Meet Ellen Gormley, our super creative guest author today!

Ellen Gormley on set of Crochet Lace

Today my good friend and amazing crocheter, Ellen Gormley, is stopping by to tell us about her brand new class, Crochet Lace.  Ellen and I have been friends for years and it always tickles me to see what she has come up with next.  Her latest book is just about to be released as well and it looks like another fantastic one.  Don't forget to leave me a comment on what you think is the most interesting part of her class (or send me a email) to be entered into the class sweepstakes!

Hi, I’m Ellen Gormley, Editor of Crochet! magazine, and I was WRONG. I admit it. I can admit I was wrong, here among friends, right? I was wrong about the difficulty of crochet lace.

Back in my first days of crochet, way before I made it my career, I would not have ventured into Broomstick Lace or Hairpin Lace. Why expand into more lace and tools when there is so much to be done without?

Gentle Waves Hairpin Lace Scarf

The truth is, I think as a new crocheter, I was intimidated by Crochet lace. All that loose yarn, and the big loops that could so easily become jumbled and unruly. Simply keeping count of traditional stitches and learning shaping seemed like a big enough task.  I was wrong, it’s not that hard. The learning curve is SHORT. I’m talking like 20 minutes.  In 20 minutes of practice with each skill, Hairpin, Broomstick, and Bruges Lace, you can gain tremendous comfort with the techniques.

Why should the knitters have all the fun getting to use more than one tool at a time? And Bruges Lace, you don’t even need anything special, just ONE crochet hook. So if you aren’t ready add more tools to your tool bag, start with the satisfaction of Bruges Lace first.

Once a crocheter has learned the basics of crochet (Check out my Learn to Crochet online class!) and maybe learned how to crochet with beads, (Check out my Crocheting with Beads online class!) it might be fun to branch out into Crochet Lace!

Sweet and Sassy Hats from Learn to Crochet

In my BRAND NEW Annie’s online class I demystify the tricky juggling of a hairpin loom and the broomstick along with the winding path of Bruges lace all in one class!  There are 2 projects for each technique and many lessons for you to see exactly how to get a handle on the tools and methods.

As a designer, I learned these techniques because there weren’t many patterns for them, so I figured I could be more marketable with Bruges, Hairpin and Broomstick patterns.  As a crocheter, the three techniques are just so much fun and rhythmic that I see a whole new world of possibilities.