Discover Your Inner Knitter with Doris: crochet

When you hear"Summertime Fun", what comes to mind first? Swimming? Beaches? Baseball? BBQ?

Rachel and I had fun of a different nature: We went to a Crochet course spread over six Tuesday afternoons at "The Perfect Blend" Yarn and Tea Shop in Saugerties, NY.

My daughter-in-law, Rachel, had learned how to crochet last summer and I did not have any more to teach her , so we signed up for a class given by Heidi Quick who used to work for the Lion Brand Company in Albany, NY.

Lucky us: We were the only two students and benefited from all her attention.

The first three classes were Basic Crochet and the last three (the last of which we had to re-schedule due to unforeseen circumstances) covered some more advanced techniques.

We learned:

how to keep straight edges,
various basic crochet stitches,
how to read a pattern,
how to increase and decrease,
crochet in the round,
beginner granny square,
the importance of gauge,
how to change color when working stripes and
four methods of seaming.

Heidi (seated) explaining one of the seaming techniques to Rachel

We finished two projects:

The Textured Dishcloth by Kara Gunza

Click on the link for the free pattern.

Kara added my picture to her pattern page; what honor!! :)

and a simple hat :)

All in all it was a lot of fun, the shared learning experience and the material covered.

Heidi is a teacher with much patience. If you are interested, look up her classes this Fall at The Perfect Blend.Here is a link to their website : The Perfect Blend.

With Coasters!!!

What's on my needles (week 109)

I wanted a quick and fun project and thought about how to improve one of our every day household items.

We use coasters all the time and have very pretty ones; even a set of coasters with scenes from Formby, UK. BUT so often they stick to the wet underside of the cup, then fall off.

So, I thought to myself: what better way to improve life than knitting a set of coasters.

I decided on using Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton in the colors Ecru, Country Green and Guacamole. The last one is a multi color yarn.
And I decided on using a different pattern for each coaster. Some are knitted and some are crochet and none take longer than a few hours max. (Instant gratification!!!)

I found the first pattern in the latest issue of Interweave Knits (Spring 2016), I found others on ravelry and others still are actually dishcloth patterns which I adjusted to a smaller size. All coasters are approximately 5" in diameter. Find the link to my ravelry notes and from there to the pattern underneath each picture.

Let me know if you have a favorite dishcloth or coaster pattern. I am looking to expand my collection to be ready for a larger gathering :)