Single Crochet

 

My goal in making this tutorial video was that I wanted the experience of making a tutorial on how to crochet. There are a ton of them out there on YouTube, but I wanted the experience of making my own, and add my own creative touch to the process. It was challenging but definitely worth it.
My other goal is the obvious one. I love crochet and want to share it with others. I know anyone can crochet, they just need a good teacher! I love the idea that people will see this video, and come back to my site to ask questions when they get frustrated or stuck on their projects. This has happened to me many times during the beginning of my learning, and even now it still happens! The beauty of crochet is that it’s a collaboration of ideas, and creations! This is my way of entering that creative conversation.

I love ‘The Making Of’ anything! So I thought I’d share with you my process for making this little crochet video!

I simple minded-ly thought, “Hey! today I’m going to make a tutorial on how to do single crochet!” thinking it was going to be so easy! Yeah Right! I’ve made many videos in the past, but this one was most challenging because it featured my voice, and I had to figure out how to get the right lighting and angle to video my hands. Then I had to upload the video to YouTube.com so it could easily be accessed on the internet. The final step is now putting it in this blog post (I’m pretty sure it’s also going to be more difficult than just posting it in here) and posting to my blog! Phew!!

So, here were my steps to doing this little project:

1. Do makeup! No, I don’t do it everyday, and I wanted to look extra good seeing how I’d be on film.

2. Set up laptop, camera, and iPhone on my front porch where I could capture really great morning light!

3. Gather supplies like yarn, crochet hooks, scissors, tape, and breakfast!
After I had all my gear, and had myself all put together, what the heck was I going to say? I started practicing…. and practicing… and then more practicing. I wanted the video to be about 5 minutes, but it ended up being double that. Half way through the project I realized how much more difficult it was to explain my craft, step-by-step, to a beginner. I really wanted to put the most detail I could into it so it would make sense, and someone could actually follow along.

Techniques to the trade:

1. I soon figured out that morning light blazing in my eyeballs makes it very hard to see! So I had to pull down one window shade.

2. This made me and my hands darker. So I got my headlamp and strapped it to my laptop so it could be sort of like a little spot light on my face! It worked like a charm!

3. I used three cameras. My Mac Laptop ‘capture’ camera on iMovie, my iPhone video camera, and the video function on my Sony Cybershot camera!

4. iMovie from Apple allows you to edit, add captions, music, pictures, and text to your videos. It took me probably 3 hours to video, edit, and upload the whole thing.

5. At one point you can hear my dog in the background but I didn’t stop rolling! At that point I was so far into filming I just tried to cover up Radar’s barks with my own voice so I could just keep going.

6. I found the music on an open source website so I wouldn’t get busted from using someone elses music without permission. Regardless I still added the band and song in my credits at the end of the film.

Believe it or not, I am going to make a few more tutorials. The next one will be on Double Crochet, the next progression in crochet knots. Stay tuned!
~Lacey

Who’s Pinteresting, Too?

I mentioned before that I had hoped that I would be. However, I am, at last, not so Pinteresting as all that. But before I give the big reveal, first I would like to describe the circumstances in which I posted the six photos of my crocheted goodies on Pinterest.

1. The first three pictures were posted without personal descriptions, from Etsy.com, at about 9:30pm on a Sunday night.

2. The second set of three photos were posted from this blog site, with personal descriptions, and at about 11:00pm the same night.

Results:

1. The first set of Etsy.com photos that were posted had only 1 ‘like’ amongst them.

2. The second set of pictures from this site, knottylace.wordpress.com, did significantly better with three ‘likes’, one on each photo, and three ‘repins’, one on each photo as well.
Explanations:

Well, I think one of the biggest factors is that I got any likes, or repins on any of my pics at all. Considering the time of day that they were pinned this makes sense. Since Pinterest posts the most recent pins at the top of the page, just like Facebook does with news feeds, posting pictures at night aren’t going to be seen by the morning pinners. Instead they might possibly be seen by the night owls only. And actually that is exactly what happened! Not 5 minute after I posted my pics, a friend of mine saw the pictures and began repinning and liking them. You gotta love your friends, right? In the end it’s truly your friends that make all the difference! When they love what you do, they become your greatest fans!

Discoveries:

This has given me some important feedback about Pinterest, and also about advertising and sharing on social media sites. Your friends are really the ones you are gearing your whole advertising towards because, after all, they are the best! They are the most loyal to your cause and passion. Therefore, in the future this will be my focus on sharing this site, and the hand made crocheted goodies I continue to create. These things will be dedicated to my friends! The people that are just as dedicated to me!
Conclusions: I’m going to continue to treat my posts to Pinterest as an experiment, and see if there are really any awesome combinations for creating a great Pinterest following. Pinterest is a lot of fun regardless of it’s effectiveness in advertising. So, just for personally fun reasons, I’ll keep pinning!

Pin on, friends!

Who’s Pinteresting?

