Not sure what a cloche [klōsh] is?
It is a fitted, bell-shaped hat that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Cloche literally means “bell” in French. The cloche fits close to the head, sits low on the forehead, and is often asymmetrical with bows, flowers, feathers, ribbons, jewels and other adornments.

Patterns

Free patterns are widely available online and in library books for a cloche or 1920s-style hat. Try one of these recommended patterns or use our basic guidelines that follow to make your knitted or crocheted hat which is ready to embellish.

Books

• Literary Knits by Nikol Lohr – 746.432 LOH
• Knitter’s Lib by Lena Maikon – 746.43 MAI
• Cool Crocheted Hats by Linda Kopp – 746.434 KOP
• Felt it! by Maggie Pace – 746.432 PAC

More knitting resources

• Double Double Cloche
• Chemo Cloche
• St Vincent Cloche

More crocheting resources

• Floral cloche
• Animator’s hat
• Charleston Cloche

Design your own Cloche

Crocheted Cloche – Basic Guidelines
Crocheted hats generally start at the top. Here are a couple easy ways to make a simple hat that is ready for your adornments. See Head Circumference chart for sizing.

In Single Crochet (sc)

Begin: Chain 3, join with slip stitch to form ring, chain 1.

Round 1: 6 sc in ring, (do not join). Place marker in last sc of each round.
Round 2: 2 sc in each sc. (12 sc)
Round 3: (1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. (18 sc)
Round 4: (1 sc in each of next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. (24 sc)
Round 5: (1 sc in each of next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. (30 sc)
Round 6: (1 sc in each of next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. (36 sc)
Continue in this pattern of increasing by 6 sc each round until you’ve reached the head circumference you need.

First body of hat round: Slip stitch into next sc to join round, chain 1, sc in each stitch around, join with slip stitch to chain 1.
All body of hat rounds: Ch 1, sc in each sc around, join with slip stitch to chain 1. Repeat until the hat is long enough.

Consider the Suggestions and Variations given and experiment with your crochet: make the hat extra long so you can fold it up on one side, add a couple rounds of increases near the bottom to make a subtle brim, insert decorative and/or taller stitches to change the shape of your cloche.

In Double Crochet (dc)

If you noticed, the single crochet hat was based on the number 6. The double crochet hat is based on the number 12 and is very similar.

Begin: Chain 5, slip stitch in first chain to form ring.

Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as one dc), 11 dc in ring. Join with a sl st in top of ch 3.
Round 2: Ch 3, 2 dc in each dc around. Join. (24 dc)
Round 3: Ch 3 (dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc) 12 times. Join. (36 dc)
Round 4: Ch 3 (dc in next 2 dc, 2 dc in next dc) 12 times. Join. (48 dc)
Round 5: Ch 3 (dc in next 3 dc, 2 dc in next dc) 12 times. Join. (60 dc)
Stop increasing when your hat has reached your desired head circumference. (This might be round 4 or 5 or 6!)
Body of hat rounds: Ch 3, dc in each dc around. Join. Repeat until the hat is the desired length.

Knitted Cloche – Basic Guidelines
Knitted hats generally start at the bottom/brim so you’ll need to figure out how many stitches you want to start with. It will vary greatly depending on the weight of your yarn and size of knitting needles. Use the gauge and suggested needles on the yarn label as a guideline. See Head Circumference chart for sizing.

Using the Long Tail Cast On (**see below for a tip on Long Tail Cast On), cast on a multiple of 9 on a 16 inch circular needle (or dpns), place marker, and join to work in the round. This could be 54 stitches in a chunky yarn, 81 stitches in a worsted weight, or 126 stitches in a sport weight yarn.

Start knitting in your chosen stitch pattern. Knitting in the round, every round, will give you stockinette stitch fabric which will roll on the bottom edge. If you don’t want the edge to roll then start knitting the brim in seed stitch or linen stitch (or another non-rolling stitch pattern).

The body of the pattern is very flexible! Ideas: start a little bigger than your head size and then work a couple rounds of decreases after a couple inches to make a brim that flares out. You could also work a split brim by knitting the first 2-3 inches flat and then join for the main part of the cloche, or knit the hat to fit snugly with a (knit 1, purl 1) rib at the bottom for an inch or so.

