Cabled Slouchy Beanie - Crochet

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Hopeful Honey shares a free pattern for a crocheted Cabled Slouchy Beanie

Other crochet patterns are also available.

Tips for Longarm Rulerwork

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Lisa H Calle shares her insights and tips for using rulers for longarm quilting. "Quilting with rulers, I know the first rulers that come to mind might be rotary cutting rulers. However, I am speaking of quilting rulers or often they are referred to as “templates”. They are implemented for executing those beautiful quilting designs you see magically appear on quilts.

I love teaching beginner classes on quilting rulers to my longarm quilters and yes, even domestic quilters. Usually, I witness students entering my class with the look of apprehension on their faces as if there is no way by the end of our session they will have gained the skills required to use these rulers. Fears such as hitting the template and throwing their machine out of timing is just one of the many “what if’s” I encounter. Just imagine the expression on their faces when they realize that yes it isn’t rocket science and yes they are quite capable of walking out of my class with this skill under their cap. WOW, what a wonderful moment for me and them to behold! So, perhaps you are a novice to quilting, or maybe a seasoned quilter that hasn’t stepped into the world of rulers, if that is the case, I am going to give you my tips for longarm rulerwork."

Lisa's tips on rulerwork can be found here.

Quilting on a Budget

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With the cost of fabric and supplies increasing regularly, it is difficult to justify a quilting hobby.  Cluck Cluck Sew shares 5 simple ways to spend less and quilt within a budget. 

 

Her tips and suggestions can be found here. 

Spinning Gradient Yarn

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From Interweave: "I am the boss of my yarn! I can blend colors! I can change from one fiber to another in the same skein of yarn! I can spin gradient yarn from any old fibers! But sometimes being the boss is too much work. Sometimes you want the fiber to do the work for you. You want to spin gradient-dyed fiber.

There are more ways than you might think to spin gradient yarn that preserve the color progression."

Interweave shares the four easiest ways to spring gradient yarn in this post

Knit in the Row Below

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Knit in the row below patterns can create a textured and airy fabric when worked with knits and purls on the right side but also simulate stranded knitting when worked as stockinette. Like with the slip stitch patterns the knit in the row below patterns don’t curl on the edges when worked as rib or garter stitch, but behave like stockinette when all right side stitches are knitted.

A tutorial and simple patterns using the technique can be found on the Pumora website. 

Crochet Charts

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Recently charts have been appearing on crochet websites and in crochet patterns.

Threadbare takes the mystery out of these charts and has created a list of the common symbols used in the crochet charts.

Check out the Threadbare post on How to Read a Crochet Chart.

Darn Those Socks!

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From HJS Studio: "If you've ever put the time into handknitting a pair of socks for yourself or someone else, only to find holes in the socks later on, this article might be useful. It took me a couple of tries to get the hang of darning socks, but it's a good skill to have if you want to prolong the life of your precious handknitting, particularly if you've also handspun the yarn.

Give it a try! Do it in the spring, before you put your clean wool socks away for the summer. Do it in the summer, on one of those lazy days as you bask in the sun. Do it in the fall, getting ready for blustery winter days. Do it in the winter, to keep your tootsies toasty during chores. Do it as soon as you see the first thin spot, or you'll be seeing holes shortly!"

Complete tutorial can be found here.