Tag: Crochet Jewelry

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Crochet Glow-in-the-Dark Yarn Idea

I crochet pretty little things for my bedroom that glow. The one pictured here is from about three years ago and it has kept me from bumping into this bedpost every night since then.

Glow in the dark crochet bracelet pattern
Glow in the dark crochet “Jasmine Rope”

I like to sleep in total darkness. This puts me at risk of bumping into something if I have to get up in the middle of the night, but even the dimmest night lights are too bright for me.

My favorite solution is a bit of crochet that glows in the dark! It glows just enough in the middle of the night that I don’t notice it while I’m in bed, only if I’m walking around in total darkness. I can make it any size, shape, and color.

I also crocheted a snug mesh cover for the bathroom doorknob in the same yarn.

(Pattern and yarn info: the yarn is Bernat Glow in the Dark, discontinued. Other glow in the dark yarns or carry-along threads should work. The soon-to-be-published pattern, Jasmine Ropes, has a project page that you check in on to find out when the pattern PDF is ready.)

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New Free Crochet Jewelry Pattern & Guide

My three newest crochet jewelry pattern releases share a theme: all are methods for crocheting beaded strands, without actually using beads. I’ve developed special beady crochet stitches and found jewelry-crocheting ways to make stitches stack up symmetrically and neatly, like beads do.

Not only do I love crocheting beads instead of adding beads to crochet; sometimes it’s better – allows a crochet project to be more portable or faster to begin, for example. For more images, here’s my “Pearly Crochet Stitch Types for Jewelry Crochet” photo set.

My free Puffpearls Jewelry Cord Crochet Guide is really three small patterns in one, because each pattern is a jewelry component that can be used independently with other designs. The three components are the Chain Loop Clasp, the Puffpearl Stitch Cord, and the Mushroom Button. Along the way I explain what makes each of these my “go-to” jewelry components, and suggest some creative ways to vary them and enhance their basic features.

After wearing crochet jewelry for years, and teaching Crochet Jewelry in local yarn shops and at national conferences, I wanted to provide a free guide to some of the simplest basics I find that I’ve relied upon for years. That’s why I came out with the free Puffpearls Jewelry Cord Guide. Together with the Irish Pearl Knot Stitch and the stitch menu in the Sweet Almonds Jewelry Set, I use it myself as a reference guide, so I’ve rounded out the free crochet jewelry pdf with:

  • A chart of standard necklace lengths
  • How to make the best beginning slip knot when starting a crochet jewelry project
  • How to make necessary adjustments for a good match between pendant and crochet cord.

Something else I’m noticing about crocheting ‘beads’ is that they’re amazing in silk and rayon threads. You might like issue #47 of the Crochet Inspirations Newsletter on using rayon threads for crochet jewelry. You also might like issue #46, “Open and Closed Clones Knots.” It was inspired by the Irish Pearl Knots design.

The Puffpearl was one of the first (if not THE first) of the pearly stitches I swatched, back in 2008. Allow me to end by counting the ways that I like it now more than ever! The Puffpearl Cord is…

  1. Strong with a bit of built-in stretch. It has clean good looks from any angle and has many uses, so it’s fun to see how it responds to different fibers and hook sizes.
  2. Fun to experiment with simple changes to the stitch’s basic steps for creating alternate versions of the cord.
  3. Fast! A 20-minute crochet friendship bracelet is pretty instant gratification.
  4. Easy to make this stitch uniform in size and shape for a polished-looking pendant cord.
  5. The most straightforward and structurally familiar of all my favorite bead-like crochet stitches for fancy cords. (I especially appreciate this when using slippery threads like silk and rayon.)
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Crochet Jewelry Class Resources

Most recently taught by Vashti Braha on September 13, 2012 at CGOA’s Chain Link Conference in Reno, Nevada

This clickable list of crochet jewelry resources is mainly to aid students of my classes in exploring more about jewelry crocheting at their leisure. (If you have not yet taken any of my crochet jewelry classes, I hope someday I’ll meet you in one of them!) You’re welcome to enjoy the links below whether you’ve taken the classes or not. They represent the extra information that doesn’t fit into a standard three-hour class. Some are the names of designers, books, jewelery styles, etc., that I may have mentioned in a class.

— Vashti Braha

  1. Page of my published Jewelry Crochet downloadable patterns
  2. Some of my not-yet published Jewelry Crochet projects

Crochet Inspirations Newsletter Topics:

Blogged:

Books, Four Recent Observations About:

