Combining Colors

Oddly enough, as much as I love color – and playing with color – I’d never published a multi-color design. Finally, I have my Spiky Stars pattern, released in February on Ravelry and Etsy. It’s crocheted in the gorgeous colors of plush Malabrigo Rios.
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I combined star stitches with other stitches for a design with just hints of a contrasting color. What I love is that different elements of the stitch combo come to the forefront depending on whether your darker color is used as the main color or as the contrasting color. To highlight this, I worked different sizes of the cowl in opposing pairings of the same two colorways – twice over – for a total of four sizes. The common yarn running through all of these versions is the Whole Grain colorway of Rios, with which I’m utterly smitten! It seems to pair well with every Rios colorway I’ve used, warm or cool.
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If you make the cowl, I’d love it if you would share it on Ravelry, so we can see what color pairings you chose!

Summer!

Who here loves summer? How about a little summer crochet? 🙂

The Summer 2018 issue of Interweave Crochet is out, and I absolutely love it! You can find the lookbook here and the digital edition here.

I can think of at least five designs I’m wanting to make off the bat, but I might have to start with the Light of Day Tote by Donna Childs. Fortunately the designs in this issue are timeless whether I get to them this summer or next…

Anyway, I’m so proud to have a design in there as well, the Ever-New Skirt made in Omega Eulali, a yarn I adore for summer (yarn sold through creativeyarnsource.com) –

Photo credit: Interweave/Harper Point Photography

I hope you like this issue as much as I do! Happy summer crocheting!

Latest Design

I recently released my first self-published design, Ribbons and Baubles. It’s available on Ravelry and in my Etsy shop:

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The wrap is crocheted in Scheepjes Whirl yarn. It comes in two widths (regular – pictured above, and wide), but can be customized. The color changes in Whirl are amazing, and I love that is has enough yardage for a generous crochet project (1,094 yards!). The wide version of the wrap is included in the pattern to use every last bit of yarn through the last color change.

Ribbons and Baubles back

Version 2

The yarn is so lightweight and airy, perfect for spring and summer! I can’t wait for the weather to warm up to get pics of the wide width version. Here’s a teaser showing the colors:

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New Designs

I’m so excited about my newest designs and wanted to share them here – the Verdant Wrap in Interweave Crochet, Summer 2017 and the Autumn Star Cowl and Infinity Scarf in Love of Crochet, Fall 2017. Here are photos of the Cowl and Scarf (photo credit: Love of Crochet):

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There are so many nice designs and articles in these two issues – I encourage you to check them out! A few of the designs have already made their way into my queue. 🙂

Artfully Hooked Talks Color

I was into art long before I learned to crochet (in recent years, I’ve found crochet has become a sort of artistic outlet for me….but more on that later!). Possibly because of this, I’ve always been obsessed with color. In my daily life, I reflexively take note of color – colors, color combinations, color shifts and subtleties. I just can’t help it. As a crocheter/fiber artist, colors I observe – especially in nature – are constant sources of inspiration.

Recently I had the good fortune of going on a cruise to Alaska. I can’t begin to describe the beauty of the scenery we observed (and I’m not a skilled photographer by any means!), but here’s my attempt to convey the beauty of Glacier Bay:

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When I look at the water, I see a beautiful deep rich blue, of course, but also shimmery light blue/greys, turquoise, deep charcoal greys, aquas, silvers…. In Skagway, I made a point of visiting a friendly local yarn shop (Aurora Yarns of Alaska) and purchased one lovely skein of yarn (in blue, naturally!). I love how the hand-dyed yarn includes some of the subtle shifts of blue, aqua, and grey that I saw in the waters here. You can see I also picked up a nifty hook:

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Fiber lovers, don’t you love finding a friendly local yarn shop when you travel? How much nicer when the yarn evokes the local scenery!