Work the body of the cloche until it is about 6 inches tall. Then you are ready for the crown decreases to close the top of the hat.

Round 1: Decrease evenly 9 times in your round. Example with 81 stitches: *Knit 7, K2tog, repeat from * to end of rnd. (72 st)
Round 2, 4, & 6: Knit even.
Round 3: Decrease evenly 9 times again. Ex: *Knit 6, K2tog, repeat from * to end of rnd. (63 st)
Repeat rounds 2 and 3 with an even round alternating with a decrease round until you reach half your starting stitch count. Then decrease 9 stitches every round until you have 9 stitches left.

Cut an 8-10” tail, thread it through a darning needle, and run it through the 9 remaining sts. Pull tight and sew in end inside.

**How much “tail” do I need for my Long Tail Cast On?
Wrap your yarn loosely around your selected knitting needle 10 times, then pull off keeping the start and end pinched with your fingers and measure. That length is approximately what you need for 10 stitches so multiply it out by how many you need to cast on. 

Example: 10 wraps = 3 inches and I need 81 cast on stitches. That would be 3” x 8 (81/10) = 24 inches. You would start your Long Tail Cast On roughly 24 inches from the end of the yarn. Remember to leave a little wiggle room!

Suggestions and Variations

• Perhaps you already have a hat that wants to be a cloche!
• Add a wrap of ribbon and a bow to a hat you have to make the brim pop out.
• Pinch together 2-3 inches of the brim on a hat and attach a vintage brooch.
• Fold up one edge of the brim and attach a button (or a double button) with a piece of yarn tied on the inside.
• Crochet or knit a colorful flower and attach to one side.
• Cloche hats don’t have to be knitted or crocheted – they can be made out of felt, cotton, straw, sequins, lace – anything you can think of!

Photo credit 1

Photo credit 2

Showcase your cloche

Some cloche creations will be chosen for display at the First Friday reception in March at the Great Overland Station during the library’s finale gala for the Big Read 2013.

Collage is a word that comes from the French verb coller, to glue. It refers to the art form that is an assemblage of images, writings, items from nature, textiles — almost anything — to create a new art piece. Collage can tell a story, capture a mood, focus on a color, illustrate and incorporate a song, a poem, a quote, a family history.

According to Kay Marie Porterfield, writer and journal writing teacher, “Starting an art journal is a powerful way to move beyond words. Not only does working with images access a different part of our brains than words, making art is a source of playfulness and creative joy.”

Writing exercise
Word collages are a visual way to include words instead of complete thoughts on the pages of your journal.

List 100 words to describe who you are right now.

Or List 100 words to describe who you WANT to be. After you write as quickly as possible to make your list, use an online program to make a word collage or write them out yourself in a word collage.

This can also be used to make a gift for someone else, a collage of memories or descriptions about them.

Listing exercise
List 25 topics/focal points for future collages in your personal journal.

Collages may spark your creativity or help you address the underlying emotions of tough topics.

What collages would you like to take the time to make someday?

Collage Exercise
Choose one image as a focal point and add the rest of the collage around that using words, drawings, or additional smaller images.

Working outward: Write one word, phrase, quote or thought on your page and then add the collage around that focal point.

Working inward: Create a collage from available materials, leaving space in the center or one corner. When you are finished, add a word, phrase, quote or thought that captures the meaning of your collage.

The difference between pictures and words. Choose images or words torn out of magazines to create a small collage on the topic or theme of your choosing. In the pages of your journal, write out the significance of each choice, the hidden meaning, or the reason you included each thing. For you, do the images have the same effect as the words when you look back at both? Which do you prefer?

