LWe live in a small townhouse in Seattle, one with lots of western light. Throughout the day we are blessed with an abundance of clear, bright white light that, through late Spring to mid Autumn, lingers throughout the house, brightening the corners and crevasses. That is, when the sun is out and cooperating. There are plenty of days where the clouds cover the sun and leave our working spaces and studios shrouded in a blue-gray haze. And of course there are the winters in the Pacific Northwest to contend with too... sunrise at 10:00am and sunset at 3:45pm! Eeech, it's not easy to get work done in those conditions.

Thankfully we have been blessed with an abundance of excellent lighting assistance through our friends at OttLite. The Shibaguyz are paid ambassadors for OttLite and we know you've seen that we've posted about our favorites from them. From the amazingly useful LED Mini-flips to the FAB Bluetooth Speaker Lamp… we don't know how we'd make it through the day without them. So when our friends called to let us know they had just released a new line of lamps, the OttLite, Wellness Series, we jumped at the chance to try them out.

OttLite sent us two of the Wellness Series Desk Lamps... we loved them both and use them in our reading nooks in the main living space of our home. They are stylish and look beautiful in our space. But, to be honest, what we really needed was a new floor lamp to sit on Jason's side of the couch for him to use at night. We had one of the usual OttLite floor lamps there and we LOVED the light… but it was… well… not as decorative as we would have liked in our main living area. Well, they came through a couple of weeks ago, and to say we were thrilled with the Revive LED Floor Lamp an understatement. Not only does it look amazing in our space, it has gorgeous, clear, LED light. Following if our full assessment of this new lamp.

Lets start off with the specs:

Did you see that part about reducing eye strain by 51%? They are not kidding. The Wellness Series features OttLite's exclusive LED technology that comes as close to the sun’s spectral output as you can get. It’s balanced, smooth and proven healthier for your eyes! After just one night working with it Jason was hooked. As we expected, OttLite wins for perfect lighting.

Now lets talk about the design: The Revive LED Floor Lamp has the same design as their desk lamp in that it has three knobs to adjust the light to your liking. The style matches the table lamp as well... except it's MUCH taller. Oh SO Tall!  Thank you!!!!

The issues we've had with a lot of the craft lights up to this point have been two fold:

1. They put off good light, but were kinda clunky to look at. We mean, they did the job, but looked like they belonged in a sewing room or craft room. Not that that's a bad thing, but remember we live in a townhouse and do all of our entertaining in our one-and-only living room... which is were we also work on projects at night. It's nice to have something that looks as beautiful as the light it shines with. The ReviveFloor Lamp looks right at home in our living room. When it's time to clear out the crafting for entertaining, no need to move the craft lamp to another room. Clean lines, modern and sleek... stylish (like us).
2. Other floor lamp craft lights just don't have the height that the Revive LED Floor Lamp boasts. The Revive LED Floor Lamp raises up to 60". Other lamps just did not raise high enough to keep the hood out of our vision while working at night in front of the tv. We had to contort ourselves like a sideshow attraction to be able work on a project AND watch what was going on with How To Get Away With Murder (OMG can you believe what is going on there???). We never thought it was too much to ask to have both... The three adjustment knobs allow us to change the height ​depending on what we are doing and how intense we need the light, all the while not having to worry about the shade smack dab in our faces.

So there you have it. We can't say enough good things about OttLite's new Wellness Series lamps, including the Revive LED Floor Lamp. They provide you with copious amounts of bright white light, reduce eye strain and are proven (by us at least) to look amazing in your home. We've got some sewing projects to get back to now... 
Until next time, 

Stitch On!
Shannon & Jason
​the Shibaguyz

How time flies! It's already week 4 of National Craft Month. It seems like just last week we were rounding up all the amazing swag for our weekly giveaways.

Well, before we announce the grand prize package for National Craft Month we should give away the last of our weekly prizes to one lucky person... What's in this final weekly package? Let's take a look and see.

So week 4 has you covered for tools, patterns, yarn, light, cleaning, and inspiration... Yea, we're good with that!
If you have not entered to win a weekly giveaway click on the button below and enter. You'll be eligible for this week's weekly giveaway and next week's Grand Prize Giveaway.  Good Luck!

Be sure the spread the fun around. Share this info with your friends and other crafters you know.
​Below are links to our social media feeds.

