The Love of Making

A while back I came across a website called Design Seeds . For anyone interested in making, colour is one of the most fundamental parts of design. I have used this site many a time when I want ideas for colour ways in my creations.  On top of that, if you're feeling blue, Design Seeds can totally change your mood just by  looking at all the gorgeous photos and the colour ideas that go with them. Here's an example: Give it a go, you'll love it. I guarantee it 😼😍😍😍 Save Save

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Since I started Knitting For All: Kilkenny, I have been amazed at how many people here want to learn to crochet. So I've set up a 4-week course to learn how to master it. Start your crochet journey with its most classic motif: the granny square! Mastering it puts the crochet basics under your belt and prepares you to make your very first granny square cushion! Go from novice to budding crochet enthusiast in these four 1.5-hour classes. Dates:              June 13, 20, 27 and July 4 from 7pm - 8.30pm Location:         St. Patrick's Parish, Loughboy, Kilkenny (plenty of free parking) Skills covered: make a foundation ring, a chain stitch, a slip stitch, a treble crochet and lots more! Supplies:        All included. Enough yarn in a wide variety of colours to make a cushion (no   doubt with leftover to make slippers!), a crochet hook, a tapestry needle, a written pattern and a chart. Contact: ...

Before you attempt an oval shape, you should know how to chain (ch), double crochet (dc), and work in the round. You will need yarn and the appropriate (or one size smaller) crochet hook. See TIP below. TIP To avoid holes in your oval, be sure to use a smaller hook for the yarn. In this tutorial, I have used a larger hook to emphasise the stitches. Crocheting an oval starts with a foundation chain. You crochet around the foundation chain, first along the top, then rotate the chain to work around the bottom to complete the round. Step 1 Begin by chaining a number of stitches (sts). The number chained determines the size of your oval. For this tutorial, I have chained seven. For a bag you will want to chain a lot more, depending on the thickness of the yarn and the size of the bag you want to make. Step 1. (Image: Makenzie Pearson) Step 2 Round 1:  Double crochet (dc) in the second chain (ch) from the hook, then dc 4. Step 2. (Image: Makenzi...

I spend a lot of time trawling the internet for yarn, patterns, ideas and to learn new things.  In my travels, I came across a wonderful method of Tapestry Crochet, which is from Central America and, mainly Honduras, Columbia and Guatemala, called Mochila. Mochila actually means 'backpack' but has become the term for this form of Tapestry Crochet. It's one of those things you find and it makes your mouth water with excitement, mainly because it's so, so beautiful. Here are some examples of the Wayuu Mochila . The Wayuu are a tribe which are famous for their Mochila bags.   Feast your eyes on these: TAPESTRY CROCHET To explain more fully:  Tapestry Crochet is where you use at least two colours of yarn to make a bag or purse and you carry the extra colour with you as you crochet, which accomplishes two things. 1. It means you can create beautiful images in the item you're crocheting. 2. It makes the item more sturdy as it's thicker. It's v...