Red Berry Crochet is having a sale!

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RedBerryCrochet - SALE EXTENDED through Sunday, May 2nd - Receive 10% off all items (pdf patterns not included, see special below). Put RHHN in the notes to seller and I will send a revised invoice. Or I will refund the discount amount if you've already paid.

BOGO Free! - Purchase any crochet pdf pattern from my shop and receive another (of equal or lesser value) absolutely free! Purchase the higher priced pattern and let me know of your free pattern choice in the notes to seller at checkout.
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Please note that the sale discounts are through my Etsy shop only. Stop in for crochet pdf patterns, crocheted goodies, yarn, stitch markers and more!

Baby Blocks Blanket and Sneaker Booties for Baby Boy

Here's a cute baby blanket that I made for a friend who is due very soon. The pattern is from the February 2010 Crochet World magazine and is designed by Lisa Naskrent for Caron International. I made the blanket in little boy colors to match his new room using Caron Simply soft yarn. I am really happy with the way it turned out, and my friend loves it! It really has a cozy look to it, modern, yet retro too.







I had some extra yarn and couldn't resist these cute baby hi-top booties, designed by Lisa Gentry. So cute! And fun to make too.




I've just started another baby blanket for a little girl. I'm futzing with the pattern, and will post pics when I've finished it. I haven't made baby blankets in awhile, now it's 2 in a row. They say good things come in 3's . . . hmm, maybe another friend or relative is expecting? Wouldn't that be fun!

Continuing Crochet - Weeks 3 and 4

These 2 weeks were busy for the Continuing Crochet Class. Week 3 we concentrated on motifs, joining, seaming, and basic construction of garments.

Above is a slightly modified motif pattern from the book Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs by Edie Eckman. This is a great book with lots of patterns, and includes tips for making your motifs, finishing them, joining, and much more. It is one of the most detailed and useful books on crochet motifs that I have found.

For the second half of class I demonstrated joining motifs, and seaming. I also discussed basic construction for garments. I brought a finished sweater, an unfinished sweater, and a pair of socks, plus we also talked about glove and mitten construction. I brought along the patterns to show as examples. My goal was to show my students the basics of shaping techniques in different patterns and also to show them the schematics for the sweaters. We also discussed the importance of gauge (which had been stressed repeatedly in the beginners class).

Week 4 I taught them the basic afghan (Tunisian) stitch, and supplied them with simple charts (heart, sailboat, clover) that they could use to cross stitch onto their finished fabric swatches. I showed them a scarflette of my own design I made using a different Tunisian stitch:





They picked up the Tunisian Simple Stitch really quickly, and were eager to move onto bead crochet, which they also learned really quick and were surprised at how easy it is. So, here is the finished bead crochet project, a girls beaded drawstring purse of my own design.



Whew! We covered a lot of different subjects these 2 weeks, but my class was ready and eager to learn. I wish I had taken photos of their finished projects, I am kicking myself for not doing so! One lady made a gorgeous motif shawl, and quite a few finished their beaded bags before the 5th class! I am very proud of them all :)

Thanks for stopping by, and next week I will update you on Weeks 5 and 6.

Links: Continuing Crochet - Weeks 1 and 2

Continuing Crochet - Weeks 1 and 2

So I haven't been busy blogging (obviously) but I have been busy crocheting and I thought I would post here about what I've been up to. I am currently teaching a Continuing Crochet class that is 7 weeks long, and this Thursday will be our 6th class. I didn't have a set lesson plan because I wanted to find out from my students what sort of projects they would be interested in learning. So, each week I devise a lesson plan and work up a project for the next class. It has been a success, with 8 to 10 students each week.

The first week, I wanted to keep it fun and get some ideas from the students about future projects, so I started with embellishments.


We learned how to make fringe, tassels, pom poms, and twisted cord. I had square cardboard templates for the fringe/tassels and circular templates for the pom poms. Pictured above are the samples that I made up. The blue variegated tassel is made from size 3 thread.

Week 2 centered around color work. I handed out a ripple scarf pattern that I designed, which includes simple color changes.


I haven't yet decided if I'm going to add fringe to mine or not. I'm real happy with the colors I chose for this project. Several of my students have completed their scarves, and they really enjoyed working this stitch and pattern.

The same week I also introduced them to working from color charts. And here is the chart:

Each square represents 1 stitch in single crochet, and 2 stitches in double crochet. I also provided them with basic instructions to complete a potholder.


Above are pictures of the front and back of my sample. We used the stranding method (also called the carry over method) to work the colors for this project.

Pictured below, the top photo shows the same chart worked in single crochet. The picture below that is a single crochet fabric with cross stitches worked over them.


The cross stitch sample above reminds me that I still haven't completed my Search to Be Square, but I have several samples of that to post later on. I will also update you next week of Continuing Crochet - Weeks 3 and 4.

Thanks for stopping in :)

Piece of Cake - A Self Imposed Deadline

Piece of Cake Potholder
Back on a November 2 blog post I challenged myself to a deadline of December 8th (today, he, he) to create a new design. I decided then that I wanted to make a new potholder, and at not quite the 11th hour, I've finished it :)



I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and I love that it is reversible and looks great on both sides. I will be sending out the pattern to be tested and I am working on getting a pdf file together.

Self imposed deadlines are a really great idea for me, and I was really inspired!