Thank you all for making Weeks 1 and 2 of National Craft Month our biggest and best yet. We've emailed the winners of both weeks and are waiting to hear back from them. If they do not contact us within 48 hours we will choose another lucky entrant… so make sure you are checking those inboxes!

In the meantime, lets talk about what's happening for our Week 3 Giveaway for National Craft Month. This is a fun week! Because it truly embraces the idea of the Renaissance Crafter: the crafter who doesn't want to be locked in to just one craft. They are proficient in at least three crafts and love exploring new possibilities for making ALL THE THINGS!

This week we will be traveling to Hartford, CT to experience STITCHES United. This is the kind of event that we as Renaissance Crafters just adore. There will be booths showcasing FAB yarn to use with amazing new hooks and needles right alongside vendors from the sewing and quilting worlds. We'll be teaching our classes on crochet techniques, fashion design, photography, and drop spinning with a machine quilting class to the left of us, and a hand embroidery class to the right... All the great crafts are represented at STITCHES United.  Thinking about that, we realized that we want you too, to be all-around crafters. To that end, this week's giveaway is what we are referring to as "All The Crafts" week, because that is what we want to support! Not just knitting, not just crochet, not just weaving... but a little of everything. 

To get you started in multi-media crafting we've included some FAB entry level items from our favorite sponsors that will help you branch out into new crafting venues!

 Whew!  That's a lot of swag for one giveaway!
We'll be choosing a winner for this week's giveaway next Sunday, March 25, 2018. If you have entered for any other week so far you are already entered for this week. Keep an eye on your email from us that day.

Until Next Week,
Craft On!
S&J
the Shibaguyz


p.s. FYI we're getting close to announcing the Grand Prize! Keep tuned for that too.

Have you or anyone you know every looked at a menu after a big meal and said to the waiter, “Is your banana bread a large slice? I just couldn’t eat a large slice.”  {insert massive eye roll here}

Yea, same with us. Banana CAKE is a totally different thing, very much a dessert. Banana bread by it’s very nature defies classification. Is it a breakfast item? A snack food? A dessert? Maybe some kid of category all its own... Banana Bread is a snack you eat when it is there in front of you. We eat ours for afternoon and after dinner snacks, as well as the occasional breakfast (a thick slice fresh from the toaster with dab of butter... mmmmmm).

Anyway, Banana Bread is one of the easier, if not the easiest, quick breads to learn. It is hard to make a mistake with this very forgiving bread, and, even if you do make a mistake, the end result usually still makes a tasty finished product.

It costs only pennies a slice to make at home compared to $3.50 for a slab of Sahara Desert dry “bread like product” sold at corner coffeeshops and 24 hour marts across the globe. Take some time this week to make one yourself and get the foundation to move on to bigger things like lemon-poppy seed or zuchinni.

What Ya Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
2. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. 
3. Add Vanilla and Eggs one at a time and beat to fully incorporate.
4. Add bananas and slowly increase speed to mix on high for 1-2 minutes until mixture is mostly smooth.  There will be some banana lumps, that’s fine.
5. Add the buttermilk... mix on low... it will splatter, you have been warned!
6. In a separate bowl sift together Flour, Baking Powder, Soda, Nutmeg and Salt
7. With mixer on low, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Mix on low until just incorporated.
8. Repeat until all flour is mixed in and moist.  Do not overbeat.  You want this to be a very loose batter.  The more you run the mixer the tougher the bread will be.
9. Mix your Nuts (or Chocolate Chips) in by hand with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon
10. Split the batter between two greased loaf pans
11. Bake for 45 min to 55 minutes.  Bread will be done when the house smells like banana heaven and a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean (or with a few crumbs on it). 

Attempts should be made to allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slathering with butter and eating. Our record for being able to wait is just over 4 minutes… oh well…

Tip: Few things are harder to eat than dry quickbreads. To ensure you have a moist banana bread; watch your bread carefully the last 10 minutes and remove from the oven immediately when it is just done.

This week we are wrapping up our series of tutorials about cleaning up those first stitches of your crochet rows. We all know what happens when we use those instructions that say "chain 3, count as first stitch of row." Yeah… the result is a wonky edge that looks like it's been gnawed on by a rabid wombat… or two. Not a good look… just sayin'…

This week is all about Standing First-Stitches. Standing stitches are appropriately named because they can stand on their own without being attached to a chain-up at the beginning of a row or to a previous stitch in the middle of a row of stitches. Because of the unique way they are constructed, standing stitches are invaluable when used as first stitches when you are starting a new ball of yarn, a new color, or when you are starting a new section of a garment that is not attached to the section next to it. Anywhere you need to start a new stitch that isn’t attached to your current yarn or work, use a standing stitch!
 
