Posted by Natasja | Filed under My crochet, My ramblings
Corfu, crocs & crochet
01 Friday Jun 2012
Category Archives: My ramblings
Vintage pattern Summer Vest Ta-daaaah
27 Sunday May 2012
Posted in My crochet, My ramblings, Ta-daah!
It’s done! The Summer Vest from this vintage pattern circa 1960 is done!
I know I said I would take this project with me to Corfu to work on there, but once I had made the gauge swatch, I just couldn’t stop. One dc led to another and before I knew it I was wearing it!
Here I am striking the same pose as the classy lady on the left. Check out the beads and I even have wind in my hair. Hahaha
Initially I wanted to make the vest with the flowers but I changed my mind. Typical. I like wearing beads and necklaces, so I’d rather jazz up the Vest with jewellery than be stuck with the flowers. After doing my modification (again, typical) of the bottom edge, flowers would have been a bit much.
The pattern asks for a ribbing which I didn’t feel like doing. Ribbings is a bit too old-fashioned for me, so in stead I started with the main pattern immediately and when it was all done, I added the neck & armhole edging pattern at the bottom, plus one row of the main pattern.
The strange thing about the pattern is its shaping. In stead of shaping in at the waist, it goes out at the waist. I did as the pattern said, so I included that shaping but it’s not the most flattering. Hubby and I actually call the vest the “Pull In Your Tummy Vest” because it looks like I have a bit of a belly.
The body also retains its shape very well. When I stand up after sitting down for a while, the yarn “remembers” the folds so it looks like I’ve got sausage tied round my waist. I’m hoping this will change as the cotton softens and drapes more. I REALLY hope so.
Here are the Summer Vest (a.k.a Pull In Your Tummy Vest) facts:
- No ribbing and a modified bottom edge – see above.
- I used a 3mm crochet hook and just under 6 balls of Rowan Sienna in Grasshopper for size L.
- I started the gauge swatches on 13 May, and finished the Vest on 26 May.
All in all, I like the vest. The colour is my favourite thing about it. I’m looking forward to wearing it with summery skirts in Corfu next week. Keep an eye on the crocheTime Facebook page for photos.
I do think however that I like the idea of using a vintage pattern, more than I like the finished item. It’s such a nice thought that the last time someone followed this pattern there were no such things as Ravelry, blogs or Facebook to tell others about it. Now this Vest is retro and vintage, then it was just “the latest pattern by Sirdar”.
Wednesday I’ll start working on Dusky, “the latest pattern from Rowan” (which 40 years from now will be retro and vintage. There’s a thought!)
I’ve done the gauge swatches but this time I stopped myself from going any further. Dusky is done in a 6mm hook with Worsted weight yarn and just like the Vest it also doesn’t have sleeves, so it’s going to be a very quick project.
I’m not going to allow my crochet addiction to get out of hand again: Dusky’s foundation chain will be crocheted in the presence of olives, houmous and feta. THe plan is to start my holiday with a bag of yarn, and end it with a new crochet top. How cool would that be?
Size matters
26 Saturday May 2012
Posted in My ramblings
We’re off to Corfu on Wednesday for a week of sun, sea and blue skies (can not wait!)
I’m super excited and have been thinking of what to pack for a while now. Made lists, made purchases and even did some holiday wardrobe planning. (In my mind the holiday starts when you start visualising the outfits you’ll be wearing in foreign lands.)
We’re going to travel with hand luggage only, so that pesky 100ml liquids rule will apply and limit the amount of lotions & potions I can take with me. (As it is, we’ll be buying 200ml sunblock and aftersun at the airport AFTER security.)
Luckily the Marie Claire magazine people had some excellent freebies with their magazine which is perfect for hand luggage travel.
First off, I got this travel size Pantene shampoo and conditioner free with Marie Claire two months ago (yes, I was already thinking of holiday packing two months ago). The travel size is just enough for a week away.
