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Free Cowl Pattern + Crazy Skein Cowl Kits!

October 18, 2015

I used to carry some awesome Shepherds Wool Crazy Skein yarn and I got a lot of questions about what would be the best thing to make with it. I’ve used it for lots of things – hats, shawls, scarves and and awesome cowl.

I wrote up a quickie pattern for you that shows off the wonderful texture and colors in this yarn.

It’s a free pattern, and you can download the pdf, here.

Why is it called ‘Either Way Cowl’? Because I’m showing you two different ways to knit a cowl! Try the ‘easiest way’ if you’re new to knitting or want a really simple project! If you have some knitting experience under you’re belt, then ‘try this way’ and watch my provisional cast-on video for help!

‘Try this way’ version shown.

Download your Either Way Cowl Pattern and pick your way!

I can’t wait to see yours!

Best,
Stacey

EEP! It’s an EPP Halloween Blog Hop!

October 12, 2015

I’ve really been having fun playing with English Paper Piecing (EPP) ever since I got Diane Gilleland’s All Points Patchwork and made my very first EPP project.

I reviewed that book here. In a nutshell – it’s absolutely fabulous.

Every time I look at a hexie template – especially when it’s solo and surrounded by other fabric – I see an eyeball. 🙂 So when Diane asked me to participate in a Halloween EPP Blog hop I leaped at the chance.

The design is super easy. Make a bunch of hexies and then start playing around with them.

I made 96 black hexies using all the black-on-black fabrics in my scraps, and 14 green hexies, two each of all my acid green scraps.

Then I started playing around with the arrangement and joining them together.

I put the matching eyes together in pairs, and then added 1/2″ felt circles. If you make them “look” in the same direction, they’ll look like pupils to the eyes.

Frame your eyeballs in a hoop using this method.

Done!

You could make just a single pair of eyeballs for a fast little project in a small hoop, or a whole bunch of eyeballs for a bigger piece.

How many eyeballs do you want to sew?

🙂

Happy Halloween!

Best,
Wendi

Free Moose Applique Pattern

October 9, 2015

Every time I release a pattern I get requests for additional blocks. It’s usually just one or two people with very specific requests, but when I released the Woodland Critters pattern I got a LOT of requests for a moose block.

Clearly I should have included a moose!

I can fix that. 🙂

So here’s a moose pattern!

It’s sized to fit on the same size block as the rest of the animals in the Woodland Critters quilt, but you can easily size it up or down to use it in all kinds of different projects. (This post about using my quilt patterns to make coasters has more info about resizing.)

Download the pattern pieces here.

Trace the moose pattern onto the paper side of your favorite fusible adhesive. I’m head over heels in love with these printable fusible adhesive sheets because I can skip the tedious tracing and get right to the fun part– choosing fabric!

The pattern pieces have already been reversed so just trace or print them as they are.

Roughly cut all the pieces out, leaving a little extra all the way around each piece.

Following the manufacturer’s instructions for time and steam, fuse the pieces to the back of the fabric. (I use Heat & Bond Lite for all my quilts.)

Cut each piece out neatly. Cut directly on the solid lines. Leave a little extra seam allowance (roughly 1/4”) past all the dotted lines. Those bits will tuck behind other pieces for a nice, neat finish.

Trace the features onto the front side of the face pieces. If you hold it up to a window you’ll be able to easily see the features shining through.

I like to trace a little inside the eyes and nostrils– just so I have a rough guide where to position those pieces– and trace right over the line for the mouth. I just use a fine-tip sharpie or a pencil, nothing fancy.

Peel off the paper backing and arrange the pieces as shown. Line the bottom of the shoulders up with the bottom edge of the block. Remember: the dotted lines show which pieces tuck behind other pieces.

(I quilted my background block to the batting before I started, so that’s what you see here. You can find more info about the “quilt as you go” (QAYG) method I use here.)

