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.

One Skein Crochet Scarves!

There is something so satisfying about a one skein project! Most of us have single skeins of yarns that we love in our stash, that are waiting patiently for a great project! 

It was a wonderful surprise when I found out that Interweave had put this pattern collection together including my Doodle Scarf! 

A few years back, I designed the Doodle Scarf for the Interweave Crochet Accessories Issue, it is an eye-catching scarf that is really fun to crochet! It works up quickly in a bulky yarn and you can think of it as oversized jewelry that keeps you warm!

There are two uses for the Doodle scarf pattern. I also did a blog post about how to use this pattern to make a necklace.

Scarf season is coming up and this is a really lovely collection, thinking of one skein projects makes me want to make a scarf for each of my friends!

The Doodle Scarf Sample, before I sent it to Interweave

The Flora Necklace, that can be made from the Doodle Scarf Pattern

eWoodStory Nouveau Necklace Crochet Kits are Back in Stock!

We have arrived in the US, and are now restocking our Etsy shop with Nouveau Necklace crochet kits, and Stitchable Pendants. Also, we will be shipping worldwide from Oregon until August 22nd! New items will be added to the shop daily, until they are all listed!

Painting Crochet on I love Yarn Day 2015!

 

Actually  I celebrate my love of yarn, everyday, but today it is celebrated around the world!

Lately I have been fascinated by asymmetrical motifs, and I decided it would be fun to crochet them in an off white cotton/bamboo yarn, so I can paint them. You don't have to worry about color changes or weaving in ends! Decide the colors later! If you don't like how it is turning out, you can wash it out before it dries. It is a really fun thing to do. My daughter wants me to crochet more motifs for her to paint.

I thought this motif looked like a flower, so I decided to paint it to look like one. I crocheted it to fit into our "Olive" shape Stitchable Pendant. This technique is perfect for jewelry, because you don't have to worry about washing the piece. I used watercolor paints because I like the effect on yarn, but if you want something more permanent, you could use fabric paint.

Painted motif before adding details and stitching into the pendant.

This is not the first time I have painted my crochet. Many of my longtime readers may remember my post for Crochetville's annual blog tour, about painting crochet trim.

After stitching it to the pendant, I decided to paint the stitching too! I used this wonderful watercolor set that I purchased from Michaels:

Here is the version with the painted stitching. I can't decide which version I like best! What do you think?

The Mademoiselle Crochet Necklace Pattern En Español!

There is nothing more flattering than when someone likes your design enough to download the pattern, buy yarn, and spend their time making it. One step further is translating the pattern into another language so even more people can enjoy the pattern! I recently made the fun discovery that someone has translated the Mademoiselle Necklace pattern, into Spanish. I was just working with the yarn I used for this necklace, Berroco Comfort Sock yarn, yesterday. It is a favorite of mine for crocheting jewelry. It is soft and comfortable to wear, and it comes in some lovely shades. This necklace has so many elements I love, the triple strands, the crocheted beads that you thread onto the strand, the embroidery embellishment, and of course the bow! That is why I am happy that it can reach a new audience! I hope there will be many more Mademoiselle necklaces made in the world!

Crochet Necklace Kit Giveaway!

To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, eWoodStory, our line of crochet kits and wooden items to stitch, has teamed up with Tamara Kelly of the fabulous Moogly blog. She just announced today, that one of our Nouveau Necklace Kits will be given away to one of her lucky readers! Our kits include full written instructions, in addition to a stitch diagram, microfiber yarn, yarn needle, and two beautiful exotic wood pieces. Since we have several wood and yarn combinations available, the winner will get to choose their favorite necklace kit from our Etsy shop! 

Visit the Moogly blog to enter to win!

She will be accepting entries until August 18th from anyone who can receive mail in the USA or Canada. Best of luck if you decide to enter!!!

The Cherry Blossom Necklace for Interweave!

Photo by Interweave Crochet/ Harper Point Photography

The Spring Issue of Interweave Crochet is now out, and I am pleased to introduce my contribution: the Cherry Blossom Necklace. 

It is an elegant combination of two classic jewelry elements, beads and chain links. I intended it to be worn with the chain off to the side, but you can also turn it so the chain is at the center front or center back for a different look. 

You can have fun choosing yarns for this necklace! In the necklace in the photo above, I used a cotton yarn with a shiny streak running through it for the beads. It gives the effect of natural turquoise. If  you choose a yarn with an all over sheen, the beads could look more like pearls. The Magazine sample beads were made with the beautiful Filatura Di Crosa Brilla yarn. It is available in gorgeous colors that would give you either a stone or pearl effect depending on the color you choose.

Photo by Interweave Crochet/ Harper Point Photography

By crocheting fewer beads and chain links, you can make a bracelet with the same pattern. Since the pattern includes two elements, you could also make your piece with beads only, chain links only, or alter the length of either element within the original pattern, to suit your personal taste. 

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.

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.

Make a Necklace with the En Fleur Cowl Pattern!

I loved making the motifs for the En Fleur Cowl so much, that I decided to try crocheting them in size 5 pearl cotton thread. The result was an eye-catching necklace!

If you have the Winter issue of Crochet! magazine, you can make this necklace by using the motif instructions from the En Fleur Cowl pattern.

Here are the modifications:

En Fleur Necklace

Thread: DMC Petra size 5 Pearl Cotton

Hook Size: 1.75mm

Notions: Tapestry needle; sewing needle; invisible nylon thread

Follow the instructions in the Winter 2014 issue of Crochet! magazine for the En Fleur Cowl, to make 7 Motifs.