The key to making a successful standing stitch is the way you wrap the yarn around your hook to make the head of the stitch… so let's start there.

In this tutorial, what we're showing is starting a new row with a new length of yarn. This would be where you need to start a new skein of yarn or maybe you are doing colorwork and need to start a new color at the beginning of your row.

But this technique really shines when you are making a garment or accessory where you need to start a new section in the middle of a section of fabric. For example, if you are making one of our drape front cardigans from our books, you will work the entire garment from the bottom up making the back and two front panels all at once. Then, when you get to the armholes, you will work the fronts and back panel separately up to the shoulders. In this case, you would use the Standing Stitches technique to start the new sections of the garment without joining the new yarn with a knot.

So there you have it! This ends our series of tutorials designed to clean up the first stitches of your crochet rows. Obviously we feel this is a pretty important topic. Indeed, we hear about this everywhere we go and work with crocheters… nobody likes those wonky edges! We work so hard to make our stitches and our fabrics look beautiful then we hold on to an old technique that just doesn't work simply because we don't know a better way. Well… no more! These posts should be everything you need for every situation when it comes to making those first stitches of a crochet row and you can now say "NO MORE WONKY EDGES!!"

Come back soon for more tutorials that will cover topics like hand sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, and even cooking!

STITCH ON!!
S&J

UPDATED:  The original winner for the Week 1 Giveaway did not contact us... we have re-selected a winner and contacted them. Thank you all for making Week 1 of National Craft Month our biggest and best yet. We've emailed the new winner and are waiting to hear back from them. If they do not contact us within 48 hours we will choose another lucky entrant… so make sure you are checking those inboxes!

In the meantime, lets talk about what's happening for our Week 2 Giveaway for National Craft Month. You are going to love what we have in store!

I'm sure you know that we try very hard to be open to new crafts to try. We refer to ourselves as Renaissance Crafters, meaning we are proficient in more than 3 crafts (the more the merrier in our opinion!). Just last year we started weaving... yes, we knit, crochet, spin, sew, quilt, AND now weave... we occasionally take a hour or two for a power-nap between projects.

Since we have found weaving to be a fun way to pass the time, we thought you might enjoy trying it as well... so we put together a  Week 2 Giveaway for National Craft Month 2018 that's all about the "weave".

That is a lot of swag for one winner!  Wow. I think we may have outdone ourselves this week...

Remember, all you have to do to enter is click on the button bellow and fill out the form. Once you've entered for any of the weekly drawings you are automatically entered into the remaining weekly drawings as well as the Grand Prize (seriously, you're going to want everything in that one!)

Best of luck!!
​
We will draw the winner's name on Sunday the 18th and we will also announce the prize package for National Craft Month Week 3.

Until then,
Craft On!
S&J
the Shibaguyz

Be sure to come by and say hey on our social media channels where we share all kinds of FAB photos and where you can find our new LIVE series of tutorials and recipes!

Some people's favorite time of the year is Christmas, with all the trees, packages, hot chocolate, and good cheer. Other's love Easter, with the new grass coming up, colored eggs, and chocolate bunnies. Many folks love Halloween when the air gets a chill and little monsters come knocking at your door for chocolate goodies. Wait... do we really love the holidays, or the chocolate??? Anyway, we happen to love another holiday all together, National Craft Month! And would you believe that its upon us now; March is National Craft Month...WOOHOO!!

Whereas Christmas has Santa, Easter has the Easter Bunny, and Halloween has The Great Pumpkin (He's real… we've seen him). National Craft Month has...drum roll please... The Shibaguyz! Yes, we've called in all the big guns of the craft world to come together for an entire month of AH-MAY-ZING weekly giveaways right here on the Shibaguyz Designz Blog, all culminating in a grand prize that will have your crafting fingers twitching to get busy making all the things! Prizes include:

The best part is all you have to do to enter for the weekly and grand prize giveaways is go to shibaguyzdesignz.com/craftmonth and register. Once you register for a weekly drawing you will be registered for all following weeks AND the grand prize. Easy-Breezy!

So let's get this ball rolling with the Week 1 Giveaway!

Here's what's included in this week's giveaway.

Not bad for a Week 1 Giveaway eh? We're thrilled to have all of these A-MAY-ZING gifts to pass along to you.

