Sassy Crochet Flower Pin

Working at Spark Craft Studios I have to occasional design new classes and events. I was recently asked to come up with a Crochet Wine and Craft project and developed this gorgeous flower pin.



Ingredients:
11 yards Manos del Uruguay in Flame (flower)
Five yards Worsted Lambs Pride in Kiwi (leaves)
Crochet Hook - Size G
One pin back
One decorative bead for flower center
Coordinating embroidery floss or thread to attach components
Hot glue gun (optional)

Flower Pattern:
ch 5 and join with sl st to form ring.
Rnd 1 – make 10 sc in ring. Join with sl st.
Rnd 2 - Working in front loop only of ea sc in previous rnd, ch 8, sl st to same sc. *Ch 8, sl st to next sc. Repeat from * to end of rnd. Join last ch 8 loop to first with sl st. (11loops)
Rnd 3 - Sl st to back loop of sc *ch 3, skip 1 sc, sl st in back loop of next sc. Repeat from * four more times
Rnd 4 – *Sl st into next ch-3 space (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 3 tr, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc ) in same ch-3 space. Repeat from * four more times. Sl st to first sl st. Fasten off.

Leaf Pattern:
ch 12
Row 1 - *Sl st in 3rd ch from hook, sc in next st, hdc in next 2 sts, dc in next 3 sts, hdc in next 2 sts, sc in next st, sl st in last st. Rotate work to crochet down opposite side of foundation chain.
Row 2 – Sl st in first ch, sc in next, hdc in next 2, dc in next 3, hdc in next 2, sc in next, sl st in last ch

Do NOT fasten off. Continue to make second leaf. Ch 12, turn. Follow directions for first leaf.

Finishing:
Weave in ends. Attach flower to leaves with a few tacking stitches, keeping the leaves evenly arranged behind the flower. Attach decorative bead to center of flower, working through all layers of flower and leaves and pin back. Hot glue gun threads around pin back for extra strong attachment.

Wabanaki Basket Weekend

I took my friend Cheryl home to Maine for Presidents Day weekend and we had a basket themed weekend.

Saturday we went to the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance in Old Town at the Wabanaki Arts Center Gallery. We learned about the basket makers, materials and techniques. We were able to view antique baskets as well as brand new baskets of every shape and size (berries, corn, acorn and pumpkin shaped baskets). All the basketmakers use traditional materials like sweet grass and ash. For more information and pictures visit the Alliances website. http://www.maineindianbaskets.org

The next day Cheryl and I tackled our berry basket kit made by Basket Weaving 101. The kits are very nice and have great supplies except the photocpied instructions were a bit hard to follow. We are the strike out on your own type of people and really enjoyed the whole process. (Jeff was of course a hindrance to our crafting, but we persevered.) We tried to incorporate some of the design elements that we saw at the Gallery and were happy with the loops and twists that we made. You really have to soak the reeds well, and the colors bled a little in our hot water, but that made it that much more fun and colorful. The trickiest part is finishing the top of the basket, it took me several tries but I am very happy with the outcome. Here are our baskets. (The pink one is Cheryls and the green one is mine)