Coastal Crochet Book Review

I am a diehard beach lover. I was born on the coast of California and grew up by the beautiful San Francisco Bay. So when I read an Editorial Note on Ravelry regarding Karen Whooley's new book Coastal Crochet, I knew I needed to have it!
The note on Ravelry spoke about walking along the beach and warming your feet in the sand or feeling the cool water gently lapping against your toes -- MY HAPPY PLACE!

When I flipped through the pages of Coastal Crochet and saw the beautiful designs, I knew that Karen had captured this wonderful feeling exactly!

You can see that Karen put a lot of time and attention to detail in Coastal Crochet. Every aspect of the book has been carefully thought out and meticulously constructed, from the lovely crochet designs to the thorough instructions to the beautiful photography.

It has twelve wonderful crochet wearables, designed for sizes S through 2X. If you LOVE timeless designs that are well written, then you won't be disappointed with this book. These designs contain detailed schematics and charts and they are very clearly written. As always with her

style, fashion-wise, the book is filled with lovely wearables that have become Karen's signature. She put a lot of thought into choosing a variety of beautiful styles and colors that would appeal to many different tastes, yet still remain with the cool beachy theme of the Northwest Coastal area.

One of my favorites is the beautiful Mist Open-Work Cardigan,

 as well as the lovely Depths Side-to-Side Shawl.

But there are so many pretty crochet projects in Coastal Crochet!

Each design is created with beautiful fingering OR lace weight yarns in a variety of colors.

You can purchase this beautiful book through AMAZON at THIS LINK.

You can visit Karen anytime at her BLOG,  .

You can see ALL of Karen's designs from Coastal Crochet on Ravelry HERE.

You can also see Karen's extensive design portfolio on RAVELRY.



This blog contains affiliate links.

BLACK FRIDAY and Cyber Monday Specials

 Are you looking for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales on crochet and knitting patterns? Then you have come to the right place!

 From Jocelyn Designs: 50% off ALL crochet patterns for one day ONLY. Sale prices of 50% are good from 11/28/14 at MIDNIGHT ET until 11/29/14 at 11:00PM ET. 

NO COUPON CODE IS NEEDED. 

CLICK HERE

 From RAVELRY: 50% off ALL patterns in the Too Cute Crochet/Jocelyn Designs Ravelry Shop on CYBER MONDAY only. 

Sale prices are good from 12/1/14 at MIDNIGHT ET until 12/2/14 at MIDNIGHT ET. 

You must use the COUPON CODE at checkout of MONDAY

There are 128 CROCHET PATTERN in my Ravelry Shop, ALL 50% off!

CLICK HERE

 Kristine of Ambassador Crochet is having a Ravelry sale on BLACK FRIDAY 11/28/14 with 60% off from 12-4 AM. then her BUY 1, GET 1 FREE will be from 4-8AM. For the remainder of Black Friday after 8AM, ALL patterns will be 40% OFF!

CLICK HERE

On CYBER MONDAY, Ambassador Crochet's ETSY shop will be 40% OFF for the entire day! 

CLICK HERE

 Karen of KRW Knitwear is having a THREE DAY SALE in her shop.  

 Sale starts at Midnight on 11/28/14 PT and ends 11:59PM on Monday 12/1/14 PT.

ANY order of $75 or more gets FREE SHIPPING the the US.

All Print Patterns are still .99¢ - but order $10 or more of the patterns and get Free Shipping with code patternsfs2014 

Note: This code is only good with Print Pattern purchases only. It will not work with other items in the cart.

Get 25% off all Models in the sample sale. Use code  

models14

Get 25% off all PRINTED books - Event the sale books! use code  

books25

Kristin Omdahl has several Black Friday sales going on! 

Her beautiful Bamboo So Fine Yarn is $4.00 off per skein in her  

KRISTIN OMDAHL ETSY SHOP!

CLICK HERE

She is also giving away FREE PATTERNS!!

CLICK HERE

All of the PATTERNS in Kristin's RAVELRY shop are 42% off. 

CLICK HERE

 

ALL SALES RUN TO THE END OF THE MONTH! 

Fair Isle Crochet Class by Karen Whooley

I am super excited to be able to write to you about a new Craftsy class that my dear friend, Karen Whooley is teaching. It is a new technique class that I don't think is available anywhere else!
Make sure you read this post to the end to see how you could win this class for FREE and also how to purchase this class at 50% OFF!

Taking a class on Craftsy through videos is a great way to learn a new skill. It gives you a much more in-depth experience into learning a new technique.

The Fair Isle Crochet class includes seven (7) video lessons with over 3 hours of instruction.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning from this class. Karen's lovely 'backstory' into how she learned Fair Isle knitting and relating it to Fair Isle crochet was so interesting.

This class is full of incredible information, not only for Fair Isle crochet, but for basic crochet as well.

