zondag 30 september 2012

Finished: Scrappy Flower Bargello


My third quilt, and best so far, has finally been finished! Today I did some repair (I am not very good at stitching the border bias) and finally hid the very last ends.....


The last five days I pulled through the last 75% of all ends. I was so cold of the bit of fever I had and snotting and coughing like mad, so I hid myself three days under this quilt with a needle and scissor on hand. So besides keeping myself warm, I also kept my fingers busy.


I am really pleased with the outcome. There is absolutely no bunching of thread at the back and I don't know if it is because of the brand I used this time (King Tut on this one, Gutermann cotton on the other two) or because I have more experience with the quilting itself.
It really has an English cottage feeling.... I can imagine myself with this quilt on a nice cushy sofa, with a flowery oldfashioned tea cup in my hand overlooking a nice English garden.... I can dream on, right?


Here it is in full glory! Six panels, three upwards and three downwards, all flowery prints. Love, love, love it. Thanks to the wonderful tutorial of Bonnie at Quiltville.com.


Here is a little detail of the quilting itself. Every block, and both border have a line quilted at 1/4 inch from the side. It is subtle and simple, exactly like I wanted!

For the next quilt (I am not going to start one soon I think) I really want to try an all over design. But first, I have several other sewing plans, and I really need to see if I can use the embroidery foot I have with my sewing machine!

Here are the previous posts I made about this quilt, for more pics: Tuesday PJ day, After rain comes....

vrijdag 28 september 2012

A Lot of Snot

Last week it was Little Lady, past weekend it was Little Man, and now it is my turn. For the past two days I have been sneezing, coughing and dealing with lots and lots of snot. A bit of fever even.
So for the past two days and today I am taking it easy......

I hate having a cold and this time it is the first time I had so much snot and a major runny nose because of that I had to run for tissues every two or three minutes. I seriously emptied about ten bags of tissues! It was also the very first cold that irritated the heck out of my nose piercing. It still hurts a bit. The runny nose is gone, phew!

I really tried to see the good things the last few days.... And I made a picture of them. Moments to cherish...


Lots of cuddles from Mies. She was downstairs a lot, even with the kids around. She still is very scared of Rover.


I bought the annual Pink Ribbon Magazine. I buy it as long as I can remember. It is the ninth year, and I think I've participated for about 7 or 8 years. This year's magazin is a beautiful book. I am in awe. And very struck by all the articles in it. I am a daughter of a survivor and I think Pink Ribbon does an excellent job in pulling attention to breast cancer awareness.


I watched my (false) Rose of Jericho blooming. What a marvelous plant. It was a dead bulb with brown leaves 24 hours prior to this picture. It looks hideous I think, but for a plant it is a quite interesting plant. I think it will survive with my care!


In a moment of mommy's eyes not watching, Little Lady got her hands on some yarn and a crochet hook. In a few years, I will definately teach her how it really works (Little Man will probably learn in a year, or two). It looked so cute, you could see her think " Mom does it like this, I just have to do the same"


Two pair of feet under the quilt. We do not have enough blankets.... They are constantly fighting over this quilt. The Bargello Quilt is almost done, they know they have to wait till I have finished it!


And this morning I tried to work. Mies did not approve, she wanted cuddles. I got something done and I am going to do some more, see if our scanner works.
Have a lovely day!

dinsdag 25 september 2012

Simpel Leren Haken Deel 6: De Vaste

Een Vaste (of v zoals in patronen wordt genoteerd) is een veelzijdige steek. Hij is de eerste echte steek die veel gebruikt wordt in kanten werkstukken om bijvoorbeeld lossenketting vast te zetten, maar wordt ook veel gebruikt in werkstukken die stevig moeten zijn.

Voorbeelden van werkstukken waarin de vaste veel voorkomt zijn kantkleedjes, kant shawls, huishoudelijke gebruiksvoorwerpen (washandjes en pannenlappen bijv), sokken, en in kinder items. Op dit moment is de vaste de allerbelangrijkste steek in amigurumi, een manier om speelgoed te maken (voor volwassenen vaak) die is overgewaaid vanuit Japan.

Ondanks dat de vaste een veelzijdige steek is, is hij niet het meest populair. Er zitten ook een paar “nadelen” aan deze steek. Zo is het dat deze steek niet echt rekbaar is, en een dik weefsel geeft (wat natuurlijk wel handig is voor winter accesoires!), en daarnaast kost een werkstuk bestaande uit vasten veel garen, veel meer dan een werkstuk bestaande uit stokjes (een vaste is veel lager dan een stokje, dus je moet meer rijen maken).

