I love yarn; almost as much as I love fabric. I love the texture, the colors, the multitudes of things I can create. And I discovered that I can collect yarn as quickly as I collect fabric. Who says I have to have a plan to buy it? It just looks so pretty sitting on my shelves. And my coffee table. And the stool in my kitchen. And . . . Sometimes I'm given samples and that's the case with this set of four skeins of Fair Isle . I'm not sure how they found me (I'm a quilter, OK?), but I am a serious crocheter and you can't crochet without yarn! Four skeins of Fair Isle yarn This is not the high end yarn you find in specialty yarn shops (though I truly love that, too). This is quality yarn that feels good in my hands, plays nice with my hooks, and is very affordable (which means I can buy more of it!) Let me show you what I made with that green and gold variegated Barclay  (195 yards). The color is called " Surf ." (Surf? It's the middle of wint...

Don't you just love beautiful fabric? I do and always love seeing what Windham Fabrics sends my way. This is the new collection called Aria by Kelly Ventura . Aria Collection by Kelly Ventura I asked my daughter Hilary to select a few pieces so that I could make her a surprise birthday present. She is an avid crocheter like me (she's more so) and I've seen her piles of yarn around her house and I got an idea to make a hook holder. I found a pattern in the latest issue of Make it! Patchwork magazine. It was for knitting needles (we can't knit), but I knew it would work for crochet hooks. Here is a pic of the outside (navy) and the lining (yellow). I used my walking foot to quilt straight lines. The first line I sewed was wobbly because I thought I could do it WITHOUT any guidance. Ha! But I was too lazy to walk to the basement and get my marking chalk. I instead cut 2" wide pieces of freezer paper, ironed them in place, and used those as my stitching guides...

Sometimes I find some luscious yarn at a good price and grab several skeins. Last week I came upon some 100% cotton yarn by Isaac Mizrahi. It is SO SOFT! I generally make potholders. And more potholders. And even more potholders. This is because I can crochet without thinking after the 33 chains. Honest. It's a piece of cake. (I'm still waiting to hear back from my Windham and Benartex fat quarter bundle winners from last week. I'll let you know when they get back to me.) Can I show you my previous piles of potholders made with Lily's Sugar and Cream? Yes, I love color and texture - in yarn as well as fabric I make these all year long and have little hostess gifts always on hand to grab and wrap in tissue. Here are my two potholders from this week using the new yarn: I love variegated yarn! I chained the necessary 33 for both of these potholders. But I used an H hook for the cream/gray potholder and a J hook for the blue/gray/green one. Let'...

Thrift shop find - just discovered it's wool! There is a local thrift shop that has a "yarn wall" with a variety of plastic bags filled with a vast assortment of yarn. I discovered this marvelous hank two summers ago. I should have known that it would be high-end yarn by the way it was presented. No paper wrapper with generic labels by the main stream yarn vendors (ie,  Lion Brand; Red Heart). I uncoiled it and wrapped it into a giant ball. The weather is turning cold here and it's time to pull out the crochet hooks and various yarn. I rediscovered this and decided to find out whether it's wool or just acrylic or polyester. Tested it by fire (match) and it turns to ash. If it had melted into a clump and smelled awful, then it would have been synthetic. That bundle above is 100% wool! Yarn samples I found a huge assortment of these yarn samples with some serious "bling" last year (yarn wall, of course). Pulled these out and am determined to us...

I now hunt for yarn at thrift shops, Goodwill, Unique here in Fairfax, etc. I especially love to find little packs in ziplock bags and the green Moda Dea Vixen above was bundled with an exotic Di.Vé Makura purple yarn with little poms. I used my double crochet hook and crocheted until there was nothing left. Then I went to Ravelry and hit the jackpot! A lady was selling 10 skeins of Moda Dea for $1 a piece and she works just 8 miles from me! Divine providence, I would say. (Not sure if God knits or crochets?) Met Kelli yesterday and we swapped my $10 for her goodie bag. These are the colors I now have: Moda Dea Fuchsia Moda Dea Red Moda Dea Purple These are my HAPPY colors! This is just like how I feel with my fabric - it's the bright, happy colors that give me great pleasure when I sew. The same is with yarns. Now why did I buy those muted grays and mauves in January? Could it have been the weather? di.vé Starship Yarn The yarn above is about $8 a skein (a...

I have discovered that I now collect yarn and patterns just like I collect fabric for quilting! It's so portable and because of that, it's all over my house. One little pattern I got from the Lion Brand website (I have no financial affiliation with them except that I BUY their stuff) is the Little Lamb. I have yet to finish him (it's a very easy crochet pattern) and maybe I should since my grandson is growing up so fast. Little Lamb free pattern Should I rename my blog to "Debby Kratovil Quilts & Crochets"? And the little lion over on the right, the button for Lion Brand - I got that pattern (free) and bought the yarn. What am I waiting for, huh?