Friday, December 22, 2017

Double Knit Blanket

It's done, finished it last night.

That was a very intense job, not exactly hard to do but you need to concentrate on the counting pattern at all times and if you make a mistake it's very hard to see at first and even harder to fix.

But now that it's hanging on my chair looking Christmassy and beautiful I'm very happy with the result.

There is no pattern, I saw the graphs and a picture online and I just made up my own version.
I made mine smaller (3x5 blocks instead of 5x7) so it would fit the armrest and also finish quicker.



Thursday, December 14, 2017

Christmas busy

They don't call this the "busy time of the year" for nothing, I'm literally knitting and crocheting all day just to get everything done (10 more days to go).


The nativity set is a great success again, just like last year. As soon as I make some, they sell.
I mostly make the Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus set but there is also 3 wise men, 2 shepherds and an angel.
The free pattern is from Whistle & Ivy

My own design of the Scandinavian Christmas Gnomes are the other popular item this year.
I think I've made about 10 of these and still getting requests for more!

If you Google "Christmas crafts" my website gnome post is mentioned somewhere in the top (at least right now it is :)

I also send a suggestion about the Gnomes to "Blij dat ik Brei" (I translated the pattern in Dutch) and she wrote about it in her blog right away.

All this brings a lot more people to this website which is a nice thing.

I think I'll probably have to call a halt to making things for others soon so I can still finish my own Christmas armrest blanket before the 25th. I'm about 3/4 finished so I have good hope it can be done.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Doll with dreads

Made a couple of dolls before this one and always had trouble doing a nice hairdo. 

Then I saw this one from Annita Wilschut (same designer who does the monkey, bear, hippo, elephant etc. I LOVE her patterns so decided to go for it.
The doll (and the hair) are great but the hair is an ENORMOUS amount of work. You need to knit about 100 i-cord hairs strands. Takes longer than knitting the whole doll. But the result is very nice so I guess it's worth it in the end!
A little problem is the weight of the head (because the big hairdo!) so you need to stuff the neck pretty good otherwise it will fall fore/backwards.

I didn't like the fact that she had no nose so I added one!

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Gnomes

I know it's not Christmas yet (too hot right now to even think about winter!) but I'm always working ahead of the season.
I've been eyeing these cute gnomes for a while already, apparently they're Scandinavian Christmas Gnomes, also called Tomte or Nisse. I figured they couldn't be too hard to make so I worked on it for a few days and came up with my own pattern (you can download it here). You don't need much yarn so it's a great way to use up leftovers (which I always have an awful lot of)
I'm pretty pleased with the result and I think I'll make some more later to sell at Michelle's clinic for the upcoming Christmas season.

You can of course use any colour yarn and they don't need to be for Christmas (e.g. using green would make them look like a Leprechaun for St. Patricks Day)

Monday, July 17, 2017

Crochet like it's 1975


I use to crochet window coverings, borders and even bedspreads for my first apartment and home in the 1970s.
Still have the pattern books in a drawer.
So when my niece wanted a pretty crocheted cover for the table she's using on her wedding day to sign the registry I got those books out and had her pick out a design.
It was fun to get back to something from so long ago, found out I still know how to do it (guess it's like riding a bike)
Here is the result.
The bride-to-be was happy with it, which of course is the most important!




Update -  September 9, 2017

The wedding day,

my table cover on display

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Bunnies & more


These cute animals are all from Little Cotton Rabbits.
The bodies are the same and you can make them into a rabbit, a bear or a cat. 
(there are some more to choose from at the website, but I like these 3 the best).
Having fun using up some leftover yarn to make the clothes.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Double Knit


I learned a new technique these last couple of days!
After seeing some really nice examples (on Pinterest) of so called "double knitting" (knitting 2 layers at the same time with reversed pattern) I decided to try it myself.
It's just so helpful to have YouTube so you can follow visual instructions step by step.
Turned out it's not near as difficult as it seems but you do need to keep a close eye on your stitches.
I started with a small sample piece with hearts (Valentines Day is coming up!).

After I got the hang of it I decided I was ready for something more useful so I now have a great neck warmer in a charcoal/cream gingham pattern. No seams anywhere and totally reversible.

Free pattern here

I think I'll try the Christmas blanket again next year but then in the double knit, it's an absolutely perfect technique for that!