Recommended Books

Find these books and more at http://catalog.tspcl.org

• Realistic collage: step by step by Michael David Brown
• Scrapbook collage: the art of layering translucent materials by Trice Boerens
• Collage unleashed by Traci Baustista
• Stitched collage: creative effects on paper and fabric by Sherrill Kahn
• Creative collage techniques by Nita Leland
• Collage with photoshop by Russell Sparkman
• Handmade paper collage by Dawn M Ackerman
• Collage discovery workshop by Claudine Hellmuth
• Collage discovery workshop: beyond the unexpected by Claudine Hellmuth
• Collage with color: create unique, expressive collages in vibrant color by Jane Davies
• Collage lost and found: creating unique projects with vintage ephemera by Giuseppina Davies
• Watercolor and collage workshop by Gerald Brommer
• Collage, assemblage, and altered art by Diane V. (Diane Vogel) Maurer-Mathison
• The art of paper collage by Susan Pickering Rothamel
• The complete guide to altered imagery: for collage, altered books, artists journals, and more by Karen Michel

You can find handspun yarn from the Potwin Fiber Artisans and handwoven shawls at the Art Annex II. Watch for busy spinning wheels at the Downtown market.

I know most people go to the farmers market to find farm-fresh vegetables and homemade goodness. And while I am definitely included in that group I also go to the market to see what people create in my community. It is an amazing place to find special and totally unique items that are “not found in stores”!

Topeka is lucky to have five amazing markets to go to almost every week in the summer and fall. Here are a few examples of the many unique items you can find at the Downtown Farmers Market.

Say “Howdy!” to this cowboy from Intarsia Woodworking.

You’ll find woodworking, weaving, knitting, crochet, hand-thrown pottery, fused glass, jewelry, felting, painting, photography, and more! Have you seen the bird boots? They will make your birds happy!

Oh, you didn’t know we have five farmers markets in Topeka?  Here’s the scoop:

Downtown Topeka Farmers Market
Every Saturday, April 14 – November 3 from 7:30-12:00
@ 12th and Harrison St, South of the Judicial Building.

Capitol Mid-Week Farmers Market
Every Wednesday, May 16 – October 17 from 7:30-12:00
@ 10th Ave & Jackson St

Off the Avenue Farmers Market
Every Friday, May 18 – October 19 from 9:00-1:00
@ 8th St & Kansas Ave

Monday Market at the Library
Every Monday, June 4 – October 8 from 8:00-11:30
@ 10th Ave & Garfield Ave

NOTO Arts Market
First Friday of each month, July – October from 5:30-8:30
@ North Kansas Ave and Veteran’s Park, under the bridge

Are you inspired by a craft and you want to try your hand at it? Check out the library’s collection of crafts resources on a whole array of topics.

Her whimsical esthetic and style has come up with quilts like Cloudy Days (with huge raindrops), Beanstalks (a new take on Jack and his beanstalk), Dream Weaver (so you can use every color in your crayon box), and Any Which Way (so you know which way is up).

She includes 10 accompanying projects along with the 10 quilt designs and they are equally awesome; the One Eye Open Sleeping Mask and Cuckoo Clock are playful and fun projects.

Techniques and Design

Quilts from The House of Tula Pink includes some piecing tips specific to her projects and these new skills can inspire you to new heights in your own work. Try Tula’s Totally Tubular Tube Technique or her Scrappy Fusing Technique (with double-sided fusible web) on one of her quilts in the book or use it to bring to life one of your own designs.

Speaking of designs, Tula Pink had designed whole fabric collections and gives the readers a peek into the process which she says “is both structural and organic, based equally in math and intuition”. My advice is just keep looking at her unique fabrics and you will see some crazy things.

The detailed quilting by Angela Walters turns these fun quilts into an adventure complete with secret messages.

A quilt isn’t really complete until it’s been layered and stitched together with a back. That final step is actually called quilting (making the top is usually called piecing). Tula has found an amazing partner to help complete her quilt designs in Angela Walters. Long-arm quilting is a serious skill and modern quilts pose their own challenges, but Angela beautifully “writes the ending” to Tula’s quilts and she makes them even more amazing works of art.

Discover more amazing quilt designers in the quilting aisle of the upcoming Crafts Neighborhood.

Petal & Twig contains an inspiring, year-long journal that showcases bouquets from her garden with notes on the flowers and plants she uses as well as tips and tricks to make your bouquets last inside.

For the end of June she cut a full bouquet of sweet peas in many colors and collected them in a green glass pitcher. And for the beginning of July Valerie snipped a single apricot-orange begonia and set it in a blue ceramic cup. You see?  Anything is possible and all the choices are beautiful.