Following the manufacturer’s instructions for time and steam, fuse the pieces to the background fabric. Important note: For some brands the fuse time and steam settings for fusing fabric to fabric are different from the time and steam setting to fuse the paper to the fabric. Check your package.

Stitch around each piece as desired.

I like to use a simple straight stitch with black thread. (I go over the mouth three times for an extra thick line.) It’s a great cartoony look that suits my designs, and it holds up very well through multiple washings. Some people prefer the look of a zigzag or blanket stitch. It’s all good!

Trim the block to size if it’s for a quilt, or proceed with whatever other awesome thing you’re making.

Here you can see my block in the Woodland Critters quilt

Have fun with it!

Woodland Critters quilt with added free moose block

Happy quilting!

Best,
Wendi

How Durable is Applique with Fusible Adhesive?

October 8, 2015

How Durable Is Straight Stitching for Fusible Appliqué? Don't I need to use a zigzag?

How durable is applique with fusible adhesive? I get that question a LOT. People really want to know if it’s really ok to just straight stitch around the edges of the pieces in applique with fusible adhesive. People worry that they have to zigzag to make everything durable.

The best way to answer that is with a picture!

This is a close up of one of the cats on the quilt I made for my daughter almost two years ago. She uses it all the time – usually on her bed, but also dragged to sleepovers and occasional stints in the yard. I have no idea how many times it’s been through the washer and dryer – but it’s definitely been washed a LOT.

How Durable is Straight Stitching on Appliqué?

Look how great it still looks! There’s just a tiny bit of fraying on the edges. A very tiny bit.

This is mostly because the quality of the fabric is excellent. The fabrics that you buy in independently owned quilt shops are better quality than just about anything you can get at a Joann’s or a Hancocks, which is itself higher quality than what you get at a discount store like Walmart. A higher thread count and tighter weave makes for less fraying – and a more durable quilt overall.

If you’re using good quality fabric, you can definitely use a simple straight stitch around the edges with no worries.

One note – if you’re using flannel – even an excellent quality flannel – the small amount of fraying will be more visible because it will be white, so you might want to zigzag those edges as an artistic choice. But as far as durability goes – you’re good.

In 2022 I started using my own fabric designs from Spoonflower for all my quilts.

(It’s so much fun using fabrics I designed especially for applique – and knowing those designs won’t go out of print in a few months!)

Before I started using it, I (of course) needed to know how durable is applique with fusible adhesive when the fabric is Spoonflower fabric? I did what I always do – extensive testing to see how it frayed. You can see the results here. I use the Petal Signature Cotton for my background blocks because it’s a little less expensive, and I use the Organic Cotton Sateen for my applique pieces because it just about doesn’t fray at all, and the colors are a smidge brighter.

One more note – all of this is assuming you’re using the right weight adhesive. I use Heat-n-Bond Lite for my quilts. You can see the results of my fusible adhesive testing here.

Do you like that cat face? It’s one of the blocks in the Cuddly Cats quilt pattern. 🙂

Here are links to all the posts showing how to applique with fusible adhesive – my favorite method. It’s fast and easy and (with the right materials) it holds up beautifully to rough use and repeated washing.

How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – a very basic intro
How Durable is Applique with Fusible Adhesive?
Fusible Applique the Easy Way – the way I currently work – use with any of my patterns that include SVG files
How to Use a Light Box to Layer Your Applique – perfect placement every time
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – photo tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files
How to Applique with Fusible Adhesive – video tutorial – use with any of my patterns that do not include SVG files

Here are links to special posts about eyes.

Here are links to some extra fun things you can do with your applique.

Other Applique Methods

Finished with this topic?

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Move on to the lessons about outline stitching.

How to Paint Your Own Craft Eyes

October 7, 2015

You can get craft eyes in lots of fun colors, and I show you how to use them here. But, what do you do if you want something you can’t find in a shop? Like pink eyes? Or glitter eyes? Or polka dot eyes? Hmm… those would be hard to find.

