Search results for: “modular crochet”

Astute commenter “ddkayton” tracked down an old post of mine today from 2006 (!) to let me know that Judith Copeland’s wonderful 1978 book “Modular Crochet” is back in print. When I started designing, I began to accumulate a small collection of inspirational crochet books from the 70s, and Modular Crochet is one of my favorites.

Like Barbara Walker and Elizabeth Zimmerman with their knitting, Judith Copeland was interested in teaching crocheters how to invent their own things in addition to being able follow patterns. The result is a book full of beautiful photos, schematics, and very little text or line-by-line instructions. I love this. It’s easy to follow and it stirs creativity.

Modular crochet is a method, and one that I’ve used a lot over the years in my own designs. It’s unique in that it begins at the center of the garment and works outward in both directions. It takes advantage of turning crochet stitches on their side to maximize stretchiness, and it leaves lots of room for interpretation. Here are a few of my patterns where you can try modular crochet.

Dusk is a design I did for Interweave Crochet in 2008. It’s not straight-up modular technique but incorporates many of the ideas from the book.

Ribs and Mesh is worked in a luxurious silk and wool yarn from Tilli Tomas, but would look beautiful in any DK yarn. This sweater follows the basic modular technique, but changes up the stitch patterns adding lace and beads.

This Babydoll Dress uses classic modular technique for the bodice, and then adds a skirt worked in the round. The pattern is available only in the book “Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet Revolution,” edited by Kim Werker. I will be so pleased if this re-issue means we’re headed towards a resurgence in modular designs.

Crochet Fantasy came in the mail yesterday. I hold my breath whenever a crochet magazine arrives because I’m never too optimistic about what I’ll find inside. I still wish someone would take the time and money to add the production (photography, lighting, paper, graphics, layout) value to crochet magazines that seem to be inherent in most knit mags (Vogue & Interweave esp.), but that’s another blog post…

This issue had a couple of pretty patterns (Including Carol Ventura’s amazing Whole World Coat in tapestry crochet) but what really caught my eye was an article describing Judith Copeland’s Modular Crochet — classic crochet book from the seventies — in great detail. The article had a really nice biography of Ms. Copeland and instructions and schematics for producing your own version of her sweater construction.

The Modular Crochet method is similar to other new-sew methods of construction–rectangles of fabric are crocheted together and the garment builds as you go instead of creating the pieces one at a time and sewing them all together at the end. (I suspect she was one of the first to publish them) but the one thing that makes sweaters made with her method fit so well is that the crochet is turned on it’s side. The fabric which is created from top to bottom is turned 180 90 (doh!) degrees and assembled “sideways.” The resulting fabric has an unusual drape which is hard to achieve in crochet. The sweaters are a bit boxy because there’s no real shaping, but so much less so than many crocheted garments I’ve seen with lots of shaping that I’m eager to try. Coincidently, the vest I’m designing right now also uses sideways crocheted fabric but a different sort of construction…

I had heard of modular crochet for some time, but Ms. Copeland’s book is out of print and apparently hard to find (there were no copies on e-bay, but I got lucky last night and found one for sale on Amazon for much less than it’s normal $100 price tag…)

This sweater was made by Linda Grafton of Grafton Fibers in the vein of Judith Copeland. I’d love to see how it looks on a person…

When I was searching for examples of modular crochet to show in this post, I came upon the amazing blog of a longtime crocheter and new knitter. She has such detail about how she designs and constructs her garments–it’s really fun to read about her successes and challenges. I can’t find her name anywhere on the blog, but here’s a link to a sweater she made in the modular style.

Ever since I tried to teach myself top-down knitting construction and made a little sweater out of soy silk yarn for the folks at Now and Then where I teach knitting in Takoma Park, I’ve been fascinated with top-down construction and I’d like to modify it for crochet. (I designed a skirt from the top-down recently, which was fun, but didn’t involve the fiddlyness of sleeves and necklines, etc.)

