Crochet Granny Christmas Tree

This original idea seems to be a very old one already. Anyway, thanks to Laura from Sew Ritzy Tizy who spied this granny Christmas Tree in an old woman's house, I was also able to replicate such a sweet ornament. As the name has already given you a hint, it is realised from simple green granny squares with white borders.   The baubles are simple sc or dc circles, and I also added a star (I used this free pattern) and a small string of sparkly yarn as a garland, to give it shine. I used a very small hook (1.1 mm) so my Christmas tree is only about 20 cm high.

PS: I just wanted to show you some goodies I just can't help adoring:

...and a little preview of the glittens I have made this weekend using this pattern - aren't they just lovely? :)

2 crochet cushions

I worked this cushions last summer, the rainbow one even did some trips in the car, but I only managed to finish the daisy one yesterday. They both seem to be very happy cushions, that's why I share their free patterns with you. Enjoy crocheting them!

1. Link to rainbow cushion free pattern: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/blooming-flower-cushion.html

2. I made the daisy pillow using this photo tutorial on facebook, but I just found another blog that treats the same pattern, so it's up to you to choose which one you use.

Iv cel Naiv - Book launch

It's hard to translate Iv in english, but maybe eventually he would find someone to translate his poetry into a foreign language. Iv is a contemporary poetry writer who doesn't want to reveal his identity for over 3 years now. He calls himself "the Naive". He launched 3 books by far and has a nice blog, but I prefer reading his poems one (or two, or three) at a time, before going to sleep, instead of following his blog... 

Last night he launched his 3rd book, Nesfarsesc, that would translate something like "Unending". Andie prepared with this occasions a lot of french macarons and a little surprise for five volunteers in creating unique flavoured and colourful macarons, based on a poem in Iv's book. I chose a poem about happiness, "Happiness is for the happy people", Iv sais. I used almond, roses and a bit of red pepper to flavour my poem, brown, vanilla and pink macarons for mixing together and red colour for the filling. I even drew a yellow heart on one of my macarons - my boyfriend got the message and ate it in a second. And the surprise was that the volunteers could keep the books they found their poems in!!!

Here are a few photos taken by me and my boyfriend during the event. Thank you, Iv and Andie! :)

Christmas ornaments: take one

I started doing Christmas ornaments from the very first times I did something crocheted, but I realised I don't have enough patience to finish up most of the projects. For instance, the light bulbs in this tiny Christmas tree that I just bought yesterday were supposed to be part of a garland that, eventually, would have represented an advent calendar, but I managed to finish only 8 bulbs out of 25...

The star looks amazing, but I found it so hard to make, that I don't know if I could do another one.

The little owl was just a test for a pretty square, that I also found difficult and meticulous to make.

I have other Christmas themed ongoing projects, but I will show you when I manage to finally decorate the Christmas tree I have displayed at home for over a month already...

This is how it looks like in my office now:

Links to free patterns:
1. Light bulbs advent calendar: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/christmas-light-advent-calendar
2. Star: http://www.sascha-lovetoknit.blogspot.nl/2012/12/de-kerstster-christmas-cal-4_11.html
3. Owl applique: http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/11/owl-granny-square-crochet-pattern.html

4. To make the skates, I only looked at a photo, so I don't have a pattern for it. If you want to try something a little different from what I made, apparently there is a free pattern here: http://blogalacart.com/2011/12/ice-skate-ornament/http://blogalacart.com/2011/12/ice-skate-ornament/

Decorating cookies - First attempt

This is my first attempt ever to decorate cookies using royal icing.

At first, I was thinking about only doing some patriotic flags (on 1st december we celebrate the national holiday of Romania). But then, as I never used before all those cookie cutters I have been collecting, and because outside was snowing (yep, the first snow of this winter), I also created some winter themed cookies.

For the cookies I used the recipe provided by Bake at 350, just that I used brown sugar.
For the frosting I used this recipe.

Crochet snowflake blouse

Somebody asked me a while ago if I can do a blouse out of the snoflake hexagons. She wanted something with long sleeves. Fortunately enough for me, that girl wasn't too convinced about her choice, so I tried to give it a go for myself. After a few more sketches and observations, I concluded that long sleeves weren't such a good idea for this model. Also, for the front and back neckline I crocheted partial snowflakes, so I have a neat border. In the end, this neckline needed a few more sc decreasing rows, to tighten it a little bit. And that was all. I joined the hexagons the same way I did with the corresponding bag, that is single crochet along the edges.

Crochet baby hat FREE PATTERN

I made this hat inspired by Kinga from My hobby is crochet. She didn't write the pattern, so I came with my own version, that I share with with bellow. The instructions are in english. Hope you make great hats for babies in your lives! :)

PATTERN:

I used 3.5 mm crochet hook and Red Heart Baby yarn in two colors, but these can be chosen relative to the age of the baby and available yarn.
Begin with magic ring, A color,
Row 1: 20 dc in magic ring, fasten off;
Row 2 (change color to B): (2dc cluster st, ch1) in each dc, fasten off;
Row 3 (change color to A): (1dc, ch2, 1 dc) in each ch1 space;
Row 4: (2dc, ch2, 2dc, ch1) in next ch2 sp, skip 1 ch2 sp, continue working like this till the end of the row;
Row 5 (attach B color right after the end of row 4): working around row 4, (2dc, ch2, 2 dc, ch1) in each remaining ch2 sp on row 3; before ending this row, make sure to pull toward you the end of the A color yarn on row 4, so you can continue working with it;
Row 6: continue with A color, working around row 5 and making sure to pull toward you the end of B color yarn, (3dc, ch2, 3dc,ch2) in each ch2 sp on row 4;
Row 7: with B, working around row 6, (3dc, ch2, 3dc,ch2) in each ch2 sp on row 5.
Rows 8 to 19: work similar to rows 6 and 7; At the end of row 18, fasten off;
Row 20: working around row 19, 9dc in each ch2 sp on row 18, 1sc in each ch2 sp on row 19. Fasten off.

If 9dc in each ch2 sp on row 20 seems to be too much, you can reduce number to 8dc.

2dc cluster stich instructions

ATTENTION!
This is not a verified pattern. I only wrote the instructions after I made the hat, so they might not be totally correct. Also, I don't have any kids yet, so I don't know how this looks on a baby. If any of you makes this hat, please share with us your work and observations! Many thanks!

Lumi & Kinga

Russian crochet dress

I managed finally to do a proper presentation in images of my beloved dress I made and wore this summer in Bulgaria. Even that evening when the photos were taken, a young curly haired russian girl (she should have guessed something!) congratulated me for the beauty of the dress. I was really impressed!

The model itself is actually designed by a russian, but I can't find her blog anymore, so I made a collage of the photos that inspired me to do this (they still have watermark, so if you find the original link, please post it back here). Hope it helps. As for me, I wouldn't replicate it the second time. It was really a hard work and had to unpick it many times until it was right for me. Enjoy!

Diagram and photos that inspired me:

Any day crochet cardigan and ruffle scarf

This cardigan is based on Double Stich Twins Any Day Cardigan pattern. I say "is based" because I couldn't follow the pattern as it was, the design didn't suit me very well, so I just kept the model and created my own version, with buttons and extra coloured stripes.
The pattern for the scarf is this one (I also added an extra row because it seemed too thin to me).
I think the two pices work very well together.
Used Red Heart Baby in double thread and 6 mm crochet hook.