Mixed Media and Another Use for Surface Crochet!

Surface crochet is one of my favorite techniques. It really is like drawing with your hook! I was doing some cross stitch recently, and it occurred to me that I could surface crochet into the holes in the Aida Cloth! This technique makes nice even stitches that are perfect for a background! For this Mini Masterpiece pendant, I used size 8 Pearl Cotton thread, and a .75mm hook.

I like using variegated thread as it gives the look of a watercolor painting. I did the sky in grass, going in different directions, then I surface crocheted the flower stems on top. I embroidered the small flowers, crocheted the large flower and sun, and stitched them on.

To demonstrate to you how to do surface crochet on a grid, I used some latch hook canvas. It is a lot fun to work on. I taught my 9 year old daughter how, and she is planning to surface crochet a rug for her room!

1. Insert hook into next hole up from last hole worked.

2. Wrap the yarn around the hook.

3. Pull up through the hole you went down in.

4. Pull through loop on hook.

 5. Stitch is completed. Repeat steps 1-4 and, go in any direction       you like!

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.