Crochet Jewelry Pattern Collection Special Offer!

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In honor of National Crochet Month and staying at home as much as possible, I have decided to offer a collection of 6 of my most popular crochet necklace patterns for just $5.99, the cost would be $13.92 if the patterns were purchased separately! This offer is valid until March 31st. To see and/or purchase the collection, here is the link: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/jewelry-collecti.... Enter: NATCROMO at checkout to receive the discounted price.

This collection of crochet necklaces includes my Raindrops Necklace, Monarch Necklace, Crawford Necklace, and Bella Necklace Trio. Experience the satisfaction of creating a small project every day!

Using Crochet Remnants

From most any design project, I have leftover pieces. I save these pieces hoping for just the right project to come along. I decided to challenge my self to make a pendant out of some of the pieces leftover from the free Mademoiselle Necklace Pattern I designed for Berroco.

By layering them and adding some surface embroidery, I was able to create a 3D background for one of our stitchable "Pod" pendants.

I like working with remnants and leftovers, because working with what you have exercises your creative problem solving and the results are always unexpected!

I plan to continue this challenge and will be sharing more remnant creations in coming posts. I challenge you all to make something out of your scraps and remnants! If you are on Instagram, use the hashtag #remnantschallenge.

New eWoodStory Stockist in Australia!

We are so excited to announce our new stockist, The Embroidery Den in Victoria, Australia. You can now find our exotic wood Mini Masterpiece stitchable pendants and our embellishment flowers in their lovely shop!  The Embroidery Den sells everything for the hand embroiderer and they have one of the largest collections of threads in Australia!

The Flor Necklace for Interweave Crochet Summer 2016!

The Summer Issue of Interweave Crochet recently came out, so I can finally talk about my designs! These two necklace versions are based on the same motif crocheted forwards and backwards to create a unique modern crochet look. The top version has two sets of two motifs joined together, and the bottom version has 2 motifs joined together with an asymmetrical graduated chain.

Many of my designs are not planned out before I pick up my hook! The Flor Necklace design is one of those designs! I first crocheted a few of the motifs, not knowing exactly what I would do with them. I got out my necklace form and started pinning them in different ways. Then I decided to join them by pulling one through another, which creates a small knot effect. I couldn't decide which version I liked better- the version with 2 or the version with 4 motifs joined together, so I submitted them both, thinking that the editors at Interweave Crochet would choose one of them. Imagine how thrilled I was when they told me they would like to publish both versions! Once you have made one version, the other is just a very slight variation. Both necklaces fasten at the back with a crocheted bobble that goes through a loop, so there are no supplies to buy. It takes very little yarn to make one, so you may have just the perfect yarn already in your stash!

I hope to see lots of projects on Ravelry! I can imagine many ways to crochet this necklace. It could be really amazing in just the right type of variegated yarn, or you could make the motifs different colors, which would give you a really different look! In addition to the patterns being available in the magazine, you can also purchase patterns from this issue individually from the Interweave online store! 

eWoodStory in Australia!

We are thrilled to announce that the wonderful freeform fibre artist, Prudence Mapstone, will be selling our Mini Masterpiece frames at her events in Australia. You can find her in Perth, next week (May 20-24), at the Craft and Quilt Fair, stand #F09, at the Convention and Exhibition Centre. 

To see all of the events she is participating in this year, have a look at her calendar. 

The frames are also available in our Etsy shop, and can be shipped worldwide.

The Blooming Bracelet Crochet Kit is Now Available!

We launched our eWoodStory line last summer with the Nouveau Necklace Kit and Mini Masterpiece Pendants. We thought the next kit should be a unique and fun to crochet bracelet. It can be crocheted in about an hour. A quick and satisfying project that is sure to be a conversation piece when you wear it. It is great for spring and summer crocheting, and would make a lovely gift!

The kits are for sale in our Etsy shop, and at The Sadu House and Needles and Yarn shop in Kuwait. They are available in 6 different yarn colors with coordinating engraved exotic wood flowers to slide on the flower centers. 

There are written instructions for three different sizes, and enough yarn included to make any of the sizes. The kit also comes with a full stitch diagram. Kits sold in the Middle East also include instructions in Arabic. 

