Category Archives: Scheepjeswol

Rainbow Hearts Tutorial Sizes 12 months – 10 years

Posted on February 3, 2015 | 15 comments

Here it is! I’ve created the tutorial for the Rainbow Hearts Tutu!

I’ve created this in multiple sizes, but please do bear in mind that I’ve based the sizes on Crochet Maths. That’s a technical term that involves quite a bit of finger in the air guestimation. The numbers are sound, but if your child is larger or smaller than the standard clothing sizes, do take that into account.

Please do also note that I have created this tutorial for you completely free of charge. Please do not pass this design off as your own, and please do not sell the pattern as if it were your own. Do by all means feel free to sell items that you make from this tutorial, but do also be so kind as to send me photos, tag me on FB or Instagram, create projects in Ravelry or even link to this post. Thanks for being cool about this!

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Rainbow Heart Top

What You’ll Need

Two balls of colour 1 – Scheepjes Larra in off-white (7326) and one ball of colour 2- Larra Batik in Rainbow (7503)
3.5 and 4 mm crochet hooks (or sizes to obtain gauge)
Measuring tape
Scissors
Tapestry needle

Gauge

Two hearts across = 5cm
Two hearts high = 6cm

Stitches and Abbreviations Used

DC (Double Crochet
FDC (Foundation Double Crochet)
CH (Chain)
SS (Slipstitch)
SC (Single Crochet)

Notes

This tutorial has been created using sizing for a 3 year old child. A size chart has been created if you wish to make this top for a smaller or larger child. This chart is based on standard clothing sizes, so if the child is small large for her age, do bear that in mind when starting.

Step by Step

Chart for the Heart Stitch used in the Rainbow Hearts Tutu - free crochet tutorial on by @missneriss

(left-handed chart)

Row 1: Using colour 1 and the 3.5mm hook, FDC x 114, join with a SS, ensuring that the work does not become twisted.
Row 2: CH2 (counts as 1^st stitch), DC x 113, SS to join.
Row 3: Attach colour 2 at the top of the SS from the previous row, but do not cut colour 1 as you’ll be using it again in Row 4. Skip 2 stitches, 3 x DC into the next stitch, CH 1, 3 x DC into the same stitch (this creates the heart), CH 1, skip the next 5 stitches, 3 x DC into the next stitch, CH1, 3 x DC into the same stitch. Repeat around, SS into the SS from your colour join (total of 19 hearts). Do not cut the yarn, you will carry it up and use it again in row 6, 9, 12 etc.
Row 4: Change to the 4mm hook (you can stick to the smaller hook if you crochet loosely) and switch back to colour 1. CH 4, SC into the CH 1 space at the top o the heart from the previous round. CH 2, DC into the DC that is direclty underneath the chain between hearts, making sure you stitch in front of the chain – you need to hide that chain for the heart effect to work. CH 2, SC into the CH 1 space at the top of the next heart. Repeat around, join with a SS to the 2^nd chain from the beginning of the row.
Row 5: Switch back to the 3.5mm hook. CH 2, 2 x DC into the CH 2 space from the previous round, DC into the CH1 stitch, 2 x DC into the next CH 2 space, DC into the next DC, repeat around, join with a SS.
Row 6: Switch back to colour 2 and repeat row 3.
Continue to repeat rows 3, 4 and 5 until you have a total of 15 hearts.
Row 46: Repeat row 4.
Row 47: Repeat row 5.
Row 48: CH 1, SC into each stitch around, join with a SS, tie off and weave in the ends.

Heart stitch from the front - free crochet tutorial on by @missneriss

Heart stitch from the front – see the DC between the hearts is in front?

Heart stitch from the back- free crochet tutorial on by @missneriss

Heart Stitch from behind. See the hearts are all in a row, the DC in between hides this from the front.

Straps

Make two, using the 3.5mm hook and colour 1. Gauge is 13 stitches per 5 cm. Increase or decrease this amount as needed for your required length.

Row 1: CH 67 – loosely.
Row 2: SC into the 3^rd stitch from the hook, CH1, Skip 1, SC into the next. Repeat all the way to the end, turn.
Row 3: CH 1, SC into the CH 1 space. CH1, SC into the next CH 1 space. Repeat across, turn.
Row 4: Repeat row 3.

