Tag Archives: hand made

Peek-a-Boo Button Wrap – For Kids!

Posted on March 3, 2016 | 9 comments

I’m really not a fan of Dutch winters. I’ve had this wrap ready to show you for ages, but haven’t had any decent light-filled days to photograph it. Finally at the weekend there was glorious sunshine, so Raina and I spent the morning outside taking pics.

Raina really loves her wrap. It looks cute on her, don’t you think?

The Scheepjes Stone Washed XL is also a seriously snuggly yarn. Even though it’s a cotton/acrylic blend, it’s warm enough that Raina had no complaints about the cold when it was only 5 degrees outside!

I’m in the process of writing the instructions for kids sizes. I need to get hold of a few different sized kids and a tape measure!

Stay tuned, the instructions and measurements are coming soon.

You can pick up the yarn at Scheepjes retailers all over the Benelux, or internationally from Wool Warehouse*.

*Affiliate Link

9 Comments

Posted in free pattern, Scheepjes, Stone Washed

Tagged crochet, free pattern, haken, hand made, MissNeriss, pattern, peek-a-boo button wrap, 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!

*Affiliate link

14 Comments

Posted in Pattern, Patterns, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Tutorials

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

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

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.

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!

3 Comments

Posted in Monday, Projects

Tagged baby, breastfeed, breastfeeding, craft, DIY, haken, hand crafted, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, pinspiration, teething, teething necklace, yarn

Wink’s Summer Hearts Mandala

Posted on April 18, 2014 | 6 comments

If you only follow one new blog this year, you must make sure it is A Creative Being. Everything about Wink’s blog is beautiful. The projects, the colours, the photography, everything. It’s just one amazing package of crochet goodness. I have a few of her patterns, including the Design Wars shortlisted entry Dancing Hearts Wrap and most recently, the Summer Hearts Mandala which is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! I wanted to create the mandala in line with the Crochet Collective’s Mandala Crochet Along, but I’m just useless at sticking with timelines, my life is just too busy, plus I really wanted to make this mandala as my first, and it wasn’t on their schedule (but there are some extraordinary ones, so check it out). So, I decided to sit down one night and smash it out. And smash it out I did. It’s a seriously fast pattern to work up, and it looks amazing. I had the yarn and colours that Wink used (or close enough to) on hand and I couldn’t imagine using anything else. But I had a problem. It’s difficult to see above, but instead of lying flat, the mandala has curled edges. See what I mean? So I decided to leave it for the night as it was late and I was tired, and I wanted to fix it in the morning when I was feeling fresh again. The problem I have is that although I was using the exact same yarn, and the exact same hook as the pattern, my tension is far tighter than Winks, so the edges curled up on me. This is a result of all the amigurumi projects I’ve been focusing on – you have to crochet tight so as to keep the stitches close together (I usually use at least one hook size down than what the yarn calls for). Here’s how I hold my yarn, how do you hold yours? See how tightly wrapped around my little finger it is? But instead of frogging the entire project, I decided to just rip out the last couple of rows, to where it started to curl. This is the row that was causing the problem, before that I was progressing beautifully. I decided that because it’s difficult for me to loosen my tension (old habits die hard, right?), I would go up half a hook size and try my best. I love my Clover hooks, they are the single best crochet related purchase I’ve made so far. And here we go! The finished mandala! See how beautifully flat it lies now? It has a slight curve, a bit like a saucer, but I think that’s the intention, and I love it. The Summer Hearts Mandala was a beautiful project to make, I’m definitely going to be making more, and will experiment with different colours. Would you like me to make you one? By all means feel free to get in contact, I’d be honoured. Have you made any mandalas? Which pattern is your favourite? There are so many to choose from and they’re all beautiful.

6 Comments

Posted in Drops, Projects, Tutorials, Yarn

Tagged a creative being, Art, craft, crochet, crochet pattern, haken, hand crafted, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, heart mandala, mandala, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, ravelry, summer, summer hearts mandala

Candace Scarf Pattern

Posted on April 15, 2014 | 5 comments

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared the Candace Scarf that I made for my mum? Well, in that post I promised a pattern, but of course I completely forgot to follow up until I was reminded at the weekend. Thanks for that Anke!

You can find the pattern in the description of this pin:

I also promised to tell you how I hacked the pattern as it just didn’t seem to be correct, and I also made it more fluid, so you don’t have to cut and join, which I hate doing!

Below is how the beginning rows of the scarf look:

When it comes to joining, the pattern asks you to complete the trim, fasten off, and join at the other side. I decided to leave the trim out entirely, but you can keep it in if you like. I just found it unnecessary for my tastes. (I think initially I had run out of yarn, so that was the decider for me.)

So, in the pattern, row four instructs you to make the bows, but instead I completely skipped that row and went on to the next set, because I planned to make the bows using my joining row at the end. Here’s the last row, waiting to be joined:

Instead of sewing the ends together as the pattern instructed me, holding both ends of the scarf together and working through four loops at once (both stitches), I single crocheted in the first three stitches (of both ends), chained 5, single crocheted around the three chains, from the beginning end of the scarf to make a bow, then chained 5 again, single crocheting in the next three stitches (all loops, joining both ends of the scarf). I repeated this to the end, fastened off and was done.

For me, it just made for a tidier join and also means less ends to weave in! We all hate weaving in ends, right?

