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Antique Crochet Designers: Eleonore Riego de la Branchardiere
View recipe: Antique Crochet Designers: Eleonore Riego de la BranchardiereMademoiselle Eleonore Riego de la Branchardiere (Mlle. Riego) was born in England in 1828 to an Irish mother and a French father. A prolific authoress, she published over 70 pattern books during her lifetime. Her very first publication was in 1846, when she was just 18 years old. It is titled “Knitting, Crochet, and Netting…
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Shepherd’s Knitting: origins of crochet
View recipe: Shepherd’s Knitting: origins of crochetPjoning, Shepherd’s Knitting, Bosnian crochet, Slip Stitch crochet etc… The only way slip stitch is currently used is to connect rounds in hats, or squares of a blanket. Occasionally slip stitch will be used in order to create a ribbing for a project. However, slip stitch was the origin of all other crochet stitches, used…
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What is Embossed Crochet?
View recipe: What is Embossed Crochet?There are many ways in which embossing has been used to decorate items such as books, clothing, and accessories. You can even get your own embossing stamp to mark the books in your own personal library. Mirriam Webster defines “Emboss” as: “to ornament with raised work”. So, what does it mean to say “embossed crochet”?…
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Origins of Crochet: Tambour
View recipe: Origins of Crochet: TambourCrochet has what Interweave Publications calls an “Enigmatic History”. Mysterious and mostly undocumented, crochet has grown mostly from the passing down of skills from one generation to another. The first documentation using the term “crochet” was from a Dutch publication named “Penelope” in 1822. However, the article acknowledges crochet to be an established art using…
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How to crochet a hat without a pattern
View recipe: How to crochet a hat without a patternWhy learn how to crochet with no pattern? Many people find crocheting with patterns to be extremely limiting. I am not one of those. I thrive on sheet music in my classical musician life, and pattern-following in my crafting life. However, there comes a time where it is useful to have techniques handy in order…
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Technique: Increasing in the Round- and Free Pattern
View recipe: Technique: Increasing in the Round- and Free PatternYou can make a hat, you can make a coaster, you can make a round tablecloth, or a rug, or a placemat, or a bag. The sole technique you need (other than the “how to crochet stitches”) is increasing in the round. If you decide on using Single Crochet, you don’t even need a pattern…
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How to use my crochet?
View recipe: How to use my crochet?Recently, in trying to evaluate the purpose of this blog and what direction I wanted to write, I decided to start by evaluating my personal crochet. What do I actually make (rather than what do I wish I could make)? What do I use? And what do I use the most of in my making?…
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Christmas Season Giftables:
View recipe: Christmas Season Giftables:It is currently the end of October, which means it is time to start making Christmas gifts! Some may be excited, many will be overwhelmed… I am the latter. There are so many people you “could” make gifts for, but should you? I apologize, but I cannot determine that for you. If you desire to…
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5 Basic Crochet Stitches
View recipe: 5 Basic Crochet Stitchesneeded to learn any stitch patterns, and how to use them. In order to learn any skill you need the basic building blocks. For crochet, it is these 5 stitches. All patterns, techniques, and combinations are made with combinations of these. In my research I found that just because a stitch is being used in…
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Beginning Micro or Lace Crochet: Step by step
View recipe: Beginning Micro or Lace Crochet: Step by stepIn order to begin Micro Crochet, or crochet lace, it is recommended to be at least an intermediate crocheter. Learning microcrochet should not be any more intimidating than learning any other skill, and if you are here it means you have already started, if not gained experience in, crocheting. We’ll start with what you already…
















