Monday, December 24, 2012

Friday, December 21, 2012

Star Wreath

Do you want to see something that looks nice in reality and really depressing in pictures?
012
Might just be my pictures. The daylight is non-existent at the moment.
Everyone in our building has an elaborate Christmas wreath on their door (I think most people here are retired) and I felt left out and wanted something, too. Frilliness isn’t really my style and I just wasn’t warming up to most wreaths I’d seen, until I came across this one.

So pretty! Mine isn’t that pretty.
It was really easy to do, though. I just took some wire and pushed paper mache balls through it (they didn’t have holes, so I really did have to push) and then twisted it into a star shape. Then, I twisted the ends into loops to hang it from. Now that I’m looking at that picture, I'm starting to think it might need something on the top to hide those loops. A pink knitted bow maybe. I feel frilliness approaching.
It was night and when I went to hang it, I discovered the door didn’t have a nail for it. I could have sworn it did. Someone stole our nail!Craziness aside, I then tried to nail it there as quietly as possible as not wake all the old people up.
There.
And it does look prettier in person.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Flower Blanket

Going with the blanket theme, this is what I’ve been working on lately.

004 

Pattern from Coco Rose Diaries (scroll down).

This is the third blanket I’ve started this year. Here are the first

045[18]

and second.

034

I’ve noticed I much prefer making household items (like blankets) to making something to wear, just as I prefer thrifting household items to thrifting clothes. Not sure why, but I’m just going to roll with it.

This project is much like the granny square blanket: made in small instalments and then sewn together. I love it for the reasons I told then, but on the flip side there is also about a million ends to finish.

As for the colour choices, I love colourful things – just not on me or in my home. So while I loved the pretty pink and orange original, I tried to stay true to my nature and went with white and grey.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Chevron Blanket

036

I really loved the granny square blanket I made, but my boyfriend keeps hogging it. The chevron seems to be really in right now, and after seeing several patterns for knit blankets I decided to make one for myself.

Black and white FTW!

037

The pattern I used is from here (in Finnish), but there are several similar patterns around there. This for example. I loved this pattern because it’s so easy. It might not look easy, but it is. Just knit stitches all around with decrease or increase every tenth stitch on the right side. This was so much faster to make than the granny square one, just a few weeks.

039

My knitting was much tighter in the beginning and then became looser. Also the blanket is quite heavy and it also started to stretch a bit towards the end. So, one end ended up being a bit wider. A bit annoying. Still, it’s very soft and perfect for watching TV on the sofa and maybe it’ll shrink if i wash it? Maybe.

033

Speaking of TV, we just started watching Once upon a time. I like the fairy tales, the bf likes Robert Carlyle, perfect for both.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Happy Birthday!

015

It’s my boyfriend’s birthday!

014

I made him a felt banner. It says “congratulations” in Finnish.

016

He said it looks like a “forever alone” –banner. Hah, I love it.

018

Inspiration from here.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Granny Square Blanket

I saw this blanket on Muita ihania. And just fell in love.

I loved the cross pattern of it, and what a clever use of the old granny square it was. I bought yarn right a way determined to make one just like it, only in different shades of grey.

Then I saw this. Uh. Oh.

Long story short.
 

equals

045

It hasn’t been blocked and my skills as a photographer are somewhat lacking, but I really, really love it.

046

It took me the whole summer to finish it. Just finishing all the ends took two weeks! But it was so worth it. And I liked how before I started to sew all the squares together it was a very portable. i could just take a bit of yarn and a hook with me, oh anywhere, and do a square or two.

There were moments I thought I’d never see the end of this project. I sewed all the squares together without finishing any ends and the wrong side was just so hairy! Tiina from Muita ihania said on her blog post that on her blanket the wrong side looked nice also, and for a long time i couldn’t believe mine would. But it does. Sigh of relief.

053

During the whole project I thought I’d do a thin white edging for it to make it neater, but now I kind of prefer it this way.
The yarn I used is 75% wool so it is really warm, just in time for autumn!
EDIT: You can find the pattern here.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Lace Jar Lantern

021

Sticking with the lace theme, I saw these doily covered jars, at Pinterest I think, but can’t find the source anymore. Anyway, the idea is just to cover a glass jar in glue, stick a doily on it and light a votive inside, ta-dah, a lantern.

Easy enough. The jar used to hold jalapenos and the lace is a tablecloth or possibly a curtain from the thrift store. I only used a small corner of it for this. I’m thinking maybe I’ll use the rest for a cushion, or twenty more lanterns… I like how the lace isn’t overly romantic, but a bit more angular, while still being totally cosy.

This was such a one minute project. I didn’t even wait for the glue to dry before lighting it.  So easy and fast. And cute. Cute is important.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Doily Lamp (in progress)

Everyone has probably seen this doily lamp from Dos Family. It’s so lovely. I really want one. The trouble is, doilies are so hard to find around here. And when I do find them, they cost a lot, and I’d like a white lamp and the doilies I’ve run across at thrift stores are usually in colours. Mainly green for some reason.

But hey, I can crochet!

There are so many lovely doily patterns floating around in the internet. I just threw “doily” in Google and picked the ones I liked. Especially the Japanese patterns are so pretty! I bought some white yarn (from thrift store, of course) and crocheted away. This is my progress so far. Not enough for a lamp, yet, but getting there.

003

Monday, January 16, 2012

Pinwheel Pillow

I spend the Christmas at my parents. For some reason, I didn’t take any craft projects with me and had hard time coping with having nothing to do with my hands (except eating chocolate). So, my mother lend me with some yarn and I promised to make her a pillow with those.

Here it is, Mum!

012

The pattern is from here.

015

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...