Another Blanket

And it's finally done. My Vintage Blanket it's here. 

I don't really know why, but I'm not hyped with this one. Maybe it's the colors....

Or maybe it's because I actually didn't liked making the squares. 

They're beautiful, and I do like making popcorns, but something about this one.... 

Or maybe, it's just me. Life has been hard lately. Depression, anxiety, all that has been taking it's toll on me. 

So I should not blame the poor blanket! It took me about a month, and I should be proud. At least, I think so. 

When winter comes, I hope I get to use this blanket A LOT. So, for sure, love will finally come. 

And, in case anyone feels like making a blanket like this one, here's the pattern! 

Love,

Tina

Blanket Journey

As I said many times before, blankets are my weak spot. I love making them. The planning is one of the best moments of the journey... But this time, I was quite stuck.

So many ideas, but nothing I really loved. And who wants to spend weeks, sometimes months, doing a design they don't really like? That's just crazy.

I tried mandalas, simple squares, complicated motifs... So far, I THINK I'm on the one. I *think*. I really hope it is, because it's stunning. Big and pretty!

Not going to show this whole motif just yet.... But it has popcorns. LOTS of it. :)

I have a bunch of colorful yarn I'm itching to use, and this will be the first blanket of 2016! I made 4 last year - Maybe I can make 5 this year? Who knows :D

Stay tuned for more - I will be documenting everything here... Not sure why, but I think this blanket will be special.

With love,

Tina!

Candy Colors Baby Blanket - Finished!

Back in october, grandma gave me lots of yarn. I had asked for a few baby pastels because I had none of those in my stash. Little did I know, around the same time, my cousin's wife found out she was pregnant!

As we had no idea what the baby was (boy or girl), I started making the blanket using lots of random colors. I used pink and purple too, because only mint, blue and white seemed quite plain to me. And honestly, boys can like pink too, right? :)

After I got word it was a little girl, I used a lot more of the pink and purple. I also decided I was going to use a lacy border - perfect for every little girl!

For the squares, I used the Rosie Posie Granny Square pattern by Sandra Paul of the Cherry Heart blog - thanks so much for sharing this lovely square with all of us!

The border was a different thing, though. I used the sc join for the squares, and thought making three rows of sc for the border was a nice touch. Indeed it was, but I wanted something more. It was already cute - now I wanted a bit of a classic crochet touch. Best of both worlds, right?

Well, I got the Around the Corner - Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman book for my birthday. There are just SO MANY borders, it's very hard to choose one! I think at some point, I had three on my mind. Later I realized I needed something a bit different, and then border 38 appeared in my face as if magic! I highly recommend this book for any crocheter.

And the rest is history! Even better, it will be. I cannot wait to get a picture of baby Laura in a few months from now, wrapped around in her blankie.

Love,

Tina

Candy Color Squares

Not much going on lately.... Mostly because I'm making this square blanket and that takes quite a lot of work! I guess the worst part is weaving in ends - And I like doing that! Imagine how it is for those who hate it - a true labor of love :)

In any case, I only need 18 more squares - and then I can start joining! Going to make a sc join, just like I did with my last blanket. Not sure about the color yet, though :)

Also, I haven't choose a border yet. I like lacy borders, but I'm not so sure that would work with this square. I'm lucky though, I got an Edie Eckman book about crochet borders with lots of designs, so my problem will be the choosing, and that's quite a cool problem to have.

Other than that, I made a couple of baby booties. I used a new pattern for the orange one, and a the pattern I use all the time for the other. I have to say, I really like my "deafault" pattern!

Love,

Tina

Baby colors, blankets and toadstools!

It's a shame it's been so hot here recently - When holding the yarn for too long we start to get sweaty hands and that is not nice at all! So my projects are going quite slow lately.

I finished the lacy blanket and already started the next blanket - this one is for grandma. Se gave me tons of yarn, so I can create whatever design I want to. Since I never joined small squares, I thought why not?

I'm using this pattern, by Sandra Paul of the Cherry Heart blog. It's simple but it looks so cute!

I'm in the process of deciding if I'm going to use other squares, or just this one. If I'm going to make them in solid colors and/or mixed. This is the fun, creative part, that I love so much.

Also, I got a new book, since I'm crocheting far more blankets that I thought I ever would. It's by Edie Eckman and it's called Around the Corner - Crochet Borders. There are so, but so many beautiful designs inside that book! I can spend hours just looking at everything.

On a side note - I'm knitting a wreath! I just made some toadstools for it. Aren't those adorable? You can find the pattern here - I reccomend it! It's much more easier than it looks :D

Love,

Tina

A Lacy Blanket

Sometimes, it's sad to finish a project. Sometimes all you can think of is "Oh thank god this is over!", and sometimes all you feel is pride.

This is one of those times. I'm so proud of this blanket. It turned out much, much better than I expected.

You see, I like variegated yarn. It's fun yarn. But not to use in a blanket - or so I thought. I had these very strict rules over what yarn I would always use in blankets and such - at least in blankets made of a bunch of squares or motifs joined together. I had no idea how wrong I was, really!

As it turns out, I had all those balls of cotton, variegated yarn at home. They were in my stash just being there, using space. Thing is, this cotton is not exactly cheap, and I was getting nervous about never using. I had some ideas in the past, but they never really seemed to work.

I was in love with the Victorian Lattice square for quite some time, thinking about what a stunning blanket it would make. But I was thinking about solid colors only! So silly of me. So one day, I was searching for yarn for another project when one of those yarn cakes pop out of nowhere and I thought "you know what? I'm using this right now. I'm going to make that square with this yarn!" As if that was such an amazing idea, right? If I was more open minded, this would have happened ages ago!