You can paint them yourself! Today, I’ll show you how to paint your own craft eyes! All you need is clear craft eyes and some paint. And since there are oh, about a thousand, colors of paint available… the possibilities are endless!

Scroll down for the video!

Glitter eyes!

Have you seen Beanie Boos? They’re a group of Beanie Babies with glitter eyes!

I’ve been getting lots of requests for glitter eyes, because you want to add this awesome touch to your own stuffed animal creations. I can’t find anywhere where they are commercially available… but, I have found the perfect glitter paint!

Aren’t these amazing? And they’re even more sparkly in person!

Glamour Dust paint is fantastic!

It’s so much fun!

How to Paint Your Own Craft Eyes

Painting your own craft eyes is easy! All you need is some acrylic paint and clear craft eyes.

You’ll get more details in the video below, but here are the basic steps:

Apply a thin coat of acrylic paint to the back of the craft eye
Allow paint to dry
Repeat. I’ve applied 2-3 thin coats for maximum glitter

Video Tutorial

I filmed this tutorial before I got the fancy palettes, and I realize my thumb is often in the way… oops! But, I think you get the idea!

Isn’t that easy? And here’s the result!

Of course, you don’t have to use glitter paint. Any acrylic paint will work! And you don’t have to paint them all one color. Try painting little polkadots before you lay down a solid background color. Or maybe stripes! Or a starburst effect! The only limit is your imagination!

Ombre Glitter Eyes

An ombre effect is a little more tricky than simple stripes, so here’s some more info on that.

Aren’t these amazing?

This ombre effect is super-easy to achieve with glitter paint because the paint is actually clear with specks of glitter. That means that one coat leaves little gaps for another color to shine through!

TUTORIAL

Here’s how to do it in three easy steps!

I’m so excited about the possibilities… I’m thinking my next ones will be white and pink ombre.

What color combinations do you think would be amazing?

Get glittery! 🙂

Here are handy links to all the posts about amigurumi eyes. . .

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the lessons for standing legs.

Happy stitching!

Crochet Provisional Cast On Tutorial

September 29, 2015

The crochet cast on is a fabulous cast on to have in your knitting tool kit. And I’ve made you a video to show you how to do it!

It uses a ‘waste’ piece of yarn that you’ll pull out when you’re finished knitting: leaving a row of live stitches on the first row! It’s like magic!

It’s a technique you may see in cases where you’ll want to continue knitting from the first row. For example, I’ve seen it used to cast on for the neck of the sweater (when you’ll come back later to knit the collar). It’s absolutely seamless, so it’s a cleaner look than coming back and picking up the stitches later on.

Here’s the Video!

This is the sort of technique where a video is worth a million words. I’ve made a short (4 minute) video showing you:

How to cast on with waste yarn
How to mark your cast on so it pulls out easily every time!
How to count your cast on stitches
How to be sure you’re knitting the stitches in the right direction
How to pull out your waste yarn

I encourage you to watch and try it out for yourself!

Neat, huh?

Ready to try it out? Hang on to your hats!

I’ll be making a pattern available soon that’ll let you put this technique to use!

Show & Tell Time!

September 16, 2015

It’s Show & tell Time again! Today I’m sharing some AMAZING quilts that Shiny Happy People have been making. 🙂

Melinda

Take a look at the lovely Woodland Critters quilt that Melinda made!

She writes. . .

I learn more with each quilt. This was the first time I cut blocks larger and quilted first. I don’t think I will ever quilt after appliqué again. So much easier. Thank you for making quilting fun!!!

She made one too many owl blocks, so made the extra into a terrific pillow too.

And – as if that’s not enough – she also made this gorgeous Safari Quilt!

Look at how great the quilting shows up on those solid-colored background blocks!

Patterns: Woodland Critters Craftsy Class (this is a discounted link just for my readers), Safari Quilt

Connie

Connie made this cute monster quilt.

