Crafty convergence: crochet patterns on the go!

Ever wanted to take your crochet outdoors with you but couldn’t fit those bulky pattern books in your bag? Remember the days of old when sifting through mountains of books and magazines was the norm? Think of all that valuable crafty time wasted! Nowadays, there are a lot of patterns available on the internet, but printing them out and carrying them around can be costly and terrible for the tree population. But if you have an iphone, you can now walk around with your entire pattern library in your pocket!
Ravelry and GoodReader have joined forces to bring you access to your online pattern library via mobile internet access. GoodReader is a PDF reader application available for Apple’s iphone and ipad. It allows you to access your purchased and saved patterns in your Ravelry library without having to print them out or connect to a computer. The future brings with it digitalisation - let freedom ring!
Do you ever lose your place and find yourself recounting rows and stitches again and again? With GoodReader you can mark your place with ease and never get lost again! Simply highlight where you are at and forget about marking up with a pen and scribbling a mess all over your books.
Things you will need:

• an Apple iphone or ipad
  
• a Ravelry account — it’s free!
• mobile Internet access.

Simply follow the steps in the slideshow below, using the numbered buttons to navigate at your own pace.

J_Epp: 14517332: WEB 207

All images are sourced from the author and http://search.creativecommons.org/ and are licensed for reuse.

Resources:

• http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ilove-my-iphone/1076517#14
• http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodreader-large-pdf-viewer/id306277111?mt=8
• Shin, D.-H. (2001). User acceptance of mobile Internet: Implication for convergence technologies. Interacting with Computers , 19, 472–483.
• Hjorth, L. (2009). The Big Bang: An Example of Mobile Media as New Media. Computers in Entertainment (CIE) , 7 (2), 1-13.
• Hjorth, L. (2007). The Game of Being Mobile : One Media History of Gaming and Mobile Technologies in Asia Pacific. Convergence: The international journal of research into new media technologies , 13, 369-381.
• Lua, J., Yaob, J. E., & Yu, C.-S. (2005). Personal innovativeness, social influences and adoption of wireless Internet services via mobile technology. Journal of Strategic Information Systems , 14, 245-268.
  

I *heart* geeky crochet!

especially when it reminds me of my childhood. This Pee Wee Herman and Chairry amigurumi by Crafty is Cool blows my mind. The pattern is available from her Etsy shop. Oh! and check out her other amazing designs too!

Yarn on and dust off those ninja slippers; yarnbombing has taken over

Yarnbombing, guerrilla knitting, whatever you choose to call it, is hitting a city near you. To put it simply, it is the act of covering outdoor objects with knitted or crocheted happiness while employing a stealth-like manner. From signposts to statues, nothing is safe from yarnbombers, as Guardian.co.uk journalist, Maddy Costa found out after spending an afternoon with Knit in the City, a London-based outfit with the aim of covering the city in yarn.

Yarnbombing is quite a new concept, born out of Texas by a crafty lady named Magda Sayeg. She started wrapping small objects in her life with her knitting and eventually, Knitta Please was born. She has travelled abroad, encasing the world in yarn, including our own National Gallery in Canberra during the Soft Sculpture exhibition in April 2009. The movement has taken off and items the world over are being covered in wool over night by crafty ninjas.

Craft — including crochet — has experienced a rebirth in the last few years. It has acquired a reputation with an indie appeal, with many web sites dedicated to creative ideas ranging from the quirky to the extremely bizarre. Craft has taken much from popular culture, adopting styles and inspiration from music, movies and cartoons. Arts & crafts class has been given more than just a face-lift. It has been stripped down, reshaped, and repackaged into a global phenomenon. Maddy Costa quotes Sayeg on yarnbombing and the effect it has on crafty types, ‘It has inspired them to do something beyond the functional.’

Yarnbombers are one group among many who are revolutionising craft, bringing it into the global spotlight for all to enjoy (and take part in). Crochet is as much a part of the yarnbombing movement as is knitting. As long as you have a ball of yarn and some inspiration, you are good to go.

Read Maddy Costa’s full article at Guardian.co.uk.

So you wanna crochet or what?

If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say they wish they knew how to crochet, I would not be rich. This is because the nickel is not a currency recognised in Australia. But, I would have a big bag of nickels that, if taken on a trip to Canada, would probably take up my entire baggage allowance and annoy the poor barista at the nearest café who would have to count them. So keep your nickels and instead, visit one of the awesome links in my new section, Wanna learn?

Lion brand yarn – The LBY website has plenty of video and illustrated step-by-step instructional material to aid you in the most basic of crochet stitches. A good place to begin.

Crochet-mania – this site is a gold mine of instructional video. Starting with the basics, it’s a good introduction to the language and symbols used in crochet.

Meet me at Mikes – Granny squares 101 Pip Lincoln writes a ripping blog to complement her amazing shop. This is how I learned to granny square. Pip takes out all the confusing jargon, strips away all the nonsensical supposed-to-know-how, and leaves you with clear, concise instruction even my 2 year old niece could follow. Hurrah indeed!

