Books:

Arline Fisch’s book, Textile Techniques in Metal – one of my all-time favorite books, period.

Fisch’s more recent book, Crocheted Wire Jewelry: Innovative Designs & Projects by Leading Artists


Rosemary Hill’s (aka Romi) recent book, Elements of Style: Knit & Crochet Jewelry with Wire, Fiber, Felt & Beads

Online Articles:

Romi’s article on Twist Collective, Gold and Silver Stitches

Some groups on Ravelry.com related to knitted or crocheted jewelry:

Hook Wire and Needles
Spool Knitting Beyond the Cord
Beaded
Fiber Arts Jewelry
For the Love of Beads
Romi’s Studio (for fans of Rosemary Hill’s designs)

Know of a great book or website that I missed? Post it in the comments – I’ll check it out & update this list with relevant resources.

I don’t think I’m going to make a bracelet, but this looks like an easy way to make all kinds of cute crocheted accessories.

I saw a great article by Jess of Whimsy by Jess in the new Belle Armoire. I’ve met Jess a few times when we were both doing craft shows – she makes the cutest crocheted accessories. In her article, she shares her pattern for crowns and slippers that will fit a toddler. I’ve seen these in person, and they are completely adorable.

I bought a few skeins of assorted Habu yarns locally, (if you live in the Berkeley/Oakland area, Stash on Solano and Article Pract on Telegraph both carry a selection of Habu and have some swatches you can look at to see how they knit up) and I’m now swatching with them to see how they look, and how I can hopefully use them to make some really fun necklaces.

Is anyone else knitting, crocheting, or otherwise using Habu? I’d love to see what you are making, leave a link in the comments if you’d like to share. There’s a great sweater made out of one of the stainless steel blends in the summer issue of Knitty – I can’t imagine actually knitting a sweater out of that yarn, but how cool would that be?

If you are on ravelry.com (an online fiber community – mostly knitters, but there are plenty of crocheters, felters, etc as well) there is a Habu group – I love seeing the garments people are making out of these very interesting yarns. (*I’m on ravelry as leahmichon if you’d like to be friends – and by the way, there are plenty of groups for people who bead and do other jewelry-type fiber crafts, so don’t be intimidated if you, like me, are more of a jewelry person than a fiber person.*)

I’ll share some of my swatches & thoughts on how I’m going to use these, once I have a better idea of how they work up. I have a thread-weight wool, some silk/stainless, and some ramie that I’m playing with. So far, the silk/stainless is much easier to work with when held together with a strand of very fine wool. That’s as far as I’ve gotten…

It’s a really fun book, with more fashion-forward patterns than the average crochet book, lots of useful information, and profiles of the designers. I really enjoyed the designer profiles, and appreciate that their website URLs are provided so I can go check out more of their work. A few of the patterns are things I could see myself wearing, which is rare in a crochet book. While I love crochet as a craft, I tend to find crochet garment patterns too…bulky? frumpy? old fashioned? It’s nice to see a collection of patterns that is a little more modern and stylish.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but wanted just a little more. A couple more patterns, just a bit more of the technical information, and definitely more of the essays and designer profiles which, to me, were the best parts of the book. Kim’s passion for crochet really comes through and makes me want to design something. I hope she will be writing some articles for Interweave Crochet and not just doing the editing, because I enjoyed her writing style and enthusiasm for the craft.

Headbands seem to be back in style, and they are really easy to make – and a great way to use up partial skeins of yarn.

I made one recently for myself using worsted weight cotton yarn (cheap stuff – sugar ‘n cream, I think, which you can get at big chain craft stores). Here’s what I did:

• Chain 5
• Single crochet into second chain from hook, single crochet in each chain across (you now have a row of 4 single crochet stitches)
• Turn and chain 2
• Double crochet into each stitch across (row of 4 double crochets)
• Turn and chain 1, single crochet in each stitch across
• Repeat these two rows over and over – so you have alternating rows of single crochet and double crochet
• Stop when your fabric will almost stretch around your head, weave in the ends
• Weave a length of ribbon or decorative yarn back and forth through each end, kind of like if you were lacing a pair of shoes. Leave enough length to tie a bow.
• Tie your headband on your head – you’re done!

You could really use any stitch pattern you like for this, but the one I used is really easy. The important thing is not to make it too wide, since it needs to go under your hair in the back – wide bands will show a lot more in the back.

Jewelry Making Info, Techniques, and Projects:
Tools for Wirework
Pickle
Wire Gauge
Making Headpins
Seed Bead Sizes
Finishing Wire Ends
Flux
Felt Bead Earrings

Crochet Projects:
Bobble Cuff
Easy Crochet Flower
Easy Crochet Pendant
Crocheted Mesh Scarf

This scarf is made with a very easy lacy mesh pattern that could be adapted to make a choker, cuff bracelet, or headband. It’s a very simple pattern: chain 4, then slip stitch into the next chain 4 space.

To start, chain a multiple of 4 (plus 1 extra) the width that you want your scarf to be. Then slip stitch into the fifth chain from the hook, chain four, and slip stitch into the fourth chain from the slip stitch. Do this across your row, then start the pattern of chain 4, slip stitch into the next chain 4 space. I love simple patterns, and this one makes an open mesh so it’s great for summery projects.

My scarf is about 20 chain stitches wide, or 5 repeats of chain 4, slip stitch. I used exactly one skein of Vickie Howell Collection “Love” from Southwest Trading Company. It’s a bamboo/silk blend that I love, so soft, and has a nice sheen. If it was a little thinner, I’d make jewelry out of it, because the slight shine would look great with beads – but its thickness is sport or DK, which would make kind of bulky-looking jewelry. It would be great for crocheted flowers though.

Browsing Amazon, I discovered that there are quite a few books on making flowers with crocheting, knitting, felting, beading….you name it. Flowers make great jewelry and accessories, so I think I will check out a few more books on crafting flowers and I’ll report back about which ones I liked the best. Maybe I’ll even make some flower jewelry to test out project ideas from the books.