Happy National Crochet Month! Welcome to the Crochetville Blog Tour!

Sale!

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In honor of National Crochet Month, I welcome The Crochet Express, presented by Crochetville,  to the Julie Yeager Designs stop on the Blog Tour.  Today I would like to feature my free patterns Sun Catcher Square, and Fantastic, as well as all the other free patterns on the Free Pattern Tab above.  These 9 Afghan Square patterns are free here on the blog.  Would love to see your versions!

Sun Catcher has been completed by hundreds of crocheters with stunning results.  Here is a full blanket version stitched by Anita Sorrells.  Free pattern HERE.

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Fantastic is one of my favorite creations,  Free Pattern HERE.

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I also want to offer a Coupon Code worth $3.00 off the price of some of my most popular patterns of the past year,   Summer Mosaic,  Modern Blanket of Flowers, and Roses and Ivy.  Enter Coupon Code BLOGTOUR in your Ravelry Shopping Cart to receive the discount, good until April 30, 2016.

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Keep crocheting as you ride; Check out Crochetville.com for lots of inspiration – next stop – Anastacia Zittel!

 

New Afghan Square Design – English Garden Afghan Square

Paid Patterns

Here is my new 12″ Afghan Square Pattern – Called English Garden Afghan Square.  I was inspired by lovely formal gardens and the misty bright colors of Scheepjes Stone Washed XL.  This design is currently for sale on Ravelry and would look wonderful as a full afghan.  I was thinking of switching up the colors on each block but using the same pattern for all squares.

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The pattern is suitable for the intermediate crocheter or adventurous beginner.  There are a few rounds which require very careful pattern-reading but it’s fun with a satisfying result.  I am presenting this block as a guest designer on Margaret MacInnis’ Ravelry board, where we are CAL’ing to 12″ afghan blocks in her BAMMM SHAZAAM 2016 CAL.  Check it out!  Here is a discount coupon code to take $3.00 off the price, good until end of 2016.  BAMMM2016

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Yarn Packs Available for next CAL

Garden State CAL

If you are planning on participating in our upcoming CAL for The Garden State Afghan, the pattern will be released FREE here on the blog over a period of about 8 weeks starting April 1, 2016.  There is still time to purchase the suggested yarn at Deramores, where yarn packs in 35 skeins of the lovely Scheepjes Stone Washed XL are ready for dispatch.  If you buy through these links or get to the Deramores site through a link or banner on this blog I will receive a small commission that keeps the business going and allows me to offer more free patterns in the future.  Direct Link for US buyers, Direct Link for UK buyers.  For other countries, use either link and change your country in the pull-down menu on the Deramores site.  Thanks for your support.  The pattern will be free with code on Ravelry throughout the CAL only, but will remain free on my blog thereafter.  If you’d like to chat about the pattern, please join my Facebook group called “Crochet-A-Long with JulieAnny” or chime in on my Ravelry board, Julie Yeager Designs.

Crochet – A – Long to The Garden State Afghan

Garden State CAL

Our next CAl (Crochet-A-Long) will be The Garden State Afghan, and we will be starting April 1, 2016.  The pattern will be free and released over a period of about eight weeks here on the blog and also on Ravelry.  Yarn packs in the delicious Scheepjes Stone Washed XL are available on the Deramores site and will include 35 skeins of Stone Washed XL in a pretty pastel colorway designed to bring on the Springtime here in the Northern Hemisphere.   If you purchase through any of my links to Deramores, I will receive a commission, and I thank you!   For US buyers, here’s the link: http://tidd.ly/81aeb5a2  For UK buyers, here’s the link: http://tidd.ly/2d7c26 .  For other countries, use any of my links and choose your country from the pull-down menu. The pattern will be free with code on Ravelry throughout the CAL only, but will remain free on my blog thereafter.  If you’d like to chat about the pattern, please join my Facebook group called “Crochet-A-Long with JulieAnny” or chime in on my Ravelry board, Julie Yeager Designs.

