Design A Long 1: Garden theme pattern idea

You have probably heard of a Crochet-A-Long (CAL) and a Knit-A-Long (KAL), but have you ever heard of a Design-A-Long? A group has been formed on Ravelry sponsoring a Design-Along. Basically, they have gotten members to cooperatively choose a theme, then contribute pictures for a mood board. Then members can submit sketches and discuss their design process over a few months. The goal is to have a written pattern that has been edited and tested and is ready for publication by the DAL deadline. I think after that point there will be some voting (and maybe even prizes!) for qualifying designs(i.e. those with ready-for-publication patterns that fit the theme and mood board).

The theme for Summer 2011 is "garden" and I have been mulling over what I might have to offer on that them (and whether I have time to work up a design and pattern in time for the end-of-August deadline). I am toying with the idea of a net market bag crocheted from cotton that folds into an attached strawberry - shaped pouch crocheted from thread.

I am moving at the speed of cold molasses, so will probably not make the August 25 deadline but at least I am getting my toe in for the future :')!

Pattern Template Redesigning

Today I have been switching my pattern template from Microsoft Word to Adobe InDesign. I am taking it from a double-half-portrait-page landscape orientation to a full page portrait orientation. Whilst I am keeping my purple and green colour scheme, I am limiting the use of large blocks of colour and photos to the cover page and possibly the additional information and project gallery pages at the end of the pattern, so that the pages that NEED to be printed out are relatively simple and print well in B&W or grayscale.

I am starting the process with my Gathery Up Scarf pattern, then I will try to format my free snowflake patterns and my Tea Set pattern. I will attempt to make charts for these patterns on Adobe Illustrator... a new challenge for me to learn how to orient the charts in the round and then attempt to indicate multi-level (as for the Irish Rose) or 3-D (as in the teacup) stitching in diagram form... So much to learn!

Old Format:

New Format:

What do you think?

Monday Marketing: Blog design and Pattern Reclamation

Today I am thinking a bit about marketing.

I think that my pattern layout design may not be ideal, based on threads I have read on Ravelry as well as my own gut feeling. One thing I do like about my pattern layout choice is my colour theme of purple and green. With that in mind, I thought a redesign of my blog was in order, to bring it more in line with that theme and to freshen it up. With that in mind - any former readers feel free to weigh in on the new design (new readers, I'm also happy to hear from you about my blog design - what works for you, what doesn't?)

I also realised that my Tea Set pattern should be out of its exclusivity period with Yarn Magazine, so I am looking at what I need to do to release that as a self-published pattern.

Child's Chevron Waistcoat - Entering the Self-Publishing Zone

Over the last year I have been dipping my toe into the garment design pool by designing a Chevron Waistcoat for my 5 year old son. (He was 4 when I started, but who's counting?) It occurred to me that the design did not have to be for boys alone, so, for my first attempt at grading a pattern, I worked up 5 sizes on paper and am using those numbers to make a sample for my 8 year old daughter.

In my excitement at having a real live garment pattern (in 3 to 5 sizes, no less!) in the works, I worked up a proposal for publication. Sadly, *violins softly playing* my proposal was rejected. Disheartened, I lay the project aside for a time. Encouraging comments from a crochet buddy got me thinking that perhaps I could also use this as a first effort at completely self-publishing for sale. I have free self-published patterns and am selling my Gathery Up Scarf pattern through Ravelry, but that was initially published by Inside Crochet magazine in the UK, so was not run completely through a self-publishing process.

As part of the process, I will try to track my progress via this blog and perhaps dip a toe into the social-media self-advertising sphere as well. Wish me luck!

Sand Dollar Snowflake

After much waiting, here is my first version of my Sand Dollar Snowflake. After it has been done by at least a few members of the Snowflake Monday CAL (as its testing regime :')...), I will add it to my Ravelry shop as a free download.

Sand Dollar Snowflake

American Terms

Sample made with size 10 white thread with silver metallic wrap and US size 8 steel hook – finished dimensions of 7.5 cm/3 in diameter from point to point.

Special stitches:

Popcorn: 5 dc in same stitch, remove hook from working loop, insert hook through top of first dc in popcorn stitch, grab working loop with hook and pull through top of first dc, ch-1 to lock stitch.

Chain 5 and join with sl st to form a ring.

Round 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in ring, join with sl st to first sc. [12 sc}

Round 2: Ch 3 (counts as dc), 4 dc in same stitch, remove hook from working loop, insert hook through 3^rd chain (top of ch-3), grab working loop with hook and pull through chain, ch-1 to lock {beginning popcorn stitch completed}, ch 1, (skip next sc, popcorn in next sc, ch 1)5 times, join with sl st to locking chain of beginning popcorn stitch. [6 popcorn stitches, 6 ch-1 spaces]

Round 3: (Sl st into next ch 1 sp, ch 5, sl st in same ch 1 sp) 6 times [6 ch-5-loops]

Round 4: Sl st in next 3 chains of ch-5-loop, ch 1, sc in ch-5-loop, (ch 5, sc in next ch 5 loop) 5 times, ch 5, join with sl st to 1^st sc. [6 ch 5 spaces]

Round 5: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), (in next ch 5 sp: (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc); dc in next sc) 5 times, in next ch 5 sp: (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc); join with sl st to 3^rd chain of initial ch 3. [30 dc, 6 ch 2 sp]

