The reason I ask is that I’m working to market the Yarnography club as being friendly to both and, in fact, one of the extras for the March box that’s on its way out the door this A.M., is more for crocheters, but can be used by knitters as well. Knowing that, I had to wonder if any of the club members are knitters or multi-craftual? And if none of them are crocheters, then how come there weren’t any crocheters who signed up?

The yarn that’s accompanying each box is a fingering weight yarn. I know some people prefer to use at least a DK when crocheting, but why? There are a vast number of projects that are incorporating lighter weight yarns, and those lighter weight yarns really lend themselves well to everything from accessories to garments. With 460yards per skein, you could crochet a couple of scarves, a few hats, socks, a cowl, a shawl (see my last post), a baby cardigan, and, gosh, I don’t know–so much more!

So, Where are my crocheters? Maybe it’s my fault for keeping the two sides (The Crochet Side & The Yarn Side) separate? Maybe I should be cross-posting more often so that we’re all up to date and together.

I’ll start sharing more now…

Yarnography is a yarn and photo club; a collaboration between myself and Caryn Drexl Photography. On a bi-monthly basis there is an installment that goes out with at least the following:

• 1 5″x7″ professional quality print of that month’s photograph
• 1 skein of Walker Basic (75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon), 460 yards, in a colorway that is inspired by the photograph.

Beyond that there are extras/goodies.

Here is a photo of January’s installment (excuse any wonkiness in case the image is too contrasted on your monitor):

The photograph for January was “Mapped”, the skein was inspired by the photograph, and the extras were a calendar, a compass, and a small notebook.

March’s installment is going out today, so I won’t be posting a photo for another couple of weeks. Don’t want to inadvertently spoil the club members.

If you want to know what May’s inspiration is, or are interested in possibly registering for it (registrations closes May 6th), please visit The Yarn Side.

She Sells Yarn is a great little shop that was opened late last year by a friend of mine, so I’ve been trying to support it by selling my yarn there, as well as teaching some crochet classes. So far I’ve taught a hat/scarf pattern class, a Tunisian 101 class, and a granny-square/motif class that also went into how to read a pattern. It’s been exciting! Outside of those classes, however, I haven’t done much crocheting.

That was all history as soon as I received a skein of yarn in the mail. The skein was from BigMouth Yarns, in a Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend. It was from a yarn club, which also featured chocolate (yum!), and to be completely honest, I wanted to just wrap myself up in yarn strands. Instead, the next best idea was to crochet a shawl.

After some Ravelry research, I decided on the Seraphina Shawl by Doni, of Doni’s Stuff. It’s a fairly easy pattern, though I’m currently only in the middle of the 11th row, but it’s beautiful so far.

Isn’t it fantastic? The subtle variegation of the yarn is coming out so beautiful. The photo was taken after row 7 I believe, so I’ve had more progress since then, but I’ll share it in the next week.

I just want to thank Erica, of BigMouth Yarns, and Doni, of Doni’s Stuff, for helping me out of my crochet slump. Between lusty yarn and a gorgeous shawl, I’m anticipating wrapping this around me all year long.

It occurred to me that this hat was made with a worsted weight, and that hats are often made in a worsted, chunky or bulky yarn in crochet. My mind has been obsessed with finer yarns–DK, fingering, lace. The weights, in particular, are on my mind since these are the weights that I often dye for The Yarn Side.

Why not, I thought, reinvent the Quarter-Ridge in a fingering weight or DK? I don’t remember where the notes are for the hat, since it’s been a few years now, but I remember the construction–mostly. I’ve decided to swatch a bit, in both the Andromeda (DK) and, probably, the Walker Merino (fingering) bases that I have. Could maybe do a lovely semi-solid instead of a flat solid.

It’ll be a little adventure and dip into my crochet history. I may find that I can’t remember exactly what I did, and take the design into a new direction, or I’ll remember exactly what I did and it’ll be awesome, prove troublesome, grow legs and move out because it’s all grown up now and doesn’t have to listen to me anymor

It’s only been the last few days where I was able to make it into work, and now I’m trying to slowly catch up with you all. While I do that, have a crappy iPhone photo of a scarf I started…

This scarf is made up of samples from the February Phat Fiber sampler box. A couple of the samples are actually ones that I spun from small batts. I have a couple more fiber samples that I need to finish spinning before I can call this scarf done. I’m letting all the ends hang for the meantime. Not sure if they’re visually appealing enough to leave them dangling or if I should take the time to weave them in.

