Conversations at Houston Fiber Fest

Oh my goodness where do I start? The best thing about the Houston Fiber Fest for me personally were the face-to-face conversations I had with so many folk who are just as passionate about fiber as I am. I could fill several posts with all the wonderful people I met up with and what we spoke about. I will have to limit myself!!

First up was Beth Bower from Inner Loop Dyeworks who had provided me with yarn support for my sock design. How kind! I left samples of my leftover crochet sock at her booth. And yes I am seeing pattern sales on Ravelry appear in my in-box since I released it last week!

Then I visited Karen at Round Table Yarns. She provides yarn support to Karen Whooley who as you may know is one of my favorite crochet designers. I wore one of her shawls Violaceous both days from her latest book "Garden of Shawls".

I had a fascinating conversation with Stacey and Penny at the Brazen Stitchery booth about sock blanks. I'd just found out about these from my friend Claudia in the latest episode of her Crochet Luna Podcast Sock it to me! and I had to buy one to see how it worked up in crochet.

My friend Diane had saved me a seat at the Crochet Meet up Table and there I met my two fellow crochet teachers at the event: Kristi Millsap who was teaching an Introduction to Tunisian Crochet and Carole Fitzgerald who was teaching Crochet Fingerless Gloves. They were both great and we compared notes on what we were teaching.

Jessica from Houston Fiber Friends had arranged a meetup for us too. We sat at a table inside the foyer and shortly afterwards starting shopping together. Yes I did shop as well!! Listening to one of our group, Mel, talk about the joys of spinning led me to purchase a drop spindle!

At the Foggy Hollow Ranch booth, farmer Lynda sold me fiber for my new spindle from Demetri the highland sheep who is not only sweet natured but has fleece that is easy to spin, so I've been told. Fun times ahead!

And finally I just loved my twelve fantastic students at my Crochet Sock Techniques class - they were all sooo lovely, had great crochet skills and worked extremely hard. 

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my brief round up. I am now off to the UK this week to visit my family so I'll be taking a little blog holiday for a few weeks. I will return at the end of July. Have a wonderful summer everyone!!

Listen to the Audio Podcast

Pattern Release: The Leftover Crochet Sock

My own pattern The Leftover Crochet Sock is now available for purchase. Please note that if you're searching for it on Ravelry it's called "The Leftover Sock" because the word "crochet" is a keyword. This is what I found out when I submitted my pattern name last week. I'm such a newbie! But I'm still calling it the Leftover Crochet Sock anyway. I launched the pattern this weekend at the Houston Fiber Fest from the Inner Loop Dyeworks booth (lovely Beth at Inner Loop Dyeworks gave me yarn support - beautiful Valentine and Electric Blue sock yarn).

I designed the sock for the class that I taught at the Fiber Fest on Crochet Sock Techniques so that it wasn't just me talking for two hours straight. Although I am sure I could probably ramble on about the back story of my crochet sock addiction for two hours and show them my sock samples and tell them all about the best designers etc......I used some very simple sock techniques in my pattern - short row heels and extended single crochet stitch. It's small and very quick to make. It comes in three sizes: 6-12 months, 1-3 years and 3-5 years. And I've called it the Leftover Crochet Sock because you can use up your leftover sock yarn - if you're anything like me you have leftover yarn and it's a problem!!

I need to say a big thank you to all the people who helped me get this pattern out. There are A LOT of people who go into producing a pattern. First Marie Segares for her Creative Yarn Entrepreneur podcast for telling me the proper way to do things in the Designing and Publishing Patterns mini series... And my super tech editor was Sam of A Simple Melody She was wonderful - and I really thought I'd picked up every little error and typo after reading it a approximately a million times but no - she pointed out a lot of mistakes and also made suggestions. She also checked it again after my test crocheters had tried it out Diane, Ilse and Cat. Diane went above and beyond taking step by step photos for me to give out to my students, without me even asking her to. Diane did get me into all this sock business though - she was the one at my Nimblefingers workshop who said she wanted to learn crochet socks... And then I had to get it looking pretty so Leah made it into a very good looking pdf.

I am running an introductory half price offer on my sock for a month until July 25th - it will be 50% off if you enter the code #houstonfiberfest2017 So if you fancy using up leftover sock yarn, have a little person in mind to make it for and are OK with a written pattern why not try it out and buy now

Hope you have a wonderful week. I'm going to do a write up of the Houston Fiber Fest for next week's blog so be sure to come back then!

Listen to the Audio Podcast

Hoston Fiber Fest is THIS Week!

