love birds

I spent quite some time blogging around, all over the world.  It's great fun to read all the posts, and see the lovely projects somebody across the world has made.  That's how I ended up on freubelweb.  It's a dutch website with a lot of tutorials of little projects with felt, wool, fabrics, all fun to make.  I downloaded a lovely pattern of 'love birds' and had a go at stiching them together.  It was so easy and fun and well explained, I made a second one.  And a third.  and a fourth... 
I did change the filling : I put cherry pits in it, so that you can put it in the microwave and use it as a handwarmer.  I mixed the cherry stones with some left over lavender, so that they spread a lovely scent when warmed up. They can sort of sit up thanks to the weight of the pits.
You can put a little message in the front pocket, perhaps a love note for your beloved ?
I made 4, so I can send out many lovenotes....  
here they are...

Aren't we cute ?

I love you soooo much !

4 happy love birds

One day I'll fly away...

If you want to check out the patterns at freubelweb, there is a link on my blog.

more crochet potholders

As I was putting the new potholders in my cupboard, I found some other potholders I made in pre-blog times.  I do use many, baking cakes and other stuff ...
Many of them were give-aways.  I make them in the colours of the kitchen on demand.  They are always a nice present for a student going away 'op kot', or for young couples starting in their 1st appartment. 
So here are some quick and easy patterns...

you can find this 'crazy dishcloth' on ravelry

 www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crazy-cloth-dishcloth

these are my first ever, learned at school how to make them

great intarsia crochet

This one I bought, payed nearly 9 euros for it !

traditional crochet potholder tutorial

This is my first attempt at making a tutorial...  And in English too ! So please excuse me if anything is unclear.  Please let me know so that I can make adjustments.

Here goes  :
you need a small amount of cotton, in 2 separate colours, and a crochet hook nr 3 or 3.5. (for Americans D or E) You better choose a smaller number than usual, as the potholder looks better when made rather tight.

I will use the following abreviations :

slip stich to join = ss = halve vaste om te sluiten
chain = c =  kettingsteek
single crochet = sc = vaste
double crochet = dc = stokje

Start in colour A, make 6 chain stiches and ss to join.
r 1 : Make 22 dc in the round, join.  (the first dc is made of 2 chain stiches)
r 2 : Make 2 dc in each dc of the previous round, so now you have 44 dc.  join.

Bind off.  Start with colour B
r3 : now crochet the 1st round of the flowerleaves : *1 dc, 1c, 1dc in the first dc of the previous round. Skip 2 dc.*
Repeat until the round is finished.  Join.  You should now have 16 groups.  They will form the 16 leaves.

r 4 : slipstich until you are in the middle of the next group.  Start from here.
      Make  2 dc, 1c, 2dc  in each group, put 1 chain stich between each group.
r 5 : slipstich until you are in the middle of the next group.  Start from here. 
       Make  2 dc, 1c, 2dc  in each group, put 2 chain stiches between each group.

r 6 : slipstich until you are in the middle of the next group.  Start from here.   
       Make  3 dc, 1c, 3dc  in each group, put 2 chain stiches between each group.

r 7 : same as row 6.

r 8 : this is the last row in this colour.  Make 8 dc in each group.
       Spread your dc evenly, eg. 3 dc in each dc, 2 dc in the space between the stiches, 3 dc.
       Do not make a chain stich between them !
       Bind off.

Start with colour A
r 9 : make a sc in each dc.  (8)
       Now make a sc between this group and the next on.  Turn you work sideways, and crochet along
       the sides of the leaves towards the centre, alternating a sc and a chain stich.

Don't pull too tightly at the thread now, the stiches should be a bit loose.  When you reach the centre, make a sc and turn.

Now work your way up again towards the outer edge of the flower.  Again, alternate sc and chain stiches.

Please don't think this is difficult, it really isn't.  As you go along, it's sort of self-explicatory.  You can't miss.

Repeat this until you have formed the 16 leaves of the flower.  Don't forget to add a little loop if you want to be able to hang them on a hook  (I made a chain of 21 stiches, returned in sc and joined with a ss. )

 

That was my first attempt.  I really liked the blue and white effect. If you want the potholder a bit bigger, you could add a few rows of dc groups.
Or you could add another round in the centre too.
I think it would be a nice little bag for a girl too...

