Special Feature # 1: My Grandma's Crochet

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while, might remember that I had planned to visit my Aunt, because she's kept lots of my Grandma's old crochet stuff. Last Saturday the day had come, and my Aunt showed me every handmade treasure she could find.

Everytime I thought I had taken the last picture, she brought something else she just remembered :) My Aunt's also a wonderful crocheter, she's mainly into doilies and other lacy things. My Grandma could make anything, I guess. Just look at those poodles! They're so old, the brown one's already blind :)

Most of the things I'm gonna show you are made in the 1970s, so they might look old-fashioned, mainly because of the color choices. But look at the patterns!! Everything she made was so creative, elaborate and unique! Okay, I have to admit that the next guy is quite an obscure fellow, but it's great crochet nevertheless.

Here's a little sheep and a ladybug, I bet they didn't call them amigurumis forty years ago :)

In my Grandma's old kitchen (now my Aunt's craft room) I've discovered these old potholders still hanging on the wall:

And downstairs, in my Aunt's bedroom, I've found this little treasure on the dresser:

This is just so lovely!! The next one is a decorated candy glass (quite dusty, my Aunt found it somewhere in the basement):

My Mom told me, that they didn't have many detailed patterns at that time, and my Grandma probably just looked at crochet stuff in magazines and tried to re-work them, or she just made up her own patterns. I really do admire the talent she had! My Grandma died in 1994, and as far as I know she didn't crochet that much anymore in her last years. I really don't want to sound too sentimental now, but somehow it's a wonderful feeling to know that my Grandma Maria's crochet - that probably would have been forgotten in the years to come -  will now be seen by people from all over the world and stay in the internet forever!

Those of you who have waited for my Granny's squares (*lol* forgive me the pun) should not be disappointed: I've also discovered some cushions and blankets, and I'll show you the pictures in one of my next posts. My Aunt's crochet and other crafts are also more than worth seeing, and of course I've made some progress on the Magic Blanket Ride, so I'd be really happy to see you back here soon!

A Winner and a Preview

It's sunday afternoon and that means we have a winner for my giveaway-stone! I wanted to know the exact weight of the stone and this would have been the correct answer:

So the real weight of the stone is 194g, and one of you was only 4g away with her guess of 190g. And the winner is... Barbina! :) Congratulations!! Please contact me and give me your full address, I'll be sending you your prize this week (there's an e-mail link in my detailed profile)!

Thank you all for playing, I had lots of fun and I'm looking forward to the next giveaway!

Something else I'm looking forward to is my next post (or rather: the next few posts). Here's a little glimpse:

 

Everything on this table is handmade, most of it is crocheted (yes, even the poodle and the scary looking creature in the middle). And this is just one table in one room. But - my aunt's house is big, and there are lots of rooms, and I took lots of pictures yesterday!! Check back this week to see the treasures and curiosities I've discovered!

Giveaway - The Second Chance!

It's friday, and so far none of you has guessed the real weight of my giveaway-stone (although one of you is very very close!). As promised, here's a little hint:

I put the stone on top of a regular sized apple, and the total weight is 363g. Please don't guess the weight of the apple, I haven't got it anymore and can't send it to you :)

The question's still: what is the weight of the stone? If you've already entered a guess, you can post another one now, and both your results will count! (So don't worry, if you think you're the one who's closest to the real weight, you don't "lose" your first entry by making another guess!)

If you haven't entered into this competition before, please read what it's all about and enter your guess!

Thank you all for participating, on Sunday I'll definitely announce the winner, so good luck to you all! :)

PS: just in case you wondered, why the kitchen scale's got a yellow handle now: the one with the green handle was my mother's, and I really liked it (there's actually a measuring beaker attached to the handle, and you can change the units of weight). So last week-end John brought me this one! A kitchen scale instead of flowers - that's why I keep him :)

Magic Blanket Ride: Chapter 1

Hello and welcome back to K-town, I hope you’ll enjoy the first chapter of my Magic Blanket Ride!

If you’ve missed the introduction to this project, you can read everything about it in my previous post.