I love how she adjusted the position of the pupils to make them look at each other. 🙂

Pattern: Scary Squares

Jan

Look at the fun flower quilt that Jan made using a single block pattern!

She writes. . .

I enjoyed making your cute free pattern. I used men’s shirts for the background and the posies are recycled from a piece of 70’s clothing. I named it Repotted Posies. Thank you for sharing the pattern

Look closely! She added a button to the block intersections. So perfect with the men’s shirting fabric!

Pattern: Pretty Posy (free)

Kathi

Kathi sent photos of two Shiny Happy Quilts she’s made. Take a look at these puppies first!

I love the improv-pieced strip of scraps on the back!

And take a look at these monsters!

I especially love the green/orange one at the bottom. Such a fun idea!

Patterns: Puppies Quilt, Scary Squares Quilt

Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie also sent a couple of projects! First – look at the cute playmat!

Anne-Marie writes. . .

I’ve just finished making a baby play mat from your craftsy quilt pattern! It’s not perfect, but it is very cute. I hope my friend’s new son will like it!

I bet he loves it! I especially love the way she added a big monogram to that center tree block. 🙂

She showed us her Chirp quilt before. (Her first quilt! You can see it here.) Now she’s made some cushions to match!

She writes. . .

I decided to use up my last few scraps of material from my crazy Chirp quilt to make a few cushions. I went as crazy as usual and made four cushions to match my couch quilt and I thought I’d send you a few pictures. Thank you so much for providing the perfect escape from my hectic life.

I love them!

Pattern: Patterns: Woodland Critters Craftsy Class (this is a discounted link just for my readers), Chirp Quilt

Cindy

I love this Princess Puppy tote bag!

Cindy writes. . .

I couldn’t resist adding a little embellishments. 🙂 Love your patterns!

The addition of the jeweled crown is so cute!

Pattern: Puppies Quilt

Michelle

This is Michelle’s first quilt!

She writes. . .

Just wanted to show you a couple of pictures from my first (ever!) quilt. I used your Thick & Thin pattern and made it for my daughter. While I really loved the original colour scheme you used, my daughter is much more of a pink girl, so we chose the Sunrise palette instead. I backed it in hot pink fleece similar to cuddle fleece called nursery fleece, which is much easier to get in Australia. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and she loves it. Thank you for such a wonderful (and easy to follow) pattern.

It’s lovely!

Pattern: Thick & Thin (free)

Diane and Friends

Diane and her friends get together every Tuesday to make things that they raffle off for charities. Look at the puppies!

Diane writes. . .

We made this quilt in just 3 weeks, to raffle for funds for our off-leash dog park. We sold 200 tickets at $3.00 each, and I am now making another one for a person who bought 64 of the tickets and did not win! She just has to have one!

I just love how many of the cat and dog quilt have been made to raise money for animal shelters and other good causes! It makes my heart happy. 🙂

Pattern: Puppies Quilt

Ginette

I love, love, LOVE this farm quilt Ginette made!

She writes. . .

Is this not the cutest little girl farm quilt! It was received with ooo’s and ahhhh’s. Three newbie quilters snatched it up for detailed examination much to my pleasure. Thank you, Wendi, for a well written, fun, versatile pattern.

It IS the cutest little girl farm quilt!

Pattern: Noisy Farm

Kati

Look at this pretty embroidered quilt!

Kati writes. . .

I used the butterfly and a flower pattern of yours to try embroidering on felt for the first time while we were traveling last year. Then I came home and attached them to fabric to make this little quilt for my daughter.

It’s beautiful!

Patterns: Flutterby and Blossom (both free)

Carol

We’ve seen lots of puppies so far, but Carol is sharing some kitties!

She writes. . .

On seeing your cat quilt pattern, my daughter was desperate to have a large floor cushion with this design. Here it is. It just made me smile all the time that I was working on it. I am still smiling! Thank you.

I love hearing that so much! My goal is always to make patterns that make people smile. 🙂

Pattern: Cats Quilt

Jordana

Jordana has been making some fun doll quilts!

