Friday, September 28, 2012

Birthday Potholders

Exactly one year ago I've written a blog-post with the same title as today, Birthday Potholders. It's my Mom's birthday again, and I've made a new pair of potholders for her:


Do you like the colors? Okay, me neither :) But at least the colors fit into my Mom's kitchen from the 1970s, and this time the potholders are definitely not meant for decorating the walls, but indeed for using them. My Mom really liked them and she was quite surprised, because she thought she'd only get the blouse that I've bought for her when we were birthday-shopping last week-end.

The potholders are made with the same pattern I've used for my own potholders a few weeks ago. The original pattern can be found on Tintin luomukset.

And now I hop over to The Crochet Boulevard to share my link. It's Free Topic Friday again - wanna come over and link your crochet, too?

The Crochet Boulevard

Have a great week-end!

 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

100 Motifs! And now?


A few minutes ago I've posted my 100th motif in the Beyond the Square Challenge 2012! Confetti!! :)

Maybe you've already guessed it (especially since I've been posting new motifs nearly every day over the past few weeks): this is not the end yet! I'm going for the 144!

Why? Because it's still fun! And there are still lots of pretty motifs left that I'd love to make! And: because I know that it's possible - Heidi from Sewing Daisies has already accomplished this Challenge: from May 2010 until November 2011 she made and posted every single one of the 144 motifs in the book, this means she had already mastered the Challenge before everyone else of us has even started! Hats off to Heidi! And thank you Rajeswari for telling me about it!

Thank you all for your support and your lovely comments during the obligatory program - I hope you're in for the free skate, too! :)


edit: thanks for all your enthusiastic comments so far! And a special hello to Carmen from aduoscriptum who has also accomplished the ultimate Challenge (i.e. all the 144 motifs) and written a (german) review about the book!

Oh, and maybe I should come back to your MFAQ, your most frequently asked question, once again: honestly, I still have no idea what to do with all the motifs! But actually it doesn't bother me: either I'll come up with the big-bang-idea one day, or I'll just keep the little beauties in their box forever - I just like looking at them and taking pictures from time to time :)

 

Beyond the Square: Motif # 120

Motif # 120

Category: Squares

Progress: 100 of 100+

Notes:
It was hard to pick a motif for this special occasion - my 100th motif! I've chosen this one, because it's truely unique! You have to make ten separate strips and arrange them in a way that they form a basket weave pattern. Then you work two rounds of sc's for the edging to keep the strips in place. It looks amazing, but it was quite an effort to make it (imagine all the loose ends you have to weave in for this little square!) - I'll probably never try this one again :)

And now - it's time to celebrate!!! :)




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 29

Motif # 29

Category: Hexagons

Progress: 99 of 100+

Notes:
Let's check out what makes this hexagon so special: the solid center is made with spike stitches, i.e. sc's worked over the first round stitches into the ring. Then we've got some dc5togs that form the "petals", and finally some Picot-3's in the last round. A beauty! By the way: only one more motif to the big 100... :)




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 138

Motif # 138

Category: Unusual Shapes

Progress: 98 of 100+

Notes:
Almost a square, but in fact it's a rectangle. The colors might be a little tooooo soft and light this time.




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 82

Motif # 82

Category: Circles

Progress: 97 of 100+

Notes:
The special stitch in this triangle is the tr5tog: five trebles that are worked off together.




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 112

Motif # 112

Category: Squares

Progress: 96 of 100+

Notes:
This is a basic granny square pattern with an interesting way of combining two different colors. You have to turn the motif after each round, working back and forth, to achieve this effect. I'm glad that I've learned this basic how-to, and I think you could design amazing blankets, playing with the arrangement of the squares!





Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Monday, September 17, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 51

Motif # 51

Category: Hexagons

Progress: 95 of 100+

Notes:
Some of the hexagons are star-shaped, like this one. It's so cute with the chain loops in the middle and the picots in the last round. Love it!!





Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 27

Motif # 27

Category: Circles

Progress: 94 of 100+

Notes:
Strange - when I wanted to post this motif today, I thought - wait, haven't I published this one before?? No, I haven't, but it reminded me of Motif # 12 which I have posted a few weeks ago. It's amazing anyway that I haven't lost track already, I mean - 94 motifs!! :)





Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Monthly Theme-Party

I've just started a new theme-party over at The Crochet Boulevard. This month's topic is crochet accessories. Please hop over and share your link!

