Sawtelle Adult–Berroco Free Knitting Pattern

Click here to get the pattern at Berroco

Stripey-itis New Blankets.

In a silly moment this week I thought that I would start a stripe blanket thus reducing the amount of ends to be sewn in. My thinking was granny squares have 100’s of ends and a stripe blanket wouldn’t – how wrong I was.

This was day 1 of stripey.

It measures 60” wide and I’m on day 3 and it’s probably 24” so far…

There are hundreds of end’s to be sewn in but at least it’s not a granny.

New yarn arrived yesterday and it’s gorgeous very autumnal.

London Fashion Week 2011 in Crochet

Stripes Blankets–Inspiration

I was over taking a peek at Pip’s photos at Meet Me At Mikes and decided to collate a little inspiration for you.

See Pip's full post here.

Here are some other patterns for striped blankets that you may like.

Scrappy Steps Afghan Pattern here.

LionBrand's Striped Afghan Pattern here.

LionBrand's Stripes! Blanket Pattern here.

Selling your handmade crafts online - Craftjuice

Social network for all things handmade from the world of crafts.

A visit to this resource will certainly not go amiss for crafters of every denomination. Broadly speaking, Craft Juice can be defined as a social site where said individuals can submit their creations for other members of the online community to comment upon and rate.

Visit craftjuice here.

Your place to promote, promote, promote.

Do You Know About Craftcult?

I know that a lot of you peeps who visit here also sell your creations on Etsy. I have been saying for a while that I would do some posts on ‘how to sell’ online handcrafted items. So this is post #1.

Visit craftcult.com here.

As part of our Handmade Code series, we’re bringing you news and how-to’s about the innovations emerging from the Etsy Developer Community. Located at developer.etsy.com, the Etsy Developer Community serves as a hub for third-party software developers who are making neat and helpful programs for Etsy shoppers and sellers. In this edition, magicjelly presents her and juln’s site, Craft Cult, which includes the incredibly useful apps The Heartomatic for sellers and The Vault for shoppers.

The Heartomatic was first developed by Julian, a.k.a. juln, back in 2007. He really only intended it for his own use, but told a few of his Etsy friends about it, too. One of them posted about The Heartomatic on the forums and word spread fast — soon there were thousands of people using it! In November 2008, Julian and I launched Craft Cult, a collaborative project. Julian is the programmer, I’m the designer, and we have lots of plans for new features. I think one of the reasons for Craft Cult’s success is that we are artists and Etsy sellers (and buyers) ourselves. I think that experience has really helped us develop tools that Etsians find useful.

What’s the basic idea of the application? What need does it fill?
The idea behind Craft Cult is to enhance the Etsy experience for both sellers and buyers. Utilizing Etsy’s public API, The Heartomatic provides sellers with statistics relating to their shop hearts, item hearts and views in a time-saving, user-friendly format, as well as providing information that isn’t readily available via their Etsy shops. The Featured page also shows sellers when they’ve been picked for Etsy’s home page, Gift Guides or in The Storque so they never need miss the excitement. We often hear people comment that Craft Cult is totally addictive!

Our utilities are a lot of fun and very easy to use, but from a more serious business perspective, they also provide shop owners with invaluable information about their shop activity that can really help when it comes to product development and market research.

We haven’t forgotten about buyers. We recently implemented The Vault, which is an archive of all the home page featured lists. The Vault is pure eye candy, very inspirational, and a great place for window shopping.

Our newest addition to The Vault is a “Share This List” button that takes you to a page where you can create an animated widget featuring items from Etsy’s home page, which you can embed on your blog. It’s a fantastic way to add some visual appeal to your blog while spreading the word about Etsy, and it’s a way for Treasury curators and sellers to preserve their moment of home page glory and show it off to the world.

Where do we go to find it? What’s the URL, etc?
You can find us right here… http://craftcult.com

Who is it for? How many people are using it right now?
Craft Cult is for Etsy addicts and people who love handmade and vintage. There are a LOT of them using our site, about 45,000 unique visitors and 2 million views a month, and growing steadily. Since installing Google Analytics a couple of months ago, we’ve had over 90,000 unique visitors using Craft Cult!

Read the full Etsy article here.

International Crochet Day 2011

International Crochet Day is Monday, September 12! That gives you a little time still to plan how you will celebrate.

Here are ten ideas to get you thinking.

10. Teach someone to crochet. Reinforce your teaching by hooking the person up with our eBook: Learn to Crochet: Instruction on How to Crochet and 5 Free Crochet Patterns for Beginners.

9. Yarn bomb a co-worker's cubicle. Or your spouse's car. Or your kid's lunchbox.

8. Vow to bust your stash. We'll help you out with patterns priced at crazy stashbuster prices. Check our Stashbuster Sale.

7. Make a hat. Give it away.

6. Enter a contest to win a crochet hook crafted by award-winning hook-carver Jimbo, who is a big fan of International Crochet Day. See Jimbo's Front Porch for details. Contest ends at noon on Monday.

5. Get started on your holiday gift list. If you can't find just what you're looking for in our 5 Free Patterns for Beautiful Handmade Gifts, check out our other free crochet patterns.