Entering the giveaway could not be easier. Just click on the button below, or go to shibaguyzdesignz.com/craftmonth and fill out the form. This coming Sunday, March 11, we will choose and announce the winner. Then come back to the blog again on Monday, March 12, to see what the next week's give away is all about. You don't need to re-enter for any of the following weeks... you'll already be entered.

Good luck for this week and all the weeks to follow!

Be sure to come by and say hey on our social media channels where we share all kinds of FAB photos and where you can find our new LIVE series of tutorials and recipes!

If you missed last week's show, you can still watch it on our Facebook page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook and leave comments and ask questions there… we answer them all! And don't miss out on another LIVE episode! We're LIVE From the Kitchen every Monday and Friday at 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT) on our page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

What Ya Do
In a shallow bowl, whisk egg, buttermilk and 1/2 of your spices. Add your sliced chicken to this mixture and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Preheat over to 275 degrees In a separate shallow bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and remaining garlic powder, salt and paprika.

Spoon in 3-4 Tablespoons of the buttermilk marinade into the flour mixture and stir a bit. This was a BIG deal during the live broadcast with folks LOVING this tip. The idea is to make some thick spots to stick to the chicken. This will make crunchy bits when frying...mmmmm… crunchy bits… *slurp* Sorry… where were we? Oh… moving on…

Take single pieces of chicken from the marinade and coat with flour mixture. DO NOT dry or wipe off the marinade.
In a skillet, deep fat fryer, or heavy bottomed stock pot, heat at least 4" of oil to 375°.

Gently drop one small piece of chicken in the oil to test the heat. The oil should boil immediately with a nice "foamy" boil. Watch the video and you'll know right away what we mean. Adjust the temp as needed.

Fry chicken, a few pieces at a time, for 2-3 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.

Remove from oil and allow to drain on a rack placed on top of a baking sheet in your preheated oven. This part is vital to maintaining a crunchy coating. If you lay them on a paper towel laying on a plate, they will just sit there on the plate and get soggy underneath. Putting them on a rack with a pan under it allows the fingers to drain off any oil remaining on the outside and the warmth from the oven keeps them warm and crispy.

Serve with a favorite dipping sauce and crispy potatoes, corndogs, or other foods you only eat on special occasions! Please note here that, although we work for ourselves and weekends aren't really a "thing" for us, we do consider Friday night a bit of a special occasion.

Yield: 6 servings. (Or two with snacks for later that night… just sayin'…)

There you go! Give these a try and let us know how it worked out for you. You can leave a comment here and in the comments section of the video on our Facebook page. And be sure to tune in every Monday and Friday at 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT) on our page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

It goes without saying that crocheters H-A-T-E that wonky edge that comes from working a chain up and counting it as the first stitch of the row. ACK! In this post, we continue our quest to clean up those edges with better alternatives for the first stitches of a crochet row. If you missed the others in this series, jump on over HERE and HERE to catch up. You go ahead… we'll grab a cup of coffee and hang out until you return… 

WELCOME BACK! What did you think of those? Pretty nifty, eh? Yeah… we've used those two a lot but those linked first-stitches are the BEST! Right? Okay… moving on…

​This week, we're giving you all another option for the first stitches of a crochet row: the Wrapped First-Stitch. Wrapped first stitches start by using chain-ups to achieve the height needed for the next row of stitches then you work a slick little wrap around and a yarn under to put the loops on your hook. Yup… a yarn UNDER… more on that below. The result is a little thicker than a linked first-stitch and is definitely thicker than a regular double crochet stitch. But, with the right weight of yarn and hook size, this could be a viable option for you in a future project. As with all of these techniques, be sure to use your practice swatch to determine what works best for the crochet fabric you are making for your project. One more reason to swatch that keeps you from having an unfortunate mess later on.

In the end, you will have a sturdy stitch that stands up well to sewing and adding on a border and it certainly eliminates the gaps from those chained first stitches… ACK! After you try this one, leave a comment and let us know what you think. And, if you like this one, share it with your friends and on social media… just tag us with @Shibaguyz so we know you like it!

Alrighty then… here we go!

​Ch 2, being careful not to twist lp on hook, wrap hook from front to back around right-hand side of ch just made, yarn under, bring yarn to front of work (2 lps on hook), insert hook into first st, yo and draw up a lp (3 lps on hook), [yo and draw through 2 lps on hook] 2 times.

