Crochet waffle stitch, part II

Image from Pattern-making.com

In the previous post, I wrote about a crocheted doll's blanket in waffle stitch. I took the pattern from Pattern-Making.com and adapted it a little to make the raised crochet bars stand out more:

Row 1: crochet a row of chain stitches

Row 2: one double crochet in each stitch

Row 3: *two double crochets, one raised double crochet on the front side *

Row 4: *two double crochets, one raised double crochet on the back side *

*repeat *

Keep repeating row 3 and 4

You can find a tutorial on raised double crochets on the front side here. Raised double crochets on the back side of the work are made in a similar way.

I made the picot border as follows: *3 single crochets, 3 chain stitches, 1 slip stitch in the third single crochet*, *repeat *

I hope it makes sense :-)

Hier is de wafelsteek tutorial die ik vorige week beloofd heb. Ik heb het patroon van Pattern-Making.com een beetje aangepast om het relief wat duidelijker te maken.

Rij 1: haak een ketting van lossen

Rij 2: haak in iedere losse een stokje

Rij 3: *2 stokjes, 1 opliggend stokje aan de voorkant van het werk *

Rij 4: *2 stokjes, 1 opliggend stokje aan de achterkant van het werk *

*herhaal *

herhaal steeds rij 3 en 4

Dit is een (Engelse) tutorial voor het maken van een opliggend stokje aan de voorkant van het werk. Een opliggend stokje aan de achterkant werkt op dezelfde manier.

Het picotrandje heb ik op deze manier gehaakt: * 3 vasten, 3 lossen, een halve vaste in de derde vaste *, *herhaal *

Ik hoop dat het patroon een beetje duidelijk is :-)

Crochet waffle stitch, part 1

I'm noticing a lot of crochet waffle stitch on blogs and Pinterest lately. I wanted to give it a try myself, so I made this doll blanket. As you can see, bears love it too :-). Moeby is my daughter's teddy and Benny, the bald one, is mine. As a child, I hugged him so hard, he lost all his hair.

I used some left-over cotton yarn from my stash. The colors really match the flowers we pick from my cutting garden right now.

(I'll write down the tutorial in a next post.)

Ik zie veel wafelhaakwerk op internet de laatste tijd. Omdat ik het graag eens wilde proberen, heb ik dit poppendekentje gemaakt. Beren vinden zo'n dekentje trouwens ook heel fijn. Moeby is van mij dochter en Benny, de kaalgenuffelde beer, was van mij.

Ik heb wat restjes katoen gebruikt. Het is grappig dat de kleuren echt passen bij de bloemen die we nu uit mijn pluktuin kunnen halen.

(De tutorial komt in een volgende post.)

A scalloped crochet border

This is a close-up of the border of the leaf & lace throw I'm working on right now. Only 3 meters of crocheting to go, and then it's finished :-). I did one row of single crochets and two rows of double crochets. I made the scalloped border like this

*One slip stitch

skip two stitches

5 double crochets in one stitch

skip two stitches*

repeat **

In the corners, I did 8 double crochets in one stitch, instead of five.

Dit is een close-up van de rand die ik om mijn sprei aan het haken ben. Nog drie meter te gaan en dan is 'ie af:-). Ik heb eerst een toer vasten gehaakt, daarna twee toeren stokjes en toen een toer golfjes volgens dit patroon:

*1 halve vaste

sla twee steken over

haak vijf stokjes in een steek

sla twee stokjes over*

herhaal **

In de hoeken heb ik acht stokjes in een steek gehaakt, ipv 5.

A reading nook

My daughter is 2,5 years old now, so we turned her Ikea baby bed into a reading nook. I used the crocheted throw and garland I made last year to decorate this corner. The shelf and the vintage school chair are from the thrift store and I just had to paint them soft pink :-). The big bear once belonged to me. It was a gift from my grandmother when I was a toddler myself.

Mijn dochter is alweer 2,5 jaar, dus we konden haar Ikea-bedje omtoveren tot leesbankje. Ik heb dit hoekje versierd met de dingen die ik vorig jaar gehaakt heb: een sprei en een bloemetjesslinger. Verder had ik nog een boekenplankje en een oud schoolstoeltje van de kringloop. Die “moest” ik uiteraard ook roze verven :-). De grote beer heb ik gekregen van mijn oma, toen ik zelf een peuter was.

