Crocheting With Raffia

A new video I made on crocheting with raffia. I love the way crocheted raffia looks.  It's a natural fiber, and if you are vegan, it's a great substitute for animal fibers like wool, angora, or mohair.

It has all those ends to deal with though, and does require extreme patience at times. Still, I think the results of crocheting with raffia are worth it. And it makes great character hats.  You'll definitely have a one of a kind hat when you get done.  And raffia is fairly inexpensive. I get giant bundles of it at Frank's Cane and Rush in Huntington Beach CA.

You can also weave with raffia.  I've never tried knitting with it, but it would be a worthy experiment.
It also takes to dye well.  If my boyfriend is dyeing something, before he pours the batch out, I toss some raffia in there, then hang it to dry on the patio. 

Use it to make hats, purses, placemats, baskets.

So if you haven't tried crocheting with raffia, it's worth a try.

Rain Hat in Plarn

I started making a red plarn hat today.  I don't have enough red so I need to mix it with white. I wish I had more red, so I could make the hat in candy cane stripes.  It's going to be a rain hat, since it's been raining for 3 days. I think I need a brim on it to keep the rain out of my eyes.

Dollface

I've been busy making tutorials with http://www.allfreecrochet.com in mind. Today's tutorials are on how to crochet a circle or disk and how to use the disk to make a doll face pin (brooch) or ornament. Once I get the videos onto youtube I'll need to remember to come back here to embed them.

Halloween Necklace

I'm really digging this new necklace I made. And it's not even because it's a cool necklace. It's because I realized this fringe idea is going to look great on hats, cowls, and headwraps, and can hold all manner of beads and charms. It can even be done in a different colorway for holidays, seasons, or team colors. I'm even thinking of using the idea for a belly dancing hipwrap. I love when one good idea leads to another.Oh and what about kneebands to wear while hula hooping.

Chicken Hat

Yesterday at the archery range I got to work on my chicken hat. Here is a photo or two of me trying it on, figuring out where the feet go. I decided to add ear flaps which are the chickens thighs. When I get done with the prototype, I'll start listing them on http://www.carpebacon.weebly.com in various colors and styles. Too fun.

Plarn Tote Bag

I've been getting a kick out of cutting grocery store bags into strips to make Plarn. Then using the Plarn (plastic yarn) to make a tote bag. I think I'm about done with the bottom of the bag. I've heard plastic handles can stretch so I'll probably make the handles out of denim or hemp or something sturdy. I don't want to be bumping my eggs on the ground walking home from the grocery store.

I recently made a Plarn hat too. I can't wait until it's cool enough to wear it outside. Or if it rains tomorrow I'll see if it makes a good rain hat. It did sprinkle a few drops today. We are forecast to have thunderstorms near here, so I'm not sure if any will find their way to Anaheim or not.

Oh and if you are on Ravelry, my name over there is Knitabitofmagic. Come look me up.

New Videos May Be Coming Soon

I just wanted to express some gratitude that today someone saw my crochet videos on Youtube and offered to pay me to make future videos if I just mention their website. I am flattered and happy to be offered money to do something that up to now I've been doing without any financial compensation whatsoever. I'd sure do a lot more videos if someone was sending some cash my way. I could even get a real video camera that does decent close-ups and a tripod to put it on so my hands could be free to crochet. I hope something comes of this. I wrote them back and told them I was interested.

Crochet Ideas

Hello again,

I've been watching a show called Knit and Crochet Today and one technique I need to remember is that you can do blanket stitch around the edge of a fabric garment or scarf you play to add a crocheted edging to, and then you can use the thread in the blanket stitch to anchor your edging too, and work in that loop instead of punching holes in the fabric. The blanket stitch is done with an embroidery needle.

Another cool idea that I saw on that show is to do freeform motifs in crochet of circles, flowers and leaves and then attach those in an artful way around the collar of a t-shirt, so I'm going to do that as well. I bought 5 t-shirts yesterday to try out some ideas on.

The photo above is of a slouch hat I'm working on. I'm out of purple yarn, and was going to finish in black, so I found the black yarn, but got distracted and started knitting something with it instead. I need an assistant to keep me on track.