Before I decide whether or not I’m going to offer yarn, using this new technique, I’ve decided to crochet it up into a simple scarf.

That was the beginning of the scarf, and it’s about 2-3 times longer right now. It’s a single crochet, very basic scarf. The only difference is that I’m using this new speckled-shade dye technique which does all of the interesting work for you.

In the photo you can see how dark the end of the scarf is–a very deep green with a hint of brown. In the ball behind it, the outer part is a very light shade of green, and I mean very light. There are, however, specks of darker shades in those strands too. As the piece is crocheted, the overall tone becomes lighter, but the speckled areas will actually darken.

It works like this…

Darker end = medium and light speckles;
Middle section = light and dark speckles;
Light end = medium and dark speckles

I’ll post some more progress shots, as well as the final product, when I get a chance. It’s sure to be an interesting experience!

I wanted to share this as it’s a great example of letting the yarn do the work for you. In fiber arts–I’m thinking crochet and knitting here–when the fiber is more interesting, or visually stimulating, you end up using simple stitches, or less complicated stitch patterns. Most often this is due to the fact that colorful, visual fiber loses the stitch pattern, making it appear less prominent.

Le’ts face it, when we use a fancy, or complex, stitch pattern, we want to see that stitch pattern, so we use a simple (read: smooth) yarn. The reverse is true of fancy, or interesting, yarn. Simplify the stitch or stitch pattern to let the yarn pop. There are, I’m sure, exceptions to this, but that’s a great general rule to follow.

I’ve been awfully quiet lately, I know. I’m letting a few things slide lately–things I shouldn’t–which has left me feeling pretty poor about not having enough time. I have a sneaking suspicion this is all a part of being an adult. When I was a kid, the days were long and glorious. The only time I got fussy over time was when it became too dark out to play football in the streets with the boys, and my mother (football nut), who loved that I was playing any kind of sport, called me in for the night. Now, at 28, unenthusiastically zipping across time to 29, the days are shorter. There’s never enough time to do it all. Work, school, crochet, design crochet, dye yarn, dye fiber, podcast, edit podcast, spend time with family, take dog outside, try to keep the dog and cat from killing each other, breathe…

That last one lately has been difficult.

Then recently I decided that, with it being National Crochet Month (Happy March!), I should participate with, and send samples to, Phat Fiber. I discussed this a bit on the last episode of the podcast, but here’s a snippet of what Phat Fiber is about (lifted from their site)…

Phat Fiber is a mystery box of awesome samples for the yarn and fiber enthusiast in us all. With a focus on the independant artisan, this box is a super grass-roots treat for the senses. When your box arrives, chock full of samples, expect to be overwhelmed with the sight and feel of artful yarns, bits of roving, small batts, stitch markers, original patterns, valuable discount coupons and much much more. Inside, you could find anything that yarn and fiber enthusiasts would love…even an herbal tea or two! Phat Fiber seeks to bridge the gap between talented online artisans and consumers hungry to support the independent small business.

So, there’s this box that I wanted to be a part of. It’s March, and I wanted to send in samples for both fiber-lovers and crocheters. I felt very rooted to the idea of getting crochet out there, celebrating what I love about it, and reaching as many people as I could. This is what I sent in:

I rushed taking that photo as I was trying to get them into the shipping box and mailed, so the mini skeins are blurry. All very sad. That’s representative of at least 24 of the green/olive (Horned God) mini-skeins, 30-ish of the pink/yellow/orange/white (Apple Blossom) mini-skeins, 10 mini rolls of the pink/yellow/orange/white (Apple Blossom) roving, and I think 60 crochet patterns for a wristlet/cuff pattern. Horned God is a sock-weight yarn; Apple Blossom yarn is a delicious baby alpaca, silk and cashmere blend lace weight; and the Apple Blossom roving is a baby alpaca and merino blend. So. Freaking. Delicious. I really wanted to keep it all for myself.

