How to Crochet Floral Jewelry

My flower garden is a great joy and one of the major sources of inspiration for my fiber art jewelry as well as my knitted and crocheted accessories. Each of my pieces begins with an image. In the case of this necklace, the image was of the humble morning glory. I'd like to invite you to share in my design process for making this piece.

Once the image is determined, I gather my materials: *crochet hooks *threads in cotton, bamboo and silk *beads and other findings. I then experiment with shapes. I'm not seeking to duplicate nature, but to interpret it in order to design versatile wearable art. The Morning Glory may be worn as a long lariat, a doubled and twisted choker, and even as a dainty looking headband. This is made with fine threads, but it's crocheted so tightly that it's very durable and even hand washable to last for many years.

Many people view morning glories as weeds because they're so invasive. I go after them in my garden too, but they're so lovely that I wanted to preserve them in this necklace. You can find my Morning Glory Lariat / Choker / Headband in my Etsy shop. To see all of my current Fiber Art Jewelry please click here.  I'd be glad to speak with you about any questions you may have about this work. Just comment below to begin the discussion.

Kudos for Craftsy from the KnittingGuru!

I've been selling my patterns for years, but when I decided to open a pattern page on Craftsy.com the process became much more gratifying. The site is well organized and so beautiful to look at. It's rare that I find a venue where everything works perfectly and is absolutely intuitive. So I'm giving a shout out to Craftsy and would like to tell you about ways they've helped me too.

Last July my husband and I were in Paris and I was only checking my emails once a day. There are much better things to do in Paris than check emails! One day we came back from an arduous day strolling in the streets and parks and lounging in cafes and eating, and I noticed that I had sold many copies of my Delicate Lace Scarf Pattern. I wondered why so many of the same pattern were purchased at one time. During the next few days, this continued to happen.

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/knitting/accessory/delicate-lace-scarf---easy-knitting/9326

It took a long time, but I finally understood. Craftsy had listed it as one of their Top 13 Lace Patterns and it was widely seen. Well that was great!

Then, in January, I got an email from Craftsy saying they wanted to feature my lace scarves in their blog. They sent me some interview questions for my responses. Again the high quality of Craftsy was evident in the intelligence of their questions. Instead of answering the same questionnaire I've always received from bloggers, they had some really interesting angles and it was a pleasure to respond. Here's the great article they put together:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/01/meet-lace-knitting-pattern-designer-the-knittingguru/

Finally, the second week in March, I was selected as a Craftsy Guest Pinner on Pinterest (another one of my passions that I must write about soon!)

Here's the Craftsy Blog article on my week of Guest Pinning:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/03/featured-pinners-joshua-veena/

The week is now over and I miss it. The response to my Craftsy Guest Pinning was amazing. So many people repinned my pins and responded positively. I added a few hundred new followers. It was a really great week. You can see my Craftsy Guest Pinner Board here: http://pinterest.com/Craftsy/guest-pinner-veena-of-knittingguru/

I hope you enjoyed this story and that you'll follow me on Pinterest where I continue to pin  every day at: http://pinterest.com/knittingguru/

DIY Fred Astaire Scarf Pattern

I'm really happy to say that after being included in dozens of treasuries on Etsy, my Fred Astaire Scarf is now going to a new home!

I've always been a big fan of the debonaire Mr. Astaire and chose to include him in my series of knitwear dedicated to Old Time Movie Star Idols. Now that the scarf has a new owner, I've published a pattern so that even really new crocheters can make this fast and simple scarf. The pattern includes many suggestions for yarn and color variations, so there's no need to stick with the black and gray I chose for Fred.

You can get this pattern at Craftsy Have fun making several of these for yourself or to give as holiday gifts. The scarf only takes a few hours and a small amount of yarn, so it's perfect for unique, inexpensive presents.

The Search for a Great Sunhat Ends Here!

I don't know about you, but my search for a really great sunhat has been futile. Either they look good but don't keep enough sun off, or they're great looking but I don't want to lug around a big straw hat all day. (What do you do with those big hats when you go indoors?) Most hats I try on keep the sun off but look awful on me.

However, with a ball of cotton worsted yarn and my trusty crochet hook, I've come up with a great solution. My new hat has a definite Retro 1940s look. I really love the elegant fashions of that period and they look just right now, too. Therefore, I'll show you the hat first in a photo montage I just made of Ingrid Bergman wearing it and gazed at adoringly by Humphrey Bogart! (Photoshop is so much fun!)

