Monday, September 24, 2007

Free Form Videos/DVD

Hi Everyone,

I am just about packed, ready to leave for my
trip to the Knit and Crochet Conference
in Oakland, CA.  When I return I will have lots
of photos to share.

With all the talk of Free Form in the past few
weeks, I forgot to mention that I also have
2 videos/dvd's on Free Form Knitting and Free
Form Crochet.  They are available on my web
site http://margarethubertoriginals.com

Viewing the video is the next best thing
to taking a workshop with me.
In fact, the idea for the video was planted in
my brain by a student who wished that she
could take me home with her :-)

Also available in DVD.

Have a great week!

Margaret

Sunday, September 23, 2007

FREE FORM BOOKS

Good Morning Everyone,

Thanks for all the nice comments on my
latest free form jacket. 

Rochelle, wrote and suggested that I do
a Free Form book.  Well Rochelle, I have
already done 2 of them :-)



they are available on my web site
http://margarethubertoriginals.com

Have a great day!

Margaret

Saturday, September 22, 2007

bags, bags and more bags etc

Happy Saturday Everyone,

I have had fun, busy week.  I finished my jacket and
I am almost all packed for my trip.  In addition to those
 two things I have had a really nice e-mail from Lucy. 
Lucy shared her black bag with us a few days ago
 and gave me her permission to use it on my blog.
 After Lucy, saw the blog , she e-mailed me the following ;

Thank you, Margaret. It is my pleasure to share the
 black purse with you. I feel a bit like my second grade
students when I show off my work to you, my "teacher".
Your patterns turn out so nicely, I just have
 to show you!


Thank you Lucy, I cannot think of a nicer compliment!

After all the excitement of the crochet-along with the
8 Pocket Tote  from my book HOOKED BAGS, and
the flurry of excitement about free form, after my
posting about my new jacket -



I thought that I would show a little diagram of how to make a
free form bag.  Making a bag in this way would be an easy
way to start on free form.  Trying the method  on a small item,
allows you to test the waters, see if you like it, before starting
on a larger project.


This is a diagram that I use in my workshops and it
is helpful to students.  Making little pieces of knit and/or
crochet, and sewing them to a base or lining, is the
easiest way to begin free forming.

More on this later

Have a great day

Margaret

Friday, September 21, 2007

ITS FINISHED

Good Morning Everyone,

I did it with a few days to spare!  The jacket
is done, all the ends tucked away, ready
to wear.  It was an interesting journey, and
I loved it every step of the way.  Actually
I'll miss not having it to work on, guess I
will get back to working on a new book idea
design proposals, and some new class
proposals too.
 

I think that I will carry this one on
the plane with me.  After all this, I don't want it
sitting in some airport lost and lonely :-)



Detail of right sleeve



Detail of left sleeve


My butterfly


Finally finished!
The biggest challenge was creating
symmetry and still keeping it looking
free form.  I also added some surface
crochet and embroidery to the top
center sections to balance out the
bottom half.


Have a great day.

Margaret

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Things that I have added to my "I love it" list

Good Morning All,

Everyone who knows me, already knows
that I am fascinated with the Internet.  I am constantly
delighted by all the information, knowledge, friendships
formed, etc, etc.

I decided that I needed a frog (not an amphibian) but
a special closure  for my new jacket, so I began a search
for just the right one.

I started with shops close to home, no luck, so I turned
to the Internet.  Most offered were black, white, off white
silver or gold, just not what I was looking for.

I found a shop in Austin, Texas called Silk Road Fabrics
 http://srfabrics.com
that had a large variety of colored frogs on their web site,
but no purple.  I called the shop
and had the most delightful conversation with the woman
on the other end of the line.  She did not have the size frog
 that I wanted but suggested that if I found a white or ecru
one that I liked why not try dying it.  "Lightbulb Moment".
 I thanked her profusely and continued my search. 
I was looking for a fairly large frog, still no luck.
Then I remembered
 M & J Trim in New York City http://mjtrim.com.
 I spent many happy days shopping at M&J, but I no longer
 live so close to the city.  I went on line, found the perfect
size and shape that I was looking for,
ordered it, and it was here the next morning.
I did not even order overnight shipping, but chose the
least expensive shipping, which was still more than
the cost of the frog :-).  All in all a bargain, far
 less expensive than a train ride and giving up a
day to get into the city.

That same afternoon I was able to buy a box of Rit Dye,
right in my local yarn shop that has an unbelievable
supply of everything, http://yarnandcraftbox.com,
dyed my precious little frog, and ended up with the
 perfect color.

So, now my "I love It" list, has  grown to include
friendly shops like The Yarn and Craft Box,
Silk Road Fabrics, and M&J trim,
Rit Dye and frogs!



With a little bit of luck, I expect to finish my jacket today.

Have a great day

Margaret

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

HOOKED BAGS


Good Afternoon Everyone,

I love hearing from readers and seeing just
what they are up to.

I had a lovely e-mail from Lucy, from Crochetville
and she sent me a photo of a bag from HOOKED
BAGS that she just finished.

I love to see everyone's interpretation of the bags
and how each person puts their own touch on
things.

Heres Lucy's Bag.  Great job Lucy, thanks for sharing.





Great lining too!



Have a great day

Margaret

Thursday, September 13, 2007

BUSY, BUSY, WORKING ON THE SLEEVES

Happy Thursday Everyone,

I'm so focused on getting this jacket done
before I leave for California on the 25th, that
everything else is kind of taking a back seat.
I did have to do some proofing of a pattern,
and I am teaching tomorrow, so time is
limited.

