Stitches West 2015

Top down sweaters, floral garland, and sampler wall
The Stitchwhisper booth at Stitches West 2015 (#846) was a wonderful success!  For four days, I talked with lots of visitors about all manner of crochet ideas, all leading to patterns and finished pieces to be posted soon to Etsy, and more pieces to be available at the Scotts Valley Artisans Co-op.

My focus on crochet is on the fabric, rather than on the stitch, so my pieces don't look like afghans or doilies.

Block and diagonal garments, shawls, and samplers
Crochet is more complex at a basic level than knitting.  That means that pattern-writing for knitting doesn't always work well for crochet.

Knit stitches are simple, so it is easier to make gauge.  Knit fabrics in process are on needles, making them difficult to measure.

Crochet has more complex stitches, so making gauge can be a real challenge, if not impossible for a lot of folks.  Crochet is worked one stitch at a time, so measuring the fabric in process is usually very easy:  you just lay it flat and measure it.

It makes more sense for crochet patterns to be written based on measurements than on gauge -- I've worked this way for decades.  The concept patterns on this blog very often are about measurements rather than stitches and rows.  And now my patterns will show how it makes sense.



Comments

Unknown said…
It was such a pleasure to meet and talk to you about design and stitches. thanks so much for sharing your info; i'm anxious to try the basket stitch on my next purse!
Anni
Unknown said…
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Unknown said…
Whoops, I mistakenly called your stitch basket stitch rather than bag stitch! I didn't notice if the row count needs to be even or odd count, does it matter? Anni
Thank you, Anni, for your comments - and for visiting my booth! The Knit & Crochet Show in San Diego this year will be July 22-26. Classes and signups usually get posted in March on their website at knitandcrochetshow.com.

About the sturdy stitch I use for bags, baskets, sweater button bands, tea cozies - I use it a lot! It is a 2-stitch repeat in the round, so that is an odd # of stitches. In rows, it is usually an even number of sts, starting each row with a chain 2 turn.