Houston Fiber Fest starts THIS Friday June 23rd. I am SO excited!! I am going to be there on Saturday primarily visiting vendors and squishing their yarn but also hanging out with people and obviously I'll be there Sunday afternoon for the class I'm teaching.

Lester The Fiber Fest Mascot

Last year I attended just one day but I stayed for seven hours. I felt I had to get around as many vendors as possible so that I could record a really comprehensive audio review for Fay at the Crochet Circle Podcast. It was an amazingly fun day and I just can't wait to do it all over again!

This year I'll be spending some time at Inner Loop Dyeworks Booth #17 with Beth Bower. Beth is a fabulous indie dyer and she very kindly provided me with yarn support for the small crochet sock pattern I designed for my class. She even let me choose my colors and custom dyed them for me! Amazing! Thank you Beth - I'll see you on Saturday with my sock samples!! I'll be launching my sock pattern from her booth. It's called #theleftovercrochetsock because it's baby/toddler size and you can make it with leftover sock yarn once you've made an adult pair.

The meet up tables are back again this year so I will be at the crochet meet up table on Saturday at 12 midday.  It's a really fun way to meet new people who are into the same thing as you. Well obviously we're all massively into yarn but there are meet ups for spinners, weavers, stitch marker swaps and so on. Here is the meet up table schedule. And I'll also be meeting up with a group that I've joined very recently the really fun Houston Fiber Friends. It's going to be the best weekend ever!

Anyway have a wonderful week y'all and let me know if you're attending any fiber events over the summer. And do tell me if you're going to be at the Houston Fiber Fest so I can look out for you!!!

Listen to the Audio Podcast

The Anatomy of a Crochet Sock

The class I'm teaching at Houston Fiber Fest "Crochet Sock Techniques" is just four weeks away so socks are in my dreams and dominating my life right now.

I happily knit socks years ago merrily following the pattern without thinking too much. But it's being different being a teacher. They ask you questions. Helping a workshop attendee in the yarn store with their socks I realized I had no idea what turning the heel entailed or what exactly a gusset was. I only had the vaguest idea of how a sock was actually constructed. So when one of my longtime students wanted to learn to crochet socks I had a duty to find out and so the pursuit of the ultimate crochet sock began.

I have made a color-coded sock for my class as a teaching aid. I got this great idea from Karen Whooley's fabulous pattern book "I can't believe I'm crocheting socks". I finally cracked crochet socks with the help of this book. And I now know where the elusive gusset is. My demo sock is the basic cuff down version and each part is a different color - cuff, leg, heel flap, heel turn, gusset area, foot and toe. It's going to be very helpful.

And my crochet sock fame has spread and the lovely Claudia of the Crochet Luna Podcast in California asked me to be her "resident crochet sock expert" earlier this month on her new Ravelry thread "Sock it to me" - how cool is that? - so you can join me over there if you'd like to show us your socks or chat about the merits of different heel constructions and the like... How fun!

And if you're near Houston Texas I know there are still places on my crochet sock class on June 25th. I'd love to meet you in person! Grab your spot here.

Here's the Audio Podcast

 

Designing crochet socks

I've probably mentioned already that I'm teaching a crochet sock technique class at Houston Fiber Fest on 23rd June. Oh yes, I'm going to be famous! I decided to design my own small sock which can be completed in the two hour class to introduce my twelve students to some of the techniques. I could have asked a designer for permission to use one of their patterns and I will definitely be recommending patterns from designers that I have made and loved but I do enjoy a bit of a challenge.

 

My main focus has been teaching rather than designing....oh and the odd bit of blogging obviously here on craftyescapism.com And I have written a few simple patterns for my charity crochet group Yak & Yarn before but have yet to publish anything officially.

I really didn't know where to start but after listening to the seven part Crochet & Knitting Design & Self-Publishing Mini Series by Marie Segares on her wonderful Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Podcast show I felt ready.

It has however taken me weeks to finally send the design off to my tech editor. Partly this was due to the pattern writing process itself. I started off writing and making one size and picking up my favorite hook for socks but after my test crocheter said she wanted to make a toddler sock I had to get into gauge and grading. Things then became a lot more complicated. I was finally happy with my design and made the small size but couldn't help tweaking it a bit. Then I thought I'd make the largest size to see how much yardage I needed and figured out my stitch count was out on my small size. Argghh!

Then I was distracted by other unrelated crochet projects - CALs and test crocheting that I really shouldn't have taken on but I have no self control whatsoever. And then of course there is the rest of my life when I am not doing anything crochet related! I do wonder how designers manage to get a whole book of designs out. It is an incredible feat!

