August | 2011 | Doris Chan Crochet

Knowing for myself that I am loathe to leave the comfort of my home for any reason, I browse and shop for yarns on line these days. I love WEBS at www.yarn.com. I discovered a fully realized, fully functioning yarn store offering a staggering diversity of products and volume discounts… and I never have to get out of my chair.

But I was most impressed by the first printed WEBS catalog I received last year. In it, owner Kathy Elkins wrote so sincerely about being a crocheter herself and wanting to include crochet in what might otherwise be a knit-centric publication. Her crochet-friendly attitude, the support for crochet design and designers and her willingness to be so in-your-face about it was refreshing. So when it came time for me to raise funds for the CGOA 2011 Crochet Design Competition, I contacted Kathy. Happily she immediately and wholeheartedly agreed to support us and WEBS is the proud sponsor of the prizes for the design category Accessories.

So when Kathy hinted at… asked… uh, insisted… that I do some crochet designing for her private label Valley Yarns, I dove right in. Valley Cowl is the result. Crocheted with Deerfield, a soft luxe DK blend of baby alpaca and silk, in a lacy stitch pattern in true mobius fashion (continuous figure 8’s), Valley Cowl looks amazing.

I recently talked with Kathy and husband Steve on the WEBS podcast, Ready, Set, Knit (episode #228 23 July) and at the very end of the interview Kathy mentioned that the Valley Cowl would be the next featured crochet-a-long. So check the WEBS blog on Saturday afternoon for all the details.

Kirsten Hipsky, Design Coordinator for WEBS, has asked for more details about the Foundation Double Crochet used to begin the cowl. It’s not an impossible technique, just difficult to describe in words. So when you join the CAL, which I hope you will, and you become petrified, which I hope you won’t, see this page or get a downloadable pdf version here.

DJC Foundation Double Crochet Tutorial

WOWSERS, I totally forgot to mention this special event. CrochetMe, the Interweave Crochet site, hosts a shop for individual pattern sales, featuring many of the designs published in past issues of the magazine. This week through August 9th you can download the Orphan Scarf pattern for 10 cents.

I named this design Orphan Scarf because it is a happy use for an orphaned, partial or lonely ball of any sock yarn. The sample was crocheted with around half a ball of Southwest Trading Company Tofutsies, but any sturdy, smooth sock/fingering yarn would work well. Crocheted loosely in ginormous gauge single crochet, the resulting fabric gets blocked and S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D in length. Everyone tells me the stretching part is a giggle, so much fun and quite miraculous. So, GO. Download. Cough up the dime. Enjoy!