Assembly

Ensure that the seam will be under the arm. Attach the straps above the 3^rd heart from each side and when attaching the other ends, cross the straps so they will be attached to the opposite side.

Size Chart

Age	Waist	Hearts	FDC count	Rows of Hearts
12-18 months	50 cm	16	94	9
1 ½ – 2 years	51 cm	17	102	11
2-3 years	52 cm	18	108	13
3-4 years	53 cm	19	114	15
5-6 years	55 cm	20	120	17
7-8 years	58 cm	21/22 hearts	126/132	19
9-10 years	61 cm	23/24	138/144	21

Tutu

What You’ll Need

8-12 metres of tulle (one metre of each, cut into 10cm wide strips)
Chord (make a chain from your contrasting heart colour that is 80-100cm long
Fabric Scissors
Tape measure

Step by Step

Take your tulle and fold it so it is double (the tulle will probably be sold to you folded double anyway) and cut it to the length that you want. I wanted a floor length ballgown style tutu, and cut it to 70 cm. Repeat this for each colour. Depending on the size of your child’s waist you’ll need more or less fabric. I used approximately 120 cm of each colour (I bought in 150 cm lengths).
Once your colours are all cut, lie them on top of one another in the correct order (colours of the rainbow) and cut them all at once to be 10 cm widths (I had 12 strips of each colour in total). It doesn’t have to be perfect, or even straight. We’re not striving for clear straight lines with this project. Stack all the sections and set them aside.
Now make the chord. You can use normal chord that you might have lying around if you like, but I decided to make a chain in the same yarn that I used for my hearts. This makes a pretty and sturdy little chord, perfect for tying at the waist. Make this to be between 80 and 100 cm long. My daughter’s waist is just over 50 cm, so I made mine to be 80 cm – plenty of length to tie a tight bow.
Once you have the chord and the tulle, it’s time to start assembling the skirt. Take the folded end of each length and slip it around the chord leaving about 15-30 cm of chord at one end (this will be so you can tie the bow, then thread the two open ends through to make a slip knot. Pull this very tight and make the knot as small as possible. Repeat for each colour until you use all your fabric, or reach the required length. Try to make sure you use a full spectrum so the join is invisible. Also try to make sure the knots are as close together as possible. This adds a lot of pouf to your skirt, making it a real princess ballgown.

Make sure you keep fitting your ballerina as you go, because if the skirt is too long, you won’t be able to tie it tight enough when finished, and if it’s too short you’ll have a gap.

There you have it! An easy tutorial to make the Rainbow Tutu outfit of your dreams!

(I’ve also added this to the latest Hookin on Hump Day link up.)

15 Comments

Posted in Pattern, Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged free, free pattern, larra, MissNeriss, rainbow tutorial, rainbow tutu, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, tutorial, tutu

Ta-Da! Rainbow Heart Tutu is Here!

Posted on January 27, 2015 | 14 comments

And it’s beautiful.

It’s exactly how I envisioned it, and my daughter LOVES it!

When I tried snapping some photos of her yesterday, it was impossible to get a clear, smiling pic, she was far too busy twirling and twirling and twirling and twirling. She’s just so happy to finally be able to wear her fabulous big princess tutu and flounce around the room like she’s off to a ball.

It’s just a shame that it’s January and freezing cold, because I imagine if she could, she’d be wearing this outfit 24 hours a day. She did ask: “Mama, can we take this to Australia?” so I’ll have to find some space in our luggage to squeeze in the world’s poofiest tutu!

Aren’t the hearts just gorgeous? I know I go on about it, but I just love the colour change of the Scheepjes Larra Batik. I love that each row is a different colour and the beautiful stitch detail that the Larra gives.

I hope I can find the time to take some better photos, I was much too busy enjoying the twirling to concentrate on how the photos would turn out!

And, coming soon: The tutorial! You’ll be able to make this outfit for yourself, very soon!

14 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged ballet, crochet, heart stitch, larra, larra batik, rainbow, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, tutu

Rainbow Tutu Progress

Posted on January 13, 2015 | 9 comments

Aren’t these colours just amazing? I’m so impressed with how they pop out.