Last month I got this lipgloss + cheek stain combo from The Body Shop also free with a Marie Claire. I love products like this that can do more than one thing, especially if you’re travelling.
Then I found a little tube of magic at Boots: Nivea Visage Q10 plus Anti-Wrinkle tinted day cream with SPF 15. This means I can leave everything on the right of this photo at home and replace four tubes with one 100ml tube!! How’s that for smart holiday packing?!
All my purchases haven’t been beauty related though. Of course I’m taking crochet work with me!
As I’m travelling with hand luggage only I wanted to make sure that a non-craftloving grumpy security guard at Gatwick wouldn’t confiscate my crochet hook or embroidery scissors, so I emailed Gatwick to check what I can and cannot take with me. Here’s the reply.
Dear Mrs King
The scissors should be allowed if they are under 6cm, however this rules doesn’t stand if the blades are very shape. The Crochet hooks should be allowed, again this all depends on the size and sharpness of the hooks.
Kind regards
Jamie Moore
Customer Services
I use the Clover soft touch crochet hooks, so I know they will be absolutely fine as they are so short and stubby. Yeah!
My embroidery scissors might be small, but their blades are pointy and very sharp, so I can’t take them with me. Replacement scissors needed.
I think this one would definitely satisfy Gatwick:
Hahaha, just kidding.
I bought these baby scissors with rounded blades on eBay. Aren’t they cute? And absolutely perfect for taking through airport security?!
I think I’m ready to go: just add passport and sunglasses.
More yarn
17 Thursday May 2012
Posted in My ramblings
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I bought more yarn. Again. (It’s the “Dark Old Pink” in the photo below to crochet this tunic.)
I think I’m addicted, but I have no desire to recover from the addiction so I guess I’m just obsessed.
I’m okay with that.
A Mastercard Morning
09 Wednesday May 2012
Posted in My crochet, My ramblings, Pattern
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My Mastercard and I have been doing our bit for the British economy, keeping Royal Mail in business and contributing (quite substantially) to my yarn stash. The purchases haven’t been willy-nilly, random “ooh that’s pretty!” (although they are) purchases though. I have a plan. You see, Garnstudio has a Supersale on until the end of May, so I’m taking advantage of that. I also know exactly what I want to use the yarn for, so I know how much to buy and I know the yarn I choose will work for the pattern. Purposefully expanding my stash. See. A plan. Do you want to see what I bought and what I’ll be using it for? Of course you do!
First up is Doris Chan’s Tall Latte v-neck sweater from her book Everyday Crochet (there’s a link to it on the right of the page).
I’m not going to make the ribbing-like neck and sleeve edging – I have a better plan which I will tell you about once I start working on Tall Latte. I’m going to use Drops Merino Extra Fine in shade 04 – a medium grey. Yes I know grey is, well, grey, but I have three patterned Boden skirts that will look excellent with a grey top, so the whole outfit won’t be drab & dreary and I’ll get a lot of use out of the grey top. Merino Extra Fine is one of the Super Sale yarns. In stead of paying £3.10 per ball, I paid £2.75 at The Crochet Chain.
Next up is a Garnstudio top called Country Dream. Sooo pretty!
The suggested yarn is Drops Safran. After the success of Whispers, I’m quite keen to stick to the suggested yarns for Garnstudio patterns, but Drops Safran isn’t on the Garnstudio Supersale list of marked down yarns. Luckily Scandinavian Knitting Design shop is offering it on sale! I bought shade 51 (Petrol) for £1.87 in stead of the usual £2.49! I’m going to modify the top so that it doesn’t hang over my hips, which means I could buy one less ball than suggested by the pattern. Another saving right there!
Last, but not least is a Vintage tank top. I bought the vintage Sirdar pattern from PastPerfect patterns this morning (and got the pdf within two hours!)
I’ll be making the one on the right with the flowery neckline. Isn’t it pretty?! I love the idea that I’m going to make something that’s proper vintage. Not a modern pattern reworked to look vintage, or vintage inspired, this baby is really truly from a vintage pattern.
