MissNeriss

Bucketful of Sunshine Hat – The Big Reveal!

Posted on May 13, 2014 | 6 comments

I’ve been teasing you here, and on Instagram and Facebook with shots of yarn and half-completed projects and today, finally I can show you what I’ve been working on!

This morning I managed to convince my almost two and a half year old to pose for some photos of my new hat design, and she rocked it! So, without further ado, I present to you The Bucketful of Sunshine!

The Bucketful of Sunshine is made using three shades of yellow Scheepjeswol Cotton 8 (508, 551, and 655) working from light to dark, creating a really cool ombre effect.

The sunburst on the side is actually inspired by a free pattern by Petals to Picots and doctored a little to minimise the cutting and joining (because we all know how much I avoid weaving in multiple ends wherever possible).

I used the V-Stitch, making it perfect for the summer months to come. Light, airy and full of sunshine. I’m working on a tutorial for the V-Stitch for lefties as it happens, so keep an eye out for that too!

I’ve just loved working with Scheepjes Cotton 8. It has become my favourite cotton yarn and will surely be my future go-to. I love the feel of it, I love the look of it and to get this project just right I frogged and frogged and frogged, and yet it holds up brilliantly. No splitting, catching, breaking or any other annoying yarn habits. What also makes it an enormously appealing yarn is that Scheepjeswol a Dutch company, and I’m all about supporting local businesses.

And possibly, what I’m most proud about this project is that it has given me the opportunity to produce a pattern! And a free one at that! Stay tuned next week and I’ll have a pattern in a toddler size at the very least, with plans for babies and adults in the works too…

What do you think? Don’t I have the cutest kid? She’s sunshine personified, and The Bucketful of Sunshine was wholly inspired by her.

6 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged bucketful of sunshine, cotton, cotton 8 cotton8, cotton yarn, crochet, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, spring, summer, sunshine, yarn, yellow

Project pile: Summer Dress

Posted on May 10, 2014 | 3 comments

I always tend to have at least three projects on the go. Right now I’m finishing up a couple of Elephant Snuggles, plus an exciting design that is just about ready to share with you, along with the Convergence top, another Spring Shawl, and a vintage Dutch pattern that I’m translating and altering!

Not one to just let that be enough, now I’ve added this one to the list:

And the yarn I’m going to use is the absolutely gorgeous Softfun yarn from Scheepjeswol.

As soon as the elephants are done, I’ll get started. Can’t wait!

Oh wait, I forgot. I’m also working on a Candace Scarf too!

3 Comments

Posted in Pinterest, Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Yarn

Tagged crochet, etsy, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, softfun, yarn

Mother’s Day Giveaway!

Posted on May 9, 2014 | Leave a comment

There are only two more days to go to enter the special Mother’s Day Giveaway that I’m hosting together with Smart Tinker and a host of amazing businesses.

You can win a bunting necklace made by me, a copy of my favourite book, Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, a cake pop voucher, a boudoir photo shoot, a dinner voucher, a beautiful illustration, plus a huge list of prizes.

To enter, head over to Smart Tinker by clicking on the image below, and GOOD LUCK!

The Pin That Keeps on Pinning

Posted on May 8, 2014 | 1 comment

The power of Pinterest just keeps on amazing me. I pinned this image months and months ago and it is still being pinned multiple times every single day.

It’s easily my most repinned image

This pin from the same post is also doing pretty well for itself:

Pinterest has been the most rewarding of all the social media channels that I use. It drives the most traffic to my website, and has brought me the most amount of followers. It has also pushed me to take better photos, and to label and tag ALL of the photos that I add to this site, because let’s face it, what value does an image with (12958.jpg) as a title have?

Little tips from me: I always label pins with what they are, and a short description. I always add my website, and am also starting to use hashtags as well.

And a big tip: to get your pins noticed and repinned, join community boards with lots of followers. Someone else has already done the really hard work of attracting followers and you can reap the rewards in terms of pins and traffic back to your site.

And just because, here is another favourite that I see alerts for almost daily:

How do you use Pinterest? Do you find it adds value and is worth the effort?

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Working with Scheepjes – a Colour Riot

Posted on May 6, 2014 | 2 comments

I love Scheepjeswol Cotton 8. I knew I would, but I think it might be my new favourite cotton yarn. I love that it’s soft, and I love that it doesn’t have the mercerized look and I LOVE the colours!

For my latest design I’m using the beautiful shades of yellow, working on an ombre look. There’s quite a bit of experimentation going on with rows and colours to get the gradient just right. It’s difficult because my brain wants me to make sure all the rows are even, but the look is much better if it’s not.

Because I’m making a spring project, I’m wanting lots of space between stitches, I decided on the V-Stitch, which is absolutely perfect. I’m now working on the courage to come up with a video tutorial on how to do the stitch, especially for other lefties like me. But I need my own Dorothy and perhaps a trip to Oz for that. We shall see…

I love the way the V-Stitch looks, and for this project I’m using two strands together, which gives it a great textured look too.