I’m really enjoying using the Scheepjeswol Larra for this project. It’s easy to work with and it works up really fast as a result.

The stitch I’m using is a Heart Stitch nested into a series of Double Crochets and I’m about halfway through making the top of the tutu. I still haven’t decided how I’ll do the sleeves – I’m letting this just grow organically, jotting down the stitch count as I go so I can write the pattern once it’s complete.

I’m also considering how I’ll do the tutu part – should I make it a dress, or would it make more sense to make the tutu a skirt and then the top can be worn all the time. Decisions decisions.

What would you do?

9 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged crochet, heart stitch, larra, larra batik, rainbow, rainbow tutu, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, tutu

KIKA Scarf – turns out I can knit afterall!

Posted on January 8, 2015 | 11 comments

Happy 2015, I’ve taught myself how to knit! Before Christmas I picked up one of the amazing KIKA Yarn Kits by Scheepjeswol and I decided that I loved the stripe and texture of the knit version so much that I would bite the bullet and finally learn to knit. Well, I could knit. I knew how to knit and how to purl, but I had zero idea how to cast on or how to increase, or how to change colours for that matter! So there was quite the learning curve. I went to my local craft store and picked up a set of circular needles and got to it. The first thing I needed to learn was how to cast on. My good friend Tammy insisted I visit the Very Pink website which is run by a friend of hers, and the woman is basically a knitting oracle. I learned the Long Tail Slingshot cast on method and I can’t believe that I was so daunted by casting on for so many years! The next step was learning how to increase. I managed the first dozen or so rows before I had to start, but was absolutely clueless as to what needed to be done, so back to Very Pink I went to learn the Knit Front Back (KFB) method and I was off again! http://instagram.com/p/xB7VJtHWtn/?modal=true Before I knew it I was making excellent progress! The scarf was growing and growing and growing, until now where I think I’m perhaps about half way. But, it hasn’t been a completely charmed process, let me tell you! At first I was cutting the yarn at every colour change, and wondering what on earth I was going to do with all the ends, and then I realised that I was doing the stitches all wrong! Instead of understanding that knit one purl one meant one ROW, I was doing that with the stitches! And THEN, I was reading the pattern completely wrong, increasing every three rows instead of every six! So I have ripped this scarf out about 5 times! See what I mean? Dogs Breakfast right there! I also spent some time trying to teach myself the Continental style, which worked OK for the knit rows, but I find it just too difficult to get my tension right with the purl. And Continental makes my tension much too tight, so I’ve gone back to the style I learned years ago. I have to say, this is a GREAT beginner project. Much more interesting than the simple rectangle scarves that I made as a kid and the colour change really keeps me interested. Right now I’m desperate for the yellow to come back. It’s also a great pick up and put down project. I’m working on it in between about four crochet projects, and it’s perfect for long commutes. And I’m almost good enough to be able to watch tv while I work! Tell me, have you started knitting one of these amazing scarves yet? I’d love to see it! Link me your Ravelry project, or your Instagram or your FB or even add a photo to the comments!

11 Comments

Posted in knit, Scheepjeswol

Tagged circular needles, invicta, invicta colour, KIKA, KIKA Yarn Kit, knit, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, Very Pink

New Year, New Yarn!

Posted on January 6, 2015 | 3 comments

It’s Yarn Day!

It’s cold outside, which makes me want to just curl up in my little corner and crochet. Luckily, with the arrival of this beautiful Rainbow Larra from Scheepjeswol I can!

I love the Larra. It’s a great weight, very durable and comes in loads of colours. It’s a mercerized cotton, but it’s also very soft and not too shiny. And I love colour change of the batiks, especially the Rainbow.

I love that Rainbow so much I chose the yarn before I had a project in mind! I had to justify getting the yarn, as I just don’t have the space for more yarn that I bought because I loved it. I did have to immediately sit down and make little cakes, just so I could be mesmerized by the colour change. I think that’s my favourite part of winding yarn; watching the colours change.

So, my daughter is obsessed with dancing like a ballerina, but she’s not really a pastel Swan Lake kind of girl, so I’m making her a Rainbow Tutu!

