Twitter totally makes my job easier

For those of you out there who have not checked out Twitter, let me give you a brief description. Basically it is like IM'ing, but with a group of friends instead of just one. You decide who you want to "follow" and who you want to allow to "follow" you. All that means is that, who you "follow" you will receive their updates, and who "follows" you will receive yours. You can reply to any message you get from someone twittering both publicly (that everyone sees it) or privately (only the one person sees it). I have been twittering for months now, and its made me much closer to friends and family. Basically it turns my job from being very solitary to as social as I want on any given day. I can chat to any colleague I want if I need a break. Or like today, they drop such great tweets (little notes) that I have to share them with everyone. What kind of tweets? Well,...


Inside Crochet is now Digital again! Remember how upset we all were that we couldn't get Inside Crochet here in the US? Well, not anymore! You can now get the digital version here at this site. Looks like the price is around 8.50$ an issue, which is cheaper then if you are lucky enough to find it at Barnes and Noble for 10.99$ or so. I don't know the company, so it's on you to research it yourself. I'm just so excited it is available. Oh, and you can preview the new issue on the site too. Just click the "view item" button.





Webs has Sheep Shop Yarn on super sale. This one is actually sad. Sheep Shop is closing its doors, so Webs is closing out its inventory. I really like Sheep Shop. They have beautiful yarn which is lovely to crochet with. So much so that 3 of my patterns in the CBF line are in Sheep Shop. If you are looking for a nice gift for a crocheter or knitter, go check out the sale (and quick!). Once they are gone they are gone. For Crocheters, the Sheep 3 is my favorite. Lucky Clover, Sunflower Jumper, and Sorbet Scarf are all made from Sheep 3. I know I'm headed over now to pick up some.

Knitscene Fall 2009

Have you gotten to see the sneak preview of the fall issue of Knitscene? For those of you who are not familiar, Knitscene is produced by Interweave twice a year. It has simple knit and crochet projects. The majority are always knit, but you will find a few crochet projects in each issue. I enjoy magazines with both knit and crochet in them, I find them inspirational to use both of sides of my craft brain. Plus, I like knowing that I can handle all the knit projects in the magazine if I wanted to tackle any. (and in this issue, there are a number of really cute pullovers with raglan details that are adorable.)

For me, I have 2 projects in the issue.

Crochet Coed Vest
It is a simple vest with minimal shaping on purpose to keep the skill level low. The stitch pattern is a simple sc, ch-1 repeat. All the colorwork is row by row, so you don't have to worry about carrying yarns across the row, since you will only use one at a time. Even the pockets are nothing to worry about, being simple slits made by a long ch space. The yarn is Mission Falls 136 Superwash, which really is a great sportweight wool yarn to crochet with. It has just a nice hand and is really soft. It really is worth it, if you are looking for a good wool to crochet machine washable garments. You can check out some more photos of the vest on my flickr or the sneak preview for other styling options.


Crochet Bobble Beret
This hat is constructed as a simple circle to get you to the widest circumference, then just round and round to the desired length. Can't get more basic then that for a hat. The bobble is not your traditional bobble though. I wanted a thin fabric for the beret, and the traditional bobble can get pretty bulky. This stitch pattern uses an extended extended single crochet (about the same height as a double crochet) alternated with regular single crochet to make them pop out like bobbles. The stitch really is not hard at all once you try it, and is pretty fun to crochet. Here are my photos on flickr and the sneak preview.

Crocheted Gifts

Interweave Presents Crocheted Gifts: Irresistible Projects to Make & Give

In the mail this week, I received my contributor's copy of Crocheted Gifts by Kim Werker. It is a collection of gifts you can crochet. There are a number of well known designers included in the book, which makes it a pretty special project for me to be included. Plus, their designs are really interesting. Actually I have so many favorites, this post is going to be a bit picture heavy.

Kim approached me about contributing to the book at the last TNNA in June. She was a bit under the gun at the time, and I told her anything she needed just let me know. She asked if I crocheted socks, and well even though I had at the time only ever crocheted one pair, I am always up for a challenge. And me being me, I wanted them to be completely wearable and cute. So I became a bit sock obsessed, hence the Cozy from the Toe UP patterns; and mastered socks for the book.