All the Sirdar yarn they suggest, have been discontinued by now, so I had to find a substitute. Luckily I only need a very small amount of yarn as it’s a sleeveless pattern so I splurged and bought three balls of Rowan Sienna for £4.75 each. It’s not on sale, but at £4.75 a ball I know I’ll never crochet a whole sweater in this yarn, so as I only need three balls I thought what the heck. I bought a lovely green called Grasshopper from MCA Direct.
As soon as I’ve finished Belle I’ll start with the vintage tank top. I plan on taking it with me on holiday to Corfu at the end of this month. We’ll be there for a week. I can’t think of anything nicer than enjoying the sunshine in a foreign land, crochet hook and Rowan yarn in hand. I may even be able to finish the tank top whilst I’m there! Nevermind blocking, if I manage to finish it in Corfu, I’ll be wearing it in Corfu!
Drops Merino Extra Fine: £3.10 £2.75
Drops Safran: £2.49 £1.87
Rowan Sienna: £4.75
Three new crochet projects to get my hook into: Priceless
Blog Week retrospective
30 Monday Apr 2012
Posted in My ramblings
It’s been a blogtastic week don’t you think? Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2012 was a huge hit. I received a lot more views on my blog, new subscribers, lots of comments and best of all, I found five new blogs to follow!
It was fun having to stick to a prescribed topic and force myself to think about stuff that I wouldn’t otherwise have blogged about.
I think my favourite post to write was My Perfect Crafting Day, but I’m proudest of the Something A Bit Different GIF that Hubby and I made (he was standing on a chair taking aerial photos while I crawled around on the carpet spelling out letters in crochet hooks and clocks. Good times!)
If you liked my Something Different post, you can nominate it to receive the prize for most creative post, by using this form. Before you, first do a Google search for “KCBWDAY5” to see if there is any other blogpost you would rather nominate. You can only nominate one blogpost so choose wisely.
I’m sponsoring the second prize in the Photography Challenge so I don’t think my Photography Challenge post can be nominated, but that doesn’t stop you from nominating anyone else’s post. Do a search in Google for “KCBWDAY2” and use this nomination form.
Roll on Knitting and Crochet Blog week 2013!
Crafting balance
29 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in My ramblings
Do I have a balanced craft life? No. Hell no! For me it’s all about the hook.
I do know how to knit though. I was taught to knit in school and my mom knits. But to me knitting is just a bit boring and everyone does it.
I think Stephanie of ObeyCrochet feels the same way as I do.
There are machines that can replicate knitting, whereas no machine can truely replicate crochet. I like to be a bit different and I’m proud of the fact that I use yarn in a way that no machine can.
I also can’t imagine my life without a granny square. Really. That would just be unthinkable!
Crafting balance. Hmpfh, what crafting balance?
Improving my crochet skill set
28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in My ramblings
I’ve been crocheting since August 2009 and to date I haven’t had a single lesson from a real person. I’m not trying to impress when I tell you this, to me that means that there are quite possibely a whole list of things I’m doing wrong – but I wouldn’t even know it! Hahaha. Ignorance is bliss hey.
I’m happy with how my crochet skills have progressed and I think my crochet is neat and pleasant on the eye. A lot of what I know, I learned because I fell in love with a pattern and was forced to learn to do whatever the pattern asked me to do.
My skills in finding help and instrcutions through Google, is my saving grace (and my teacher). So many people share their knowledge that nothing really stands in my way when I want to try something new. I’m so grateful to the internet for being my teacher.
Having said that, I would like to attend a crochet class of some kind. Maybe not the basics of crochet as I think I’ve mastered that, but I am interested in learning how to shape wearables. A lot of the crochet patterns that I fall in love with turns out to be quite boxy which puts me off from actually making them as they will make me look too… well, boxy.
I’ll give you an example.
