As we all know, crochet is a wonderful way to relax, make new friends, and create all kinds of practical items. As I started thinking about this, I thought about traditions. While we live in a world that is rapidly changing and we’re all learning how to embrace new ways of thinking and doing things there are still a few things we can honor along the way…through the art of crocheting.
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There’s a new set of patterns in the Crochet Spot Store! Crochet these 3 plant hangers to use them inside your house or outside when the weather’s nice. Each hanger has a fun and different stitch pattern, but they all have a light netted design so that it doesn’t interfere with your pot’s drainage on the bottom. The hangers can be adjusted to fit any sized pot using the instructions within the pattern. Be sure to have your pot handy when you’re crocheting to ensure it’ll fit properly.

All purchases help to support Crochet Spot and are greatly appreciated! Please log in or create a new account at the Crochet Spot Store to purchase this pattern. Premium Pattern Members may log into the store and download the pattern for free.

In the spirit of the new year I am going to make the best out of a situation that we haven’t really got any control over – hubby is as well.

My now 14 year old daughter has normal intelligence but what amounts to a processing problem (Severe Mixed Orthophonological Literacy Disability). This means that we have spent many years with assessments and help. All of these have been away from home and given our location always 1 – 2 hours from home, and we’ve been doing it 1 to 3 times a week for years.

What has this got to do with crochet? Well as it turns out it has lots to do with it this year. She has progressed and needs a new type of help and the help will be coming to us. That’s right, coming to our home, NO traveling any more. This will make it so much easier on everybody including my daughter who wont have to be extra stressed and tired from traveling. Back to crochet. The nice new specialist will be here Sunday’s for 3.5 hours. This means her and my daughter will need quiet for that time. This in turns means that my eldest, my hubby and I all need to be out of the way.
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Invisible decreases are decreases that look like a normal stitches. If you are used to making traditional decreases, you’ll notice that the decreases are obvious and don’t always blend in with the rest of the work. Regular decreases do their job, but when you want the decreases to be less noticeable try using an invisible decrease! There’s an invisible hdc decrease in the next picture.

What’s that you say? You can’t see it? That’s because it’s invisible! Look again.

There it is, right next to the traditional hdc2tog. This decrease follows the same idea as the invisible sc decrease.
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I find myself traveling to business fairs and expos quite frequently throughout the year. I’ve been looking for a business card holder to hold my cards and one to hold the cards I pick up from fellow business people. My problem in the past has been when I get a card from someone I slide it in my purse and it gets mixed in with my own business cards. When someone asks for my card I’m embarrassed as I fumble through twenty from other people. So, I decided to make my own holder, one for me and one in a contrasting color for those cards I acquire.

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A Guest Post by Linda Cee.

I first heard about freeform crochet when I was exclaiming over a beautiful white shawl, I knew it looked complicated and like nothing I had previously seen, so I asked the lady who made it, what sort of pattern she used and she laughed and told me that she just made it up as she went, then she said she would be happy to show me how to make a scrumble. Well my first reaction was, huh? But then she explained that a scrumble usually starts with one piece, a circle, a square or anything else you would want and then you just start crocheting! You could make up stitches, add different colors and textures and use a variety of hooks to achieve whatever you can possibly imagine, I got incredibly excited when I saw a blue and purple scarf she had made that had beads, feathers, and thin gold ribbons crocheted right into it. Some people compare freeform with sculpting because many freeformers make objects that are 2 or 3 dimensional and while some are very abstract, others are more realistic and recognizable, like a barn scene on a blanket for instance. Thanks to my current obsession with the craft, I found Renate Kirkpatrick’s Freeform Crochet~Knit~Fibre Designs which is a blog that is delightful to read and has a great introduction to freeform (with pictures!) I was very lucky to be able to interview Renate Kirkpatrick, who besides being a very gracious lady is also a teacher, fibre artist, and the author of three crochet books (with a fourth coming soon) and so without further ado here it is:

How did you get started crocheting and when did you get interested in freeform?

I made my first granny square in my mid-teens from an old tattered ‘How to crochet’ pamphlet that I found in an opportunity shop.

In my late twenties when the children were in bed asleep I crocheted granny square rugs (afghans) for fun, relaxation and gifts but I soon became bored with the repetition and began searching for more interesting, challenging patterns. I had never read a pattern before, let alone decipher what the heck all those odd abbreviations meant but, I persevered and, over the years, through trial and error, gained confidence and experience.

Freeform was introduced to me by a student while teaching at a local craft shop and has become my passion and creative joy.
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There’s a new pattern in the Crochet Spot Store! This is a simple pattern for classic baby booties that leaves a lot of room for your own imagination. Add edgings, appliques or anything you’d like to customize these booties. The booties are crocheted with one main color and a contrasting color on the bottom and on the tie. They are made seamlessly in the round from the bottom up so that no sewing is required.

All purchases help to support Crochet Spot and are greatly appreciated! Please log in or create a new account at the Crochet Spot Store to purchase this pattern. Premium Pattern Members may log into the store and download the pattern for free.

A Guest Post by Karen Vaughn. I get easily distracted, especially when it comes to crocheting. This pattern came to me in 30 minutes which just happens to be the length of time for my evening news broadcast. I used brown yarn because it was closest at hand and I had this wonderful wooden button just hanging out in the pocket of my hoodie. Buttons tend to hang out in my pockets a lot! Enjoy! Skill Level:

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A Guest Post by Eve Tallafer-Sison.

“There’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” I realized the truth in this saying while working on the pattern of the Rainbow Coaster by Rachel at Crochet Spot. At first glance, the attraction has been irresistibly strong because of the design. The color combination allows pairing the coaster with any placemat or tablecloth. Aside from the fact that the instructions are reader-friendly, making it is very easy to follow, crocheting a whole set of it added these precious gems into my treasury:

1. A stitch in time saves nine. Making a single mistake in counting in Round 1 spoils the whole plan. Like for this coaster, the 2 sc in each sc around starting in Round 2 provides the foundation of the hexagonal pattern. Making a mistake in the previous row affects the intended formation. This goes to say that every stitch in a row has a purpose and each single stitch counts in the entire project.
2. Practice makes perfect. An old saying, yes, but while working on each piece of the coaster set, I was able to prove it in the area of changing the color of yarn. While it is true that I learned to crochet at an early age, I worked on all my projects using only one color. I came to practice the art of changing threads recently from online literature and tutorials from YouTube. This coaster was a perfect exercise indeed for me to master the craft as the pattern required changing the color of yarn five times.
3. Rhythmic numeric chants lead to mastery. People usually repeat what they say in order to strike a point. Familiar with the idiom that states, “The key to mastery is frequent repetition?” I realized the same is true in crochet. Using repetitive numeric chants that create a rhythm helps one memorize instructions and master patterns more quickly. Let me show you how.

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Crochet enthusiasts everywhere may have a similar challenge when working on creative projects – tired hands and wrists. This is quite common actually, but we’re never instructed as to how to handle this particular issue.

Crochet, like any other daily activity, can create rigidity and discomfort in the hands and wrists. With this in mind, here are a few easy exercises to rejuvenate and relax both the hands and wrists.
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