I found all the tulle at my local market – super cheap, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.

Perfect colours to counter the dark, grey winter outside, don’t you think?

Meanwhile, you can pick up the Larra at any great yarn seller here in NL, or on Deramores.com internationally.

3 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged ballet, crochet, haken, larra, larra batik, MissNeriss, new year, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, tutu

Christmas Bunting

Posted on December 10, 2014 | 1 comment

Today is the very last day of the Scheepjeswol Christmas Blog Hop and I’m so sad that it’s over, yet very happy to be able to send it off, hopefully in style!

How incredibly beautiful is Heike from Made with Loops bag? Fair Isle, I promise you, will be absolutely THE biggest yarn trend of 2015, so get onto it!

Here’s today’s project from me, some lovely and very simple Christmas Bunting.

I had some left over yarn once I had finished my Christmas Wreath and I wanted to use it up for something fun to decorate the house with this Christmas, and I just love bunting, so bunting it was!

I came up with a very simple half double crochet pattern that works up in a jiffy. Each flag can be made in under ten minutes! It’s a great scrap project too, so you don’t have to worry too much about how much yarn you have lying around.

What you’ll need:

Scheepjeswol Stone Washed in five colours. I used the same as in my wreath: 801, 807, 815, 813 and 814.
4mm hook
Scissors
Tapestry needle
Measuring tape

How To:

Choose one of your colours, then start with a slip stitch, and chain 2. Half double crochet into the second chain from the hook and there you will have the foundation of the triangle to start building your bunting.
From here on, you will need to increase at the end of each row with 2 half double crochets into the last stitch.
Row 2: Chain 2, 2 HDC (half double crochet) into the next stitch (3 stitches in total), turn.
Row 3: Chain 2, HDC into the next stitch, 2 HDC into the last stitch (4 stitches), turn.
Row 4: Chain 2, HDC into the next 2 stitches, 2 HDC into the last stitch (5 stitches), turn.
Continue this pattern until you have a stitch count of 17 (16 rows in total), then tie off and weave in the ends, making sure you keep the nice point at the bottom of the triangle.

Make 3 of each colour (or more if you’d like to make it longer)

Here’s a chart to help make it a bit easier:

To join the bunting, take your lightest colour (801) and start chaining, working the end in as you go. Chain for 60cm to create a long enough tie, then attach to the first bunting triangle by single crocheting into the first and then all 17 stitches along. Continue to chain, leaving about 8cm in between triangles. Repeat this pattern until you have attached all your triangles to the chain, then to finish off, chain a further 60cm before cutting the yarn and weaving in the end. The finished bunting will measure about 4m in length.

And you’re all done! Now all that’s left to do is find the perfect spot to hang it!

On a wall…

Or in a window…?

And that’s it. The Christmas Blog Hop is over for this year *sob*. I hope you found some wonderful inspiration – I certainly did. But before I go, here’s a recap of what we’ve seen in the last ten days:

The beautiful Knitted Star motif from Crafts from theCwtch

The seriously cute Reindeer Mug Cozy (including fluffy butt – haha!) by Haak Maar Raak

Jellina-Creation’s lovely Christmas Tree Garland

Atty’s cool Bauble Coasters

My Christmas Wreath

The most beautiful Christmas Baubles you’ve ever seen, by 50 Shades of 4 Ply

The deliciously warm Fair Isle mittens by Canadutch

Vicarnos adorable little snowman

and finally,

This spectacular Fair Isle Christmas gift bag from Made with Loops.

What a collection of designs, I’m so happy to have been involved – surrounded by such talent!

Merry Christmas.

1 Comment

Posted in Christmas, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Stone Washed, Tutorials

Tagged 50 shades of 4 ply, attys, canadutch, Christmas, craft, crafts from the cwtch, crochet, crochet pattern, DIY, free pattern, haak maar raak, Jellina-creations, made with loops, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, pattern, projects, Santa, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, stone washed, vicarno, yarn

A Christmas Wreath

Posted on December 5, 2014 | 1 comment

If you follow me on Facebook at all (you should, btw), you would have seen me posting about the Scheepjes Christmas Blog Hop all week, and today it’s my turn!

