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New Pattern: Rag-ety Rug, a Padded Crochet Project

Rag-ety Rug by Jennifer Raymond

Rag-ety Rug, a Padded Crochet Project

I’m proud to announce that Rag-ety Rug, my pattern with Crochet World Magazine’s August 2015 issue, is officially out.  (Yes, I know it’s only June.  I’m not quite sure how Annie’s works their release schedule, but even though it’s June, you should be able to start finding the magazine on shelves in the next few weeks).

Rag-ety Rug uses one of my new favorite crochet techniques, padded crochet.  Like Stained Glass Rug and Matryoshka Baskets, Rag-ety Rug uses padded crochet.  Normally padded crochet is worked with smaller items (like in Irish Crochet Lacework), but I like to use padded crochet to make more modern, exploded lace pieces.

Rag-ety Rug was mostly worked on during a vacation to Atlantic Beach with Mr. Turtle’s Parent’s.  It seemed rather fitting: this rug, worked with denim scraps, fits in perfectly with beach decor.  The varied blues of the different denim scraps seemed to echo the blues of the ocean.

walking on Atlantic Beach in January

Walking on Atlantic Beach in January

There is a meditative quality to this rug, as each row the “v-stitch” nests into the following row.  I loved watching the rug gradually grow.  The cotton in the rug is from Lily’s Sugar ‘n Cream line, in a color called Stone Wash.  It was a perfect pairing for the denim.

Padded Crochet Rug from Annie's Crochet World

Rag-ety Rug, done in Padded Crochet, detail shot.

In my original pitch I imagined this rug in rainbow colors, for a children’s room or for someone who loves color.  I think it’d be fun to play around with textures too: perhaps with prints or strips or plaid?  The possibilities are endless!

What colors would you work this rug in?

Catching Up: Fishing Failures, New Pattern, and Rhinebeck!

Yesterday, I managed to crank out the rough draft to two different patterns: a pair of gloves and a crochet shawl.  I worked for nearly 6 hours straight, with only a small break for lunch.  It was intense, deep thinking, and I haven’t managed to get in that good of workflow in months.  I take it as a sign that things are finally returning back to normal.

This morning, I woke up super early to try and go fishing, again.  About a month ago, my husband took me fishing and I caught 2 fish.  Since then, I’ve been fishing 3 other times, only to catch nothing.  Nothing.  Many times, my bait would be in the water and a fish would be jumping not three feet away.  Clearly I’m doing something wrong, but I can’t seem to figure out the right combination of bait and line setup.  Today, armed with new bait and a week’s worth of reading on the art of fishing, I thought I was ready to catch something, anything.  I would have been happy even if I just got a nibble, to tell me I was going in the right direction.

Instead, the fish were more active than ever, jumping out of the water and showing off, and I just managed to jab myself twice with the hook, and get my line tangled in everything.

While I am quite stubborn, and I’m not giving up yet… I came home much discouraged.

I have a pattern out today!  Stripes Three Ways should be familiar to some of you… it’s a teaching

pattern that I’m finally making available to everyone!  Newly tech-edited and test knit, it’s a lovely fall cowl that comes in 3 different sizes, and a variety of combinations.  It has a special twist – each time you make it, a roll of the dice determines how the pattern is going to work.  I’ll have an official post coming out in a couple of days, but I couldn’t wait to share!

If you’ve made the pattern before in one of my classes, I’d love to have you put your finished project (or even unfinished project) up on Ravelry.  It brings me such joy to see people’s work on my patterns!

Speaking of new patterns… you know the ones I was talking about before?  They’re part of a bunch of patterns that I create and am just getting to write up to release.  The plan is to have them out before the Indie Designer Giftalong starts in just over a month.  This is a big event where a whole bunch of Independent Designers band together to put all their patterns on sale before the Holidays.  It’s a great event, and I’ll be sharing more information with you as it becomes available.

Rhinebeck is coming in less than a week!  So, don’t expect much posting next week.  Still, I’m going to try and get some pictures and rock the event with my own knitwear.

It’s Official: Octopodes, my pattern in Knitty, is out!

I can finally share the exciting news!  Octopodes is my latest pattern, published in Knitty.  I am so excited to share the news – I’ve been holding onto it for what feels like forever!
As a thrilling addition, there will be an Octopodes KAL starting on March 24th, hosted in Dragonfly Fiber’s Ravelry Group (they’re the ones who provided the delicious yarn!).  There are going to be prizes!  I’ll be doing a series of blog posts and tutorials to go along with the KAL (and there may be some other exciting things in regards to the KAL coming up)!  Stay tuned for more information, or sign up for the newsletter and get the information delivered straight to your inbox.
If you love the design, please share it on Facebook, Ravelry or Twitter – spread the word!
The Details:
Octopodes
by Jennifer Raymond
Craft: Knitting
Category: Feet / Legs → Socks → Mid-calf
Published: March 2014
Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi) Information on yarn weights
Gauge: 36 stitches and 36.5 rows = 4 inches in In Stranded Colorwork
Needle size: US 1 – 2.25 mm
Yardage: 226 – 442 yards (207 – 404 m)
Sizes available: XS[S, M, L, XL]
 This pattern is available for free.

New Pattern: One Salt Sea

by Jennifer Raymond

Published in: Tinking Turtle Designs
Craft: Crochet
Category: Neck / Torso → Scarf
Published: October 2013
Yarns suggested: Three Irish Girls Glenhaven CashMerino Sock
Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi) Information on yarn weights
Hook size: 3.75 mm (F)
Yardage: 200 – 300 yards (183 – 274 m)
Sizes available: 14″ x 68″, blocked. May be worked longer.

This pattern is available for $5.00 USD

One Salt Sea is a great first hairpin lace project. Each strip that makes the scarf is short and sweet – no marathon strips to join together! If you’ve never done hairpin lace crochet before, don’t worry – this pattern walks you through the whole thing.

This scarf works up quickly – even in sock yarn! Work the strips and join as you go, or wait until the end to join them. It’s a great introduction to hairpin crochet.

New Pattern: Totoro

Exciting news today: I’ve got a new pattern out with Three Irish Girls called Totoro.  It’s being released as a club pattern for a while, and then it will be for sale for the public.  Check it out on Ravelry, or stay tuned for this next week, where I’ll be talking about all the time and effort it took to pull the pattern together.  This set of socks has a story behind it, let me tell you!

There’s already quite a bit of chatter over the sock in the the Sock Yarnista Club Group.  Go check it out.