Posted by Athos on 2004-10-18 13:35:30
Post Subject:
just what she said, blocking is critically important for knitted items. it's not for crochet though, and many crochet patterns will specifically state that they should not be blocked.
Posted by itsystitch on 2005-10-25 10:16:58
Post Subject: funky crochet patterns??
Hi, I am new to this forum, and also to crochet. I have been searching high and low for some crochet patterns for begginers that are actually cute and modern, not all pink/purple/mint and 70's kwim?? I have recently purchased Candy Babies and love it, I would like to find more in this style...
On a different note, hello, I am Amy, a 27 yearold mommy to 5 (and one on the way), I am a photographer, who enjoys, reading, hiking, sewing, learning crochet, and doing charitable photography. :)
Posted by fishfeet on 2005-02-19 08:40:04
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I can't wait. Like many of you I also learned to crochet before learning to knit. And I must say it is somewhat difficult to find cool crochet patterns. There are a few fun crochet patterns in this issue of Knit 1, anyone interested should check it out.
Posted by nerf on 2005-04-12 03:34:27
Post Subject: crocheting clothes
I was just wondering, does anyone know of a resource that has crochet patterns for clothes that aren't scarves or ponchos? I got a book from the library that had sweaters, but I only liked one, the others were too bulky or too frilly. I also found several sites that had clothes that were pretty much the same, or see through (doesn't do it for me I'm afraid).
Anyone know why people just don't seem to crochet contemporary clothes? Is the crochet finish just too old fashioned?
Posted by peggytoes on 2007-07-09 12:57:23
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I''''d love to hear how you feel etsy compares with ebay once you''''ve tried it for a while - I''''m thinking of moving over to etsy for my crochet pattern sales, but I''''m still undecided...
AS OF ALMOST 4 MONTHS AGO when I began selling crochet patterns,
I''ve sold 54 patterns (I only have 2 listed so far) on Etsy and
probably only 30 - 40 on ebay.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE ETSY.... fees are TONS cheaper and therefore
my prices are cheaper on etsy.
Posted by Daibe on 2007-04-30 12:26:35
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PlanetJune - your fuzzy animals crochet patterns are so adorable!!
I've been at etsy for a month so far.. with no sale :-( but I'm still tweaking the store and learning as I go (like NOT listing all your items at once to get more visibility, i however didn't realized that and listed it all at once.) But so far I think it's definitely more friendly than Ebay... and definitely cheaper! I listed 25 items for only $5! For ebay you need to pay around $15 just to have a store running, then you have to account for the listing fees, etc.
I think you should definitely give it a try.. and hopefully you'll do better than my 0 sales! lol. But i think your products will probably have a better chance selling than mine.
Posted by h_pets360 on 2006-04-05 01:46:14
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Nod. I loved the knitting patterns in the previous books, but wasn't as stoked on the crochet patterns. It's a good addition though, and I can let people borrow it and not cry if it doesn't come back home.
I think single crochet can look great with appliques, but single crochet doesn't work well for some apparel, sometimes.
Posted by JediEmpressMel on 2006-04-29 02:59:32
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I haven't had much of a chance to try stuff out, but the little bit I did was fun.
The instructions are very clear, and helped me realize what you actually are supposed to do in crochet. I realized I was crocheting wrong actually, and I did not know the proper technique at all. It was more of me randomly guessing how to do it, and being mostly right, but not quite.
The patterns...I love them! I thought that they are some of the best crochet patterns I have ever seen. Everything is completely wearable, and super cute. Unfortunately the things I want to make take a lot of yarn!
But I love the armwarmers, the blazer, the hats...there are tons of things in there I want to make.
Posted by Astrid on 2008-07-26 19:34:58
Post Subject:
Thank you, Mele! To add to what I said, I think consumerism has been there ever since the word 'hobby' was invented. What's bad for me about it is not 'consumerism means big corporations making profit', but 'making profit' (still) comes before caring for our planet.
Kits exist as long as I can remember. To be honest when I was a kid I loved embroidery kits. They couldn't make me happier! When I learnt to knit they gave me a knitting kit once, with mini skeins of yarn and supposedly easy to follow patterns for doll's clothing. After failing to succeed the first project I used the yarn for my own 'designs' (sort of like you, boheme-anne!). At the time I thought I was too stupid to understand the patterns, now I know my own creativity was in the way. I've learnt to read (knitting and crochet) patterns, but I still can't follow them. I only use them to find out how something works, then use them for my own designs. But to this day, I can still totally copy an embroidery pattern and enjoy it. I'd even be happy if someone gave me a kit...
But that's aside. It's not the kits that worry me (I do believe they can be good for kids or starters to discover or develop their creativity). It's people who think they are artists (and maybe they are truely talented!) that are not yet concerned about where they get their materials from or only think in terms of quality. Yeah, that's fine in a world that's not being threatened. As it is for me being an artist (or just a crafter) is equal to being conscious and if you don't or can't recylcle (it's not possible for all art forms) then you should try to get sustainable resources. In the textile area there's enough to find already. There are complete sustainable clothing lines already, so you should be able to buy the fabrics and yarns they use as well. And if the companies who sell those make profit, good for them! I can only hope they become bigger than traditional producers or the latter will change!
Sorry if I hurt anybody's feelings, BUT IT'S REALLY FIVE TO TWELVE, and handmade alone is NOT THE SOLUTION.
