Mainly Grey Sweater Ta-daaaah!

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Ta-daah!

Tags

crochet, crochet edge, crochet sweater, wearable crochet

Here it is people, my Mainly Grey Sweater. Ta-daaah!!!!

crochet sweater

I first blogged about it on 31 October, and the yarn was bought way back in May so this has been the longest that I’ve worked on, or planned for, a crocheted sweater. Yarnbombs and hospital visits happened and of course the fact that it consists of 58 squares (!) made it a lengthy project. But it’s done now and I really like it!

The nitty-gritty of the sweater is as follows:

Pattern: Driftwood, a free pattern on the Lionbrand website which you can find here

Yarn: 17 balls of Garnstudio Drops Merino Extra fine in shade 04 (medium gray) and one ball of Sublime Extra Fine Merino DK in redcurrent. I never expected to use 17 balls for this. At £3.10 each that’s £52.70. That’s more that I would pay in the shops for a sweater, but what can you do? No-one said my crochet obsession was going to be cheap. On the up side, I now have a handmade crochet sweater unique to me, so I guess that’s priceless.

Hook: 5 mm

Construction: 58 squares of 11.5 cm x 11.5 cm, two mesh side panels and two mesh sleeve panels

All of the 58 squares had to be blocked before I could sew them together. It was a big job, but so worth it.

Blocking crochet squares

When the sewing together was done, it was time to add the finishing touches. The pattern said I have to do a round of SC followed by a row of slip stitches all around the neck, sleeves and bottom edge. I sort of did what they said….

I did the row of SC in gray as instructed, but then added my HDC of red. Ooo wee, I had been waiting so long for this! The red makes my grey siiiiing!

But wait, there’s more. For my last row, again in gray, I did SC, sl st, SC, sl st etc. all round. (I didn’t want to end with red as it would be too obvious, so I needed to finish it all off with another row in gray.) When I turned my work around, I saw that the wrong side of that SC, sl st, SC, sl st row was actually more interesting than the right side, so I made the back, the front. In other words my edging was done as follows:

Row 1: With wrong side facing, SC one row. Turn. (This is as the pattern instructs me to do.)

Row 2: With right side facing, HDC in red. Turn. (The photo above).

Row 3: With wrong side facing, *SC, sl st*.

This photo shows you the end result. A spidery, lacy row of grey over the red stitches.

SC Sl st pattern

This is the neckline of my sweater. I love that intricate grey lines over the red.

The pattern calls for mesh inserts on the sides, for size M and upwards, and elongated triangle shape inserts for the sleeves. I think this is genius as it turns the square sweater into something more shapely.

Here you can see the top of the sleeve inserts. They taper to a point towards the bottom edge of the sleeve.

crochet sweater sleeve inserts

This photo shows off the side mesh insert. When I was making the inserts I thought it would be very obvious, but it really isn’t.

side inserts driftwood crochet sweater

The construction of this sweater is extremely adaptable. All you need are 58 squares of 11.5cm x 11.5cm each. That means this pattern can work with granny squares, or any type of square motif as long as it’s 11.5 cm squared! You’ll just need the Driftwood pattern for the mesh inserts. Isn’t that great? Here we have a basic crochet sweater pattern, made up of squares that is wide, wide, wide open to creative interpretation. It’s the kind of pattern you will go back to time and time again. It’s also excellent for beginners.

I’m thinking of making a similar sweater in a summery cotton using one of Jan Eaton’s 200 Crochet Blocks patterns. Can you see it? It would be really great in bright summery colour(s).

Next time when I see a sale on DK cotton yarn, I’m going to buy 17 balls. Yes, my love of crochet is overriding my budget constraints. I’m sure you understand.

Crochet earrings ta-daaah!

10 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Ta-daah!

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

crochet, crochet jewellery, Etsy, jewellery

It feels like forever since I last showed you a completed crochet project. I guess that’s the way when yarnbomb cravings hit, you have 58 squares to crochet and husband goes for an operation.

Fear not, I have been putting my crochet hook to good use and today I have something to show you. Five things actually.

