Hi Everyone,
I am just about packed, ready to leave for my
trip to the Knit and Crochet Conference
in Oakland, CA. When I return I will have lots
of photos to share.
With all the talk of Free Form in the past few
weeks, I forgot to mention that I also have
2 videos/dvd's on Free Form Knitting and Free
Form Crochet. They are available on my web
site http://margarethubertoriginals.com
Viewing the video is the next best thing
to taking a workshop with me.
In fact, the idea for the video was planted in
my brain by a student who wished that she
could take me home with her :-)
Also available in DVD.
Have a great week!
Margaret
Good Morning Everyone,
Thanks for all the nice comments on my
latest free form jacket.
Rochelle, wrote and suggested that I do
a Free Form book. Well Rochelle, I have
already done 2 of them :-)
they are available on my web site
http://margarethubertoriginals.com
Have a great day!
Margaret
Happy Saturday Everyone,
I have had fun, busy week. I finished my jacket and
I am almost all packed for my trip. In addition to those
two things I have had a really nice e-mail from Lucy.
Lucy shared her black bag with us a few days ago
and gave me her permission to use it on my blog.
After Lucy, saw the blog , she e-mailed me the following ;
Thank you, Margaret. It is my pleasure to share the
black purse with
you. I feel a bit like my second grade
students when I show off my work to you, my "teacher".
Your patterns turn out so nicely, I just have
to
show you!
Thank you Lucy, I cannot think of a nicer compliment!
After all the excitement of the crochet-along with the
8 Pocket Tote from my book HOOKED BAGS, and
the flurry of excitement about free form, after my
posting about my new jacket -
I thought that I would show a little diagram of how to make a
free form bag. Making a bag in this way would be an easy
way to start on free form. Trying the method on a small item,
allows you to test the waters, see if you like it, before starting
on a larger project.
This is a diagram that I use in my workshops and it
is helpful to students. Making little pieces of knit and/or
crochet, and sewing them to a base or lining, is the
easiest way to begin free forming.
More on this later
Have a great day
Margaret
Good Morning All,
Everyone who knows me, already knows
that I am fascinated with the Internet. I am constantly
delighted by all the information, knowledge, friendships
formed, etc, etc.
I decided that I needed a frog (not an amphibian) but
a special closure for my new jacket, so I began a search
for just the right one.
I started with shops close to home, no luck, so I turned
to the Internet. Most offered were black, white, off white
silver or gold, just not what I was looking for.
I found a shop in Austin, Texas called Silk Road Fabrics
http://srfabrics.com
that had a large variety of colored frogs on their web site,
but no purple. I called the shop
and had the most delightful conversation with the woman
on the other end of the line. She did not have the size frog
that I wanted but suggested that if I found a white or ecru
one that I liked why not try dying it. "Lightbulb Moment".
I thanked her profusely and continued my search.
I was looking for a fairly large frog, still no luck.
Then I remembered
M & J Trim in New York City http://mjtrim.com.
I spent many happy days shopping at M&J, but I no longer
live so close to the city. I went on line, found the perfect
size and shape that I was looking for,
ordered it, and it was here the next morning.
I did not even order overnight shipping, but chose the
least expensive shipping, which was still more than
the cost of the frog :-). All in all a bargain, far
less expensive than a train ride and giving up a
day to get into the city.
That same afternoon I was able to buy a box of Rit Dye,
right in my local yarn shop that has an unbelievable
supply of everything, http://yarnandcraftbox.com,
dyed my precious little frog, and ended up with the
perfect color.
So, now my "I love It" list, has grown to include
friendly shops like The Yarn and Craft Box,
Silk Road Fabrics, and M&J trim,
Rit Dye and frogs!
With a little bit of luck, I expect to finish my jacket today.
Have a great day
Margaret
Good Morning Everyone,
Yesterday was the September meeting of the
Happily Hooked on Crochet group.
I love attending meetings because you just
never know what is going on with this great
group.
In addition to all the crocheting that we
do for charity, the members are always
willing to share something that they
learned how to do.
This month, Karen, showed us how to make
a fashion belt using, of all things, pop tops.
Well, I do not use very many things with
these tops, but Dee, http://crochetwithdee.com
anticipated that some of us would have this
problem, so she brought a huge box of them
to the meeting. Dee confided that she found
them on ebay.
Karen getting us started on our belts
Such concentration
How about a smile, Karen and Dee
Some of us are faster than others, almost
completed belts.
We have to admit a secret, Karen is becoming
"hooked" on Knitting (shhhhhh)
Karen's beautiful shawl, front view
Ruth's beautiful afghan, Ruth plans on
donating it for a charity raffle. Great job
Ruth.
Oh, oh, Patty is not only knitting, but felting
beautiful bags.
Have a great day,
Margaret
Happy Saturday Everyone,
I will be teaching a class in combining knitting
and crochet Free Form at the Knit and Crochet
Conference in California at the end of the month.
Last week I decided to try to make a new jacket to
wear in the fashion show. If I don't finish it, it will be
used as part of my workshop :-)
I wanted this piece to be much lighter in weight
than most of my free form designs, and I also
wanted to stretch my mind again.
I like to test out different techniques, try to
create really different looks, and I love to
combining knitting and crochet.
Usually my free form is just that, I do not try for
any symmetry, but this time as I said, I want something
a little different.
Just the beginning -- I tried reversing two crocheted
pieces that will become part of the front sections.
When I want to create a specific shape, I usually
make a template to follow. Both knitted pieces
will also become part of the front. The stitch used here
is a slipped stitch.
I used the template trick on these pieces also. The
base is knitted garter stitch, I slipped stitch around
the edges and did some surface crochet with ribbon
for some added interest.
I hope to get a lot done this weekend, I'll keep you posted.
Have a great weekend!
Margaret
Good Morning Every One,
Quite a few people on Crochetville,
crochetville.org/forum/
have been working on my 8 Pocket Tote
in a crochet along. I have been having
fun reading all the notes and following
their progress.
This morning I received the first photos of
a finished one from Karen. Karen is using
her tote to carry books etc to classes that
she is teaching. Great job Karen, I love
the lining that you chose.
Hopefully more participants will send me
photos when they finish their totes.
Have a great day!
Margaret
Happy Holiday Weekend Everyone,
Summer is almost over, and I had the
nicest surprise last week. In the middle
of finishing up another project, and
writing yet another book proposal,
I received a e-mail from a friend stating
that she saw one of my hats being shown on Crochetville.org/forum/
I
belong to several on-line forums, but did not really know about
Crochetville. After exploring it, I found out that you can read the
posts but cannot reply unless you are a member. It looked so
interesting that I immediately joined. Shortly thereafter, I found out
that quite a few members were working on a crochet-along, and they were
all making the 8 pocket tote from my book HOOKED BAGS. I also heard
from another friend that another on-line group was doing a
crochet-along for the same bag. The bag was made in Lion Brand Cotton,
and Lion Brand had permission to offer the tote as a free pattern.
Wow, was I surprised at how many people were making the tote. It is the Eight Pocket Tote shown below;
The photos of the finished bags are starting to show up on the site, and I am amazed at the ingenuity of the crocheters. Depending on the colors, yarn and linings that they choose, the bags are all turning out differently. What fun seeing them all. I have asked permission to post them on my blog, so hopefully you will get to see some of them soon.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.
Margaret