The eWoodStory Featured Artists Series

We are excited about all of the possible uses for our eWoodStory Mini Masterpiece frames, and we wanted to do something to celebrate them. We have started a Featured Artists Series on our Instagram account. We are constantly on the lookout for artists who work in different mediums to create pieces for us to share and inspire others. We feature their work, along with a bio that helps us take a closer look at how they work and how they came to be artists. It is a nice way for more people to discover the work of different artists. So far we have featured works in freeform crochet, hand embroidery, free motion embroidery, and needle felting. There are also more pieces in the works, in different mediums, coming soon. It is so much fun seeing the frames come to life with beautiful creations. The artists have used them to make necklace pendants, ornaments, and key chain fobs. If you would like to see the artists frames that we have featured so far, we have started a flickr gallery just for the series. It will be updated whenever we receive a new piece. If you click on a photo, you will be able to see the bio of each artist in the comments section. 

It is our greatest hope that these pieces will connect people, and inspire more Mini Masterpieces to be made!

If you would like to see more completed frames visit our main flickr gallery, and visit our Etsy shop to see the frames we have available.

A Free Pattern In Honor of National Crochet Month 2015!

I am so happy to be participating in Crochetville's National Crochet Month Blog Tour for the third year in a row! Thank you to Amy Shelton and Donna Hulka for organizing it! Each day there will be two crochet designers doing special blog posts, and there will also be daily giveaways. This year, Crochetville is featuring the charity Halos of Hope, who provides volunteer-crafted hats to cancer centers across America. They would love donations of crocheted hats, and/or money that they will use to cover shipping costs when they send hats to cancer centers.

This past year has been a great one for crochet, and to celebrate, I designed an elegant triple strand beaded necklace that can be crocheted in any yarn, with unique results. It is a great pattern for a novelty yarn, such as City Life by Premier Yarns, because the combination of stitches allow the colors to be showcased in a beautiful way.

To give you a few ideas on how other yarns work up in th pattern, I made 2 additional samples. The first was made in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light yarn. I used 3 shades of orange, and I really love the graduated effect of the colors when doing each strand in a different color.

For the second sample, I used Berroco Weekend yarn to show how a cotton yarn looks. Cotton is nice for jewelry because it is comfortable to wear next to the skin, and the weekend yarn has a subtle texture that adds interest to the beads.

The Ultra Alpaca Light is a DK weight yarn and the Weekend yarn is a worsted weight. I followed the pattern instructions exactly, which resulted in the Ultra Alpaca Light version becoming more of a choker. You can easily add or subtract beads from the strands to make the necklace the length that you desire.

I hope I will see many pictures of the necklace made up in different yarns! This pattern is now available as a FREE download via Ravelry. 

To continue on the Crochetville Blog Tour,   check out Marty Miller's blog today, and visit the blogs of Stacey Vaka and Dora Ohrenstein tomorrow, to see what they have in store for you! You can view the entire month's schedule of designers here.

We Won an Awesome Crochet Blog Award!

Yesterday, Crochet Concupiscence awarded me and my husband, an Awesome Crochet Blog Award for the Best Mixed Media Crochet Business for our eWoodStory collaboration. We are so honored and thrilled! I really love mixed media, and the fact that eWoodStory allows us to combine our crafts! We are enjoying each new project we do together and we have many plans for new items and kits for the future! Thank you so much Kathryn Vercillo, Crochet Blogger, for your support and encouragement! Things like this really inspire us to take our business to the next level!

New Free Crochet Jewelry Patterns for Kreinik!

The Kreinik company asked me to design some jewelry using their Kreinik Twist Carry Along yarn. I was very happy to see how light it was, and how you can add it effortlessly to any yarn to give it a little sparkle. This is especially exciting for people who like to crochet jewelry because you can make any yarn look richer without adding any weight to the base yarn. I crocheted the samples with Berroco Weekend yarn, which is comfortable to wear and comes in lovely colors. It becomes extra special with the addition of the Kreinik Twist! 

