Tag Archives: handcrafted

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

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

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:

6 Comments

Posted in Pattern, Patterns, Projects, Scheepjes, Scheepjeswol, Tutorials

Tagged crochet, crochet pattern, crochet v-neck, DIY, free pattern, haken, handcrafted, handmade, MissNeriss, Obsessed with Crochet, pattern, projects, ravelry, scheepjes, scheepjeswol, stone washed, tutorial, v-neck, yarn

Crochet Hack: Straight Edge Double Crochet

Posted on June 12, 2014 | 1 comment

You know how much I love a good crochet hack. I love a good foundation single crochet, and I LOVE Moogly’s Chainless Starting Double Crochet so much that I use it exclusively. Well, I did. Now I have a new love. It’s Mamachee’s Double Crochet Hack! Seriously, this hack has revolutionised my crochet style! Let me show you some examples.

I’ve been working on this Convergence top for about a month now, and for the first half of the back side, I used Moogly’s version, but on the top half I started using Mamachee’s. Can you spot the difference?

Both are excellent methods, but you can see the edging to the right is almost perfectly straight. And firm. It’s going to be excellent when the time comes (in another month or so?) to sew the sides together.

You can really see the difference on the feature rows of the top. Here’s the Moogly version: Convergence Edging - Moogly version

And here’s the Mamachee version:

Great, isn’t it!

Want the hack? Get it here:

Image from mamachee.com

1 Comment

Posted in Crochet Hacks, Tutorials

Tagged craft, crochet, crochet hack, crochet pattern, DIY, double crochet, haken, handcrafted, handmade, MissNeriss, straight double crochet, tutorial

Project Pile | Is that another Candace Scarf?

Posted on June 10, 2014 | 2 comments

Why, yes it is!

This is a scarf I made for a family friend, and it flew off to Australia with my brother when he went home last week.

This time I used Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce that I picked up from wolwereld.nl and I also decided to add a border which worked very well too.

Instead of using a particular stitch count, what I did was line my stitches up with the middle of the bows and the mid-point of the space between.

5DC in the same stitch, SC in the mid-stitch between the bows, then 5DC in the middle stitch of the bow. This ensured that I didn’t have any left over stitches from mis-counting (which can easily happen when you have a long project to border) and it looks great.

I also used the wonderful hack that I found on Mamachee, so I saved a lot of yarn by not having to do a SC round first. More on that hack in a post coming soon!

Want the pattern? Grab it here: The Candace Scarf.

2 Comments

Posted in Projects, Yarn

Tagged chunky yarn, craft, crochet, crochet pattern, free pattern, haken, hand crafted, handcrafted, handmade, malabrigo, projects, yarn

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

Waiting for this to dry after blocking. It's so big that it wouldn't fit on mats, so out came the trusty wii fit yoga mat! I'm so pleased the weather is gorgeous because I want it to HURRY UP AND DRY ALREADY!! You can get the pattern for this via my website, it's free! #crochet #spring #freepattern #malabrigo

A post shared by Nerissa | Crochet | Haken 🇦🇺🇳🇱 (@miss__neriss) on Apr 25, 2014 at 5:52am PDT

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

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.)