A quick note here about taller stitches. While the wrapped first-stitch technique works best for double crochet stitches, it is just okay for treble crochet stitches… then that's about it. If you are going to employ this technique for a treble crochet stitch, you need to first do a regular yarn over THEN pick up at the second half of Step 1 of this tutorial where you lock down the loop and wrap the hook around the side of the chains. We have only ever used this once in a project… so we don't generally recommend it. For taller stitches, our absolute favorite stitch is the linked first-stitch we made in last week's tutorial. If you missed it, go take a look here: Linked First-Stitch Crochet Tutorial. Give it a try yourself but we think you'll find the linked first-stitch a better crochet technique for stitches taller than a double crochet.

So there you have it! Yet another of our FAVORITE crochet techniques that can be applied to any project where the instructions call for you to make a certain number of chains to count as the first stitch of the row. Say it with us... "No more wonky edges!!"

If you tuned in with us for last week's Fun Food Friday edition of LIVE From the Kitchen with the Shibaguyz, you saw flying dough, our super-special tip about bread proofing boxes, and, of course, Jason's infamous apron. From that episode, we're giving you all our recipe for pizza dough! This could not be easier to make and you'll be SO happy you did. Just do yourself a favor and try it once… then try to go back to store bought, delivery, and frozen pizza. ACK! 

You can do this… and, if you need a couple of tips, you can go to our Facebook page and watch a recording of the live show there. Just go here to see it: Shibaguyz on Facebook

And don't miss out on another LIVE episode! We're LIVE From the Kitchen every Monday and Friday at 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT). We're live at that time but you can see all of them on our page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

As we showed in last week's Stacked First-Stitches tutorial, wonky edges are easily banished to the far corners of the multi-verse with the wave of a magic wand. What??? You DON'T think your hook is a magic wand?!? Yeah… you know it is. And we're going to show you one more spell for banishing wonky edges that even the students of a certain magical school would be envious of (see how we didn't violate any intellectual property laws or infringe on Ms. Rowling's work?).

Remember that first-stitches are what we use to replace those awful "chain 2 and count as first double crochet of row" instructions. ACK… oh, the wonkiness!! In our series, we're covering the four types of first-stitches and this week, we're talking about Linked First-Stitches.

Now, we did say that all four of the first-stitch techniques have their use and that you should use them where fit best as determined by your practice swatch you make before starting a project. That said… linked first-stitches is the technique we go to more often that the others when it comes to making a neat, clean, tidy border on your crochet fabric. Not only does it look FAB when left as a raw edge, but is is SOOOOO easy to work into when sewing seams or picking up stitches for an edging or an accent band of stitches. In addition, linked first-stitches work WAY better than other first-stitch techniques when it comes to taller stitches… more on that at the end of this tutorial.

So, without further ado, here is the step-by-step tutorial for making the Linked First-Double Crochet stitch.

The Steps To Making A Linked First-dc:
Pull loop on hook up to slightly taller than a normal loop, ch 1, insert hook in first chain from hook, yo and draw up a loop (2 loops on hook), insert hook into first st, yo and draw up a loop (3 loops on hook), [yo and draw through 2 loops on hook] 2 times.

Remember: The higher the stitch, the more chains you make, matching the number of yarn overs you would make for that stitch. One you have made the correct number of chains, insert your hook into each chain one at a time and yarn over and draw up a loop. When you are finished, you will have the correct number of loops on your hook to complete the stitch.

So there you have it! One of our FAVORITE crochet techniques that can be applied to any project where the instructions call for you to make a certain number of chains to count as the first stitch of the row. ACK! No more wonky edges!!

Want to see more tutorials like this?
​We've compiled them all into one convenient page that we update as we add more tutorials to our site.
​Click on the link below and bookmark that page for future reference!

For the ultimate crochet reference guide, don't miss our NEW book Complete Crochet Course available now online and at book sellers. See it by clicking the FAB little button below.

Be sure to come by and say hey on our social media channels where we share all kinds of FAB photos
​and where you can find our new LIVE series of tutorials and recipes!

