Terrific Tuesday

07 Tuesday May 2013

Tags

Cape Town, holiday, Overberg, Terrific Tuesday

On a Monday I can still remember the fun I had over the weekend, Wednesday is the middle of the work week, on Thursday I start getting hopeful and on a Friday I can taste the weekend. But what about a Tuesday? It’s so…. just there. Weekend memories are too far away and the upcoming weekend might as well be a year away.

What we need is a bit of colourful inspiration to get us going on a Tuesday, don’t you think? A pretty picture, beautiful scenery or colourful imagery. Yup, that’ll liven up Tuesdays and turn it into a terrific day!

From now on I will go through my photos and Pinterest likes every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

My favourite images from my time in Cape Town. The photos were taken at the Dassiesfontein farm stall, Cape Aghulhas, the roads in the Bredasdorp / Napier / Villiersdorp area, Greyton, the V&A Waterfront, and Haas Coffee Shop.

To my Mom, Dad and brother who made my week so special, thank you for everything. Love you.

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday.

Natasja

Terrific Tuesday

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Cape Town, holiday, Terrific Tuesday

From now on I will go through my photos and Pinterest likes every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

This morning I visited Boeresjiek (which translates to Farmer Chic) in Brackenfell, South Africa* with my oldest and dearest artist & interior decorator friend Tia Gerber. We’ve known each other for 24 years. She’s one of those people I can meet up with today and we just pick up where we left off when I last saw her in September 2010. I just love her to bits and she just gets me.

If you are ever in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, you should really visit this huge space filled with the most amazing decor items. You could spend hours just browsing, but you’re bound to walk out with a little something and you will definitely want to sit down for Red Velvet Cheesecake or Carrot Cake, or both, like Tia and I did.

*I’ve been on holiday in Cape Town since Friday and I’ll be returning to the UK on Sunday so it’s short, but very sweet, holiday with my friends and family.

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday.

Natasja

Terrific Tuesday

23 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

crochet, crocheted granny squares, granny square, granny square afghan, Instagram, Spring

From now on I will go through my photos and Pinterest likes every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

John and I spent the whole weekend outside. I picked these daffodils from our garden, John got out the patio furniture, I worked on granny squares for an afghan order (I got the order because of a photo I placed on Instagram!), and we had a BBQ with friends. All of this happened under a blue sky with the sun baking down on us. It was only about 15 degrees, but the sun was out and we cherished every moment.

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday.

Natasja

(If you want to follow me on Instagram, I’m natasjak)

Perfectly paired

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings, Other people's crochet

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

crochet

I wish I was sitting on the pink chair. I’ll sit on the pink chair so that I can admire the green chair.

I don’t do pink. I love green.

Perfect.

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/2325035/list/Cool-Crochet–Yes–It-s-Possible

Terrific Tuesday

16 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

crochet cartoon, yarn

From now on I will go through my photos and Pinterest likes every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

http://www.neatorama.com/2013/04/13/A-Knitter-Down-on-Her-Luck/

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday.

Natasja

Crochet baskets

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Ta-daah!

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

crochet, crochet thread, Japanese crochet

In October 2012 I blogged about the great selection of Anchor crochet cotton I won. In that post, which you can read here, I said that I would use the crochet thread for a cell/mobile phone cover, a basket and a doily. I haven’t got round to the doily yet, I did make the cell/mobile phone cover but before I could photograph it for you I lost it (read: fell asleep on the train with the cover on my lap and jumped up when the train got to my station), and today I’m showing you the basket.

The basket is not big, and it’s shallow, but I think that’s a good thing. Working with crochet cotton I don’t think the sides would have been able to stand up if there were any more than 3 rows.

I especially love the little handles on the sides. You need very small buttons though!

It was such an easy pattern and pretty result, that I ended up making two.

crochet basket carnation crochet hook

These shallow crochet baskets will be perfect for keeping odds & ends together. I can see it on a table in your hallway for the car keys, on a dresser for perfume bottles, or the bathroom for the handwash and hand lotion. You can see it too can’t you? Yes, I know you can! If you want to make one (or two) for yourself, here is the nitty-gritty:

Pattern: Lace Baskets from the Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Lacy Crochet book.
Hook: 1.5 mm
Yarn: Aida 10 in silver grey and Freccia 6 in shade 01442
Modifications: For the silver grey basket I had to add an extra round before starting with the sides, as the crochet thread is thinner than the Freccia 6 and I wanted my baskets to be the same size.

I’m giving these baskets away to friends on foreign shores so my desk still needs a basket for post-it notes and pens. I think I’ll make my one in shades of green. Striped!

