About the newsletter

CrochetandKnitting.com
Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Hello everyone,

I have decided to discontinue the newsletter. My newsletter
provider made a lot of changes to the control panel and whole
process of preparing the newsletter. And it won’t even work
right in the Firefox browser, which is my browser of choice,
so I have to use Internet Explorer to get past the first few
steps of preparing the newsletter.

So I decided that I didn’t need it anymore and closed my account.
I will be blogging from now on, plus I will be on my new Crafts
Forum at http://innerconnections.yuku.com/forums/109
and the old forum at
http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/3703436600

I should of sent one last newsletter out to let everyone know
that it was being discontinued, but I didn’t want to go through
the bother of trying to figure out the new control panel again.
So I thought I would just post about it here.

Have a fun and safe Halloween everyone!


Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
Free Patterns, Craft Supplies and much more.
http://www.crochetandknitting.com
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum
http://innerconnections.yuku.com/forums/109
http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/3703436600

Crafts Forum News

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I’m happy to announce that we are moving to a new forum!
My friend, who’s name is also Sue, has invited “The
Crochet and Knitting Forum” to move to her forums at
Inner Connections.

We will now be at
http://innerconnections.yuku.com/forums/109
Inner Connections is a lovely place with many other
forums such as Household Tips, Healing, Spiritual,
The Chapel, Weather, Pets etc, as well as “The Café”
which is for everyday chat.

We will be there with all these wonderful forums. To
get there from the front page, go to The Country Kitchen
and click on the drop down menu box
http://innerconnections.yuku.com/
you will see “Crochet Sue’s Craft and Patterns”
or use this link to go directly to our new forum
http://innerconnections.yuku.com/forums/109

I am going to be moving some of the posts on my
old forum at
http://crochetandknitting.com/cgi-bin/iB_cgi/ikonboard.cgi
There was a lot of good information there on crafts so I
want to bring them over to the new forum.

The forum on bravenet will remain for a year as I just
upgraded it to get rid of the ads. So you can also post there
if you want
http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/3703436600
but you might get an answer more quickly on the new forum.

On the new forum at Inner Connections it is very easy to
post, add photos, format text and there are lots of neat
emoticons to use in your posts and replies. You do have
to register. So come on over and see what you think.
http://innerconnections.yuku.com/forums/109
So, if you have any photos in “Show and Tell” on
the old forum, feel free to post them again on the new
forum at IC.

We are still doing some work on it so the background
or some other things might change, but it’s all coming
together now and I’m sure there will be some great
new topics coming up! Hope to see you there!

That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
Free Patterns, Craft Supplies and much more.
http://www.crochetandknitting.com

September news

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hello Everyone,

It’s been awhile since I published a newsletter. Summer
was so busy for me. Besides garden and lawn work, my
daughter and her boyfriend came home from out west and
got married. We had a big wedding party for them on our
front lawn.

When I had time to relax I crocheted small items like
dishcloths, hooks and needles case and I made a small filet
curtain to put over a small closet in my bathroom.

With fall fast approaching I feel like crocheting an afghan. So
with Christmas fast approaching as well, I decided to make one
as a gift for my son and his girlfriend. I was looking at patterns
online and found the following patterns that I like. So now I
have to decide which one I will make before I order the yarn
online.

I really like this one, it’s different than the traditional ripple
afghan.
Blue Ripple Afghan

I also like this arrow stitch. I was thinking this stitch would
look nice in a dishcloth as well.
Arrow Stitch Afghan

These crocheted “quilts” are amazing.
Argylesque Crochet Quilt
Big Top Crochet Quilt
Casablanca Quilt

I made my choice and it’s the Blue Ripple Afghan. I placed
my yarn order online and its on its way! I love getting yarn
in the mail and I like the convenience of ordering online .
It’s so easy to browse around and make your selections, and
most of all they always have enough in stock for what you
need.

The craft stores in my area were stocking less and less yarn
all the time. You could never buy enough of one color to make
an afghan. All I could get was enough yarn of one color to
make a pair of mittens, slippers or socks. That was getting
frustrating. So for the past couple years I have been buying
all my yarn online.


If you would like to order yarn, or any craft supplies, online
you can do so at Joann.
You can also get free shipping on orders over $50 and you can
get 40% to 50% off on items. I have coupons with links for that
on my site at http://crochetandknitting.com/yarn.htm
But you can only order from them if you live in the U.S.

At Create For Less you can also order online. They have lots
good deals and free shipping on orders over $100.
As well, you can only order from them if you live in the U.S.