  1. Here’s something I’ve noticed: Jewelry crocheters tend to have very strong opinions about which threads and other types of filaments are best. Some jewelry authors’ recommendations contradict others; some conflict with my actual experience of crocheting or wearing these materials. I also came to realize that I had my own fierce preferences (based upon what I know so far about how cotton crochet thread is made)! Crocheters know that we can crochet with just about anything. This is especially true for jewelry! Bead shops and craft stores offer beading threads, “memory wires,” leather lacing, braided waxed linen, etc., which offer us completely new crochet experiences. I haven’t tested every material favored by every author, and it’s looking like each crocheter needs to do her/his own open-minded experimenting and testing.
  2. How I make sense of Observation #1: When an author (and/or publisher) seems to come from the world of non-crochet beading and jewelry making, s/he tends to have a comfort zone and preference for synthetic beading threads for crochet. I also see an easy familiarity with traditional metal jewelry findings and related tools, and with using large amounts of tiny seed beads, or bead mixes, to the point of covering up the crochet stitches completely. If a natural fiber thread is recommended, I more often see a preference for perle cotton. On the other hand, authors who come to jewelry design from the world of crochet tend to: be conversant with the virtues of high-twist mercerized cotton threads; explore yarns of various fiber mixes; may use only a few beads as accents or no beads at all; feature crochet stitch textures and contrasting colors of thread work (which may stand in for beaded looks); and to crochet jewelry fastenings in place of traditional metal findings.
  3. Due to #1, I’m finding that having a library full of crochet jewelry books is paying off in a powerful way when I treat them as one individual jeweler’s “workbench notes.” Here’s an example of how I use them for reference: if I wish to try a new fine silk sewing thread, I look through the books to see if someone already has. If so, I look to see what crochet hook size the designer used as a starting point, and I go up or down hook sizes from there, depending on what I think about the stitch texture pictured. If it’s beaded, I check what size beads fit onto the thread. In this way, those jewelry books which are eclectic compilations of several designer’s patterns are goldmines of pointers toward how an unfamiliar (to me) material worked out for someone else.
  4. Observation #3 is why I now keep a better “jewelry workbench journal” as I travel this jewelry crochet journey, and I hope that you will, too. Each of us needs to discover what kind of hook size we prefer with a new unusual material, what beading needle made the stringing easiest with which bead & thread combo, etc. — and then record it so that future designs come together faster and easier. 🙂

See my crochet jewelry book list at the original DesigningVashti crochet blog for clickable titles and descriptions.

Crochet Jewelry Design Styles:

I’ve noticed that of the fullest range of crochet jewelry designs imaginable, some styles are far more explored than others. For example, bead crochet ropes (sometimes called “tubular crochet”), are so popular and recognizable that this style sometimes seems to represent the whole field of crochet jewelry. Several good books are available on this one type. I’ve discussed most of the crochet jewelry books in print in another blog post (see Books, above).

In the interest of promoting the broadest, most inclusive definition of what crochet jewelry is and can be, I’ve begun curating online images in galleries in Pinterest and in Flickr.

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You might also be interested in the resource pages I’m creating for my other class topics:

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Summer-Fall 2012 Crochet Class Schedule

I’ll Be Teaching Crochet Classes and Meeting Up with Fellow Crocheters at these National 2012 Events

Class: Tunisian Crochet Meshes: The Weightless Wrap & Variations
Class: Tunisian Crochet Meshes: The Weightless Wrap & Variations
  1. June 27 – July 1 in Manchester, New Hampshire: Summer Chain Link Conference produced by the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA); register at The Knit and Crochet Show site. Classes are already selling out and a second hotel has been added!
  2. September 12 – 16 in Reno, Nevada: Fall Chain Link CGOA Conference; registration will open in July here.

 

Classes Listed by Topic

See event links above for class descriptions

Slip Stitch Crochet Classes:
Combines two basic Slip Stitch types
Class: Introduction to Slip Stitch Technique (Slip Tectonics Cowl)

  1. Introduction to Slip Stitch Crochet Technique: June 28th in Manchester NH (SOLD OUT), and September 13 in Reno NV (see registration link above)
  2. Class: Advanced Slip Stitch Technique (Slip Swoop Loop, forthcoming design)
    Class: Advanced Slip Stitch Technique (Slip Swoop Loop, forthcoming design)

    Advanced Slip Stitch Technique: June 28th in Manchester NH (SOLD OUT)

 

Tunisian Crochet Classes:

  1. Tunisian Crochet Lace 101: June 29th in Manchester NH (SOLD OUT)

    Class: Tunisian Crochet Lace 101 (Quartz, class project version of Aero)
    Class: Tunisian Crochet Lace 101 (Quartz, class project version of Aero)
  2. The Five Peaks Shawl: September 12 in Reno NV (see registration link above)

    Class: The Five Peaks Wrap (Tunisian crochet on the bias with lacy eyelets for a shape that stays on your shoulders)
    Class: The Five Peaks Wrap (Tunisian crochet on the bias with lacy eyelets for a shape that stays on your shoulders)
  3. Tunisian Crochet Meshes: The Weightless Wrap: September 14 in Reno NV (see photo at top of screen and registration link above)

 

More Crochet Class Topics for 2012:

  1. Embracelet
    Class: Creating Crochet Jewelry (Embracelet)

    Love Knot Adventures: June 29th in Manchester NH (SOLD OUT)

  2. Creating Crochet Jewelry: September 13 in Reno NV (see registration link above)
  3. Class: Love Knot Adventures (Nakshatra, forthcoming)
    Class: Love Knot Adventures (Nakshatra, forthcoming)

    How to Prepare a Design Proposal, presentation for Professional Development Day: September 12 in Reno NV (see registration link above)

 

Regional Crochet Events

I’m honored to be leading the Annual Crochet Retreat of the Northern Illinois CGOA Chapter in Oregon, IL (Chicago area), October 26-29 2012. Retreat topics (more details to come):

  1. Special Topics in Slip Stitch Crochet
  2. Advanced Tunisian Crochet Lace

More Relevant Photos:

Retreat Topic: Advanced Tunisian Crochet Lace (Rivuline, preview of forthcoming design)
Retreat Topic: Advanced Tunisian Crochet Lace (Rivuline, preview of forthcoming design)
Class: Advanced Slip Stitch Technique (new stitch combos, forthcoming design)
Class: Advanced Slip Stitch Technique (new stitch combos, forthcoming design)
Class: Creating Crochet Jewelry (Cabochon Braid, forthcoming design)
Class: Creating Crochet Jewelry (Cabochon Braid, forthcoming design)