Time out: a comfy crocheted cushion cover

Since I'm very busy with lots of pre-Christmas deadlines, I wanted to do something soothing. This project is inspired by three balls of yarn in my stash that were too expensive for a knitted throw, not the right color for a scarf and too beautiful to use in any other way. Yes, sometimes I think yarn is too beautiful to use, so it ends up sleeping in my stash...

So, inspired by Heins Home and the flickr group Subdued Stitching, I finally decided to use this yarn, and to crochet a cushion cover (hook size 12).

ps: I added the round border with Picnik, a free online photo editing program.

Omdat tijdens de aanloop naar kerst zo druk is, had ik behoefte aan haakproject waar je lekker rustig van wordt. Voor deze kussenhoes gebruik ik drie bollen wol die ik al heel lang heb: ze waren te duur om een volledige sprei mee te breien, de verkeerde kleur voor een sjaal en eigenlijk te mooi om überhaupt te gebruiken. En dat is natuurlijk ook weer zonde, dus nu worden ze een mooi kussen :-)

A crochet workshop @ Kleinvak, Schalkhaar

Last week, I was at a crochet workshop in my local yarn store, Het Kleinvak Schalkhaar. We learned how to crochet with Hoooked Zpagetti, a very thick yarn (hook size 12!) made out of left-overs from the textile industry. It was really fun! In the top left corner, you can see the fluo-pink toy basket I made for my daughter. She now uses it as a hat, by the way :-) The cute gray bags were made by Mireille, the shop owner.

Ps: The Hoooked Zpagetti website offers free patterns of bags and pillow covers in Dutch, English and German.

Vorige week heb ik meegedaan aan de Hoooked Zpagetti workshop van Het Kleinvak in Schalkhaar. Het was erg leuk, en ik ging naar huis met een knalroze speelgoedmand voor mijn dochter. De grijze tasjes op de foto's zijn gehaakt door Mireille, de eigenaresse van Het Kleinvak. Je kunt de patronen gratis downloaden van de Hoooked Zpagetti site.

It's finished

It's hard to believe... after a year of crocheting, my throw is finished.... (150 * 200 cm). I didn't manage to take a picture inside, so I took it to an orchard nearby.

ps: I can't give up granny squares yet, so I'm making a mini throw for a doll's bed now :-)

Only 20 more granny squares to go

Writing for my blog made my realize I collect quite a lot of things: vintage china, enamelware, and books with pretty covers :-). I found these volumes from the fifties in the thrift store. I will probably not read them, but I really love these covers.

ps: the same rules for collecting apply: the books have to be cheap and have lovely covers :-)

The Priscilla bedspread book, 1914

As you may have guessed, I have a thing for throws and blankets. That's why I really liked the Priscilla bedspread book. It's a collection of crochet patterns for lovely bedspreads, downloadable for free here. These are some of my favorite designs:



Throws with flower and lace designs like these would not be warm, they would be an awful lot of work to make, but they are so so pretty! I also like the idea of making a throw with pieces of fabric and crocheted borders, like the one below:

All images were taken from The Priscilla bedspread book, 1914

Only 32 more squares to go...

.. and then I can start working on the border :-) Mia posted a wonderful tutorial for a crocheted border on her blog here. It may be a little too much for a throw like this, but I'm definitely thinking in that direction.

Work in progress

Taking pictures of my crocheted throw is becoming a bit of a creative challenge: How many different pictures of a blanket can I possibly take? Enter my "new" vintage enamelware bread bin :-) I've also discovered another setting on my camera, that's why the color tones in this picture are slightly different, again.

By the way, this will be my motto during the Christmas Holidays: "Keep calm and carry yarn".
And if you'd like to give granny squares a try, do take a look at the Purl Bee basic tutorial here.

A snowflake garland

There are lots of examples of crocheted garlands in the blogosphere, and I wanted to make one for my own home too :-) This garland is for my Christmas tree, but as a Dutch girl, I will wait till after Sinterklaas to buy one .

I was inspired by Emma Lamb's beautiful garlands, such as this one. I also liked the examples of paper snowflakes in Gifted Magazine, an e-craftmagazine which you will really enjoy! (I would love to contribute to such a magazine, or write one myself :-)

I took the patterns from my collection of seventies craftbooks. You can find similar patterns here. This book is in Japanese (?), but the crochet templates are universal. And, each pattern is crocheted in beautiful winter white yarn!

