Jengibre

My Ugly Crochet Sweater

All ugly things aren't necessary hard on the eyes. When I was eight years old, my mom introduced me to the Ugli fruit--a Jamaican tangelo that looks like a grapefruit got into a fight with a baseball bat and lost.  As ugly as the Ugli is---it tastes amazing.

I had the idea to do a sweater with vertical stripes that was simple, made up of my scrap pieces of left over Red Heart Super Saver yarns and Bernat Camou.  The result is a Frankenstein-inspired, salmagundi of color and texture.  Simple construction, and easy to crochet. Sure the colors are all over the place, and so are the textures--but for some reason, it just kinda works for me.

To borrow from Michael Kors, it's kind of ugly pretty.  For more picture's check out Ravelry (for you crochet enthusiasts who want more details of the construction) or flickr.

If Necks Wore Sweaters They Would Look Like This

I am a big fan of crochet and knitwear designer, John Brinegar.  He's brusque and bold...two things that I like to think of myself as.  He came up with a very simple pattern using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick and made this insane scarf which begins with chaining 200 stitches.  It's called the 200 scarf.  Luckily, I am on the chainless foundation row bandwagon, and only use foundation stitches when working crochet.  Brinegar's colors are lot more insane than mine.  His: psychodelic frenzy.  Mine: rainbow meets autumn.  I used the following colors: spice, butterscotch, snapdragon, denim, and wood. The scarf measures over 8feet long, and about 6" wide.  HUGE!

What's really amazing about this scarf is its huge stitches.  And swatches of color. 

Talking Crochet

My good friend Denene just let me know that I was mentioned in Carol Alexander's Talking Crochet. Awww shucks!

Chain Link 2009 CGOA Conference

It has taken me forever to blog about it, but words cannot express the amazing time I had at this years Crochet Guild of America summer conference held in Buffalo, NY.  I know that I want to pursue a future with crochet, and can't wait till the next conference.  I learned a lot, some great crochet techniques, and about the industry.  And I think I know where I want to go.  So watch out!

Today, I am just going to briefly discuss the folks that I met, and in the next few days, I'll show more pics and discuss more detailed thoughts about the conference. 

As you can see, I got a chance to meet Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude.  He was super-friendly and a great person to learn from (and a lot taller than I expected).  I think I have about 5,000 pictures with him because whenever people saw us together they wanted to snap pictures of two male crocheters.  I guess it was like seeing a purple dinosaur...but wait, there's Barney.  You get the point however...

I had an opportunity to converse with a number of other "crochet celebrities" that I follow on shows like Knitty Gritty, Uncommon Threads, and Knit and Crochet Today.  In addition to Drew I met, Myra Wood (she has always impressed me with her smart look), Jennifer Hansen, and Lily Chin (my idol).

But in addition to these TV folks, I got to meet some dope designers who were sweet as pie, and extremely generous--Vashti Braha, Charles the Stitch Stud, the superfly Kim Guzman (and her son Derek), Donna Childs, Marty Miller, Kimberly McAlindin, Amy Shelton and Donna Hulka of Crochetville, Jerry, and Molly Made.

I have a lot to blog about, but I took three amazing classes,

1. a shaping class with Lily Chin--that inspired me to work on clothes worthy of the runway.
2. a hairpin lace join class with Jennifer Hansen that was frustrating, because I realized that I didnt know how to do a regular hairpin lace strip.  But she was amazing.
3. and a tunisian crochet class where I learned how to do TRUE cables that look like knitting.  AMAZING.  The teacher was Darla Fanton.

I will definitely be taking the things that I learned and incorporating them into my crochet design.

The conference was amazing because for the first time I got to see the industry that makes up crochet.  And it is a business.  I left the conference feeling hopeful about my future in crochet, and wondering what I can do to add some jengibre and spice up things in the crochet world.

I have a lot more to share...

Gryffindor House Scarf

Gryffindor House Scarf
Originally uploaded by Jengibre Wear

Here is a great Christmas present that I made for my very good friend. We are both Harry Potter fans...and he loves the House of Gryffindor, so I made him this scarf patterned after the Gryffindor House scarf from the first Harry Potter film (Sorcerer´s Stone).

The scarf is over 84" long and is super wide (like 10"). If you look at the picture closely you will see that it is folded. And doesn´t my friend have such a handsome smile?

For Real?

I was alerted to this crocheted clutch purse by my man Ken.  Its for sale at Neiman Marcus for $675(you can check it out here).  I am in shock.  I don´t know what material the clutch is made of (the description doesn´t say), but unless the clasp is made of solid gold (and I´m sure it´s not) and the fiber is pure silk, then I am super surprised at the price.

I think its a testament to the fact that crochet can sell for crazy prices--if you market it correctly.

It seems that this clutch uses one of the variations of the Catherine´s Wheel--which is a simple stich, but its a bit annoying to execute (at least it is for me).  I think I know what I am going to be making for this year´s Jengibre Wear accessories collection.

Crochet Runway

I have been on a search for crochet on the runways of various designers.  I just learned that Chris March, a contestant on Season 4 of Project Runway, designed a dress (pictured above) with a hairpin crochet front, and a hairpin crochet shawl/stole.  Very impressive. 

The dress is dark in color, so it´s difficult to see the hairpin lace details--but what a relief to see a solid example of crochet on a fashion runway.

I just read an article that Stella McCartney used crochet for her Fall collection, shown for Paris Fashion week,  but when i went to look, i saw some lacy pieces, but I couldn´t be sure whether it was crocheted.  Perhaps it was.  But it was thread crochet (which Im not so hot for).

DIY Trunk Show 2007

It just occurred to me that I have never shown pictures from the DIY Trunk Show from November of 2007.  Probably its because I don´t really like any of the pictures from the show.  And I look like a monster.  But its all good.  This show gave me so much in terms of courage and pride in my work.  And I sold so much that I took my buddies out to avec (a restaurant) afterwards where we kept the party going...

Handmade Chicago and the Garden of Envy

Handmade Chicago was a total success.  It was my first showing at this venue and the people couldn´t have been cooler. And my sales were great so that always helps.

Things couldn´t have been rockier however.  I wasn´t prepared--I left tons of stuff at home (including my digital camera, so no pictures--boo hoo).  But I sold a number of items, including my Garden of Envy Atelier Jacket:

Going Crazy

Happy New Year! 

It´s been a while.  But I have been going crazy trying to crochet stuff for Handmade Market (which starts in a few hours).  I have made a few ponchos, scarves, and jackets.

I don´t suspect that I will be anywhere near as successful as my debut at the DIY Trunk Show back in November of '07--which was literally the single most individually proud moment (yeah pride is bad) that I have had as an adult--and yes, that includes me graduating from college and law school.  But today should be nice.  But I still have a lot of work to do--shawls to border with single crochet and tags to make.  So I´m off...pics to follow shortly...