Category: A la Koval Best Practices
Blanket Sizes Chart
| January 23, 2019 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices, Trade Secrets à la Koval |
Color Inspiration | Teal
| December 10, 2018 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices |
A day of knowledge and surprises🤓
First, I was surprised that I could not translate the name of the color “teal” to Russian. Google surprised me even more by translating teal as “чирок”(a small duck 🦆)
It was interesting and I found plenty kinds of teal ducks, but my favorite is Ringed teal (Кольчатый чирок). What a beauty and color inspiration!! Don’t you think so?! ;o)
Photo credit: Svitlana Tkach.
Another translation of teal is сине-зелёный (bluish-green) which I also associate with peacock, turquoise and aqua. But oh my, see all the shades by Pantone. Not to mention a “pink peacock” shade 😜
My absolute favorites are shades number ##01, 09, 15:
❓Which are yours?! And if you speak in 🇷🇺 how would you translate them to Russian?
Happy Monday everyone!😍
Special Stitches | 3rd Loop HDC vs Back Loop HDC
| December 6, 2018 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices, Trade Secrets à la Koval |
Is there really a difference between 3rd loop half double crochet (3rd loop hdc) and back loop half double crochet, and can I substitute them with each other❓A question that I get quite often.
See the difference on the picture above and tutorial how to crochet 3rd loop hdc below:
⠀Of course, you can use any of these ways to crochet a rib hdc pattern. As a big fan of this simple but such versatile stitch, my favorite is a 3rd loop hdc for sure 🤓
Helpful Charts | Standard Measures
| March 7, 2018 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices |
I recently worked on unusual design and was so thankful for measure #2 which was very important. If you design kids clothing or use the patterns for little ones, I am so glad to offer you this chart I created for my books.
Source: Craft Yarn Council’s.
Making a Pompom
| January 15, 2018 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices |
I bet everyone can make a pompom with a pompom maker tool. But, if you don’t have one, it’s broken or lost, what is your way to make a pompom? Above is my method.
And one tip: Use (step 3) stretch jewelry cord for perfect tense ;o)
A la Koval Best Practices | Spike (Long) Stitch
| August 17, 2017 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices |
One of the many reasons I love the Spike Stitch is how versatile a stitch it is, meaning you can creating a variety of different textures and designs using this simple technique!
I’ll show you a few projects using this unique stitch when I finish them ;o)
A la Koval Best Practices | Gauge Swatch
| July 31, 2017 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices |
If you find so boring to crochet a gauge swatch and mostly skip on it praying that things turn out fine, take a look at solution I found for myself ;o)
Making sure your stitches are consistently the right size is very important when crocheting. And even if I perfectly understand it, I always hated to do that boring part – checking the crochet gauge… until I found for myself pretty comfy and easier (and much faster!) way to do it.
See how-to below:
Happy Monday everyone! Have a wonderful week, even if according to rumors…
A la Koval Best Practices | New Category + Friday Deal!
| July 7, 2017 | Filled under A la Koval Best Practices, Giveaway |
Please let me introduce a new category—à la Koval Best Practices. I always loved to learn something new, and so happy to share with you my experience. This category is for knitters and crocheters, as well as for designers too! As completely self taught knitter and crocheter, and then knit and crochet patterns and books writer, I have plenty of tips, how-to-do and special stitches tutorials, drawing crochet charts in Adobe Illustrator, working with long documents in InDesign… and much more!
So, let’s go…
Today’s tutorial is how to crochet into third loop of half double crochet stitch—my most favorite stitch for the second year in a row ;o)
The third loop is required for “camel crochet.” It has also been called the hump, bump, nub, lower loop, back-back loop, and lower horizontal bar of the single crochet or half double crochet. The patterns that result from using this loop in different ways have been called Camel Crochet™.
You aren’t going to see that ribbing yet, unless you turn the work over. The row you are working on creates the ribbing on the opposite side. Crochet a few rows to see a beautiful pattern emerge!
Below are some designs using 3rd loop hdc stitch. All pattern are available at: my Pattern Shop, Etsy, Ravelry, Craftsy and LoveKnitting.
And last but not least, I have a Friday Deal for You – get any of patterns shown above for FREE!!
HOW IT WORKS: just share this post on your accounts: Facebook, Ravelry, Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Yahoo, etc., and leave a comment on this post here, (if possible, with your link, but here is no any obligations). You also can simply share my original Instagram, Facebok or Google+ posts.
To get 2 patterns, share this post on 3 or more your networks!
Please email me at allakoval@gmail.com with info which pattern of 4 designs shown you would like and I’ll ship your pattern right away at email you provided.
*** This offer last through July 14th 2017 at 11:59 pm PST time.
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To get all the latest updates and special deals, please follow me Facebook and Instagram—my newest addiction ;o).
Have a wonderful and lovely weekend everyone!
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