MissNeriss

Crochet Induced Insomnia

Posted on October 13, 2014 | Leave a comment

Last night I couldn’t sleep. I’ve never been a great sleeper, but since my daughter was born two and a half years ago, my old friend insomnia hasn’t been around much. Physical exhaustion has won the day mostly. But last night I couldn’t switch off. All I could think about were the mounting crochet projects that I have on the go, plus a mass of life business.

I’m in the process of applying for permanent residency here in the Netherlands, and I have to find the time to fit in a trip to Amsterdam to have my photo taken and to be fingerprinted (that’s new). Plus a host of my actual career projects that have to be done all at once and some semblance of a social life that I need to keep going – If I don’t, I’ll be out of friends! There’s only so long you can say “I’m so sorry, I’m just too busy!” before people stop believing you.

So needless to say, last night I was awake with my brain racing and trying to process everything that’s going on in my life while I was frantically adding items to my Must Do list. In and in an attempt to distract myself, I did what any social media freak would do, I checked Facebook, Instagram and then Pinterest. I had quite a few Pinterest alerts to check and was gobsmacked when I saw that one of my pins had been repinned 999 times!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nerissa 👩🏼🇦🇺🇳🇱 (@miss__neriss)

I’ve talked about this pin before, back when it had around 200 repins and I was amazed at that number, but now this morning it has cracked 1000 repins, and just won’t stop!

I have a few pins that I see getting a lot of (P)interest daily, including

and

Incidentally, I’ve never made this monkey. I just pinned it because I thought it was so cute.

The Dickie Birds are also doing well:

Ok, now I’ll shut up about Pinterest, sign off and go start work for the day. That To Do list won’t do itself!

Oh, and PS. If you want to pin the Elephant Snuggle yourself, you can:

Colour Challenges

Posted on October 9, 2014 | 1 comment

I love colour. My wardrobe is full of pinks, blues, greens and oranges (obviously I have to have orange – I live in the Netherlands). The trouble is, I don’t know how to put it together. I tend to find one colour combo that works and stick to it because I just don’t have a clue if this colour will go with that colour. I also have a tendency to buy what I like, forgetting to consider what I already have in my wardrobe that will match.

The problem has really spilled over to crochet. I have hundreds of different shades of yarns, but struggle to put them together and make a colour palette. It’s something that I’ve really been working on recently, trying to make easier, sensible choices. And by sensible, I mean complementary!

Enter Kirsten. We met at a blogger day in Tynaarlo of all places when we both went to visit the Scheepjeswol HQ in the summer (although it was the wettest summer day, ever). Kirsten writes a beautiful blog: Haak Maar Raak and has just recently hit Publish on a post that I must share with you right now!

In the post there are four fantastic tips which will help even the most colour-challenged among us (myself, mainly), including – you gotta read it to get it – squinting!

Can’t wait to put all of the tips into practice!

Colours to base a project palette, via haakmaarraak.nl and http://www.towneandreese.com/

Image courtesy of Kirsten’s Pinterest Board, Pure Awesomeness. Originally from http://www.towneandreese.com/

Read the tips for yourself Here.

What are your favourite rules to live by when it comes to creating a colour palette?

1 Comment

Posted in Curation

Tagged colour, haak maar raak, pinterest

Big Reveal – Miniman’s Nursing Necklace

Posted on October 7, 2014 | 4 comments

I just had to share this photo first. Isn’t that the cutest face you’ve ever seen, and can you even imagine that this baby has an identical twin?! It’s almost too much to bear!

Introducing Miniman’s Nursing Necklace. Unfortinately Miniman himself doesn’t live in the neighbourhood to pose for pictures himself, so I borrowed one of my friend Stephanie’s adorable babies for the morning so you could see for yourself how this wonderful necklace works.

The idea is that mama wears this while baby is nursing, or playing, or snuggling, or generally making mischief and it keeps those fingers occupied and out of mama’s hair, earrings, necklaces and from scratching sensitive skin. It also helps baby focus on the task at hand (essentially: feeding) and minimises distractions from the surrounding environment. When I took these pics, there were two toddlers running wild, another twin and also a dog around the place, but the necklace firmly captured this little one’s attention. Even when there was a real distraction, she wasn’t letting those beads go!

And…straight back again.

Next week, I’ll show you step-by-step how you can make one of these for yourself. You don’t have to be a nursing mama to wear one of these either – they are a lovely stylish accessory even if you don’t have one of these adorable twins to share!

The tutorial is now live, you can get it here!

P.S. I’ve also added this to the really cool Hookin on Hump Day link sharing party. Go check out all the great projects!

4 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged amigurumi, baby, baby necklace, cotton 8, craft, crochet, crochet pattern, free pattern, haken, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, jewellery, MissNeriss, nursing, nursing necklace, Obsessed with Crochet, pattern, pinterest, projects, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, teething necklace, yarn

What is this Baby Project..?

Posted on September 30, 2014 | 3 comments

So here it is. A work in progress. Wooden beads, blue yarn, what will it be?

I love working with this Scheepjes Cotton 8, it really is becoming one of my favourite yarns. Although, for it to be perfect, it would be DK weight. I just like to use a bigger hook and heavier yarn, so projects work up quicker. But that’s just my instant gratification personality shining through!

I’m busy covering the wooden beads with the yarn. In the past I’ve just made balls and stuffed them with filling, but the roundness was just lacking a bit, and by using a wooden bead it just adds the right amount of weight and shape.

And look who I caught trying to run steal one as I was taking pictures. Isn’t that chubby little hand delicious? No wonder she’s always covered in kisses and cuddles!

It’s nearly finished and ready to be shipped to its new home in America, but you’ll have to wait until next week to see the end result!

3 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Uncategorized, WIP, Yarn

Tagged cotton 8, crochet pattern, DIY, free pattern, haken, handcrafted, handmade, MissNeriss, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, WIP, yarn

How a Granny Became a Hexie

Posted on September 25, 2014 | 2 comments

A couple of months ago Simply Crochet magazine launched a brand new Granny Square app which I discovered via creJJtion on Instagram and although I don’t often make Grannies – as you know, I hate weaving in ends and changing colours on each round creates a tonne of ends – I loved the pics people were sharing using the #GrannySquareMonday and #SimplyCrochetApp hashtags that I wanted to join the fun!

Of course, it all went wrong right from the start! I decided to begin with Granny Audrey as she was the prettiest so far and off I went, following the chart. Or so I thought! Towards the end I started scratching my head wondering why it wasn’t looking like the picture until it hit me – I can’t count! Instead of creating a Granny Audrey, Hexie Audrey was born instead!

I decided that I may as well run with it and added a border round so I at least had something to show for the effort before going back to the chart and actually reading the instructions and counting my stitches instead of acting like the proverbial bull in a china shop.

But at the end of the day, I have to say that I like Hexie Audrey better than Granny!

So just because I love the end result so much, I’ve created a chart of the pattern for you. Bear with me, chart making is NOT my forte, and I don’t have any fancy software to do it (yet), so my hand drawn version will just have to do.

Don’t forget to check out Granny Audrey on the Simply Crochet Granny app and download the free weekly squares. And then you must share them on Instagram! You can follow me here

2 Comments

Posted in Monday, Pattern, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Tagged crochet, free pattern, granny, granny audrey, granny square, granny square app, hexie, pattern, simply crochet

It’s Yarn Day!

Posted on September 23, 2014 | Leave a comment

I love it when yarn arrives. It’s like Christmas. All year round. I get really upset if I miss the postie and there are no neighbours around to take in my packages and I have to trek to the post office the next afternoon to pick it up. The anticipation is just too much for me to bear.

Here’s what’s arrived today. More Scheepjes Cotton 8. This time in blues instead of yellows. Isn’t it beautiful?

I absolutely love this yarn. It’s such a great cotton. It’s soft and strong, and the perfect weight for baby projects.

So baby project it is! But what? You’ll just have to check back next week and see for yourself. For now, the yarn has gone straight into my project box and to the top of the pile of my never-ending To Do list.

Two Shawls in a Week?

Posted on September 2, 2014 | 9 comments

I’m a bit late to the shawl game. I spent a long time making hats, scarves and amigurumis, and only really started making shawls a few months ago. Mainly because I just don’t have the patience for the big projects. But something has happened. Suddenly I finished two shawls within the space of a week! The first was a really quick project that I saw in a recent edition of Simply Crochet because I had some gorgeous Malabrigo Silky Merino that needed to become something, and the other was a Spring Shawl I promised to make my gran back in March!

Gran requested a shawl in blues and turquoise, and I found the perfect bamboo yarn by Turkish brand Alize. The yarn is so incredibly soft and light and the drape is perfection. The weight is just perfect. It won’t slip of Gran’s shoulders and will be perfect for the chilly evenings as summer approaches in South Australia. I wonder if I can use Perfect in a sentence again..?

It’ll be lovely as a scarf too.

Isn’t the colour gorgeous? The only superficial complaint I would have is that perhaps the colour change is a bit too regular. I can see that it’s not hand dyed yarn, but I think the colour blend is beautiful.

I found the yarn at yarnstreet.com which has a huge selection of yarns from Turkey, and has fantastic prices. I used a 4.5mm hook and the yarn has loads of stretch, so when I blocked it the shawl almost doubled in size. I started it back in March, but so many other projects got in the way it took six months to complete!

I have this habit of buying yarn for the sake of having beautiful yarn, so when I saw a shawl in a recent Simply Crochet edition I decided to give it a go to actually use some of it.

I love design that works is way through, and the silky merino is really my favourite shawl yarn. I used a 4.5mm hook, and two full skeins of the Silky Merino. Before blocking the shawl was very small because my stitches are always so tight, so I really had to stretch it out while blocking. Now it has a lovely lavender aroma from the Eucalan I used.

I’m not too sure what to do with it though. I already have more scarves than I can possibly wear, so I might put this one in my Etsy store. It’s a bit too soft though, I don’t really want to part with it.

9 Comments

Posted in Projects, Yarn

Tagged Alize, bamboo, batik, malabrigo, MissNeriss, simply crochet, spring shawl, yarn

Pinspiration – Local Love

Posted on August 29, 2014 | 2 comments

You know how much I love social media. Facebook was my first love (well, I did have brief fling with Myspace back in the day), and now we’ve evolved into an old married couple, comfortable and predictable. Twitter and I had a brief but intense relationship until one day I realised it just wasn’t for me and walked away. These days I’m in love with Instagram. I love the photos by people I’ve never met and I love the way it has brought some wonderful talented photographers into my life. And the yarn porn! OMG, it’s an addiction.

But through it all is Pinterest. Pinterest is my Great Love. And Pinterest loves me too. Over the last year, it has driven more traffic to my website than all other social media combined. Isn’t that mad? And now the analytics have improved, it’s incredible to see how far the reach actually goes.

What I also love is that with Pinterest you can engage easily with beautiful images and projects from people all over the world; the concept of Six Degrees of Separation is alive and well on Pinterest. Last week a friend told me about a project of mine that appeared on her Facebook feed via a friend that had pinned one of my images, all the way across the world in Melbourne!

But today, I want to share some Local Love. Some designers that I’ve come across via the Internet, and since had the enormous pleasure of meeting in person.

Flower Stole by creJJtion

I love everything that Maaike makes. I love her style and I love her colour choices. I love her ethos and how her projects make me want to be a more conscious crocheter.

Win a Furls Yarn bowl on acreativebeing.com

Wink is a blogger I discovered about a year ago via the tuts+ website. I was looking to make a rug (which never eventuated), and she created a tutorial for one on the site. I spent the rest of the day devouring her website.

Happy in Red’s love affair with Istanbul’s yarn district

Even though Esther is a crochet blogger, it wasn’t via crochet that I first came across her work – it was thanks to this bag that she designed. I love it!

Haak Maar Raak’s Vintage Ripple Blanket

I can’t get enough of this vintage ripple blanket. Kirsten is a blogger that I only recently discovered while I was expanding my blog horizon into Dutch language blogs. Both Kirsten and Esther write in Dutch and English, a feat I’m yet to attempt!

Canadutch’s Lopi cardi

You already know how much I love Tammy. She knits as well as she crochets, and she’s just generally awesome.

