I’m going to be at the International Quilt Festival/Houston this year after all! Booth #1846, October 28 through November 1. There is more in the latest newsletter.
Category Archives: crochet
Repost: Famous in Norway
This is a repost from 2014.
I have a little article in the most recent issue of Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), the journal published by the Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association, which promotes traditional craft in Norway. The organization has been in existence for nearly a century, and the journal is coming up on its 50th anniversary. It is the most widely distributed magazine in its segment in Norway, with a circulation of over 26,000 per issue.
I met the editor of Norsk Husflid at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last November. She and her compatriots were having a marvelous time at this spectacular event, and she promised she would put me in the journal. Imagine my surprise when she did actually email me to ask for photos! I am deeply honored to be included in this lovely and prestigious journal.
Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), 2014 Issue 1
English translation via Google
They only post the main articles online, but the editor sent me a hard copy, and I have a scanner. So here is the journal cover, my article and my photo page, complete with slightly crumpled corner. Thanks to Google Translate and my British/Texan/future-Spanish friend Paul, who I recently learned is fluent in Norwegian!
Translation: Miniature crocheting
American Leisa McCord learned to crochet from her grandmother when she was eight years old, with a wooden crochet hook that her grandmother had carved herself. We met Leisa at the quilting festival [International Quilt Festival] in Houston and fell in love with her beautiful crocheted jewelry.
– As my interest in crochet rose, the dimensions of my work went down, says Leisa.
– Because I am interested in preserving the craft, patterns and technique, my goal is to promote interest in crocheting by finding new ways to crochet. For inspiration, I use my rather large collection of patterns from the 1930s to the 1950s, most of which comes from the thread manufacturers. These vintage designs are often the beginning of a piece, but usually I will scale it down, so they are small and light enough to be worn as jewelry. And sometimes I create my own patterns, says Leisa.
The materials she uses are either silk or cotton thread and a vintage crochet hook in steel. She even dyes her own thread to get the color nuances she wants.
Famous in Norway
I have a little article in the most recent issue of Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), the journal published by the Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association, which promotes traditional craft in Norway. The organization has been in existence for nearly a century, and the journal is coming up on its 50th anniversary. It is the most widely distributed magazine in its segment in Norway, with a circulation of over 26,000 per issue.
I met the editor of Norsk Husflid at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last November. She and her compatriots were having a marvelous time at this spectacular event, and she promised she would put me in the journal. Imagine my surprise when she did actually email me to ask for photos! I am deeply honored to be included in this lovely and prestigious journal.
Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handicrafts), 2014 Issue 1
English translation via Google
They only post the main articles online, but the editor sent me a hard copy, and I have a scanner. So here is the journal cover, my article and my photo page, complete with slightly crumpled corner. Thanks to Google Translate and my British/Texan/future-Spanish friend Paul, who I recently learned is fluent in Norwegian!
Translation: Miniature crocheting
American Leisa McCord learned to crochet from her grandmother when she was eight years old, with a wooden crochet hook that her grandmother had carved herself. We met Leisa at the quilting festival [International Quilt Festival] in Houston and fell in love with her beautiful crocheted jewelry.
– As my interest in crochet rose, the dimensions of my work went down, says Leisa.
– Because I am interested in preserving the craft, patterns and technique, my goal is to promote interest in crocheting by finding new ways to crochet. For inspiration, I use my rather large collection of patterns from the 1930s to the 1950s, most of which comes from the thread manufacturers. These vintage designs are often the beginning of a piece, but usually I will scale it down, so they are small and light enough to be worn as jewelry. And sometimes I create my own patterns, says Leisa.
The materials she uses are either silk or cotton thread and a vintage crochet hook in steel. She even dyes her own thread to get the color nuances she wants.
Custom order
This just shipped! A customer liked this design in the oranges and reds, but wanted different colors, so she commissioned a pair of earrings. So pretty, if I say so myself!
Trunk show at the Cowgirl Museum
I’m very pleased to be participating in an Accessories Trunk Show at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame this weekend in Fort Worth! It’s the final weekend of the Stock Show, and there’s plenty, plenty, plenty to see and do! I’m looking forward to meeting the other artisans at the trunk show, and seeing the quilts in the featured exhibit!
Leaf lace
A friend of mine pointed me to this artist, Susanna Bauer. I’m really amazed by the edging and alterations done on the leaves!
Fancy!
I’m using the last of this particular variegated silk thread, with red and orange silk thread. The earrings look like fireworks, maybe?
Nanny and me
[click to embiggenate]
I always liked this graceful oval pineapple doily. It’s in very good shape, and it stays in my living room. A couple of years ago, a fellow fiber artist gave me a bunch of her mother’s old pattern books, since she knew I’d get more use out of them than she would. I was thrilled to find the pattern for this doily! The pattern is “Oval Pineapple Ruffle Doily” (except without the ruffles) in Star Doily Book No. 91 Sparkling White Doilies, ©1952, The American Thread Company. Oddly enough, ours are both in ecru instead of white. And there will be NO RUFFLES. (I hate ruffles. I also hate filet crochet, but that’s another story.)
Nanny’s doily is approximately 14.5″ x 10″, right in line with the pattern, in size 30 thread. I did mine in size 100 thread, and it’s about 9.5″ x 6.5″. After you do the central wheel and pineapples and then start to work in rounds, the pattern gets hard to follow about Round 3. I had this thing almost finished, but it was puckering pretty bad. I counted my pineapples. Nineteen. Hoo-boy, that is a bad number of pineapples. After studying the front cover, I saw that I should have 20 pineapples, not 19. So I ripped that sucker out and started over. It took several attempts and some careful parsing of punctuation and typographical symbols to sort myself out, but I finally did. Here’s the funny thing – Nanny got tripped up in the same place! She ended up with 18 pineapples, and made it work. Someday I’ll count her stitches to see how she accommodated, but it tickles me that we had problems at the same place in the pattern.
I’ll finish up with my “secret” for pretty doilies of any size. Block the holy hell out of it. I make blocking pads out of foam core, appropriately graphed or concentric-circled paper, transparent contact paper and some packing tape. Pin everything out with rustproof pins, spritz with water and let dry. Do not skimp on the pinning. Blocking makes the piece. Click on this image to see what I mean.
I’m in a national magazine!
The September/October 2012 edition of Crochet Today features a pair of my earrings on their “We love it!” Products and News spread! This is so exciting, to get publicity in a national magazine like this! And it’s such a sweet little writeup. Here are a couple of photos of the print publication, just to show it’s really true. Somebody pinch me!
New items posted for sale
I just listed a number of new items in the Etsy shop, including a pair of long, dangly, rainbow chakra earrings. It’s possible this will be the only pair ever. Certainly the only pair for a long time, until I dye all these colors again!