Thanks so much to Atty’s for yesterday’s post, wasn’t it just fabulous? I’m definitely going to make some of those coasters, but I don’t know if I’ll actually use them as coasters, or get some Christmas washi tape and decorate my walls!

So let’s get to my contribution for this fabulous event, a yarn wreath.

For this I used a couple of different techniques instead of just crochet. I made pom poms in varying sizes, and also made yarn-wrapped balls to decorate this gorgeous wreath.

What do you think of my palette? I wanted something different, yet a little bit Christmas-sy and so I took Kirsten’s advice and spent countless hours (days?) trawling through Design Seeds for just the right colours and I thought that this one was just perfect.

So let’s get to the instructions, shall we?

What you’ll need:

3 mm crochet hook
Scheepjeswol Stone Washed yarn in five shades (801, 807, 815, 813, 814)
A 25cm Styrofoam ring that has a flat side
About 20 Styrofoam balls in three sizes (4, 5 and 6 cm)
Fabric glue
Cardboard to make pom poms (or a pom pom maker if you prefer)
Scissors

How to:

First start working on the ring. Using the glue, fasten the end of the lightest shade of yarn (801) to the Styrofoam ring. Once it’s a little dry, start working the yarn around and around, adding dobs of glue as you go to ensure it all stays in place. Once you come back to the beginning, snip the yarn, and fasten it all in place. Set aside to dry thoroughly.

To make the Yarn Wrapped balls, take the colour of choice (make multiple in each size and colour), fasten the end of the yarn to the ball with the glue and start winding the yarn around the ball, like you’re just winding any old ball of wool. Make sure that you add dobs of glue every now and then to keep the yarn in place. Once it’s completely covered, snip the yarn and glue the end in place.

To make the pom poms, first cut two pieces of cardboard into corresponding sizes to your balls and make them into doughnuts. I like to cut an opening to help wind the yarn around, but you should use your favourite pom pom method. Using the various colours, wind the yarn around the cardboard until it’s very full, then cut and fasten it all together, trimming it to be a nice, round ball.

To make the crochet balls, you’ll need the different size styrofoam balls and a matching stitch count.

4cm ball:
Start with a magic ring, and stitch 6 single crochets (UK double crochet) into the ring, tightening it once you’re done.
For the second round, increase into each stitch around with single crochet so that you have 12 stitches around.
Round 3: Increase, then single crochet into the next stitch, repeating around until you have 18 stitches.
Round 4: Increase, then single crochet into the next 2 stitches, repeating around until you have 24 stitches.
For the next 5 rounds, single crochet around, before beginning your decrease at round 10. Insert the ball here too.
Round 10: Decrease (2 single crochet together), then single crochet into the next 2 stitches, repeating around until you have 18 stitches.
Round 11: Decrease, then single crochet into the next stitch, repeating around until you have 12 stitches.
Round 12: Decrease around until you have 6 stitches, cut the yarn, tie off and using a tapestry needle close up the ball.

5 cm ball:
Follow the above instructions until you’ve completed round 4.
Round 5: Increase, single crochet into the next 3 stitches, repeating around until you have 30 stitches.
Round 6-13: Single crochet around and after round 13 insert the ball.
Round 14: Decrease, single crochet into the next 3 stitches, repeating around until you have 24 stitches.
Continue with the instructions from round 10 of the 4 cm ball.

6 cm ball:
Follow the instructions for the 5 cm ball until you’ve completed round 5.
Round 6: Increase, single crochet into the next 4 stitches, repeating around until you have 36 stitches.
Round 7-19: single crochet around, and after round 19 insert the ball
Round 20: Decrease, single crochet into the next 4 stitches, repeating around until you have 30 stitches.
Complete the ball as per the instructions from round 14 of the 5 cm ball.

Assembly

Now is the time to put it all together. I like to vary the colours, sizes and textures, trying to make sure that no two balls of the same size and texture are next to one another. Start building your wreath using the fabric glue to attach each ball to the wreath and its neighbour. This will take some time as the glue needs to dry a little before you can proceed. Make sure you hold the wreath up to see how it’s coming together often so you can get a feel for the result.

Once you’re happy, leave it to dry properly over night, and then you’re ready to hang it!

