped our college son settle in our new home.

But this was not the major change. We bought a sailboat. Rolfe and I decided to live our dream or traveling and living most of the time on a sailboat with our younger homeschooled children. We looked at many boats until we found her in Beaufort, South Carolina. For those of you who sail, she is a Catalina 28. She is not huge, but she is enough for us. We named her Lucy. Here she is on a frosty morning. Excuse her appearance she had just woken up and had not tidied up yet!

A couple weeks ago we started going back up the ICW. What a wonderful trip. I saw landscapes like I had never seen. At times we anchored at night, and at times we docked in a marina.

The most memorable sight were a foggy sunset in Georgetown.

I am in awe of sunsets on the water. This one I saw as we were getting close to home on the Cape Fear river.

There is nothing like crocheting on the deck, sitting in the sun while your husband is navigating. I did quite a bit of work on my new sweater pattern. The testing is almost complete.

For now, we are back home, on land, enjoying time with our oldest son. This will give me time to publish my new pattern. We have not decided where we will be going next. I guess the winds will decide...

 

 

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mandala fun

We recently moved from icy Boston to sweet Wilmington, North Carolina. Apart from enjoying the weather, I am truly enjoying our new house. We moved from a six bedroom Victorian, to the cutest 30s cottage, the perfect canvas for crochet projects.

Because our dining room is super tiny, only 9 feet by 9 feet, I chose diminutive furniture for it: a round table and cafe chairs. Instead of re-upholstering the seats, I decided to crochet mandalas.

I logged into my Ravelry account and browsed one beautiful mandala after the other, until I settled on the Little Spring Mandala. The pattern appealed to me because of its simple design with no raised stitches. Nicer to sit on, don't you think? Of course, I knew I would have to expand the pattern. I followed the pattern exactly until row 7, and then keeping the spirit of the design added more rounds for a total of 15 rounds.

I used a worsted weight super soft cotton yarn in summery colors: coral orange, sunny yellow, light turquoise, sandy beige and a mottled cream with flecks of each of the colors in it.

I have so far completed four mandalas. Two more to go. They each take me a couple hours, and the pattern is so easy I can watch I Love Lucy and even laugh without loosing track.

Don't these look fantastic? I think after I am done with the last two, I will create my own...

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Crochet options

I have been exploring the possibilities of crochet for a while now and I can safely say that I am very much in love with the craft and I completely disagree with those who see crochet as a craft for the home stuff only. I love crocheting for my home, but I also love, absolutely love to use crochet for making garments.

To crochet garments successfully you have to make a few important choices. Here is my 2 cents worth:

- choose a thinner yarn than you would for knitting to get the same thickness in your finished product. The way the knots are created in crochet creates a bulkier fabric. Instead of a worsted pick a sport, instead of a sport pick a fingering, instead of a bulky pick a worsted.

- crochet with a hook slightly larger than the one recommended by the manufacturer. Pick a hook that is at least one or two sizes bigger than the recommended hook. Crochet a couple swatches with the different hooks and pick the hook size that gives you the best drape, that creates a soft, supple fabric that will make a comfortable garment.

- worsted spun or woolen spun? For very defined stitches pick a worsted spun, but for garments, my favorite is a woolen spun, or a yarn with a halo. This softens the very defined appearance of the crochet stitches.

Here is a little sample of the fun and beauty of crochet. This is a sample for a child sweater design I have been working on. The yarn used here is Cascade's wonderful Tangiers in 2 contrasting colorways creating a fun play on textures and colors.

 

 

 

 

 

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spinning winterberry farm fibers

A few weeks ago, I went to the Wayland Farmers' Market for their fiber day. Before I tell you about the fiber I got there, I just want to say, that we had a great time looking at locally grown fibers, yarns, and locally made finished products. It reminded me of the farmers' markets I used to go to growing up in France.

There were a lot of choices, but my heart settled on fibers offered by Winterberry Farm.Winterberry Farm is a small farm in Colrain, MA. Jill and Jim raise sheep and  angora rabbits. Jill hand dyes beautiful carded fibers as well as locks and sells raw fleeces.

I fell in love with her beautiful carded rovings. The roving I picked was a blend of cormo and polwarth in a heathery blue colorway with little flecks of softly contrasted colors.

It took me a little bit of time to figure out how I wanted to spin the fiber. Being more of a worsted spinner, I first had to accept that the finished yarn would be textured. After sampling, my Roadbug wheel and I  settled on a short backward draw, with no smoothing of fibers, with intention of keeping the yarn as a lightly fulled singles. The short backward raw allowed to have a little more control over the diameter of the yarn.

After I was done spinning the singles, I really liked the yarn but felt it still had too much twist for a singles. I ran the yarn again through the wheel but in the opposite direction to take some of the twist away. Pleased with the result, I finished the yarn lightly fulling it.

Here is the result, about 450 yards of super soft dk singles with character!

I have started knitting the yarn. I am working on a simple, natural, button down vest for the tiniest man in my life.

groovy socks free pattern

The Groovy Socks are back! Same great, easy, and fun chevron, but with some improvements to the pattern.