I have crocheted 3 now, and have adjusted the original pattern slightly to my liking.  I decided to make the flower only 14 leaves.  That means less stiches in the beginning.  And I made 2 exactely the same, so I could double the potholder.  (I crocheted them together at the outer edge.)  Now I am going to make another one, but reverse the colours.  So they will match.

  this is the result :

Good luck with this pattern !
If you want to check out the original pattern visit this blog :
http://littavmitt.blogspot.com/

crochet potholders - pannenlappen haken

Winnie is lid van mijn breiclub.  Ze brengt af en toe een handwerkje mee dat ze al heel lang heeft, soms al van haar moeder.  Zo had ze onlangs 2 prachtige pannenlappen mee, versleten tot op de draad.  Je zag nog goed dat het een haakwerkje was, en dat het al een heel leven achter de rug had. Maar zo ontzettend mooi.  Ik was meteen verkocht.  Wat denken jullie ?

Ze wist nog dat ze van haar moeder waren, maar het patroontje had ze niet meer.    Dan ben ik op zoek gegaan, beste mede-bloggers, op al jullie websites !  Een paar uur versleten, kinderen die hongerig kwamen vragen of 'teeten al klaar was' zonder schuldgevoelens naar de frituur gestuurd... maar uiteindelijk via Nederland naar Duitsland gesurfd, waar ik leerde dat het een oude traditionele pannenlap was.  De beschrijving in het Duits was echter niet mijn ding.  Dan maar wat verder gesurfd, en uiteindelijk in Noorwegen de oplossing gevonden !  Eureka !  Denk nu niet dat ik vloeiend Noors lees, helaas niet.  Maar die mevrouw heeft er een stap-voor-stap tutorial bijgezet die zooo duidelijk was dat het kleinste kind de pannelap kan nahaken. 
en dat leverde dit resultaat op :

 Ik heb zelf foto's genomen bij elke stap die ik maakte.  Morgen probeer ik dan een 'tutorial' op de blog te plaatsen.  Ik heb er ondertussen al enkele pannelappen in andere kleurtjes bij gemaakt.  Zo'n leuk werkje !

An unfortunate accident ...

It's just horrible !  I washed my son's pullover in the machine, and it turned out like this.....   

it's felted, horror, horror

It is now the size of a small kid, instead of an 18-year old

I've been pulling at it, but it's too damaged

Did I really put the temperature at 30 ° instead of handwash ???  Am I going crazy ?
Such a beautiful pullover it was, and expensive wool as well.  I knitted it 2 winters ago, and it took me quite a while to knit.   I am soooo mad at myself.  How could this happen ?  I have washed it hundreds of times allready.  And now this.  I'm going to cry....

button earrings

I have had a fun afternoon of crafting today !  I started to play with the new buttons and these earrings are the result.  The buttons are bakelite, really old material.  They are black, with little flowers pressed into the surface and (probably) handpainted  in red and white and green. As I had 4 buttons,  I made 2 pair.  One for me and one as a gift.  Maybe my eldest son can give them to his girlfriend Lisa, as Valentine is near....  So I tried to make a girlie gift of it, with some old wallpaper and a chiffon ribbon. 

I also made a brooch.  I crocheted a circle in metal goldthread and finished it with some beads.  In the centre there is one of the buttons.  Looks at its best on a dark surface.  But there wasn't enough light today to make a dark picture.  So here it is on a white suface. 

An abundance of wool - OMG !

Today, I am a happy knitter.
A friend of mine, has collected an enormous amount of wool for me.  She asked around, and many people seem to have left overs and even new skeins of wool that they happily parted with.  Yesterday I was given this huge bag full of wool.  I felt like a kid in a toy store at Sinterklaas.
All of this, for me ???  

This is only half of it.  My table isn't big enough !

And to top it all off, there was a collection of beautiful buttons too.  Big buttons, probably from coats, and lovely colours, even some wooden ones and mother-of-pearl, and collectables in bakelite.
If you look up, you'll see me floating around in seventh heaven !  

