Trying to Keep My Crochet Blog “Google Compliant” If you are a regular reader or subscriber to my crochet blog, you may have noticed subtle shifts in the blog’s theme. over the past few months. In light of recent changes Google made to its page layout algorithm (yes, there is such a thing), I have been searching for ways to …
Author: Patrice Walker
→I've been crocheting for over 40 years and blogging since 2004 - two of my favorite things in the world to do besides walking the beaches of windward Oahu, Hawaii.
It started this past Christmas when I decided to crochet cozies to give as gifts. I figured they’d be easy and quick to make but still nice enough to be appreciated. But despite the fact that Christmas has come and gone, I am still crocheting cozies. I guess you could say I’ve gone crochet cozy crazy (akin to the felter …
One of the things I was able to do during the Christmas holidays, along with crocheting gifts was to complete the vintage circular shrug that I talked about in an earlier post. As I suspected, it was too small for me, so I had my daughter, Adrienne, who is clearly smaller than me, model it. I think a better range …
I subscribe to a crochet newsletter called Hooked on Crochet, published by AllFreeCrochet.com. The site has compiled loads and loads of free crochet patterns from around the web, and the newsletter provides a sampling via a daily email. The only downside is that they send you ads for other products, but I just ignore these unless it’s something that interests …
An Intriguing Crochet Shrug Pattern I’ve been working on the vintage Circular Crochet Shrug that I talked about in a previous post. I mentioned how intrigued I was by the way in which it is constructed and figured it would be fairly simple to make. The shrug consists of two halves and is crocheted in the round, from the bottom …
Computer Woes Yes, I’ve been crocheting and knitting up a storm so that I have a nice quantity of hand-made gifts to give away this Christmas. What I haven’t been doing is blogging, for a couple of reasons. 1) My blog was hacked by seven people who posted about 25 spammy posts. I deleted them as quickly as possible, but …
I have been taking a second look at crocheted (and knitted) shrugs since making a few several of years ago. I don’t know about you, but I like shrugs that cover my entire back and arms, and if I can find a pattern for one that closes over my chest like a cardigan, then this, in my opinion, is the …
UPDATE 7-6-19: This pattern can now be found on Etsy.com. I reserving my full length books for Amazon. You can find me on Amazon HERE. I recently published my third crochet pattern for the Kindle. This one is a felted water bottle holder. The yarn used is Manos del Uruguay Kettle-Dyed yarn. I’m finding this yarn to be great for …
I’d never heard of it until recently, but the international phenomenon of yarnbombing (aka yarnstorming, knit grafitti) seems to have been around for a while. There’s even a book devoted to it. Calling it Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit and Crochet Grafitti, authors Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain chronicle the history of yarn bombing, offer 20 knit and crochet …
UPDATE 7-3-19: The Easy-Breezy Crochet Throw pattern is no longer on Kindle. You can now find it on Etsy. I haven’t posted here in a week or so because I’ve been busy writing about crochet elsewhere. One of my biggest accomplishments this past week was to publish my first crochet pattern for the Kindle at Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. …
Last Sunday, October 9, 2011, a group of Aloha Knitters (and Crocheters and Spinners), myself included, got together to experiment with natural plant dyes at the home of member, M.K. Carroll. I had no idea how I was going to participate in this event, other than to watch and learn, because I had never dyed yarn before in my life, …
Don’t Let Your WIPs Languish This Galaxy afghan is one project that I’m glad is finally done! I just looked at my pattern notes, and I can’t believe I started it on June 8, 2010, over a year ago! But I let it languish for a good six months before finally biting the bullet and finishing it. I spoke a …
Is it possible to crochet a granny square baby blanket for a one year-old in half a day so you’ll have a gift to give him at his birthday party on the same day? I found out the answer to this question when I tried to do it. No, it isn’t possible. In fact, it took me approximately two weeks …
“A Warm, Wooly Hug” I have knitted and crocheted for a number of charities over the years, including Knit for Kids and Christmas at Sea. It’s a great way to combine my love of fiber arts with a worthy cause. Knit for Japan is one such cause. It was founded by long-time knitter, Bernd Kestler, originally from Germany and living …
A Timeless, Crocheted Afghan That’s Easy to Make A project that I’ve been working on for some time now is the Galaxy Afghan that’s featured in Woman’s Day Crochet Showcase, an out-of-print book published in 1980. You’re probably wondering why I would choose to crochet an afghan from such an old publication (I bought it used on Amazon), but when …
In Part 1 of this blog post, I described the Bernat Sesame yarn I received as a gift from a good friend and how I had to prepare it (i.e., hank, wash, dry, and skein the yarn) before I could actually begin crocheting. I learned a big lesson in that I really need to take the time to thoroughly wash …