The pattern layout is completely different, this time a pdf with very clear step by step instructions. The pattern comes in multiple sizes from child to large adult. The rib flows smoothly into the chevron pattern, and the heel is an afterthought heel so you can zoom through the socks keeping you chevron groove!

I used my own handspun for the model: Malabrigo Nube in the Solis colorway and navajo plied but of course any striping, contrasted handdyed, or striping sock yarn will do.

The pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry. Click   Groovy Socks to download.

Enjoy!

Handspinning Nube

I have been spinning a lot lately. Spinning then knitting my handspun, and unfortunately being lazy about sharing my progress. This time, though, I took the time to photograph the spinning in progress.

Malabrigo's Nube fiber is beautifully colored, easy to spin Merino. This colorway is Solis. I decided to spin as a very fine singles to be chain plied later for a scrumptious sock yarn...

I am already done with the spinning and plying,  but could not wait to start knitting with the yarn long enough to take a picture. I am using the yarn for the re-release of my Groovy Sock pattern. But that is the topic of another post.

In the mean time enjoy a bit of spinning goodness!

 

city sleek: a free cowl knitting pattern

City sleek is my latest free knitting pattern. I had 2 lonely skeins of Rowan Felted Tweed DK, and no project for them. I have been very much in love with cowls, and cowls that could work for both guys and gals. Garter stitch has been a favorite of mine for a long time: simple and cushy.

The pattern is based on uneven repeats of rows and colors but with a clear progression. Slipped stitches carry the colors up into the next block creating a very fluid, sleek look. 

The systematic progression of the pattern, which is knit in the round, makes you want to knit just one more section. Before you know it you are done with the cowl, and are wearing it!

The pattern is available as a free pattern on Ravelry. To download the free pattern and get knitting city sleek click HERE.

Happy knitting!

it's a guy thing: a free sock pattern

There are a lot of men in my life. Some big and some small! There are a lot of perfect yarns in my life! Malabrigo Sock is one of them. And the Persia colorway leaves me speechless!

 I loved my men so much, and I loved this yarn so much, I had to come up with a super guy sock pattern from baby size to adult. And here it is. Seed stitch and mini baby cables combine to make a masculine, relaxed pattern, playing the subtle changes in color to the perfect tweedy effect. Don't they go great with jeans? And best of all, the stitch pattern makes the socks fun and interesting to knit, making you want to knit just a little more to get to the next repeat, even when the big men in your life are size 13!

The pattern is available as a free pattern on Ravelry. (Just click on the word Ravelry to be brought to the page.) I hope you and your guys enjoy the socks!

Give Away

It is time for another give away game! Do you remember this little sweater I crocheted for my little man?

The pattern is ready and needs a name. And guess what I need your help again! So leave a comment between now and Thursday May 16th, 10 pm eastern standard time, and with the help of a random number generator, I will pick a lucky winner. The winner will receive enough yarn and of course the pattern to crochet the sweater.
I can hardly wait to read your suggestions!

Rug Hooking

Did I ever mention that I loved to hook rugs? This is a craft I have practiced on and off over the years. once again, I have reconnected with it.

I started this project about a year ago. I created the theme for the design, dyed the woolens, cut them by hand, and started hooking. I put the project aside for no particular reason, but yesterday, brought it back up,and fell in love all over again.

In craft, I am  somewhat of a philanderer!

So here is a glimpse at my new found again love.

Once upon a time, there was one little hen roosting in a bleeding heart bush, and then a second one came... These were the thoughts that came to my mind this morning, as I was photographing of my rug in progress.

Last week, my first little hen sat there all lonely, but this weekend, a new little hen joined her. When I first started working on the second hen, I thought she would be a twin of the first one, but then, she, the little hen, took control. She decided she would be redder, and plumper, making her own unique contribution to this rug.

I think, this is one of the things I love so much about rug hooking. When you relax into it, the elements of a rug take on a life of their own, surprising you and guiding you. As I hook the night sky background of the rug, it is as if the sky was talking to me, telling me, make me a little bluer, make me a little darker!

Hand-hooked rugs are as beautiful as the world we live in, bursting with life, unique, diverse, and beautifully imperfect.

The Mod Case Free Crochet Pattern

I called my new i-phone case the Mod Case! I hope you like the name.
I am offering this pattern as a free pattern. The case is super simple to crochet, requires very little yarn, you can use your scraps for it, and is crocheted in the blink of an eye. Perfect for a last minute gift! Just click on the link to download the pattern.
Happy crocheting everyone!

download now

And the Winner is...

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. I loved so many of them, I am going to have a little bit of a hard time picking.

The random number generator has spoken. Comment number 11 is the lucky winner of the 3 balls of Rowan Handknit cotton. Sierrapelona you can send a note to carolinehegwer on Ravelry, with your address, and I will mail the yarns to you.

Congratulations!

Name a new pattern give-away!

I need your help in naming my new i-phone case pattern. It would be so nice if you left a comment with your suggestion for a name.
I will pick one of the comments with a random number generator. The winner will receive 3 balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton, in the three colors I used for the case!
I will announce a winner by Friday 04/26/13 at 10 p.m eastern standard time.
Happy naming!