Archives for January 2014

Wednesday Facebook Fan Favorite… Week 21

January 8, 2014 By Beatrice Ryan Designs Leave a Comment

As the Arctic Vortex whips through the United States and freezes a large part of our country, many of us are crocheting to pass the time while we are trying to stay warm…What a way to start the new year!!!! Today’s Facebook Fan Favorite it the first one for the year and it will keep you cozy in this chilly weather! This design is from one of my favorite designers,,, Bonita Patterns… She is famous for her Crocodile Stitch projects and I have made several of her patterns! This is a free one from her and well worth checking out!!! So here it is… Our first Fan Favorite for the year… Reversible Textured Slouch & Crocodile Stitch DOUBLE LAYERED Flower by Bonita Patterns! Click here for the Free Crochet Pattern.

Don’t you love this hat?? I do and the flower is made from her signature Crocodile Stitch Pattern!!! This will definitely be on my to-do a list for this year!!.

On another note…. Are you ready for our Crochet-A-Long??? If you missed my last post containing the Material List… You can Click Here to see it… And at any time you can click on the Crochet-A-Long tab at the top of the page to see all the posts for this upcoming project… Each Saturday starting January 18th I will begin to post a pattern section for a weeks worth of crochet… And every Friday Evening we will have a “Show and Tell” on my Facebook page where you can post your comments and progress pictures!!! And,,, Hang out on Ravelry too… We have a large group of you who have joined over there… It will be another great place to hang out and crochet!! I am beyond excited!! I have written and crocheted the first weeks section and will be taking the pictures this weekend…

I think you are going to love it… It is a combination of all my favorite stitches and pattern pieces… Contemporary yet modern!!! So get your yarn and hook… come hang out with me and crochet!!!

Happy Crocheting… Elena

Filed Under: Patterns and Projects Tagged With: Crochet, Crochet-a-Long, Facebook, Free Pattern, Hook, Ravelry, Yarn

Crochet-A-Long with Beatrice Ryan Designs… Material List!!!!

January 6, 2014 By Beatrice Ryan Designs 24 Comments

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Are you ready for some crocheting?? I am, and I am so excited I can hardly stand it!!! I’ve purchased my yarn,,, Designed the Afghan and whipped up the first week of the project…I thought I better get ahead, start to work out any kinks and make sure it will be a fun and easy pattern! So here we go!!! First I will list the materials needed,,,Then the stitches we will be using so you can be prepared… Don’t worry… These are all basic stitches and combinations of stitches to make some really fun textures! If there is any slightly tricky areas,,, I will post photo tutorials!! Also tonight,,, I will post a few thoughts about the afghan…

Materials:

2500-3000 Yards of Worsted Weight Yarn – 4 to 5 Colors, with one of the colors being your neutral or dominate( Neutral or Dominate being something like Black, White, Cream, Brown, Navy, Gray) *I am using Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand Yarn

Hook- I or preferred hook for drape of project

Yarn Needle

Scissors

And… A whole lot of fun!!!!

Stitches:

Ch-Chain Sl St-Slip Stitch Sc-Single Crochet Hdc-Half Double Crochet Dc-Double Crochet Trc-Triple Crochet

Decorative stitches may include- Twisted Stitches, Popocorn, Bobbles, Shells and Reverse Sc

Thoughts about our upcoming CAL Afghan:

This afghan can be made using scrap yarns or a specific color scheme. In either case you will need one main color through-out (the neutral or dominate color) and 2-4 other colors.

You can use an optional size hook such as G-K depending on how you like the drape of your Afghans… I like using an I Hook, but feel free to use what you like. Keep in mind this may change the overall size of the project.

This afghan will be an average size throw, but it can be made smaller by ending at any point your prefer.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Each Saturday I will post a segment of the pattern here. You can come back any time and click on the Crochet-A-Long tab at the top of the page to view pattern sections.

Each Friday evening we will have Show and Tell on my Facebook page. There will be a post you can comment or post you progress pictures! This will be fun!!!

You can also join in over at Ravelry on my Crochet-A-Long Group… We have about 80 members so far in that group and we will have fun chatting over there too!!

Let’s have some fun and make an afghan together…

Elena

Filed Under: Patterns and Projects Tagged With: Afghan, CAL, Crochet-a-Long, Facebook, Lion Brand Yarn, Pattern, Popcorn Stitches, Ravelry, Stitches, Twisted Stitches, Vanna's Choice, Yarn

5 January 2014

Yarn Fun For Our CAL…..

January 5, 2014 By Beatrice Ryan Designs Leave a Comment

Yesterday was a successful trip to buy yarn!!

I scanned the yarn aisles of JoAnns for quite a while before I decided on the brand of yarn and colors I thought I would love to work with…My final decision was Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand Yarn… I was looking for something soft and affordable! This yarn was on sale for $2.39(Regularly $3.99) and I had an additional coupon for 10% off my entire purchase,,, for a grand total of$39.32… I decided to purchase 17 skeins… 170 yard each for a total yardage of 2890… I am estimating yardage for the CAL to be 2500-3000 depending on what size hooks are used and personal preference for the size each person may make… There will be some easy stopping points if some participants would like to make it a little smaller… Also another reason I selected Vanna’s Choice was the wonderful array of colors… There were so many to choose from! And… If I need more of any color,,, It is very easily found!

Vanna’s Choice Yarn… Bottom row is Taupe,,, Second row left is Dusty Purple, Second row right is Charcoal Grey,,, Third row left is Dusty Green and Charcoal Grey,,, Fourth Row is Dusty Green and Silver Grey,,, and Top row is Silver Grey

My daughter had a hand in choosing these colors… I think she really just wanted to get out of the yarn aisle! I had these colors plus a few more in the basket trying to make my final selection and she helped me narrow it down to these 5 fabulous colors!!!!… I am playing around with the design today and will be getting the pattern started! A Full Materials List will be posted in a couple of days,,, But if you are itching to get your yarn ~this can be a scrap buster along with one neutral or you can choose a color scheme using 3-5 colors plus a neutral!

I am really excited about our CAL journey together!!!! How about you??

Elena