A good part of yesterday was devoted to
working on the sleeves, and trying to get
the fronts and back together.  I finally had
enough together to try it on my dress form,
and I am really pleased with the results so
far.


A real jacket is beginning to take form !




Sleeves almost done.  I cannot figure out why
this photo won't turn the right way, I have
rotated it, it just keeps popping back on its side :-)


Have a great day.

Margaret

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

More New Jacket

Good Morning Everyone,

I decided on a plain knitted back for this jacket.  As I
said, I want to keep it much lighter in weight, and I
also want to combine knitting and crochet into it as
much as possible.  I may decide to  embellish the back
with some surface crochet later on.



I did make a beginning on the sleeves.  I made one
template, and I am pinning my "scrumbles" on both
sides.  This will ensure that my sleeves will be the same
size.  I plan on making the sleeves a wide kimono style
about elbow length.



I started out with the bottom bands of both
sleeves being exactly the same.



The sleeves will be asymmetrical. Beginning
of the left sleeve.


Beginning of the right sleeve.

Back to work.

Have a great day!

Margaret

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

My newest Free Form Jacket

Hi Everyone,

Its after 11 pm here, and I have been trying all
day to add an entry to my blog.  Aol was
not cooperating at all.  I wrote to my friend Dee http://crochetingwithdee.com
and she told me how to fix the problem. Thanks Dee.

I have been making real progress on my latest jacket, and I am liking the results so far.
This will be the lower half of the Left and Right Fronts


Top half of fronts




Bringing it all together, still a lot of work to do,
but coming along.

Have a good night,

Margaret



Monday, September 10, 2007

HAPPILY HOOKED ON CROCHET SEPTEMBER MEETING, and what to do with Pop Tops

Good Morning Everyone,

Yesterday was the September meeting of the
Happily Hooked on Crochet group.
 I love attending meetings because you just
never know what is going on with this great
group. 

In addition to all the crocheting that we
do for charity, the members are always
willing to share something that they
learned how to do.

This month, Karen, showed us how to make
a fashion belt using, of all things, pop tops.
Well, I do not use very many things with
these tops, but Dee, http://crochetwithdee.com
anticipated that some of us would have this
problem, so she brought a huge box of them
to the meeting.  Dee confided that she found
them on ebay.


Karen getting us started on our belts



Such concentration


How about a smile, Karen and Dee



Some of us are faster than others, almost
completed belts.




We have to admit a secret, Karen is becoming
"hooked" on Knitting  (shhhhhh)



Karen's beautiful shawl, front view


Ruth's beautiful afghan, Ruth plans on
donating it for a charity raffle.  Great job
Ruth.


Oh, oh, Patty is not only knitting, but felting
beautiful bags. 

Have a great day,

Margaret

Saturday, September 8, 2007

New Free Form Jacket

Happy Saturday Everyone,

I will be teaching a class in combining knitting
 and crochet Free Form at the Knit and Crochet
 Conference in California at the end of the month.

Last week I decided to try to make a new jacket to
wear in the fashion show.  If I don't finish it, it will be
 used as part of my workshop :-)

I wanted this piece to be much lighter in weight
than most of my free form designs, and I also
wanted to stretch my mind again. 

I like to test out different techniques, try to
create really different looks, and I love to
combining knitting and crochet.

Usually my free form is just that, I do not try for
any symmetry, but this time as I said, I want something
a little different.

Just the beginning -- I tried reversing two crocheted
pieces that will become part of the front sections.





When I  want to create a specific shape, I usually
make a template to follow.  Both knitted pieces
will also become part of the front. The stitch used here
is a slipped stitch.




I used the template trick on these pieces also. The
base is knitted garter stitch, I slipped stitch around
the edges and did some surface crochet with ribbon
for some added interest.


I hope to get a lot done this weekend, I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend!

Margaret

Friday, September 7, 2007

8 Pocket Tote CAL


Good Morning Every One,

Quite a few people on Crochetville,
crochetville.org/forum/
have been working on my 8 Pocket Tote
in a crochet along.  I have been having
fun reading all the notes and following
their progress.

This morning I received the first photos of
a finished one from Karen.  Karen is using
her tote to carry books etc to classes that
she is teaching.  Great job Karen, I love
the lining that you chose.

Hopefully more participants will send me
photos when they finish their totes.



Have a great day!

Margaret

Sunday, September 2, 2007

HOOKED BAGS

Happy Holiday Weekend Everyone,

Summer is almost over, and I had the
nicest surprise last week.  In the middle
of finishing up another project, and
writing yet another book proposal,
I received a e-mail from a friend stating
that she saw one of my hats 
being shown on Crochetville.org/forum/

I belong to several on-line forums, but did not really know about Crochetville.  After exploring it, I found out that you can read the posts but cannot reply unless you are a member.  It looked so interesting that I immediately joined.  Shortly thereafter, I found out that quite a few members were working on a crochet-along, and they were all making the 8 pocket tote from my book HOOKED BAGS.  I also heard from another friend that another on-line group was doing a crochet-along for the same bag.  The bag was made in Lion Brand Cotton, and Lion Brand had permission to offer the tote as a free pattern.  Wow, was I surprised at how many people were making the tote. It is the Eight Pocket Tote shown below;

 


The photos of the finished bags are starting to show up on the site, and I am amazed at the ingenuity of the crocheters.  Depending on the colors, yarn and linings that they choose, the bags are all turning out differently.  What fun seeing them all.  I have asked permission to post them on my blog, so hopefully you will get to see some of them soon.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone.

Margaret