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Crochet Extra – May 2024
This year seems to be speeding by! I can’t believe may has arrived already and time for our first ever Crochet Retreat in the Hunter Valley! I am so looking forward to it – I hear the temperature has dropped quite considerably the last couple of weeks, so it will be a chance for us all to wear our crocheted warmers.
We will be departing here on Saturday 4th May – leaving Helen, Helen and Jordan in charge! Yes we now have two Helens on staff! Jordan will be in the store on Saturday 4th from 9am to midday for you to come on in and view our new yarns – they are just scrumptious!
Our newest yarn is the Fiddlesticks Marble – I’m excited about this yarn – an 8 ply cotton/acrylic blend. It’s soft and beautiful to work with with and comes in a great range of 30 pastel and muted colours – if you love the Scheepjes Stone Washed yarn, you will love this – it has the same texture and feel in the finished result, but at a lot more affordable price. It’s a great addition to our Fiddlesticks range.
And as it is a long weekend here in Queensland the shop will not be open on Monday 6th May! You can still order via our website, and all orders will be shipped out on Tuesday 7th May.
Mothers Day is not far away. Have you planned out your gift giving for the Mother figure in your life? We have created a selection of kits with our new yarns to help you spoil Mum and highlighted some of our much loved items that would also make great gifts – visit our page here to get inspiration.
Our classes for May will kick off the week beginning 13th May where we will be making the Myriad Scarf designed by Live Love Crochet Shaz – a truly winter ready item! The name comes from the myriad of ways it can be worn! Watch the video by Shaz to see how you could wear your scarf.
Monday nights online, Tuesday mornings in store and Wednesday nights in store.
Today is also the beginning of Stage 2 of the Crochet Tournament for 2024! The results for Stage 1 were brilliant—well done everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing the Stage 2 items.
Looking ahead—Saturday June 8 is World Wide Knit and Crochet in Public Day. Have you thought about your plans? If you are here on the Sunshine Coast I will be hosting an event with the Yandina QCWA in Yandina—more information will be coming!
Until next time
Lynda
Theme— Amigurumi
One of the cutest crochet trends for 2024 is amigurumi – the art of creating small animals and creatures in crochet and knitting. While it has been around for many years, the level of detail involved in each creation has been expanding and really puts some of our skills to the tests – but the finished results are just so adorable! The designs by Erinna Lee are such beautiful examples – hence this being our book of the month. And I’m so excited that her new book Enchanted Woodland Creatures has finally arrived
While you can use a range of yarns to make your treasures, I find the best yarn for amigurumi is cotton – it is a bit more harder wearing, will stretch less and the stitch details stand out just that little bit more. Catona and Wren 8 ply cottons are two of my favourites to use for amigurumi – the small 10g balls of Catona are just perfect for adding all that extra detail! But the Finch 10ply cotton is equally as good if you want something that is a bit bigger and chunkier!
Amigurumi make for great gifts for any occasion – they can be whimsical and decorative or very practical. I love
my crochet amigurumi cactuses – I can’t kill them! And my baby nephew absolutely loved his dinasour!
Whichever amigurumi you choose to make, here are some important points to keep in mind:
- Stuffing – be imaginative! You don’t have to go and buy fibrefill – use some old cushion filling, or all of your yarn tails. Pack it inside some pantyhose to stop it peeping through the stitches. And don’t be afraid to overstuff! The stuffing will compact over time.
- Your stitches should be tighter than normal to stop the stuffing poking through and help your creation keep its form. This generally means using a hook 1mm smaller than you normally would, but it also means it’s harder on your hands – so take regular breaks and use a hook with an ergonomic handle to make it as easy as possible.
- Safety eyes – if you are like me I find sewing my eyes results in some wonky finishes! Safety eyes are my saviour. They come in so many different sizes.
- Using invisible increases and decreases will keep your amigurumi looking good! Read our tip here for doing these stitches
We feature below a collection of the popular books, patterns and kits we have in store for you to make some of your own special creations. Or try your hand at making this adorable looking Mimikyu by Jennifer Smith
Book of the Month
Amigurumi Treasures
by Erinna Lee. Let’s go on a wonderful treasure hunt! 15 little gems to crochet and cherish. Lottie the ladybug dreams of becoming a pilot, Charlie the platypus trains to become an Olympic athlete, Rosie the fawn gives her all to gardening and Rex the dinosaur professor has just discovered the fossils of the Crochetosaurus. And they have a lot more friends, with big hearts and even bigger dreams. Having these precious friends around will make you feel like the most fortunate person in the world! Each design is outfitted with the most kawaii accessories that you can mix and match with the other characters as well. Erinna shares a wealth of information in this book, so with a couple of stitches and some soft yarn, you’ll make your very own amigurumi treasure trove in no time! 132 pages. US terminology.
Customer Corner
Thank you everyone for sending in pictures of what you have been making in the past quarter. We feature below some comments and masterpieces submitted by customers. Send us a photo of your masterpiece (by the submissions page, email or on our facebook page), telling us which book it came from and which yarn or thread you used, and be in the draw to win a $25 voucher in August 2024 (see conditions on our website). Please also add any tips you’ve picked up when making them. Congratulations to Terri for winning this quarter’s voucher – submitting a photo of her tassle tie vest (the one in yellow). I’m so proud of Terri—she just learnt to crochet with me last year, and this is her very first garment!
