Four of many simple ways to vary a Tunisian net lace.
Class Handout Progress: Steeking Tunisian Lace
The graphic above completes a section of the Steeking Tunisian Lace class handout. The base stitch is Tunisian Extended Stitch, or Tes. This chameleon-like stitch has other names and many variations (discussed in newsletter #49). It’s versatile, slightly odd, and one of my favorites, so I’m delighted to teach this class topic for the CGOA conference.
These four swatches contrast some of the simplest variations of this Tunisian lace net.
“Teeks” stands for Tunisian knit stitch extended twice. Easier to say than Tkse².
I’m also creating a graphic of fancier variations of these nets for comparison (and inspiration!). Have a look at this ripple variation! And I love these two-color versions.
A friend is preparing to teach at the same event for the first time, and another friend is considering it in the future. They’re on my mind as I do this prep again. (It’s my 2nd time having a booth and I think the 6th time teaching lots of classes.)
I’m going to track my progress and thoughts out loud as I go. Some days it’s teaching prep, other days it’s booth merchandise/yarn company stuff, and always lots of swatching and designing. Most days it’s a jumble and I’ll blog a highlight of it. Years from now I’ll enjoy looking back over this.
Today I Cross a Big Teaching Item Off the List
The yarn used in a crochet conference class can matter immensely. Having also taken many crochet classes, I know how hard it is for students to choose which yarns to bring to class.
I asked a yarn company if they would sponsor my Stitch Games class at the crochet conference. This means they would donate enough yarn for all the students to use. Today they said yes.
This makes my week. Their hand dyed yarn is my first choice for this class! (Below are swatches of this company’s yarns in soft colors. These are tests for other class topics.)
I’ve used it so much while developing the Stitch Games swatches and designs. I know its fiber, weight, bounce, and twist work for key stitch patterns, and I find the color sequences are dependably easy and fun for crochet. I want each student to have the best possible experience learning something unfamiliar. This yarn helps guarantee it!
Tunisian crochet extended net in “Grape Jelly” custom colorway.
Silk yarn dyed in the same colorway. Swatch is a mix of Tunisian crochet stitches: simple, knit, and purl.
This colorway is custom hand dyed for my local yarn shop. It’s called “Grape Jelly” and is based on the colors of the Crown Jellyfish photographed by the yarn shop owner in Fiji’s Rainbow Reef.
Bare Bones Scarf, a “stitch pooling game”. Sock yarn dyed in the custom “Pyramid Butterfly Fish” colorway.
Bonefish is like Bare Bones Scarf with love knots thrown in for spice!
Bare Bones Scarf is crocheted corner to corner as a “game” in which you assign stitch groups to yarn colors! It’s one of three patterns in the Crochet to the Colors Playbook.
This is the bottom band of a crochet poster. See the rest of it below. View full size.
Chainmaille is a downloadable DesigningVashti crochet pattern that was recently the focus of a CAL (Crochet Along) in northern Illinois. I thought you and the CAL participants would enjoy seeing a few variations I’ve swatched of this fascinating crochet texture.
The Structure of a Fascinating Crochet Fabric
For the Brighid’s Willow afghan block I added a simple cable and contrasting edge columns.
Long chains cross over a filet surface in a herringbone-like pattern. It’s easier to see in striping colors, above and below.
It might also be easier to see in different types of yarn. The alpaca-tencel yarn adds to the scarf’s unique look. I used a cotton-acrylic blend for the afghan block at right. For the V-o-t-e poster I used two strands held together of a cotton-rayon blend.
It helps me to think of it as two layers of lace: each gives the other added dimension and visual depth. This makes it lighter to wear. It also drapes better than the solid layered and aran-style crochet fabrics.
How did Chainmaille come about?
I first saw a confusing photo of the stitch pattern in a book. I couldn’t make out what its texture was like, and the book offered no stitch diagram for it. (It turns out that a stitch diagram wouldn’t have helped me, I just had to crochet it first.) I now understand why the photo confused me: a layered crochet texture is hard to capture in a two-dimensional image. If light shows through the layers, that also adds mystery.
This poster is approx. 12″ x 14″. Ten colors of our Lotus yarn, a cotton & rayon blend.
