Happy Friday, Hoochvillians!
It’s Angie checking in this week. Deanna’s been traveling with her mom to Yosemite the past week, (Happy belated birthday, Janet!), and while she’s been gone, I’ve been checking in on the progress at her new Ponderosa here in Tennessee. And I’m so pleased to say she finally has footers poured and blocks are going up today! It’s actually starting to sink in that she and the hubster and my two favorite pups will really be living less than three miles from me a few months from now, and to say that I’m over-the-moon with excitement would be the understatement of the year. I’m already imagining knocking on her door early in the morning and inviting myself in for coffee and plotting sessions while we enjoy the view of the mountains from her screened-in porch.
So there’s no update on the next book this week, but while Deanna’s been out hiking, I’ve been slowly, systematically going through my yarn stash (a feat of Herculean effort), and trying to make a reasonable plan for it all after my *ahem* somewhat reckless buying spree on our trip to Asheville last month. After making a complete inventory of what I have on hand, I dove down the rabbit hole on Ravelry and several other sites to plan and prioritize what I want to make out of some of the luxury yarns I’ve been collecting and dyeing over the years. Because it’s collecting, NOT hoarding, when we’re talking about fancy fibers, am I right? 😉
During my pattern-mining, I ran across a few links I wanted to share with you if you’re looking for some inspiration for the next projects you might want to cast on your needles or load onto your crochet hooks. The first is Cascade Yarns, a brand you might already be familiar with. What you might not know is that all their patterns, both knitting and crochet, are completely F-R-E-E! So even if you’re searching for the perfect project to make with a special indie-dyed yarn or that gorgeous, squishy cashmere blend you’ve been hoarding—I mean collecting—for a while, it’s a great place to start looking. The pattern resources can be searched by craft, type of fiber, weight, skill level, and the category of project you’re looking for, whether it be wearables, home accessories, blankets, or even amigurumi.
Next is one of my favorite indie dyer’s sites, Expression Fiber Arts. Not all of Chandi’s patterns are free, but in addition to all the search functions available on the Cascade site, you can also sort hers for free or paid. But… I’d recommend not filtering them to free only, because I’ve found many of my absolute favorite patterns here, and they are all reasonably priced, extremely well-written, and many have video tutorials linked within the pattern in case you get stuck and need a little help on a particularly tricky section. Additionally, sign up for her newsletter, and you’ll get a free pattern link emailed to you every week. And bonus… sometimes you’ll get two when she features both knit and crochet patterns for one of her lovely yarns!
For the steadfast crocheters out there, TL Yarn Crafts is the go-to for both patterns and tutorials for beginners, intermediate, and advanced crocheters looking to level-up their skills. You can get a lot of her patterns free on her blog or purchase the PDFs directly from her or her Ravelry store. Toni is an encouraging teacher and cheerleader, and I guarantee that after viewing a few of the instructional videos on her YouTube channel, you’ll not only have boosted your confidence, but you’ll also feel like you’ve made a lifelong friend. And if you’re looking to open up a whole new world of crochet skills, she literally wrote the bible on Tunisian Crochet.
And lastly, for the knitters in the crowd looking to destash mini skeins or leftovers from previous projects, check out Wool and Pine on Ravelry. (They have a few crochet patterns as well but are definitely geared predominantly toward knitters.) They have patterns for all types of garments and accessories, but the items I love most are their stashbusters like the Seaglass Cowl, Sweater, and Cardigan, Voyage Hat, Mittens, and Cardigan, and their most recent release, the Mix Tape Tee, which brilliantly allows you to use up bits and bobs of yarns from different dyers, different fiber blends, and different plies, and you can go as wild with colors as your imagine will allow. Bonus for us plus-size girls… it’s knit in two pieces, side-to-side, for a slimming, vertical stripe pattern instead of the traditional horizontal stripes! Wool and Pines’ patterns are worth every penny, and if, like me, you can’t choose just one, you can bundle and save. Add three or more patterns to your Ravelry cart, and a 20% discount will automatically be applied.
Until next time, happy stitching! 🙂