Blog Archives

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Give it a “Whirl”

Scheepjes Whirl has hit stockists and it won’t last long, I promise you.

Scheepjes Whirl: http://shrsl.com/?gugr

I have Slice O’ Cherry Pie and Lavenderlicious, plus Popin Candy with which I’ve made a beautiful new design with which will be launched soon!

Scheepjes Whirl: http://shrsl.com/?gugr

Scheepjes Whirl: http://shrsl.com/?gugr

I’ve tried a few of these long changing yarns in the past, and haven’t really been enamoured because oh man, they split!  The Whirl is constructed differently though, so it feels like Cotton 8 with it’s higher twist.

The yarn is available from your favourite Scheepjes stockists in the Benelux, or Wool Warehouse* for worldwide shipping.

Tell me in the comments which colourway you love most and what you’re planning to make, I can’t wait to hear!

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Taking Over

This is my “Office”.

I have so many projects on the go at once I’m a bit buried in yarn and, well, stuff.

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Oh how I’d love one of those Pinterest Perfect studios, but alas, I have 115 square metres of house and most of it is taken up by toys, records and more toys!

What does your crochet space look like?

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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.

superwash merino DK on missneriss.com #yarn

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…

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Wednesday WIP

One of this week’s works in progress:

I still love minions, can’t ever get enough of them.

Meanwhile, I’m also working on another Spring Shawl, plus a kangaroo and red panda from the third Zoomigurumi book and have received the amazing Alize bamboo yarn from yarnstreet.com to make my Convergence top.  Busy busy.

Oh, and I’m about to start a Mandala Crochet-along with the Creative Crochet Collective on Facebook and I’m going to make this mandala:

What are you doing on this lovely Wednesday?

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WIP Wednesday

It’s taken ages, but finally I get to make Kevin the minion! I’m loving this little guy, and can’t wait to see how he ends up when he’s all done.

I initially went searching for a pattern, but the only one that I loved was All About Ami’s but it was much too big, so I decided to make my own.

He’s working up quickly too, which is what I love about amigurumi projects – instant gratification!

How much do you love minions?  Probably not as much as I do….

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Cabbage Patch Kids are the new Black

I’m calling it. Minions are over and Cabbage Patch Kids are back! Well, I don’t really believe that myself, but it seems everywhere I look I see cute babies wearing Cabbage Patch Kids hats.

Did you have one as a child? I think I was the only girl at school not to have one (I didn’t have any My Little Ponies either, poor me) and now all of a sudden I’m in an age group where it’s time to be nostalgic for all things 80s!

This last week I had two orders to make these Cabbage Patch Kids hats, and I found a great free pattern from the Dearest Debi site. The pattern is for a newborn, but it is extremely easy to up-size it to whatever you need.

Here are the results of my endeavours:

Cabbage Patch Kid hat on missneriss.com.  Based on a FREE pattern by Dearest Debi.

What do you think about this new craze to be rocking the crochet world? I’ve never been a fan of Cabbage Patch Kids. I prefer the Garbage Gang/pail Kids instead. But everything comes back into fashion, so best to just embrace it!

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Happy New Year, Crochet a Mood Blanket!

Beste Wensen!

That’s me wishing you best wishes for the new year.  Usually I would be expected to do a lap of the office kissing my colleagues giving them my best wishes, but as I now work from home, consider this my virtual smooch.

2014 is already off to a great start.  I look out the window and it is glorious.  The sun is shining and the temperatures haven’t properly dropped yet, so I’ve never been in such a good mood for the middle of winter, ever!

I’m not usually one for resolutions, as I never keep them, but I decided to have a crack at a few this year.  But instead of starting them on the first of January, I kicked off early.  I started running before Christmas.  Actually, I’ve been going to the gym with a group twice a week and we were on holidays over the Christmas period, so I had to do something to keep active.  Not ever being a runner, I surprised myself by getting out there and doing it.  My husband has been coming with me and although he’s a natural athlete and is nearly walking beside me, he’s amazing.

I’ve also decided to look for more things to be grateful in my life.  I’m a pessimist by nature, so it’s easy for me to find negatives everywhere, especially during the colder months, but that’s not the person I want to be any more so I’m making a change!  Each day I’m going to share something with the world (via FB, Twitter or Instagram) that I’m grateful for.  Perhaps I’ll do a weekly round up here, but we’ll have to see how my motivation and time goes!