For the eighth motif, follow the cowl Motif instructions, but do not fasten off. After making the final sl st, turn the Motif to the Wrong side, ch 10, then sl st back in same st. Turn the Motif to the right side and make 15 sc sts into the ch lp. This forms the Fastening Loop.

Fastening Dome:

Rnd 1: Rep rnd 1 instructions for cowl Motif.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in same st, then in each st around. Sl st in beg sc to end rnd.

Rnd 3: Sl st in every other st around to close up the Fastening Dome. Fasten off.

Finishing

Weave in all loose ends with a tapestry needle. Using invisible nylon thread and a sewing needle, stitch all 8 Motifs together at the tops, where the groups of 3 dtr sts are, and putting the Motif with the Fastening Loop on the end. Stitch the Fastening Dome to the end of the necklace that is opposite the Fastening Loop. Pin the necklace out on a blocking board and pin out into desired shape, then wet block. Allow the necklace to dry completely before removing the pins.

The En Fleur Cowl That Inspired The Necklace

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.

Mini Masterpiece Necklace Frames!

The second item eWoodStory is launching is our Mini Masterpiece frames, available in 10 different types of exotic wood, and 2 sizes! The small size measures 2 1/8" wide x 2 1/2" tall, and the large size measures 2 1/2" wide x 2 7/8" tall.

You create a rectangle by any method you choose, then stitch it to the frame. The sky is the limit, crochet, knitting, cross stitch, hand or machine embroidery, weaving, felting, fabric painting....or even combinations of techniques. Your necklace will be a one of a kind statement piece.

I have created some samples in different techniques to give you ideas, and we have a flickr group that you can upload photos of your finished frames to inspire others.

These frames are available to purchase in our Etsy shop and in Kuwait at the Sadu House gift shop and the Needles and Yarn Shop.

Introducing the Garden Party Necklace Pattern

Spring is definitely here where I live, and it seems like a nice time to release a new pattern with a garden theme! This is a great pattern when you want to make something that you can complete quickly with a small amount of yarn. The super bulky yarn helps to make it work up fast, and it makes the necklace into an eye-catching statement piece.

Here are the pattern details:

Skill level: Advanced Beginner/ Intermediate

Length: 22” (56cm)

MATERIALS

Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomotta “Boston”, 60 yds /55m, 1.75oz/50g 

Super Bulky Weight (3 sts= 1”)

Color A (Leaves and Stems): #071 Sage Green

Color B (Flower Buds): #035 Fuchsia

Hook size: N/13 (9.00mm) 

This pattern is now available as a download for $1.99. A stitch diagram for the necklace is included in the pattern.

In honor of National Crochet Month, from March 28-April 11th, all proceeds from the sale of this pattern will go to the Crochetville Designer Blog Tour's chosen charity for this year: Halos of Hope.

I hope that this next year of crochet is a happy, creative, and productive one for all!

Bow Necklace and Bracelet-My New Free Patterns for Premier Yarns!

Not long ago, I revealed the Bauble Necklace for Premier Yarns as part of a mini jewelry collection I designed for them. They just recently released my Bow Necklace and Bracelet patterns. The patterns are offered as a free download on their website! They feature them as a set, but each of them could easily make a statement on their own. Simple stitches are combined in an effective way to make these pieces stand out in a crowd. I used their Spangle yarn, which I find to be a wonderful weight for jewelry, with just the right sheen. I also love the range of colors it comes in! Since they take very little time or yarn, they would also be nice projects to crochet for gifts. Visit Premier Yarns website for a wide variety of free patterns featuring their yarns.

A New Use for the Charming Bracelet Pattern!

One of my favorite patterns from "Crocheting Clothes Kids Love", is the Charming Bracelet. Since there are several components to the necklace, there are many ways you can mix and match them. By using yarn instead of thread, you get larger scale chain links and charms which are more adult sized.

I made a necklace for myself, using the Charming Bracelet Pattern and "Gatsby" yarn by Katia. I really love this yarn for crocheting jewelry. I also used this yarn for the Raindrops Necklace and the Circles in the Sand Neckpiece. It has a rich look, smooth texture, and comes in beautiful shades.

For the necklace I used a size D/3 (3.25mm) hook, and made 15 Large Links. The only change to the pattern was in Round 2, where I made the same number of stitches as in Round 1.

For the center pendant I followed the instructions for the Large Charm exactly, except for the color change. I opted to make the charm in one color only. The necklace fastens the same way as the bracelet.

I also love the chain link necklace without the pendant, and I think I will be wearing it a lot!

Although this book was written with kids in mind, there are ways you can use the patterns for adults as well!

The Necklace Without a Pendant is Classic

Close-up of Pendant

Original Charming Bracelet From Crocheting Clothes Kids Love

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!

Make a Necklace with the Tinker's ToolBelt Pattern

Sometimes designs that are submitted to publications are accepted with modifications. The Tinker's ToolBelt was originally submitted as a necklace, and the editor decided that it would fit into their publication as a belt to go along with their Steampunk theme. Fortunately, it didn't require any changes to the pattern, it just needed more motifs to make it longer. That shows how versatile this design is! Fewer motifs tied together make an eye-catching statement necklace, and 2 motifs can make a wristlet. To make jewelry, you will need to use a little finer thread than what was used in the magazine. The belt motifs measure 3" in diameter, and the necklace motifs measure 2 1/4". I didn't change the pattern, only the thread. For the necklace I used DMC Petra No.5 and I went down a hook size to B/1 (2.25mm).

If you prefer fewer motifs, you can make the two ties on each side longer, join them together at the ends, and include a bobble on one side and a chain loop on the other for fastening. 

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