Monday, October 12, 2009

Published Designs: 2001 - 2010

Aztec Sun in Leisure Arts Little Book "First choice ripple AFghans" #75066


Baby Finger Farm (page 124) in The Needlecraft Shop's "Top Technique & Special Stitch Afghans" book, ISBN 1-57367-129-0


Aztec Sun, "Sailboat Celebration," Navajo Bargello, and Purple Mountain's Magesty are in Leisure Arts' "40 Favorite Ripple Afghans: The Best Contest Designs from Crochet With heart Magazine" book ISBN #1-57486-299-5, 2002





Mini-Rose-Purse in house of White Birches' "Crochet jackets, Wrap & More" book, ISBN #978-1-59217-153-8, 2007


Knit Ruanna

Other Published Designs: 1994 - 2001

To answer the question "So, what have you done lately?" I have decided to break things down into 3 major chunks. So, these are the designs I created and published after the Cathedral Window through 2001, with information on how to find the book or magazine where they were printed, should you wish to make them yourself:

Annie's Attic purchased and published a number of my early designs, through the Crocheted Quilt and Afghan Club which sponsored the $10,000 Contest. But, I THINK you can buy them separately. They include:

Persian Mosque Afghan (in variegated orange, denim blue, and purple) -- a tile pattern based on a mosaic in a Periasn mosque with white arabic writing in the center, praising the skill of the workmen who built the mosque and the generosity of the Shah who paid for it! -- item # 309-1-01 (I think) $2.95

"Magic Colors" Granny Square Afghan (in bright, primary colors) -- plain ol' granny square built around a mile-a-minute strip center. The thing that makes this design unique and special is the "squared off" corners, despite it being a basic mile-a-minute strip to begin, and the harmony of color choices. To have "perfect harmony," one should have equal parts of certain colors, while one must have only a touch of certain colors to balance their complimentary color. . . . #QAC317-04. $1.95

Granny Strips Afghan (in shades of brown, although you could pick your own colors) -- same as above, but the mile-a-minute strips are much longer, and you join 9 of them together instead of work out from around just one (in other words, it's a typical mile-a-minute afghan. My designer's touch was to square off the ends so you have a regular rectangular afghan when you're done instead of something with scalloped edges.) #QAC318-05. Also $1.95

I placed third in a Leisure Arts "Crochet with Heart" magazine contest for hot pads with another "Cathedral Window" pattern, but, to the best of my knowledge, they have never published this design.

Then, I placed third in a Leisure Arts contest. (This is one of my all-time personal favorites, recognizing that the $10,000 winner is in a class by itself.) "Windows of Heaven," in gradual shades of blue from white to navy, done with a "woven stitch" and built up from one corner. (page 18)

Available in the Leisure Arts publication "40 afghans: Contest Favorites to Crochet -- The 40 best designs from the Crochet With Heart Afghan Contest." @1998. Item # ISBN 1-57486-153-0. $14.95. (There's another number on the back, #3067.) You should be able to find this at Michaels or any other craft/yarn store. This book also contains 2 other of my designs, although not in my original colors:
Sedona Style (page 116) -- another variation on my squared-off-ends mile-a-minute, but this one with the twist that the mile-a-minute strips are VERY short, and combined in an herringbone pattern.

"Woven Squares" -- also remade NOT in my original colors (page 122) -- a kind of woven stitch granny square assembled into large, open squares that overlap one another.


Still available in most yarn and craft stores, Leisure Arts also published Leaflet #2986, "Contest Favorites: Afghan Squares" ($9.95) with several of my designs, one of which is on the front cover (the red, white, and blue one bottom center). The contest was to design an 8" afghan square. The "best" ones would be made up by them into full-sized afghans. You can find my designs on pages:
Page 15 "Roman Stripe" (which, incidentally, they have designated one of their all-time favorite patterns, and are using as a selling point for their new "A Year of Afghans 2000" book -- page 126!) They muted my color choices and re-arranged my patten selections, but it's MINE! The interesting feature of this one is that I have not only made an ever-popular quilt design, but each yarn color has its own crochet stitch pattern -- popcorn for the yellow, moss stitch for the green (they re-did it with moss stitch in burgundy), diagonal stitch for the blue (which they re-did in forest green), and a ribbed stitch for the red (which they did in purple).
Page 31 -- "Picasso's Tide Pool," a granny-square type in white and two shades of blue. Start with a square, then work "pyramids" on the edges to change the direction of the finished square.
Page 32 -- "Election Time," little blue and white 9-patch squares alternating with red and white stripes.
Page 33 - "Checkers" - a smaller, black-and-red version of page 31.

Annie's Attic published my "Easter Cross" (a log-cabin quilt pattern with a twist, done in fresh, spring colors) afghan in their May, 2001 issue of "Annie's Crochet to go!" mazagine.

Annie also purchased one I call "Country Christmas" -- another mile-a-minute strips, made with 2 threads and a Q hook, so it works up quickly, with an unusual joining technique. Annie published "Country Christmas" in her January, 2002, issue of "Annie's Crochet To Go!" magazine.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Possible substitute yarn

You can get all the yarn you need at www.Herrschners.com
They still sell the Red Heart Super Saver black (#0312) and White (#0311) at $3 for 7 oz;
they sell the Red Heart CLASSIC "Wedgewoods" (#0972) for $2.70 per (I think it's 3 oz) skein;
and they now have Herrschner's 2-py Afghan yarn for $1.70 each in Berry Delight (#0103) and Teal (#0039), which, if you tweed one strand of each, will give you just the right look for the half circles.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Where Do I Get the YARN for This Project???

This is one of the most frequent questions I am asked. And I'm sorry to say, the bottom line answer to the question is: You can't. It took me 3 months searching every catalog and yarn store I could get my hands on to find exactly the right colors to get the effect I wanted for this creation: the effect of sunlight streaming through ancient stained glass. For a number of years you could still get the main colors needed using Red Heart yarn. But as of the date of this writing (summer 2020) I can no longer find their “wedgewoods ombre” available anywhere. So, I am constantly re-evaluating what is available that would give me that sunlight-through-old-stained-glass look. Of course, there's nothing to say that you can't pick out your own set of colors, to match your decor! I recently saw a FABULOUS interpretation of my pattern in turquoise and coral. Check it out: http://yknit.blogspot.com/ I *love* it! Good luck, and let me know how they turn out!