The blogger I spoke of earlier has done this with some success, here are the online resources she used:

http://www.io.com/~cortese/crafts/raglan.html

http://woolworks.org/patterns/raglan.html

http://glampyreknits.tripod.com/glampyrephotos/id44.html

UPDATE: Erica at Bound by my Hook” has a cool capelet she crocheted top-down raglan style…

If you’ve made any modular crochet garments or top-down crochet sweaters e-mail me and I’ll post pictures here.

Oh, and speaking of crochet from times past, I got a new book in the mail today: Vintage Styles for Today edited by Nancy J. Thomas of Lion Brand Yarn. It’s a big, glossy full-color book that takes patterns from Lion’s extensive archive and updates them for the modern stitcher. There seems to me to be about a 60% success rate with this book–in 30% of the patterns, the new version is *right on* and looks a lot like the model, and it’s cool–like the grey jacket featured on the back cover or the white, ribbed knitted shrug called the “Huge me tight shrug.” In 30% of the patterns, the new version looks *better* than the original lik in the Alpine Toque or the Sandal Sock. But in about 30% of the cases, the old picture is cooler looking than the remake–it seems to be for a couple of reasons–either the new yarn chosen just doesn’t work–i.e. to bright, too furry, too chunky, or as with the “Third Time’s a Charm Shawl” it’s because the designer changed the look of the pattern. In the picture which must be turn of the 20th century, this shawl has an almost sweater feel, and fits snugly and the sides look like sleeves. The modern version is a simple triangle shawl that’s oversized and doesn’t have the same fit…

The book is neatly laid out with clear instructions, schematics where appropriate and charts in some cases. There’s an index and a bibliography, but little information about where the original pictures came from or which designers created which modern versions. Oh, one other plus for crocheters out there–finally, a book with more crochet than knitting patterns!

Technorati Tags: crochet review magazine knitting Crochet Fantasy modular crochet

crochet today dress
Originally uploaded by plainsight

I finally got my hands on a copy of the latest issue of Crochet Today–it’s got some must make patterns like Robyn’s plaid skirt and Doris Chan’s lace capelet. There’s also my mod mini dress you see here. When they comissioned the dress, they said “something along the lines of Austin Powers Mod” and this is what I came up with. It was fun to make, using short rows to get the a-line, and the modular construction makes it stretchy and easy to customize. I think it’s funny that they styled it more à la 1980s than 1960s (cowboy boots and fedora rather than go-go boots!) but it does look nice and fall-ish with the turtleneck. Like all Crochet Today patterns its worked in a Coats and Clark yarn–this one is their Washable Wool, which was pleasant to crochet with and made the dress go quickly.

Monday, school starts (yeah!) and I am turning my studio in to a hermitage so I can concentrate on the bear book fully–I may be posting just as sporadically in September as I did in August–but do expect to see a write-up of the bear photo shoot soon. It was really fun!

You might think I haven’t been knitting or crocheting much, as I haven’t posted about any projects lately… Actually, I’ve been really busy but yarn companies usually don’t want you to post pictures of designs until they’ve published them…

So, I can now show you this wrap I did for Blue Sky Alpacas. I got to make it twice, first in Alpaca Silk, which was lovely, and second, in Royal–which was like crocheting with clouds. The softest, most light-weight stuff I’ve ever worked with. Amazing. (And expensive.)

This is one project I’ll probably make again for myself–it was fun and pretty fast–I was inspired by all the research into modular crochet that I was doing, but all of the original modular crochet designs Judith Copeland created were pull-overs, so I modified the concept for an open-front garment…

Thanks so much to Deneen, Maria and Darlene for doing an amazing job testing the pattern–if you’ve got pictures of your versions you’d like to post, I’ll link to them here!

