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| Featured Pattern of the Week: Ruffles Pillow |
        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: Allison Subject: Sanity with Difficult Patterns Comment: Whenever I am working on a challenging pattern - I walk away and come back to it a few days later, reread the pattern and try again in a quiet room with no interruptions. Oftentimes, I figure out what I was doing wrong and that breather from it refocuses me on the project I'm working on! Name: debra Subject: granny squares Comment: whenever i finish up a project i use the left over wool to make small granny squares - i have about 300 of them in all different colors - when i get ready to stich them up in black i will have a blanket with many mulitiple colors that if i had to go out and buy all this wool it would be quite costly. Name: Dorothy Subject: granny squares Comment: When you make an afghan out of squares or any other shape make a couple extras stitch them to the back side of the afghan. If you ever need to replace a square you have it made and the color will match because it has been laundered with the rest of the blanket. Not to mention the dye lot will be the same. No more searching for an old dyelot or pattern. Name: Paula Subject: Pattern Saver Comment: Patterns Ideals I save some of my wrapper patterns from the yarn... (possiblibly where I have gotten older. lol) Some of the type is so tiny at times I go nuts having to use a magnifying glas every time, I've needed to check which stitch now or where I am on the pattern... Solution: I scan it! enlarge and print it out. Oh this works wonders... Helped me in preserving those percious lil' patterns. Another resource for patterns have been off the wonderful websites such as this one. When I print out the patterns I make sure I set my printer to print out the website address... for my referance. I also keep those lose patterns in a Scrapbook using the clear protective pages as pockets... I keep them organized alot better. Plus I actually add Scrapbook pages of the projects I have done in it. Keeping record of whom I made it for, Hook size, which yarn I used and size of finished projects and etc... Makes it nice because I have given every project I have made as gifts... It give me a momentum of my gifts I have given. I haven't been crocheting as many as years as most of you have... but hope to still be crocheting in many years to come. Name: Stacia Subject: Keeping Track of WIP Comment: Every time I choose a project and purchase materials I list the name of the pattern, the brand, type, color, and amounts of yarn needed, the hook size I end up using, and who it is for on a table created in Microsoft Word. As I complete projects I change the font color to red and record the finished size. I also take a picture fo the finished project. This way I can look at things later should I decide to use the pattern again! Name: Rien Subject: Dragging Hooks Comment: If your hooks are dragging you could also try coating them with clear nail polish, or even the colored kind for a really pretty effect. I'd recommend using a clear base coat first, though, and obviously make sure the nail polish is absolutely dry before using the hooks. ;) Name: Ruth Subject: sweaty palms Comment: Household alcohol works well, too, as it dries the skin. Learned this in the "old days" when some women used to struggle putting on their foundation in the summer. Seemed to work better than power. Of course it may be necessary to use lotion when done working with the yarn,or be careful that you don't have a reaction to the alcohol. Worked well for me. Name: carley Subject: crochet bracelits Comment: If you want to make a gift for that spical somone and you dont have alot of time on your hands?? well then you can make a crochet bracelit!! all you need is: .one strand of yarn .siccors .and your crochet hook! all you need to do is make one strand of crochet! tie it together and there you have it! if you have another minute or two you can make a necklace also all you need is a bigger strand of yarn!! thanks! Name: Cheryl Subject: Lefties Comment: Bev, that's exactly how my mom taught my sister and I to crochet as girls! She was a leftie and we're both righties...I'm still crocheting 28 years later! Name: Cheryl Subject: crochet Comment: 1) Give crochet as a gift? Give the person some extra yarn in a little zippered baggie in case the need arises for mending... 2) Save those zippered bags the flannel sheets or other bedding come in , or go to the 99 cent store and buy the sweater bags...put a dryer sheet inside when you fold the item and put it in the zippered bag...a great way to store out of season items and keep them smelling nice, too! 3) ALWAYS...insert a card with the item letting the receiver know how to launder it and dry it!!! And let them know the fiber content, just in case they're allergic to synthetics or wool!!! "Happy hooking!" Name: Heather Subject: Tip on Tension when teaching a friend Comment: One thing I found when teaching a friend of mine to crochet is that no matter what, her tension was always considerably looser than mine. We were both doing the "Wizard Scarf" pattern from Red Heart, and she couldn't get her stitches nice and neat. I attribute it to her being a fairly laid-back person and my being a very tense person! :-) What she did was go down one hook size. Her tension then matched the gauge in the pattern, and she was no longer frustrated that it didn't work out right! Name: Corky C. Subject: hook storage Comment: I use old miniture m&m tubes they are small candys that you can buy. I have serveral of them for all my small metal hooks they seal shut and you can open then and look though your hooks and it protects them because they are plastic Name: Opal Chapin Subject: tips Comment: I have crocheted for a long time and am grateful that I still have this hobby. You have many good tips here, I also am taking pictures of items I make because I give most of them away. I find it is helpful to put a safety pin in the last loop crocheted it saves many unravelled items. I also make a copy of the pattern and line out the row I just did( I do lots of filet crocheted things and follow the picture only). I am so happy I found this web page. Name: Sherry R. Subject: Stitch Holders and Markers Comment: I like to use a clothes pin (the spring type) as a stitch holder when I'm working on a project and have to set it down. I just pull up the last loop enough to clip on the clothes pin. I can also use the clothes pin to clip on a post-it note with the size of the hook, any notes, etc., so when I come back to my WIP I know right where to pick it up. For a marker, I like to use twist ties. Twist ties also work well to hold two halves of a project (like a poncho) together so you can try it on and make adjustments before you sew the halves together. Name: Lynette Subject: hooks Comment: I always have several projects going on at the same time and sometimes steal one hook to use with a different project. I have forgotten what size hook I use occasionally and you know what happens when you change hook sizes in the middle of the project. I finally bought 1/2" ribbon on sale. At the start of the project I cut a parallel line about 1/4 to 1/2" in a 2 inch long piece of ribbon. With a permanent fine point marker I write the date, hook size and who I think this project will be given to later and slip one end of the ribbon thru the first row, then thru the cut in the ribbon. It is secured on the project, yet easy to take off later. As I was typing this I thought that it might be good to crochet it on as a lable, adding your name and date finished for generations to come who might want to know who the artist and creator of that afgan or project might be. 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