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How to Crochet a Magic Circle

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Crocheting a magic circle might be tricky for those of you who are just learning how to crochet. It is used in many crochet patterns especially for those like amigurumi and other small toys. Most patterns will tell you to chain two and then to do a given number of stitches following that. Although this pattern may produce a circle for your needs, it may not be the circle you are looking for. It may give you a circle with a big hole in the middle.

In crocheting a magic circle, you will produce an even better circle for your pattern as its also considered an adjustable ring. You have a perfect circle with an adjustable center so you can get the size and diameter you are looking for. You can tighten the yarn or close it completely depending on what kind of pattern you are making.

To crochet a magic circle just follow these steps:

  • First make a loop with the loose end of the yarn under the working end of the yarn.
  • Then pull the working end of the yarn from behind the loose end with a crochet hook. Then bring it back to the top. Then you can chain 1 and go as if you would for any other ring.
  • Continue around with the stitches worked directly over both cords.
  • Once you have the stitches you desire, you hold your work with one hand and pull the loose end tight with your other hand.
  • Keep pulling the loose end until you have the size circle you want. You can then weave in your end to keep the ring from growing as you finish your project.

Here’s a video that might help you to crochet a magic circle.

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How to: Crochet a Bangle Bracelet

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I love jewelry, all kinds of jewelry. It doesn’t matter where it’s from or what it’s made of, I just love jewelry.  I just got back from my honeymoon and there was this really pretty necklace I regret not getting. The gem was this really pretty green color that reminded me of the ocean, but it was a bit too pricey, even with compromise. On our resort one day they had bracelet-making.

Now I remember when I was a child I used to make bracelets all the time with my friends. We made those string bracelets like the twisty ones and the tornadoes. Once in a while we’d add beads to them. Anyway, I made this really neat anklet in black and hot yellow thread and I just love it. So that’s my jewelry from a very special place.

You can also crochet your own bracelets. Like I said, you can make bracelets out of anything really. Bangle bracelets are really cute and can be the perfect embellishment to any outfit. Once you learn how to crochet a bangle bracelet you’ll want to make many of them.

Crocheting a bangle bracelet is quite easy. It’s for an intermediate crocheter and they make for great gifts. To make a fancier crochet bangle bracelet you can use a metallicy light-weight or DK yarn. The easiest way to crochet a bangle bracelet is crochet around a regular bangle bracelet that you have.

To start your bangle bracelet you can create a loop using the slip knot. There are only four rounds in crocheting a bangle bracelet. For more thorough directions take a look at our crocheted bangle bracelet.

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Crochet @ Cama: A Forward Kind of Retreat

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The Crochet Liberation Front(CLF) is proud to announce that registration is open for the Crochet@Cama retreat, October 17 thru October 21, 2010 at Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island, in Washington State.

For two years members of the CLF have plotted and schemed to come up with a “dream” retreat that focuses solely on their chosen craft. The retreat is scheduled to have morning classes with a star studded cast of crochet instructors covering subjects as varied as “Fair Isle” crochet, Beginning Lace, Yarn and Fiber for crocheters, Hook Carving, Free Form Crochet, Photographing finished objects, and how to crochet without a pattern and make projects work.

The retreat has more to offer than classes however, afternoon crochet alongs, creative discoveries, evening guest speakers, sing a longs, crochet games, and a fabulous “Yarn Tasting” will make the event something that participants will remember for a lifetime.

Community and crochet is the theme of the event, and so the CLF is partnered with The Center for Wooden Boats (Lake Union, Seattle).  Participants are invited to crochet squares (yarn and charts will be provided) during the event to create a unique afghan that will be an item at the 2011 Center for Wooden Boats annual charity auction. Proceeds are used to help fund their youth programming in Seattle and on Camano Island. Local Crochet Guild, Evergreen Chat n Chain of Everett, WA  is also a partner in the event offering up expertise and volunteers to help make this unique event even more memorable.

The retreat venue, Cama Beach State Park, is a renovated 1930’s auto-court and fishing resort, with recently restored rustic cabins that have a beautiful view of Puget Sound, Whidbey Island and on a clear day, The Olympic Mtns.  Affectionately known as Cama by locals, Cama Beach State Park has been featured multiple times as the perfect get away by travel magazines and Sunset Magazine.