Sometimes More is Not Better

I understand the appeal of those huge, complicated, over-the-top bouquets. They are awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping, but if I tried to make one of those I’d be intimidated. There are tricks of the trade that I haven’t learned yet. Books on flower arranging can teach me some of those secrets, but right now I just want to enjoy what I’ve grown.

A few suggestions for variety:

• Herb bouquets (Why not?)
• Bud vases with just one or two or three short stems
• Look at any container (that holds water) as a possible vase: wine glasses, mugs, pitchers, lined baskets, etc.
• Your arrangement doesn’t have to be packed full of flowers or have any at all. The texture and line of twigs and grasses can be stunning by themselves.

Bonus from your Bouquets

You know where these flowers and plants grew. Easton says 80% of the cut flowers sold in the US are imported. Yikes! Let’s think local. And if you don’t have flowers or even lovely grasses in your yard then take a trip to the Downtown Farmer’s Market on Saturday. I know of a couple of cut-flower vendors who make amazing bouquets at the market. Ask them about their flowers and how they grow them!

What is blooming in your garden this week?

I am positively giddy when fresh local vegetables and fruit start showing up in the produce isles and, even better, at our farmer’s markets in town. Asparagus, rhubarb, new potatoes, broccoli, and so much more to come! And yet, sometimes I get the bounty home and I’m not sure what to do with it.  Sometimes I even buy too much and feel a bit stuck. Then in comes this lovely book by Tamar Adler that wraps up philosophy, cooking, memoir, and confidence-builder all in one package.

An Everlasting Meal: cooking with grace and economy teaches you how to understand and use your ingredients rather than only giving you a recipe to follow (although she does include a few classic recipes). Adler encourages you to use what you have at home and use up every bit of it, saving even those scraps for soups and stock. Her love of food, good ingredients, and simple cooking come through on every page. She sees amazing possibility in even a pot of boiling water.

• Eat more vegetables by roasting them. Get those vegetables home, roughly chop, drizzle with olive oil, season and roast them at 400 degrees for 30+ minutes in the oven.  They have so much flavor from roasting and you can eat them right away or cook with them the rest of the week.
• Revisit your salad. It doesn’t have to be cold.  It doesn’t even have to have lettuce.  But if it is a lettuce salad think of this:  dress and season the ingredients rather than the salad as a whole. This way it won’t just taste like salad dressing.
• Keep simplicity and good ingredients in mind. “People have always found ways to eat and live well, whether on boiling water or bread or beans, and that some of our best eating hasn’t been our most foreign or expensive or elaborate, but quite plain and quite familiar. And knowing that is probably the best way to cook, and certainly the best way to live.”
• Fill a big pot half full of water and put it on to boil. Then, and only then, look around and find ingredients in your kitchen and pantry (and garden) to throw in the pot. Surprise yourself with different combinations.
• Do you ask yourself “Is this done?” Of course! And while the fork test is good, the absolute best way to know if your vegetables or pasta are done is by tasting them. Tamar’s advice says that if you’re reaching in for another bite then you know it’s done.

These tips are just a fragment of her wisdom and I encourage you to find this book and read it! I was inspired from the very beginning and have been roasting vegetables weekly now with delicious results. In fact, I am in love with roasted carrots. Try them today!

What have you been inspired by in the kitchen lately?

Already one of the millions who love scrapbooks? Try a new technique or discover some fiction authors who incorporate scrapbooking into their writing. Be invigorated by this fun hobby and love it all over again.

Try something new!

• Make a mini-album for an upcoming graduate or special event
• Add journaling to your scrapbook pages
• Incorporate different materials into your pages like lace, felt, fabric, buttons, ribbon and beads
• Create your own paper with inks and dyes
• Look at scraps in a different way – Recycle – Reinvent
• Think beyond the edge of the page
• Go 3-D and add dimension to your pages

Scrapbooking Fiction!

Take a break from your scrapbooks and do a little reading about scrapbooking instead!  The Kiki Lowenstein scrap-n-craft mystery series by Joanna Campbell-Slan is tons of fun.