Recently, we started doing a twice-weekly live show on our Facebook page called LIVE From the Kitchen. Starting at about 6:30pm PT (2:30am GMT) on Mondays and Fridays, we cook dinner and chat with you all about what we’re making, share cooking tips, and answer your questions about everything from cooking to how to care for cast iron. We even let the Shibakidz in not the fun (when they care to make themselves available) so y’all get a dose of furry faced (theirs… not ours) lovin’ from Apollo, Atlas, and Dallas. And, yes, Jason will wear THAT apron. If you’ve seen the show, you know the one we mean…

If you didn’t catch the show last Friday, you missed Jason’s Mac & Cheese. Seriously y’all… it’s the real deal. Yes, we’ll be posting recipes right here on our website and we’ll start things off with the legend that is Jason’s Mac & Cheese recipe!

We hope you’ll join us for the weeknight edition of LIVE From the Kitchen on Monday or for Fun Food Friday on… ummm… Friday. Oh… have a question about one of our recipes or a show? Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page here: Shibaguyz on Facebook

WHAT YA NEED:
SAUCE
3-4 strips of bacon cut into ½ pieces (plus 1-2 extra strips if you’re a nibbler… like us)
tablespoons unsalted butter
3 (ish) tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk or Half and Half
7 ounces Beechers Flagship cheese, grated (about 1 3/4 cups) or other tasty cheddar
4 ounces Aged Gouda cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
4 ounces other creamy cheese cheese, grated (1/2 cup) (Think Fontina, comte, double cream...)
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon paprika powder
½ teaspoon mustard powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

PASTA
1 lb penne, rotini, elbow or fancy pants pasta.
1 ounce (1/4 cup) Beechers Flagship or cheddar cheese, grated
1 ounce (1/4 cup) other cheese, grated

WHAT YA DO:

1. Fry bacon till slightly crispy in the pan you will make your sauce in. Remove bacon, keep bacon drippings (that good stuff in the bottom of the pan) in a separate container.
2. Set bacon aside (NOTE: Make a couple extra strips of bacon because… well… it’s bacon! You’re going to want to nibble.)
3. Start your sauce: melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the flour all at once. Continue whisking and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Slowly add milk (or half and half if using), whisking constantly. Cook until sauce thickens, about 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, salt, paprika, mustard powder and garlic powder. Stir until cheese is melted and all ingredients are incorporated, about 3 minutes.
5. Taste and add salt/pepper as you like. (Always taste what you’re cooking!!)
6. At the same time you are making your sauce, put the pasta on to boil and cook until al dente: NOTE: Al dente describes pasta that is cooked so as to be firm when eaten. In other words: don’t cook your pasta to death! Usually 2 minutes less than package directions is about right. If in doubt, err on side of less time boiling. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven so you want it a little under done.
7. Drain Pasta well.
8. Combine pasta, bacon, and sauce in your pasta pot; mix carefully but thoroughly. Scrape the pasta into the prepared baking dish if baking. (You should probably go ahead and taste it again here because… MAC AND CHEESE!! But also to check for final seasoning.) Sprinkle top with remaining cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min or Broil for 5. When we did the live show, we put it under a broiler to brown up the top because we didn’t have time to let it bake. We’ve also done this when it’s been a long day and we’re hungry and tired of waiting and there’s no more bacon to nibble on!!

Let stand 5 minutes before serving... if you can wait that long.

As every crocheter knows, turning chains have a habit of leaving large gaps in the sides of your crochet fabric. Especially in the case of taller stitches (e.g. double crochet, treble crochet, and taller), those gaps can be so pronounced as to destroy the look of an otherwise well-made piece. The technical term we utilize to describe the phenomenon of gapped, wavy edges like this is WONKY… yes, it's a highly technical bit of crochet terminology. Please adjust your lexicons accordingly.

​Wonky edges occur when a row of pattern instruction starts with a chain-up that is meant to be counted as the first stitch of the row: Chain 3, count as first double crochet of row. Because of how chain stitches sit on the outside of the fabric, these chain substitutes for the first stitch of a row create an unsightly gap where the first stitch should be. We hate that... I mean, REALLY hate that. And, from your emails and questions in classes, we know you're not particularly fond of wonky edges either. The outrage is totally understandable! We spend days/weeks/months working on the perfect crochet fabric; only to have the edges betray us. And don't even get us started on the difficulties these wonky edges create when sewing garment components together. Nope… not gonna go there right now because we're watching our blood pressure.