I intended to design one necklace, but the first necklace snowballed into a second version and a matching ring! The base of the two necklaces are the same, but they fasten differently. I couldn't decide which version I liked better, so I sent them both versions. I am thrilled to say, they decided to publish both versions! When I was crocheting the Bow Center version, it inspired a ring design that I think is simple and effective. You never know where the crochet hook will take you! You can find all 3 Looking Glass patterns for FREE on Kreinik's website. 

The version with the Bow Center is the winning version on Ravelry and Instagram. Which is your favorite?

Looking Glass Necklace with Bow Center

Looking Glass Necklace with Knot Center

Looking Glass Bow Ring

Exciting News for eWoodStory!

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We have been waiting for this day for months now...my husband and I are happy to announce that our  collaborative line of ready made necklaces, Nouveau Necklace crochet kits, and Mini Masterpiece necklace frames are now available at one of our favorite places in Kuwait: the Sadu House, in their gift shop. For many years we have admired the work that this cultural center does to promote the art of Bedouin weaving and support the local creative community. We were so thrilled when they asked if they could sell our line in their shop, since it is a place where visitors to Kuwait and residents of Kuwait enjoy visiting. If you are in Kuwait and would like to visit the Sadu House, they are located on the Gulf Road and their opening hours are from 8am to 1pm, and 4-8pm, Saturday-Thursday.

We also love Kathryn Vercillo's review of our Mini Masterpiece Frames. We sent her a frame to try and she stitched up a lovely piece and describes her experience with it. It is so exciting to see what people are doing with the frames and we look forward to seeing more and more creations added to our flickr gallery!

The last piece of exciting news is that one of our necklaces was worn by the wonderful Vickie Howell on an episode of Knitting Daily TV, that will air early next year!

We are hard at work designing some new items for the line, so stay tuned for more updates... We are on Instagram and Twitter as @ewoodstory if you would like to follow us.

Mixed Media Crochet Jewelry Kits Are Now Available Online!

We had really wonderful positive feedback at the Knit and Crochet Show about our kits and frames, and we are excited to announce that we will are selling now selling them in our Etsy store during the month of August while we are in the US. I have a few more kits to add in the coming days, but the quantity we have is limited. It has been fun putting on a new hat as a "shop owner", and I am excited to be able to share our products with a wider audience.

Launching Our New Crochet Jewelry Kit!

My husband( eWood Woodworking) and I, are combining our crafts to create items that are a mix of fiber arts and woodworking. We call our collaboration: eWoodStory. I am so thrilled to announce that our first collaboration, the Nouveau Necklace Kit, will be launched at the Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester, New Hampshire!

This kit includes a frame cut from special thin sheets of exotic wood, silky microfiber variegated yarn, written instructions, a stitch diagram, and a yarn needle that is just the right size for stitching the crocheted background to the wooden frame.  The necklace looks equally good a little longer, so there is enough yarn included in the kit to make the longer version if you wish.

We have carefully chosen wood and yarn to create a variety of kits in different color combinations. We have 5 types of exotic wood and 4 color variations. Each hank of yarn has a unique distribution of colors and each piece of wood has its own natural grain, so each necklace is a one of a kind. I chose this yarn because the colors remind me of natural stones, and the colors vary and change in a way similar to colors in nature.

Wood Choices from Top to Bottom:

Kiri, Silky Oak, Red Cedar, Laurel, Rosewood 

We have produced these kits in Kuwait, and have a limited number of them to sell while we are in America in the month of August. You can purchase them through our Etsy shop, and in Kuwait at the Sadu House gift shop.

Woodworking + Crochet, and the Magic of Blocking!

It is only 10 days until I travel to the USA to attend the Knit and Crochet Show! My husband and I have been busy creating samples to show while we are there. We have been wanting to combine our crafts for a long time, and we are just about ready to debut our first projects together. Woodworking + Crochet= something wonderful! If you are interested in following our new collaborative venture, please follow us on Instagram: @ewoodstory. 

While working on our samples, I was reminded once more of the magic of the blocking process. I crocheted this tiny granny square out of DMC pearl cotton 8. I actually wanted more of a granny rectangle. By wet blocking the square, I was able to form it into the exact size and shape I wanted. Blocking...a step in the process of finishing a project that you should never overlook!