I think, all told, I spent about 50 hours putting it all together. It was, with complete honesty, more involved than I thought it would be. I had hoped to get the business/discount cards printed for me, but didn’t have the time. I ended up printing them myself, which was painful. There were rewarding moments, too, though. When I would punch a hole in a card that had a logo I designed on it, I’d smile. When I would squish a little 0.4 oz roll of roving into its bag, I’d pet it for the last time and sigh, knowing that it would end up being loved. When I printed dozens upon dozens of pattern postcards, I knew that it was a great representation of what a crocheter could do with less than 40 yards of lace.

There is pride in what I did, what I sent. I just don’t think I can do it two months in a row like I was hoping. Not enough time, not enough energy. I’ve promised myself I will do the May box. That should give me plenty of time to slowly work up, and work on, the samples. I need to repeat the mantra “I don’t need a box, I don’t need a box, I don’t need a box”. If I don’t need a contributor’s box, then I don’t need to push myself to send 50+ samples. No one is forcing me to contribute, I just want to.

Maybe for May I’ll come up with a new pattern.

Oh, speaking of the pattern. The wristlet/cuff is called “Mrs Dalloway”, named by a good friend of mine who is much better at that sort of thing than I am.

That’s Mrs Dalloway. She’s a flirty, party-throwing kind of girl. She doesn’t mind if you just wear one, or if you want to jazz it up and wear two–one for each wrist. Make sure to click on the photo to see a larger version.

The pattern was free to those who purchased a Phat Fiber box, and for those who signed up to find out more about the secret site. For everyone else, I will be offering it up for sale at a low price. It’s available at Ravelry already, and will soon be available here on The Crochet Side.

And if you’re interested in that kind of thing, you can see some of the new dyed items that I’ve just listed at the Etsy shop for The Yarn Side. You read it here first (well, outside of Twitter, but I don’t think anyone reads those anyway)! I’ve moved all of my fiber stuff out of my Etsy shop for my patterns, and into it’s own store. The Etsy store will eventually make way to a new website. It’s up, but not functional, and doesn’t have any pretties. It’s pretty much a holding place right now, sad to say. One of those things I’m going to have to find time for at some point.

Regardless of my inability to manage my time efficiently, how are you? What have you been spending your time on? Crochet anything lately? Dye something? Spin something? Listen to something fantastic or interesting? Come give me something to read; I’ll put whatever I’m doing on hold for a few seconds to find out what you’re up to. :)

Well, it’s a Brand New Year, with a Brand New Design, so I’m going to have a Brand New Outlook. I aim to put out more podcast episodes, as well as more blog entries. 2009 is going to be great for each of us.

Let’s throw some photos and text into this entry and make it one big show and tell, yeah?

The following photo was taken by Caryn. I asked if she’d take some photos while she was out in her studio (read: garage), and she broken down and said that she would. Anyway, this photo displays some yarn that I have lying about. The bottom red/pink-toned skeins are different shades of my “The Puppet Show” colorway. The middle two in the blue-green colorway is my “Go Fish”. The top middle two are “Mutant Enemy”–the green on the right skein is more accurate than the one on the left. Damn you photography! The silver-blue skein on the left and right is the new colorway, “New Moon Rising”.

This following photo shows a close-up of the “New Moon Rising”. The skein itself is a Fingering weight, which is perfect for us crocheters. You may thinking working with such a lightweight yarn is tedious, but it doesn’t have to be. Did you know that Jules is crocheted with Fingering weight yarn? It is! Fingering weight allows us to introduce more drape with complex stitches if need be, without the bulk of a heavier yarn. Fingering weight yarn, provided that the contents of the yarn works well, can also give greater stitch definition and shine a design right up. *swims in a bathtub of a Merino/Silk blend in ‘New Moon Rising’*.

The following three photos are just bonuses! The left shows the reverse side of the hang tag that now comes on all of my yarn. It shows you the name at the top, the weight, the yardage/grams, fiber type and care instructions. Then you get to read the inspiration for the yarn, and a quote. All in my lovely penmanship (she says jokingly–har). The middle photo shows you what the skein and tag look like together, and what you can expect to see when you receive a skein. The far-right photo is another shot of the Worsted weight skein that is shown in the far-left. I just really like this colorway, so if I can show a million photos, I will. Sometimes less is not more, people, you know? ;)

So, what has the new year brought you? Have you looked back at 2008 with a clearer vision of what you want to accomplish this year? Did you bust as much stash as you wanted? Has it rolled over into 2009 with a vengeance? Should we discuss ways in which we can bust our stashes even further? A square-a-thon? We all have time for at least one square, right?