For Canadians, you can order from
http://www.herrschners.ca/
No free shipping, but still a convenient way to get your
craft supplies.

I’m sorry but I don’t know of any online stores that will
ship to other countries. Do a search for your country
and I’m sure you will find some.

While I am waiting for my yarn order to come I decided
to try the stitch in the Arrow Stitch Afghan
to make a dishcloth. I love it! It is going to make a very
beautiful and elegant dishcloth.

To make a dishcloth using that pattern, make your starting
chain in multiples of 4 plus 1 for the turning chain. Then
you can know exactly the length you want your dishcloth
to be, as this pattern is worked lengthwise, but I suppose
width wise would look Ok too.

On my forum at
http://crochetandknitting.com/cgi-bin/iB_cgi/ikonboard.cgi
those who were already registered previous to a few months
ago still post some. As well there is lots of good information
on patterns, tips etc. So be sure to check it out. Something
happened to that forum so no new members can register and
I still can’t figure out what is causing that problem. I could
set it to no registration required but that causes problems
with spammers.

So I brought up my old forum as the “new” forum again
and paid for the hosting without any advertisements. You can
visit us there at
http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/3703436600
It’s hosted on bravenet, so no registration is required and they
are very good at stopping spammers from posting, although
now and then one may get through, but so far so good.


That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
Free Patterns, Craft Supplies and much more.
http://www.crochetandknitting.com
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum

Make old new again.

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Friday, July 24, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all enjoying summer. It is a very busy
time of year with so much going on. Some times we
don't seem to find as much time to work at our crafts
this time of year, but still love getting a few minutes in
here and there whenever we can. I have a lot going on
with work and gardening but have been working on
small projects whenever I can.

I was reading a couple interesting articles about making
use of old sweaters and clothes. These are great ideas
and something I have done a lot in the past, especially
using yarn from old sweaters to make something new.

10 Things to Do With Old Sweaters
By Caley L Walsh

You likely have some sweaters thrown in the back of your
closet, damaged with a stain, moth hole or two. Instead of
tossing old and unused sweaters, turn them into something
new and completely lovable. You can also look for inexpensive
sweaters at the thrift store. Crafting with old sweaters saves
money on craft materials and helps to reduce your household
waste.

Yarn - If you knit, crochet or even weave, salvage the yarn
from an old sweater to use in a new project. Find a seam in
the sweater and carefully snip one of the seam stitches with
a pair of very sharp scissors.
Continue reading here.....
http://crochetandknitting.com/articles/art176.htm


Rag Quilts - What Makes Them Different Than Regular Quilts?
By T L Warrington

Rag quilts are a unique type of quilt that many quilters prefer
making over traditional quilts. Because of this, rag quilts are
growing considerably in popularity. There are several factors
that make them popular. Some of the reasons include that
they are easy to make, work up quickly, don't require
expert sewing knowledge, and they are wonderfully warm
and snugly.

Why are they easier to make than traditional quilts? As
mentioned earlier, expert sewing knowledge is not necessary.
Continue reading here.....
http://crochetandknitting.com/articles/art179.htm

For a lot more great articles on crafts, go to
http://crochetandknitting.com/articles/
Some new articles that have been recently added include
"How to Hold Knitting Needles", "How to Read a Counted
Cross Stitch Chart", "Choosing Knitting Needles For Your
Project", "Free Crochet Patterns For Beginners", and more.

Also, if you have written your own articles about crafts, feel
free to submit them at the above link.

That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
Free Patterns, Craft Supplies and much more.
http://www.crochetandknitting.com
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum

Forum Changes

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Sunday, June 21, 2009

Hello Everyone,

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

Forum Changes:

I had to move the forum back to the original site. I was having
problems with the new forum and I didn't know how to fix it.
So the main forum is once again at
http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/3703436600

I upgraded to the pro version to get rid of the ads. As well, the
pro version includes a lot of new features that weren't available
before. You can now easily post pictures and make links
clickable. See the pinned post I have at the top of the forum
about how to do that.

As well, you can choose the style for the forum, whether you
prefer the "Board" style or "Threaded" style. You do that by
clicking on either "Board | Threaded" at the top of the posts
on the right hand side.

On the other forum at
http://crochetandknitting.com/cgi-bin/iB_cgi/ikonboard.cgi
existing members can still post if they want.

I will leave that forum there for anyone to view as there is a lot
of good information about patterns and where to find patterns,
as well as the "Show and Tell" section with lots of beautiful
photos.

