Monday, February 10, 2025

Crocheters of the Lakes in 2025: A Community of Creativity

If you love crochet and are looking for a place to share your passion, learn new techniques, and connect with others who appreciate the craft, Crocheters of the Lakes is the perfect group for you!

We are a welcoming community of crocheters who gather each month to celebrate the art of crochet—whether through learning new skills, showing off our latest projects, or working together to give back to the community.

When & Where

We meet on the second Monday of each month at the State Bank of the Lakes in Grayslake, IL. Doors open at 6:00 pm for social time, and our official meeting kicks off at 7:00 pm. Each gathering includes chapter news, a special program, and an opportunity for members to share their work. Meetings usually wrap up by 9:00 pm.


Why Join?

Becoming a member is a great way to connect with fellow crocheters, expand your skills, and gain access to exclusive benefits. Annual dues are just $15, which includes a monthly newsletter and special member-only events.

Curious but not ready to commit? Visitors are welcome to attend a meeting for a $3 guest fee to see what we’re all about. Some special programs may have additional costs, but we’re confident that once you experience the camaraderie and creativity, you’ll want to become a member!


More Than Just a Hobby

At Crocheters of the Lakes, we believe crochet is more than a craft—it’s a way to connect, inspire, and continuously grow. Our mission is to honor both traditional and modern crochet techniques while engaging with our community and educating the public about this beautiful art form.

Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, we’d love to have you join us. Come for the yarn, stay for the friendships!

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Crocheted Socks!!

For the last three months, we've been kicking up our heels and crocheting the Basic Sock by Nicole Cormier with COTL member MaryLokay. A huge thank you to Mary for walking us through the heels, toes, gussets and legs and helping many of us finish our first pair of socks.

(Picture courtesy of Patty Mitmoen)


Now it's time for your second pair of socks!

I took a look through Ravelry and found 10 free crochet sock patterns that would be fun to try the next time you want to make socks.

Magdalen Socks by Vicki Brown

Footsies by Kristi Murrell

Simplicity Socks by Ashley Leither

Crochet socks by Luisa Baccellieri

91991 Crochet socks by Maja Karlsson

Toe Up Socks (crochet) by Patons

Triumph Crochet Socks by Victoria Selnes

Toe Up Crocheted Sock With Gusset - Basic Pattern by Nicole Cormier

Bistro!!! by Nicole Cormier

Sonny's Socks by Sonny321


Which pattern will you use for your next pair of socks? Share it with us in our Ravelry group!

Join Us in June!

Hooks! Hooks! We love hooks!

In June, we will be doing a hook tasting. Bring the hooks you love to use for others to try and try out the hooks of others love!

Our meeting is Monday, June 10, 2019 at State Bank of the Lakes in Grayslake (50 Commerce Dr, Grayslake, IL 60030). The doors open at 6 PM for those who would like to socialize and get a little help with the project on their hook. Our business portion of the meeting begins at 7 PM with our program that follows. All meetings close out with show and tell, so bring a crochet project (or two) to share with everyone so we can ooooh and aaaaahh!

Want to visit with us before joining? Visitor fees are $3 but a full year's membership is just $15 (such a bargain!!). We hope you'll join us and celebrate all that is crochet!


Thursday, February 16, 2017

CGOA Conference and Chapter Challenge

The buzz of CGOA is in the air. What is CGOA you ask? It stands for Crochet Guild of America and they offer a huge Conference each year for crocheters. Those in Crocheters of the Lakes and other crochet fans in the northern Illinois area are particularly excited because this year’s CGOA conference is taking place in Chicago! The CGOA Chain Link Conference will be held from July 26th-July 29th and will feature a variety of classes by amazing crochet teachers, a huge vender hall, and a lot of crochet comradery. As more information becomes available, I will let you know.
As we rev up for the Chain Link Conference, CGOA has brought back the chapter challenge. Per CGOA’s website; the challenge is to create as many 7” x 9” rectangles as you choose for lapghans for Warm Up America by June 30th 2017. The squares will be counted up in ratio to the amount of members in a chapter so all chapters can participate evenly. Once there are enough squares, they will be joined up into lapghans and contributed to the charity of our chapters choosing. So, if you have a little time to spare, why not whip up a rectangle. You can crochet 1 or 100, it’s up to you!
For fun patterns, visit warm up America’s Website: The Challenge: http://www.warmupamerica.org/patterns.html Vicky Finch-Martin