Colourfulness

 

 

So this is what the new yarn is turning into – another blanket, my favorite kind of project.

Pattern: Country fresh blanket, by Patons
Yarn: Merino extra fine, Garnstudio (original yarn: Patons North America Decor)
Hook: 5 mm

Being very eager to start (regardless of the milling WIPs I got on the go already) I went ahead and started the project. I chose one hook size bigger for the foundation chain row, and about 3 rows in realized that the chain stitches were too tight… So I decided to start over, going up another hook size. But when I tried the 7 mm hook, it didn’t get much looser, so I had to resort to google. And then I came across the great foundations stitch that makes the foundation chain st and single crochet in one! Very cool, check out this link for instructions. There’s no going back to the old ways now 🙂

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I’m alive!

And just bought this delightful pile of yarn today! Not that I needed it… But about to start a new project, will keep you posted 🙂

(testing phone blogging)

something cute – the pattern!

nonono, i did not die on you. i’ve just been busy and lazy, that’s all 🙂 haven’t done a whole lot of crafting, but i will get some pictures taken and make a few posts of what i’ve been working since last. in the meanwhile – here’s the pattern for the cutest little daisy flower square! having written this without the square at hand and half a year after the work, there’s a chance that an error or two has snuk in! feel free to let me know, and i’ll fix asap.

about yarn/hook:

for the something cute blanked i used sandnes duo (dk weight) and hook 4 mm. the square measures 8×8 cm. any yarn with corresponding hook will do.

first a couple of basics:

1. one flower petal: 5 dc, take hook off loop, put hook (from front to back) through 3rd chain (the last ch of space before the 5 dc) and the ”loose loop”, yo, pull through both loops on hook.

2. the first dc on row is made by chain 3

begin with colour of flower centre. chain 4, make circle with one slip stitch. as an alternative, you can try the magic adjustable ring. i used this method for something cute.

1st round:

still with colour of flower centre, chain one, 7 sc in circle. end round with slip st in chain.

change to flower colour.

2nd round:

make 1 flower petal in each sc with chain 3 between each one, end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round = 8 petals

change to background colour.

3rd round:

sl st into the first chain 3. *3 dc in the next  chain 3’s, (2 treble crochet, chain 2, 2 treble crochet) in the next chain 3 (=corner). repeat from * 3 more times. end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round.

4th round:

sl st into the first chain 3.  dc in the next  6 dc, (2 treble crochet, chain 2, 2 treble crochet) in the corner chain. dc in the next 7 dc,  (2 treble crochet, chain 2, 2 treble crochet) in the corner chain. repeat from * 2 more times. end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round.

5th round:

sl st into the first chain 3.  dc in the next 10 dc, (2 treble crochet, chain 2, 2 treble crochet) in the corner chain. dc in the next 11 dc,  (2 treble crochet, chain 2, 2 treble crochet) in the corner chain. repeat from * 2 more times. end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round.

joining:

i didn’t want the contrasting joining on the cute blanket, so i seamed it with the background colour by hand. it you may want it differently, and it is of course possible to join this in the same manner as in the something pretty pattern 🙂

unfortunately, i gave the baby blanket away before i remembered to take a picture of it, but i will try to get that done so that the pattern post will show a finished object.

something cute?

this crocheting thing is addictive! working on a variation of something pretty.

shooting for a baby blanket this time.

still a big fan of the color combo – yellow-gray-white 🙂

something pretty – the pattern

about this pattern:

i found this pretty picture on pinterest and was totally smitten. after a lot of googling and searching i wasn’t able to find the pattern, so decided to figure the pattern out myself. dottie angel‘s pictures of her thrifty find was very helpful, and i was happy to find out that this is actually a pretty simple pattern, so novices – don’t be alarmed! just go ahead and try it out 🙂 for more pictures, check out this, this or this post.

about yarn/hook:

any yarn with corresponding hook will do, i find that moving up a hook size from what the yarn says makes a softer material that would work better with a blanket. i’ve made pillows with these squares so that wouldn’t matter so much. i used sandnes duo (dk weight) and hook 4 mm and the square measures 8×8 cm, with garnstudio drops paris (aran) and hook 5 mm one square is a bit over 10×10.

first a couple of basics:

1. one flower petal: 5 dc, take hook off loop, put hook (from front to back) through 3rd chain (the last ch of space before the 5 dc) and the ”loose loop”, yo, pull through both loops on hook.

2. the first dc on row is made by chain 3

begin with colour of flower. chain 4, make circle with one slip stitch

1st round:

chain one, 7 sc in circle. end round with slip st in chain.

2nd round:

make 1 flower petal in each sc with chain 3 between each one, end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round = 8 petals

3rd round:

sl st into the first chain 3. make 2 flower petals in each chain 3, and chain 3 between each flower petal = 16 petals in round. end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round.

change to background colour

4th round:

sl st into the first chain 3. *3 dc in the first 3 chain 3’s, (3 treble crochet, chain 2, 3 treble crochet) in the next chain 3. repeat from * 3 more times. end round with slip st in 3rd chain at beginning of round.

joining:

i crochet the squares together with slip stitch. lay out two rows of squares, begin with the first two, make a loop on hook, put hook from front to back through back part of dc on last row, first on one, then the corresponding one on the other, yarn over and pull through three loops on hook. continue like this, when you reach the end of the first side of these two squares just go on and start with two new ones all across the length/width of your blanket/pillow, like so:

i’m publishing this patten un-tested, so feel free to let me know if there are any mistakes/uncertainties for me to correct!

pretty II finished!

working on finishing pretty I and the pattern 🙂

more of the pretty…

nothing like a day in the sun on my new balcony to get some more crocheting done

the japanese cherry trees are just starting to bloom

a book and a pile of blocks

all laid out

and with the turqoise “seam”

yarn: garnstudio paris

hook: 5 mm

pattern: own

i made something pretty

yarn: sandnes duo

hook: 4 mm

pattern: own

(you didn’t think i’d stopped blogging, did you?)

keeping busy making

here’s a round-up of what’s been happening…

my contribution to the pay it forward and my surprise for rigmor

norah gaughan’s mayer (taking a break here because i realised i have to frog my way back a bit…)

before-christmas presents to my friend’s children, with a bit of raw edge applique and free-motion quilting 🙂

the lovely selbumittens on 2 mm needles…

a pillow for a friend

evilla variegated yarn

turning into the ten stitch blanket

now back to mad men…

isn’t it lovely?

i FINALLY figured out how to quilt the quilt  🙂 cut out with acrylic templates (custom made here), sewn by machine with a 1/4″-foot.

 

it will be 4 squares bigger than this, originally i thought even bigger, but having spent a lot of time and fabric on testing techinques i’ve run out of the green fabric – and so has the fabric shop! i am very happy to have figured out how to machine piece this – this way it may get done sometime in the near future 🙂

some intense googling has also given me the name of the pattern – flowering snowball.

and yes i did – last month i bought a new sewing machine! for some reason i just decided i needed one – after having used my mom’s husquarna machine since the 80ies.

since last time, i have also made 3 christmas ornaments from the book julekuler by the designers arne & carlos. the pattern calls for wool filling, but i put glass balls on the inside to give a better round shape, and gave’em a bit of rub with soap and hot water to tighten them up. very quick little project, but a bit fidgety with two colors, 5 needles and a glass ball…