Interweave Press and Kim Guzman have put together A Step-By-Step Guide to Tunisian Crochet to help you get started with the basic.   Once you’ve gotten down the basics, there are five patterns for you to try, including the Mulled Spices Afghan.

For those of you who already love Tunisian Crochet, this is a great opportunity to pick up a technique resource, along with five great patterns, for the unbelievable amount of $6.99.

The CGOA 2012 Design Competition is now open for all CGOA members of all levels. The deadline for all entries is June 6, 2012. In 2009, my VictoriAfricana Footstool won 3rd place in the Home Décor category. I’m going to enter again this year and hope some of you will do it, too. It is always fun to see the creative designs of the final winners.

There are seven design categories: fanciful fashion, fashion, accessories, small wonders, afghans, thread crochet, artistic expression.

A $15 fee is require for your first entry and a $10 fee for each additional entry.

For more details visit CGOA to read the additional competition information.

Hookey

Hookey is the social site for the Crochet Liberation Front (CLF), which was created by Laurie Wheeler, aka the Fearless Leader. The CLF “is designed to educate, inform and promote all levels of crochet lovers!” Laurie describes Hookey as “a home for dyed in the wool crochet lovers. Come play, talk shop, and run with hooks!”

Please take time to visit Hookey and NeedleArtists and Crafters during NatCroMo, and let them know that you heard about them from This Is Crochet.

NeedleArtists and Crafters

NeedleArtists and Crafters (NAC) is a fledgling marketing company for tactile artist. It’s mission is to “help needle artists and crafters earn sustainable incomes from their hand crafts through teaching, coaching, sales, and promotion.” NAC was founded by Andrea Fields. She is a talented dollmaker and skilled in several other arts and crafts. Her value statement for NAC is “filling hearts, homes and minds with visions of hand made beauty, comfort, and love. (The kind of love that keeps hearts anchored at home).”

Please visit NAC and see the work of all the extremely talented members.

One of the activities that the Crochet Guild of America suggests for this month is to make new crochet friends so I want to say a quick thank you to everyone who has been sending me tweets and DMs with links to your crochet projects. I love it when we share.

This is the reason why I am really loving Pinterest. For those of you who have not made it there yet, we are sharing our projects and lots of other things that we find fun and interesting.

Keeping with the spirit of sharing, in the next two posts I will showcase two places online where we can continue to celebrate and share the crochet love.  Until then, take care.

Happy NatCroMo!

National Crochet Month is half over, and I have been crocheting like mad. I’m on my way to Vegas at the end of the month, and I want to have at least ONE crochet thing to wear. As a designer, I end up crocheting a lot of items that I don’t get to keep, and I also make things for family and friends. This means I end up with very few things for myself.

I decided to make March the month where I crochet for myself. I started with the Bonus Crochet Day we had on February 29, and I’ve kept it going. Hopefully, by the end of the month I will have photos of some designs that I made for myself. Maybe they will turn into patterns, too!

The Party Girl Skirt is now available as a free pattern download. This is a cute skirt with a triple-tiered, ruffled bottom for little girls. It’s fun in layered bright colors, but it would be just as pretty done in one color. I think it would make a nice flower girl skirt if done in all white.

Photo via MoreDesignPlease.com

Pancake Doodles

I had to share these lacy pancake doodles because they remind me of doilies. These would be perfect being served for brunch on top of a beautiful lace crochet table cloth. The pancake batter is squirted from a squeeze bottle onto a hot griddle.

♥Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥

I hope we all get to share some sweetness with others today. Even better if we get to share some crochet love in the form of a crocheted gift.

I crocheted a cute pink headband for my granddaughter. She wore it half a day, and a doll and then a teddy bear wore it for the remainder of the day. I wanted to get a picture of her wearing it, but now it has disappeared into the mysterious black hole. Thank goodness headbands are quick to make so I can make more.

February is American Heart Month. It’s a good time for us to evaluate the diets and exercise habits of ourselves and our families so we can keep our hearts healthy. There are lots of fun Valentine’s Day and heart-related projects on Ravelry like hats, scarves and dishcloths.

Because this is a leap year, we get an extra day this month. I believe that February 29th should be declared “Bonus Crochet Day.” What do you think?

Have you joined Pinterest yet? For those who don’t know, Pinterest is a place online where people can create virtual pinboards to collect, organize, and share interesting images and links. If you are already there, I would love to check out and follow your pins. My pins can be found here.

Photo © Sarah Garrod of Annaboo’s House via Stylist.com

Vintage Votives

These votives can be easily created using strips of crocheted lace or even by cutting apart some doilies. I think this would be sexy in black lace crochet.