Apparently, this stitch has been around a little while but I had never heard of it. Then I saw a pattern book at Annie’s that featured this stitch so I went looking for more information. There was a video by Annie’s.
Then of course I had to research further and found a whole workshop by Michael Sellick over at The Crochet Crowd. This is a super workshop. It is many pages and has diagrams and video support. That alone should tell you that this is not a beginner thing. The workshop notes intermediate. As with all things Crochet Crowd, the workshop is very well done. If you are interested in this technique/stitch you won’t go wrong by taking the time to go over these workshop pages.
Also I noticed that the Caron Crochet Stitch Along at Joann’s uses this stitch and Michael Sellick does a video for each section. I watched the first part and he does an excellent, very slow-moving, demonstration of the waterfall stitch.
As I watched the Annie’s and Michael’s, I noted they were different and I think it is because Annie’s is using single crochet and Michael is using double crochet. As I said, this is a new thing to me so I could be wrong.
To be completely honest as I watched the video I was thinking yeah that is neat but no, I’m not going to be doing a project with it any time soon. Too much thinking and having to pay close attention to what I’m doing. It’s a neat look though and if you’re up to the challenge, give it a go!
The other day I was on Ebay and I saw the cutest plastic crochet hooks for kids. They have animal heads on the top. There is no designation as to the size but hubby measured them to be 5.8mm so between an I and J. They are 6″ long. This is the picture from the Ebay seller Jordan735. He was a great seller. Answered messages quickly and shipped quickly. The picture I took before I gifted them to my grandchildren didn’t come out. The white thing at the bottom is called a Lucy tool. According to the Internet “It’s used to trim away the excess clay from slip cast item before they are removed from the mould.” This was sent as an extra and it provided me with some amusement as I searched out its use. The seller said in his listing that he didn’t know what it was. (I let him know.)
As you can see, there were two orange and two yellow in the set, so I kept one of each and decided to use the orange one for a project just to see if they really were usable as crochet hooks. Although this wouldn’t be my first choice in hooks, it was workable. I found it worked best if I made my stitches loosely.
The faces are bunny rabbit, puppy, and teddy bear. I took a close-up photo of the pup and bear that I have. The bear face didn’t photograph well but you can see the pup pretty clearly.
The piece I made is a 12″ square wee blankie. I used the Beginner’s Luck that I’ve mentioned before. In brief, it is a row of a row of V stitches and a row of dc decreases sandwiched between rows of dc. The original pattern changes colors so there would be two rows of dc between the pattern stitches. I’ve done it both ways and in many different sizes. For this one I chained 38 (3 + 2).
Beginner’s Luck pattern is one of several patterns featured in a really old leaflet from Brunswick – Knit and Crochet Afghans #768 1984 which is out of print. I saw a few copies on eBay and at Amazon. You might also check your library.
I had to come back and edit as I forgot to give the name of the yarn. It is one of my favorites. I Love This Yarn in color #486 Parcel & Bow (lot 102257). Skeins are 5oz/142g, 252yd/230m. I used about 2 ozs for the blankie.
Happily Hooked magazine recently published an article giving notes to newbies – newcomers to crochet. I thought they did a good job of catching the main points that new crocheters should keep in mind for a stress-free experience.
My very good friend, Fran Metallo, has had two patterns published in the above-mentioned Happily Hooked magazine and has another pattern in the queue for later publication. Fran has had a difficult time the past decade and is homebound presently. I am so thrilled that she’s been given this amazing opportunity. If you’re so inclined, do take a look at the two magazines in which she is published – the December 2021 (Gift of Love scarf) and March 2022 (Over the Rainbow picture frame) issues. If you like to collect new patterns you might have a look at getting a subscription to Happily Hooked. You get two different magazines with your $50 subscription – Happily Hooked and Pattern Pack.
As I was going around the Internet this morning, I ran into Edie Eckman’s website and she has a list of videos that are well worth a look. I love seeing them all listed on the page. If you’re interested in classes, she also has a list of her classes and workshops. She also has a blog with interesting posts.
That’s it for today.
Happy Crocheting!
Sandie
Crochet Cabana 