Marly Bird's Blog, page 193

Designer Christine Marie Chen

Designer Christine Marie Chen was the guest on The Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird today. Christine was a guest at Marly Bird’s Designer Dinner and responded to an invitation to all the lovely attendees to share what’s new with them on the show.

Christine is a mostly self-taught knitter; she started with crochet as a child specifically granny squares. As an adult after her son was born, she went to a local library for a free class, to learn knit & purl to work up a scarf. She continued to use the library’s resources to learn more about knitting through books. Eventually she wandered into a Local Yarn Store who was recently without a teacher and offered to help.

Inspired by other designers she did commission work for, especially Lorna Miser (who will be a guest on the Yarn Thing podcast very soon). She began designing herself by approaching yarn companies and asking if they had in-house designers or were looking for designers. She was turned away by some and some approached her before she got to them. Lorna recommended ‘Love of Knitting’, and Christine designed ‘Tangled Vines Hat’.

Christine says her love of knitting gives her the ability to knit with a wide range of yarn including a new company that is starting up in her area, so no one has worked with it yet, and Christine will help them develop pattern support.

Christine hopes to continue on this as a lifelong occupation, with books added into the mix.  You can follow Christine’s blog at her website, her designs listed on Ravelry. She has a Mystery Knit Along (MKAL) you can find HERE (Ravelry Link).

If you missed getting to hear this live, you may catch the archived episode at this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2015/07/30/designer-christine-marie-chen or in iTunes.

Thank you to our sponsors, please let them know when you shop or visit their webpages that you heard about them on The Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird.

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Free Crochet Shawl: No Stopping Me Now

This free crochet shawl pattern is one that I designed as a free pattern giveaway at the Marly Bird Meet and Greet while attending the Knit and Crochet Show, 2015. I wanted to use a yarn that I love working with in two color-ways that I just KNEW would look great together. After playing around with several stitch patterns I finally decided to use a pattern that I absolutely love. Lo and behold, you can now see the ‘No Stopping Me Now’ Shawl! 

**Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links**

This shawl is super fun, super simple and super addictive! It begins at the center top and increases are worked at the beginning, middle and end to make this fantastic triangle shawl. Using Red Heart, “Boutique Unforgettable” yarn in Bistro and Winery (don’t those names just make your mouth salivate?) I changed colors every two rows making unique.

Using this long color changing yarn and changing colors every two rows really makes the crocheter eager to get to the next repeat to see how the colors will look in the final piece! I’m not lying when I tell you that making this free crochet shawl is addictive.

The finished sample didn’t use the full two balls of yarn so you could make it larger without any problem. You simple continue in pattern until you run out of yarn…but make sure you finish on a row 2 of the pattern. That’s why I named it the ‘No Stopping Me Now’ shawl because you just don’t want to stop!

 

No Stopping Me Now Shawl

Add this pattern to your Ravelry Queue and Favorites

Size

Finishes sample is approx. 20” (50 cm) long at center, 41 ½” (105.4 cm) wingspan.

Materials

Yarn Red Heart Boutique “Unforgettable” (100% acrylic, 269 yds / 246m, 100g / 3.5 oz):

Bistro #3944 (A) – 1 ball, Winery #3955 (B) – 1 ball, Or colors of your choice

Hook Size H-8 (5mm) or size required for gauge

Notions Yarn needle

Gauge

Rows 1-6 of Shawl = 3″ (7.5 cm) long at center and 6 1/2″ (16.5 cm) across

4 shells = 4 1/4″ (10.8 cm) across in Shawl pattern

Notes

To change colors, work last st of row to final yo, yo with new color and complete last st.

Special Stitches

CL (cluster): * Yo, pull up a loop in indicated st, yo and draw through 2 loops on hook, rep from * once more, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook.

Shell: CL, (ch 2, CL) twice all in same st or sp.

Abbreviations

beg – begin(ning)

ch – chain

dc – double crochet

rep – repeat

RS – right side

sc – single crochet

st – stitch

tr – triple (treble) crochet

WS – wrong side

Yo – yarn over

Shawl Pattern

Using A, ch 8.