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JulieAnny’s Stained Glass Afghan Square Coupon Code

Sale!

Today I’m offering  $2.00 off the price of one of my most popular designs, JulieAnny’s Stained Glass Afghan Square, exclusively for readers of this blog.  Click this direct link to  reduce the price from $3.99 to $1.99 (slightly more if VAT applies.)  Offer expires March 1, 2016.  If you need tutorial photos, send me a message.

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Subscribe to my blog feed to receive email updates when I post here on the blog.  Don’t miss exclusive coupons and news of our next projects.  On desktop view, the sign-up is over on the right, scroll down.  On a smartphone, you may have to scroll WAY WAY down to see the side bar links.

I love seeing finished afghans using this block.  Here are lovely versions by crochetqueen98, candygram5000, lisje, and KarenRedBaron.There are over 500 project photos on Ravelry for inspiration.  Thanks to all who support my work by purchasing patterns, posting photos, and recommending Julie Yeager Designs!

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Finishing our Afghan Block CAL

Afghan Square CAL

There are many options when it comes to joining our afghan blocks.  I am lagging behind but I plan to put the border from “Fantastic” Block on all the blocks and then just slip stitch the blocks together.  I love to slip stitch through the front loops on the front side of the work and almost always use this join, especially when I do not want to distract from the design of the block.

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When I first started joining blocks in afghan swaps I would add rounds of dc and sc in pretty color combinations to tie everything together.  Simple but effective, and I think fringe is underrated.  🙂

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A favorite and classic join is Priscilla Hewitt’s “Flat Braid Join.”  Be careful at the corners; that part always trips me up!  There are video tutorials out there for this method.

My designer friend Margaret MacInnis has done several tutorials on joining methods.  Her “No Hook Out” method is a favorite, but check out her other tutorials.

Sandra at Crochet Cabana has a great description of a “Join As You Go.”  Love this.

So there are many great resources out there for joining your blocks, and each time you finish an afghan you will improve your skills.

What are you crocheting/knitting?

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What are we crocheting/knitting now in January?  I’m waiting for the yarn packs for our next Crochet-A-Long to be ready. It is going to be a re-working of my Garden State Afghan and will be a free pattern given out over a period of 8 weeks. Here is a sneak peek:

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Planning future projects – I have a unique (paid) design coming up to rival Modern Blanket of Flowers in the beauty/style/ease of execution/fun department. Can’t wait to finish. Then our Summer 2016 free Mystery-A-Long is in the thinking stage and it will be awesome.

If you are interested in another afghan Block Crochet A Long, my good friend designer Margaret MacInnis is running a CAL on her Ravelry board and will be featuring a new block from “moi” in March. Get in on the fun with her group on Ravelry.  Her new Facebook page is  up now and she’s working on a blog.  Give her a “like” and tell her I sent you.  ;p

 

Week 9 – Heart to Heart, Circle Star, and JulieAnny’s Stained Glass Afghan Square

Afghan Square CAL

We are at the last week of our Afghan Square CAL.  Many of you have already completed gorgeous afghans!   This week our free square was planned to be Circle Star, part of the Chain Reaction Afghan Project that I designed for an Interweave crochet contest and which appears in a free online e-book but some of you were having a hard time downloading it so I added another free block, Heart to Heart, which debuts here free on the blog.  Heart to Heart is only a 9″ block but you can add a few rounds to bring it up to size. 🙂

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Our featured paid pattern is the ever-popular JulieAnny’s Stained Glass Afghan Square, with over 560 project pages on Ravelry.

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When I had this as a free download one day, it was downloaded 10,000 times! This block has been around for a while and was my first best-seller.  Still fun to do and makes a striking result.  Here is a recent project that Beth Stanton and her sister completed for their aunt:  Beth Stanton

As you finish your squares, you may be looking for ideas on how to join the blocks.  My designer friend Margaret MacInnis has a few great tutorials for joining blocks; here is her No-Hook Out method.

Hope you enjoyed Crocheting Along and stay tuned for our next project!