Hook & Needles – amigurumi tutorials – This site is a good place to start if you want to learn the art of amigurumi. One of the basic techniques for this kind of crochet is the adjustable or magic ring . Master this simple step and you are on the road to creating something special.

A word of advice – don't give up! It can be frustrating when first starting out but you’ll get it eventually. By then you'll be addicted and your house will be full of yarn.

Oh, and to prevent confusion, US terminology differs from UK/AUS a thusly:

US = UK/AUS

Single crochet = double crochet

Double crochet = treble crochet

Yoshi's story

I put together this Yoshi for my nephew Lukas. Needless to say, he loved it. So did I and nearly didnt hand it over to him. I have decided to make myself a purple one because, as everyone knows, purple Yoshis are better because they can fly.

you must crochet

I know what you’re thinking – Crochet is so lame. Your nanna does it. Your Great Aunt Sally does it. So why should a super-cool, awesome individual such as yourself give it the time of day?

Here are 5 fine reasons why:

Video game Amigurumi – Japanese art is amazing, and amigurumi is no exception. Ami – meaning yarn, and nuigurumi – meaning stuffed doll. Video games are ultra-cool and when Mario meets yarn, only good things can happen. Check out this amazing Legend of Zelda play set from Nerdigurumi, or this incredible Bowser by Janama at Cute Amigurumi! if you need more convincing.

Jack Rabbit's Knitted Atari Goodness courtesy of kotaku.com

Crochetdermy – What do you get when you cross the disgusting with the extraordinary? Crochetdermy, that’s what. Shauna Richardson has taken crochet to a new level with her awe-inspiring life-size yarned animals and you need to see them. Crochet is fast becoming a well respected fine art; artist Joana Vasconcelos has created some of the most intricate sculptures using traditional crochet patterns, while Jo Hamilton uses yarn to render realistic portraits of friends and family.

Its good enough to eat – another fantastic form of amigurumi is food. Everything edible has a woolly counterpart, a fact that CraftyAnna and Skymagenta prove beyond a doubt. If you can eat it, you can double-treble crochet it.

T.V. dinner by Nicole gastonguay ©2009

Guerrillas on the move – ever been walking down the street and noticed that boring streetlamp is now covered in a colourful assortment of yarn? No doubt your municipality has fallen victim to a yarn-bombing, or an act of guerrilla crochet. Gals and guys the world over are uniting in an effort to cover the most dull objects about town in a variety of yarny-goodness. Just ask the gals at Yarnarchy in the UK or check out the work of Yarnbombing from Vancouver, Canada, they’ll show you what’s what.

Photo courtesy of yarnbombing.com

There’s no place like home – unless you belong to a craft group. Home takes a temporary back seat once you join an online craft community like Ravelry or the Crochet Liberation Front. As you succumb to the addictive nature of crochet, share your new affliction with the many people you will meet online. Exchange ideas, patterns, trends and more with yarn-addicts the world over.

So there you have it, proof that crochet is not lame. From a humble beginning as your Grandma's fireside hobby, crochet has evolved into a modern pastime with a cult status. So why not pick up a hook at your local craft store and get started on that crocheted iPad cosy you never knew you wanted.

How it all began - or - how I became entangled in a love affair with crochet

A few years ago I had a superhero-themed birthday party. My favourite superhero in the entire universe is Link from The Legend of Zelda, so naturally I had to create a costume in Link’s image. As I was researching for my outfit, I happened upon this amazing piece of amigurumi by Deadcraft:



After I picked myself up — having fallen off my chair from giddy delight — I decided that my life could not carry on until I had mastered this craft and created my own huggable Link.

Having attempted crochet in the past with no success, I was reluctant to pick up a hook. My knitting skills were rusty and my teacher, my Gramma, lives 18 time zones away. Thank Google for the internet. Many balls of knotted yarn and GBs of monthly download later, I had managed to master the basics from watching various YouTube instructional videos. The results were supposed to be a monkey. My crochet skills might have been slightly sub-par but my ability to hide my mistakes rivals no other.


But that was ages ago, I now brandish a hook like a pro and have discovered that crochet is akin to smoking; it is highly addictive and those who refrain find it annoying when you light up, or in this case, yarn-on.
I see everything as crocheted; my salad sandwich, my Sunday drive, or even my favourite movie. My partner delights in seeing me happy, but frowns every time he has to untangle incessant bits of yarn from the vacuum cleaner.

Crochet is my calm, my escape from the pressures of life. I never feel completely at ease unless I have something on my hook. Teaching myself crochet is one of my greatest triumphs. It may not be rocket science, but it gives me endless pleasure.
Unlike knitting which seems to take forever, crochet’s joy is almost instantaneous. As the owner of a terribly short attention span, crochet fits in nicely with my impatient nature. 2 hours into a project and I already have a nice, woolly addition to my portfolio.

As for the Link doll, I haven’t made it – yet. I’ll get there eventually, but for the moment there are just too many other paths I need to follow, unraveling my yarn as I go.

Oh, and my costume turned out excellent: