Peek-a-Boo Button Wrap Video Tutorial, by It’s All in a Nutshell

I am SO excited to be able to bring this video tutorial to you!  When I first created the Peek-a-Boo Button Wrap I thought: I should make a video for this, but well, I talk a bit fast (thanks nerves) and I don’t have a video camera, so I didn’t.

But when the opportunity arose for Esther from It’s all in a Nutshell to do this for me I grabbed it!  Of course you would know Esther if you use videos with crochet, she’s the voice behind the Sophie’s Universe videos and the recent Flight of Fancy CAL videos.  Quite a pedigree, wouldn’t you agree?

Esther published the video today, and you can view it here:

There are also some insanely good tips and tricks on Esther’s site – tips that hadn’t even occurred to me, including her “No More Mistakes” chart here:

It's all in a nutshell

In the video Esther used Scheepjes Bloom which is a comparable weight to the Stone Washed XL and a great summer alternative.

Thanks so much for doing this for me Esther, I am grateful beyond words!

Be sure to check out all of Esther’s fabulous posts and videos, she has the coolest tutorial voice ever!

You can find my original pattern here, and the Dutch version here.  Enjoy!

A Tech Tip on Tuesday

I’ve discovered that you love little tips, tricks and hacks almost as much as you love crochet and yarn, and honestly, who doesn’t?  I certainly love little helpful snippets that make my life easier, or just more fun and today I have a little Instagram tip that I use a LOT!

It’s how to make sure you never miss a post from an Instagrammer that you love!  Now, I follow around 500 people on Instagram, and I think it’s a manageable amount.  But, sometimes life gets a bit busy, so  I don’t always have time to check Instagram my preferred thirty times a day.  When that happens some of my favourites get buried in my feed, and I miss important posts. (Like when Maike from CreJJtion announced she had had her baby.  Totally missed it!)

I also know that some people like to limit their feed to certain numbers of people, like say, 300.  And if someone is very interesting and they want to follow them, somebody in the existing 300 gets the chop.  I get that, but I don’t want to miss any beautiful photos, so instead I just prioritise them.

Here’s how:

On my iPhone (this hack is for iPhone – I’m not sure if Android or Windows Phone work the same here or not, sorry), I choose the person or account that I never want to miss a post from and touch the three little buttons on the top right of the screen.  (Do you follow @craftastherapy? You should!)

Activate post notifications for Instagram

That will then lead you to the following screen, where you choose Turn on Post Notifications: 

Activate post notifications for Instagram

Then, whenever your selected IGer posts a new photo, you’ll receive an alert, depending on your device’s notification settings of course.  Here’s an example of @craftsfromthecwtch:

Activate post notifications for Instagram

Don’t forget to activate your post notifications for Miss__Neriss now, will you 😉

Do you like these tips?  Would you like more?  Tell me what you want to learn about and I’ll see what I can come up with.

Never miss a post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join my Pinterest Crochet Community?

We all love Pinterest.  You KNOW how much I love Pinterest.  I’ve been happily pinning away for a few years now and I love how I can always find inspiration.  When I first started crocheting it was my main source of patterns (I had never heard of Ravelry) and now I mostly love it for the pure visual pleasure that it brings me.  Bright, colourful images, incredible projects; it just makes me happy.

This is my favourite pin right now (for obvious reasons):

So I decided I want to share the joy, and build a Pinterest community.  Just this week I created a new board, called “Obsessed with Crochet – Community” and I’ve opened it up to everyone who loves crochet.

The concept is that you join the board, either by commenting below with your Pinterest ID or sending an email to missnerisscrochet@gmail.com and then I’ll add you and together we go crazy pinning all the pins! (Clicking the image below will also take you straight to the board so you can follow it too.)

Obsessed with Crochet - Community

I’d love you to pin your projects, your inspiration, your designs.  The only real rules are that you try to pin from the original source, and not pin too many pins in a row.  Oh, and keep it crochet related.  Over time I’ll see about adding more boards, for knitting and general yarn porn.  But we need to learn to walk before we can run, right?

So what do you think?  Will you join me?

The Granny Smith Market Bag Free Pattern and Tutorial

Goodness, what a title to a blog post!

But it does mean that the pattern is here.  Once again I’ve created a handy PDF file that you can download from here safely.

Granny Smith Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes Catona

I’ve also created a separate file with a photo tutorial of the special stitch repeat that this design uses.  It’s a really simple increase method, but is convoluted and makes me scratch my head and I came up with it!

Red Delicious Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes Catona

Granny Smith Market Bag free pattern on MissNeriss #scheepjes #catona

What You’ll Need

4 x 25g mini skeins of Scheepjes Catona*
1 x 50g skein of Scheepjes Catona*
4mm crochet hook
A tapestry needle to sew in your ends.
Cute scissors (one can never have cute enough scissors).

You can pick up the yarn via any great Scheepjes retailer in the Netherlands, or via Wool Warehouse* and Deramores* internationally.

Click below to go straight to the pattern:

The Granny Smith Market Bag

and the The Granny Smith special stitch

Red Delicious Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes Catona

Or, clicking on any of the images in this post will take you straight to the pattern too.

Don’t forget to share your finished bags on social media, you can tag and follow me just about everywhere: on Instagram, Pinterest, Ravelry and Facebook.  I love seeing your finished results!

Never miss a post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Happy crocheting!

*Affliate link

Meet the Granny Smith and Red Delicious Market Bags!

Granny Smith Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes CatonaRed Delicious Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes CatonaHere they are!

I had this idea about a year ago, but it has taken me this long to actually find the time to sit down and figure out my idea on paper and in yarn.

I’m so happy with the results!  I had to take my shopping out of the Red Delicious to actually photograph it – I’ve been using it every single day since I finished making it!

And do you know what the best part about these bags are?  Look:

Red Delicious Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes Catona

Red Delicious Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes Catona

They fold up into little purses that can fit straight into your handbag or bike bags and you don’t have to worry at all about all the space they’re not taking up!

Red Delicious Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes Catona

Granny Smith Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes CatonaGranny Smith Crochet Market bag by designer @missneriss with Scheepjes CatonaThe bags are designed using the mini skeins of Scheepjes Catona, which you can pick up at loads of great retailers in NL and Belgium, or via Deramores internationally (they ship everywhere!).

The pattern is now live, you can find it HERE!

Enjoy X

Bloom Flip Flops Free Pattern

Being Australian Flip Flops are my national footwear.  Except, we don’t call them “flip flops” in Australia, but instead their real, actual scientific name – Thongs.

Back when I lived in Alice Springs I had thongs for every occasion.  I had going out thongs, nipping to the shops thongs, doing the gardening thongs, masseur thongs, beach thongs. Remember that scene from Forrest Gump where Bubba mentions all the different types of shrimp (which are actually prawns, btw)?  Well that’s me and thongs.

However, it’s taken me until now to actually make a pair for myself, and they’re crackers!Bloom Flip Flops, free pattern using Scheepjes BloomAnd not only did I make myself a pair, I created a pattern for them too!

You can check out the fast photo tutorial on Instagram here:

I created a handy PDF pattern as well, with step by step instructions and loads of photos.  Click the heading below:

Bloom Flip Flops

I used Scheepjes Bloom for the design, which is a great woven worsted weight yarn, and is slightly mercerised.  It’s just perfect for this sort of project.  It won’t discolour, and nor will it break easily.  Plus it’s available in about a million colours. (Well, almost 60.  Australians are also prone to exaggeration.)

You can pick up Scheepjes Bloom at any Scheepjes retailer, Caro’s Atelier* in NL or Wool WarehouseDeramores* internationally.

You can pick up the Scheepjes Flip Flop soles at Deramores* too.

One great retailer in NL is Pera and Pasha (and they stock the Bloom too, so two birds, one stone!).

Now, which occasion do you think I should use these for?  Picking up the kids thongs?Bloom Flip Flops, free pattern using Scheepjes BloomBloom Flip Flops, free pattern using Scheepjes Bloom

*Affiliate links.

WIP Wednesday

Last week I was showing off the beautiful colours that I received in the post from Scheepjes, and today I’m showing you my progress!

Scheepjes Catona Scheepjes Catona

Scheepjes Catona

It’s growing quickly.  The mesh stitch makes for fast crocheting!

The mercerised cotton that is Catona is a really easy yarn to work with.  Smooth and not splitty, and perfect on the 4mm hook I’m using here.

