Extremely bohemian Scandinavian rya pillow + a needle rya tutorial

Rya, or as we in Finland say - Ryijy, is a handmade knotted wool rug that used to be used for warmth instead of furs in homes and sleighs. Nowadays, it's used mostly for decoration. Traditional rya is made by knotting yarn on a loom. There's also another way of doing it, which is with a needle on a base cloth (that's what I did). My grandparents had several ryas, pretty much one on the wall of every room in the house, and my mother has many of them now. 

I've always thought they were slightly dated, but these things seen to grow on me as I get older. In fact, I got very exited when I learned this needle rya technique that I made a rya pillow! It's a very bohemian pillow, and maybe not every one's cup of tea, but I love it!

I've always thought making rya was difficult (and maybe on loom it is, I don't know), but this at least was not hard at all. Time consuming, yes, but easy once I got the hang of it. I've tried rya before (you can see it here) and it was just not working, so I just cut of my previous work and started anew with a needle.

Very unlike me, I just went for this project, and just learned as I went. I made several mistakes, but just continued on. Really, this was such a project for learning to let go, great for a recovering perfectionist (*waves*).

I chose the cross/plus sign pattern again, because I like it and because it'd work no matter what way the pillow was placed. I just drew the pattern on the base cloth with a permanent marker and then roughly followed it. It's a very haphazard, uneven pattern, but I really wanted a relaxed, bohemian pattern. And that's what I got! 

Some of the crosses are more even.

And some are basically just blobs.

It's all good.

I used a wool yarn that I had bought for a sweater, but that ended up not working with my coloring. For our bedroom color scheme, however, it was perfect.

Now, if you want to try this (do you? maybe I scared you of with my crazy pillow), I made a little tutorial. I originally followed this tutorial, but I found it a bit difficult to follow.

Continued under the fold ->

Three granny square blanket designs

I've made two granny square blankets in the past (you can see them under the tag granny square) and although for now I have no intentions making more, it was a project I LOVED. It's both a very big project (the whole blanket) and a very small, portable project (each square), great for travelling with! Each square takes very little time to make, although making enough for a whole adult size blanket (and assembling! oh, the assembling!) takes quite a lot.

I thought I'd just share a few plans I've been dreaming up in case it takes me years to get around to actually crocheting one. The granny square which in itself seems pretty old fashioned can be combined into really cool modern designs. I'm a big fan of the cross/plus sign design, so here are three different patterns for that.

Each square corresponds to one granny square. The Internet is full of tutorials on how to crochet a granny square, so I haven't included one, just do a Google search and pick your favorite. The size of the square will depend on the yarn and hook you use. For my blankets I've used wool yarn called 7 veljestä and an European size 4 hook. 

You can also make the blanket of more or less squares, for example 7 x 10 for a baby.

I use a ladder stitch to assemble the squares.

These colors (or lack of color...) are just suggestions, make them in any color you wish.

I think it's quite fasinating how one basic pattern can yield so many different results.

Linen tote

My adventures with black linen continue! Confession: I bought FIVE METERS of black linen, so the adventures are likely to continue for some time. But this is volume two: the linen tote.

I thought I was going to use this just for groceries, but you guys, this tote is PERFECT (if I may say so myself) and I've just been using it as a handbag. When you make stuff yourself you truly get exactly what you want.

Most fabric tote bags are sort of small and one-dimensional (you know, two pieces sewn around with one seem) , so for my tote I really went for generous size and added panels for the sides and bottom to really get a 3D effect.

I wasn't going to add pockets (after all it was supposed to be just for groceries), but when I was done I thought "hmm, some pockets would look cool, even if I don't use them, why not?" I've been using the pockets non-stop. They perfectly fit my phone, wallet, lip-balm, handkerchief, hair ties and what ever random crap I carry with me. And they are very secure, nothing has dropped out yet. 

Trying to show of the size.

I tried to make the handles long enough so that I can comfortably carry it on my shoulder, but short enough so that the bag doesn't drag on the ground if I just hold the handles in my hand. It came out just right.

Uh, posing, how does this work?

The large portion fits EVERYTHING. In these photos I stuffed a throw pillow in there and I've used this for shopping, going to the beach (for all three of us), as a diaper bag... It comfortably fits everything. Yet looks good empty, too. And it's super light weight in itself so you wont pull a muscle. I feel like the linen is perfect for this type of bag: durable and light.