More to come…

I recently began the second semester of my middle school knitting and crochet club at Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, MD. I had five returning students and three new ones. I wanted to start with a project that everyone could do while we were getting to know each other. After watching my daughter make a cute scarf finger knitting super-bulky yarn and then reading Crochet with Dee’s great story about teaching finger weaving to her kids and their friends I decided it would be a great first project.

We all had a skein of Homespun and we each created a 5-foot piece of finger knitting. I’m going to crochet them together and we’ll donate the scarf to Food and Friends.

It worked perfectly–everyone was finger knitting within a couple of minutes and we all could chat about our knitting projects, what we’ve been making and what we want to accomplish over the semester. (They’d like to do more charity knitting making scarves and baby hats) We also decided it would be cool to make a garment because only one of them had done that so far, so we’re going to try our hand at modular crochet beginning with the next class. I’ll update with pictures and progress on the sweaters soon.

Technorati Tags: middle school knitting finger knitting

IMG_0838.JPG
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

I got a mannaquin for Christmas–yeah! We finally got it put together last night. My daughter Selma wanted to name it Barbie, but I decided to call her Amanda.

Amanda’s wearing the first modular crochet garment I’ve created… No great creativity here–I followed Ms. Copeland’s schematic pretty closely because I wanted to learn the process. It’s made with aoubt 1 1/2 skeins of Wool-Ease. The vest came together quickly and easily–about two evening’s work. I love how the ribbing hugs the body. It’s a little short vest meant to be worn over a shirt–but I Amanda looks cute with it as is… It might look nice with just a cami underneath too… I’ll have to try that.

I may make a modular dress next for Selma… Copeland has a great tip for making a fitted bodice with a less fitted skirt–she just does the top of the dress in ribbed single crochet and the skirt in half-double or double crochet.

Thanks to everyone who’s been sending me their great modular crochet project links. I’ll try and get some more up here soon.

Here’s a link to a poncho Dee (of Crochet with Dee) made published using the modular concept.

I’ve written some notes at crochetville about how I went about making the vest… I believe you have to be a member to read it, but signing up is easy and it’s a great group!

Technorati Tags: crochet mannequin vest

I have a pile of new books, and thought I’d share some with you.

The first is Positively Crochet by Mary Jane Hall. This books has over FIFTY designs. My absolute favorite is the Easy Shrug [Ravelry]-a ribbed shrug style I’ve seen a lot in knitting patterns (It looks a bit like EZ’s ribwarmer), but not many crocheted versions. You can actually get a sneak peek of this pattern because Mary Jane has re-written it with updated sizing on her web site.

I also love the jewelry and accessories in this book. There’s a felted “net” scarf, a very cute Noro bag with little flowers, and a neat watchband that would be good for some thriftstore refashioning–you could find the watch face at the thrift store and make a new band for it in an afternoon. There’s a cute “mini keychain purse” and a beaded ring made with crocheted wire.

The book is a nice large format with lots of color photos–it could use more detailed schematics and stitch diagrams. And although most of the garments in the book don’t fit my own personal style, there are enough accessories in this book to keep me busy for some time.

I also recently ordered a new stitch dictionary, Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss’ new book 365 Crochet Stitches A Year It’s a perpetual calendar so it can be used to try a new stitch each day, or as a conventional stitch dictionary. The calendar is well designed. It’s sturdy and stands up well. It’s big and easy to flip through. I love stitch dictionaries and even if I may have lots of the stitches in other books, seeing them in a new format can bring inspiration. There’s no obvious organization to the stitches but there is an index in the back listing them alphabetically. My only pet peeve with the book is there are no stitch charts!

The only knitting book currently on my review list is Iris Schreier’s Lacy Little Knits. Lace is big these days, but most folks I know are using lace weight yarn to make scarves and shawls. Iris’ book is different because it features mostly garments. The book begins with some lace knitting how-to, and then the projects range from easy to advanced. All of the projects in the book use Iris’ on yarn line Artyarns.

