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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Jean Leinhauser

It is with a heavy heart that I am passing along the word that Jean Leinhauser passed away today from a heart attack.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Jean, but I own several of her books. Jean is an icon in the world of crochet. Jean  has designed and published numerous patterns and books, and her talent will be missed by many including me.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Working in The Round

For our first lesson in June I opted for working in the round on a coaster project. We accomplished several objectives in this lesson.Students learned how to
1) increase stitches
2) slip stitch rounds together
3) learned the hdc (half double crochet stitch)
4) learned how to combine stitches like hdc and slip stitch to create other stitches like a  scallop.

I forgot to take pictures, but will take my camera to our next class.  In our next class, we will learn how to decrease stitches.

Students are beginning to pick out their own patterns for the next project. Some ideas include a baby afghan, scarf and shrug.

In case you are interested in the coaster pattern we used. Here it is. It is a design by Grace Ann which I found on Ravelry as a free download.  Thank you so much Grace Ann for this free pattern

Cutest Scallop Coaster pattern
By Grace Ann
Well, I was experimenting a bit this morning, and wanted to make some coasters, so I came up with this pattern. It has a really cute scallop around the edge, that I LOVE! I just want to make thousands of those little shells! So without further delay, here's the pattern:
Use any worsted weight yarn and the hook that is a comfortable size for you. And if any of you see any mistakes in the pattern, just let me know in the comments.
Rnd 1: Chain 4, join into a ring, chain 2, do 9 Half Double Crochet's into the ring, join.
Rnd 2: Chain 2, Do 2 Single Crochet's into each stitch around, join (18 stitch's)
Rnd 3: Chain 2, Do 2 Half Double Crochet's into each stitch around, join (36 stitch's)
You can keep it like this or do 1 more round and make the scallops.
To make the scallops, *Skip 1 stitch, do 4 half double crochet's into next stitch, skip 1 stitch, Slip stitch into next stitch*, Repeat from *to* 8 more times.
Finish off and weave in ends.
And you don't just have to use these for coasters, you could embellish a purse or use it as a granny square and connect them to make an afghan. That would be beautiful!
OH, If any of you are wondering about copy right issues, feel free to sell what you make with my patterns, but not the pattern itself. Thanks!
UPDATE: I just put this pattern on Ravelry. Please post your projects!