I AM! Or at least I would like to be. Right now I am practicing my mad social media skills and looking for other tools to share and communicate who I am, what I’m doing, and where I want to be. Ideally where I want to be is in a place where I’m free to crochet to my hearts content! But is that realistic? Do I really have what it takes to be a crochet blogger? Who is interesting, relevant, and… interesting? Am I committed enough to be a regular poster of my fascinating stories and blog content? Do I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? (Insert scream and pulling of the hair. AAAUUUUHHHHH!!)

Well, regardless I’m doing it, so … it really doesn’t matter if I’m all that and a bag of yarn. The bottom line is I simply want to crochet. Becoming a crochet super star would be fascinating, a bit scary, but also an ego booster. But my main goal is to have fun and learn something in the process.

HENCE THE PINTEREST EXPERIMENT!!

Pinterest is a visual sharing pin board. You can literally make your own online pin board and post whatever you want on it. From cool quotes to awesome photographs or funny pictures of shoes, people are able to batch visual stimuli together and “Pin” them to make a visual collage of similar items. The best part is that other people can comment, like, or repin the things you like, and find common interest.

With 12 million unique monthly visits, 10 million registered users and more than 9 million Facebook connected users, Pinterest is not only fun, it’s a great tool for social media. Now Pinterest has an updated iPhone and Droid app to make it super easy to browse and “pin” things that I find pin-able.

Pinterest is potentially a viable option to promote and share my crochet goodies because of it’s visual sharing platform. Since crochet is best described and shared through pictures, Pinterest would allow me to pin pictures of my crocheted items, or additional great crochet ideas. Since each pin shows where the picture came from, it would also be a great way to draw attention to this blog, and my Etsy site as well. I love that people can repin items that they really like and want to share. I also like that you can like someones pins, or even follow those people who share the same interests. The last best thing about Pinterest is the comments on the pins. It’s really fun to see peoples interpretations of amusing items, or inspiring trends. Being able to track who likes, repins, or comments on my crocheted goodies would give me clear information about which direction people are trending towards. It would also help me uncover some of my previous questions and fears about becoming a super star crocheter.

THE ACTUAL EXPERIMENT:

OK- so here’s the deal. I’m going to see how Pinterest really works with an experiment. Here are the steps I’m taking to find out how effective Pinterest is for Knotty Lace.

1. I have created a Pinterest profile for myself and have created several pin boards based on all my many and varied interests, including my Knotty Lace Crochet.

1. I have created a new Pin Board on Pinterest with the title of knottylace.wordpress.com

2. I have pinned 3 pictures of some of my crocheted items from Etsy on my Pinterest pin board.

2. I’m going to now post 3 pictures here and then pin them on Etsy.

Photos by Lacey Heward all rights reserved.

Questions I have about the experiment:

1. Will my photos be repined? If so how many repins? And which site, either my wordpress blog site, or my Etsy shop photos will be repined the most?

2. Will my photos be liked? If so, which set of photos will be liked the most? By whom? How many likes?

3. Will anyone click on my site from Pinterest?

I will keep track of the data until next Thursday. Then I’ll do the big reveal on Friday, Oct. 12th, what I have discovered about Pinterest and it’s effect on my crocheting.

Stay tuned and keep it Pinteresting!

What is Crochet About Anyway?

So, what is Crochet about anyway?

Crochet is an ancient form of handwork where a knots are made by hand and a hook to create material. Ruthie Marks, in her article, “The History of Crochet”, the name crochet comes from both the Middle French word, Croc, and the Old Norse word, krokr, both meaning hook. The modern art of crochet became popular in the 16th century and became known as crochet lace, or chain lace in England. Other forms of crochet can also be dated back to the 16th century, and found around the world.

How do you get started?

My crochet kit consists of
Yarn, of course – any type will do depending on the project you are working on or starting.
Crochet Hooks of different sizes – You only use one hook at a time, but which one you use will, again, depend on the project.
Scissors – I like the small ones that fit in my crochet pouch better.
A measuring ribbon.
Lastly your hands are also an important tool for crochet.
Not shown are yarn needles which are used for sewing in loose ends.

Once you’ve got your tools, there are literally hundreds of crochet books that can teach you the basics, so you can start making whatever your heart desires.
Here is a short list of my favorite beginner crochet books:

Ultimate Crochet Bible: A Complete Reference with Step-by-Step Techniques (C&B Crafts)
is chock full of beginner to advanced crocheting techniques and knots. And the pictures are awesome.

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide … Charts, and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns
is full of beautiful pictures that help show the intricacies of crochet.

Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs: 144 circles, hexagons, triangles, squares, and other unexpected shapes
explains all the different types of stitches and knots made in the craft, and also shows how to make motifs, which are designs that you can put together to make many different things. It’s a lot of fun!

Now you are on your way crocheting! So, what do you want to make with Crochet?

Here are a some of my crochet projects that are functional and fun!

Bottom line, crochet is an awesome way to keep things real … real warm that is, and fun no matter the occasion. There are many crafts that lead to creation, but crochet is the craft that keeps me yarning for more.

What about you? Does Crochet trip your trigger? What other crafts float your boat? Join the conversation. See what others are saying about their awesome love of craft.

All photo’s courtesy of Lacey Heward. All Rights Reserved.