Row 1 (WS): Sk 7 ch (counts as 1 tr and 3 ch), (dc, ch 3, 2 tr, ch 3, dc, ch 3, tr) all in 8th ch from hook, turn.

Row 2: Ch 1, sc in first tr, shell (see Special Stitches) in next dc, sc in each of 2 center tr, shell in next dc, sc in 4th ch of beg ch-7 of previous row, turn.

Row 3: Ch 7 (counts as 1 tr and 3 ch), dc in first sc, ch 3, sc in center CL of shell, ch 3, (dc, ch 3, tr) in next sc, (tr, ch 3, dc) in next sc, ch 3, sc in center CL of shell, ch 3, (dc, ch 3, tr) in last sc changing to B in last st, turn.

Row 4: Ch 1, sc in first tr, shell in next dc, * sc in next sc, shell in next dc; rep from * to 2 center tr, sc in each of 2 center tr, shell in

next dc, rep between * and * to end, sc in 4th ch of beg ch-7 of previous row, turn.

Row 5: Ch 7 (counts as 1 tr and 3 ch), * dc in sc, ch 3, sc in center CL of shell, ch 3; rep

from * to 2 center sc, (dc, ch 3, tr) in next sc, (tr, ch 3, dc) in next sc, ch 3, sc in center CL

of shell, ch 3, rep between * and * to last sc, (dc, ch 3, tr) in last sc changing to next color in last st, turn.

Rep Rows 4 and 5 only, changing colors every 2 rows, until yarn is used up or piece measures desired size. Ending on a row 4.

Finishing

Weave in ends. Wash and block piece to really open up the lace or leave as it for an equally beautiful shawl.

I hope you enjoy No Stopping Me Now free crochet shawl pattern! It was super fun to crochet – and fast too! I love when the yarn does half the work for me as it does in this pattern, with just one skein of each color you get a truly unique shawl.

Written pattern copyright Marly Bird 2015, all rights reserved. Please do not reprint or repost this pattern, but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others. To print this pattern for personal use, please use Print Friendly button at the bottom of the pattern. Thank you to Red Heart Yarns for providing the yarn for this pattern!

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How to Crochet: Blushing Shells Cowl

Blushing Shells Cowl by Diane Moyer is just one of the many wonderful free patterns over at RedHeart.com. This cowl is made with their brand new yarn called Infinity and I just LOVE IT!

This video sponsored by Red Heart but all the views are my own. So when I tell you that I seriously loved working with this yarn I am not kidding you. I enjoyed working on the step-outs for this video more than I should Honestly, I can’t wait to wear my sample of this cowl because I know people will be complimenting me on it!

Now, you too can make this fun and fast cowl. With the free crochet pattern and the free video tutorial taught by me, Marly Bird you will have nothing but success.

*Disclaimer: this post includes affiliate links**

BLUSHING SHELLS COWL

Gorgeous color and a bit of matching sparkle take this yarn into the realm of dreaminess. Sit back and enjoy how quickly you can crochet this shells cowl with this bulky yarn beauty.

Pattern:

Here is the link for the FREE BLUSHING SHELLS COWL

Supplies:

RED HEART® Boutique Infinity™: 1 skein 1938 Beachy

Susan Bates® Crochet Hook: 9mm [US M-13]

Susan Bates® Steel Yarn Needle

Stitches Used:

ch = chain; dc = double crochet; sc = single crochet; st(s) = stitch(es); ( ) = work directions in parentheses into same st; * = repeat whatever follows the * as indicated. Make note of the special stitches at the start of the pattern.

YouTube Video by Marly Bird:

YouTube Video Notes:

In this video you will learn begin with a foundation chain that incorporates double crochets, work the pattern stitch for the cowl, see a sample of this cowl worked up in a thinner yarn and fewer stitches, and I tell you how to seam up the cowl.

Looking for more? I love making quick projects and even wrote a leaflet with Leisure Arts on how to do some fun things! If you too are looking for fun and quick projects go and check out the One Skein or Less book by Marly Bird.

Look at more patterns by Diane Moyer

Check out Marly Bird Designs

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Bijou Basin Ranch Giveaway

This Giveaway is for 3 hanks of Bijou Basin Ranch, Lhasa Wilderness Yak Yarn, Canvas Project Bag and a 16 oz bottle of Allure Fine Fiber Wash! Oh, and a FREE SHAWL PATTERN (coming soon)!

