Interweave Crochet Spring 2010

The new spring issue is now up for preview over at Interweave Crochet. The theme this issue is all about shells. I am chuckling to myself because I didn't know that there was going to be a theme, and I am guessing a lot of the designers did not know. Which means that we all just thought- ooh spring, let's do lacy shells.

My design is the Lucine Tunic. The shape came from one of my favorite pregnancy tops. It was just a simple vest that had a thin little belt under the bust. And I thought, move the belt down and it easily could be for any woman. The tunic is constructed in 2 stages. First you make 2 panels for the top half, then you seam them together by crocheting on the belt section. Lastly, you crochet the bottom section to your desired length. It is actually quite simple in construction. The berry stitch pattern gets memorized pretty quickly after doing it row after row.

This project holds a special place for me. It was the project I took with us to the hospital when CJ was born. We had to spend a couple of days there since I had a c-section, and it was so nice to be able to snuggle her and crochet while we were there. It also makes me chuckle since it took me 6 weeks to crochet, which is an eternity in my world. Most of my projects take 1-2 weeks for me to crochet, so that was long for me.

I have some other pictures of it over at flickr if you want to check out my photos. Or the sneak preview from November.

You should check out the issue. There are a number of great designs in the issue. I am partial to Annette's Kiki Dress and Kristen's Flame Scallop Cardi.