Urban Chic Granny Square Afghan REVEALED

There's a new yarn line, WILLOW yarn and I made a crochet granny square blanket that I just LOVE

I was calling it the "Saturated" Blanket because of all the rich colors and the bulky soft yarn.  The squares are join-as-you-go, so no seaming!  The crochet pattern is available at Willow Yarns.  Here's the pattern page for it. I rarely get the luxury of crocheting with such a large number of colors and WOW was it fun! It really felt like serendipitous abundance!

Crochet Today Motif Monday

In case you have been missing it, Crochet Today magazine has been doing "Motif Monday" on their blog,  They are currently featuring the motifs in my Whimsy blanket. See yesterday's post and previous Monday posts for more. 

Fashions to Flaunt Crochet GIVEAWAY

I had the fun of meeting Jenny King this past September in Reno, Nevada at the Knit & Crochet Show and Crochet Guild of America conference.  She blew in from Australia like a breath of fresh air entertaining us all with her stories of the local wildlife in her hometown.

 Fashions to Flaunt, is all garments and accessories crocheted with Noro yarns! (yum).  There are 48 pages, 17 projects including the stitch guide and basic crochet instructions.

 In the book, you'll find this fascinating Crisscross vest. There is a second vest, 5 scarves, 3 shawls, 4 wraps, a pair of slippers, a hat and THIS.... awesome Stripy Skirt.

 The skirt is totally cute.  All the items are pretty loose and drape-y.  The fitted items are the skirt, hat and slippers. The rest of the garments are totally forgiving to both gauge and figure, though you will want to keep gauge for best results.  Many of the items have very interesting construction.  The photography is modern and fresh and done by Scott Campbell, the same photographer who did my book, Learn Bruges Lace. 

You'll love the familiar stitches in Jenny's book.  You'll see shells, traditional dc-3 groupings, filet mesh and v-sts put together with interesting shapes and fantastic yarns.

Giveaway Details: 3 readers will each win 1 copy of Jenny King’s Fashions to Flaunt Crocheted with Noro Yarns + 1 ball Noro Silk Garden super fine (sock) weight yarn (13/4 oz/110 yds/50g per ball) #304 hot pink/turquoise/lime (enough yarn to complete the popular Bobble Scarf featured in the book). Please leave a comment on THIS post or in "Jenny King 'Fashions to Flaunt' Giveaway" thread on Ravelry by Thursday night 11:59pm EST with your first name and town/village or identifying detail. (You may also enter BOTH places, for two entries, but may only win once). The winners will be announced here and the Ravelry thread on FRIDAY 12/15/12. The winners need to email me with your postal address by Monday 12/17/12.  THREE winners will be randomly drawn from the comments.

Go here to order your copy of Jenny’s book: http://bit.ly/TC0vhM

Go here to order Noro Yarn from Annie’s: http://bit.ly/RxJfev

Go here to “Like” the Annie’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AnniesCatalog

Clever Crochet Accessories Giveaway!

Yes, I'm biased, Yes Interweave gave me a copy of Clever Crocheted Accessories and I'm taking a large measure of joy that my hat is on the cover. 
Here's a link to preview the book. 
Here's a link to buy the book.

When I heard that I had a pattern included in this amazing compilation of big names in the Crochet Business, of course I was thrilled.  THEN, Brett Bara told me that she liked my hat so much, she MADE ONE for herself!  (GASP!) When I saw the cover with my Saturday Hat on it, I nearly fell off the couch. Really, it was exciting.

In beautiful Interweave fashion (Think Unexpected Afghans, Blueprint Crochet, Simply Crochet., etc) the photography is clean and engaging, the patterns clear and tested.  In this accessory book is everything from hats to jewelry, socks, mittens, belts to capelets... no, really, it starts with a hat (mine! squee!) and ends with a Chunky Capelet (Doris Chan!) 25 Quick weekend projects. 
And in between are names you will know and love: Robyn Chachula, Marly Bird, Drew Emborsky, Vickie Howell, Linda Permann, Amy Polcyn... I really would love to carry around Regina Rioux's Amazing Motif Bag.

If you like my Saturday Hat, it's a Bruges Lace style pattern, check out my book Learn Bruges Lace for two more Bruges style hat patterns plus a blanket, a bracelet, a cowl, and two scarves in this exciting style.  Learn Bruges Lace. Or, if you want a signed copy and live in the US, you can buy Learn Bruges Lace from me by clicking "Buy Now" in the upper right hand corner of this blog page.

The Clever Crocheted Accessories Book Giveaway:
Leave a comment on this post by 1:59 pm EST on Dec 3, 2012. with your name and city/town/identifying detail.  The winner will be chosen at random from all entries.  The winner will be announced on December 4, 2012.....the winner should email me at ellen @ GoCrochet dot com    by December 7, 2012.....  Sorry, I have to pay for shipping, so it's open to US residents only.

Chanel Cape Revealed!

Take a look at my crocheted Chanel style cape in the new issue of Crochet! Winter 2012. It is one of the very rare times I was able to crochet with black!  (Have you ever noticed how rare it is for a model to be wearing black? Crochet just doesn't photograph well in solid black). But this red and black faux houndstooth really is sharp. :)

I made a little video of me designing this cape... let's see if I can imbed it here. It's a special 2 min video addition of "What was I thinking".   Yes, I cut off most of my face, but I was ok with that and I wanted you to see me sketching.

Crochet at Home: 25 Clever Projects

Look what I found!  A preview of Brett Bara's new book, Crochet At Home, the preview shows some pretty pictures, but none of them are mine.  I have 2 projects in the book and I'm looking forward to seeing all the other projects that are included.  Looks like color was a major theme for the book so it should be really fun to look at!