Agata Oleksiak is amazing. Crocheted Camo over cars, bridges, people, seats, ladders.... Crochets amazing dresses that are more sculptures then clothes. And my personal favorite, crochets balloons! Yes I said balloons! Go check her out!
Want more crochet artists? Then go check out this SuperNaturale article.
I'm disqualified. I didn't get my kimono sweater done. I only got half way through the body.
But what I truly enjoyed was the community of crocheters, the encouragement, the joy in crafting together.
But all is not as bad as it may seem... What did I do?
Well, ...
1. Wrote the pattern for the Kimono Sweater.
2. Wrote the pattern for the Peacoat.
3. Made the back and collar of the Peacoat.
4. Wrote the pattern for a cardi sweater.
5. Finished half the body of the cardi.
6. Made and wrote a belt pattern for CrochetMe (soon to be seen in the Spring issue)
7. Wrote a pattern for another belt.
8. And of course, made Timmy the Toad, who is Faye's new boyfriend.
So all in all, I can't be too upset. Its amazing what you can do when you are focused and driven.
Hope all the Olympians had as much fun as I did!
Then you are in luck. Go check out the e-zine IndieQuarter. It has a constant update of cool and inspiring indi crafts and links to the shops. Trust me you won't be disappointed!
I love when crochet is used in new and fresh ways.
Check these out:
A crocheted table by Loyal Loot 
A crochet and resin table by twentytwentyone.
I ran into this site while poking around knit.1 online.
If you need some inspiration, or just like funky jewerly; definitely check out : www.naughtysecretaryclub.com Its a combo of vintage, new, and really crafty.
Her stuff is just great! I immediately ordered the wood necklace you see- and am wearing it right now. She says it may take a while to get your order, but mine took 4 days.
Go on- check it out!
Well, I should have made my event be writing 4 patterns (3 sweaters) in 16 days. But alas, I didn't. My sweater is coming along. I am up to the front panels. Pic tomorrow.
Sad news for my family. My husband's grandmother passed this past weekend. It was sudden and painful, but from every hardship we learn something....
1. My family is number one on my list (even though, crochet may be a close second- JK, mom).
2. Everyone deals with pain in different ways. Some are emotional, some try to fill the shoes of the person who passed, some eat, some drink, some bottle everything up.
3. When I hear of someone in pain, I immediately want to crochet for them. I don't bring flowers or make food (like normal people), but I wrap them in fiber. Strange addiction.
For my mother-in-law, I used Aerie by ModeDea and whipped up a scarf in a shell stitch. Now, I never use novelty yarns- but for some reason, I thought she need to have her senses stimulated by that fuzzy yarn. I think it also had to do with grandma. Last time I saw her my sister-in-law made her a Fun Fur scarf in Steelers colors and she just loved it.
How about you? What is your first notion when you hear someone is in pain?
I'm constantly threatening Mark that I am going to throw out his old T-shirts. What if I follow in Junya Watanabe's footsteps and did this (minus the mohawk)?
He'd probably still be pissed.
Want to see more of Junya line: check out: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/collections/S2006RTW/review/JNWATNBE
Meet Timmy the Toad. He's on his way to work, wearing a tie today.
He will part of an article in CrochetMe on amigurumi dolls. I can't say more, but it should be a great article. And once its up, I'll post how you can make a Timmy of your own.
(yes, yes, I should have been working on my Crochet Olympics sweater, but Timmy just called to me. But that's my typical MO, having at least 6 projects going on at once. On a plus side, my patterns for the sweater and coat are coming along very nicely.)
Look what Suzie is wearing today!
We are very excited about this new pattern we are developing. It will be for a yarn company that we haven't worked with before, and working with new clients is always a great opportunity! Plus, they would like the pattern for women bust sizes 32 to 50. How great is that? Finally some patterns for real sized women.
After seeing Suzie, in these mockups, I realize one very important item. We really have to get prettier mock-up fabric. Woo- boy. Are these colors ugly together!
My spider lace shrug is now ready to buy at : http://www.niceknits.com/nicepatterns.html
3$ go to Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Awareness, which you can learn more about here: http://www.komen.org. Part of the cost also goes to the paypal fees we have to pay and the website costs.
The shrug pattern gives direction for sizes S, M, L, and XL (32",36", 30", 42" bust); and directions for alterating it to fit other sizes. Shrug was made with 3-5 skiens of TLC's Cara Mia and a J hook. Shrug works up quickly in the lacy pattern stitch.
Hope you enjoy!
Here's my progress after the opening ceremonies last night.
I love watching the opening ceremonies. There's something so neat in seeing how a country wants to show off how proud of their culture they are. So even though, I didn't get the red space skier people, I really enjoyed watching. And to Bob Costas, I liked the Mongolian athletes hats.
As for the sweater, I couldn't be more pleased. As you can see, I am letting my project rest and be blocked for a bit. I know a few crocheters are going to be put off by the blocking required, but too bad for them. The results definitely outweigh the wait for this one. I am so jazzed!
On the progress front, here is a picture of the peacoat.
Waist shaping conquered.
Off to write down some of the patterns before they fall out of my head.
Who's up to the challenge? See : http://www.jinglelady.us/crochet/olympics/
I am! Why- because I have to seriously get crocheting to keep up with my design schedule. Wow! who thought, I would ever say that?
So what am I crocheting? See Suzie below-- that mockup will become my new sweater design by the end of the olympics- Hopefully!
Check back. I will take a picture every few days with my progress.
Want to join? check out: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crochetolympics/join
GO USA!
How awesome is this? http://www.fantasyfashionleague.com/index.cfm
Everyone know how much I "love" fantasy football, esp at my old job where everyone I sat near played. Yuck! But if I knew I could loudly share my fantasy league, well then, maybe the job wouldn't have been so annoying!
I am totally joining.
So on a lazy Saturday, my husband and I strolled through my favorite museum and stumbled into:
http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/greatart/exhibitions_catchow.shtml
Holy cow is this artist talented! If her designs are coming near you, I totally recommend going.
Here is her website- check out the gallery. http://www.cat-chow.com/catchow_flash.htm
Her ability to use everyday objects and piece them into these amazing costumes that speak volumes was totally inspiring.
Meet my new friend Suzie! She is such a HUGE help! Remember my previous post about doing a mockup, well with Suzie in town, mock-ups are a breeze.
She's modeling my current sweater design. I personally think the fit is awesome, and the crocheted peice will be amazing. I am SO JAZZED!
Designers say that inspiration come from many sources. Like Art, or TV, or books, or nature; and that is totally true. For me, it comes from yarn. Its an incredible process for me to test out multiple yarns in the same pattern. I can just see the project develop before my eyes. I have talked about this before (http://www.crochetme.com/zen-and-the-art-of-stash-diving) so I won't go on and on. I will just let my latest swatches speak for themselves.
