OCTOBER 2018 CROCHET-WORLD.COM Crochet World 11Continued on page 62About the Designer
Kristen Stoltzfus ClayA fourth generation crocheter, I have lots
of crafty folks in my family. My grandma
taught me my first crochet stitch when I
was six years old. I picked it up again in
my teen years, mostly teaching myself
the basic stitches from back copies of
old crochet magazines, and sold my first
design when I was 19. Since then I’ve
been designing steadily for many publications and yarn companies,
even while the years brought a 2,300 mile move across the country,
a marriage and an infant son. There is never enough time in the day
to work up my ideas! Inspiration is everywhere.
It was very important to me to be able to work from home, and
designing became both a creative outlet for a hobby I was already
passionate about, and the perfect way to work at home at my own
pace. Plus, I love the process—it’s fun to see an intangible idea in
my head take shape under my fingers and become something
others can use and duplicate. My favorite kind of projects to design
are jewelry and versatile women’s accessories, but I do everything
from garments, to home decor, to kids’ wearables. I enjoy adding
new techniques to my arsenal and using other elements such as
beads in my crochet, but I also love playing around with combina-
tions of the basics in countless ways. Just with color alone there are
a dozen variations to every project, and the same piece can have a
whole new mood! I also love reading, writing, exploring and photo-
graphing my beloved Idaho, collecting old movies and music, ranch
life with my family, cooking, jewelry making and designing, vintage
fashion, and sewing my clothes from vintage patterns. I blog about
some of my interests at http://www.verityvintagestudio.typepad.com.
I’ve dabbled with felting crochet a few times, and after noticing
how perennially popular classic felt berets are, I had to try mak-
ing my own version. This one is finished after felting with one last
round of single crochet, which gives you more leeway with the felt-
ing process since you can draw it in to fit your head size instead of
depending on the felting shrinkage. I added embroidery to make
the petal motif more noticeable (why make something plain when
you can dress it up?), and love the visual appeal it adds—it’s so fun
to combine several fiber arts in one wearable piece!in fpdc, [hdc in each of next 2 sts,
(hdc, fpdc, hdc) in fpdc] around;
join. (20 hdc, 5 fpdc)
Rnd 4: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st,
work 1 hdc in each hdc and work
(fpdc, hdc, fpdc) in each fpdc
around; join. (25 hdc, 10 fpdc)
Rnd 5: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st,
work 1 hdc in each hdc and (hdc,
fpdc, hdc) in each fpdc around;
join. (45 hdc, 10 fpdc)
Rnd 6: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st, hdc
in each of next 3 sts, *(fpdc, hdc)
in fpdc, hdc in next 3 sts, (hdc,
fpdc) in next fpdc*, hdc in each
of next 6 sts, rep from around,
ending last rep at **, hdc in last
2 sts; join. (55 hdc, 10 fpdc)
Rnd 7: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st, hdc
in each of next 3 sts, *(fpdc, hdc)
in fpdc, hdc in next 5 sts, (hdc,
fpdc) in next fpdc*, hdc in next
6 sts, rep from around, ending
last rep at **, hdc in last 2 sts;
join. (65 hdc, 10 fpdc)
Rnd 8: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st,
work hdc in each hdc and fpdc
around each fpdc around; join.
Rnd 9: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st,
work hdc in each of next 2 sts, *sk
next st, (fpdc, hdc) in fpdc, hdc in
next 7 sts, (hdc, fpdc) in next fpdc,
sk next st*, hdc in each of next
4 sts, rep from around, ending
last rep at **, hdc in last st; join.
Rnd 10: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st,
hdc in next st, *sk next st, (fpdc,
hdc) in fpdc, hdc in next 9 sts,
(hdc, fpdc) in next fpdc, sk next
st*, hdc in each of next 2 sts, rep
from around, ending last rep at
**; join.
Rnd 11: (Ch 1, hdc) in first st,
hdc in next st, *(fpdc, hdc) in fpdc,
(hdc in next 3 sts, 2 hdc in next
st) twice, hdc in next 3 sts, (hdc,
fpdc) in fpdc*, hdc in next 2 sts,
rep from around, ending last
rep at **; join. (85 hdc, 10 fpdc)
Rnd 12: Sl st into next 2 sts, ch 1,
*(fpdc, hdc) in fpdc, (hdc in next
5 sts, 2 hdc in next st) twice, hdc
in next 3 sts, (hdc, fpdc) in fpdc**,
sk next 2 sts, rep from * around,
ending last rep at **; join.
(95 hdc, 10 fpdc)
Rnd 13: Ch 2, [work 1 fpdc
around both fpdc tog, (hdc in
next 6 sts, 2 hdc in next st)
twice, hdc in next 5 sts] around;
join. (105 hdc, 5 fpdc)Rnd 14: Ch 1, hdc in each hdc
around, evenly spacing 15 inc,
sk all fpdc; join. (120 hdc)
Rnd 15: Ch 1, hdc in each hdc
around, evenly spacing 15 inc;
join. (135 hdc)
Rnd 16: Ch 1, hdc in each hdc
around; join.