Bring me your ideas.

A (somewhat of a) coworker (our positions cross paths, and we discuss work things, but lately we’ve been chattering outside of typical work comm’s) instant messaged me, and we chatter for a bit. At some point during the chat, she mentioned that she had tried to learn how to crochet. Well, I don’t know about you, but everytime someone says that, I kind of squee and mentally bounce around. She admitted to being able to crochet a long line (I’m assuming a long row of chain stitches or maybe single crochet), but not being able to understand instructions.

She had picked up Debbie Stohler’s “Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker”, but was still having issues with the language and what she was reading. (As an aside, I admit to not having purchased “The Happy Hooker”, but mostly because each time I browse the book I am not won over.) This woman is far from dim, so I could tell right away that she was one of us–if by “us” you insert “one who learns by seeing in action what she could not grasp on paper.” You know–us.

I gave her the location of my how-to videos online, promised that if we both make it to San Francisco at our employer’s headquarters, then I’d help her even further. I also told her to check out “Teach Yourself Visually Crocheting”, as a lot of the photos and instruction are clear. “But this one,” she said, referring to the former book, “says ‘bitch’!” To which I could only chuckle. She’s a firecracker!

This conversation with her got me to thinking about (1) how mainstream skills like crocheting and knitting have become–they’re not as subversive as they may have once been; and (2) I just really like to help people. I mean, that’s the reason I started the crochet tutorials; that’s one of the reasons I’ve kept up with the podcast; and, work related, it’s one of the reasons I love my job so much.

I enjoy making the videos for both the users I help at TypePad and the visitors to this site and over at the YouTube channel. I enjoy being friendly and giving and making people feel good for contacting me in the first place.

Those of you who e-mail me, asking me to explain a stitch? I love that.

Those of you who open a support ticket at TypePad, or use the contact form, I love troubleshooting the issue you’re having, then giving you the means to fix it yourself, or being asked to fix it for you.

It’s just who I am. I am a people-pleasing, user- and visitor- friendly, cranky-soothing person. It has to be in my genes, or maybe I’m a product of my environment, but whatever it is… it’s not hurting me. So, I’ll just keep on swimming along, helping my fellow people, whether it’s with their stitches or their blogs.

To the right of this entry, if you are viewing this directly on the blog, you will see a widget, prompting you to donate to some worthy causes.

First up…

the Crochet Club, which was started by a teacher in South Carolina. She is trying to raise some money for supplies so that her 3rd-5th grade students are able to learn an (awesome!) skill, that will also preoccupy them during their morning wait for school to begin.

That was the only crochet-related cause at DonorsChoose.org, so I decided to bring in some knitting-related ones as well. I am, however, keeping with the teacher’s teaching their students a craft theme.

The other 3 groups are as follows:

Let’s Learn to Knit — an elective class of 6th graders in a high-needs community who need to raise funds for supplies. There has been enthusiasm for such a class, but there is no guarantee that the students’ families will be able to provide supplies.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside — High School students wanting to learn how to knit, then providing the finished objects to their local Ronald McDonald house. Needs funds for supplies.

Warm Head, Warm Heart — Third, Fourth, and Fifth graders are wanting to learn how to knit in order to provide their finished goods to the local homeless shelters.

That’s it! If you’re willing to donate even $2.00 to either, or each, of these groups, please do so. They’ll be able to meet their goals if we all just give what we can.

As incentive, if we can meet the goals for each of the groups, I will create a colorway and hold a giveaway. If we meet the goal for one group, I will create a colorway and dye a single skein of DK-weight yarn and offer it up on this blog for a giveaway. If we meet the goal for two groups, I will create a colorway and dye TWO skeins of DK-weight yarn. If we meet the goal for THREE groups, I will–you get the point.

For every group’s goal we meet, I will dye an equal amount of skeins, and we will have an equal amount of winners. 1 goal, 1 skein, 1 winner. 4 goals, 4 skeins, 4 winners.

Go ahead, donate, and make me proud!

I’ve updated the following:

1. Double Crochet
2. Half Double Crochet

And I’ve uploaded these new videos:

1. Tunisian Crochet – Cast On and Simple Stitch
2. Tunisian Crochet – Purl Stitch
3. Tunisian Crochet – Knit Stitch

Make sure you leave a comment and rate the videos! It let’s me know what you’d like more of.