Ravissant Socks- are my version of lacy delicate socks. The basic structure is extended single crochet stitches on the sole and toe. For me, esc are the only way to crochet socks. I hate crocheting rounds and round of sc, I just get so bored. Plus, esc give you a thinner fabric which is great for socks. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock, which is pretty much my favorite for socks. It always has nice stitch definition and great stretch. Here's a picture of them blocking and a close-up of the stitch pattern. It's funny thinking about crocheting them last summer, especially with all the crazy traveling we were doing and they were my project through it all.


Sorbet Scarf- my other project in the book is a wide lacy scarf. It is crocheted with the lovely Sheep Shop 3, which is a silk merino wool blend. You can read all about it in the Sorbet sneak preview post I wrote, wow, a year ago! Here are some more pictures on flickr of the scarf. Oh, and the scarf comes fully diagrammed to help with the stitch patter and edging.



So enough about me. Here are some of my favorite projects in the book:

Shawlette in Chains by Kristin Omdahl
I just love the drape on the chain stitch pattern.










Sea Star Pendant by Katie Himmelberg
what can I say I am a sucker for motifs, esp when they are presented inside of something too.









Wire Hairpin-Lace Bowl by Donna Hulka
Isn't is just gorgeous! Now give a bowl like that and no one would believe you that you made it. It looks store bought. I just love it.









Trinity Lace Shrug by Annie Modesitt
Again, I just can't get enough of lace. Plus this one comes fully diagrammed to help with crocheting all the different stitch patterns.


Here's the lowdown on the projects in the book:
Total: 25
Garments (cardigans to shrugs): 4
Accessories (scarfs, socks, mittens, hats): 8
Jewelry: 3
Home Items (bowls, afghans, washcloths): 5
Bags: 3
Baby: 2

Where's the yarn come from?

I got a great question the other day from Jada on "where do designers get the yarn for their projects".

Here's here question:

"Robyn,
Maybe you could help us out. On a crochet list I am on, we are having a discussion about the designing process and yarns chosen for patterns. How do you choose the yarn? Do yarn companies donate yarn, do you ask for it, do they pay you to use their yarn for advertising? Maybe these are trade secrets?

Some patterns are in such expensive yarns that a person would spend way more on a project than is feasible. Are we intended to just admire the project and come up with an alternative yarn? For instance, there is a coat in a magazine that uses a yarn that is $9.96 per skein. It would take $250 of yarn for that coat/sweater! wowzers.

Please shed some light on this to some poor non-designer crocheters.
thanks
Jada"

Great Question, no?

Well, Jada there are lots of answers to that question and it really depends on where the project will be published. But I'll try my best to answer.

Magazines
When designers work for magazines, they submit a proposal for each issue with a couple of designs sketched out with a swatch of the stitch pattern. We can use any yarn in that swatch, but most of us know that if you swatch with a yarn that the company also pays to advertise in the magazine your chances of getting it accepted go up. What are those yarns? All you have to do is turn to the back of the magazine, and they will list all their advertisers. Now, just because you chose one yarn to swatch with does not mean that the editor will choose that yarn too. Editors get to decide what yarn and what color for the project. They usually contact the designer and discuss the choice with them. But ultimately it is their decision. They need to use yarns from companies that are advertised in the magazine, and will need to spread the wealth as it were so that all the companies are represented. So for magazines, I can steer my projects toward a fiber, like merino wool; but the decision on which brand will be out of my hands.

Books
When a designer writes a book, some of the same holds true. In my case, I publish under Interweave Press. So in the books, I need to make sure I am using yarns from a number of their advertisers in the magazines. They all don't have to be advertisers, but the majority need to be. I get to choose the yarn company and brands, and for the most part the colors as well. For my books, I choose the yarn that is best for the project. I look carefully at what drape and wear-ability I will need, and choose a yarn that matches up. The cost of the yarn is pretty far down my list. That doesn't mean that I always choose the most expensive yarn I can find. Being expensive does not necessarily mean better, it just means it costs more. I always choose the best fabric for the project period. Sometimes it will be a luscious alpaca silk, and sometimes it will be a sportweight acrylic. I do not discriminate. It all depends on what the project is and how I need the fabric to behave.