But what will the project be? Well, that remains to be seen! Here are a few hints:

You’ll just have to wait until next week for the Big Reveal!

Have you tried Scheepjeswol Cotton 8? What do you think?

2 Comments

Posted in Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol

Tagged cotton 8, cotton8, crochet, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, spring, yarn, yellow

Spring Shawl – It’s Huge!

Posted on May 1, 2014 | 4 comments

Finished. After a month of picking it up and putting it down, it’s finally done. And much more beautiful, and bigger, than I could have anticipated.

It took a good day to block and dry, and was too big for my blocking board, so I had to break out the yoga mat so it would fit!

View this post on Instagram

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

I’m just in love with it. The colour, the texture, how soft it is, it’s a complete package.

And here’s the cutest little photo bomber ever:

I used Malabrigo Silky Merino in Madre Perla (four skeins) that I picked up from houseofyarn.nl. This shade is sold out, but there are lots of other beautiful ones to choose from.

I used the Spring Shawl pattern that I posted here and added a row of double crochets and picots for the edging because I found the original pattern finally!!!!

4 Comments

Posted in Pattern, Projects, Yarn

Tagged crochet, crochet pattern, DIY, free pattern, haken, hand crafted, handcrafted, handmade, malabrigo, merino, MissNeriss, pattern, ravelry, spring shawl, yarn

Yarn Love

Posted on April 29, 2014 | 2 comments

Look what arrived for me this week! The postman is already one of my good friends, but this may well have elevated him to BFF status.

It went straight into my project bag, and to the top of the project queue.

This last Saturday was King’s Day here in the Netherlands. The first King’s Day ever I think. We haven’t had a king here since the end of the 1800s, but for the longest time we’ve always celebrated Queen’s Day with fabulous national holiday and one of the biggest parties on the entire planet.

King’s Day in Amsterdam, photo by Caitlyn from olympicwanderings.com

My favourite part of King’s Day is the free market. Everybody pours out onto the streets and sets up their own little stall, selling all their old stuff. It usually starts the night before, with the really serious sellers and buyers camping out over night to get the best bargains and make the biggest profits. Most of it is junk though. We come across the same woman selling the same Disney videos (that’s right, videos) every year, so she’s obviously not in it for the money!

Speaking of junk, one man’s trash is another woman’s treasure, as they say. We bought loads of cool things, including a brand new rain coat for our daughter, lots of picture books and I even found a loom! However, this was my number one score for the weekend:

View this post on Instagram

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

Originally this case housed massage machine from an era long past, but was only interested in the packaging. A quick spray with some paint and gingham lining and I have myself the cutest little project case in the world!

Scheepjeswol Cotton 8 is a yarn that I haven’t had the chance to work with yet, but I know for sure that it will be a perfect fit for me. Its vibrant colours are perfect for summer and it’s so, so soft. It will be brilliant for amigurumi.

But that’s not the destiny of this batch. Instead I have another project in mind. Something beautiful for warm summer days.

Stay tuned and there’ll be a pattern in it for you….

2 Comments

Posted in Projects, Scheepjeswol, Yarn

Tagged cotton, cotton 8, craft, crochet, crochet pattern, free pattern, haken, handmade, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, projects, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, summer, yarn

Image

Yarn Porn

Remember when I visited Breidag a few weeks ago? My yarn order from Textielwerk Wol en zo arrived, and it is just extraordinarily beautiful. It’s a gorgeous hand dyed (at their workshop) merino yarn and I can’t wait to play with it.

But what am I going to make? Well, initially I was going to make the Convergence top that I haven’t shut up about, but now I’m not so sure. I definitely want to make some sort of garment, but am wondering what.

Any suggestions? There’s about 1200 metres to play with…

I saw This on Pinterest Today

Posted on April 21, 2014 | Leave a comment

Starflower Mandala #Crochet #FreePattern: zootyowlcards.blo… #TheCrochetLounge #Mandala Find

Crochet Teething Bead Necklace

Posted on April 21, 2014 | 3 comments

When asked to make a teething necklace by a friend, I couldn’t get to my my local craft quick enough. I was on my bike before the request was even in.

Here’s what I came out with:

The idea behind the teething necklace is to give a baby a safe and interesting distraction while breastfeeding. The baby can play with the balls and feel the different textures instead of digging their sharp little fingernails into already sensitive and tender skin. I wish I’d thought of it when I was breastfeeding.

I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, and how I was going to do it, but I decided to wing it and see what evolved. And here’s what did:

I made it as simple as I possibly could, and also so that the beads could be taken off and rearranged into what ever style or colour combo that takes your fancy. I love it. The next one will be a rainbow coloured one. Just need more beads!