An interview with me

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in In the press, My ramblings

≈ 13 Comments

One of my favourite online yarn shops, www.loveknitting.com, has chosen me as their blogger of the week which means they publish an interview with me!!! I feel like a mini celebrity 🙂

Helen asked really fun questions which I enjoyed answering immensely. You can read the interview on the loveknitting blog, here.

Cubes make for pretty and practical yarn art

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Wowcher, yarn

Yarn storage. The age-old question for any crocheter or knitter. Do you display your yarn or hide it? Do you arrange it according to colour, weight or fibre? So many choices! A lot depends on the space available. In my case, I have a cupboard in the spare room with a canvas shoe organiser like this one, a couple of tote bags hanging from hangers in the same cupboard and the cardboard box that my Anchor crochet thread winnings arrived in. I thought I had a good enough system as everything is hidden away yet easily accessible.

Until…

John saw my Yarn Pinterest board with beautiful yarn storage ideas.

“Wow, that wall of yarn looks cool.”

“I know, right?! One day when we have a big house we could do the same.”

“Why wait? I want to get rid of those three Ikea prints in the spare room anyway. We can display your yarn on that wall.”

“Seriously? You wouldn’t mind?”

“No, I’d like it. And it would make you happy, so I’ll be happy.”

“Aaaaaaah! Honey!!!”

“That’s how I roll.”

Not only that, he was the one who found the perfect yarn storage solution: three wooden wall cubes at a discounted price with Wowcher. Like the man says: that’s how he rolls.

We both love this Wall Of Yarn Art – it changes all the time as I use yarn and buy more. Never a dull moment. Literally.

Of course I still have the shoe organiser and tote bags, but they now only hold acrylics and other odds and ends.

I’ve reserved my wall cubes for cotton only. Most of my cotton yarn is Rowan Handknit which comes in 50g balls and fit perfectly into the cubes. I just love the huge spectrum of colours. It truely is inspirational to see such a colourful selection right there on the wall. My creative juices flow as soon as I walk into the spare room.

Did you notice the empty space in the biggest cube? The one with the blues and greens? I certainly noticed and aim to rectify this soon. All in the name of ~~art~~ yarn.

Blue Japanese Top – Ta-daaaaaah!

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Ta-daah!, Yarnbombing

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

crochet, Japanese crochet, wearable crochet

Here it is. My blue crochet top hooked from a Japanese pattern!

This is my second project from a Japanese pattern. The first one was the red variegated scarf which I blogged about here. The scarf was given away as a gift, so this is the first item I can wear.

I really, really, like it! It feels great walking around London in something I crocheted myself (that always feels good), but this time I add a swagger because I know that the pattern I followed didn’t have one single word in English to guide me!

Focus on the close-up of the crochet, not the tiramisu (if you can…)

Back view

The nitty-gritty is as follows:

Pattern: On Ravelry this pattern is called #4 2-way Top because that’s really what it is. You have two construction options. My way, and leaving the front open to make it into a cardigan. It’s from the Japanese book Easy Popular Knit and Crochet Wear which I bought from Pomadour24 on Etsy.
Crochet hook: 3 mm
Modifications: To make it the right length I had to add a few rows of the shell pattern before starting with the fan pattern at the bottom. If I could, I would have added extra squares but I had ready crocheted the shell rows on either side of the squares so couldn’t go back and add more squares to make it longer.
Yarn: I used Garnstudio Drops Delight in Shade 03. The yarn is a holiday momento from a weekend in Barcelona in January. I bought it at a shop called All You Knit Is Love. The sweetest little shop! Tucked away in a alley close to the Picasso museum. If you find yourself in Barcelona, be sure to pop in.

Yarn!!!!

Japanese crochet really isn’t that difficult. Honestly. At the end of this blogpost I give a few pointers and links to helpful websites.In case you’re wondering, yes I’ve already bought the yarn to crochet my next Japanese top. I mean, I have a whole book filled with patterns. How can I not?!

*The setting for these photos is of course Genoa, Italy on the weekend of their citywide yarnbombing, Intrecci Urbani. I blogged about it here.

Terrific Tuesday

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Natasja in Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

cotton yarn, crochet

From now on I will go through my photos and Pinterest likes every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

After spending last week stashbusting by making granny squares, I went to John Lewis over the weekend and bought four balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton. The term “stashbusting” is obviously lost on me….

My new acquisitions make for an excellent Terrific Tuesday photo though! The lovely balls of cotton DK shades are called Blue John, China Rose, Celery and Gooseberry (such lovely names!). They’re posing with the Roses and Daisies cushions and the finished Ripple Blanket in Blue (the ta-daah post for the blanket will follow next month).