August | 2010 | The Caron Notebook

Archive for August, 2010

Our Swedish Crochet Connection

Posted in Uncategorized on August 30, 2010 | 5 Comments »

Sundsvall Throw, designed by Darla Fanton

I received an interesting e-mail from a reporter in Sweden, asking why the Sundsvall throw was named for that Swedish town. (All Country projects are named for cities around the world.) Here’s what Kristina wrote:

Just a coincidence? Must be a lucky one…

I come from the north of Sweden where Sundsvall is and the colours match perfectly. The town lies by the sea and the in the north whe have fantastic autumn colours. The plum and red look just like Sundsvall by autumn, purple cold sea water and red leaves and moss.

Thanks for a great newsletter, by the way!

Lots of fun for crochet-nerds like me.

Hope you have a fine, colourful autumn!!

Kristina

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Ultimate Sweater Machine

Posted in Machine Knitting on August 27, 2010 | 7 Comments »

Hi everyone! For those who don’t know me, I am the Fashion & Design Coordinator here at Caron. I work with Cari Clement. (Yeah, the Cari and Carrie thing can get a bit confusing to folks! )

Those of you who are Caron facebook fans know that I just got the Ultimate Sweater Machine. I have never used it before and am not a knitter. My experience with knitting machines is limited to seeing my mother use some super huge industrial looking machine when I was a kid. It had these punchcards for making the designs some how. That thing was scary!

So anyway, in order to prepare for setting up and using the Ultimate Sweater Machine, I watched a bunch of the YouTube videos on it. I managed to get it set up pretty easily! The hardest part was figuring out how the weight went on. Well, actually it was finding the volume control on my computer (lol), but figuring out the weight took me a minute or two!

I got the Ultimate Sweater Machine set up!

I set it up at my kitchen table and used the non-slip pad that comes with it. I couldn’t clamp it to the table because my table has a lip around the edge. But the non-slip pad seems to hold it just fine.

The YouTube videos were extremely helpful. Now on to the next step – using it! I will let you know how it goes!

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Movie Monday: A Single Man

Posted in Movie Mondays with Vickie Howell on August 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Julliane Moore and Colin Firth in the same movie? Go on; I’m interested. Directed by fashion designer/icon, Tom Ford? Even better. Set design and costumes to feed my obsession with 60′s fashion? Sign me up! A Single Man has all of those things and, as a special gift to us knitters, a flirty male character in a fitted mohair sweater!

Nicholas Hoult as “Kenny”, wearing a Stockinette Stitch, Mohair Pullover

An extra, wearing a 3/4-Length Sleeve Cardigan

Recommended Knitting:

Galactic Adventurer’s Survival Sweater, by Hannah Kelly Alvarez

An Urban Twist, by Lana Hames

NaturallyCaron.com’s Allegra Cardi, by Margaret Wilson

Caron’s Simple Knit Shrug

Happy viewing; happy stitching!

Craft.Rock.Love,

Vickie

Follow Caron on Twitter: @CaronYarns!

See more Movie Monday posts here!

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Get 20% off at Buy.Caron.com!

Posted in Yarn on August 11, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Patterns for my Whirlwind Wrap & Tiny Tux Tunic,

coming soon to Caron.com/vickiehowell!

Caron International has just launched their e-commerce site, Buy.Caron.com! Now you can one-stop shop for every yarn, in every color that they offer. In addition, they’re carrying loads of knitting & crochet books and oodles of stitch-related tools. Shop now and get 20% off your order, plus free shipping!

Stitch.Rock.Love,

Vickie

Friend me on FaceBook!

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Summer Crafting in Chicago

Posted in Crochet, Knitting, Yarn on August 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

The CHA Summer Supershow that was held in Rosemont, IL, just outside of Chicago on July 30 and 31, was upon us and the Craft Yarn Council had a front-and-center booth, showing everyone how to use yarn for all kinds of crafts. But the most important were the volunteers from the Northern Illinois Crochet Guild! Shout-out to you guys! Check out Gwen teaching the next passionate generation for crochet.

Gwen Blakley-Kinsler shows how it's done.

And there was Svetlana from Spinrite showing how to make pompons – to the delight of a whole family…

Others included Susan Sullivan from Leisure Arts dying yarn with Kool-Aid, Kathleen Sams from Coats showing how to do Tunisian (aka afghan) crochet, and Claire from Lion Brand demo’ing how to wrap a clothes hangar….

: The pompon family.

and me doing, what else, demonstrating the Ultimate Sweater Machine.

Yup, 1,200 stitches a minute.

A crazy, exhausting – but good time was had by all! Watch for the next Supershow to be held in Anaheim CA this coming January.

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And the grand finale – CHAIN LINK BANQUET AND FASHION SHOW!

Posted in Crochet, Uncategorized on August 3, 2010 | 9 Comments »

The few days we all had together went WAY too fast! Saturday nite’s event, sponsored by Caron, started with Tammy and crew helping to “set” the tables with goodies: a ball of Country yarn, an H Etimo hook and a pattern for Vickie Howell’s Country scarf. First, the pre-dinner photos:

A perfect place setting.

Elegant dining at its best - with Country, Etimo and Vickie!A perfect place setting.

Bradley and KJ Hay - with tie Bradley knit and top that KJ crocheted.

: Amy Shelton of Crochetville in a Doris Chan dress in Spa.

: Mentor Susan Lowman and mentee Kara Lyon.

And now for the fashion show!

: Doris – with attitude – in Tesoro shawl – in new Spa colors!

Diane Moyer wearing her Tulsa Jacket design.

First-prize, special occasion-winning entry designed by Patricia Williams - and aptly worn by Kang Hyo Min from Tulip.

Willena's People's Choice Award-winning City Lights dress modeled by Kazue Ohara of Tulip

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Vickie Howell’s Movie Monday: Johnny Belinda

Posted in Crochet, Knitting, Movie Mondays with Vickie Howell on August 2, 2010 | 2 Comments »

This week’s Movie Monday selection was a reader request, 1948′s Johnny Belinda. This is both a sweet and scandalous story that (if you can get past the across-the-board unfortunate attempts at Irish accents) that still holds cinematic weight even 60+ years after its release. Here’s a glimpse at the role that knit and crochet wear played in this classic film.