De meest populaire steek in haken is het stokje, maar deze cursus zal alle steken behandelen naar hoogte. Eerst de vaste, daarna de…. en daarna het stokje. De kleine vaste verdient natuurlijk ook wat aandacht!

Dit cursus deel (en bij alle delen hierna) zal hetzelfde opgebouwd zijn als bij de halve vaste. Een flink aantal foto’s zullen laten zien hoe je de steek maakt en een oefenpatroon zal je helpen je de steek te oefenen.

De bouw van de vaste

Deze keer gaan we met meer lussen werken.
Als je “live” mee wilt doen raad ik je aan om een ketting van lossen te maken. Bijvoorbeeld een ketting van 10 lossen.

Met de komende steken gaan we werken met gesloten rondes of gesloten rijen. Om er voor te zorgen dat je haakwerk netjes hoger of langer wordt iedere rij moet je aan het begin daarvan een of een aantal lossen maken om de opvolgende steek de juiste hoogte te geven. Voor elke steek is er een vaststaand aantal lossen dat je maakt om de hoogte te geven voor de start van je rij of ronde. Voor een vaste is dat 1 losse. Deze losse telt niet mee als een steek aan het begin van een ronde of rij.

Om je een idee te geven, een klein “patroontje”:
Maak 10 lossen
Maak 1 losse en maak een vaste in de tweede losse vanaf de haaknaald.
Maak een vaste in iedere losse.
Dit betekent dat aan het einde van je rij je 10 vasten zult hebben. Door de eerste losse die aan de zijkant zit heb je netjes een hoekje als het ware. Maak je geen losse dan zal je een schuine zijkant hebben.

Maar, hoe maak je nu een vaste?

Grijp de haaknaald en een beetje garen.  Maak een ketting van lossen (want zonder ketting kun je nu niks!). Tel je lossen en maak een extra losse. De laatste losse is om de hoogte in te gaan zodat je ruimte hebt voor je vaste.

In de tweede losse vanaf je haaknaald voer je nu de volgende stappen uit:





Naald in steek, haal het werkgaren door de steek (twee lussen op je haaknaald).


 

Garen over naald.


Haal het garen door beide lussen op je haaknaald.


Herhaal deze stappen voor meer vasten op je ketting.

Meerderen en minderen met vasten

Vaak zeggen patronen dat je het werkstuk moet uitbreiden of juist moet laten krimpen. Vergroten of verkleinen kan natuurlijk in de lengte met het aantal rijen, maar in de breedte is dat mogelijk met meerderen en minderen. Het werkt hetzelfde met breien. Je neemt met minderen twee steken samen, en met meerderen maak je een extra steek.

Met haken is het zo dat je meerdert als je dezelfde steek in 1 steek herhaalt. Minderen is dat je twee (of drie of meer) steken naast elkaar samen”haakt”.  Voor minderen bij haaksteken geldt eigenlijk de standaardregel: maak de eerste steek tot de een na laatste stap en herhaal dit in de volgende steek.
Daarna werk je de beide steken samen.

Hoe meerder je met vasten:


 Stop de haaknaald in een steek en maak een vaste zoals hierboven beschreven.



Stop de haaknaald in dezelfde steek en maak nog een vaste.


Je hebt nu 1 steek gemeerderd. Op de voorkant van je werk zie je nu 2 ‘v-tjes’ in 1 steek zitten.

Hoe minder je met vasten:



Stop de haaknaald in een steek.


Werkgaren over haak en haal het garen door de steek. Laat de lus op je haaknaald.


Stop de haaknaald in de volgende steek


Werkgaren over haak en haal het garen door de steek. Je hebt nu drie lussen op je haaknaald.


Werkgaren over haaknaald en haal het vervolgens door alle drie de lussen.


Je hebt nu 1 steek geminderd. Als je boven op je werk kijkt (als het ware op het dunne lijntje) zul je nu boven de 2 steken nu maar 1 steek zien. Aan de voorkant van je werk zul je drie lijntjes zien samenkomen in 1 steek.

En na deze uitleg laat ik je achter met het patroon voor een paar grappige eierhoedjes. Deze zullen eitjes bij ontbijt of lunch warmhouden en opfleuren. Dit patroon is natuurlijk ook op Ravelry terug te vinden! Er komt nog een patroon waarin zowel gemeerderd wordt als geminderd, maar die is nog niet klaar.
Veel plezier met het patroon en tot de volgende les!