The Charming Bracelet From Crocheting Clothes Kids Love

One of my favorite patterns from the book is the "Charming Bracelet". I love vintage jewelry, and charm bracelets are something I have always collected. I was especially inspired by a 1950's heart themed bracelet I found in my research. The idea of making a crochet version was so exciting to me, I couldn't wait for it to be in the book! It is a design that I feel really shows my personality. 

One of the benefits of a crocheted charm bracelet is that they are lightweight and quiet! I could never wear my vintage charm bracelets when I was in school, because they made so much noise, especially when erasing! This bracelet can be worn anywhere, and is sure to be a conversation piece when you do! You could also simplify it by only making the Large Charm. I have a few vintage bracelets in this style that I adore. It would bring more focus to the details in the charm. I used Universal Garden 10 thread for the book sample. It is great for jewelry, as it has has a slight sheen and comes in a range of beautiful colors.

One very important detail in making crochet jewelry is the blocking. I blocked this bracelet twice. The first time, the individual elements were blocked (the linked bracelet, and each of the charms). The second time, the bracelet was blocked after all of the charms had been attached to the bracelet. If you make this bracelet, please don't skip this step, it is the finishing touch!

The Final Blocking

Stay tuned, tomorrow I will be posting a way to use this pattern for adults!

In the Designer Spotlight: Berroco Design Studio Blog

I am thrilled to be featured on Berroco Yarn Company's blog, in their most recent Designer Spotlight Interview. Berroco so generously gave yarn support for the Bella Necklace Trio that appeared in Issue 45 of Inside Crochet Magazine. They wanted to know a little more about the necklaces, and about me as a designer. You can read the full interview here.

I love working with Berroco yarn company and many of my designs are created with their yarn, including 6 designs in Crocheting Clothes Kids Love! 

I have also used their yarns in the Beseme Scarf, Echelon Hat, Loken Cowl, Blumen Bouquet, Helleborus Gloves, Fanfare Cowl, Cirque Du Crochet Bean Bags, Mademoiselle Necklace, and the Plaid Wristlet Purse. As you can see, Berroco's yarn often calls my name when I am designing!

Bella Necklace Trio for Inside Crochet

You know when you wait for something for months and you wish you could tell the world about it? That is how I felt about these necklace patterns! I am excited to have this mini jewelry collection in Inside crochet's Autumn issue #45. 

I didn't originally intend for one design to become three, but I was having so much fun with the concept of making continuous links, the ideas for variations came easily.

The first version, with the graduated links, came about because I was trying recreate a necklace I designed several years ago. I didn't write down the pattern for it, so I was playing with the hook and yarn trying to remember how I made it. In the process, I came up with something very different from what I was trying to copy! 

Next, I experimented with changing the sequence and sizes of the links. I liked how it looked with small and large alternating links. I then decided to weave a cord through the links, which really changes the look of the necklace and makes a bolder statement. 

My final idea, was to make two larger links in the middle to emulate loops of a bow, then I added a cord to make the tails of the bow. 

After I finished the third version, I was tempted to go on making more, but I stopped myself there, since I couldn't choose which one I would submit out of those I had already designed. I took a chance and submitted them as a trio, and I am beyond thrilled to have all three published together!

They are really fun and quick to make, take very little yarn, and would make lovely gifts as well. You might find you want to make your own version with a different configuration of link sizes.

A big thank you to Berroco yarn company for the Ultra Alpaca yarn used to make the necklaces!

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

The Evolution of a Design

I had a chance to review the sales in my online patterns stores, and found that the Crawford Necklace pattern has been my overall best selling design. This makes me quite happy, especially since this design evolved over many, many, trial samples. Each time I made a sample, I altered the scallops and chain loops a little, and every time I began making a new sample I was convinced that it would be the last! I had to take a break from it and come back again to look at it with fresh eyes, to be able to decide that it was actually done! This is something I struggle with, I have a hard time letting go of designs. I always feel there is something more I can do to try to make the design perfect. Sometimes I even block things more than once to get them take to the exact shape I want. Jewelry pieces may be small designs, but that doesn't mean they take less time or thought than something larger! The evolution of a design is an interesting process, full of trials and tribulations, and when the design is finally completed, you have the most amazing sense of accomplishment. The ultimate reward is when crocheters like your pattern enough to purchase it!