DETAILS: This giveaway is open to anybody around the world and ends 8/3/15 at 12:15am MT.

To enter:

1. Share this video publicly with your friends via facebook/twitter/tumblr/pinterest. (very important as I will check to see if I can find your share)

2. Leave a comment on this video (comments on the blog post will NOT count) and be sure to include where you shared the video so I can see! (very important as I will use the number generator to choose the winner from the comments)

3. Lastly, be sure to smash that like button and Subscribe to the Marly Bird YouTube Channel!

That’s it! Once you do all that, check out some of my other videos here on the Marly Bird Channel.

Find out more about Bijou Basin Ranch at www.BijouBasinRanch.com

Learn More about Eileen Koop from the Yarn Thing Podcast!

SUBSCRIBE so you can stay up to date with all my new videos.

Website: http://www.MarlyBird.com

Podcast: http://www.MarlyBird.com/podcast

Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/MarlyBird

Ravelry Group: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/marly-b...

Please check out my website for more patterns at –

http://www.marlybird.com/patterns/

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CGOA Design Contest WINNERS ANNOUNCED

CGOA Design Contest Winners Announced

At the The Knit & Crochet Show, which is a combination of TKGA and CGOA, there was a special area for viewing entrants for the CGOA Design Competition, voting done as the People’s Choice.

Here are the Categories, Winners and the Section Sponsors:

First Time Entrant ~ Susan Bates

3rd Place: #49 Harem Nights, by Amy Curtain
2nd Place: #28 Woodland Winter Jacket, by Heather Galluzzi
1st Place: #54 Emily Rose, by Kayt Ross

Young Designer ~ The Marian G Wilburn Foundation for Fiber Arts

1st Place: #68 Catherine Wheels Skirt, by Grace Rosburg

Artistic Expression ~ Creativebug

3rd Place: #53 Danikil Depression, by Kayt Ross
2nd Place: #55 Cobblestones, by Kayt Ross
1st Place: #58 Spiral Blues, by Ann Wicker

Accessories ~ Clover

3rd Place: #34 Spring Floral Pin, by Jean DeMony
2nd Place: #22 Eleanor Shawl, by Kathryn White
1st Place: #50 Hearts Galore, by Sandy Gold

Home Decor 7 Afghans ~ WEBS America’s Yarn Store

3rd Place: #41 Behind the Picket Fence Throw, by Shari White
2nd Place: #5 The Long & Short of It, by Vicki Buford
1st Place: #10 Country Gardens Pillow, by Joyce Geisler

Thread Crochet ~ Bernat

3rd Place: #25 Blue Bird Doily, by Kathryn White
2nd Place: #48 Spring Leaves Wedding Dress, by Brandi Isham
1st Place: #24 Free Spirit Doily, by Kathryn White

Fashion ~ Interweave Crochet / Love of Crochet

3rd Place: #44 Velella Poncho, by Shari White
2nd Place: #13 Tunica Geometrica, by Susan Walsh
1st Place: #21 Legacy, by Kathryn White

Technical Merit ~ Mary Maxim

Winner: #48 Spring Leaves Wedding Dress, by Brandi Isham

People’s Choice ~ Happily Hooked Crochet Magazine – to be announced Sat.

Winner:

Grand Prize Winner ~ Red Heart

Winner: #54 Emily Rose, by Kayt Ross

 

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Ribbed Scarf Red Heart

redirect page to http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns...

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Rohn Strong is Back with NEW Sock Book

Rohn Strong is back with NEW Sock Book and sharing with us at the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird and he’s knocking our socks off!

Rohn started crocheting when he found a failed attempt of his mother’s to make an afghan for his dad. That afghan was never finished, but the fun was begun and he was off like a rocket!

He began with knitting a sweater for his mom, of super bulky yarn on very short straight needles. He says his partner encouraged him to pick it up when he put off knitting and crocheting for awhile. Charles Voth asked Rohn for a design while he was at Inside Crochet. In 2013 he went with Marly to TNNA…. in just three years, he went from creating a few designs to SO, SO MUCH MORE and he really has an appreciation for what’s happened to him in such a short time.