To find out more about the retreat, how to register, and to get booking information for the cabins go to http://www.crochetliberationfront.com or email Laurie Wheeler  at Camanomade@earthlink.net.

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How to Crochet a Whip Stitch and Bind Off

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I’m sure many of you are more advanced than I am in the crochet world, but some of you may not be. In any case, we can learn together. There are so many stitches that crochet uses, we can learn one at a time. I’ve heard of the whip stitch before along with binding off in crochet. A lot of times the whip stitch is done when trying to attach a leg or other embellishment on a crochet project like amigurumi or a toy or stuffed animal. Let’s see if we can learn together:

The whip stitch is much like sewing. You bring the needle down and through your piece of material and then back up on the other side. Whip stitch the leg through the body as to attach it. Continue to do so until the leg or embellishment is secure and tightly on there. Once you are complete with the whip stitch you can pull on the leg a little bit to be sure it won’t fall off or that it’s not loose.

To bind off, go through some of the stitches (the top part of the stitch) on the bottom part of the body so you can’t see it very well. Do this with a few stitches so it’s nice and secure. You then cut off the extra yarn at the base and you have completed your animal or amigurumi.

Here you can watch a video of a cute deer amigurumi being completed with a whip stitch.

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Crochet for Easter

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Easter is almost here, in fact, you have 16 days. Preparing for Easter can be a fun time especially when you have some really neat crafts you can use as decorations.

We had a really neat guest contribution come to us from Renske of Fun and Fang. She was thinking of Easter herself and put together this fun crocheted Easter egg pattern. This egg is so cute it even has some attitude to it. You can use this as a decoration or even give it away as an Easter gift for the host of the party. It’s easy to make and you can bring it out every year to use as a decoration.

If you like this crochet pattern then you might like what else Renske has to offer. Check out her blog Fun and Fang.

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How to Crochet a Scarf for the Chilly Months

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I don’t know about you, but during the winter I am freezing. It starts with my fingers and nose and then goes throughout my body. I struggle through the winter months while my skin is dry and chapped. I am always looking for ways to keep warm and finally a light bulb went off. It’s not much, but I learned how to crochet a scarf.

I haven’t had as much experience as some of you out there, but I am learning and I like it. When I first learned how to crochet a scarf I was so excited that I just couldn’t stop. It took about six hours to make, of course it was non-stop, but I was also a bit slow as I had just learned.

The essentials of crochet is your very first stitch. This is called a chain stitch. You do this chain stitch for as long as you want. The length of your stitch determines how wide your scarf is going to be. For a beginner, 14 stitches is best as the scarf will be four inches wide. When I first started, half my scarf was wide and half was skinny. I crocheted very tight, but eventually I got a little more loose. The really neat thing about crocheting is that if you mess up, you can easily redo it. This is because you can rip out the yarn at any given point, it’s so simple.

The easiest yarn to work with if you’re a beginner is a bulky worsted weight yarn like wool. It’s durable and easier to handle. Follow these steps and you can crochet yourself a fabulously looking scarf for the chilly months.

  1. From the first chain, count the first two stitches in the chain that are off the hook. Skip the first one, and insert the hook into the second stitch. Wrap the yarn over the hook and pull the yarn through the stitch using the crochet hook. You will then have two loops around the crochet hook, the one that was on from making the first chain row, and the one you just pulled through.
  2. Yarn over the hook again and pull the yarn through both loops leaving one loop around the hook.
  3. Go to the next stitch in the chain, insert the hook into that stitch and repeat the process to the end of the row.
  4. At the end of the row, make one more chain stitch, turn and then single crochet in each of the previous single crochet stitches back across that row. The only difference with the second and all the other rows is that you will bring the hook through the two loops of the stitch. You will see that each single crochet stitch has two sides, one with a single yarn and one with two yarn pieces. Pick up the side with two loops with the hook for each new stitch you make.
  5. At the end of each row, chain 1 and turn and go back across until you have the length you want.
  6. Pull the final yarn through the last stitch and weaving the end into the scarf.

That’s it, you just crocheted your first scarf. It’s so easy and fun to make. I made all my sisters and my mom a scarf for Christmas just this past year. These scarves really do make great gifts. They are sentimental and everyone will be so proud of you, including yourself!