There are more videos to come, but these are the ones I’ve got up so far! For those of you who haven’t Tunisian crocheted before, or who want to brush up on their skills, check out the Tunisian video tutorials. :)

Just to get you up to speed: I just printed out the postage label for the priority packaged envelope lying on my desk right now. It’s about to be sealed, postage-stuck, and put out in the mail.

This is it! This is my first submission (well, submissions, considering there are three inside) to a publication.

I know there hasn’t been much in the way of patterns here for the site, but I have been busy, and I have been working toward something big for a while now. One of these submission items is huge for me–a big step in my design career/path.

I hope they like it.

Shit (sorry!), I hope they like all three.

Okay, here I go…I’m about to walk out the door and attempt something huge for me.

Or not, it would seem. It’s too big for the mailbox! Guess I’ll be driving it. In the meantime, have a look at Rowan with the package. She’ll keep it safe for me until I drive it into town just before lunch.

Here it is:

Isn’t it..don’t you think…? OH GOD, I have no words. It makes me hungry. I think that’s hunger. It could be…something else entirely.

Back to my story, dear ones.

I mentioned my lust, and that when I have the funds, I was going to buy some of her yarn and podcast about it’s deliciousness. She replied, telling me how she would like to dye me a skein of yarn if I would only tell her the colors I like, the type of dye process, and my address. How freakin’ RAD is that?!!!! There aren’t enough exclamation points in the whole world!!!!!!!!!!

A week or so passes and a box arrives for me, containing this:

That package contained the following:

But it looked more like this:

Mostly because I totally fail at unwinding twisted hanks and winding them into balls. Seriously. Hours of frustration when all I want is to dive in and GO. So, the lovely Julie said she wouldn’t mind winding into the above ball.

MERINO/SILK BLEND, people. It’s a shaded yarn in a light turquoise and I loooooooove it.

As soon as I got it, I started swatching!

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with this beauty. I think it’s about 17WPI, which would place it somewhere around fingering, maybe? Julie? Do you want to step in here?

Anyway, I had two ideas for this, and if there’s yarn enough, I’ll hopefully be able to do both. But here’s the first, a sneak peak if you will:

Half-Double crochet and Front-Post stitches, which are creating that beautiful, natural scallop edging. I’m using a rather large hook for the yarn, so it’s creating a nice lacy effect between the post stitches.

What do you think?

Somewhere, somehow, during the last week, I finished a bib off by crocheting the neck straps. The body has been done for about a month, grant you, but it wasn’t until this last week that I finished them off. To help my progression along, I purchased velcro strips that had industrial strength adhesive so that the strips would remain attached to the crochet stitches. I placed it in two spots so that it can be adjustable. The velcro will make it much easier to attach and remove, versus a button or tie.

(click on thumbnails to see larger)

It’s the first bib I’ve ever made, and I sort of winged the whole thing. I just used the available cotton I had lying around. I think it would be great to get some of that material that can be applied/sewn to the backside of the piece to protect the child’s clothing. It’s a good idea, at least. What wasn’t necessarily a great idea was putting this bib on my mannequin head. The neck is long, and the chest area is very rounded, so the bib doesn’t lie very well against the curve. Still, you can see it, and that’s at least something.

Just trying to come up with some ideas and designs for MommySquared.

Pardon me. I’m not sure I’m having the best night/morning ever. I’m feeling very dry. Dried up. Does that ever happen to you?

Maybe it’s not so much distraction, or restlessness, but more that I’m dry and in a creative lull? I think that’s worse. I need creative lubrication, dude! (I apologize for my lapse into dude-ism; if you knew me in person, you’d realize that I do this a lot. Dude! So not on.)

Back to lubrication. I’m hoping it’s just a short spell. Is this the part where I’m supposed to crochet other people’s patterns? Maybe I would crochet more if I could get myself to crochet others’ designs. It’s hard, though. It’s really hard to give myself permission to not work on something that will be my very own, or will help supplement income during the slower months where work is scarce (life of an at-home-worker).

What’s driving me insane is that I’ve been sketching ideas out for designs, but lately it’s all garments. I haven’t ever crocheted a garment. It’s intimidating for me because I haven’t expanded in that direction, and I want to! Oh, darlings, I want to very much. This is where I definitely have to pull a pattern from a designer whose designs I love and trust. I don’t want a box, as I wouldn’t design OR crochet a boxy garment unless it’s the purpose of the design.