Posted by xuli on 2004-10-20 22:01:14
Post Subject:
Hmmmm ... do you want a knit pattern or a sewn pattern? I wouldn't have a clue about how to sew them together, but if you wanted to crochet them and then felt them, you could probably adapt the ballet slipper pattern in the Interweave Knits crochet magazine.
(Sorry, that was totally unhelpful -- you specifically said you didn't want crochet patterns! But I agree that those are really cute, and I'm totally mulling over how to make them.)
Posted by Becky65301 on 2004-10-20 18:42:22
Post Subject: pattern for felt Mary Janes?
Saw these in the new Urban Outfitters catalog and they look like they would be sooooo easy to make.... if only I had a pattern. I tried googling for one and could only find baby shoe and crochet patterns. Anyone have any ideas? I think they are very cute.
Posted by anthrogirl on 2006-11-04 18:02:42
Post Subject:
I think you bring up some excellent points.
I try to take 'tradition' with a grain of salt, and often with a truckload of one. Most 'traditional' crochet patterns were invented by ladies' magazine editors in the mid to late 1800s. Being old is not equal to being beautiful, any more than being young is.
The class issue is important also. One of the reasons why I stayed away from machine sewing for so long is that even though I own a machine, I subconsciously associated it with poverty and not being able to afford store-bought clothes. Crochet as an artform has a declasse whiff for many people too. Which, oddly enough, is why I like it- I've finally accepted and embraced my working class roots. But it's also why some (not all) of the new hipster crafting turns me off. The 'irony' seems to be about making fun of poor people whose class tastes and aspirations lead them to decorating their homes with poly afghans and ballerina tissue covers. I don't find that mindset ironic. I see it as being patronizing, unconsciously cruel, and wrongly superior. While I or you may want to adopt or adapt certain things from the past, we need to understand how those things came into existence, and what they meant for the creators. It's like wearing a trucker hat or cowboy boots to look cool, but actually looking down on truckers and cowboys because they don't all look sexy and youthful, or spend hundreds of dollars on one pair of jeans. It also ignores that working-class kitsch is often more humorous and inherently ironic in the true sense than it might seem on the surface. working class people are not mute, passive vessels who create things solely out of a love of tradition or naivete.
Posted by anthrogirl on 2006-10-24 12:05:02
Post Subject:
I find that kind of advertising offensive too, even though I understand it.
What annoys me about it is that so many of today's needlecraft projects in those kinds of books are tacky, stupid, useless, or downright ugly. Yes, a granny square rug made from cheap acrylic yarn in eye-shattering colors is pretty ungly, and many grandmas made things like that. And I don't like toilet paper cozies make with cheap doll torsoes. But do we really need an entire book of cross-stitch patterns with says meant to 'sarcastically' offend the reader? Is the world a better place because someone has come up with a pattern for knitted robot shapes? Is a crochetsd or knitted lettuce decorating a dishcloth really more ugly than a carefully made pattern of a skull and crossbones on a potholder?
Many of the new patterns scream 'I'm a big dorky kid' to me. They are still centered in the idea that consumerism, particularly indiscriminate, mindless, selfish, disposable and wasteful consumerism, is an ideal. However ugly that cozy might have been, it sat in the bathroom for years, had a certain inoffensive charm (tasteless though it was), and did its good work without complaint. How long will it take for a person to grow up and get tired of skulls, snarky sayings and robot pillows, so that a new set of everything has to be made- creating more waste?
And the way things become passe- I've seen books making fun of 60s and 70s fashions. Well, those fashions weren't considered ugly at the time by the people who wore them. They weren't necessarily dorky. The same is true about clothing now. A lot of it will look very dorky in 20 years. Can you imagine about what teens will say when they come across pictures of their parents with piercings, trying to look cool? About the same thing teens say now when they see photos of mom in tie-dye and dad in a macrame vest. Fuddy-duddyism is that the next generation thinks the last generation was.
As an 'older' crafter myself (I'll be 45 soon), I already find a lot of the patterns in these books and magazines to be idiotic and self-conciously hip. They are narcissistic and reflect the lack of taste and herd mentality of youth, just as those awful tie-dyes and jean bags did when I was a kid. They have no staying power. My desire is to actually learn victorian crochet patterns, which are often extremely complex and can be adapted into truly unique and beautiful clothes and accessories. Nothing ages a woman more than walking around in skull covered shirts and clothes with rude sayings once she hits 30, and I have no desire to age myself. Instead, I want to create items I can't find for myself in stores, because our present youth-oriented culture has made it almost impossible for me to find beautiful, timeless, and yet avant-garde clothing at an affordable price, so that I can look like the person I feel I am inside and not like an aging circus clown.
Funny that craftfetish should be mentioning crewel. I was predicting the same thing the other day. We haven't even gotten near the crest for crochet, though. Even needlepoint is still a drop in the ocean.
Posted by peggytoes on 2007-07-09 12:48:07
Post Subject:
MY Etsy shop is doing FANTASTIC!!!! I''ve only got 2 patterns listed so far and
have sold 54 since I first listed just less than 4 months ago. I also have these listed on ebay and have sold a lot, just not quite as many. In August I should
have several new patterns coming out. This summer''s been a nightmare
and so I haven''t had ANY time to crochet patterns up.
I attribute my sales to being on the Crochetville forum as I post my new
patterns to be tested and also mine and the tester''s finished products. It''s
been a blessing as I have so many expenses in my life right now with 4
sons in college (I have twins).... and weddings, etc.
FOR MY FREE LAYA THE LITTLE LEAF BUTTERFLY NECKLACE PATTERN:
(This pattern was never TESTED - patterns for sale are always tested)
