Do you ever find yourself with orphaned skeins in your yarn stash? You know, that one lone skein you bought because it was just so lovely and the price was just right? But you have no idea what to do with it, so it just sits there accusingly, saying, "Why don't I ever get to be in one of your projects? Don't you love meeee?" Okay, so maybe that's a tad overly dramatic. But I'd be willing to bet you probably have at least one abandoned skein lying around. I recently found one while digging through my stash that I just couldn't leave un-crocheted any longer. And thus was born the idea for this cowl. Who knows? Maybe it'll be perfect for your needy skein too! 

Lately I have been loving the star stitch. Also known as the marguerite stitch, the star stitch consists of rows of tiny little spiked stars. Although it's most often seen in certain types of patterns because it generally makes a fairly stiff stitch, with a bit of creativity you can adapt it for lots of different designs. It has the loveliest texture, and I've been having fun playing around with it. I designed a couple of new crochet patterns featuring the star stitch that I'm excited to share with you all, but decided that it was worth posting a spotlight on just the stitch itself first. The star stitch is pretty simple to learn, but it does require a bit of precision because stitch placement is key to getting the lovely stars; this spotlight includes a step by step photo tutorial to help you along.