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What's New? UPDATED 6/02/08

UNCOMMON CROCHET! My latest book is in stores now!

Uncommon Crochet: 25 Projects to Make with Natural Yarns and Alternative Fibers.

If you aren't in the loop by now (pun intended), I wrote a book that features crochet instruction and inspiration using less traditional materials and techniques. Pictured above is a Petite Fleur Vase, a totally functional crocheted vase made with leather twine. The book shows the pattern made in cotton, leather, hemp, and wire and gives you lots of ideas on how to make this a functional vase for real flowers.

My purpose in writing this book was to motivate others to play with structure, fiber, and design, to abandon the norm, to ask questions, and to simply create with what you know or want to discover. Ten Speed Press and the people that worked on this project with me did a fantastic job. The unique quality of the paper perfectly complements the gorgeous photography by Angie Cao and the style design by Betsy Stromberg.

The book is broken up into 3 sections - Create, Design and Experiment. "Create" features super simple patterns that can be made to look more complex with interesting construction ideas. "Design" takes things one step further and outlines the basic principles you need to know before you design your own project like shaping and creating 3-dimensional pieces. In "Experiment" things get fun and funky with ideas for creating and embellishing your own or other projects using interesting techniques and alternative fibers. At the end is a complete list of resources to help you find the fibers that inspired you the most.

You can buy the book at your local bookstore, Amazon, or Powells.

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Pattern updates

The Baby It’s Cold Outside sweater was featured in the first ever Crochetville podcast, Crochet Unraveled. The sweater has been involved in a crochet along (CAL) since last November and it’s still going strong. Be sure to check out the first post for links to photos of some of the fabulous creations!