Now there is a question, that perhaps you more experienced knitters can help me with.  In the bag there were also 2 big white skeins of very soft creamy coloured wool.  I think it has some mohair in it.  But they are a bit dirty, and they are a bit smelly. 
My question is : how do I clean them without destroying them?  Could I try to wash it ?  Any tips or tricks how I can dry it ?  And also, how do I untangle this in a practical way and roll them into a ball ?  Many thanks in advance for your help ! 

here are the 2 skeins that need cleaning

knitting patterns from 1933

hi readers ! 
Some time ago I went to a sell-out of wool and other knitting stuff.  Amongst all the skeins there was also a little grubby booklet that caught my eye.  On the front page there was a black 'n white picture of a girl wearing a lovely knitted coat.

I picked it up and started to leaf through the stained pages.  I just couldn't believe my eyes.  It is a knitting pattern book, published in 1933.  That's 77 years ago....   The beautiful patterns are really touching : knitted underwear for children, warm bedsocks for adults, a fine lace collar for fashionable ladies...  It felt like I took a trip with a time machine, because my grandmother used to knit very similar underwear (singlets and collars)  for me and my sister when we were little children.

The language is in old spelling.  Dutch has had a few updates in the last couple of years, and the way this book is spelled takes some adjusting for modern eyes.  The patterns are quite well described though.  I might even have a go at one, just to see what it's like.

Have a look at these lovely pictures, maybe you'll remember too....

more fimo pots

Last weekend, I was again artfully messing about with my Fimo clay.  My eldest son joined me in experimenting. We had quite some fun together, and he had really creative ideas.  The big bowl is all my doing, the 2 little bowls are made by him.  I have really no idea what I'm going to do with them.  But they look nice...

truitje voor Nils

Vorige week vroeg Femke me om een truitje te breien voor haar zoontje, Nils.  Hij is 2 jaar en ze wou graag een lekker warme handgebreide trui.  Met veel uitleg over wolsoorten stuurde ik haar naar de wolwinkel.  Ze koos mooie bruine wol met 50 % acryl in.  Misschien niet zo zuiver wollig, maar wel lekker zacht en vormvast voor een knulletje van 2 en ik denk ook wel makkelijker dat je het in de machine kan wassen.  Ze wou ook een versiering op het voorpand, een soort blokken in een lichtere kleur. 
Dit is het resultaat.  Vanavond komt ze er om.  Heerlijk om eens zo'n klein project er tussen door te nemen;  Wat schiet zo'n klein truitje lekker op.

wristwarmers

I haven't stopped wearing the noro wristwarmers !  They are sooo pleasant to wear.  So I thought about making another pair. Cuffs, or wristlets are so simple to make, no trouble about thumbs or fingers -much easier than mittens.  You can finish a pair in an evening. So I spend some time on ravelry (hours, as usual)  searching for the best pattern and found this ajour pattern that I liked.  Originally it was with beads, but I left that part out.  I am a bit fed up with beads after the holidays.  I used a skein of greenish beige cotton that I found in my stash.  This is the result :

very elegant, don't you think ?

the pattern is available as a free ravelry download.  You can find it here :
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/madrid-2

noro wool finished !

Remember the 2 skeins noro wool I bought in Ghent ?  Well, I have made a really warm set with it.
They became a shawl and wristwarmers.  I wanted the stripes to change every other row, and therefore I knitted with the 2 skeins, alternating colours every 2 rows.  It is just plain and easy knitting.  To finish it, I crocheted a trimming in a mohair greyish brown that goes well with the colour scheme.  

the brooches I made of old buttons.

the wristwarmers are making it an 'ensemble'

the many colours go with almost all my outfits

With the remaining wool I knitted I-cord (I used my magic loom, it took me only a couple of hours to make)
and joined the long ribbon together.  Then I twisted it into a necklace.  It keeps me real warm, and the many colours go with most of my outfits.

This idea came from my sister. 

you can twist it any way you like

Then there was still some wool remaining, and I thought about using it up.  When I saw 2 empty little glass bottles I had a go at crocheting and gave them a little cover.  turned out fine, and just enough wool for the 2.  I am now the proud possesor of 2 original vases. 

originally just bottles of cream, they have upgraded to unique vases.