This is what I’ve made so far:

The blanket is 1,50m (~ 59 inches) wide, and I’m planning for a length of at least 1,50m up to 1,80m (~70 in). I make the blanket in one piece, so this time there’s no joining squares and only a few ends to weave in, depending on how many colored stripes I’m gonna make. So far, I’ve made three colored stripes and I’m always looking forward to the next one for a bit of a change (it takes a while to make a long row like this and with only white and grey, it gets a bit boring after a while).

I wasn’t bored at all, when I lost the cable of my hook just when I had almost finished a row. Boy, I was really annoyed, and I needed two more attempts to complete the row because I kept losing the damn cable! Intended as a temporary solution, I’ve connected the hook and the cable with superglue at the swivel, and to me it makes absolutely no difference, so there’s no need to order a new hook. I guess you always have to anticipate some little accidents on a Magic Blanket Ride, don’t you think? :)

Oh, I’ve almost forgot to say a few words about the yarn: this time I’m working with acrylic yarn. For the colored stripes I use mainly “Bravo” by Schachenmayer or similar yarns. The white and grey yarn is from the drugstore, it’s the same quality like the “Bravo”, but it’s slightly cheaper (and I need LOTS of white and grey, that’s for sure). Actually the recommended hook size is 3-4mm, but I’m working with a 5mm hook (US H-8), as double-ended crochet pattern look nicer and feel softer with a slightly larger hook.

Some intermediate statistics at the end:

Width: 1,50m (~59 in) (constant)

Length: 18cm (~7 in)

Colored Stripes: 3

Days actually worked on the blanket: 6 (no day off so far)

I only wished I had more time, but I can only work on the blanket a few hours in the evenings. So please be patient with me, maybe you shouldn’t expect a too substantial progress so soon. Nevertheless, I hope to meet you back here again for Chapter 2 of the Magic Blanket Ride!

Crochet Master Class: Introduction

Recently I've bought this book:

Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss - 

"Crochet Master Class: Lessons and Projects from Today's Top Crocheters"

In each chapter a designer presents her (and in one case: his) work with a particular, more or less advanced crochet technique. After an introduction to the basics of that technique, you're invited to have a go at a specific project. It's really an awesome book and exactly what I was looking for!

I actually thought about working my way through the whole book and sharing my experiences here, but then again I'm not enthusiastic enough for really trying every one of the 18 techniques. Luckily, there's someone out there who is! Marie from Underground Crafter has just introduced her idea (i.e. working her way through the whole book) but hasn't started yet - so we can all join her from the beginning, isn't that great? :)

As for my part, I'll probably come back to this book now and then and only pick what I like best. Here are two examples of techniques I'd like to try soon.

The first one is an Overlay Crochet pillow cover, designed by Melody MacDuffee:

 The second one is an example for Painted Crochet by Ferosa Harold:

My favorite chapter however is the Double-Ended Crochet by Darla J. Fanton. This technique is also known as cro-hooking, cro-knitting, double-hooking, Crochenit or Crochet on the Double. I immediately fell in love with this cute baby blankie:

First, I've ordered long double-ended hooks from the UK, because I couldn't find them in German online-shops. I had my first go at the double-ended crochet technique and was thrilled (I've told you about that in a previous post)! Then I decided to make another blanket with that technique. But not just a small baby blanket, no - I want a huuuuuuge blanket for our living room! Unfortunately I couldn't see a way to make a 2 meter blanket with a 30cm hook, so I ordered some so-called "Crochet on the Double Swivel Hooks" (double-ended crochet hooks with swivel-mounted connecting cables) from the USA.

Meanwhile, I've played a little with different patterns and color-combinations (I've also told you about that) and this is the idea I'll use for my blanket:

This is the "girl's side": light, happy and colorful. After some mainly white rows I want to make stripes in many, many different colors. (Note: this is only a 15 cm sample). Have a closer look at the wonderful pattern, it's so soft and cuddly:

Oh, I think I haven't even told you about the backside, have I? The amazing thing about double-ended crochet is, that the backside looks completely different, when you use several colors! So here's the "boy's side" - grown-up, manly and serious:

Last week, I've started with my huuuuuuuuge, reversible, grey and white double-ended crochet blanket with multicolored stripes. But for the future I'm gonna refer to this project as the "Magic Blanket Ride". Hope you all join me on this ride, starting next week with Chapter One.

Have a nice sunday everyone, and don't forget that there's a giveaway on this site, open until friday!