Breathe in… breathe out…

​Rather than pulling out large clumps of hair or screaming and ranting so that the Shibakidz go running for the hills, we set out on a quest of experimentation that lead us to a happy place full of unicorns, rainbows, cheesecake, chocolate, puppies... and straight edges (mmmm… chocolate cheesecake). We call this land, The Land of First-Stitches. (But let's get back to the chocolate and cheesecake thing soon…)

In order to reach this blissful place of non-wonkiness, we’ve developed a series of stitches we call First-Stitches designed to clean up those edges by replacing the chain ups at the beginnings of rows. In fact, we’ve come up with FOUR different options for first-stitches that we will be sharing with you over the next few weeks starting today! WOOHOO!! In today’s tutorial we'll focus on the first of these 4 First-Stitch techniques: The Stacked First-Stitch.

​



Work to the end of your row. Then turn your work.
Step 1. Without chaining up to the height of the new row, insert your hook into first stitch of row. Yup… you read that correctly, do not chain up to the height of the new row. You’ll see why this is important here in a minute.

​​Step 2. Yarn over and draw up a loop (you’ll have two loops on your hook now).

​Step 3. Yarn over and draw through both loops on your hook.

For those of you keeping track... yes, you just made a single crochet that is tilted on it’s side. This is due to the fact that we did not chain up to the height of the new working row and the head of the single crochet is now tilted to the side. This approximates the look of the base of a double crochet stitch.

Step 4. Chain up to the height of the stitches in your new row.

The photo to the right shows a completed Stacked First Dc (sc, and 2 chains).
If the stitch pattern in this row was based on treble crochets you'd probably have 3 chains. See what we said there? We say probably because, depending on the yarn weight/fiber you are using and your stitching gauge, the number of chains needed may vary. This is why you need to be sure to test your First-Stitches on your gauge swatch! There are definitely times when we only use one chain for a stacked first-dc and two for a stacked first-tr because of the weight of the yarn.

Here is what a Stacked First-Treble would look like.
Look carefully and you'll see (in this case) the single crochet followed by three chains. This mimics the base, post, and head of any following trebel crochet stitches closely enough that even the pickiest of crocheters will have a hard time seeing it as anything other than a treble on the edge of your fabric. This keeps your edge straight with no huge holes.

NOTE: Because of the height of stitches taller than a treble crochet, even this technique can leave your edges with a bit of a gap. It certainly won't be as severe as the gap from simply chaining up three or four times but it is more of a gap than we personally like. For that reason, with taller stitches and, in most cases, in the case of the first-treble crochet, we use on of the other first-stitch techniques we will be sharing with you in the coming weeks. Again, this isn't always the case but, as we said, it is best to test the stitches on your practice swatch and pick the one that works best for your crochet fabric.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
When using Stacked First-Stitches, it is important to insert your hook into the top chain of the stacked first stitch when making the last stitch of the following row. Remember, that top chain is standing in for the head of the first-stitch so you will insert your hook into the chain just as if it were the head of any other stitch. For example, if you worked a stacked first-double crochet at the beginning of Row 3, when you come to the last stitch of Row 4, insert your hook into the last chain of Row 3’s stacked first-double crochet. If you miss and make your stitch in the space made by the chains, you will create a hole in the edge of your fabric and it will not look as neat and tidy as you would like.

So there you have it, your first step into banishing those Wonky Edges!
Practice this stitch this week and come back next week to learn the second technique in your arsenal of First-Stitches: The Linked First-Stitch.
(You're going to loooooove this one!)

We were all taught it... "work to the end of the row, turn, chain up to the height of the stitches in that row". While this makes sense in the grand scheme of things, it also makes for some seriously wonky edges on any stitch taller than a single crochet. AND, speaking on our experience as designers and photographer for over 300 patterns, few things look worse on a great design than wonky edges! So how does one fix this problem?

Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing 4 different techniques that will clean up your crochet edges. Not only will your raw edges look better, this will make your life SO much easier when sewing seams. SOOOOO much easier!

In this series, we're going to show you four unique techniques for making crochet First-Stitches: a way of making the first stitch of your row of crochet stitches that will keep your edges neat and clean giving your swatch a FAB finished look while avoiding the dreaded "Wonky Edge."

Here are the 4 techniques we'll be covering in this series:

1. Stacked First-Stitches
2. Linked First-Stitches
3. Wrapped First-Stitches
4. Standing First-Stitches

For the ultimate crochet reference guide, don't miss our NEW book Complete Crochet Course available now online and at book sellers. See it by clicking the FAB little button below.

