Darla Fanton

Easy Scrap Afghan Block

I kept several things in mind when I was designing this block. I wanted a stitch pattern that I could easily put down and pick back up. Something I could crochet pretty much by feel since it was possible I would be working on it in dimly lit locations. Since it was for a baby afghan I didn’t want a lot of very open spaces for tiny toes and fingers to get caught. (Photo included in yesterday’s post.)

This is still a work in progress so I have not included finishing instructions. I’m not sure yet how I will finish it. That will be determined after I’ve completed the blocks and discover how much and what color yarn I have left. I think I will make 25 blocks - but that is also subject to change. I will let you know how it turns out, but I’m not sure when that will be.

Finished Size of Block (before edging): 7″ x 9″

Materials for one block:
Worsted weight (#4) yarn
approximately 20 yds Color A
approximately 18 yds each Colors B & C
Size I (5.5 mm) crochet hook

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
exsc = extended single crochet - insert hook in designated chain or space, yarn over and draw loop through; yarn over and draw through one loop on hook; yarn over and draw through both loops remaining on hook

Note - Carry unused colors along side edge until needed.

Row 1: With Color A, ch 27; exsc in 3rd ch from hook; *ch 1, skip 1 ch, exsc in next ch; repeat from * across, changing to Color B when drawing through last two loops of final stitch. (13 exsc)

Row 2: Turn, ch 2; *exsc in next ch-1 space, ch 1, skip next st; repeat from * across, ending, exsc in top of turning ch, changing to next color when drawing through final two loops of stitch. (13 exsc)

Rows 3 - 28: Repeat Row 2. Fasten off all colors.

Variegated Yarns

In an earlier post I mentioned that during my travels I work on charity crochet projects. They are usually small projects that are easy to pick up, don’t require a lot of concentration, use up stash yarn (providing an excuse to buy more) and hopefully give the recipient as much joy in the receiving as I had in the making.

Since I will soon be on the way to the Orlando Needlework Show, it was time to rummage in the yarn stash and organize the next project. The Portland CGOA Chapter, Always in Stitches, is making children’s afghans as our Community Project, so I will be working on easily portable 7″ x 9″ blocks. I’ve made a number of these blocks already using various pattern stitches and bright colors and my “always ready to go on a moment’s notice” bag was a little light on yarn.

Sorting through one of the boxes of stash yarn I came across some in white, pastels and a variegated pastel. Perfect for a baby afghan. Plus it provides an excuse for me to work with variegated yarn. You see, I have a fondness for variegated yarn. Always have had. Can’t explain it. Not even going to try to analyze it. I just love working with the stuff.

When designing with variegated yarns I always do a lot of swatching. They can be challenging to work with. Sometimes the color changes create a pleasing pattern all by themselves - sometimes they don’t! I try different approaches….maybe working in the round instead of rows or trying different stitches. Sometimes a small change is all it takes to make a big difference. Another thing that can make a big difference is the solid colors used with the variegated. This project provides an opportunity to illustrate the impact a surrounding color can have.

I have an additional challenge with this project. This is a discontinued yarn, so I’m pretty much limited to what I have in my stash. I could work solid color blocks and edge them with the variegated. But I only have 1 full plus 1 partial skein of variegated (and another partial skein in a different dye lot - How did that happen?). I’m pretty sure that won’t be enough to do the edging and joining. Plus the difference in dye lot of that “odd one” would be too noticeable if I had to add it in right next to the main variegated. I’ve decided to use the variegated by working with three colors per block. I’ll alternate 1 row of variegated with a row each of two other colors and see how many blocks I get. Then I’ll decide if I’m going to do some solid color blocks or some additional blocks of 3 color stripes or…..?

I worked a couple of blocks while I was deciding on an easy stitch pattern. You can see how different this variegated yarn looks just by changing the second color from pink to blue. In both blocks I started with the variegated, the 2nd row is a solid color and the 3rd row is white, repeat that sequence ending with a variegated row. I’m sure changing the second color to yellow will give yet a different look.

This post is getting rather long, so I’ll pop in tomorrow and share the pattern for this block in case you want to crochet a similar charity afghan from your stash yarn. I’m sure somebody in your community would welcome a warm blankie. If you aren’t sure who could use your afghan you might want to start by checking to see if there is a Project Linus Chapter near you.

9/11 Bead Quilt

Many of you know that I enjoy mixing beads into my crochet on occasion. Actually, on quite a few occasions! That is one of the reasons I’m excited to be teaching next month at the Orlando Needlework Show. The Bead and Art Glass Fest and the Memories Scrapbooking Expo will be going on at the same place at the same time with a joint vendor market.

Just think - all that yarn and beads too in one place, just waiting for me! I can hardly wait to start shopping.

In between teaching and shopping I will save some time to view the 9/11 Bead Quilt. When I heard that the Bead Quilt would be on exhibit at the Orange County Convention Center, I visited www.BeadQuilt.org to learn more about the Quilt.

