MK Carroll

UPDATE August 2010: the Four Corners pattern is currently available in the free eBook, How to Crochet Granny Squares with Crochetme. This does not include the instructions for how to dye the motifs with food coloring.

UPDATE May 2008: the pattern + dyeing instructions are now available for sale as a PDF download from the Knitting Daily shop!

The Knitscene Winter ’07/Spring ’08 Preview is up! The projects are aimed to transition from cold weather to warmer weather, with tops, sweaters, handbags, and headbands. The Curvy Top-Down Raglan by Shannon Okey has an accompanying article on knitting top-down for plus sizes, and I’m looking forward to reading it. The Souvenir Hoodie by Amy King looks like something The Teen would wear (done up in cream with another light color), and I’m liking the crocheted Singular Tee by Regina Rioux Gonzalez. Norah Gaughan’s Quicksilver Bag looks like a quick knit that would be easy to modify with stitch patterns or different yarns, and I like the leather handles.

The Four Corners Headbands are a project that I designed, crocheted, and shot the article tutorial photos for as well as writing up the article.  It’s a fun project using food coloring to dye crocheted pieces (instead of dyeing skeined yarn) and I enjoyed the process.  I’m working on one done up in a silk/wool blend and I’m thinking that soysilk would be even better for a tropical-weight version, even though the yarn called for (Morehouse Farms Merino Sport Weight 2-ply) is reportedly suitable for warm weather wear.  The Morehouse Farms Merino is a pleasure to work with – it is amazing high quality wool, very soft and springy, and incredibly comfortable against the skin.  The processing is minimal, no chemicals involved, and Morehouse is located right here in the US (upstate NY).  The wool is so healthy, in fact, that it doesn’t take dye as readily as more heavily processed wools.  I like the softer, more muted tones you see in the photos – food coloring usually yields super-bright colors – but if you want stronger, brighter colors, you can up the amount of vinegar used (I’d suggest doubling it and doing a test).

Chronicle Books, it seems, has taken note of the rising popularity of Japanese craft books – they have published three books of patterns translated into English, and have plans for more (Woolly Embroidery and Fuzzy Felted Friends are will be released later this month). I haven’t had a chance to look through these books, but I recognized the projects on the covers of Lacy Crochet and Amigurumi. The prices are reasonable and I’m putting them on my Amazon wishlist, so hopefully I’ll be able to review these in more depth.

Amazon is still carrying the English translation of Ondori Basic Knit as well.

Basic Knit (Full Color Illustrated)

The pattern is coming soon!  It has been tested thorougly and the photos and basic layout are done.  I’m getting the symbolcraft chart done, and it’s going to be worth the wait!  If you can’t wait, the crochet lace pattern is often called Queen Anne’s Lace, and can be found in a lot of crochet stitch pattern dictionaries.

Elann Super Kydd, size K hook.  I used about half a skein.

The motifs get pulled out of shape a little too easily – next time I’ll use a smaller hook.

Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, Shell Pink, 1 skein.