There is also the issue of yarn. I have to find yarn I like and somehow afford enough of it for a garment. Shucks. Crap. Dang. Damn. I’ll figure this out. Eventually. Hopefully soon. I’ll hit up my favorite designer and see if I have enough of one yarn to crochet one of her designs. Mmhmm. Good plan, me. Go Team Brianna.

Coupon for Croshay Design, originally uploaded by Josi Hannon Madera.

A deal that can’t be missed! Two top-notch designers, two coupons, one golden opportunity that is only available until the end of the month.

Josi Hannon Madera (Art of Crochet) and Laura Killoran (Croshay Design) are offering one coupon (code: iwantitALL) for every single hat pattern listed on Croshay Design, topped off with a free copy of Josi’s Bonny Cloche and Scarf set.

In addition, they are offering an additional coupon for Josi’s Bonny Cloche and Scarf set, free, after purchasing two of Laura’s patterns (code: ArtOfCroshay).

To be honest, there is simply no beating that. True design, pure vision, and excellent artistry.

The only thing–things, I should say–left to do is to insert the support bottom of the purse to keep it sturdy, and line the bag. Baby-Sister-in-Law will model for photographs, and during all of this, I’ll be writing up the pattern for a couple of testers. If all goes well–when all goes well, that is–it will be up for sale. It’s an intermediate (possible intermediate-advanced) project, I would say. Lots of tunisian knit stitch, shaping, a few treble post stitches, reverse single crochet edgings, and a tunisian seam and chaining. Good fun, really!

This style of crochet creates a delicious dense fabric when you work with the common stitches but, with some creativity, you can create open work with great stability and versatility. Tunisian doesn’t exist to merely mimic our knitting-counterparts’ knit and purl stitches. Instead, tunisian exists as a relatively untapped source of new stitch and design options!

Check out the previous post for the first stitch I’ve developed, then pick up your hook, unravel some yarn, and have at it!

Follow along and join us as we (and you) experiment!

WW; H-hook.

This is a swatch that started it’s life out as my attempt to do linked-treble stitches in the round. It’s tricky due to the type of stitch. Once you finish the last linked stitch of the round you have to figure out a way to reach proper height again. Ugh!

Eventually I became bored–somewhere after the first two rounds–which is a shame considering I was seeing a tiered effect. The center two rounds needed more increasing (normal round increasing isn’t enough; +1).

It wasn’t long after that I realized linked stitches are nothing more than tunisian stitches worked into the next stitch to anchor. When that hit me I chained up to reach quad height and went to town. I began increasing per usual–first by 2 linked/tunisian stitches per every single stitch from the previous round, then I started increasing to 3 every stitch because it was starting to tuck. That’s why this particular swatch looks a bit wonky.

Let’s not discuss the terrible joining just right now. For some reason I can’t figure out a way to properly join the stitches without making it look a total mess. I’m hoping it’s completely related to the fact that it’s late and I’m exhausted.

Anyway, I really like the effect of using the linked-stitches-turned-tunisian (knit) and when I figure out a method in which to join the end-round to the beginning-round without it looking trashy or obvious, then I’ll probably work on using it in a hat and pattern.

I bought two of the Harmony Guides (vols 6 and 7) from Amazon.com a couple of weeks ago. This was the first swatch I made from one of their stitch patterns. I thought the spiral effect of the tunisian stitches, and the method in which it’s created, was breathtaking. Technically it’s fairly easy; as long as you have a grasp on tunisian, you can get this. Just remember to follow the directions for Harmony Guides’ “Finishing” technique so that when you seam the starting section to the last section it isn’t noticeable.

These books have a lot of great information–a wonderful jumping-off point for designers, I think. The information, in fact, had me desiring to spend my time, for the next however-long, crocheting swatches and nothing else. Which then made me want to create a place for those who think swatching is fantastic and necessary–in other words, Crochet Geeks. I discussed it with Josi, of Art of Crochet, and she mentioned a Flickr group may be the answer.

I heard the call and went to task. The Flickr group, Crochet_Swatch, was created. If you’re a member, join and start adding photographs of your swatches. If you wish you were a member, and have a pile of interesting swatches sitting next to you, what the hell are you still doing reading this?