If you want to retain the trim, you can use this method still, by doing the trim down one side, joining across, then going down the other side. Still no need to fasten off and join to continue, so you should be able to make the scarf in one long piece (except when you run out of yarn and have to rejoin).

I made my latest Candace Scarf using Malabrigo Silky Merino, which I picked up from houseofyarn.nl here in the Netherlands. It is such a gorgeous yarn, I promptly bought half a dozen more skeins. I have an order to make a black version, and am now on a mission to find the “perfect black”.

Any tips for a simply gorgeous yarn that is hand dyed to show variation and is merino based? (I’m dedicated to merino, having grown up on a merino sheep farm.)

5 Comments

Posted in Pattern, Patterns, Projects, Tutorials

Tagged chunky yarn, craft, crochet, crochet pattern, DIY, free pattern, haken, hand crafted, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, malabrigo, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, pattern, pinspiration, pinterest, projects, yarn

Minion 2.0

Posted on April 14, 2014 | 4 comments

My love for minions never ends. A couple of weeks ago I shared with you a new minion in progress here, and now he’s finished and has relocated to his new Gru!

I’m so happy with the way he turned out, I think he’s even better than the first one I made. The next phase is to write a pattern for him so I can share the minion goodness with everyone!

He’s much bigger than other minions I’ve made, and quite a bit fatter. He’s the perfect size for a toddler to play with, and sturdy enough that he doesn’t have to sit on a shelf out of reach. He’s a real toy.

I used Drops Paris in yellow and denim and some scrap in white, grey and black for the detailing. I used felt for the mouth and a 10mm safety eye.

You can also see more pics, and follow me, on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

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

4 Comments

Posted in Drops, Monday, Projects

Tagged amigurumi, craft, crochet, despicable me, drops, haken, hand crafted, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, minion, Obsessed with Crochet

Learning Curves

Posted on April 8, 2014 | 8 comments

I’m a great subscriber to the idea that you learn something new every day. Especially in the art of crochet. There are so many amazing techniques and resources that you are hard pressed not to learn new stuff all the time.

But I learned something I didn’t want to have to learn. The hard way. And I’m not happy about it. Gauge. In all the projects I’ve ever made, I’ve just happily skipped over the gauge section as being quite irrelevant and firmly in the “who cares” category until it came time to make a beautiful top.

My friend Tammy showed me this pattern that she planned to make, and I was immediately on the bandwagon:

Convergence top, pattern from Interweave Crochet, found on Ravelry via missneriss.com

So, I picked out the yarn, an amazing bamboo veriagated yarn from Alize and started crocheting.

The pattern calls for a 3.75mm hook and the pesky gauge tells me I should have 18 stitches and 11 rows per 10cm. Yeah, whatevs. I managed to crochet more than half the back of the top before I realised that it wasn’t going to come even close to fitting me! This top had taken a day and a half of my precious crochet time and it was completely wasted because I didn’t bother to pay attention to the gauge.

So I decided to take a step back for a couple of days and finish off the backlog of orders in my queue (which was a great thing to do, because they’re all super cute projects) and then re-evaluate.

So how have I resolved this? Well, luckily for me I didn’t buy the Noro Taiyo Sock yarn at 20 euros a piece, and the Alize was significantly cheaper, so I’ve created a swatch, have blocked it, and am (im)patiently waiting for it to dry so I can start again. It’s looking like I’ll be up to a 4.5mm hook to get the right gauge.

The colourway of this yarn is just amazing, with the pinks (that don’t appear here), purples, blues and white and is so lovely to the touch and to work with. You can pick it up (in Europe) at yarnstreet.com and check out the Ravelry projects that people have completed using my colourway (you may need to be a Ravelry member to see that link).

What’s a crucial element that you’ve learned the hard way? I’d love to hear that I’m not the only one having silly moments.

8 Comments

Posted in fail, Projects

Tagged Alize, bamboo, crochet pattern, DIY, haken, hand crafted, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, projects, ravelry, yarn

New Design: King’s Day Bunting Necklace

Posted on April 3, 2014 | 2 comments

Holland’s biggest party for the last 100 or so years – Queen’s Day – has been given a revamp. You see, last year Beloved Queen Beatrix decided to retire, and her son, Prince Willem Alexander became the first King of the Netherlands in more than 100 years.

Not only do we have a new word to learn – Koningsdag instead of Koniniginnendag (try saying that three times fast), we have a new day to celebrate – 26 April instead of 30 April. Well, I don’t know if this is the permanent date, or just the first date. You see, King Willem Alexander’s birthday falls on 27 April, which this year is a Sunday and he’s decided we can all celebrate on the Saturday instead.

Still with me?

So, to celebrate the first King’s Day, I’ve created a new design!

Want to get your hands on one? Well, you can! I’m making these for the lead up to King’s Day and they’re available to buy from my Etsy Store!

The necklace is €15 euros (plus shipping if you need it) and is made from a nickel-free silver plated chain and delicate cotton yarn.

2 Comments

Posted in Etsy, Projects

Tagged amigurumi, Art, chunky yarn, craft, crochet, etsy, haken, hand crafted, hand made, handcrafted, handmade, jewellery, King's Day, Koninginnendag, Koningsdag, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, pinspiration, pinterest, projects, Queen's Day, yarn

Tag Archives: hand made

Peek-a-Boo Button Wrap – For Kids!