She writes. . .

I got a huge bag of random scrap fabric at a thrift store for $3 that’s been perfect for doll clothes and quilts. Not great for color coordination but excellent for practicing!

I love them!

Patterns: Sprinkles Quilt (free), Dress Up Bunch Bedtime Collection (quilt, pillow, pillowcase and pajamas)

Ann

I love this project from Ann!

She writes. . .

I had a number of 2.5 inch squares (at least I think that is what I started with) from trying out a friend’s Accuquilt cutter. So I decided to try out doing Disappearing 9-Patch with a few more twists. I really liked the way they turned out but didn’t want to make enough for a quilt. So, with thinking cap on, realized that if I reduced the size of some your appliqued quilt blocks they would be a perfect match.
Result: 6 mug rugs, or maybe 6 place mats for a teddy bear’s picnic. Thanks for all the patterns and tutorials.

I love this idea! It’s a great way to get a totally new project out of your appliqué patterns!

Patterns: Chirp, Wild Flowers, Cats

Marge

I love this quilt mixing and matching blocks from several patterns!

It’s so much fun when people play with the patterns like that!

Patterns: Puppies, Cats, Wild Flowers

Deb

I love this bear quilt from Deb!

She writes. . .

I just need to quilt it! Donated to my school, Paddington Station Preschool in Denver for our annual auction! Had so much fun making it. Your videos were great!

The bright primary colors for the background blocks are so perfect for a school!

Pattern: Peekaboo Bear

What a fantastic and inspiring collection of quilts! Thanks so much to everyone for sharing!

Happy sewing!

Best,
Wendi

A Sweet Smiling Teddy Bear Ornament

September 14, 2015

Everyone in the Christmas Club received the pattern for ornament #3 this morning. Happy Monday!

I love the sweet smile on this teddy bear face. And I love that this is a pattern you can use all year! Wouldn’t it be cute to top a baby shower gift with this cutie? Or appliqué that little face on a baby onesie? Lots of possibilities for this guy. 🙂

Why are we doing Christmas patterns already?

I know it’s early – but the holidays can be such a stressful time of checking things off lists that we sometimes don’t have fun. Every year I hear from people who had planned to make a lot of handmade items, but just ran out of time. Or did it – but were completely stressed out by the whole process.

The idea behind the Christmas Club is that we’ll make a dozen handmade felt ornaments (at a relaxed pace so we really enjoy the process) before the holiday craziness really starts at Thanksgiving. No pressure. No sewing machine. Just a little time every week to put our feet up and enjoy hand stitching on some lovely wool felt.

~~Want to join us? It’s not too late! If you sign up now you’ll be able to download a PDF with links to the first three patterns, then you’ll get a new pattern by email every Monday morning.~~

The club is closed now, but you can still get the patterns!

Get all the 2015 patterns here.

Get just the teddy bear ornament pattern here.

Merry Christmas! And happy stitching!

Best,
Wendi

Creating an Applique Pattern from a Drawing or Clip Art

September 10, 2015

how to turn a drawing into an applique pattern

I’ve received a few questions lately about whether it’s possible to create an applique pattern from a drawing or clip art.

Yes!

You can create an applique pattern from just about any drawing – but you may have to do a bit of tweaking to the drawing.

Let’s take a look at this appliqué I did of a pattern from Mollie Johanson’s fabulous embroidery book Stitch Love.

Applique dinsoaurs from an embroidery pattern in the book Stitch Love by Mollie Johanson

This dinosaur was perfect because all the shapes that make up the image are already enclosed shapes. There are no “dead end lines.”

What’s a dead end line?

That’s what I call lines that end in the middle of nowhere – not making an enclosed shape.

See this sweet bear from Mollie’s book? Lots of dead end lines! I circled them all in red.

Mollie designed him for embroidery where dead end lines don’t matter. But let’s imagine the second you saw him you knew he would be perfect appliquéd on a pillow for your son (who you call Buddy Bear).

