Workshops and Masterclasses

IOC-1 - Basics for Image Overlay Crochet Projects

IOC-1 – Basics for Image Overlay Crochet Projects is for makers and anyone who wants to get started in IOC. In this document we will lay the foundation for making or designing IOC patterns:  Image Overlay Crochet (IOC) Terminology formerly known as ‘Petranese’. Born out of the need to make stitch placement descriptions easy to read, a new way of terminology has evolved.

We will have a look at 

  • Traditoinal vs Image Overlay Crochet, 
  • general abbreviations and punctuation,  
  • basic stitches you should be familiar with (and how to work them – table with brief yet complete instructions),
  • correct counting of stitches and rounds for IOC,
  • padding stitches (what they are, how to work them, why you want to use them and when not),
  • finding free front loops,
  • stitch description abbreviations (type, hook insertion, crossing over and under, choosing legs to work around – photo tutorial), and
  • stitch placement abbreviations (horizontal and vertical placement, variations, anchoring – photo tutorial)
  • closing rounds and warping (or rather, how to avoid the latter), 
  • all the frequent important pattern notes (regarding skipping stitches, visuals and their symbols, stitch markers suggestions and how to get the most from them,…), and of course
  • our very special IOC chart (how to read it, a general legend and how to work from the chart)

You will have an advantage if you are an experienced crocheter. However, the tutorials and the instructions as well as extra resources are written to allow even an adventurous beginner to make an IOC design. 

IOC-2 - Advanced Image Overlay Crochet terminology

This document (and its respective Masterclass) includes techniques that require confidence in all the IOC basics and add an extra layer of complexity. Once mastered, this results in a higher level of competency to attempt the more complicated patterns.

IOC-3 - Image Overlay Crochet for Designers

This is where we are going to explore the IOC technique and terminology on a different level. We look at the stitches as design elements to tell a story, how to create an IOC pattern and how to change and adapt common stitches to fit into the picture we want to create. 

Masterclasses are built on each other; it is expected that they are taken in the suggested order to get the most out of them. 

So, if you

  • are confident with your crochet and want to be able to make simple adaptations to an Image Overlay Crochet pattern, 
  • lost a bit of your crojo and want to get some inspiration to get back into this technique, or
  • want to incorporate elements of Image Overlay Crochet into your own designs, 

join our community of IOC designers and take advantage of the design resources that we already have available.

I hope to see you in one or all of these Masterclasses.

Image Overlay Crochet Comm - Unity

Thanks to these documents, you can rest assured that as a crocheter of a pattern by an official IOC designer,  once you have familiarised yourself with the terminology, you 

  • can easily read any IOC pattern, no matter who wrote it, 
  • receive a copy of the latest Image Overlay Crochet terminology explained document with every pattern purchase or free pattern, and
  • have access to our growing library of IOC / ‘Petranese’ explained tutorials for basic techniques and special stitches

When you purchase or download a free IOC pattern, it will contain links to video tutorials of the most common and the most unusual or potentially challenging special stitches and techniques.

You also receive an invitation to attend a workshop by an experienced IOC designer (via Zoom or similar applications – starting with the release of Season 2 of the Wrapped in Jamie CAL; release date tba) that guides you through all the basics of IOC terminology where you also have the opportunity to ask further questions for clarification if required. 

As our IOC community grows, these resources will be available in several languages, starting with English, German, and possibly Dutch.

Register your Interest in an IOC 1 -
Basics and Stitch Abbreviations Masterclass

Level Up - Becoming an IOC Tester, Editor, Charter or Designer

  • Are you comfortable with IOC terminology and you find it fascinating and want to learn more and dive deeper?
  • Have you ever dreamt or thought of becoming a crochet designer but didn’t know where to start?
  • Got an eagle eye for details, a desire for conformity, maybe a bit of OCD (in a good way), outstanding grammar knowledge and the determination to edit a pattern towards excellence?

If any of the above applies to you, you bring the perfect pre-requisite to become a founding member of IOC community where testers, editors, charters and designer come together to support and look out for each other to enrich the crochet world with beautiful and intricate patterns that are well written to tell the story of a special person, movie or book character in yarn.

Please join our special Facebook group Image Overlay Crochet (IOC) Designers and Makers Community if you want to be kept updated about new workshops and masterclasses for IOC.

IOC system contributors and collaborators

The aim of Black Sheep Crochet in regards to Image Overlay Crochet is to have a universal system so that it can be integrated into the crochet world where makers or designers only need to learn it once and where translations can be made easy. 

Contributor

As a Tester, Editor, Charter of Designer of IOC patterns, you are invited to become an IOC contributor.

This means new stitches or specific IOC-relevant techniques that you come up with and that you want to add to the library will be included with credits given to you. 

Collaborators

To go a step further, you could become an official collaborator. 

Benefits of being an official collaborator include:

  • permission to use the PDF version of this document as part of your IOC system based pattern design
  • exclusive permission to translate this document into your language (if it is other than English and not already translated into that language)*
  • a contributor banner for your website
  • ‘behind the scenes’ access for your English or German IOC based pattern design process
  • editing support for your English or German IOC based pattern
  • being part of a growing team of ‘Image Overlay Crochet’ designers

*If a translation in your language already exists, you are invited to connect with your fellow designer and/or to connect with designers using the same mother tongue to enable dialogue.

Please use the contact form to register your interest in becoming a contributor for more information.

So this is the current plan in regards to the documents, masterclasses, contributor and collaborator options.

What are your thoughts? How would you like to be involved in Image Overlay Crochet? Send me a message or leave a comment in the facebook group. 

I look forward to connecting with you in a Masterclass or maybe even a face-to-face workshop. 

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