And I did french seams again! Not only do they look nice they also add to the structure and sturdiness of the bag. 

Is this better..?

I really can't say enough nice things about this bag (and as you can see, I've tried).

I give up.

Hand-made felt play sandwich

After lamenting in the last post about having no crafts to post, I realized I DO have something I crafted... about three years ago!

When I was pregnant with the Kiddo I got really into making these felt play foods for her. I don't know why. I just got into my head that these were the thing to make and I managed to make quite a few, before my interest waned again.

I started by following this sandwich tutorial by myrtle & eunice  (the bread, the salad, the cheese) then went of on a tangent with all kinds of things.

I made some apple slices, eggs, (boiled and fried), bacon, peas, avocado, tomatoes and even some tea bags. Then I was done.

I just pulled them out for the Kiddo to play with, and they've been a hit! She just loves piling them all in the bowl and pretending to eat and then dumping them all on the floor again. They do make a huge mess.

If you are interested making your own, check out that sandwich tutorial and I've also collected quite a bit of play food inspiration on my Play Food Pinterest board (some felt, some crochet). I've also got a few amigurumi play food patterns here on the blog: beetroot, onigiri, mushrooms, chocolate chip cookie, Bertie Bott's every flavor beans, eggs and licorice allsorts.

NEEDLE FELT SWAN

I made a swan! Like I mentioned in the needle felted snowflakes post, I run out of white wool, hence a grey swan. I still think it came out pretty cute!

Wouldn't two of these make a great wedding cake topper (in white)? Maybe one with a tiny golden crown... Pity I'm already married ;)

This was the first needle felt project I used a skewer in. You take a skewer, wrap a sliver of wool tightly around it and then slide the skewer out. Poke the wool a bit so everything adheres together and voila! you have a neck! Or an arm or leg or what have you. You get the idea. If I'd known about this technique earlier I  could have made my narwhal's horn with it too.

Once I get my hands on some white wool, I'll make another one in white. Also, now I'm thinking: next, a flamingo!

NEEDLE FELT SNOWY OWL - HEDWIG

Hoo.

Next stop in my needle felting escapades: Hedwig! Or a snowy owl, but I'm Harry Potter obsessed so I think of this as Hedwig.

 Hedwig from the front.

 Hedwig from the back.

Trying to show how Hedwig would look like hanging from the tree.

I think she turned out very nicely, although brown spot might have looked better? I don't know. I'll still call this a cute success.

COOKIE CUTTER NEEDLE FELT SNOWFLAKES

This post is about... drum roll please... needle felting. Boom.

The first needle felting I tried was using cookie cutters as a mold. You take a cookie cutter, stuff it full of wool and stab away with a felting needle. I was inspired to try needle felting after reading this post on the Homesong blog, it made felting seem doable (she did it with her kids!). If you want a tutorial hop over to her blog.

The first few I made were stars for our Christmas tree, but when I went on to hang them on our tree they felt a bit thin and flimsy. I made a few white ones and then a gingerbread one, which you can see it here on my Instagram. The decoration or "icing" is a bit more complicated than what you see on these pictures.

Anyway, I wasn't satisfied with the way they looked and I decided to try again. I grabbed this pretty snowflake cookie cutter from the grocery store and felted away. This time I made the felt thicker, almost 1 cm, and I much prefer the chunkier feel.

I made the white one, was very pleased, and started to make another... and run out of white wool. Doh. 

So, I decided to make another gingerbread one. Luckily, I had a bit of white left for the icing. This time I made the "icing" thicker and design simpler and I much prefer it this way. I'm all about simple and clean.

Now, I want to buy all the cookie cutters and make a bunch of these! And order more wool. I so need more wool.

FELT BALL GARLAND + OUR TINY NURSERY

My felting obsession continues. This time I made a short garland for the Kiddos nursery.

This was the most fun, addictive project. Making needle felt balls seemed intimidating; how to get them round and the same size? But you just keep turning them and poke them evenly at all sides. And if one turns out smaller than others: add wool, if larger: poke more. Needle felting really is one of those things that seems difficult, when really it just takes time.