Pattern Line
The most freedom comes from designing your own pattern line. There is no editor or editorial board reviewing your yarn selection. It is purely your own decision. On my patterns, again I use the yarn that is the best match for the project, just as in my books. But I also favor companies that I have a good relationship with. The yarn industry is made up of a number of small businesses, and whenever I can I will support other small businesses. Most are very happy to donate yarn for a pattern in return to advertise their yarn. So for most of my pattern line, the yarns will be from small yarn companies that I want to support with patterns. The choice is entirely mine. How do I get the yarn? Well, usually it comes from attending conferences and striking up relationships with the companies. For example, at the last TNNA, I met the great people behind Schaefer Yarn company. We had a lot of fun chatting about yarn and their color philosophy. They offered to send me some yarn to play with and come up with a pattern. The yarn in the picture above is what they sent me, and I am working on coming up with a new pattern with it. (BTW, you have to check out their colors. Most are named after famous woman in history. All the hanks come with a bit of background on the woman. I really enjoy reading their history and thinking about the colors they choose for that woman. Their yarns make great gifts for history lovers (like me) or teenagers and kids to be inspired. Plus, winding their yarn is a lot of fun. You never can guess what color will be the dominate one. It's like a fun mystery.)

Hopefully, that answered some of your questions. One thing that never happens, is the yarn company pays the design to play with their yarn. They may send me a ball to swatch with, but that's it. Yarn companies only pay a designer if they have designed a pattern for their pattern line. When writing a book, they will donate all the yarn for the project in the book; but again they don't pay me to use the yarn. It is purely my choice. So for that next project that you fall in love with but the yarn is too expensive for you, really look at the fiber content and how the fabric is behaving. Then do some detective work (by swatching) and find a substitute that will work for you and still give you the same kind of drape. Subbing yarns is quite the art and science and is a whole other discussion for another day.

If anyone out there is looking at becoming a designer or other crochet professional, I recommend attending CGOA's Professional Development Day. There you will fine a ton of great information that you can not get online. It has been known to jumpstart a number of careers, including mine; but you have to attend to find out.

Linen Sneak Preview

Linen Sneak Preview
Originally uploaded by rchach

As I was mentioning on Monday, some projects work out perfectly and well others go a bit astray.

Here's another example.

This tunic was crocheted by the wonderful Diane a few weeks ago. She did a great job, everything was to gauge and looked great. Only problem, the designer. Yup, me.

This happens from time to time, it is one of the pitfalls of not being able to crochet all your own designs (if only I could crochet at the speed of light!). Sometimes even the best plans need to adapt. But when you are not the one crocheting it, you have no idea of this until it is too late.

Not too too late. I should stop and explain that I have my awesome crocheters crochet the majority and then I do all the fussy bits. So that could be they crochet the panels, and then I seam and edge. They might join all the motifs, then I block and add the border. That was the case here.

I took the mostly complete project out, put it on Susie Q and scratched my head. Something was just not looking right. It was not draping correctly at all. I tried all my blocking methods to get it to hang and not pucker, to no avail. Finally I stepped back and smacked my head. It wasn't the blocking or the joining, but me.

See I had the motifs joined side to side (almost grid like), and they wanted to stay in that grid form. So instead of moving with Susie Q, they stayed in columns and hung funny. Some motifs do that. The solution? Turn them 45 degrees. Then there are no columns of motifs, and the motifs hang from the points (think of a diamond), which will be the most flowy. It was a great solution. Only problem was now I had to rip apart the entire project.

It took me a bit to get over that. I just hate having to rip back. Luckily, with motifs I only had to unwind one side (as most of you know who have made granny square projects that are crocheted as you go), to remove the motif and reposition it. Once everything was reconstructed, the edging and finishing moved quickly. So it just goes to show, that sometimes you just need to change your perspective 45 degrees.