For me, the Chainmailledesign is all about immersing oneself in a fascinating crochet fabric. There is no shaping or complicated assembly. Turning it into a cowl is simple enough: just seam it into a tube. Leave it unseamed for a neck warmer, or make it longer like I did to wear as a scarf. (Or gift to a man.)
I met with a CAL participant, Susan Kenyon, at the Chain Link crochet conference in San Diego a few weeks ago. Susan and I seem to share the same kind of enjoyment of this fascinating crochet stitch pattern. It sounds like the CAL was fun.
See gallery below. Here’s what July was all about: planning for my first Designing Vashti show booth. Then building it. Then meeting lots of people! Then breaking it down.
My regular blogging, newslettering, and crochet designing resumes as soon as I finish recovering from that big adventure!
Click each photo for full view.
Building the Booth with metal grid panels. that’s Doris Chan in the foreground, Linda Dean behind her.
First full day in the completed booth! That’s Linda and me standing, and my knitting niece Ashley in the chair.
Booth is all boxed up and fits on one pallet.
The Event:
The Knit and Crochet Show (a.k.a. the annual Chain LinkConference of the Crochet Guild of America/CGOA), July 22–25 2015. This year in was in San Diego CA.
Want to know about the 2016 show? July 13–16 in Charleston, South Carolina. Why YES, I’ll be there!! So will the DesigningVashti booth!
Crocheting *Bling* Bangles, My Cheerful Distraction
I’ve had several stressful challenges this month. Each evening I curl up with super sparkly yarn, crochet hooks, and simple stitches. I go to bed in a merry mood and drift asleep picturing other stitches or color combinations to try.
As I described in yesterday’s post, these slip-on crochet bling bangles are based on the simplest ribbing stitches. The red one is rows of single crochet in the back loop only (outside of the USA it’s called a double crochet). The silvery one in progress is rows of slip stitch in the back loop only.
* Twinkly * sequined * ribbing * is very satisfying.
It also makes sense for a slide-on bracelet! Ribbing is nice and stretchy. I had some sequined carry-along metallic threads in my yarn stash. Now is the perfect time to crochet a *bling* strand of Premier Yarns Enchant with a strand of…my Lotus yarn! I chose Lotus for its cheerful colors that can stand up to all the bright bling action.
I also chose Lotus because it’s sport weight: once you crochet double-stranded (with two strands of yarn held together), you naturally make thicker stitches. I didn’t want super thick stitches for these small crochet bling bangles. The bling string I used is slightly thinner (“fingering weight”).
The yarn math: Add 1 sport strand + 1 fingering strand and you get “DK wt,” a.k.a. “light worsted.” A G-7 (4.5 mm) hook is a good all-purpose size to use for this weight.
Let’s Talk About * Sequin * Management *
I tested the sequin theory with these. See the giant square sequins? It took longer to crochet. Worth it though!
Sometimes, sequins get in the way of smooth, stress-free crocheting. If sequins can catch on a loop while you’re trying to pick up crocheting speed, it slows things down.
The secret is pairing a thick enough yarn with a sequined strand to buffer or neutralize the sequins. To me, “thick enough” means it roughly matches the diameter of the sequins. The tiny sequins in the Enchant yarn match the thickness of my Lotus yarn. Lotus gives the stitch loops smooth passage through other loops.
Result: the sequins only pile on more joy. No interruption of the joy.
The Right Kind of * Stretchy *
Enough stretch puts the bangle in crochet * Bling Bangles *—literally. A bracelet earns the right to be called a bangle when it can be slid on and off instead of requiring some kind of clasp.
The bling string (Enchant) has zero elasticity. I expected this (it’s typical of carry-along bling strings) but didn’t know its strength and durability. To reduce the stress that could be put on the bling strand, I avoided stretchy yarns like wool. DesigningVashti Lotus has no stretch either, so these two yarns are nicely matched: Lotus won’t let my crochet project stretch more than the Enchant strand can, so both yarns will share the wear and tear equally.
It’s the crochet stitches that provide all the necessary stretchiness of a slip-on bangle! That way I can use whatever yarns I wish. The crochet * bling bangle pattern * includes several kinds of ribbing for beginners and beyond.