2015-06-30 13.05.47 2015-06-30 13.05.16-1 2015-07-11 10.57.23

I think next week you’ll be able to see the finished product, so stay tuned!

Never miss a post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

My Favourite Day: Yarn Day!

As you will have seen last week I shared the pattern for my Flopsy Bunny using the Scheepjes Catona, and I enjoyed working with it so much I was struck with more ideas for cool designs, so I immediately jumped on the order machine (laptop) to pick out some colours.  I decided to go for two ranges – reds and greens.

Scheepjes Catona https://instagram.com/p/5XcCNPnWuN/?taken-by=miss__neriss2015-07-09 17.08.50-1

Scheepjes Catona https://instagram.com/p/5XcCNPnWuN/?taken-by=miss__nerissI’m thinking apples.  Red Delicious and Granny Smith.

Now, I’d best get cracking.

Never miss a post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

The Flopsy Bunny Amigurumi Reveal and Free Crochet Pattern!

Well, Hello There!

Flop-Eared Bunny free pattern by @MissNeriss made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeinsThe cutest little flop-eared bunny is ready to be shared with you, along with the instructions as to how to make him for yourself.

I’ve created the pattern as a handy pdf file which you can safely download from here and enjoy.  But before that, here are some more photos:

Flop-Eared Bunny free pattern by @MissNeriss made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeinsFlop-Eared Bunny free pattern by @MissNeriss made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeins Flop-Eared Bunny free pattern by @MissNeriss made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeins Flop-Eared Bunny free pattern by @MissNeriss made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeins

He’s right at home there amongst my daughter’s favourite stuffed animals, but sadly he can’t stay.  He’s about to be bundled up into luggage and sent of to Perth to a new home with the son of my oldest friend.  I know he’ll be well loved.

Right, so let’s get to it.  To start making your own bunny, click this PDF file:

Flopsy Bunny Pattern

Or, clicking on any of the images in this post will take you straight to the pattern too.  If you have any problems opening the pdf, shoot me a message via my Contact page.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention the size!  Flopsy bunny is about 20cm tall when finished.  A great size for toddler hands.

Don’t forget to share your finished bunnies on social media, you can tag and follow me just about everywhere: on Instagram, Pinterest, Ravelry and Facebook.  I love seeing your finished results!

Never miss a post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Happy crocheting!

Revisiting my First Love: Amigurumi. A Project begins…

It’s been ages since I made any Amigurumi.  There was a long time there where it was all I made.  I have a few favourite designers, including A Morning Cup of Jo Creations and Local Legend Dendennis.  I’ve also long been a fan of the Zoomigurumi books, with just about all of them in my collection.

But amigurumi and I have been on a break.  It was only recently when I posted a photo on Instagram for #ThrowbackThursday that the desire reignited.

So I got online and ordered myself a few of the brand new Scheepjes Catona minis so I could get cracking.

25g Mini Skeins of Scheepjes Catona - perfect size for amigurumi projects!

I ordered three, as usually one 50g skein of yarn is not quite enough and two is too many.  What a gap Scheepjes has managed to fill here, seriously!  I hate having leftovers.  I never use them and I always buy too many different types of yarn to be able to make a scrap project, so these mini skeins suit me right down to the ground.

I couldn’t wait to get started on my project, which is going to be a floppy-eared bunny.  I’ve already made loads of progress, with only the final touches to be made before I can show you the end result and share the pattern with you!

Ears, arms and legs for the flop-eared bunny made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeins by MissNeriss

I’ve really struggled with the ears though.  I wanted them to be long and floppy, but not too wide and not too narrow.  I think I’ve finally nailed it (on the left).

Ears, arms and legs for the flop-eared bunny made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeins by MissNerissAnd the assembly is easy, but sewing all the bits and pieces on takes the time and I have to be extra vigilant not to prick my finger and get blood all over the lovely vintage yellow.

Ears, arms and legs for the flop-eared bunny made with Scheepjes Catona mini-skeins by MissNeriss

So, wish me luck keeping my fingers prick-free, I’m off to sew him all together and makes sure the pattern makes sense for you in time to share this time next week!

If you want to pick up the Catona mini-skeins for yourselves, you can at your local retailer in NL and BE, or via Deramores.com, who ship worldwide.