This project is slated for a winter crochet magazine. As always I'll let you know when it comes out.

Sublime Sneak Preview

Sublime Sneak Preview
Originally uploaded by rchach

Sometimes projects go completely as planned. The design works, the crochet goes smoothly, the finishing is easy....

Or you have my next 2 sneak peeks.

This one was for a Fall magazine. Ginny crocheted it months ago. And did a great job letting me know that we probably would run out of yarn. I mean she did such a great job, that I could let the publisher know a month ahead of the deadline that we were running out of yarn. (Let's make that a bit clearer: most times I only have 6-8weeks to design and crochet a project. I try to jump on the design as fast as possible to give my crocheters (or me) a month to crochet. I include a week of time with me at the end for the fussy finishing, and another 4 days or so for shipping. So when I say that Ginny let me know early- I mean she was a speed demon and whipped through this so fast!) It really was incredible, especially b/c it looked great too.

Well, as in most good plans.... The yarn manufacturer had some kind of communication breakdown and I did not see the yarn for 2 months. And guess how much more I needed - 1/2 a ball. Man, that annoys me. Nothing worse then having everything finished but this tiny amount. So I am not sure which issue it will get moved into, but I will certainly let you know when I do.

The project is made with a cashmere merino wool blend in Aran weight. (did you drop over? I know me- using something heavier then DK- crazy!) It is fast crochet because of the yarn (and because the yarn is heavenly too) as well as the pattern being pretty straightforward. Not too many twists in this one.

I'll let you know more specifics about the project when I can. Just so happy to have this off my to do list and out of the office!

Interweave's Hurt Book Sale

It doesn't happen too often, so when Interweave has their Hurt Book Sale I don't mosey I gallup over!

The savings are incredible on books. Especially if you don't mind if they are nicked or otherwise slightly damaged. Last time they had the sale, I went a bit nuts and ordered like 6 books. And not one was damaged, so you never know. But who cares if they are nicked, when they are so cheap!

For Example, you can get Blueprint Crochet for 50% of the cover price! (Yes, that's cheaper then amazon!)

Here are the listing of the crochet titles in the sale. I for one, am using some of the pattern sales to get a new harmony guide. Mine is so marked up and highlighted, that for 10$ it is totally worth it to get an updated copy.

My other obsession are the Weldon's Practical Needlework Volumes. I love old needlework magazines, and add that these were originally published in the Victorian era, I'm hooked. IW has re-printed the volumes, and put them in a nice hard cover. I limit myself to one each sale, but I could easily go crazy. Granted if I did that I would never get my new book written, I'd be reading and checking out these all the time. You never know what old doily or crochet edging is going to inspire you, when you open the cover.

Hope you find some treasures yourself!

Setting some goals

Since my plans have changed over the last week, I spent the weekend thinking about what goals I wanted to reach in the book. I work much more productively if instead of having this huge pile of work in front of me, I can narrow my focus to one task at a time. Sometimes its not even one project, but one task within the project.

I must be a goal junkie, but I love finishing each task and getting to cross it off my list; one by one.

I set my overall goals to complete 2 projects for the book each week for the next 6 weeks. That will give me another week or so to edit those patterns, ship them off to the publisher; all way in advance of CJ (in case she decides to come really early). Plus the more I can finish, the longer I can take off from the book once she comes. I think it will be do-able, in addition , to my magazine work and volunteer work. I'm hopeful at least.

So to get the ball rolling I finished writing the pattern that goes with the swatch above today, and shipped off the yarn to my crocheter. (Thank goodness for them!) Especially since my "other work" this week is 2 tunics that I need to finish crocheting and writing. It certainly will be a busy week around here! The yarn in the swatch is Classic Elite Allegoro from the Verde Collection, if you were wondering.

2 designs finished for the new book, 23 left to write.

Calling all Cincy Area Crocheters...

This is what happens when you have severe baby brain! You totally forget to mention that you are teaching. And I'm teaching in the Cincy Area. And it's free! Luckily, I remembered that I was teaching, I just totally forgot to tell you all about it!