The cover of the limited edition catalog states “Beadworkers from around the globe united to express their feelings of hope and healing through art”. As I viewed parts of the slideshow online I was struck by the obvious love and devotion stitched into each square. I’m sure viewing the Quilt in person will be a powerful experience.

Enjoying A Student’s Success

Without a doubt, for me the best part of teaching is enjoying my student’s success. What a thrill it is to see a student gain confidence and take concepts they have learned in one of my classes and run with them.

It often isn’t possible to finish a project in the short time alloted for a class. I’m always thrilled when students follow-up and either e-mail me photos or bring completed projects with them when they take the next class.

Carol has taken several of my classes here in Portland this year. She was kind enough last week to bring in some of the models and allow me to share them with you.

Carol and I share a fondness for felting. This photo shows Carol’s projects from two different classes - Tapestry Crochet Bowl to Felt and the Felted Tunisian Entrelac Coaster.

We also share a fondness for beads. The green necklace on the right is the one Carol made in the Crochet with Wire: Beads & Chips Necklace class. The necklace on the left is one she made from her own supply of beads. Then using the same crochet with wire technique and smaller beads she went on to make a bracelet.

When Carol started taking classes with me she said one of her goals was to become better at reading patterns. Last week’s class at the Knitting Bee was an advanced Aran Crochet class and it was obvious to me that Carol has met that goal…she was reading the pattern like a pro! I’m so happy I could help her succeed. It is what I hope for every student!

Crochet Illusions in Oakland

Crochet Illusions is such a fun class to teach! Students begin the class baffled about how that elusive secondary image is going to show up when they seem to be just crocheting stripes. It does require working a few rows before it appears.

In addition the secondary image only appears as the viewing angle changes. Students across the room often see the heart before the person creating it does.

It is so much fun to share everybody’s excitement as hearts emerge around the room.

Students wonder - Will it really be a heart?

Yes, it IS a heart!

I am working on additional Crochet Illusions, but in the meantime feel free to hop over to Maggie’s Crochet for a look at my Diagonal Illusion Crochet Vest.

Tunisian Entrelac in Oakland

Yesterday I left you with the words “while I’m busy retrieving class photos from my camera”. Although I taught six classes in Oakland at the Knit and Crochet Show, I discovered today that I only took pictures during two of them. My only defense is I get so involved in teaching and sharing my students excitement that I forget I even have a camera with me! I know my blog visitors really enjoy the photos so I’ll try to remember to take more pictures. If you are a student in one of my classes, please don’t hesitate to remind me!

Tunisian Entrelac in the Round was one of the classes I DID remember my camera.

I thoroughly enjoy this class. Students start off creating a base for their bowl from traditional crochet, then add Tunisian triangles to start the sides. At this point the project still lies flat in what I call the “starfish phase”.

Color is so important in our lives, it is always fun for me to see the colorful parade of bowls take shape.

Equally enjoyable is to see my students creativity take flight. One of the students in Oakland decided to work her bowl in Tunisian Knit Stitch. The textural change resulted in a great design element.

I can hardly wait to see the variety of bowls the students at the Orlando Needlework Show will create in November!

Stop by tomorrow for a look at Crochet Illusions.

Lunch with Friends

I spent September 26 through the 30th in Oakland, CA teaching at the Fall Knit and Crochet Show and even finding time to take a class, which is a rare treat for me.

In addition to my students, who I am always thrilled to meet (or see again), Conferences also give me the opportunity to reconnect with fellow designers, teachers, and industry personnel who I usually see only once or twice a year.

In Oakland I had a delightful lunch with Nazee Fard, founder of Needlecraft University. We were joined by Kathleen Sams and Vicki Blizzard from Coats & Clark. These are three very delightful women whom I have known for quite awhile and lunch-time flew by. Soon I headed off to teach Tunisian Entrelac, Nazee headed to the Show Floor to shop and Vicki and Kathleen headed to the Show Floor to teach the Learn to Knit and Crochet classes sponsored by Coats & Clark.

Before we parted Nazee shared a photo of an absolutely gorgeous shawl she knit for an upcoming issue of Lace ‘n More. Lace knitting is so popular right now and Nazee’s work is lovely whether she is using knitting needles or a crochet hook.

Nazee also offered to take me to Lacis, a shop filled with things any textile lover would enjoy. Unfortunately I couldn’t fit it into my schedule. The next time I’m teaching in the area, I’m just going to have to arrive a day or two early to do some sightseeing!

While I’m busy retrieving class photos from my camera, I’ll leave you with a link to a slide show from the Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, featuring incredible knitted lace by Marguerite Shimmons. Enjoy the eye candy!

Felting Fun with Tunisian Entrelac

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.

Always In Stitches - Portland, OR chapter of the Crochet Guild of America

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.

A Crochet Friendly Shop-The Knitting Bee

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!