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| Featured Pattern of the Week: Pretty Frilly Flower Bookmark |
        Interested in knitting? Visit our sister site: Knitting Pattern Central  | Tips 'n TricksDo you have a helpful hint or handy trick that will make any aspect of crocheting easier? Share it! Post ideas on scrap yarn usages, stitch markers, starching, hook organization, color changing, maintaining your sanity while following a difficult pattern, etc. There is most probably someone out there that will benefit from your help. Need ideas yourself? Read others' comments--we all live and learn! Name: Molly Subject: taking with you project... Comment: This is something my mom always does with all her sewing crocheting etc. projects and I picked up on it when i started to crochet. You know all those gift bags you get for Christmas and birthdays or whatever, they work great to throw your project in and carry with you. The size of bags vary so you just grab a bigger bag for bigger projects. And, almost all gift bags are super cute so you look stylish too! Happy crocheting!! Name: Lindsay Subject: Storing Yarn Comment: I bought one of those shallow tubs that you can slide under your bed to put my yarn in. It works pretty well. Name: Joy Lorraine Subject: Scrap Afghans Comment: I have been crocheting since Jr.High (BTW--way to go all you young girls that are learning to crochet--The more you learn, the more you love it!), and as I am 28 now, I have built up quite a collection of scrap yarn over the years. I have tried many scrap afghan patterns, but I have never been satisfied with the results until I decided to sort my scraps into color groups, like laundry, for different afghans--DARK colors together, LIGHT colors together, and BRIGHT colors together. It does take more yarn, but the result was worth it! I combine the bright colors with black, the light colors with white, and the dark colors with neutral, and the results have been the spectacular afghans I had always hoped they'd be! Name: Tammy Subject: Left over yarn Comment: I crochet alot of afgahns and throws. I saved all the extra yarn after projects and made both of my children multi colored scrapagahns. As they grew, I added more scraps of yarn so it would grow with them. They are beautiful and they still have them today. Name: Kelly Subject: Counting Stitches Comment: This may sound a little funny, but you know all that pocket change just languishing about in drawers, under the couch, etc? Use a penny for a stitch or for a row. A nickel for five, a dime for ten, etc. So, if I have a fictitious piece that is 500 stitches, place $5.00 in the requisite change, and as you do your stitches, take coins out of your unfinished stitch pile or container and into your finished pile/container. When you're done, take your finished stitch money and go buy some new yarn or keep it for next time. Name: Stephanie Subject: Nails Catching Comment: I have extremely weak fingernails but still try hard to grow them out. The only problem is they tend to chip over the littlest things. Sometimes even if I go to grab a skein of yarn and my hand bumps against the end table next to my working chair. At first I tried to just keep working but I found that the chipped part of my nail would sometimes catch my yarn. I fixed this by keeping a nail file in the bin that holds my hooks and needles. This way I can just file down the chipped area and get back to working without searching the house for a file or getting rid of my nail completely. Hope this helps for those fingernail fanatics too. :) Name: di Subject: organization Comment: Empty kleenex boxes make great storage containers - they're decorative and easy to carry - for crochet as well as other items in the household. The opening of the box can easily be changed with a pair of scissors. Name: di Subject: plastic forms Comment: I really liked the idea of using a plastic cover to cut a form for a wreath. Other projects involving different shapes such as stars, scalloped edges, multi-dimensions, miniatures, mobiles, toys and more could be made as well. Name: di Subject: weave loose ends Comment: To weave loose ends: use a smaller crochet hook - smaller than the one you originally used for your project. The smaller hook glides more easily through the stitches. Name: diane Subject: Fun! Comment: I have a neighbor who has a computer, but is not on line. Her daughter is beginning to show interest in crochet, applique' and embroidery. I collected free patterns that are within her skill level and copied them onto a CD. A creative child can easily learn from pictures as well. Makes a fun gift! Name: diane Subject: Creative Challenge Comment: I like to challenge myself to build confidence in creativity - rarely do I make the same thing twice. My first attempt with a pattern is to learn gauge, measurement and instruction. My second attempt is to use a different set of crochet stitches. In my household, everyone wears a different pair of slippers and I got to learn something new... Name: diane Subject: organization Comment: i've organized my free patterns in file folders on my laptop computer. Each folder contains several pictures and a separate folder for all instructions. The pictures are a quick reference for the instruction folder. The laptop sits next to me while i crochet. No need for stands, notebooks, paper. Name: Cristin Subject: yarn winding Comment: I was taught this trick by a relative I just met...which was taught to her by my husband's Grandmother, Violet. :) To wind yarn; keeping a 7" tail, start winding yarn around two finger tips in a figure eight fashion - just a couple times and then fold the "8" over itself so it's an "o" and them wind as you normally would. When you are done, you can pull from the tail and it unwinds as a pull skein of yarn would-from the middle!! No more rolling balls of yarn!! Name: Linda Subject: Hints and Tips Comment: 1. I bought a very inexpensive see- through tackle box to keep my hooks, pins, needles, buttons, eyes (for toys), etc. At a glance I can see what I have and don't have. 2. Milk crates (plastic) are great to store skeins in and they are stackable. 3. Every Item I make I take a picture of and put in a photo album. 4. When my hook starts to drag, I use a bounce sheet for clothes on my hands and hook. This gets the hook going again and also smells nice. Name: Joyce Subject: trying something new Comment: When starting a new afghan pattern, I was having trouble holding my instruction book and my yarn, so I went to rummage sales and bought me a music stand. I can adjust it to the right heighth for my chair and I use bussiness "clips" to hold my pages open. This has made it much easier to read and crochet at the same time. 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