In the Crochet world, it’s as busy as ever!  I have orders in the queue for Owl hats, a lion doggie sweater, a pippi longstocking doll, plus slippers that I’ve designed:

I used Sheepjeswol Roma big, and they’re lovely and snuggly. Not only that, because they’re so chunky, the stitches act like a masseur. So massaged, warm feet. What more could a girl ask for?!

Aside from the orders, I’ve picked up a project for myself this year, it’s the #crochetmoodblanket2014 crochet along that I discovered on New Year’s Eve on Instagram. There are more than 1000 people taking part, it’s amazing. I’ve been looking for a community to join that is filled with like-minded souls, and I’ve found it!

This is my mood palette:

And here is my progress for the first couple of days:

And day two:

I’m making a hexagon blanket inspired by my grandmother who makes the most beautiful hexagon quilts. Here’s one she made for my daughter, it’s one of her favourite things:

I found the pattern via Baby Love Brand, it’s a paid pattern, but well worth the (very small) investment. I’m using Drops Cotton Light to make it, and the colours are a mix of my favourites.

What’s inspiring you on these first few days of 2014? If you’re looking for a wonderful project, the crochet a mood blanket group is open to all comers, experts and newbies alike!
 

 

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Instagram Action

I love taking photos, but my time is so limited that I never seem to get round to taking fabulously constructed shots with great lighting. Coupled with a daughter who will not sit still to take a sharp shot and a husband I never see during daylight hours, my model opportunities are often limited to desperate selfies! Honestly, most photos are taken on my couch at 11pm with my iPad before items get wrapped and shipped. Because of that, Instagram is my absolute best friend. I can share what I like there and it’s ok that my images aren’t professionally finished. Poor lighting isn’t the end of the world. I just try not to post blurred photos…

Here’s some of my latest creations that have only really made it as far as Instagram:

The pattern for this one is coming soon!

The pattern for this one is available to buy on Craftsy and Ravelry

Meanwhile, did you know that WordPress allows you to add Instagram images to posts by merely pasting the image link into the post/page? Looks fantastic and is interactive as well! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, it’s where I spend most of my time.

How do you tackle the time vs lighting vs model issues?

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Angry Birds

Angry Birds

There are two types of people in this world, those who love Angry Birds and those who have never played Angry Birds.

My husband is still obsessed, even after playing the game for a couple of years on his phone. Has to get three stars on all levels. Thinks nothing of working on one level for days (weeks?). I on the other hand just want to get through all the levels as fast as possible and don’t care about my rank.

When a request came in to make this Angry Birds hat for a little boy, I have to be honest and say that I had reservations. I was sure that the end result would be nothing like the actual Angry Birds themselves.

How wrong could I have been?! Even when I was putting the eyes together, you could see that they could only belong to the red Angry Bird and then when it was all finished I couldn’t stop smiling because it looks so fantastic!

I pulled the pattern from Crochet Geek, who is one of the single best crochet resources on the Internet. Clear tutorials, plus videos for both right and left handers; just fantastic.

I used Drops Big Merino for the hat, which is lovely and soft and super stretchy, so will last for ages even on the fastest growing kids. For the face I used Drops Cotton Light.

What do you think? Cool, right?

Click the photo to be redirected to the tutorial.

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Everyone loves a baby dragon

Baby dragon hat on missneriss.com

Dragons are like, so hot right now. Just like owls, everywhere you look someone is sporting a dragon in some form or another. Here is my latest creation, an updated version of the dragon hat that I posted earlier. I changed the pattern somewhat, to have the tail wrap around the ears more, and I also altered the spikes.

baby dragon hat on missneriss.com

This one is for a 12 month old and watch this space for the pattern that still needs to be put together (along with patterns for about 5 other projects).  Meanwhile, I’m going to add this one to my Etsy store as a custom listing.

Baby dragon hat on missneriss.com

Yarn used: Drops Big Merino and Drops Paris for the spikes. Big Merino is lovely and stretchy, so lasts much longer on growing kids. I just wish it came in 100g skeins instead of 50.

Baby dragon hat on missneriss.com