Stay tuned for the pattern listing announcement, and also a new challenge (self imposed of course!) Now I want to eat some cake - nom, nom, nom . . .

Pretty Petaled Placemat and Napkin Ring pdf Crochet Pattern - Perfect for Everyday or Holidays

Pretty Petaled Placemat and Napkin Ring pdf Pattern

I've finally finished up my latest pattern. This is an intermediate crochet pattern, but would be easy enough for anyone familiar with working in rounds. They work up quickly using medium weight yarn and a size I crochet hook. The placemats are designed to be used with 10.5 inch (26.6 cm) dinner plates, but you can easily adjust the pattern to any size. You could even make a tablecloth to match!



I gave a set as a gift to a friend of mine for her birthday and she really loves them. I have a set I use on my own table and I also made a larger size with sits beneath a soup tureen on my buffet table. I really love the way they look, very pretty, but practical for everyday use!

I also worked one up in a white yarn that has silver sparkly threads in it and it is really gorgeous and would be really beautiful for a holiday place setting.




Thanks for checking out my new pattern, and stay tuned for more!


You can purchase this pattern at these links:
My pattern shop - instant downloads
Etsy Listing
Ravelry Listing - also instant downloads, but you must have a Ravelry account and login
My eCrater shop

My Search to Be Square - Part 1

I love to cross stitch on crocheted fabric and I had made an afghan several years ago that featured our family name and a cabin graphic with some pine trees. So when I came across this free KG Chart for Cross Stitch program I got excited and downloaded it. In no time I was able to easily create graph patterns. It is a simple program to master. I drew out a "J" monogram by hand and scanned and imported it into the program. What's great is that this program will create a chart from any image and it is easily editable for stitch placement and color changes. You can also view the chart in "real view" and it looks like an actual cross stitched piece!

Having this program got me to thinking about the crocheted fabric that you cross stitch on and I remember having read somewhere about a "square" crochet stitch. Of course I can't remember where I read that, and searching online was no help. What I do remember from what I read is that using the seed stitch will give you a truer square. Single crochet is fine, but is not truly square being wider than tall. So I worked up a swatch in seed stitch (or the seed stitch as I know it to be). And while I was at it, I decided to work up a simple stitch chart for it using Inkscape which is also a free program.



Here is my swatch pattern:
With a size H (5.0 mm) crochet hook and worsted weight (medium) yarn.
Row 1 (RS): ch 24, sc in 2nd ch from hook, *ch 1, sk next, sc in next. Rep from * across. (23 sts)
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc in next, sc in next ch1 sp, ch 1, sk next, sc in ch 1 sp. Rep from * across to last, sc in last sc.
Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc in next, *ch 1, sk next, sc in next ch 1 sp. Rep from * across.
Rep rows 2 and 3 alternately for pattern.

Abbreviations used in pattern:
RS - right side, or the side of the fabric you want to show (or face out)
ch - chain
sc - single crochet
sk - skip
sp - space
rep - repeat
My swatch is 23 rows high, and is square - Yay!






Now all I have to do is figure out where the cross stitches should go. To me it doesn't look there is a square pattern in the fabric. *sigh*
I will continue and stitch up some other swatches too; in single crochet, "square" single crochet, and also a Tunisian swatch.

So for now my search to be square continues . . .


Links - KG software - http://www.iktsoft.net/kgchart-en/kgchart/
Inskscape - http://www.inkscape.org/

Creative Challenges: Self Imposed Deadlines

So, my EtsyHookers team Creative Challenge ended today and it got me to thinking that maybe I should have my own personal creative challenges to keep me inspired. I don't enter the team Challenges because I host and set up the voting polls and blog, so maybe it's time to set some deadlines for myself. I do like to enter contests, especially crochet inspired ones, and both of my published patterns were the result of entering contests! Hmm, I think this could be a great idea for me :)

I am in the process of finishing up a new pattern that hopefully will be listed by next week, and I think for my next pattern I would like to design another potholder. The two that I have already completed, my fried egg and jam/jelly jar's, were obviously food inspired. I think I'll stick with that theme.

Okay, so my personal challenge theme is a food inspired potholder, and I'll set the deadline for December 8th. Now that it's "official" and written on my calendar, there are no excuses!

Audiobooks - A Crocheting Reader's Best Friend

There's nothing like having a few spare moments to relax and crochet. For a big reader like myself, I like to use this time to get some “reading” done too. While there is some controversy whether listening to audios is actually considered reading, I find it's a great companion for crochet, plus I get to listen to some really great books!

Having a library card gives me access to many great titles to choose from. My library also has several formats available; CD's to checkout, MP3, WMA and iPod compatible downloads, plus new Playaways.

So if you haven't yet had the pleasure of listening while you crochet, visit your local library and see what they have to offer. You'll be pleasantly surprised!

Holiday Weekend Crochet - yay!

With the Labor Day weekend gearing up I am hoping that I will have some time to work on new projects! I have a pretty placemat pattern I am working on and a cute Halloween project. I have quite a few books I want to read too.

Speaking of books, I have been looking at Robyn Chachula's Blueprint Crochet. What an awesome book! It is geared toward visual crocheters and has symbol crochet patterns for her lovely designs. I myself have designed a symbol pattern as a bonus to go along with my Star Wash Cloth and Face Scrubbie pdf, and I can honestly say that I haven't found an easy way to create these charts. Kudos to Chachula for her awesome and fresh designs! I think that symbol charts are making a comeback!