I'm working on the content of my class so if you have any questions about crochet socks please do let me know. I will endeavor to answer and it will be super helpful preparation!!  

Here's the Audio Podcast

Teaching at Houston Fiber Fest this June

I have hit the crochet professional big time! My proposal to teach a class at the fabulous Houston Fiber Fest was accepted. Yay! I have been teaching for around three years now, the last two and half at my local yarn store, so I thought it was time for a little challenge.

 

Last year I attended the Houston Fiber Fest for the first time. In fact, it was my first time ever visiting any fiber fest. Places are spread out in the US and with young children there isn't a lot of gallivanting around for me. Anyway, even though it was my first fiber fest ever I did manage to record an audio review of the event and it features on episode six of the superb Crochet Circle podcast around 40 odd minutes in.

I will be teaching crochet sock techniques. If you read my blog regularly you'll know that I was a little obsessed last year about finding the ultimate crochet sock pattern. Here are my blog articles on the topic if you missed them:

• The hunt for the ultimate crochet sock begins
• The crochet sock pursuit continues
• A serious case of crochet sock startitus
• Self-sabotaged socks (includes my completed socks - hurrah!)

The event takes place June 23-25 at the Berry Centre in Cypress, TX. It is truly yarntastic and well worth attending even if you're not one of the special twelve attendees who gets to hook socks with me! Check out the Fiber Fest website, Ravery group and Facebook group. Shall I meet you there?

I daresay you may see crochet socks popping up on my Instagram and Twitter accounts in the near future. I'm @craftyescapism if you hadn't guessed! Have a fantastic week y'all!

Farewell to 2016 Hello 2017

Happy New Year everybody!!! Reflecting on my year of crochet it's been a really good one with highlights as follows:

 

 

My Yak & Yarn group celebrated it's first birthday in March. My Y&Y ladies have become my great friends and we have, between us, produced close to a hundred crochet items for local charities - blankets, scarfs and hats. We are still going strong with new members joining at a steady rate. 

In June I attended my first ever fiber fest: Houston Fiber Fest (what fun!) and I recorded a review for the British Crochet Circle Podcast. This gave me an insight into the huge time commitment required in producing podcasts!! 

August marked my two year anniversary of teaching the Friday crochet and knitting workshop at my local store Nimblefingers. I love being part of the NF team and Friday afternoons are my absolutely favorite time of the week.

In October I taught my largest group ever (20+ ladies) for the Chicks with Stix Chapter of my local knitting guild: the Knit at Night Guild. I gave a class on Crochet Borders for Knitted Projects which I totally overprepared for but I received great feedback afterwards so it was all worth it!

Over the summer I learnt new techniques taking part in my first ever Crochet Alongs (CALs), three of them in fact, on crochet socks, interlocking crochet and overlay crochet. I also figured out Tunisian entrelac crochet making a blanket for Yak & Yarn.

For 2017 I have the following plans:

I will continue to write my blog, learn new techniques, run my Yak & Yarn group and my Nimblefingers workshop.

I'd like to add another regular weekly teaching class.... we'll see.

I'm also considering applying to teach a crochet class at the Houston Fiber Fest this year. This seems like the obvious next step in my teaching career.

Anyway I'd love to know what your biggest crafting achievements of 2016 were and what your plans are for 2017. Comment here or let me know on Twitter or Instagram I'm @craftyescapim

My podcast debut - woohoo!

This week I made my podcasting debut!! Woohoo! My audio review of the Houston Fiber Fest has been spliced into The Crochet Circle's monthly podcast (episode six) as part of a Shore to Shore Fiber Fest comparison review. It went live on Friday and you can listen to it here: Crochet Circle Podcast How exciting!! I hope you enjoy it.

 

It all started when I wrote a review of the Crochet Circle on this blog back in May. The Crochet Circle podcast launched the month before and Fay and Lynne the hosts are so fun to listen to. The podcast is about crochet with a little bit of knitting on the side. It's wonderful!

I tried really hard to record my review in one go but I just couldn't pull it off. It was holiday time and my kids were at home. They are so good at keeping quiet while I'm on a client call but this took far longer so I ended recording it in my tiny walk in closet and even then the dog came wandering in looking for me.

I have put a whole load of photos of the Fiber Fest up on a Pinterest board if this is the kind of thing you're into!

And there is a short written review over on the Crochet Circle Podcast Ravelry group on their Fiber Festival Reviews Thread.

So please do head on over, have a listen and let me know what you think.

Have a wonderful week everyone!