My Class Schedule at American Maid 1717 Briggs, Wichita, KS

Jan-April 2015 Quarter 1

	Mondays	Saturdays
Knitting 101 for Beginners	Jan 5 & 12   3-5 pm	Jan 3 & 10 1030-1230
$45 for two 2 hour sessions	Feb 16 & 23  530-730 pm	Feb 14 & 21 1030-1230
This class is for those wanting to learn	March 16 & 23 3-5 pm	Mar 28 & Apr 4 1030-1230
to knit.  All materials are included.	March 16 & 23 530-730 pm
Knitting 102
$45 for two 2 hour sessions	Jan 19 & 26 3-5 pm	Jan 17 & 24 1030-1230
Learn to read a pattern, increase, decrease	March 2 & 9 530-730 pm
stitch patterns etc. Materials included
Crochet 101 for Beginners
$45 for two 2 hour sessions	Jan 5  & 12 530-730 pm	Jan 3 & 10  1-3 pm
This class is for those wanting to learn to	Feb 16 & 23   3-5 pm
crochet. All materials are included
Crochet 102
$45 for two 2 hour sessions. Learn to read a	Feb 2 & 9 530-730 pm	Mar 21 & 28 330-530 pm
pattern, read charts and crochet in the round
materials included.
Basic Knit Hat
$45 for two 2 hour sessions	Feb 2 & 9  3-5 pm	Jan 31 & Feb 7 1030-1230
Learn to knit in the round using circular and		Mar 14 & 21 1030-1230
double pointed needles. All needles are
included. Bring 200 yrds worsted yarn
Tunisian Crochet Scarflette Beginners
$45 for two 2 hour sessions	Jan 19 & 26  530-730 pm	Jan 24 & Feb 7  1-3 pm
Learn to do Tunisian Crochet. Hook included	March 2 & 9  3-5 pm	Feb 21 & Mar 7  1-3 pm
You will need 2 contrasting colors of medium
to bulky weight yarn #4 or #5
Pax Shawl-Tunisian Advanced Beginners
$50 for three 2 hour sessions	Feb 9, 23, Mar 9 1230-230	Feb 14, 28, Mar 14 330-530
Bring 450-500 yrds fingering wt yarn & size H
hook (must be straight with no handle)
Easter Pinafore-Crochet Adv Beginners
$30 for two 2 hour sessions	Mar 2 & 16 1230-230	Feb 21 & Mar 7  330-530 pm
If you can double crochet you can make this
sweet little dress for in infant, toddler or girl
size. Bring crochet hooks and yarn.
Fix It and/or Finish It- Crochet
$9 per hour.  Come during scheduled time &	Mar 23 1030-230	Mar 21 & Apr 4 1-3 pm
I will help you with any crochet problems.
For more information go to eventbrite.com	Payment is not due until	Lisa Mertes
do a search on American Maid & you will	first class. Paypal account	316-259-9518 (text me)
find my classes. You must sign up. Do so	is not required.  I take all	kccavachin@aol.com
online at Eventbrite or contact me and I	forms of payment	facebook-Lisa Lian Finds &
will get you signed up.		Designs

Easy Shawl Pin

You will need pliers, wire cutters, dowel or knitting needle and 14 or 16 gauge wire.

Cut a piece of wire about 18" long. With pliers bend wire into a u shape about 3" from one end.

Make a 45 degree bend about 1" from the end of the short end of u shape.

Hold the u shaped looped end with pliers and use the wire you just bent to wrap around the loop.

Using dowel or knitting needle, bend the loop into a hook.

Using pliers, turn up the end of the hook.  Use pliers to shape hook.

From end opposite of hook, thread on desired beads. Be sure to choose beads that have an ample opening.  I like to use small beads on each end of my beads. This helps to keep all the beads from sliding around.  Once you have all your beads placed as you like, use dowel, knitting needle, sharpie etc to make a loop or double loop for the spring.

 With hook facing up place dowel (or other round tool) on top of wire. Make sure to hold it tight against the beads. Wrap the wire towards the hook going around the dowel at least once.  If you have enough wire, wrap it twice or more.

 Put the end of the wire through your hook and then trim it but don't trim it flush with the hook.

Since using the pin on a garment may take up some space in the pin, be sure to leave enough wire to go past the hook a bit.  I would leave at lest 1/4"

Shape as you like and if desired you can sharpen the end with a metal file but it will easily go through most knits as it is.

Name Tag for Crochet Guild

Each of us in our Crochet Guild is supposed to make ourselves a name tag to wear to meetings.  It is also a contest where we will vote for our favorite.  I was really happy with the way my turned out and luckily I took some pictures of it because I decided to cover it in mod podge so everything would stay in place nicely and so the tag could withstand more wear and tear.  Well it pretty much ruined it.  So I'm hoping with a little more drying time it will look better but if not then I will just use a picture of my name tag for my name tag.

Adding Crochet to a Second Hand Purse

I have been noticing how many of the new purses coming out have elements of bright crochet.  Every time I see one I think "I can make that".  I also love ruffles so I came up with this.

I started with a purse I found at Goodwill.  The one I found is made to look like crochet.  You should be able to use any purse that has a good open weave.  Here is the purse I used before I crocheted on it.

As you can see this purse has obvious rows.  There are nine rows so I crocheted a different color of ruffle in to each of these rows.  I used sock yarn and it took about 30 yards of each color for a total of approximately 300 yards of yarn.  To make the ruffles I did six fpdc in each spot (see below).  I think if you use heavier yarn it would take less yarn and you probably could do less fpdc in each spot to make a ruffle.

Here is how to do a front post double crochet (fpdc).

The first two rows don't go all the way around as they are interrupted by the leather loops that hold the handles so for those two rows I went back and forth on both sides.  For the rest of the rows I was able to crochet all the way around.  

I added some beads and here is the finished project.

Two new projects this week

These are two projects I finished this week.  The first one is an egg cozy I crocheted on the fly.  The egg cup is a vintage one I found at a flea market.  My second project started as a plain purse from Goodwill.  I will put directions for this in a new post soon.

Free Pattern for Measuring Tape Cover

I put all 5 of my crochet covered tape measures on etsy and while I haven't yet sold any of them I got a number of messages from people on etsy asking me to sell the pattern.  So I went ahead and put it on Ravelry like it is.  It is a free pattern so it won't be on etsy. You can find the pattern here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/erins-rose-measuring-tape-cover

I was asked to do a presentation on Irish Crochet for my Crochet Guild.  I decided to come up with a pattern for a tape measure cover with an Irish rose.   I am not yet happy enough with this pattern to publish it.  A true Irish rose can be a little tricky for a newbie so for the Guild, I wanted to keep it simple so anyone at the meeting would be able to crochet it.  These are the covers I came up with while trying to develop a pattern.  I am still going to work on more of an authentic Irish rose but in the meantime these were a lot of fun to crochet.  I am happy with the pattern I came up with for the crocheted leaf but I had quite a few leaf buttons and beads so I used them as well to attach to the end of the tape.  I'm planning on putting these on etsy.