I can set up another section on the main forum, but I haven't
had time to figure out how to do that yet. So I will be adding
a "Show and Tell" there as well. I really enjoy seeing what
others have made.

So be sure to drop by
http://pub44.bravenet.com/forum/3703436600
Hope to see you there!

That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
CrochetandKnitting.com - Free Patterns, Craft Supplies
and much more.
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum

Single Crochet Cluster Stitch Afghan or Dishcloth.

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Friday, April 24, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I have a new pattern to share with you today. I call it the
Single Crochet Cluster Afghan. This is my first afghan design.

I really like the look of this one. As well this pattern can be
used for a dishcloth pattern. I actually made a few dishcloths
at first, then decided that it would also make a great afghan.
For both an afghan or dishcloth, you just keep going until it is
the desired size.

Crocheted dishcloths from this pattern are very absorbent
and easy to wring out. Here's the link
http://crochetandknitting.com/afghan/index.htm

It may look complicated, but once you get started you just
repeat the same two rounds over and over until it's the
size you want. Then it's as easy as can be! I also have lots
of photos to show you how to get started on it.

As well, you can always get all my free patterns at
http://crochetandknitting.com/patterns.htm

That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
CrochetandKnitting.com - Free Patterns, Craft Supplies
and much more.
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum

National Craft Month and more

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Friday, March 27, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I've been busy making dishcloths over the past month. I
ordered a big supply of cotton yarn online and I have it
almost used up now. I've had so many family members
asking for my dishcloths so I figured I would make some
to give away immediately, then stock up on some for when
they ask again. They all tell me that they much prefer my
crocheted dishcloths over the factory made kind. Of
course I do too.

Here is an easy and pretty way to make crocheted dishcloths.
There are no fancy stitches, it's done in all single crochet.
It's the way you work with colors that makes it so pretty.
It gives the dishcloth a plaid look. I was just thinking, this
would be easy to adapt for knit as well.

I got this from a potholder pattern. I searched for an
equivalent dishcloth design but couldn't find any so I
figured the same pattern could be used for a dishcloth,
with the only difference being that you wouldn't have
to make two and sew together as potholders are double.

Choose a color in dark and light shades, plus use white.
For example, I made most of mine in dark green, light
green and white. I also made one in dark blue, light blue
and white.

Decide on how wide you want your dishcloth and make
your starting chain in multiples of 12. Therefore you would
want to start with a chain of 36 or 48. (24 would probably
be too small)

I will use 48 in this example. With the dark color chain
48 + 1 as the turning chain. Sc in the second chain from
the hook, sc in the next 2 chains, in the next chain insert
your hook into the chain, yarn over and pull up a loop,
then drop the dark color and pick up the light color and
finish off the sc with that. This keeps the edges straight.
Do that with all color changes.

Hold your dark color along the top of the chain so you
can crochet over it and carry it along across the work,
with the light color sc in next 4 chs, holding the light color
along the top of the ch so you can crochet over it, with
the dark color sc in next 4 chains.

Continue doing this to the last four chains. Now drop
the light color, you don't need to crochet over it and
bring it to the end. With the dark color sc in the last
4 chs, ch 1 and turn.

For rows 2 and 3, with dark color 1 sc in next 4, with
light color 1 sc in next 4, repeat to end of row.

On row 4 you repeat the above, except you do carry
the light color over the last 4 dark sts. You drop the dark
color as you will not be using it in the next 4 rows. At the
end of the next 4 rows you will want to carry the dark color
up along the side of the work so you don't have to cut it
off and sew in the ends each time.

You will begin with the light color on the next row.
Row 5 - with light color 1 sc in next 4, with white 1 sc in
next 4. Repeat to end of row. Rows 6 to 8 are done the
same as the first 4 rows except now you are using your
light color and white.

Repeat these 8 rows for the pattern. You will want to end
with 4 rows of the dark color and light color. You can then
do a border around the dishcloth with the dark color, if
you want.

I think this is a very pretty pattern. I don't have a photo
to show you as I gave those dishcloths away as gifts. I
always seem to give the prettiest ones away and keep
those that are not as pretty for myself. :)

National Craft Month:
March is National Craft Month. So you still have a few
days to take advantage of special offers at Joanne
and Create For Less


If you like to knit or crochet for Easter, here are some
cute patterns you might want to try.