P.S. Dit was mijn eerste echt patroon in het Nederlands. Ik heb geprobeerd de schrijfwijze te controleren aan de hand van andere patronen, maar als iemand nog tips heeft of hoe het anders kan dan hoor ik het graag!

maandag 24 september 2012

Learn to crochet simple style Part 6: Single Crochet

The Single Crochet (or sc as it is called in patterns) is a very versatile stitch. It it a small stitch in height, an “attaching” stitch if you are making lace with chains, and a very sturdy stitch in garments.
It is used a lot in crocheting lace, making household items, socks, and in baby/small children items. It is the absolute ultimate stitch for making toys, such as amigurumi.

The downside of this stitch is that it is not very stretchy, it gives a very thick fabric (although for wintertime garments and accesories this is what you want!), and it eats up yarn like there is no tomorrow.

The most used stitch in crochet is actually the Double Crochet (also known as dc) but this course would not have been complete without mentioning the sc (and of course the Half Double Crochet which will be covered in part 7). The humble sc needs some attention and this stitch is going to get some!

This tutorial will be the same as with the slip stitch. Pictures will show you how the single crochet works, and a practice pattern will give you a chance to give the single crochet a go.

The basics of the single crochet

We are going to work with more loops this time.
As to begin I want you to make a foundation chain. Chain 10 stitches for example.


With the upcoming stitches you are going to practice with either closed rounds or rows. For these to work, you need to add height to start off a new round or row. For each stitch there is a rule what height to use. Height is given by adding chain stitches at the start of a round or row. For a single crochet row, you need to add an extra chain. This chain stitch does not count as a stitch at the start of a round or row.

For example, to put  it into a “pattern”:
Chain 10.
Chain 1, sc into second chain from hook.
Sc into each chain till end.
This means you will have 10 single crochets on your foundation chain with an added chain stitch at the side to get the height you need for the single crochet stitches. Without it, your row will start slope- y, now it has a nice 90 degrees corner.

Now, how to do the single crochet?

Get your hook and yarn, make a foundation chain. Count your stitches, and add one chain stitch for the height.

Into second chain stitch from hook:


Insert hook

Put hook in stitch (either bump or underneath the two loops)

Yarn over hook

Pull through

Yarn over hook, pull through stitch

Yarn over hook

Yarn over hook, pull through the two loops on your hook


Done
Single crochet done!
Repeat these steps for more sc’s.

How to increase and decrease with single crochet

Sometimes you need to make your project bigger to fit something. This can be done by increasing. Or needs to get smaller, and that can be done with decreasing. It is same as in knitting. For increases you add an extra stitch by for example knitting into front and back of a stitch, and for decreases you can knit two stitches together with a k2tog.

In crochet, increasing is making two stitches into the same stitch. Decreasing is combining two stitches into one by making two stitches to the last step but not finishing them. This accounts for all crochet stitches.

How to increase:


Make one sc
Put your hook into a stitch and make one single crochet.

Insert in same st
Make another sc
Put your hook into the same stitch and make another single crochet.

You have added one stitch. You will see on the front of your work two “V”’s into one stitch

How to decrease:

Put your hook into a stitch



 


Yarn over hook, pull through loop. Leave loop on hook (you now have two loops on your hook).



Put your hook into the next stitch. Yarn over hook

 


Yarn over hook pull through loop. You now have three loops on your hook.


Yarn over hook and pull the yarn through all loops on hook.

You decreased one stitch. If you look at it from the top you will see one loop above two stitches. On the side you will see three vertical Lines coming together into one stitch.

Now, the time has come to give you another practice pattern! I hope you will enjoy a funny pattern for a few egg hats, to keep your little eggs warm. Ofcourse there is also a Ravelry entry for these egg hats. There will be another pattern coming which covers both increasing and decreasing, but it is not yet done.

So meanwhile, have fun and crochet on!

Pillow Case Boost


We have these pillows on our couch that are really in need of renewal. Their colour (cream) seems so blah to me now that I am following several colour addicted bloggers (including myself), our orange wall and the colourful quilts that are decorating our couch.


By MiekK posted a little while ago a very nice and simple tutorial on how to sew pillowcases, without zippers or buttons. Also, Lucy at Attic24 made some lovely pillow cases which looked really adorable and very playful! Me wants.

So I am investigating patterns on the net. I would like either stripes or something with quilt blocks. I really like the fold over option as By MiekK explains in her tutorial. Easy, fast, lovely!