Ta-daaaah! Behold five pairs of crochet earrings.

crochet earrings and crochet thread

Four of these are Christmas presents and one pair is for me. Seeing as the four recipients read this blog, I won’t tell you which pair is mine. What I can tell you is how I made these earrings.

The nitty gritty of the earrings:

Yarn: The Anchor crochet thread I used for all of these, is from The Making Spot’s giveaway that I won in October.

Pattern: Dainty Dangles Crocheted Earrings by Chanteuse Crochet. There are eight crochet earring designs in the pattern, so the $2.50 is very good value for money. I only used three of the eight designs. The pattern tells how to attach the earring hooks and also give instructions for blocking and the use of spray starch.

Hook: 1.5 mm Clover soft touch

Pair 1 – Delicate Fan Earrings, using Anchor Freccia 6 in shade 00320:

mustard crochet earrings

Pair 2 – Funky Granny Earrings, using Anchor Mercer Crochet 20 in shade 0149:

navy granny square crochet earrings

Pair 3 – Simple Circle Earrings, using Anchor Baby Soft 8 in shade 0048:

Pink crochet earrings

Pair 4 – Simple Circle Earrings, using Anchor Freccia 6 in shade 01442. These are bigger than the light pink earrings seeing as the crochet thread is thicker:

turquoise crochet earrings

Pair 5 – Simple Circle Earrings, using Anchor Freccia 6 in shade 00255. To get the earrings so big, I replaced the US dc in the pattern, with US trebles:

green crochet earring

I actually have very bad luck when it comes to earrings. For some reason I always seem to loose one. Just one. Seriously. When I get home in the evenings the first thing I do (after saying hello to hubby of course) is take off my shoes, wrist watch, rings and earrings. Many a time I only need to take off one earring. Heaven knows how you can loose an earring without knowing it. And I’m not talking only dangling earrings, studs as well!

But now that I have this pattern, and I’ve seen how quickly the earrings can be whipped up, I’m going to make myself more. If I loose one I can make its replacement within minutes!

Bring it on ye wizard of disappearing earrings. I have an crochet earring pattern and a big stash. Bring it on.

crochet earrings and crochet thread

Granny squares and alpacas

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, My ramblings

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

crochet, granny square, scarf

The day of my granny square workshop at Toft Alpaca farm finally arrived on Saturday. I have been looking forward to this since reading about Toft Alpaca Farm in Simply Crochet magazine way back in the Summer.

I had to drive two hours to get to the farm, but it was so worth it. Hubby asked, and you are probably wondering as well, why would I want to attend a workshop, two hours away, on making granny squares, when I already can make granny squares (and much more)? Well, you see, I taught myself to crochet so I’ve always wondered whether I could (should?) be doing things differently. I think I wanted reassurance that what I’ve been doing is right, but at the same time I’m open to new techniques and different takes on the same thing. Seeing as I’ve never attended a crochet class of any kind I felt I’ve missed out on that aspect as well: the group of women sitting together, following the instructions of our teach and making something together.

I’m so glad I decided to go because the workshop, in fact the whole day, was everything I hoped it would be.

The day started at 10 am with coffee, having a nose around the beautiful shop and “where did you travel from?”, “have you crocheted before?” chat amongst the nine ladies and one gentleman. Everyone seemed really nice and we were a good mix of ages which made for interesting conversation.

We found our seats at the huge table in the beautiful workshop of the Toft Alpaca Shop and then Carrie started the lesson. We started with instructions on how to hold the crochet hook, how to wind your working yarn so that the tension is consistent and then the hooking began.

By 11 am everyone had made two rounds of the granny so we took a break to walk around the farm.

Wellies on, and off we went. It was great seeing the alpacas out there in the field, knowing that by the end of the day I would have made granny squares from their fleece.

So cute!

My absolute favourite animal is a giraffe. I’ve never seen one in real life, but I’d like to think I spent a morning with their smaller wooly cousins. Those long necks are so wrong, they’re right. Right?

