Wednesday 25 March 2015

Granny Square Flower pillow


One of my favourite colours is aqua blue / green. 
Another thing I love is stacking qranny squares.



This square I designed myself, here you find the link to the pattern.


In the end I created 16 crochet squares, using white and green bases.


I put the squares together using single crochets over the top.
First do all the vertical (or horizontal) and then add the rows across.
To cross the lines, add a chain stitch and then continue your single crochets.


The border exists out of 2 rows of SC's. In every corner you place [SC, ch2, SC]
That way you get a nice corner.
The pattern for the bobble edge can be found over here.


I have sown my own pillow case but you can also buy an already made pillow case and sew your crochet work onto it.



I just love playing with textures and colous.


Have fun creating your own pillow!



Saturday 14 March 2015

Baby Blue (baby) Booties


Adorable booties, they are so much fun to make! I lost count of the amount of baby booties I produced during my crochet career.



Every time I find new patterns I just need to try.
Right now I've got a really good excuse to make more because my sister is expecting again!


I like these because they look a bit macho... not totally baby-like. Yet by playing with colour you can make them look as sweet as candy.


The patterns is made by Amanda Chapman of Newborn Knots. She makes amazing patterns.
HERE you can find the link to this booty pattern.


I make these on order as well.








Sunday 8 March 2015

Haaktermen vertaald - Crochet terms translated

When you are used to crochet in Dutch, reading a US pattern might seem a reason to not ccrochet that item. Today I will help you on how to read US crochet terms. It will help you to read my patterns as well since I use US terms for all of them.

To make it more complicated, English crochet terms differ from US terms. Always check if a pattern is written in US terms or English terms.




These are the stitches which are used most.
I hope this will help you crochet any lovely pattern you find.



Saturday 7 March 2015

Pimp your shoes




Yesterday I bought this cute little outfit for my daughter.
And as I walked out of the store I realised..... "I don't have matching shoes with those clothes"

Black and yellow just doesn't match with pink or purple boots.
I decided to buy a pair of simple gym shoes and give them a make-over myself.





So I thought I'd share this little make-over with you. It is done within 30 minutes and it will save you an expensive extra pair of shoes.

What do you need:
  • A pair of cheap gym-shoes (black / white / pink)
  • Yarn in any colour to match your outfit or take any colour that makes you happy.
  • Glue gun
  • Any decoration objects: buttons, ribbons, studs etc.
Now get crazy.



For my shoes I made two crochet-flowers and glued them on with a hot glue gun. On those two flowers I glued a nice bow. (this one was ready-made but you could tie one yourself ofcourse)
Then in the end I added some glue on studs. And tadaaa!! My own design shoe.

Let me tell you how to crochet the flowers.

1, Make a migic ring, CH1

2. In the ring you make 5 petals. 

First petal: SC, CH1, DC, CH1, TR, CH1, DC, CH1, SC, Sl St into ring.

2nd till 5th petal: CH1, SC, CH1, DC, CH1, TR, CH1, DC, CH1, SC, Sl St into ring.

finish off and close the ring. Tie a knot with both yarn ends.

pattern for 1 petal

Enjoy your creation!



Wednesday 4 March 2015

Mr. Fox


Hi everyone,

I could not resist this pattern. It is an easy to follow pattern designed by Krissie dolls. You can find the pater over HERE. The pattern is in Dutch but perhaps she will translate it as she did with other patterns.



I used two strands of sockwool to achieve this result. The eventual doll will be +/- 50 cm's from top to toes.


A lovely toy to give away as a B-day present or to keep as you will fall in love with it instantly.

The amazing Mr. Fox




Sunday 1 March 2015

Flower Power Stoolcover



In search of some felt tip pens for my kids, I went to our local "dollar store", in Holland it is called "Action". It is one of those shops I never walk out empty handed. As always.... I bought more items than I needed. 
Felt tips, big candles, plasic container and!!... a cute stool.
As soon as I laid my eyes on it I thought about the option to give it a personal crochet touch.
It is such an easy project and so much fun to make. 



In this blogpost I give you some basic instructions. If you make one yourself, you need to alter your crochet work to fit your own stool. That might mean you have to add or loose a row (or more).
The number of rows you have to crochet depends on:

  • size of the seat of your stool
  • thickness of your yarn
  • crochet stitches you use for your seatcover
Since all of these points are up to you, please read this tutorial as a general instruction. Use your own creativity to finish your crochet stoolcover.






For my crochet stoolcover I used:

  • 6mm crochet needle
  • Lana Grossa Mc Wool - cotton mix 80

I write my tutorial using US crochet terms.
Stitches used:

SC: single crochet
DC: double crochet
Sl st: slip stitch
CH: chain

Instruction DC Clusterstitch:

* YO, insert hook in stitch, YO, pull up loop, YO, pull through 2 loops on hook (do not finish DC), YO, start next DC the same way (YO, insert hook in same stitch, YO, pull up loop, YO, pull through 2 loops on hook) *, now finish your DC cluster by, YO, pull through all loops on hook.

Depending on how many DC's you need in your cluster, repeat between * *

General tips:

1. Check the tension of your rounds while you are working. When you think they become too tight, start your round again but add a chain (extra) in between you stitches. This doesn't effect the outcome of your work. In the next round you will cover those extra chains with a stitch.

2. Use any granny stitch you like! Let your creative mind go. Just keep in mind you need to add extra stitches in every new round to make the circle grow.
3. End every row by using a Slip stitch in the first stitch or chain-space of the round. 

4. Change of colour can be done after your slip stitch to end the round OR finish off every round and add a new colour in any stitch.

5. The first DC of any round can be done by using a Chainless Starting DC
5. Don't worry if your circle isn't 100% flat. It will stretch when you fasten it on the seat. Or! you can always block it.
6. Keep adding rounds untill you reach the edge of your stoolseat. At that point you will no longer add extra stitches. Just SC around untill you can cover the edge.




Stitches used in my pattern:

1) 8 SC in Magic Ring                                         (8)

( for this and every row following > sl st in 1st SC, CH1 )

2) 2 SC in every stitch                                         (16)

3) 2DC cluster in every SC                                 (16 clusters)

4) [SC, CH] in every DC cluster                        (16 sc plus 16 spaces)

5) [3DC cluster, CH2] in every chain space       (16 clusters plus 16 spaces)
  
6) [SC, CH2] in every DC cluster                       (16 sc plus 16 spaces)

7) 3DC (no more clusters) in every chain space ( 66 )

8) [SC in between the 3 DC's, CH3]                   (16sc plus 16 spaces)

9) Work into chain space:  [2DC, CH1, 2DC] 16 x

10) [DC in SC of round 8, CH1, SC in chain space of row 9, CH1] 16 x

11) [2DC cluster in every chain space] 32x         (32 DC clusters)

12) [SC in chain space, CH2] 32x                        (32 SC plus 32 chain spaces)

13) [3SC in chain space, SC] 32x                         (128 SC)

Row 13 was my final round. If you have not reached the end of your stool seat yet, you can continue with a [SC, skip3, CH4] and then add clusters in row 15 again.... but that's just a suggestion.

In your final round you should use SC's to make a solid edge to fold your crochet work around your stool.

Keep using SC's around as long as you need to fold your work nicely around the edge.

In your final round, add an elastic band inside your SC's. To do this, SC over the elastic band, that way it disappears inside the last round. Use an oversized piece.

Finish off.

Place your crochet work on the stool, tilt the stool up-side-down, pull the elastic band tight and close with a knot. 















Your home -made flower power stool is finished! I'd love to see yours if you finished one.



If you do not crochet but like one yourself, just let me know.