What is wet blocking, and why do we do it? When we crochet, we have just made fabric loop by loop. The fabric isn’t done until it’s been washed.

I leave weaving in the ends until the end of the project because I might need to undo some work, and it’s harder to do if the ends have been woven as I work. My only exception is when I make granny squares. I like to make 5-10 squares and then weave the ends of those squares before I work up more. Nothing is more overwhelming than all those ends to weave in before you sew things together!

The dreaded swatch. We all hate to do them, especially for accessories. We want to get started with the project!

However, they are really helpful for a successful end product, especially if you are substituting a different yarn than the project calls for. The swatch is a test drive of the yarn you are using. You will determine if it’s suitable or if you like working with it!

I took a little road trip with some fiber friends in January. I wanted to visit some yarn shops while I was there to show off some of my crochet designs in hopes they might make samples for their shops.

We designed our personal yarn hop shopping experience, called the Blue-Line Yarn Crawl! Most shops were a short walk from the Blue-Line, so there was no need to hop on a bus.

One of the goals for my patterns is to offer tips that help you make the pattern your own, or you can go off-script with yarn choice, or maybe you want to make it wider, or maybe you want to make it more narrow. So, I include tips in the Whisper Lace Pattern to make it the length and width you want!

I’m always curious how different yarns will work up in a pattern and how that might change the look, drape, or dimensions of the project. I like to explore it with my designs as well.