2 Comments

Posted in Pinterest, Uncategorized

Tagged a creative being, canadutch, crejjtion, crochet, dutch bloggers, haakmaarraak, haken, happy in red, MissNeriss, nederlandse haak blog

Stash Storage

Posted on August 22, 2014 | 2 comments

A couple of weeks ago I shared an image of my creative workspace, and how it is slowly taking over our living room and this last week I needed to find a colour for a project I’m working on and this happened:

It sparked a curiosity into how we all store our yarn. I’ve of course seen a million Pinterest Perfect images, but how do we store it in real life, and not just for taking pictures for our #socalledfacebooklife. So I’m sharing mine.

Here’s where I store my yarn:

Isn’t it just a beautiful cupboard? I bought it from a friend with the intention of moving it upstairs to be a wardrobe for my daughter now that she has graduated from baby furniture, but it’s so heavy and a bit of a tight squeeze to get up the stairs that after an argument on the first morning my husband and I abandoned the idea. It’s a deep corner cupboard and I just love it.

Meanwhile, here’s what my stash looked like last week:

Not particularly organised, is it. Every few months I go through and sort it all out, but as the collection grows (and grows) I don’t seem to be able to keep on top of it.

I had a bit of a tidy up last week, so here’s how it looks today:

Better. Not great, and not ideal, but better. Ideally I’m going to update an upstairs storage room into a craft/escape room. Right now it’s my husband’s computer room, but he rarely uses it any more, so I’d like to add shelving and a nice workspace for us both to be able to use. It’s one of those never-ending discussions though. He has a desk that was his fathers and made by his grandfather that he’s very attached to, but I hate. Not because it’s ugly, but because it doesn’t fit the space *at all* but he won’t part with it.

So until the desk issue is resolved, here’s how my yarn will have to stay. I store it by brand and weight. I love the pretty pictures of the colours all being together, but I need to know how much of one yarn I have. Everything is in zip lock bags and perched on top of one another in the cupboard, ready to topple at any moment. Kind of like my life, I guess.

How do you store your yarn? I’d love to see, post some pics to my Facebook page! Do you have any ideas how I can improve this, bearing in mind that it’s a corner cupboard, so is a triangular shape?

2 Comments

Posted in Off Topic, Yarn

Jasper V Pattern – All the Sizes!! (S, M, L, XL)

Posted on August 19, 2014 | 6 comments

Here it is! The biggest and most daunting crochet project I have ever undertaken, completely finished!

I have to say, I’m a bit sad that it’s all over and I can move on to focus on the next big project, but I’m so relieved to have all the sizes worked out and ready to go.

What I have done for the smaller sizes is to update the diagram only. I’m not re-writing the entire pattern; instead that can be used as a guide to get started, and the diagram has all the stitch and row counts, which is the clearest description. The edging is so straight forward that I feel what is written in the original pattern will get you through.

Remember though, if you need any help at all, please just contact me. I’ve added a contact form below so you can do it painlessly.

Here we go!

The original pattern post with all the written instructions is found at this link.

The attachments with the different sizes are all attached to this post as pdf files. You will need a program such as Adobe Reader (or similar) to be able to read this file.

Jasper V Size Small

Jasper V Size Medium

Jasper V Size Large

Jasper V Size XL

Please, please do note: the only size that has been tested by me is the XL – the smaller sizes have been created using mathematical magic and are not tested. I’m relying on your help for that! If you’re making the top and it feels like it will be a little tight, please don’t panic – the stitch has a lot of give; a good 5-10 cm! Think about the yardage of the smaller sizes, you won’t need as much as I did making the XL size (about 1100 metres).

I do value any and all feedback, but please don’t be mean. And remember above all that this is a free pattern – together we can improve it.

This is an original design by Nerissa Muijs. Please do not reproduce this pattern or sell this pattern as your own work. Please share it on your social networks, linking it back to the original source. Please also feel free to sell items made from this pattern and please credit me by linking my website: missneriss.com. All images are the property of Nerissa Muijs, and if you would like to repost the originals, please send me a message to ask my permission before the fact.

Most importantly though, please share pictures of your work with me, by adding them to Ravelry or to my Facebook page, or even via an email.

Enjoy!

Need help, or want to ask a question, go for it here:

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