February 22, 2012
by wink
8 lovely comments

family crochet

In my last blogpost I promised you I’d show you a crochet rockstar.

Ladies (and gentlemen), I present to thee; my mom! :)

I knew she was super creative (it’s all in the genes, right?) but I had no idea she was *that* good with a hook and some yarn. Since I started to crochet about two years ago, she picked up her long lost skills again. But unlike me, she didn’t need an adjustment period. She just went *BAM* and started making these amazing garments, from scratch, without a pattern or anything! True rockstar quality people.

Let me ease you into what she makes, starting with a simple shawl. She made this using very cool yarn with lots of colors, giving it a playful and light look.

Pretty groovy, right? :)

And ofcourse, she also made a poncho. We’ve all made that poncho, ammiright? ;) She used lots of different kinds of yarn for this one, using her favorite colors: blue and white.

I really like the tassels she made!

Okay, on to the more serious stuff. My mom used to make clothes for me and my siblings when we were little, so she has a lot of experience with making garments. And that shows in her crochet work!

This bolero was one of the first things she made when she started doing crochet again.

Simple yet stunning. I love this bolero :) (oh and by the way, my mom just got back from two weeks in the Caribbean, so she’s very tanned. It really shows when she’s wearing white!)

Next  up is a shirt, made using granny stripes combined with that cool yarn from the shawl in a different color (blue, ofcourse!). I think she made this with a 2 or 3mm needle.

It’s awesome, right? :)

And last but certainly not least, this vest. She used a different color from the white frilly yarn she used in the bolero, and a tan, slightly glittery cotton for the body.

I love the stitch she used on the body!

Well, there you have it. I have a creative mom! Because crochet is not all she does; she also happens to be an exceptional painter…

Creativity runs in my family; I have lots of creative aunts, uncles and cousins. I plan to write more posts about this topic, showing off their talents! ;)

Do you have amazingly creative family members?

xo,
wink

 

February 19, 2012
by wink
11 lovely comments

fat bottom bags, you make the world go round!

Bonsoir lovely ladies! Thanks for all your kind comments on my granny stripe blanket :)

I love Pinterest. Just the other day, when I was browsing for inspiration (cause you know, my ‘always-there’ big project is now finished, so I have empty project baskets! eek!) I came across this beauty from Eclectic Gypsyland:

… and I am still swooning over it!!! It’s so awesome and gorgeous and bohemian looking; I think it’s the perfect fat bottom bag EVUR.

I can’t believe I never saw it before; from what I read on Eclectic Gypsyland it was quite the rage a while back, and looking at Ravelry I’m definitely not the first one to swoon over this bag! (I present to you Exhibit A)

So naturally, I wanted to make one ASAP. Luck be it that I just happened to have some random granny squares in my basket, and I just picked one and expanded it.

The pattern is the easiest of easy. You just make one big granny square, about 30 rounds, and then you add a couple of rows of sc’s and you’re done! :) For anyone interested, the pattern PDF is here.



I really like the colors in this one :) So I’m on row 30 now, and unfortunately I’ve run out of grey. So I’m going to make the last round in pink, and then the edge in sc’s also in pink, but a darker kind of pink.
I went to an arts & crafts fair Saturday, and picked up some awesome leather bag handles to go with it! :) All I need now is to find a perfect lining… Also, I want to make a couple of flowers for embellishment, and maybe add a row of lace. We’ll see how it turns out :) I expect this bag to be finished in the near future!

Oh, and a picture of what I also picked up at the fair yesterday…

My very first skeins of Noro Silk Garden! <3 Don’t know what I’ll use them for, but I saw a couple of extra skeins on eBay for half the price of what I paid for these two… I’m thinking about making a Noro-licious fat bottom bag… Don’t tell my bankaccount ;)

xo,
wink

ps I’ll be back later this week with an awesome feature on someone very special, who just happens to be a crochet rockstar! Stay tuned…

February 11, 2012
by wink
25 lovely comments

granny stripe blanket

Yaaaaay, it’s finished! I’m so happy :)

I started this blanket way back, exactly one year ago. I had just gotten my order of Stylecraft Special DK from the UK and I couldn’t wait to get started. However, I wasn’t the avid hooker I am today, so after 6 rows I quickly got bored and also overwhelmed! I just couldn’t believe there were actually women out there that crochet entire blankets!?!?!
So I hibernated the project for a long time, until last month, when I decided that it should be time to finish it! And this time, it was a breeze :) Row after row after row of delicious hooky, the stitches just flew off my hook and before I knew it I had the entire thing finished! Then it only took me another two hours to get the border on and it was officially DONE.

So ladies, without further ado, I present to you: the granny stripe blanket!




The Details
Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK, I got the Lucy pack from Masons
Hook size: 5mm/H hook
Rows: 120 (or 60 color changes)
Pattern used: the well-known Granny Stripe from Lucy’s Attic24
Border: one row of grannies, two rows of dc’s, one row of sc’s and one picot-row
Happiness: 100%! I loved making this blanket despite some start-up hickups
Side-effects: the uncanny urge to start making more blankets & afghans!

Yes, I used the exact color scheme Lucy did when she first made her blanket. When I started this I just wanted the exact same thing, and I had the yarn so I just went for it. The only thing I changed was the border; I used different colors for it.
Today, I would never do that again, just copy someone else’s work. Having said that it was kind of blissful, working with a set color pattern :)

The blanket is getting a lot of use already; me and D can snuggle up under it together and it’s so nice and warm! Very welcome during these cold, cold days.

So I got two, nope, three! Versatile Blogger Awards the other day, courtesy of Hazel, Stocki and Helen!

The rules for the award are:
1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, 7 random facts about me… Let’s see.

  1. I have a slight headphones addiction. I currently have about 20 pairs and counting!
  2. I still sleep with stuffed animals.
  3. I’m addicted to reading. Currently I am rereading the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. (maybe it’s re-rereading; it has to be the fifth time already!)
  4. I also have a slight obsession with anything Woodstock related. Whenever I feel down, I just pop in the ’69 extended version DVD and voila; instant happy/hippieness! :)
  5. I don’t subscribe to the magazines I read. (Flow and Mollie Makes are my regulars) I like the experience of going down to the bookstore and finding them on the shelf.
  6. I’m an extremely slow starter in the morning. I need at least a couple of hours to get my thoughts in order before I can meet people ;)
  7. I am a night owl.

Alright, on to some awesome bloggers who I think don’t get enough attention and deserve this award! :)

Now I realize some of you have gotten this award before and/or recently; please don’t feel obliged to anything! :)

Alright, I’m off to put something warm on my shoulder and neck. I felt the pain in my muscles luring all week, and after last night it finally happened; I have a stiff neck :(

xo,
wink