Carrie provided a wealth of information and interesting facts about alpacas and the farm. She told us things such as; alpaca’s will obey straight lines, that they have excellent peripheral vision, baby alpaca are called cria, they making a humming sound when content and will spit if they feel threatened. There are officially 22 shades of alpaca fleece but early British importers were told to import white alpacas as the yarn can be dyed different shades. Luckily Toft don’t dye or bleach their wool. Why would anyone want to dye alpaca wool if you have 22 natural shades?

When we got back from our walk it was time for lunch, coffee and cake and more crocheting. Just heavenly.

I opted to make the granny square scarf which means I had to buy an extra “goody bag” of chunky alpaca wool on top of the pack already included in my £60 workshop fee.

I’m so glad I decided to make the huge granny square scarf. I love it! It’s incredibely warm and snuggly.

I made my scarf with 8 squares of 4 round granny squares and finished it on Sunday evening. Chunky yarn + 12 mm hook = super fast finished project!!!

What I found the most interesting (apart from all the alpaca facts) about the workshop was how quickly people can pick up crocheting. I sat between two knitters who had never crocheted, but by the end of the day, one had completed a granny square in chunky alpaca, and Sue was making Russian Square wrist warmers in DK. In one morning Sue had progressed from learning to crochet by making granny squares, to actually reading a pattern for Russian Squares! She emailed me on Monday to say that they crochet bug had bitten her big time and she loves crochet now just as much as knitting! Nevermind wrist warmers, she’s going to make a blanket! How great is that?!

It was probably inevitable that a day on an Alpaca farm, learning to crochet granny squares with a group of other students in a beautiful setting with amazing natural fibres, can make anyone addicted to crochet. Then again, if you’re following this blog and have read this far, you already know how addictive crochet can be and you don’t need a furry miniature giraffe to inspire you (but it helps).

P.S. The next crochet workshop at Toft is an Amigurimi workshop on Saturday 16 February. If you can, go!

The start of a (mainly) grey sweater

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

crochet, Lionbrand, Loveknitting, yarn

It seems that Autumn has well and truly arrived in the UK. That means only one thing: time to start making those wooly sweaters and cardigans. Yeah!!!

I actually started planning the sweater I’m currently (inbetween the projects with my Aida crochet thread) working on, way back in May. If I say “plan” I mean, find a pattern and buy the yarn. The dark grey Garnstudio Drops Merino Extra Fine was bought on Mastercard Morning. Two of those Mastercard Mording projects are completed, this one is the only one left to go.

I’ve since changed my mind about the pattern though. I really tried to get my head around Doris Chan’s Talle Latte but I just couldn’t do it. It was causing me so much stress to figure out what she wanted me to do, that I just gave up and looked for something that I would enjoy making – enter Lionbrand’s Driftwood Pullover. I will only refer to it as Driftwood this once though… Watch this clip from Meet the Fockers, and you’ll know why. Until I find a more suitable name for the sweater, I’ll just call it The (mainly) Grey Sweater.

“Mainly” because I’ll be adding Redcurrent red to the grey. Surely you’ll know by now that I would be incapable of doing a whole sweater in a solid charcoal grey. No Sirree. I’m going to use the Sublime Extra Fine Merino for the neck, wrist and bottom edging. Right? Can you see it? The tiny lines of red just to add a pop of colour to the dull grey? Yes Sirree!!

The Sublime was bought at a online haberdashery store I stumbled upon called LoveKnitting. Now you crocheters shouldn’t be putt off by the reference to knitting. As can be seen from the photo below, they also sell crochet hooks so it’s not all knitting. I bought the 12mm KnitPro Symfonie hook to take along to the Granny Square Workshop I’ll be attending at Toft Alpaca Farm on Saturday. (Can Not Wait!) I’ve never used Symfonie crochet hooks, but they look so pretty and colourful how could it not be a great crochet hook?

I was so impressed by Loveknitting’s packaging that I just had to take a photo to show you. Can you believe that this is the way a big online store would package their items? It looks like I bought the yarn and crochet hook from an Etsy or Folksy seller. Huge thumbs up to Loveknitting for adding a personal touch!