It's time to purchase tickets to our classes at this year's Sew Stitch Expo in Puyallup, WA. WOOHOO! We have a LOT of classes at Sew Expo this year including crochet, knitting, math for crocheters and knitters, alterations, taking proper measurements for crochet and knit garments, photography, and two lecture/demo sessions! In addition, we will be presenting two runway shows and will be sharing a booth with the most glamorous shepherdess on the planet, Katrina Walker of the Spoiled Sheep Flock. What a FAB weekend!!

Now we wouldn't want y'all to miss out on a minute of the FAB fun we have planned for you but, occasionally, we hear from folks that they have problems finding our classes and registering online. So this year we thought we'd put up a little walkthrough to help you with the process. The process does take a couple of steps, but is not difficult. Once it is all over, you end up with the best possible prize... a class with the Shibaguyz! [blush]

Here we GO…
First go to www.sewexpo.com 

The Fab folks over at XRX have come up with a really cool way to fill your personal library with books, magazines, and pattern collections without taking up space on your shelves.

Introducing stitchips.
stitchips are credit card sized USB drives that are filled with all your favorite crochet, knitting, and weaving titles... all in Rich PDF digital format! stitchips have been formatted for optimal compatibility with as many Mac & Windows (and even some Linux) operating systems as possible.

We've been working on wrapping up production on our newest book and now we have time to finally put up some of our latest individual patterns on our site. We've just put up four new crochet patterns that y'all are gonna love making and wearing. Check each one of them out below and get your pattern today just in time for making something special for yourself over the holidays… you can't work on gifts ALL the time… treat yourself! Okay… so then set up that special project for yourself AFTER the holiday-gift-making-crazy rush is over.

We are very excited to finally share the details of a project we've been working on with the FAB folks at STITCHES Events. Yup… we've teamed up with STITCHES Events and some of our FAB sponsors to offer you a giveaway with two amazing prize packages. Yes, you read that right... Two Prizes, each equally fabulous. WOOHOO! Here's the scoop...

One prize package is from STITCHES, and it is the chance to win a special STITCHES West 2018 getaway worth
$2,300. This package includes:

• 5 nights at the Hilton Santa Clara for the event
• Up to 24 hours in classes
• VIP Market access all weekend long
• $500 toward travel expenses
• A private lunch on Sunday with the Shibaguyz and STITCHES CEO Benjamin Levisay

But wait... there's more! We are going to be your personal hosts at the Friday Fashion Show & Fashion Show Dinner and the Saturday Student Banquet & Style Show (you get to sit at the FUN table). There is no better way to get an insider's view of STITCHES.

The other prize package is worth $1,300, and is provided by some of the FAB people who provide us with products for our studios and for our Shibaguyz LIVE classes at STITCHES: Clover, OttLite, WEBS, and The Buffalo Wool Co. This package includes full sets of crochet hooks, steel hooks, interchangeable circular knitting needles, 30 skeins (yes thirty skeins) of FAB yarn, an array of assorted notions, and two of our favorite lamps to make sure you can see all the fabulousness.

Seriously, don't waste any time… go to the Shibaguyz Go West Giveaway page on the STITCHES Events website or click on the banner below to be whisked there via the magic of the internet.

Don't miss out! This AH-MAY-ZING giveaway ends December 15, at midnight Central time so go enter today!

STITCH ON!!
S&J

We don't know about you all but, after a long, hot Seattle summer, we are ready for some crisp fall air. Walks through the falling leaves… nights cool enough to actually sleep… Yeah. That. We do love cooler weather and we have two new designs in the Fall 2017 issue of Love of Crochet magazine to make sure you greet this fall in style.

Sometimes you just want to make something beautiful without worrying too much about… ya know… thinking! Sometimes you just want to pick up a beautiful yarn, make a pretty stitch, and wear it. Scarves? Wraps? Yup… been there done that. How about something a little more special?

That's the exact thought process that led us to create the Gathered Shoulder Top in our latest book, Crochet Geometry. And, yes, if you have only made scarves, afghans, and dishcloths before, you can make this simple, yet elegant, top.

Shannon asked me to put together this week's Inside The Designz post a couple of days ago.  To help spur my though process into settling on an idea about which to write I opened up my Lightroom program where I keep the photos from the shoots we did for Crochet Geometry and started flipping through pictures. It did not take me very long to decide what I wanted to write about: Synchronicity. Sometimes the elements of a design, a photoshoot, and a project as a whole all come together in what is, at times, an unexpected way. Often it's something small that let's you know everything is working together for a FAB outcome. Take a look at the following photos and see if you notice anything connecting the pictures.