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.

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.

Crochet Book From 1975

I was walking past my bookcase this morning when my eye fell upon a vintage crochet book that I bought when I was in high school (1975). I thought it would be fun to make the top with squares that's on the cover. Of course I can't get into that size so I'll just have to use it for inspiration. But I took a photo of the book just in case it might bring back memories to you as well.
Since I want to use different thicknesses of yarn I had to alter the directions or use two strands of the thinner yarns. But the main idea is to make all the squares the same size so I can put a border around them (like stained glass) and fashion them into a top.

Hats

On Sunday afternoon I had 4 1/2 hats ready for my friend to choose from. He picked the gray one which was the first one I made, and then he wanted the dark brown one, which I had only just started that morning. So I finished it up so he'd have it in time to take home.

As far as I can tell there isn't much difference between a tam and a beret. Most people assume they are berets. While my friend was paying for his hats, another guy sitting there ordered a purple one. I don't think I have any purple yarn so I may have to go buy some. Isn't that always the way it is?

A Little of This, a Little of That

I'm going through a weird creative phase where I want to start new things every day. I enjoy the process, but I don't finish anything. So I started 3 amigurumi mice, and I worked on a squid I started ages ago, and as fast as I make things I think of 3 or 4 things I want to make. I just had an idea for a crochet 'cocoon' necklace. It will have an interesting texture. And I'm still working on my multicolored flower scarf. Then just this morning I realized St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner and I only have one green thing in my Etsy shop. I really need to get more into my shop.