Long Double Crochet Linen Stitch Pattern

January 8, 2015 By admin 1 Comment

The long double crochet linen stitch pattern is a fun pattern that is easy to follow, reversible and perfect for men, women, boys and girls. The great part about this stitch pattern is that you can get a completely different look if you decide to use one color throughout, change colors every two rows, or change colors every row!

What makes this pattern look so unique is the placement of the stitches one row below the last row worked.

The long double crochet stitch (Ldc) is made in the row below This might seem confusing but once you see it in the HD YouTube Video Tutorial I‘ve done for you it will be a piece o’ cake!

In the crochet Long Double Crochet Linen Stitch Pattern video I teach you how to do this fun new stitch that can be used in any accessory or garment. As a matter of fact, I’ve already done a super cute cowl pattern using this stitch pattern that I want to offer to you for FREE!

That’s not all! I’ve also designed a new cowl Effortless that is absolutely FREE!
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Skacel Collection, Chuck Wilmesher

January 6, 2015 By admin 49 Comments

Skacel Collection, Chuck Wilmesher opens 2015 to share what’s new for the NEW YEAR on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird.

Marly first met Chuck in person on a trade show floor. It sounds like they both appreciated the positive vibe of the other!

Chuck Wilmesher grew up in St Louis, got his MMR moved to Los Angeles after graduate school and worked with Mattel, specifically in marketing toys for boys. He worked with a movie marketing research company. While there he met a fellow who offered to teach him to knit in 2007. He fell in love in fiber! He says about that time he wondered what he wanted to do when he grew up. He attended a men’s knitting retreat in the Pacific Northwest, met Karin Skacel and kept in touch with her, he later asked if she needed a yarn rep. She didn’t but they kept communicating until he moved to Seattle and started with the company. He is the Director of Product Research and Development, working with the mills that produce product Addi4 for Skacel and has been with Skacel for four years.

Skacel began with Karin Skacel’s parents. Ingrid brought the Addi Needles to the US from Germany, and really, until then, circular needles had basically been unheard of. Skacel has also offered their own yarn lines, including a wool-free yarn HiKoo, Chuck works to promote the several kinds of yarns in Skacel’s brands as well as the Schoppel Wolle, Zitron, Schulana, Austermann, and Schoeller+Stahl. Because of changes in the industry, it has been increasingly harder to market yarns from other companies, so he really has his work cut out for him, but yet there is fun stuff too like when they get a new baby alpaca from Peru…

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Long Double Crochet Chevron Stitch Pattern

December 31, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

The long double crochet chevron stitch pattern is a fun pattern that is easy to follow, reversible and perfect for men, women, boys and girls. The great part about this stitch pattern is that you can get a completely different look if you decide to use one color throughout, change colors every two rows, or change colors every row!

What makes this pattern look so unique is the placement of the stitches which gives the illusion of a chevron.

The long double crochet stitch (Ldc) is made in the row below and a double crochet stitch is worked into the space on either side of the Ldc. This might seem confusing but once you see it in the HD YouTube Video Tutorial I’ve done for you it will be a piece of cake!

In the crochet Long Double Crochet Chevron Stitch Pattern video I teach you how to do this fun new stitch that can be used in any accessory or garment. As a matter of fact, I’ve already done a super cute cowl pattern using this stitch pattern that I want to offer to you for FREE! It is called the Colorado Sunrise Cowl and you can find the pattern here. [Read more…]

Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton

December 18, 2014 By admin 29 Comments

Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton called us from her shop in Mariefred, Sweden to share how much fun she’s having with Marly Bird on the Yarn Thing Podcast.

Doesn’t that look like a great place to create! This is a picture from the shop, full of lots of color and open when she’s there. (I’m telling you that in case you’d like to drop in. You’ll want to watch for her posts online before you head over there!) She does spend time back and forth from her shop there and her home in Atlanta, GA.

Corneliaprofile Pic Cornelia was on the Yarn Thing Podcast in June, and other earlier visits but we are so excited to hear about her new yarn line, Sister Silke. We shared the last time about her Heaven’s Hand by Hamilton Yarns, Wool Classic which is a good basic worsted weight Peruvian Shetland, Shaman -a hand spun, hand-dyed silk that is created in India by a women’s co-operative includes some variegated colors, and Silke. All of her yarns are hand dyed, a tone-on-tone. The new Sister Silke is a Mulberry silk that has great stitch definition with a suede feel. The colors are comfy as are all of her yarns.

She also likes to use Noro, Universal Yarns and recently Fiber Spates for color changes. This is apparent because MANY of her designs include wonderful flowing colors. See her designs as listed in Ravelry. You’ll find Cornelia’s designs are very Organic, according to Marly. She is one of the few women designers that has a geometric or architectural structure. They do test expectations for limits as what is possible for a knitter, which is wonderfully liberating.

She has many books available or in print, including one that features her opportunity to get to know Mr. Noro. (I love this book, it’s one of those dream knitting adventures in Non-fiction and with lots of interesting patterns!)

Cornelia has website, Hamilton Yarns, a Designer Group in Ravelry, also one for her yarns, Heaven’s Hand by Hamilton Yarns She is also on Facebook, where to can TRY to keep up with new designs, classes she’s teaching locally (perhaps near you) and any other fun things going on in Cornelia’s world.

Shannon Okey on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird

December 16, 2014 By admin 22 Comments

Shannon Okey on the Yarn Thing Podcast with Marly Bird has become the new knitting fan girl experience, I think.