Rebeca Seitz’s Sisters, Ink series weaves the love of sisters and the fun of scrapbooking into a set of touching books about four adopted sisters who see each other through life’s ups and downs (and scrapbooking parties).

A totally different take on scrapbooking fiction is Caroline Preston’s book The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt whose story is illustrated with various memorabilia: vintage postcards, magazine ads, ticket stubs, fabric swatches, candy wrappers, menus, and more. Her personal tale of the 1920 might just make you think a little differently about what you put in your own scrapbooks.

Feel inspired? Do you have a scrapbooking tale to tell? Share it with us here!

Spinning pioneer Lexi Boeger, otherwise known as Pluckyfluff, has led the charge in changing the way we think about yarn. What’s allowed with this new perspective? ANYTHING! Really, anything? YES! Like feathers and thread and silk cocoons and fabric and chains and anything? YES! What if my yarn is over-twisted or bits stick out or it’s really fat and fuzzy?

One word. Awesome. That is art-yarn.

Lexi’s advice in her newest book Hand Spun: New Spins on Traditional Techniques is to connect with your fiber through all the stages of it’s life. Start with a fleece by getting to know your local alpaca, sheep and goat farmers. Clean it and card it yourself, get to know it intimately and find inspiration in the individuality of that animal. Dye it any color you want. Spin it thick or thin, crazy or serious. Each step has a hand in the creative process.

Beginners often make art-yarn by accident, but as they become more experienced their yarn often becomes more traditional and smooth in the process. Many times that’s the goal and it takes time and skill to make such lovely yarn. Art-yarn also takes time and skill, you must learn how to manipulate your fibers and your wheel to achieve your goal.

Be inspired. Try something new. Follow the rules, don’t follow the rules. Make new rules and teach them to others. Pluckyfluff had a vision and has enthusiastically shared it with the world. I thank her for that.

Read about Unwinding with a Drop Spindle on the Crafts Blog.

See if you can figure out which one of the books these projects came from:  Seed balls, Fused plastic tote, Coat hanger memories, Spa-to-go kit, Baby-jar chandelier, Raffia garlic dryer, Doily tablecloth, Sweet sweater birds, Scented bows, Six-pack screen (my favorite!), Washable soap gift tags, Thermos lamp base.

Curious now? Check out these craft books and more at Dewey number 745.5 and see what you can create!

Give new life to found objects or someone else’s trash by seeing them as Rediscovered Treasures.

Think green when giving gifts and create beautiful and organic wrappings, tags and gifts from everyday materials with Simply Green Giving.

Craftcycle shows you how to transform throw-away materials into treasures with more than 40 craft projects.

Find unexpected beauty in Eco Craft. Discover the down-to-earth power of repurposing trash into stylish home accessories.

The Topeka Crochet Guild meets at the library twice a month and, besides having a great time, donates hundreds of items to local charities each year. Join the fun!

Need some inspiration?

Head over to 746.434 in the West Wing and discover a bevy of awesome crochet pattern books filled to the brim with ideas for all skill levels.

The Best of Interweave Crochet is a complete collection of top designs all in one easily accessible volume. Whether you’re picking up a hook for the first time or you’re a long-time crocheter, you’ll love these 20 unique and classic projects.

Expand your knit and crochet repertoire with the menagerie of miniature creatures in 75 Birds, Butterflies, & Little Beasts to Knit and Crochet. They can decorate your clothes as accessories or be awesome little gifts all by themselves. Crochet is perfect for unusual shapes like these.

Join the seamless revolution with Kristin Omdahl in Seamless Crochet. She has pioneered a new technique for crocheters of all skill levels to create motif-based patterns in one piece, eliminating seams, and leaving only two ends to weave in.

Crochet isn’t just for clothing and toys, you can make beautiful and unusual jewelry by crocheting with wire in French author Nancy Waille’s book Crochet Wire Jewelry.

Bonus Pattern

The green pillow cover above is one of Kristin Omdahl’s seamless crochet designs. The Medallion Pillow is available as a free pdf from Crochet Today. Try out her new technique today!

So tell me.  What have you crocheted this year?