Rohn says he was watching Alex Tinsley on a podcast sharing her designing experience and he decided he needed to do that also. He designed a collection of men’s hats, not as a career. For a period of time he plodded through with minimal success, believing that designing more patterns was the way he should go. At a point he says he found where he needed to be and things just took off!

Working with Annie’s Catalog came about because a friend shared his work with a friend, who shared it with….  He created an online class with them of Tunisian Crochet which goes beyond the basic techniques (he actually recommends a class with Kim Guzman to learn) with color changing patterns. Next up was his New Methods for Crochet Socks book which he will soon begin filming an online class to go with it.

Recently, he filmed for the Knit and Crochet show (with Robin Chachula, Kristin Nicholas, Ellen Gormley and Lena Skvagerson) which has undergone some changes, and filming has begun with it’s new host Deborah Norvile. Here is the link to his blog post where he shared his excitement about that experience.

Rohn is learning about crochet and learning how it works and the shapes crochet creates, but also continuing to learn how to teach others. He shared that he has future online classes and books to come.  Check out the patterns listed in New Methods for Crochet Socks in Ravelry, purchase in Annie’s Craft website or Amazon (Kindle edition available).

Follow Rohn Strong at his website, his designs listed in Ravelry and in Facebook. To hear Rohn’s earlier visit from 2013, CLICK HERE

IF you missed getting to hear this live, please take time to hear this episode in the archive:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2015/07/21/rohn-strong-is-back-with-new-sock-book or iTunes.

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NEW Craftsy Class with Lucy Neatby

*AFFILIATE LINKS* NEW Craftsy Class with Lucy Neatby was the subject of today’s Yarn Thing with Marly Bird podcast. A new learning opportunity with an advocate of Happy Stitches could not be a bad thing!

Lucy says she never intended to be a knitter, but has been solidly knitting since she was 17. Her home life had craft overtones, that things were made over when they didn’t fit their purpose anyore. She ran away and joined the merchant marines and at one point wanted a Guersey, so she visited a knit shop and worked on it while at sea for six months at a time.

Marly discovered Lucy’s DVDs in a big box store.Lucy began creating these about ten years ago, and they are still available at her website, inspired by the over-the-shoulder method of sharing with a neighbor her techniques. (Marly met Lucy in 2008 at TNNA, picture at left.) She uses the dvd’s when she teaches a class so that the whole group is able to see the techniques while she explains and guides the students in person.

Lucy says her new Craftsy Class, Fearless Knitting: Empowering Techniques for Every Knitter starts at a beginning and works through a progression. She begins with individual stitches, which are never alone, and how they hold hands as friends and interconnect to create fabrics. Finishing and Rescue techniques is not just something you can skip to, because it’s all interconnected. One of the commenters on her class says she’s been knitting for 50 years and only until now could she fix her mistakes. Being ‘Fearless’ and ‘Empowered’ becomes very important assets.

Lucy was recently in Idaho, where the sheep with the fun rainbow dye hair-do was part of the event. His fleece was raffled off that weekend, but what a terrific photo op… During today’s Yarn Thing visit, Lucy shared that she checks in from where ever she is visiting on her students in her Craftsy classes, which is one of the best reasons to for her to teach by that method. Lucy’s two previous classes with Craftsy are My First Socks and Foundations of Double Knitting. (These are Marly’s affiliate links.) Lucy couldn’t reveal if there are other classes in the works, but loves that it reaches students who can’t travel.

You can follow Lucy Neatby at her website, her designer page in Ravelry and she is also in Instagram (where many follow her adventures) and on Facebook, Twitter. Here is the link from her visit last year, just for fun.

If you didn’t get to listen to this LIVE you can still catch it as an archive: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2015/07/16/new-craftsy-class-with-lucy-neatby or in iTunes.

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Hunter Hammersen, author of CURLS

Hunter Hammersen, author of CURLS, visited us in HD today on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird. Everybody sounded wonderful!

Hunter says she has some guilt about having to give knitting more than one try before she was hooked. First try in colllege, nope, a couple of years later, no again, again in 2007 with a pair of socks began the dawn of understanding.