Crochet:

Easter Basket

Shell Stitch Easter Basket

Bunny Door Knob Cover

Inside-Out Easter Egg Into a Bunny

Easter Bunny Fridgie

Easter Egg

Victorian Egg Covers

Bunny Flowers

Easter Chick Fridgie


Knit:

Easter Egg Baskets

One Egg Easter Basket

Easter Bunny

Cadbury Bunny Pattern

Easter Basket Dishcloth

Easter Egg With Stripes Dishcloth

Easter Peeps

Bunny Egg Cover

Easter Egg Decorations


Craft Articles:
The following articles have been added to my Craft Articles section:
Free Crochet Patterns For Beginners - By Linda Spangenburg
Crafting During a Recession - By Violette Clark
Making a Quilt? Plan Ahead For Patterns and Colors - By Lamar Dean
5 Best Reasons to Knit a Scarf - By Alice Seidel
You can read those at http://crochetandknitting.com/articles


That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
CrochetandKnitting.com - Free Patterns, Craft Supplies
and much more.
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum

New pattern, Barbie clothes, BizyMoms Contest.

CrochetandKnitting Newsletter
Thursday, January 15, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I have a new slipper pattern, "Crocheted "Knit Look"
Slippers. They have the knit look even though they are
crocheted. It's hard to tell in the photos, but as you complete
a few rows you can easily see how it resembles knit. You
can find that pattern here
http://crochetandknitting.com/croknsl.htm

Over Christmas I kept myself busy working on Barbie
clothes for my grand niece, Keeley. She even loaned me
one of her Barbies so I could do fittings. :) She was
thrilled about the new Barbie clothes I made for her.

I didn't design any of my own patterns because I found
some really nice ones online that I wanted to make. Here
are the links to the patterns I used.

http://barbiebasics.tripod.com/
This one is great, they have a PDF file to download with
many Barbie clothing patterns! I made most of the Barbie
clothing that is in the crochet patterns PDF file.

I found this cute knit Barbie dress and made that also.
Barbie's Lacy Pink Party Dress
If you don't want to do the lacy part on the bottom,
she also has a version called Barbie's Basic Tube Dress
I made the lacy one as I couldn't resist, it's so pretty.
This is made with yarn instead of the thread and I
even had some of the fine sparkly white yarn here!

I had never crocheted Barbie clothes before so I had
trouble at first in finding the right hook. The steel hook
sizes were confusing to me. All my steel hooks are in
"mm's" and all the patterns online called for sizes such
as No. 5, 6, 7, etc.

So I did some searching online and learned that the sizes
of steel hooks vary with each manufacturer and some have
even changed their sizes over the years! No wonder this
can be confusing.

I found this site that has a conversion chart.
http://www.geocities.com/nornsneedlework/crochet/hookchart.htm
I posted on my Crochet and Knitting Forum at
http://crochetandknitting.com/cgi-bin/iB_cgi/ikonboard.cgi
about my endeavor to make Barbie clothes and Shaddy
and Barb helped me out. Barb gave me this link to
another conversion chart.
http://wheatcarr.com/crochet/steel-crochet-hook-cross-reference.php
In the end, I found out that a size 2.00 mm hook and size 10
thread works well for me. According to the conversion
charts, I should of been using a 1.75 mm hook, but the
manufacturer of the hooks I had was not listed so their sizes
must of been different and it would also depend on my tension
and gauge. So I just had to try some different hooks and then
do a fitting on Barbie until I got it right for me.


BizyMoms is having a contest called "Bizymoms Choice
Awards"

It's about websites that you really like. You can even
nominate your own website. Here is the information
they sent me about their awards.

Bizymoms Choice Awards
http://www.bizymoms.com/choiceawards/

Do you have a favorite website? A site that makes your day?
One that is informative, useful and definitely one that should
be appreciated?

Well here's your chance to show some love for a site that
is your choice, your kind of place to visit on the big
world-wide-web!

Nominate your favorite site for the 2008 Bizymoms' Choice
Awards.

Voting will continue through March 31, 2009. The top
winners will be announced on April 6th. You can nominate
as many sites as you'd like, then send everyone you know
to vote on their favorites!

All our nominated sites will all be featured right here:
www.bizymoms.com/choiceawards/
so that everyone can vote on their favorites.

If you have your own website or several of them, nominate
them all! And ask your friends & family to vote!

For more details and to submit your favorite site to become
Bizymoms Choice Award winner visit:
http://www.bizymoms.com/choiceawards/


That is all for today. Happy crafting!

Sincerely,

Sue Norrad
CrochetandKnitting.com - Free Patterns, Craft Supplies
and much more.
Craft Discussions and Pattern Search Forum