You can do it!

Just because it was designed for embroidery doesn’t mean you can’t appliqué this adorable bear. It just means it’s going to require that tweaking I mentioned. 🙂

I chose this bear because he needs a lot of different kinds of tweaks. Let’s start with the easiest – the dead end lines at his ears.

You can see where I “erased” the lines that extend into his head. The ears stick out enough to still be clearly ears, so that works. But what about those cute inner ears?

No erasing for them – I added the red lines to enclose them into cut-outable shapes. Also not hard – and I don’t feel like it interferes with the integrity of the drawing, so I’m ok with it.

Things start getting a little trickier with the arms. We’ll start with the bent arm. . .

For that one I re-drew the lines to extend them both to the edge of the body, making that arm a separate piece that would lay over the body piece. (I’d do it neater in real life because I wouldn’t be trying to draw with my mouse.)

Finally – that waving arm. That’s definitely the hardest bit. I experimented with erasing and drawing, but so much of the arm overlaps the body that erasing that top line really blurs/distorts the shape. It made it look like that arm was growing out of the side of his head!

What I finally did was actually cut that arm out and move it farther outside the body so that there’s less overlap.

See? I had to do a little erasing/adding to clean things up, but I think works well – again without messing up the look too much of the original drawing. He’s still immediately recognizable as a Wild Olive creation. That face!

Read my review of Mollie’s Stitch Love. It’s packed full of seriously adorable critter patterns and you could make a super cute quilt out of them!

Let’s look at one more example – this one of a child’s drawing.

When I stitched up my daughter Jo’s drawing of a dragon and a princess, it required very little tweaking.

Here’s the original drawing.

I would have been tempted to turn the head/neck/body/tail into one piece, but she had broken it into three pieces in her drawing, so I left it that way to keep the look the same. All I really did was “flesh out” the feet a little bit so there was green fabric behind the toes.

I also made all the back ridges one loooong piece. They’re all connected at the bottom, where the piece tucks behind the neck/body/tail. That didn’t change the look of the drawing, but it sure made the assembly of the appliqué a lot easier. 🙂

So there you go! A few tips to help you convert just about any drawing into an appliqué pattern.

Here’s a list of links all about choosing a quilt pattern – and even designing your own!

Return to the Let’s Make a Quilt main Table of Contents.

Happy stitching!

How to Use a Stitch Marker in Crochet

September 9, 2015

How to Use a Crochet Stitch Marker - from Shiny Happy World

Besides your hook and yarn, a crochet stitch marker is your best buddy and most useful tool!

You want to look for a locking stitch marker, which is a lot like a fancy safety pin.

Locking Stitch Markers from Shiny Happy World

Locking stitch markers come in a few varieties, but the most important thing is that they open and close! Don’t get fooled into buying those ordinary ring markers that are for knitting needles. . . they don’t work for crochet.

Do you have your stitch markers ready? Let me get you and your new best friend acquainted!

Handy Use #1: Mark the End of the Round

The most common problem crocheters have when crocheting in the round is losing track of where the round starts and ends – which leads to an incorrect stitch count and mayhem! So, I’ll show you how to use a locking stitch marker to mark the end of a round.

I don’t tend to use a stitch marker for the first couple of rounds (because there are so few stitches per round), but I usually start at the end of the third round. Here I’m crocheting the snout of the cow, but many circles begin the same way.

Crocheting in the round - starting a circle.

Since I crochet through the back loop only the front loop is available to hold a locking stitch marker.

Adding a stitch marker to the front loop of the last stitch in a crochet round.

Slip the stitch marker into the front loop of the last stitch in the round, close it up, and keep crocheting!

small crochet circle with stitch marker attached to the last stitch

I know I’m finished with my next round when I’m just above the stitch marker, like this:

Using a stitch market to show where a crochet round ends.

Then I can move the marker and start my next round. No confusion!