The Crochet Boulevard


 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 75

Motif # 75

Category: Triangles

Progress: 92 of 100+

Notes:
A triangle with some front-post trebles (yes, the big ones) along the sides. I generally like front- and back-post stitches, but I'm not quite sure about this motif.




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 23

Motif # 23

Category: Circles

Progress: 91 of 100+

Notes:
This one is cool, unique and one of my favorites. It features three rounds of folding sc's, those tricky stitches I've first tried when making Motif # 80. This time I felt more comfortable with the folding sc's, probably because in a circle motif you don't have corners where you can mess it up :)




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 108

Motif # 108

Category: Squares

Progress: 90 of 100+

Notes:
90% of the Challenge accomplished, that means only 10 more motifs to go! This here's a simple dc-ch2 square with a nice picot-edging.




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 21

Motif # 21

Category: Circles

Progress: 89 of 100+

Notes:
Am I the only one who's thinking of a Lollipop right now? :)




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 48

Motif # 48

Category: Hexagons

Progress: 88 of 100+

Notes:
A very easy and simple hexagon in a beautiful color-combo. I'm pleased with this one!




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 130

Motif # 130

Category: Unusual Shapes

Progress: 87 of 100+

Notes:
That was one of the most interesting motifs so far: this oval isn't worked in rounds, but in rows. Sometimes it goes around the corner, sometimes you work a few chain loops, and sometimes you connect them. In the end, you meet your starting row again and sew both ends together. I loved making this one!!




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 63

Motif # 63

Category: Triangles

Progress: 86 of 100+

Notes:
This is quite an unusual pattern: the corners of the triangle are made with long chain loops, which make the whole motif look kind of 3-dimensional.




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

About a Blanket


Recently I've already shared a glimpse of the new blanket I'm working on, so let's talk about this new project some more. A few weeks ago, I heard my Mom talking to a friend about my crochet, saying how much she loved the Magic Blanket I've made last year. That reminded me that back then I had already thought about making a blanket like this for her for Christmas, and so I started right away (without her knowing, of course).

On August 4th, I grabbed my "Crochet on the Double" swivel hooks with connecting cable, some left-over yarn in my stash, and started the new double-ended crochet blanket with a width of 140 cm (55"). So far, I've made about 70 cm (28"), that means I've come a good way already, because I'm planning with a length of like 170 cm (67").


What bothered me a little, was the yarn: I had some balls of light blue, dark blue and beige in my stash, from a project I wanted to start but never did. It's the same acrylic yarn that I've used for my own Magic Blanket, the quality is similar to Bravo by Schachenmayr, but it's from the drugstore. I've soon discovered, that I needed more of the light blue and the beige, and so I went to the drugstore to buy some more - but (of course) I couldn't get exactly the same shade of what I already had. The color number is the same, but the serial number had changed, and so had the shade of the colors: both the blue and the beige are slightly darker than the ones I had started with.

I still had lots of the old yarn (but not enough to finish the whole blanket), so I've switched over to the new yarn (the darker one), working the middle part of the blanket with this one, and later I'll be returning to the old yarn (the lighter one) again. This way, the blanket will still look symmetrical and I can say that the color-shift was intended. On today's photos, in poor lighting conditions (or if you're a man, like John) you can't even tell the difference between the shades, so I think it'll be alright.


Now a few words about the pattern: again, I use the same double-ended crochet pattern I've used for my Magic Blanket. If you're a new reader, you can go back to my old posts and find out more about how this is done. I've found the pattern in "Crochet Master Class", but guess what? I've discovered that there's even a free online-version of this pattern on Woman's Day, so there's no need to buy the whole book, just because you like this pattern, isn't that great?


If you've been following the Magic Blanket Ride, you already now that the crazy part of this blanket is, that front- and backside look different from each other. I've used the two shades of blue, off-white, plus some shades of pink/purple for the one side, and the beige for the other side, and it looks good so far, I think.


I've already made some good progress (the pattern's quick and easy), so I think I can finish the blanket in a few weeks from now - hope you'll be back for the Grand Finale! :)


Lots of Love from K-town,


 

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Beyond the Square: Motif # 97

Motif # 97

Category: Squares

Progress: 85 of 100+

Notes:
So, here's what you can do with Motif # 96 (the mesh), that I've posted a few days ago. The center reminds me a little bit of wiggly crochet, although the stitches are not so dense. I'm not sure if those dc's - which are worked onto the mesh later - are supposed to stand up, but on the picture in the book they do. However, I like it better when the stitches lie flat, like you see it in my version of the motif.




Links: 
Shared Gallery: link up your motifs!
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