The colors have really no rhyme or reason, except I wanted to add some color to our mainly white nursery corner (but just a bit, I kind of love the white and plain style, very calming). I showed here the huge box of rowing wool I bought and I just kept selecting colors and making another one and another one until it was long enough to fit the space I wanted it to. 

And here's the whole nursery. It's pretty much just a bed and a chair for nursing. I love the salt lamp, it gives such a nice warm glow without disturbing sleep. The night stand used to hold some supplies, but now that the Kiddo can open the drawers it's empty. I made the "shhh" banner before she was born. Then there are some books and Hard Rock Cafe bears my in-laws have brought from their trips:) And that's it. We keep diapers and the changing pad in the bathroom and her clothes in a chest of drawers in our room.

I just love this. Being a parent can be a hassle sometimes and just looking at this space calms me. And the garland fits there very nicely, adding a bit of color and whimsy, while still keeping things neat and calm.

NEEDLE FELTED NARWHAL

It's a tiny narwhal.

It's official: I have a new hobby, needle felting. And I'm obsessed. 

Now I swim this way.

I still can't believe I made that, haha. I know there are amazing needle felt sculptures out there, but for me... I've never done anything like this and am just so stoked!

Boo.

I tried needle felting first about a year ago, doing a couple cookie cutter stars (you take a cookie cutter, fill it with wool and use it as a mold), and I loved it. There's something really soothing and addicting about jabbing with a needle... 

But I had a new baby and pretty soon I got overwhelmed with life. Anyway, babies and long needles don't really go well together. But the Kiddo got sick recently and pretty much slept the whole first day, and suddenly I had all this time, and I was like "what do I do, I never have any time!" So I tried needle felting again. And it's still so much fun. 

This is mah belly.

This time I just went free form, no cookie cutters. I wasn't sure if I could do it, doing a 3D sculpture seemed so much harder, but I'm glad I just went for it. Really, you can't mess needle felt. You can always add more wool or felt it tighter.

The horn, too. I thought a lot about how I'd get the horn to stay rigid and in the end the answer turned out to be: just felt it tightly. Doh.

Just swimmin'.

There are probably a lot of useful tricks and techniques that I'm  unaware of, but for now I'll just go with trial and error. And fun.

Really, i'm just so happy. I haven't felt this exited about a craft since my amigurumi phase.

Hello.

How to Make a Stroller Mobile

I made this simple stroller mobile and thought I'd share the process in case you (like me) have a stash of amigurumis lying around. If you don't, never fear! I have patterns for those linked as well.

Here's the mobile spread out. You could use any amigurumis for this, this is just what to my eye looked cute.

You'll need some amigurumis (I used clouds, birds and a rainbow, click for the patterns), some sturdy cotton yarn (I don't recommend wool for this, because sometimes it can thin out and break, if you have elastic yarn, you could use that too), and two clips (mine are from an old pair of suspenders I got at second hand for 50 cents).

1. Measure your stroller where you want to hang the mobile, your amigurumis will need to fill this space.
2. Then the fun part, making amigurumis! I made clouds, birds and a rainbow, but there are tons more free patterns on my blog and around the internet. I have links to some of my favorites on my amigurumi Pinterest board. Or use what you already have.
3. Plan how you want to arrange your amigurumis, and measure them so that you have the right length for your stroller.
4. Thread through the amigurumis. If your needle isn't crazy long you'll need to "come up for air", just push the needle out from the side, then push it back in at the exact same spot and thread on (the two upper pictures). When you reach the end just pull the yarn tight and it'll settle nicely inside the amigurumi. You'll also have to pay attention where you place the thread, too low and the amigurumis will flip over. Cut the yarn and leave a long tail.
5. Take your clips and single crochet over the loop like you would in a magic ring. How many sc you crochet will depend on your clip.
6. Take the yarn with the amigurumis and sew each end firmly into the middle stitches of the clips. Knot the yarn firmly and hide the ends on the backside.
7. Clip on to your stroller out of the baby's reach.

Here's a close up of one end. As you see, you'll probably need to thread the yarn a lot higher across the amigurumi than you'd think.

I'm not an baby safety expert, I used mine as just a mobile to be looked at. But if you do hang this so that the baby can play with it, please don't leave your kid unattended with it.

 And here it is hanging in our stroller.