What do you think? Will you try to make one? I’ve really enjoyed the process and I absolutely love the result. I’ve started buying all my Christmas decorations in matching colours and if you check back here in a few days, you’ll see that I have something to go with this that I think you’ll love. I’m also using the leftover balls as baubles for the tree – fun!

In the mean time, be sure to visit 50 Shades of 4ply tomorrow for the next installment of the Scheepjes Christmas Blog Hop!

Love,
Nerissa

1 Comment

Posted in Christmas, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Stone Washed, Uncategorized

Tagged Christmas, crochet, crochet pattern, DIY, free pattern, haken, kerst, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, pattern, projects, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, stone washed, tutorial, yarn

Seriously Simple Granny Square

Posted on October 20, 2014 | 15 comments

And now for the tutorial I promised of the granny I created while on holiday recently.

It’s really so simple, you will be whipping these up in no time!

First of all, I’ll share a quick step by step photo to show you how it grows, then below I’ll give you the row by row.

Simple, right? Now, let’s go.

For this project I used Scheepjeswol Cotton 8*. It’s a sport weight yarn and I used a 3mm hook. You can use whatever yarn you like, and the hook to match. Gauge isn’t important in this one. If you use my recommended yarn and hook, your finished square should measure 5.5 x 5.5 cm.

First of all, chain 4 and join with a slip stitch. Usually I prefer a magic ring because I like the centre to be as tight as possible, but in this case it doesn’t matter. There are a lot of stitches into the ring, so the chain 4 foundation will have a nice tight circle anyway.

Now, for row 2 (I’m counting the ring as the first row), chain 2 and double crochet 11 times into the ring, joining with a slip stitch to finish with 12 stitches into your ring. This is because we want to make a square eventually, so need a total that is divisible by 4. Finally, almost 20 years after I left school I’m using maths!

If you’re changing colours after each row, you’ll want to cut and tie off your yarn, leaving a tail to weave in. I like to work the ends in as I go, to minimise the amount of weaving in at the end – I hate weaving in ends, have I mentioned that?

Row 3 – chain 2, double crochet into the same stitch so you have two double crochets in one stitch and stitch two double crochets into each stitch around, leaving you with 24 stitches once you slip stitch to join. If you’re not changing colours, chain 2, stitch two double crochets into the next stitch and each stitch around, with one into the last stitch, which is the same stitch that your starting chain came from.

Row 4 – here we create the square. Chain 3, two double crochet stitches into the next stitch, chain 2, and two more double crochets into the same stitch. This creates the corner. Double crochet into the next, half double crochet into the next three stitches and then double crochet into the next. Now comes the time to repeat the corner stitch (two double crochets, chain 2, two double crochets into the same stitch), then repeat the row (DC, 3xHDC, DC) until you come back round to the start. Slip stitch into the top of the chain of the first stitch.

Row 5 – Single crochet in each stitch around, with two stitches, a chain 1 and two more stitches into each corner, and you’re done!

I joined the top side of my camera strap using single crochets, and the back side with a whip stitch so that it would sit flat and not annoy my husband’s neck, but you can use your favourite joining method. Once I had made enough squares to cover the entire length of the camera strap (13 in my case) I joined the two sides together with a single crochet into each corresponding stitch up each side, leaving the ends open so you can feed the strap through once you’re finished. This size granny is a perfect size for a camera strap, and it looks fantastic!

*Affiliate link

15 Comments

Posted in Pattern, Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Tutorials

Tagged free granny square, free pattern, granny tutorial, tutorial

Ombre Addict – Camera Strap

Posted on October 16, 2014 | 1 comment

This ombre look is just the best. It started with me wanting that ombre hair effect, and it’s been slowly infiltrating my crochet designs more and more. The Bucketful of Sunshine hat is a great example. And so is Miniman’s Nursing Necklace.

Once I had finished The Miniman I noticed that I had a lot of yarn left over. Usually this wouldn’t bother me as there is always another project, but it seems that my yarn cupboard is completely full of left over yarn that will hopefully come in handy one day, so I just wanted to use it straight away, instead of effectively wasting it. And as I was on holiday I thought I would make a great holiday accessory – a camera strap!

