Darla Fanton

Archive for August, 2007

No matter how often I have taught a particular class I’m always trying to add more information or provide more samples for my students. While preparing to teach at the upcoming Knit and Crochet Show in Oakland, CA I had the perfect opportunity to combine adding class samples with more felting fun.

I thought you might like to see the before and after felting samples for one of the “projects” in my Tunisian Entrelac To Felt or Not - On the Square class. Before felting, the coaster measured 7 1/4 inches square; after felting, 4 1/2 inches.

Originally this wasn’t a project - it was a swatch. Now there is nothing wrong with swatches. I love swatches - for all sorts of reasons. Gauge swatches, color swatches, pattern swatches, drape swatches. I have stacks of swatches. But this swatch told me - more than once - it wanted to be a coaster. It wanted to be a coaster, with options - such as to felt, or not.

Maybe a little background information will explain why I thought of this coaster as a swatch and how it stubbornly insisted it wasn’t.

I felt (no pun intended) I had the perfect project for Part 1, the In the Round portion of Tunisian Entrelac. You can see pictures of both the felted and non-felted bowls for the class here. As I developed Part 2, On the Square, I faced a challenge. I know four different ways to work flat Tunisian Entrelac. Each method handles the edges in a different way. I didn’t want to limit my students to only one method, so how was I going to fit all this information plus explain how to design their own flat projects into a three hour time frame? Swatches rather than projects seemed the way to go. I would provide some patterns that could be felted (or not) for them to work at home to reinforce what they learned in class, but due to the time limitations it would be swatches in class.

At the July Knit and Crochet Show I mentioned that if I hadn’t worked my swatches with cotton yarn I might not have made the connection that Swatch C was perfect for a coaster. One of the students was working Swatch C with wool yarn and a large hook. I wondered aloud if it would felt enough to also be a coaster. I had to agree with her reply, “It is going to be fun to find out.”

As soon as time allowed I decided to have some fun myself with “Swatch C”. I used Cascade 220 yarn for my felted version. It comes in a wide range of gorgeous colors and felts beautifully! After felting, the wool coaster worked with a 10 mm hook is just 1/4 inch larger than the cotton version worked with a 5 mm hook. I wonder if I run it through another wash cycle will it shrink another 1/4 inch? I don’t really care as it makes a great coaster in either size or fiber!

I hope you can join me in Oakland for one (or more) of the six classes I’m scheduled to teach. September 6 is the pre-registration deadline. It is always a good idea to pre-register for classes that interest you. If you wait to register on-site you run the danger of the class either being sold out or cancelled due to lack of pre-registrations.

I’m so pleased that Portland finally has a local Crochet Guild of America chapter! Always in Stitches formed in April and I attended my first meeting last Saturday. I know I would have enjoyed attending earlier meetings but this was the first time since April when I was actually in Portland on the second Saturday!

We were a rather small group of seven (it is summer vacation time after all) but that certainly didn’t stop us from having a large amount of fun. We decided our charity project would be making colorful afghans for the children who pass through the Tigard Good Neighbor Center. We all know how comforting it is to snuggle up in a crocheted afghan of your very own.

During Show ‘n Tell we admired the preemie afghan Angela made for charity. In this photo she is getting ready to add the last couple of rounds. I love the combination of the variegated and the white.

Then we petted and patted just a tiny portion of Bonnie Pierce’s yarn stash and passed around her freeform purse as well. Yes, we let her go home with the contents of her purse and all of her yarn, but we were tempted! Actually I was tempted to ask her to let me keep the purse…never mind the contents or the yarn.  I have a fairly large yarn stash of my own - what I don’t have is a freeform purse!

We meet the second Saturday of the month from 2 - 4 PM at JoAnn Fabric and Crafts in Tigard, OR. Visitors are always welcome. Stop by for some crochet fun and conversation.

If you read the blog, What Wheat Wrote, then you already know she has been on a bit of a tear about myths related to crochet and independent yarn shops.

In a recent post “Defining Crochet Friendly Yarns” Wheat asks crocheters to talk about the Independent shops they have found who are crochet friendly.

Her request gives me a chance to talk about the Knitting Bee, a very crochet friendly shop in Portland, OR. Now you may think I’m just saying that because I teach crochet at the Knitting Bee. But the truth is the shop owner was crochet friendly long before she met me….in fact she was crochet friendly before she even knew how to crochet!

Let me give you a little background. In early 2004 a new shopping area, West Union Village, was under construction not far from my home. Imagine my delight when I read in a neighborhood newsletter; Coming Soon - Knitting Bee - Inspiring yarn, notions and classes for knitting and crochet. Wow! An independent yarn shop opening just a couple of miles from me and despite what I had heard from other crocheters about yarn shops not always welcoming them, this one was using a tagline that made me feel welcome before I even walked through the door!

So would I feel welcome after I walked through the door? You bet I did.
As soon as I walked in I was greeted with a friendly, “Hello, Is there anything special I can help you find?”
“Oh, I think I will just browse a bit,” I replied.

There were, of course, beautiful yarns. But yarns do not make a shop “crochet friendly”. What would a yarn shop be without yarn, after all? What makes a yarn shop crochet friendly are crochet books, hooks, and most importantly - attitude. So over to the bookshelves I wandered. Yes, there they were - crochet books - and in the notebooks devoted to independent designers I spotted one that said “Crochet Patterns” on the spine. Over to the pegboard where tools of the trade are hanging. There they are - crochet hooks, proudly lined up right next to the “pointy sticks”. I’m starting to think I may have wandered into a crocheter’s heaven, but what about that third element, attitude?

I can be a bit on the shy side, so I decide to check out the yarn while waiting for the other customers to make their purchases and leave so I can talk to the person behind the counter without an audience.

When the time is right I approach. “Do you know when the shop owner might be in?”
“I’m Jami, I own the shop. What can I do for you?”
“I just want to say thank-you for bringing a yarn shop to this part of town, and thank you for including crochet books and hooks.”

What she said next told me she really wanted crocheters to feel welcome in her shop. “I don’t know how to crochet, so if you know of anything for crocheters that I should have, please let me know.”

Of course at that point I introduced myself and offered to teach her to crochet. I did start teaching crochet at the shop soon after that meeting three years ago. But Jami was always too busy waiting on customers to take a crochet lesson when I was in the shop. So in the evenings she taught herself how to crochet so she would be better prepared to help crocheters. Impressed? I was!

The Knitting Bee continues to be a friendly haven for all - whether they prefer two pointy sticks, one hooked stick, or even one stick with two hooks. As a teacher I appreciate Jami’s enthusiasm for new classes. She is always willing to bring in new products for my students. For instance when one of my double-hook students wanted to work on larger projects, Jami was happy to special order the cabled double-ended hook she needed. When several expressed an interest in learning to crochet with beads and wire, steel crochet hooks were added to the inventory.

In the photo above students try out some of those steel hooks in the recent Crochet with Wire: Beads & Chips Necklace class.

Not everybody on the staff at the Knitting Bee crochets, but every one of them is crochet friendly! Stop by and say Hi. I think you will enjoy your visit!

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