Rippling along

There was an article in the most recent issue of Yarn Market News (yes, even the yarn industry has it's own trade magazine) about "Dis-cromination" - that is, discrimination against the crocheters that might potentially shop at your store. They recommended taking a look around the store to see if all your signs say "knit" but not "crochet" and thinking about the atmosphere of your shop.

Well, if you walk around our store you don't see much crochet. It's not because we don't like crochet, or discriminate against crochet, it's because we don't know how to do it (shhh... it's a secret!).

Anne crochets, but she doesn't really prefer it and we don't make her do anything she doesn't want to do!

Mom has attempted to sit down with a hook but lets just say it didn't go well. She needed a nice long break from it but wants to learn.

Carol can crochet a bit and wants to do more in the future.

I've done some crocheting in my time. Actually, it was crochet that got me back into knitting! I was crocheting scarves and granny square blankets by my senior year at UNH and after graduation decided I wanted to knit some socks (what a jump that was).

I like knitting my sweaters and socks. I like crocheting afghans and stuffed animals. I like knitting AND crocheting accessories like purses and scarves. I like summery tanks with crocheted details. It all depends on the project, for me.

I'm hoping that we'll all get to sit down together in the near future and explore some crochet projects. Then you'll see more of it in the store (plus, I recruited an awesome crocheter to make some samples for us). In the meantime, here's a peek at my ripple afghan that I'm making as a summer throw blanket for my living room:


A ripple blanket qualifies as a beginner project and since the same thing is repeated a BILLION times over, you get the hang of it and it becomes a very nice TV project. Plus, the color possibilities are endless - just google "crocheted ripple blanket" and see what happens or check out one of the many ripple-alongs (if you're on Ravelry, click here). Also, there are about a zillion of different ripple stitches to try.

I'm using this free pattern and a variety of colors of Saucy mercerized cotton from JCA Reynolds. I'll give yarn totals when I'm all done!

Have fun with the string,

Jen


PS - stay tuned, I'll post details about the BIG SALE later this week!