As my photographer friend Rudi says, why give Canon free advertising? I’d been wanting to make one for ages, but hadn’t had the yarnspiration, but now with this leftover Cotton 8 from Scheepjes in ombre shades, I could really go to town!

Firstly though, I had to start with a square. But I had no internet on holiday, and hadn’t taken any pattern books with me to the south of France, so necessity being the mother of invention, I designed one!

I started with a circle, then turned it into a square and changed colour on each round. I thought that it would be a great colour combo for my husband (as it’s his camera and I’m not sure if he would really enjoy a hot pink or rainbow strap) so I made a bunch of them. Thirteen, infact. The finished square is 5.5×5.5cm (unblocked) and I single crocheted them all together in a row. On the back I made solid squares and joined those together, starting with the lightest blue at the outer ends and the darkest blue in the middle (so if it’s a really hot day the manly sweat won’t discolour the strap).

It was a great project to work on in the car on the way back – it distracted me from the mad French freeways! And when I arrived home, my daughter was for once, very happy to model it for me!

Come back in a few days, I’ll have a tutorial of the square for you.

1 Comment

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Yarn

Tagged cotton 8, crochet, free granny pattern, granny square, ombre crochet, scheepjes, scheepjeswol

Miniman’s Nursing Necklace – The Tutorial

Posted on October 14, 2014 | 14 comments

As promised, I’ve put together a tutorial on how to make your very own nursing necklace, which is designed to keep small ones occupied while nursing, saving mama’s sensitive skin from sharp fingernails, hair from being yanked, and general mischief making while baby is nursing. Of course this is not only for nursing mamas; it’s such a lovely necklace that it looks stylish on everybody!

What you’ll need

Scheepjeswol Cotton 8* in four shades. I used 527, 711, 652 and 700. In the Netherlands you can pick Cotton 8 up at just about any great yarn seller, and internationally you can buy via deramores.com*.

A 3mm crochet hook, scissors, and you’ll also need wooden beads in varying sizes. I used five 35mm balls and two 25mm balls. For added interest, you can also add a wooden ring or two – babies love the different elements and textures.

Abbreviations

(American terms)

CH – chain stitch
SC – single crochet (UK double crochet)
INC – increase; two single crochet stitches into the same stitch
DEC – decrease; two single crochet stitches together
STS – stitch count

Notes

This project is worked in the round. You will also need to crochet your stitches very tightly to ensure that they keep the form of the beads. If you crochet loosely, use a smaller hook.

Don’t forget, I’m a leftie so you might have to flip the images in your mind. I like to keep the images for us lefties because there just aren’t that many left handed tutorials out there. If you need help, ping me using the contact page or on Facebook.

Make one ball in the darkest colour, two in the second darkest, two in the third darkest, and two in the lightest (the 25mm balls).

35mm Bead

Round 1

CH 5, close with a slip stitch, CH 1.

Round 2

SC x 6 into the ring (6 STS)

Round 3

INC in each stitch around (12 STS)

Round 4

(INC, 1 SC) x 6 (18 STS)

Round 5

(INC, 2 SC) x 6 (24 STS)

Round 6-10

SC x 24 (24 STS). Insert the bead to measure how progress is going at each round.

Round 11

(DEC, 2 SC) x 6 (18 STS). Make sure the bead is inserted here and continue working around it.

Round 12

(DEC, 1 SC) x 6 (12 STS).

Round 13

DEC in each stitch around (6 STS)

Finish off and hide the tail.

For the 25mm bead, follow the same instructions, skipping round 5 (and round 11 as a consequence).

Once you’ve finished all five balls in the colour combination of your choice, it’s time to thread them onto a chain. First you need to make yourself one. I used the lightest shade and chained stitched until I had about 90 cm. This way the necklace would have plenty of room to become longer or shorter as necessary.

Thread the beads and tie the ends into a little knot and then together using a slip stitch so that one end can slip easily (but not too easily) to adjust the length of the necklace.

And you’re all done! Looks beautiful, doesn’t it? I love seeing projects by others, so don’t forget to brag about what you’ve made on my Facebook page or upload to Pinterest, tagging me @missneriss. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram while you’re at it!