Here's the details:
Crochet Like a Pro
July 23 6:30-8:30pm
at The Kenton County Library
(Erlanger Branch, 401 Kenton Lands Road)
Learn designer crochet tips and tricks to make your work look sensational with Robyn Chachula (that's me) author of the fantastic crochet book "Blueprint Crochet." In this fun program, you'll discover the joys of blocking, the ways around frogging some of the worst mistakes (like how to move a button hole, and how to cut your crochet), and finishing techniques that will make your garment look store bought. You'll also get to try out different techniques to crochet colorwork and crochet with beads. Participants should bring one ball of yarn and matching hook. All crocheters welcome! Space is limited and pre-registration is required. See the website for registration details.

Basically it will be a shortened version of my Crochet Like A Pro class. I'll cover my favorite techniques and tips, and let the others be take-home learning. It should be really fun and a relaxing way to spend a Thursday evening in the Tri-State (Ohio, KY, Indiana).

Hope to see some of you there! It will be my last class for months with CJ coming so soon.

Weekend Crocheting

I get asked all the time what I am crocheting for CJ. And my immediate response is NOTHING. Na da. Zippo. Zero. I am way too superstitious to allow too many baby gifts in the house, let alone crochet her something yet.

Luckily, cousins on both of our sides are having babies and I get to work out my baby crochet fix that way. This weekend was my cousin, Rebecca's*, shower. (yes the same cousin that helps me crochet.) And I wanted to make something special for her.

Our grandmother always made every baby a granny square blanket, so I knew I wanted to honor her by doing something along the same lines. Here's a shot of the baby blanket she made me when I was a baby. I also knew I wanted to use a mix of yarn from my stash, grandma's stash, and Rebecca's stash. (purely so that it can be said "that a village made this blankie for you peanut") I was asked at the party how long it took me to make it and I stalled a bit. Mainly because I didn't crochet those blocks this year. Actually I crocheted them 4 years ago for a different WIP, and stole them for the blanket (knowing that I would never finish that other WIP). So actually I only crocheted the blocks together and added the border this time, and I did that in the car trip. Here's a more Detail shot of the blanket. I think it turned out pretty well for being a hodge-podge of sorts. Hopefully baby will like it too!

*What makes it super special is that we are actually due only about 2 weeks apart. So besides getting to share our love of crocheting, we'll be new mom's at the same time too!

Getting back on the bike

On Friday I officially crossed off the first of 25 projects for the book that I need to design and write. (See, the swatch in the picture. Not in those colors, so you will have to let your mind imagine). It just was the best feeling to be writing again. And writing for me.

Designing for your own book is very similar to designing for magazines, except in one very unique way. Instead of formatting and styling the pattern to another person's way; you get to write it anyway you want. I really love that freedom, and get excited to think of ways to best describe technically how to crochet the pattern and the best way to describe the aesthetic of the design.

Good thing too, since priorities have changed a bit around here. Not at CBF headquarters, but at Casa Chachula. As most of you know, I lead a double life. On any given day I am both crochet designer, and structural engineer (as well as doggie mom and such). But today marks the last day of being the latter, not due to interest (I actually really enjoy that job) but due to the stinky building economy. (Aka, no one building or repairing = no jobs for architects, engineers, contractors and such) We are not upset, we have seen this coming for months and months and have gotten prepared for the outcome (changing healthcare and loss of income). Plus, I can't dwell on things I can't control, I just look at it as an opportunity. Since the economy stinks and I am in my third trimester, its not likely that another structural engineering job will pop up anytime soon; so I am looking at it as a time to work on the book and get ready for CJ.

I'm actually pretty excited to give crochet design a chance to flourish full-time, and see what I can conjure up in the next few months. And there is plenty of work to be done around CBF. I have the other 24 book projects, plus 3 magazine projects to finish, and 1 book contribution project. Those alone will keep me busy for months, which is great.

Best part is just turning the next page in our book of life. We don't know what will happen, but boy are we excited! I'll try my best to keep you up to date on the journey. Hope you will enjoy the ride with me.