Year of Projects, Year 2: Experiments and pineapples

YOP2 floral with dates

Yesterday, I took an amazing class, Double-Ended, Circular Tunisian Tapestry with Lily Chin.  I’d never taken a class with Lily before, but I’ve heard a lot of good things.  Well, believe the hype, people, because she is an awesome teacher!  It’s rare to find a talented designer who is also an excellent teacher, but Lily has the total package.  In addition to being very clear and organized, she was also a lot of fun!

Lily modeling her projects using this technique at the December, 2012 NYC Crochet Guild meeting.
Lily modeling her projects using this technique at the December, 2012 NYC Crochet Guild meeting.

The workshop was designed to teach us how to do Tunisian crochet in the round using a double-ended hook.  Once we had that technique down, we learned how to use the method for creating intarsia style projects along with several different ways to increase and decrease.  (Lily has used this colorwork technique in several patterns, including the Bitmap Cowl, Graphic Ornaments, and Argyle Hat from the 2012 Interweave Crochet Accessories issue.)

Here's my tiny circular project from class.
Here’s my tiny circular project from class.

Although my actual YOP goal was to learn a new (to me) knitting skill, this class taught me several new crocheting skills and my creative energies were totally inspired!

The start of a circular Tunisian project from class.
The start of a circular Tunisian project from class.

I’ll need to sit down with some different yarn and see what I can come up with.  Perhaps, like Lily, I’ll experiment by making hats for charity.  (She showed us a slideshow of over 100 hats she crocheted as chemo caps using this technique.)

In other news, I kicked off my Pineapples for Everyone Shawl CAL on Friday.  So far, we have a pretty lively discussion going on in the Underground Crafter Ravelry group.  The CAL will run through March, and then I’ll just need to organize one more CAL or KAL in my group to be on track with my YOP goal.

My second version of the Pineapples for Everyone Shawl for the CAL, through Round 14.
My second version of the Pineapples for Everyone Shawl for the CAL, through Round 14.

For more Year of Projects updates, visit Come Blog-a-long on Ravelry.

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