Handy Use #2: Counting How Many Rounds You’ve Done

A lot of amigurumi are made by crocheting in the round. When teaching classes, I’ve noticed that counting rounds is something that gives a lot of crocheters trouble… I mean, who wants to count every stitch? I’ll show you how a crochet stitch marker can help you in counting rounds.

small crochet circle with locking stitch marker attached.

Let’s do a little example.

I’ve been following my pattern instructions for the first three rounds, and now my pattern says:

Rounds 4-6: sc in each st (18)

How can we do this without counting?

I take a crochet stitch marker (the orange thing in the photo above), and lock it onto the last stitch of the round. Then, I’m just going to keep crocheting around and around until I’m exactly 3 rounds above my marker!

Crochet sample shown crocheting three rounds past the clocking stitch marker.

Check out the photo above… and you’ll also see why I prefer crocheting through the back loops- each round leaves behind a little horizontal ridge that makes each round super-easy to count!

Handy Use #3: Position Your Pieces for Attaching

Attaching pieces can be a little tricky, too… but stitch markers can help! So, let’s look at some instructions that say, ‘attach legs to rounds 9-14’.

What you want to do is find out where round 9 is, and place a locking stitch marker there. Start counting (see the ridges?) from the center:

Count until you’re at round 9, and place a marker. Place another at round 14. Now you know where your leg should be located on the body!

using locking stitch markers on amigurumi

Handy Use #4: Use Crochet Stitch Markers to Hold Pieces While Seaming

So now you’ve marked where your pieces should go… but locking stitch markers have one more great use. I use crochet stitch markers to hold my pieces in place while I’m sewing pieces together. It’s like having a few extra hands!

They’re big enough to go through a couple layers of crochet fabric, and by placing a couple around the piece that you’re attaching it’ll be held in place – making your sewing even easier. Yay!

I’ve been showing you lots of examples of circles… but this exact same trick can be used when assembling a sweater or afghan blocks! It keeps everything nice and even!

Handy Use #5: Keep Your Work from Unraveling When You Travel

how to keep crochet from unraveling - using a locking stitch marker to keep the yarn from pulling through

Throw your crochet into your bag, and you’re just one snag away from all of your work coming undone. Eep!
But not with a stitch marker!

Put your locking stitch marker through the loop when you’re done… and it can’t unravel even one stitch! Fabulous!

Caring for Your Crochet Stitch Markers

I bet you didn’t think these handy tools needed any special care, but there’s one little trick that will make them even easier to use.

Store them open!

That’s it! That’s the key to a healthy and long-lasting locking stitch marker.

Why? If you store your marker closed, the plastic slowly bends until the ‘open position’ isn’t very open anymore.

It’s not a huge deal, but it makes the marker just a little bit harder to slip onto your crochet piece. Store them open and there’s no problem!

There you go – lots of handy ways to use your crochet stitch markers to make your projects just a little easier and more fun.

Here are handy links to all the posts about crochet tools and supplies.

Return to the main table of contents for Let’s Learn to Crochet Amigurumi.

Move on to the posts about yarn.

Happy stitching!

Glitter eyes!

How to Paint Your Own Craft Eyes

Video Tutorial

Ombre Glitter Eyes

TUTORIAL

Here’s the Video!

Neat, huh?

Melinda

Connie

Jan

Kathi

Anne-Marie

Cindy

Michelle

Diane and Friends

Ginette

Kati

Carol

Jordana

Ann

Marge

Deb

What a fantastic and inspiring collection of quilts! Thanks so much to everyone for sharing!

Handy Use #1: Mark the End of the Round

Handy Use #2: Counting How Many Rounds You’ve Done

Handy Use #3: Position Your Pieces for Attaching

Handy Use #4: Use Crochet Stitch Markers to Hold Pieces While Seaming

Handy Use #5: Keep Your Work from Unraveling When You Travel

Caring for Your Crochet Stitch Markers

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