Here are some great crochet scarf patterns:
Beginner Striped Scarf
Chunky Mittens and Scarf Set
Harvest Crochet Scarf
Soft Check Scarf

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Guest Blog: Crochet Tree by Carol Hummel Part3

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How to crochet a tree

Crocheting trees is fun and sure to attract lots of attention! I’ll give a brief “how to” on creating your very own tree or Knitscape, but if you have any questions or need someone to coordinate your project, please feel free to contact me through this blog or my website www.carolhummel.com. If you create a project, I’d love to have an image of it to post on my website and this blog.

  1. Draw a rough sketch of the selected tree showing the trunk and limbs of the tree that you intend to cover. Measure the diameter of the trunk and limbs at 12″-16″ increments and mark them on the sketch.
  2. Select the color scheme for your tree. Assign colors to the 12″-16″ increments on your sketch and make a list of the sizes of pieces you need. For instance, if you have a tree that’s 20″ in diameter at the base, you need a piece of crochet that is 20″ long by 12″-16″ high.
  3. Crochet the flat pieces you need and label them to correlate to your sketch. (If you’re doing a big tree or multiple trees, keeping track of the pieces is VERY important and will save A LOT of frustration.) I crochet my trees using a simple triple crochet. This allows plenty of air and light to get to the tree and it maximizes the amount of cord I use. (I use Pepperell Braiding Company’s 4mm Bonnie Craft Cord and Lion’s 15.00mm or size 19 crochet hooks.)
  4. If you’re working with community volunteers, it’s best to do some samples to show them the stitch and how loose you want the pieces to be. Always cast on the height dimension; this allows you to custom fit the pieces by adding to or unraveling them as needed when installing the pieces.
  5. We had businesses in the Knitscape areas hold “crochet-ins” during which people could learn to crochet (if needed), make pieces, and take home materials to create additional pieces. (Again, keeping track of who has what materials and which pieces they are creating and when you will get the pieces back can be a logistical challenge.)
  6. Starting at the bottom of the tree, wrap the piece around the circumference of the tree and stitch the edges together. (If it’s too big, unravel a row; if too small, add a row. The piece should be fairly snug to avoid sagging as it weathers. After you stitch the edges together, stretch the piece up as far as possible). Stitch on the piece that goes above it the same way. Stitch the top of the first piece to the bottom of the second piece using the color of the bottom piece. (Leave enough cord on each piece to stitch it to the next one.) Continue up the tree. When you get to splits in the tree/branches, I maintain the same color pattern on all of the branches involved in the split; it produces a dynamic look.
    treecrochet
  7. Continue up the tree as far as desired.
  8. Modify the above directions when doing other items such as parking meters, light poles, telephone poles, mailboxes, etc.
  9. Taking images from the projects, I’ve created photocopy transfer works on paper (future blog if there’s any interest) to sell in Heights Arts’ gallery and through my website and studio. They’re good fun to make and help enable me to continue to pursue my passions of art and travel.

Next on my agenda is a two-month traveling art event in India – Karavan International. We start in Calcutta in mid-February and travel north into Kashmir and then back to Delhi. We stop in a different city each week creating site specific art as we go. Keep in touch with me through my website www.carolhummel.com.

If you missed out on the first two parts of my blog be sure you check them out.

Part 1

Part 2

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Guest Blog: Crochet Tree by Carol Hummel Part2

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Knitscapes – What they are and how to do one in your neighborhood

Knitscapes is the name we came up with to describe projects that visually unify neighborhoods by covering a large number of elements with colorful crocheted or knitted cozies. This summer I completed two major Knitscapes in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, thanks to the sponsorship of Heights Arts and the help of community volunteers.

Knitscape-Cedar Lee involved crocheting cozies for nearly 200 parking meters, 15 light poles and 3 trees.

meter

The Cedar Lee Theatre parking lot included 100 crocheted parking meters

15 Light poles formed an entryway to the project.

15 Light poles formed an entryway to the project.

A single parking meter on Cedar Lee

Knitscape-Larchmere involved covering 44 trees lining their main shopping district with colorful yarn.

pole3

The two Knitscape projects took approximately 1,300 hours and 167,000 feet of macramé cord to create. They were completed with the help of nearly 100 community volunteers over a two-month period. Heights Arts, a nonprofit arts organization, coordinated the volunteers, permission and purchasing while also providing an abundance of moral support and actual crocheting.