The Vogue Crochet Special Collectors Issue 2012 preview was launched a couple of days ago. (The magazine itself will only be availbe in store, and in electronic form, on 8 May.) I almost wet myself when I saw the pictures. Honestly. I was saying yes, yes, yes to almost everything I saw.
BUT, on closer inspection I had to ask myself how many of these beautiful things would I really wear, so that narrowed it down a bit. I was left with these as possible contenders for adding yarn to hook.
They’re stunning aren’t they? At first glance that is.
The first one is very interesting. However the neckline is very wide and off the shoulder, but I guess you could change that when you sew the front to the back at the shoulder seams.
The second one is Doris Chan design which is so pretty. However, it goes over the hips and my dear hips don’t need any more attention drawn to them, so I would have to adjust the pattern. The top is wonderfully shaped and nipped in at the waist so it won’t be a simple case of just making it shorter, you would have to know how to shorten it whilst retaining the nipped in waist.
The third and fourth are my favourites and the ones I initally thought I would definitely make. But they’re boxy and square which does not suit my body shape. I’m a pear shape, so I need definition in the waist, otherwise I end up looking like a milk carton.
The only one I could see myself making is the last one. But would I want to buy the whole magazine, only for one pattern?
If I could however figure out how to add, or change, waist shaping of a crochet pattern it would be a no brainer – that magazine would be mine!
I would love to learn how to do shaping face-to-face, but in the absence of a class I went to my virtual teacher: Google. Guess what I found. This excellent article on the crochetMe website that explains exactely how to adjust a pattern to include waist shaping. It’s actually precisely what I wanted!!!! (By the way, they also have an article on adding bust shaping to crochet here).
I started off this blog post with the idea that I will be left with this one crochet skill that I won’t be able to learn without face to face action, and yet again, the internet came to the rescue.
I guess my crochet learing process looks something like this:
Fall in love with pattern + Google search = another skill learned = Happy Hooker
Roll on 8 May, cause Vogue Crochet Special Collectors Issue 2012, you’re mine!
Something a bit different
27 Friday Apr 2012
Posted in GIF, My ramblings
I’m a Hooker and this is what I’m made of.
If you liked this post, you can nominate it to win a prize, here.
My perfect crafting day
26 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in My ramblings
My perfect crafting day would start by waking up later than usual, but not too late. I think 8am is a good time. First drink of the day will be tea with soya milk (as usual) accompanied by a full English breakfast. All of this will be served to me whilst in bed, paging through a crochet magazine. *It’s my perfect day, so calories and fat content will not be taken into consideration today.
I’ll get dressed (wearing as much crocheted items as possible) to go to a Manor House with big garden in the countryside for a crochet get-together with fellow crafters and hookers. Of course, transport to the Manor House will have to be as effortless as possible. I’m thinking chauffeur driven car. No train or bus for me thank you!
My guests would be the ladies I’ve come to know on Facebook, WordPress and Blogger. These virtual friends would include all my blog followers, Cornel and Christelle from South Africa, Gerlene from Ireland, Lynn from Lancashire. I’d also like to meet Lucy of Attic24, Stephanie of ObeyCrochet, Meredith of OneSheepishGirl and La of LittleMessyLa. My artist friend Tia and of course, my Mom, has to be there as well. Can you image the fun we’d all have together?
The venue would have to provide us with an unlimited supply of tea, scones, clotted cream, finger sandwiches and lots of cake. See * above. The drinks and eats will of course be free – our mere presence in their venue is payment enough.
After a long crochet and crafting session, in keeping with the English theme, we’d all go off to the Rowan yarn factory shop (I don’t think it exists – I’ve Googled it so many times but with no success) where we’d buy lots and lots of yarn for next-to-nothing. A Rowan designer will then custom design a cardigan for each of us and give us the yarn to crochet the item, for free.
At the end of a long day of crochet fun, we’d go out for a fabulous meal and arrange to do it all again next week.
What do you think? Are you up for it? Of course you are!
crochetime 