Round 6: * (Sl st in next dc) 2 times, in ch 2 sp: (sl st, ch 9, sl st); ** sl st in next 3 dc; repeat from * 4 more times, repeat from * to ** once, sl st in next 2 dc, sl st to 1^st sl st. [6 ch-9 loops separated by slip stitches]

Round 7: sl st into next sl st, *skip next sl st [working into chains of ch-9 loop: (dc in next ch) 2 times, (hdc in next ch) 2 times, (sc, ch3, sc) in next ch, (hdc in next ch) 2 times, (dc in next ch) 2 times] skip next sl st ** (sl st in next sl st) 3 times; Repeat from * 4 more times; Repeat from * to ** once more, sl st in next sl st. [6 points containing a total of 24 dc, 24 hdc and 6 ch-3 picots (sc, ch 3, sc), separated by slip stitches]

Round 8: mark joining slip stitch of row with stitch marker * ch 3, sk next sl st, sl st in next sl st, ch 3, sk dc, sl st in next dc, ch 3, sk hdc, sl st in next hdc, ch 3, sk sc, (sl st, ch 3, sl st, ch 3, sl st, ch 3, sl st) in ch 3 space, ch 3, sk sc, sl st in hdc, ch 3, skip next hdc, sl st in dc, ch 3, sk next dc, sl st in sl st, ch 3, sk next sl st, sl st in next sl st ** Repeat between * and ** 5 more times – on the final sl st you will sl st to the marked joining slip stitch. [48 ch-3 loops plus 6 triple-ch-3-loops on points.]

Finish off, wash, stiffen and block as desired.

Counting Chains

I have been having a conversation with KnittySuzie on the Learn Crochet Group on Ravelry regarding how to count chain stitches in crochet. I have made a little video to illustrate my instructions as I think we may be having a terminology misunderstanding. This is my virtual answer to meeting up to stitch together in a coffee shop, but, if ever you're in Sydney...  :') : (I am partial to a skim cappuccino or mocha myself...)

New Snowflake Design - Crystal Lace Snowflake

So, I am trying to design some more things this year and have set myself a goal of at least 2 - 4 snowflakes for the Snowflake Mondays CAL on Crochetville. I am trying to use pics of actual snowflakes as inspiration. This flake is my attempt at the centre of Bentleys flake #890. I haven't yet got my head around how to do the plate-like branches, but that will be another flake :).

I am open to comments and suggestions, this will be flake of the week for the SM2009 CAL for Week 3 (11 January), which will constitute the testing phase. I am WAAAAYYY open for name suggestions as well, please leave suggestions as a comment here or in the SM2009 thread or PM me at Crochetville... thanks! Well, I've decided (I think) :').

CRYSTAL LACE SNOWFLAKE

PATTERN (American terms)

chain = ch

slip stitch = sl st

single crochet = sc (UK/Aus dc)

double crochet = dc (UK/Aus tr)

treble crochet = tr (UK/Aus dtr)

chain # space = ch-# sp (space formed by the # of chains done in the previous round)

Special stitches:

Dc2tog: (Yo, insert hook in next stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops) 2x, yo pull through all 3 loops remaining on hook.

Grounded picot: ch 3, sl st to top of stitch you chained from.

Chain 4, join to first chain with a sl st to form ring.

ROUND 1: Chain 2, dc into ring (these count as the first dc2tog), ch 3, (dc2tog into ring, ch 3) 5x, sl st to first full dc (NOT into the top of the ch2). [=6 dc2tog, 6 ch-3 spaces]

ROUND 2: Ch 1,  (sc into stitch (mark if necessary), 3 sc into ch-3 space) 6x, sl st to first sc. [= 24sc)

ROUND 3: Ch 1, sc in same stitch (ch 5, skip 3 sc, sc in next stitch, *ch 3, dc in sc just made, grounded picot, dc in same sc, ch 3 and sl st into same sc**) 5x; ch 5, skip 3 sc, sl st to initial sc of round, repeat instructions between * and ** into the sc you just sl st into. [= 6 picot-topped branchlets, 6 ch-5 spaces]

ROUND 4: Sl st into next ch-5 space, ch 2 (counts as first hdc), 4 hdc into ch-5 sp, ch 3, sc in picot loop, ch 3, (5 hdc in ch-5 sp, ch 3, sc in picot loop, ch 3) 5x; sl st to top of initial ch 2. [= 6 5hdc blocks, 12 ch-3 spaces]

ROUND 5: Sl st across hdcs and into next ch-3 sp, ch 3 (counts as first dc), 4 dc in ch-3 sp, tr in next sc, grounded picot in tr, tr in same sc, 5 dc in ch-3 sp, (5 dc in next ch-3 sp (you will be skipping the hdc blocks), tr in next sc, grounded picot in tr, tr in same sc, 5 dc in next ch-3 sp) 5x, sl st to top of initial ch 3 of round. [=12 5dc groups, 6 picot-topped 2-treble groups to form 6 picot-topped curved points...]

Finish off. Weave in ends. Wash, block and stiffen as desired.

Samples: Larger flake done in white #10 Cebelia with a size 9 Boye steel hook: measures  2 3/4" across between points. Smaller flake done in silver-wrapped white Altin Basak size 50 (size 30 equivalent) thread with size 11 Boye hook: measures 2" across between points.