Of course I can't promise you that you'll look like Ingrid when you wear this hat, but I can promise that if you have just the basic crochet skills, you'll be able to make it quickly, easily and inexpensively. In fact, the hat will cost less than two dollars to make in readily available Sugar and Cream, or Peaches and Creme yarn. The pattern includes suggestions for ways to alter it's design too, so you could easily make a half dozen of these and they'd all look different.

I love the coolness of this hat in pristine white. My design criteria were: coolness, hair-proof style, sun protection, and portability. I used openwork lace for the crown of the hat. All those little holes give it an air conditioned feel. They also minimize the tightness on the head that makes you end up with hat hair! I hate to go indoors, perhaps to a restaurant, and take off my hat only to find that my hair is ruined, don't you?

My second criteria of sun protection is built into this hat through a very tightly crocheted brim. The tightness of the stitches also keeps the brim from flopping. If you happen to be wearing this in a very windy place, the optional head band can be adjusted to a tight fit that will keep your hat from blowing off.

Finally, I like a hat that I can roll or fold up so it fits in a handbag or pocket and this hat certainly will do that. Because of the firmness of the stitching, the hat isn't altered by this and it looks just as good as new when you put it back on. I'll bet Ingrid really would have liked to have this!

You can find the pattern at Etsy and at Craftsy

If you decide to make this hat, I'd love to see pictures of your finished projects!

*** I'm giving away one copy of this pattern to someone (at random) who post a comment about the hat here. A reward will go to someone who takes just a minute to comment! ***

Starfish DIY

This is an update on my crocheted starfish. I had a lot of requests so I put together a pattern that includes the starfish brooch, earrings and ring.

You can find it at Etsy and also at Craftsy

The pattern shows all three starfish designs in turquoise, but I'm now working on some coral/apricot/tangerine starfish and really they look good in so many colors.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I always love to speak knitting and crochet, even though my patterns are always written in simple English.

Starfish Are a Preview of Summer Beaches

My Turquoise Starfish Brooch

and Ring are a call to the sea.











I've loved poetry from my earliest years, most likely because of the music of its rhythms. I definitely remember learning this poem by heart when I was still quite young:

This is meter right out of Homer and moves the spirit for sure!

Starfish combine both the sea and the stars and also are wonderful design elements. A year or so ago I made a Turquoise Starfish Ring --

I used Perle cotton #5 to make it and it's been in quite a few Etsy treasuries. Then a few months ago, a customer asked me to make a starfish brooch --

Can you see the starfish impression on the shell? The brooch is made with a DK weight mercerized cotton.


On my worktable right now is a starfish earring I've designed. This is made with variegated embroidery floss and the tiniest hook I could get to work with that easily separated thread. I'll mount these on silver plated ear wires.

You can find the ring in my Etsy shop and the brooch here. finished them. I'm also making a PDF crochet pattern for these enticing creatures that will be coming soon. I wish I could be on the beach right now smelling the salty air and hearing the waves while I do my design work.

Lily of the Valley Necklace & Flowers - Harbingers of Spring

When my Lily of the Valley first bloomed I made this necklace to celebrate the arrival of High Spring.

Here's the necklace on a mannequin to give you an idea of the dimensions.

The necklace is large and makes a big visual statement, but because I crocheted it with fine threads, it's actually very lightweight. I'm fond of using French embroidery floss for my fiber art jewelry because it has a beautiful sheen and comes in an almost limitless number of colors.

Today I was delighted to see that the flowers are still blooming. This is unusual for Lily of the Valley which generally only lasts a short time in the garden. I'm assuming that the cold weather has lengthened their lifespan.

This picture shows them just after a rainstorm last week. I like the sparkly water on the sturdy leaves of these very delicate looking flowers.

These are the flowers I picked this morning. Not only do they look like little ivory bells, but they also smell so intensely sweet that the whole room is deliciously scented.

I'll leave you today with a close-up of the necklace showing my interpretation in crocheted thread of these lovely flowers.

To make this necklace I crocheted a band in a braided stitch with a vintage button fastener. Then I applied the flowers and stems to a leaf I crocheted, and sculpted the leaf around the flowers. Finally, I sewed the leaf and flowers to the necklace band. This is a very labor intensive, but also very satisfying process. My necklaces are strictly one-of-a-kind. You can find out more about this one by clicking on my Etsy shop.