The money to fund the project came completely from private donations; no public money was used on the projects, although it sure would have helped! We asked the businesses in the Knitscape areas to support the project through sponsorships and private citizens also donated money. We sponsored numerous “crochet-ins” at various businesses. These gatherings were great fun. The businesses provided food and beverages and diverse groups of men and women came together to talk, laugh, and crochet (or learn to crochet). In addition to bringing attention to the project, these events brought a lot of people into the retail districts.

Although my first tree was up for four years, I think Cleveland’s wintry weather (and road salt) will limit the life of the Knitscapes to one or two years.

The “official” purposes of the projects were:

1. To demonstrate on a temporary basis how art can visually unify the streetscape,
2. To create a community around an art project,
3. To enliven daily life with unexpected art and
4. To support local businesses.

Of course, for me as the artist, the projects also have conceptual underpinnings; it’s still about comfort vs. confinement. On Lee Road, while people are still confined by the societal rules and regulations of parking meters, at least they’re making that constraint the most comfortable possible. On Larchmere, the trees are cozily confined in their colorful coverings. With Knitscapes in place, parking in Cleveland Heights, walking down Lee Road or Larchmere Blvd., or living and working in these communities swings away from confinement and toward comfort.

But similar to the first tree, the best part of these projects is the hundreds and hundreds of connections I and my fellow volunteers have formed with the people in these neighborhoods while working in the parking lots and on the streets for two months. I was honored to be the recipient of a continuous flow of kindness, curiosity, humor, appreciation and joy from strangers. Every day was a delight thanks to community interaction and there is no doubt that we have energized these areas through art!

Come back this Thursday to learn how to crochet a tree.

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Guest Blog: Crochet Tree by Carol Hummel Part1

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When my marriage of more than 20 years fell apart in 2000, I decided it was time for ME. After much soul searching I determined that my twin passions are art and travel. So, at age 49 I went back to school and earned my Masters of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture and launched my new career.

I’m a conceptual artist, therefore, my work is idea driven. I come up with the idea first and then choose the best material to bring the idea to life. The inspiration for my pieces come from what I know best – my (sometimes dysfunctional) life. I’ve worked in a wide variety of materials including steel, wood, paper, resin, clay and yarn. In recent years the issues that have captivated my interest – because of my divorce I’m sure — are those involving personal awareness, potential, and choice as well as the forces that attempt to demean, control, manipulate and destroy. Comfort versus confinement is a reoccurring theme.

This concept was behind the piece I did in 2004 for a public art project sponsored by Heights Arts in Ohio which involved crocheting a cozy for a tree – a big one.

crochet-tree

Assisted by my mother and two daughters, this project took a hydraulic lift and approximately 500 hours to complete. I covered the tree – a natural object – representing masculinity and strength – with a crocheted cozy – a handmade covering representing femininity and comfort. On the most obvious level, it’s a piece of clothing, personifying the tree and keeping it cozy and colorful throughout the year, enhancing the beauty of nature. On another, the brightly colored cozy wraps the tree in personal and cultural nostalgia evoking memories of bygone times and places when life was good. However, the covering simultaneously caresses and encases the tree; it fluctuates between a comforting blanket and a confining cover-up.

What I enjoyed most about this piece of art is the positive reactions it evoked. There was rarely a moment during the installation that a group of interested, awed, or delighted visitors wasn’t gathered below shouting comments and encouragement up to us while snapping photos.

Since its installation, this tree has been featured on television, radio and the internet and in newspapers, magazines and books around the globe. It has inspired quite a few others to knit or crochet their own tree cozies as art pieces, fundraising projects or simply for fun.

This past spring I came up with the idea to spread the joy of cozies by crocheting neighborhoods – or at least a lot of elements in them. Heights Arts, again, sponsored the projects and coordinated the volunteers, permission and purchasing while also providing an abundance of moral support and actual crocheting. In my next blog, I’ll talk about Knitscapes and how they’re done and then I’ll give instructions on how to crochet a tree or similar object.

meter

Stay tuned next Tuesday for more about Carol’s Crochet Adventures.

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