She almost immediately began tweaking her work, then after being requested to write the patterns down, she did. In 2009, Hunter began posting patterns online in Ravelry, she says she posted about 14 patterns, knitting till it hurt. Her first book, out in 2011, the next year her first self-published books, CURLS is her seventh self published and another will be out this fall, with a sequel to CURLS out next summer. SO VERY EXCITING for fans of her beautiful designs.

Writing CURLS came about because she created a swatch that she liked the shape of, appreciated that it could be made with many different yarns into a really pretty, wearable accessory. The gauge issues is non-existent, because if you create a swatch and like how the fabric looks, you’ve got gauge. You can create really big or small as you prefer, if you’re petite and just want something to wrap around your neck or tall like Marly and Hunter feel the need for more cover — Go For It!

Hunter says she can’t imagine knitting a sweater, that her attention span isn’t great enough. Shawls work for her, especially the less fussy the better. Choosing yarns for CURLS was eclectic, so that knitters could see that THEIR favorite yarns could work they range through all the yarn weights, then the colors (all the names are based on colors) so everyone sees the stitch definition. (She’s promising to make the names easier from now on!) Hunter also makes the cast-on easier, with just a few stitches rather than many hundreds to mess up!

Nacarat was the one that Hunter knit herself and has fallen in LUST with, as it seems to fit her and her wardrobe.  Icterine is another that she is admiring whole-heartedly, for the color and giant cables.

When Marly asked if she is being tempted with knitting these designs again, Hunter gave us glimpses to look forward to, in that the sequel she mention will be done in all grays (but not the same gray!) which many find is easier to imagine in your beloved colors. She learned so much when putting together Knitter’s Curiosity Cabinet (another Ravelry link), that she’s taken down her earliest patterns and recreating them, keeping in mind as a knitter, what would she hope to see in a pattern.

I can find two episodes that Hunter Hammersen was on Yarn Thing before (and today is not the last time either) if you’d like to hear them, here is the link to her visit in October 2013 and earlier the link to her visit in August 2012. Follow Hunter at her website www.violentlydomestic.com and she has a Ravelry Group.

If you missed getting to hear this live, it can still be heard as an archive: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2015/07/14/hunter-hammersen-author-of-curls

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Mystery Knit Lit Author Betty Hechtman

Mystery Knit Lit Author Betty Hechtman shared her love of crochet and writing with Marly Bird on the Yarn Thing Podcast. She says she likes the genre Cozy Mysteries (more about people and less about gore – there are dead bodies but everybody has a good time!) better than Mystery Knit Lit, and I do too.

Betty says as a kid she fell in love with Granny Squares and wanted to learn to make them, finally found a kit in FAO Schwartz ‘Learn to Make Granny Squares’. Finishing the second one was her Golden Moment of Crochet. Learning to knit, she went into a yarn store with a friend and bought very LARGE sized needles, knitting four strands together. She prefers crochet… perhaps that’s reflected in her writing, as her crochet mysteries outnumber the other series.

Betty says she loved reading books as a kid and told herself stories, she wrote her first story at age eleven when it occurred to her to write one down. In high school, she wanted to be a mystery writer. When she purchased that kit (as an adult) she also got the idea to try to combine her literary writing with her handcrafting. She already had an agent and that person said, ‘write it and I will sell it’. It turned out that her first series created a bidding war between two publishers.

Betty actually has THREE series, the Crochet series has nine books so far, the Yarn Retreat has three (both she is promised to do two more) and her third (not shared during the chat) is a Young Adult series called the Blue Schwartz series has so far one, about a young babysitter who finds a priceless necklace. I wonder if Blue likes Granny Squares…

You can follow Betty Hechtman at her website at www.bettyhechtman.com  or in Facebook. (Find her on Facebook, she’s been posting some fun photos of her Worry Doll and guests like Miss Marple.)

I’m including her profile in Goodreads too, as it gives you several options of websites where you can purchase books.

If you’ll be at the Knit and Crochet show in San Diego, look for her at the Crochetville booth. Hopefully, you’ll find Marly there at the Red Heart Yarns booth… Maybe you’ll be there when they meet in person.

If you missed hearing this live, catch the archive at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2015/07/09/mystery-knit-lit-author-betty-hechtman or in iTunes

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