All of her explanations have wonderful details to teach you how to do Fair Isle crochet.

She also includes Designer Tips and a 'bonus' video to teach you how to design your own charts.

You will learn three (3) different projects for this class and all patterns and charts are included. Here are photos of the projects:

Fair Isle Hat

Fair Isle Trivet

Fair Isle Poet's Shawl

Here are a list of just SOME of the class highlights:

1. Discusses and explains in great detail Intarsia crochet vs Tapestry crochet vs Fair Isle crochet, so you fully understand her version of Fair Isle Crochet and how she came up with it;

2. In depth instruction on How to read Fair Isle charts including, repeats for both left and right handed crocheters, reading repeats for both stitches and rows, reading charts for both flat and round Fair Isle crochet, reading color legends, creating your own legends, which yarns are best to work with;

3. In depth instructions on learning how to change colors, with many tips on how to be successful at it, carrying yarn, working flat pieces, working in the round, creating seamless crochet projects;

4. Great FINISHING techniques including, weaving in all ends so there is no bulk, encasing tails, making fringe;

5. Many tips and tricks to help you work Fair Isle crochet well including determining gauge, joining chains to work in the round, single crochet in ends of the rows, common mistakes, decreasing, how to rip if necessary;

I recommend this class for anyone who has been interested in learning how to read charts and how to change and carry colors in their crochet work, but especially for anyone who loves learning new crochet techniques in general. This class will teach you all you need to know about Karen's technique for Fair Isle crochet.

As a reader of Cute Crochet Chat, you could WIN a free lifetime class of Fair Isle Crochet at Craftsy. For a chance to win, leave a COMMENT on this post and let us know which project you would like to learn to make from this class. Please make sure you leave an email address OR a way to contact you, if you are the winner.
AS A BONUS:  Karen is giving us a LINK to purchase her class at 50% OFF 


DISCLAIMER: Craftsy has provided both the review copy and giveaway class for Fair Isle Crochet by Karen Whooley. 

I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting Socks Book Winner

I am pleased to announce that Kimberly of GA is the winner of our Sock book by Karen Whooley!

Please stay tuned for a new great giveaway this week!
Sneak peak!

I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting Socks Blog Tour and GIVEAWAY!

Yes! another giveaway! 
In honor or National Crochet Month, we are giving away several crochet related items this month!

I am so pleased to present a review on the new book from Leisure Arts,

"I Can't Believe I'm Crocheting Socks"

by Karen Ratto-Whooley. 

Even at first glance, this book is awesome! I love the fact that EVERYTHING you need to know about crocheting socks is included in this book. As a novice sock crocheter, I can see that this book has A LOT to offer someone who wants to learn how to crochet socks. But it goes much further than that and offers nine creative designs for every level of sock crocheter!

This book is as complete as any crochet sock book that I have seen. There is so much helpful information.  Not only does it contain really nice patterns for making socks from different techniques, it explains how to pick the correct yarn and supplies, how to insure that your crochet socks will fit perfectly and the different methods of constructing socks. And there is something for everyone: men, women and older children. 

Crocheting a sock that fits is one of the more important aspects of Karen's instructions. One of the most frequent comments that Karen gets about her sock instructions is that "you can actually make them to fit your own foot"! She covers everything from yarn, types of yarn fibers, colors, heel types, sizing, construction and tools. All the patterns come in multiple sizes and there are lots of step by step colorful photographs for the beginner Basic Cuff Down and the Basic Toe Up Sock. I can't think of one thing that has been left out of this wonderful book.

With her very complete instructions, Karen assures us that "Yes, we can crochet socks that fit and look great!".

Karen was good enough to answer a couple of questions, that will allow us to make good choices if we are considering crocheting socks from her book:

Q: If someone were crocheting socks for the first time, which one or two pair would you advise that they start with? 

A: I would definitely start with the Basic Cuff-Down Sock (shown at left) first.  Once that is mastered then try the Basic Toe-Up Sock! (shown at right).  The hardest part of a sock is the toe, based on my classes.  I find that if a student takes the cuff-down sock class first, they understand what the toe should be doing and that makes the toe up easier! 

 

Q: Are there any patterns that would be considered to be for the Advanced crocheter?

A: I would consider the Cabled Sock, the Lace Sock and the Cobblestone sock patterns for the Advanced Crocheter.  In those 3 socks, stitch counts and knowing where to put the hook to get the texture/lace work to come out right, can be confusing at times.  Counting and making sure your counts are right is crucial in order to get the cable, lacework and texture in the right places!

One lucky reader will receive a copy of this great book, signed by Karen herself! In order to qualify for this giveaway, make  a comment on this post telling us if you have ever tried crocheting socks before and what your experience was. PLEASE, PLEASE leave an email address or some other way we can contact you if you are the winner. One comment will be drawn randomly soon after the end of this Blog Tour, twelve days of socks!