She says she didn’t learn to knit like the rest of us, as a pre-schooler at the knee of a parent or grandparent. (That didn’t happen to me either…) The family is artistic and she learned other things. As an adult and moving to Boston, in boredom went to a yarn store in Cambridge and stated she wanted to knit a cardigan. While she’s working on it ‘got REALLY into knitting’, she started blogging about it as that was the new cool thing to do at that time. Debbie Stoller’s ‘Stitch N Bitch’ book was really taking off at that time and publishers were desperate for the next one, and she wrote a book for ‘tweens (which I think was ‘Knitgrrl: Learn to Knit with 15 Fun and Funky Projects’ published in 2005) and in a short period of time she wrote about a dozen books for many different publishers. What a learning experience that was!

COOPERATIVE PRESS came about after she started looking at the math of a book publication and thought she could do it on her own. She began with The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwar Design and has 40 publications in it’s repertoire including the recent ‘Kung Fu Knits’ by Elizabeth Green Musselman that we heard about recently when Elizabeth was on during on Podcaster November. (They were mentioned in the chatroom but not by Marly & Shannon, the popular Madame DeFarge books are in that list…. Just check out the list on the Cooperative Press website, the list has some incredibly popular titles you may have heard of lately!)

Shannon says she finds that fiber people are the earlier adopters of technology, in downloading patterns and books, and it’s really driven small business. (She shared the current VAT tax issue that has been a hot topic lately. This blog post by Ysolda Teague was discussed.) Cooperative Press has kept track of digital verses print publications, and looking for ways that customers can save money on purchases, especially the shipping costs, the benefits of ‘Print On-Demand’ ~ especially when a mistake is discovered (‘It happens…’), fixing errata. She sees it as a good thing that the book is available to everyone every where as digital, immediately. Instant gratification is powerful!

She understands that is why pattern sales in Ravelry works. That is also why her magazine Knit Edge is solely digital and she’s considering a craft magazine, knitwear designer trade magazine and on and on. The possibilities are infinite for Shannon Okey and Cooperative Press.

As a side note and JUST FOR FUN! Shannon still does some designing, check out her list in Ravelry. What’s currently ‘On Her Needles’ is her ‘Frozen’ project, of Icelandic Inspired Patterns. She has put out a FREE pattern, and a challenge to DO WHAT YOU WANT with it. This will conclude with voting and prize money.

Another project coming up is Wool Mercantile will offer limited edition runs of specialty fiber things. You can subscribed to that and stay tuned for what’s happening in that.

Free Crochet Pattern Holiday Barrette

December 12, 2014 By admin Leave a Comment

This free crochet pattern Holiday Barrette is a great quick project for any crocheter! Using less than 100 yds of yarn in any color used in the project this project is not only quick but cheap to make! Make these barrettes for the little girl in your life 🙂

There is even a YouTube video taught by Marly with a few tips an tricks to help you make the perfect barrette!

Gentle reminder: It has just come to my attention that many people are unaware that free patterns still have copyrights and it is not legal to distribute. I ask that if you like the pattern and want to tell your friends that you share the link to the pattern (found here: https://marlybird.com/free-crochet-pattern-little-girl-barrette ). By doing so you are allowing me to make a little money via advertising which in turn makes it possible for me to keep designing fun and free patterns.

Thanks so much!

*Disclaimer: this post includes affiliate links**

Holiday Barrette

PATTERN DETAILS

Yarn

Any yarn will work for these but here are some of my favorites:

Brown Sheep, ” Nature Spun Worsted”(100% wool, 245 yds/100g). (Use this link for 25% discount!)

Cascade, “220 Superwash Sport” (100% superwash merino wool, 136.7 yds/50g). (Use this link for 30% discount!)

Cascade, “Ultra Pina” (100% pima cotton, 220 yds/100g). (Use this link for 25% discount!)This is a cotton yarn that I can endorse! The shimmer of this cotton will make the mittens look lovely!

Lion Brand, “Wool-Ease” (80% acrylic, 20% wool, 197 yds/85g) (Use this link for 30% discount!)

Lion Brand, “Amazing Yarn” (53% wool, 47% acrylic, 147 yds/50g). (Use this link for 35% discount!) This yarn will give the garland and completely unique look as the yarn has wonderful long color changes so your mittens will look Amazing!

Hook

Use a hook that will get you the size mitten you want. For the sample I used an H/8 (5m) (Marly uses Addi Crochet Hooks)

Notions

Barrette
Tapestry Needle

Stitches Used (and YouTube Video links to help you learn)

Chain Stitch (ch)
Single Crochet (sc)

PATTERN

Open the metal barrette and remove the center metal spring.

With any color sc around the body of the barrette. You will do as many single crochets as you need to cover the entire barrette.

NOTE: make sure your stitches do not disrupt the function of the barrette.

Once you have as many stitches put the metal spring back in place so you don’t lose it. Now let’s make some fringe!

Chain 10 (or more if you want it bigger, fluffier, more dramatic), then join in the back loop of the single crochet with a slip stitch. Chain 10 and join in the front loop of the next single crochet. Continue doing the chains and alternating the back loop and front loop to stagger the loops until all the sc around the barrette are used.

When all the single crochets are used you can change colors or continue on with the same color.

(If you change colors join with a slip stitch) chain 10 (or more or less) turn the barrette and working back along the barrette and * working into the open loops of the single crochet join with a slip stitch then chain 10 and repeat from * until all the single crochets are used.

Finish off.

Weave in ends.

Hmm, as I write these instructions I’m noticing how hard it is to explain how to do this. How about a video. Will that help?

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.