4. Crochet a flower or two or ten. Give them away at random to people you haven't met yet.

3. Leave us a comment here or on Facebook to let us know how you're celebrating International Crochet Day.

2. Crochet in public.

1. Crochet in your favorite spot for as long as you like.

Source: Crochetme.com

Crocheted Rainbows & KnitArtbyGrace

Yesterday whilst working, and watching all the horrible rain and dark weather outside, I thought I would take a break and curate or create a new treasury on etsy. I found some really vibrant and bright crocheted rainbow items.

Click here to view my rainbow treasury.

Click here to view this sellers shop.

I also discovered KnitArtbyGrace – she provides tutorials for the items below, I think they are all beautiful.

Click here to visit Grace.

 

Power of Making Exhibition V&A

6 September 2011 – 2 January 2012. Power of Making celebrates the role of making in our lives by presenting an eclectic selection of over 100 exquisitely crafted objects. Curated by Daniel Charny, the exhibition is a cabinet of curiosities showing works by both amateurs and leading makers from around the world, presenting a range of skills with imaginative and spectacular results.

Read more here.

About the exhibition

Michael Rea, Prosthetic suit for Stephen Hawking with Japanese Steel. (c) Contemporary Art Museum Virginia Beach.

6 September 2011–2 January 2012

The Porter Gallery
Room 48
Admission free

The V&A and Crafts Council celebrate the role of making in our lives by presenting an eclectic selection of over 100 exquisitely crafted objects, ranging from a life-size crochet bear to a ceramic eye patch, a fine metal flute to dry stone walling. Power of Making is a cabinet of curiosities showing works by both amateurs and leading makers from around the world to present a snapshot of making in our time.

The exhibition showcases works made using a diverse range of skills and explores how materials can be used in imaginative and spectacular ways, whether for medical innovation, entertainment, social networking or artistic endeavour.

Making is the most powerful way that we solve problems, express ideas and shape our world. What and how we make defines who we are, and communicates who we want to be.

For many people, making is critical for survival. For others, it is a chosen vocation: a way of thinking, inventing and innovating. And for some it is simply a delight to be able to shape a material and say ‘I made that’. The power of making is that it fulfills each of these human needs and desires.

Those whose craft and ingenuity reach the very highest levels can create amazing things. But making is something everyone can do. The knowledge of how to make – both everyday objects and highly-skilled creations – is one of humanity’s most precious resources.

Guest Curator, Daniel Charny

Exploring the exhibition

Power of Making is an exhibition about the breadth and depth of craft’s presence in modern life. The featured objects have been selected to highlight both age-old skills and contemporary techniques, from traditional stone walls to machines that can make other machines. Each exhibit demonstrates refined craftsmanship, meticulous control or ingenious application.

The exhibition is structured in groups of objects that share certain attributes. Some have been created using related techniques or materials. Others are connected by their appearance, or by their makers’ motivations.

There is no set path to follow. Power of Making is intended to encourage exploration and imagination, in the open-ended spirit of the works on display.

Anemone hat

Anemone hat designed by Sylvia Fletcher, © James Lock & Co. Ltd.

Six-necked guitar

Six-necked guitar, © Gary Hutchins

 

Molly The Pink Granny Square Blanket

I  completed ‘Molly’ over the weekend and being a pink person, I have to say I love it. Vital Statistics – 45” x 45”. I hope you like it as much as I do

Weekend Inspirations

Firstly I’ve just managed to get some new apple green yarn, so I’m already busy imagining what create with it.

I’ve been trying for months and months to find this exact colour I jut love it. I made a small blanket last year in a really bright apple green colour and loved the finished article.

As if that wasn’t enough to be contemplating my Japanese crochet books have arrived. I shall be pouring over them at the weekend. The photography is absolutely scrumptious.





So whatever you are up to this weekend, apart from crocheting, have a great one.

CraftClub UK

 
  
Volunteer for the next phase of Craft Club                
 

Click here to learn more

Can you knit or crochet?

Craft Club is a national scheme to teach children yarn skills in fun and lively community settings using the help of volunteers. If you can knit or crochet and want to learn how to pass on these skills, come and join us at one of the free Craft Club volunteer training days taking place across the UK from September.
After a successful first year with over 350 active clubs in schools Craft Club is expanding in to community settings including museums, cinemas and libraries. It will work on the same premise with volunteers passing on their skills to others in a fun and lively environment – in this case to parents as well as children. 
There are seven confirmed training days across the UK. More will be announced soon on the Craft Club website.
If you can't commit to a whole day, you can find out more about Craft Club with our short talks at the Knitting & Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, 6 - 9 October. Book your free place at one of these talks here.
Book now

All the training days are free and signing up is easy. Simply click on the link for the training event you are interested in and book!
- The Customs House, South Shields, 20 September 2011.
- Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, 29 September 2011.
- The New Art Gallery, Walsall, 7 October 2011.
- National Wool Museum, Carmarthenshire, 14 October 2011.
- Turner Contemporary, Margate, 19 October 2011.
- National Museum, Cardiff, 3 November 2011.
- V&A Museum of Childhood, London, 16 November 2011.