An on-line needlework book from 1899

For obvious reasons (perfect shade of blue, flowing art nouveau lines!), I love this cover. It belongs to a book by a silk manufacturer and it offers embroidery, knitting and crochet projects:

Ford, Anna Grayson, ed., et al., Treatise on Embroidery, Crochet and Knitting with Illustrations, adapted to the use of M. Heminway & Sons’ Wash Silks (Oriental Dyes). New York, M. Heminway & Sons Silk Co., 1899.

You can browse and/or download it for free here. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Embroidered strawberries

Crochet designs for trims and edgings (yes, I'm still into crochet trims!)

Crocheted wristlets.

I'm seeing a lot of wristlets in the blogosphere these days, such as these. (or try searching for wrist warmers on Etsy). Yesterday I even tried some on in Accesorize. I think I definitely want to make some... (and it's a great reason to try a new lace knitting pattern!)

all images are taken from Treatise on Embroidery, Crochet and Knitting with Illustrations

Crocheted throw, work in progress

This is my granny square throw so far. It may look like it's finished, but it's not:-) I made two rows of three “giant” blocks each, and I think I need four or five rows to cover the whole bed... This is the result of half a year of crocheting, so, maybe, Christmas 2011...

If I ever make another throw, I'll probably use a different hook size. This one is made with a 2,5 mm crochet hook. And I know now that it takes ages with such a small hook :-) I really love this example of giant granny squares in really thick yarn, it looks so cozy! (scroll down for a better image).

Crochet trims on pillowcases, 1915 and now

Sometimes, something grabs my attention, and then I can't help seeing it everywhere. These past few weeks, I couldn't stop noticing crochet trims on pillowcases :-) (yes, I'd really like to make a set of this type of pillowcases, and no, I really don't have the time for it..)

Here are some cute examples from 1915. The one with the little violets is probably my favorite. They're taken from the book "Valeire, Anna. Crochet & Tatting Craft Book No. 1, Edgings Medallions & Insertions, with full instructions on over sixty pieces for use in lingerie & the home. St. Louis, Missouri, E.C.Spueler, c. 1915" , which you can download and/or browse for free here.



Here are some modern examples (warning: they will make you want to start crocheting right away :-):
FRYD+DESIGN
Rose hip's flickr folder

The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1915

The Columbia Book of Yarns (1915) is a charming collection of knitted and crocheted clothes for men, women and children. The cover really speaks to me, which must be because this is one of my favorite shades of red:


I would really like to try some of the crochet patterns (my list of things I'd love to make one day is growing longer and longer...), such as this scalloped, shell- like border:



I also love this jacket. The book doesn't give directions for sizes, which makes me wonder what size this might be. I'm quite tall, so it may not fit me..


All images are taken from The Columbia Book of Yarns. You can browse and/or download this book for free here.

New type of granny squares

Last week, I decided to change my crocheted throw a little, because I thought it was way too much for a quiet bedroom. This is my new type of granny square, and I think they will make a much nicer throw :-)

ps: this image was featured on Emma Lamb's blog here :-)

Crocheted throw, work in progress

Now that I'm seeing my crocheted throw from a distance, I decided to change it a little: bright & colorful is good, but this is a bit too much for my daughter's room... I'm going to take some of the grannies apart, reshuffle them and make blocks of 4 by 4 grannies each. Then, I'll crochet these toghether with a band of soft pink yarn... That will probably tone it down a bit … :-)

I took these images at Herma's Garden and Nijendal Nature Reserve. I go there often with my husband and my daughter, both places are small, quiet and wonderful. If you happen to be in the neighborhood of Deventer and you're looking for some peace, go there, and afterwards, have a drink at Havezathe De Haere (that's what I did today :-).

Btw: I was inspired to try photocollages after seeing the collages by the lovely ladies of Thé Dansant. The collages are made with Big Huge Labs.

Handmade comfort

Now that the cold season is coming back, it's time to fluff up throws and pillows! These are some of the things my mother and I made over the years. From top to bottom:

- a wool knitted pillow I made last winter
- a quilt made of my parents' and my brother's faded jeans. I made this when I was 15 :-)
- a crocheted throw made by my mother

Crocheted throw, work in progress

The crocheted throw for my daughter is getting bigger and bigger :-) I also discovered that crocheting squares is something that I can easily do on the train. So, instead of reading magazines, I'll be doing some crochet now.

I also found the wonderful crocheting blog by Sarah London. If you like colorful, funky crochet, you should definitely take a look!

ps: this image was featured on Sarah London's blog here :-)