One of the easy patterns that I like is the Four rectangle sweater–as the name suggests it’s a simple drop shoulder design but the beautiful lace pattern and semi-solid yarn add the necessary sophistication. The book also has a fun “Faux Crochet” bolero (that’s it’s real name!) and I like the Baby’s breath Tee which is mostly stockinette with lace edgings. Iris uses her famous modular knitting techniques to great effect in the retro-looking “Shapely Symmetry Sheath.” I love the construction of the “Long Stitch Wrap,” This hardcover book is beautifully produced with big color photos and clear schematics, but once again, no stitch charts!

Finally, two new crochet books from Lark Books, Crochet Chic by Francine Toukou. This book begins well with a chunky ribbed cowl that you can pull up over your head. It’s a super-simple project of back loop crochet but the result is stunning. The book is full of simple patterns that are styled and finished to great effect. There’s a double-crocheted scarf that has a very dramatic two-foot fringe, and a pretty mohair lacy scarf with little v-stitches and a ruffled edge. Mohair is used again in a beautiful granny scarf–it’s amazing how sophisticated the granny can look in the right yarn.

I have to admit-when I first glanced at this book, I thought it wasn’t for me, but I realized what didn’t like was the photo styling, not the projects–the models are heavily made up with “big” hair dos and “glamour-shot” style pictures. When I looked past the styling I realized there are many projects I’d like to make. Alas, there are no schematics or stitch charts for this book.

Finally, a new kids’ crochet book by Jane Davis, Crochet: Fantastic Jewelry, Hats, Purses, Pillows and more. When I teach beginners to knit or crochet I often recommend children’s books because the instructions and writing is clearer than traditional pattern books. Jane Davis’ book is no exception. There’s a simple introductory section with photo how-to as well as written instructions, discussion of abbreviations for pattern reading and even instructions on increasing and decreasing. I love that there are projects for using the miles of chain beginners always create. The patterns in this book are for kids, but not lacking in sophistication. Kids quickly move from rectangles to crocheting in the round, and there they can make balls and stuffed animals. There’s a great section on crocheted mesh with fun projects for string bags, a toy hammock, and finally a beautiful shawl all using the same technique. The book includes felting sewing in a zipper and more challenging techniques for those with an adventurous bent. I love the photographs of real kids (boys and girls!) crocheting and enjoying crochet. Prior to this book, there were only a few kids crochet books, and Jane Davis’ makes a nice addition.

There you have it! Have you used any of these books? What do you think?

I’m in San Francisco for a couple of days staying with my brother and his family and seeing my niece Solveig for the first time. Here she’s wearing the sweater I made for her on the plane–it’s a modular pullover made from Malabrigo Chunky –just two balls!

Solveig loves to roll around on the floor–she rolls until she reaches an impediment, then starts rolling the other direction, so I’ve been calling her “Roomba.”

I didn’t have her measurements, so I really got lucky on the sizing. The neckline is a simple half double crochet shell.

Here’s a detail of the button I used to close the neck in the back: (I found it at Imagiknit, a nice yarn shop in the Castro district of San Francisco).

I left the seaming on the right side of the garment because I like the way it looked.

Ribs and Mesh
Originally uploaded by plainsight

This project, the Ribs and Mesh sweater, has been a fun collaboration for me–I designed a sweater in Tilli Tomas yarn, but instead of turning everything over to the yarn house as I sometimes so, I’m publishing the pattern, and Tilli Tomas will be distributing it to your LYS. It will also be available online, from me. Stay tuned!

The single-ply sport weight merino yarn was a dream to work with–and it only uses one skein of the beaded yarn which keeps the project cost down. And with the modular construction, you can get a perfect fit, regardless of size. One of the best parts of this collaboration is I get to keep the sweater, so I now have something new and fun and warm for fall–considering how many sweaters I knit/crochet in a year, it’s a surprisingly rare occurrence.