Another great thing about Loveknitting is the 10% discount you receive on your first order and they also do free postage if you spend more than £25 in one go. I also like the way they sort the yarns on their site: you can search according to weight, brand, colour and/or fibre and the whole site has a clean and modern feel. For an online store only operating since April 2012, I think they’re great!

Before I spend more money at Loveknitting, I have to finish 42 of the 58 squares for The (mainly) Grey Sweater. The sooner I get through the grey, the sooner I can get my hook into that Sublime Redcurrent and then on to the gazillion other crochet projects on my To Hook List.

Oooo, I see that Loveknitting gives you 10% off all yarn bought before midnight 2 November with code 10SPOOKS…. as if I need any more encouragement to buy more yarn!

The Making Spot gifts

22 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

crochet, giveaway

Way back in August I blogged about The Making Spot’s crochet along and flower swap. I made a cute silver bracelet out of crocheted balls and a flower for the swap. I took part in the crochet-along as a way to challenge myself to work with super fine crochet thread and the tiny 1.5mm crochet hook it called for. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it and vowed to use the left over light grey crochet thread for more jewellery items.

I posted my flower to the headoffice for them to send on to someone else. I would then also receive someone else’s flower. The flower arrived last week along with a handwritten note from Jenny at The Making Spot and a book of Christmas themed knitting patterns. How nice is that?!

My flower, or in fact, group of three flowers, is from Jen Beaton, who is also the owner of TheOtherMrsBeaton Etsy shop and blog. Have a look at her granny square buggy blanket – it’s lovely. Jen also received my flower and says she is going to turn it into a brooch or a fridge magnet. How sweet of her.

But wait there’s more…..

Part of The Making Spot’s crochet along was a giveaway where one lucky person would receive a hamper from Anchor worth £100. Guess who that lucky person was. Me!!! I had totally forgotten about the giveaway aspect of the crochet along, so it was a huuuuge suprise when Jenny emailed to say I had won. I guess that the gods of crochet was really impressed by my willingness to try something new, so they rewarded me with more crochet thread to play with.

The box arrived on Friday. When I got home I put my hair in a ponytail, kicked off my shoes and immediately ran for (not with) the scissors to get to my box of goodies. It felt like Christmas! Not only did I receive 26, yes 26, balls of crochet thread, but also three pattern books.

Just look at all those colours!

There’s even metalic gold and silver crochet thread.

Now for the big question. What will I be using my crochet thread for? Well… after a few hours on Ravelry and a rummage in my yarn & pattern stash, I came up with three projects.

The first will be a cover for my iPhone using Crocheterie’s free pattern.

Then I’ll be making two items from the Lacy Crochet book that my Mom gave me as birthday present a year or so ago.

The green flat basket is to be used at work for the piles of Post-it pads and bits & bobs that litter my desk.

I’ve always wanted to make a doilie but out home decor isn’t suited for doilies so I’ll use it as a covering for a miniature rose potplant I was given by Pieter & Lizelle. In a bright blue you’d never think it was a doilie!

To The Making Spot I want to say a huge thank you for hosting the flower swap, crochet-along and the giveaway. And to Anchor thank you so much for the perfect selection of crochet thread. I don’t know whether you looked at my blog before picking those colours, but boy you got it right!

Terrific Tuesday

16 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Natasja in Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

crochet

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

This is my definition of crochet. It’s not Merriam-Webster or Oxford, but if you love crochet, you’ll “get” this definition.

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday!

Natasja

Terrific Tuesday

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by Natasja in My ramblings, Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

crochet, crochet hookup, Instagram, Southfields Crocheters

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

Don’t you just love these images? I took the photos last night at my first crochet hookup with the girls from the Southfields Crocheters. Chris Hindle, she who teaches crochet workshops at Stitchup in Wimbledon Park, invited me to join the group after reading my blog. The group gets together once a month at Sue’s Salt & Pepper deli in Southfields. It’s lovely little place. Cozy, friendly and they have the best coffee and cake. I had a brilliant time with nicest people, surrounded by yarn, crochet hooks, coffee and cake. How could this not set the tone for a Terrific Tuesday?