But, I have a Big Man whose opinion in home decoration I really count on. He needs to like it. Most things I just make and think: "Well, I like it, it is done, nothing to do about it!" and most of the times luckily he likes what I make. But in the past, some things have been abandoned because he simply hated it. So, for the pillow cases I want keep hubby happy (this is ofcourse all written tongue-in-cheek, love him dearly! He really has good taste in home decoration, but wild colours are not his thing).

For the fabrics I am going to limit myself. I am only going to use the fabrics I have in my stash.

I found several options.

I really like the stripey ones from Attic 24, but I would like to make it more uneven, with more pieces in one strip.
Free bag patterns, quilted shoulder bags, bag, bags, tote
From Allpeoplequilt.com

I like these, with the extra touch of rickrack. Bit too colourful I think.


Free bag patterns, quilted shoulder bags, bag, bags, tote
From Allpeoplequilt.com
I love this one. A bit oldfashioned homespun feeling. And I can learn to cut triangles and make windmills. Haven't done that yet!

Free bag patterns, quilted shoulder bags, bag, bags, tote
From Allpeoplequilt.com

The ubar simple stripe pillow case. Love it!

They have 23 lovely free pillowcase patterns over at Allpeoplequilt.com. Really nice to check it out!
I also found free patterns for bags. Very tempting.


Free bag patterns, quilted shoulder bags, bag, bags, tote


Very tempting....... Isn't this one lovely?

I found what I was mentioning about strips for a cushion and that I wanted it to be of more parts. A bit vague, I know.

It is called a brickstone pattern!

Layered Brick Pillow
Favequilts.com

I would love to see this in black and purple or red and orange. As long as it goes with our orange wall!


Vintage Sheet Half Square Triangle Pillow
Incolororder.blogspot.com

I also like this one. Very simpel, but lovely composition!

And I really did not need a new sewing project! Well, I will let it simmer for a bit. Talk with the hubby.










zondag 23 september 2012

Thank You!






The last week I watched my statistics in amazement.... The number of pageviews for my "Setting Sun" post was creeping slowly towards 1000. Yesterday evening it was 999. And this morning, 1001!

I want to thank you so much for your views. It is very lovely to see that this pattern has been viewed so many times, and that the story behind it has been read by lots of people. It is really touching. I know my mother in law is useing the shawl often on cold evenings.

The shawl itself has been made three times as I have seen on the Ravelry gallery and I really hope to see more finished Setting Suns!

I got good reviews for the pattern itself, and a lovely suggestion by one Raveler with an adjustment of the border. I really have to try the suggetion!

The Setting Sun was the start to a creative burst in my head and I hope that it will continue! For now I am very pleased with the results on this blog thus far, and I really would like to know what my dear readers think of it!

So with this post I would love to ask you some feedback and leave you with a big thank you, some virtual cupcakes and a question(s):

"What is the kind of topics on crochet that you still miss on the Internet?"

or

"What kind of crochet topics really should be covered?"

Please leave a comment and crochet on!

donderdag 20 september 2012

Autumn is Coming


Oooo dark clouds yesterday and today... Beautiful to look at, but not so much fun if you need to bike through the whole city and have to bring and pick up a Little Man from and to school. Yesterday we were very lucky to not get wet on any trip. Today, not so much luck. We got wet two times.


Yesterday there were some blue spots and in the afternoon the weather got much better. Today was the same. Autumn is really coming. Temperatures are going down, flowers are withering away and leaves are starting to fall.

Time to get cozy.

Yesterday afternoon Little Man had school break so he stayed home. Little Lady went napping and he was very happy to be playing with his Lego. And look who was starting to get as close as she would dare?






Mies is still trying to get used to the kids and Rover (our other kitty). She is as cute as a button, very playful, and just adorable!




I picked the apples from our apple tree since the weather was going to be very rainy and all the upcoming week. Rain is not good for apples, they tend to rot with very wet weather. It was a meager harvest this year. Only 6 apples that were either hanging on the tree (a couple were already fallen out of the tree) or all slimy because of the snails.

But, this year was the first year I really had the intent to do something with the apples.




Hmmm. Apple cinnamon cake.


Also, our window was in need of some harvesty kind of windowdressing. I put all little pumpkins near the window with some little owl candle holders and my Halloween pumpkin candle holders.





And today I made my first pumpkin soup for the autumn/winter season. Yum! I am ready for autumn!