Wishing you all a Terrific Tuesday!

Hooky love

Natasja

Japanese scarf Ta-daah!

06 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Ta-daah!

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

crochet, Japanese crochet, scarf

Raise your chopsticks crocheters, my first crochet item from a Japanese pattern is done!

I know it’s only a scarf and that once you get the motif under the belt, it’s just a case of repeating it a hundred times – literally, so it’s probably not the fanciest, most intricate piece of Japanese crochet, but still. I’m proud of it and I think my friend will like it too.

I’ve shown you the halfway mark and some sneak peak photos but this photo really shows off the intricate lacyness to its best (hanging from a hanger, hooked onto the Ikea floor lamp. As you do.)

Doesn’t the scarf look great with the coat (hanging from the neighbour’s fence. As you do.)?

I just love a scarf that can throw shadows on your coat! To get the scarf this open and fine, you absolutely have to, have to, have to block your work. Have a look at my halfway mark blogpost and you’ll see how the scarf looked before blocking. For this scarf, blocking isn’t optional, it’s essential.

The magic of this scarf and yarn combo is that eventhough it’s super light, open and lacy it’s still nice and warm as a scarf should be. And there’s so much going on! Every motif is different.

I think the variegated yarn really works extremely well with this scarf. The scarf in the book was done in navy and it looks great, but I think variegated yarn looks better. On the other hand, it might be that I’m just biased seeing as I really can’t imagine enjoying crocheting 100 navy motifs, but 100 uniquely different motifs, that I could do.

The nitty gritty of the Japanese scarf:

Pattern: Pattern no. 17 from Ondori Motif Crochet – Japanese cloth, sold as an e-book on Etsy.
Yarn: 4-ply variegated sock yarn by Garnstudio, called Fabel in shade 911p
Hook: 4 mm
Modifications made: The pattern calls for 6 rows of 20 motifs each, but I only did 5 rows.

I hope I’ve inspired you to also try your hook at Japanese patterns. It really isn’t that difficult. Honestly. If I can do it, anyone can! (If you need a couple of pointers, I give links to helpful websites towards the end of this blogpost.)

Konichi wa hookers!

Terrific Tuesday

04 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by Natasja in My crochet, Terrific Tuesdays

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

crochet, Polamatic

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

Today’s photo is sneak peak of the finished Japanese scarf.

Today is also my amazing husband John’s birthday (I’m not just saying he’s amazing, he really is. Have a read on this blog and you’ll see why) so it really is a terrific Tuesday.

I hope you have a super duper Tuesday!

Hooky regards

Natasja
(P.S. The full ta-daah post for the Japanese scarf will follow soon.)

The Lionheart Project

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by Natasja in Other people's crochet

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

crochet, crochet art

On Saturday my friend Liezel and I went to the Natural History Museum in London to see three giant crocheted lions. If you don’t know what I’m on about, the lions are the creation of Shauna Richardson for the Lionheart Project, one of twelve submissions to Artist Taking the Lead as part of the London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad. They symbolise the three lions on Richard the Lionheart’s coat of arms.

Shauna Richardson is an artist known for her life-size crochet animal creations, a unique body of work she calls Crochetdermy

You can read more about Shauna here and more about the Lionheart Project here.

But enough talking, you probably want to see the lions!

All the photos were taken by Liezel. She did an amazing job, considering the lions are housed in a glass box which made for a lot of reflection from the surrounding trees, the Natural History Museum, and the photographer. If you like Liezel’s photography, have a look at her blog. This is one talented snaphappy lady!

To appreciate the Lionheart Project, you need to get a sense of the scale:

Now you can enjoy the close-ups and beautiful crochet:

If Liezel’s photos have intrigued you to find out more about Shauna and her lions, have look at this interview. *Spoiler alert: Shauna says she used the wool of 150 sheep to crochet these three 9m long lions!*