So I started, and as my first motif blanket, I have to say, it was lots of work. But I wanted to see the colors mixing and matching, the joins to look perfect, to find the right border. And I loved every second of it.

Believe it or not, I still have yarn left! :)


Love,

Tina

It's been too long!

Oh my, how long has it been since my last blog post? I'm sorry about that. But so much has happened! I had weeks and weeks of tests and all I did for almost a month was study. Not a lot of crafting time!

Still, I was able to get most of mom's blanket done, and I'm starting the sleeves on that baby cardi. Not going to show you much of the blanket yet, because all I have to finish is the edging, and I really want to show the whole thing ready :)

Also, this month was my birthday! I got so much yarn as gift, I can't not even express how amazing it was.  Grandma gave me tons of yarn with lovely pastel colors she choose so I can make a blanket for her (which I loved because I ADORE making blankets :D And she can't really crochet much anymore... It takes her over a year to make something like a blanket. Also, she loves having the things I made, so it's a win win situation :) )

And mom... Oh, mom. She took me to a yarn store and said I could choose what I wanted. This woman is amazing - we are not that well when it comes to finances, but still, she spoils me as if I were a little girl still. Also it's quite amazing how she trusts me to spend wisely. Love her so much.

So I got this acrylic/alpaca mix too, and.... Oh I have big plans for it.

Love,

Tina

My Current WIP's

This past few days I've been working on two projects. One is a blanket, the other, a baby cardigan.

For the blanket I'm using the Victorian Lattice Square pattern - It's a beautiful crochet pattern, and I can't wait to start joining them together! I think this blanket will be a present for my mom - If she likes it, it's hers!

Then there's the baby cardigan I'm knitting. The pattern is called Linnie, and this is a very interesting knit. For some people this might be super easy - As this is my first time knitting a garment with more complicated construction elements, for me, it's all new - But it's been fun!

I'm using 100% cotton yarn - Very, very soft. The contrast color is this mix of white, pink and white - The main color is a pastel pink. I'm not sure about the buttons I'm going to use it yet, but I'm looking forward to choosing!

It's going to take a while, though. I've been having awful wrist pain... It sucks, but I'm trying to get better really quick, so no crafting for a few days... It feels like I'm losing something very important :( But, it means I have more time to think about colors, design elements and so on. There's always a good part! Even if that good part is more time to study :)

Love, Tina

Bela Blanket Pattern

This blanket was such a joy to make. I loved choosing the colors, getting myself a bit nervous, and even sewing all the ends.

The fact that I used different yarns made sure that there was never a dull moment. Most importantly, my sister loved it!

As soon as it was finished, she snatched the blanket from me and started using it. To think, it starts with a granny square!

Oh, crochet. For me, it's the most wonderful craft that exists. Yes, I love knitting just as much, but there is something about crochet.... <3

I used worsted, bulky and aran yarns to make the blanket. The border was made with DK yarn. I went for bright colors, because my sister asked for that. I used each color for two rounds, as I found that it would make the colors stand out more.

Have in mind that using different yarn weights can make your blanket bigger or smaller! Mine ended up quite big - 90cm wide and 90cm large.

Well, here's the pattern page on Ravelry, I made a PDF for it, as I always do.

Enjoy making your blanket! :D

Love, Tina

The row that almost never was

Phew! That was what I thought when I finished the row and saw I has enough yarn for it. Oh, the terror….

Just imagine (or have you been through it as well?) this: You have only one skein of that wonderful color left. You used quite a lot of that skein already. To be exact, over 2 thousand double crochet stitches were made with that same skein (I did my math!!).  And yet, you want to use it again, to make at least another thousand double crochet stitches.

What do you do? You go on with it, of course. Because you’re crazy, and because you really want that row. You need that row.

You make no plans – you just hope the yarn will be enough. You wish from the bottom of your heart that you will NOT have to continue the row with another color. You even pray.

Then, you notice you are almost there – the end. The joy! Even better – there will be yarn left.

For me, that’s what success really means! :D 

My day was great. Not only because of the row incident that ended very well - my little sister stayed home with me. She had no school today - They were having math tests for a competition, and she takes after her big sister - terrible at math. So she had the whole day for herself.

We took pictures, she read while I crocheted. I made her some homemade chantilly and we talked about many things. 

The sun was shining, there was laughter and yarn. I look forward to many other days just like this one. :)

Love, Tina

So.Many.Projects! *May 2015*

I'm not a normal person. If I was unsure about it before, now I just know it. Maybe it's me driving my anxiety to different things - and if that's what is happening, then this is actually a really good thing. But... This month has been crazy when it comes to my projects. I started socks, hats, blankets, scarves and a lacy table runner. I knitted and crocheted more than ever. I thought making a post about what I've been making would be nice. :)

1- Basic Baby Hat 

This one was such a joy to make - I even learned how to make pompoms just for it!Now I need a blue one for my baby cousin. :) * Project page - you can find the pattern here.*

2 -Sockalong Winwick Mum

I have said many things about this wonderful sockalong in older posts. I finished my pair of socks but for my sadness, I had to frog them. Why? I only had 3,50mm dpns, and needed smaller needles. I was not able to find them here in the yarn stores we have where I live. :( But I will get the smaller dpns soon enough! :) *Project page - find the pattern here*

3 - Isabela's Blanket 

This has been such a wonderful project. It's almost done, but part of me wish I had started the blanket now. This is how much I love making it! I hope my sister likes it too :) *Project page*

4 - I See Hearts 

I have a big trunk in my bedroom, It used to be filled with toys when I was a kid. Now I'm 21 and don't play with dolls anymore, but it's a good wooden trunk and I will paint it white (because it's pink, and decorated with dolls and yellow hearts.) and use it as a nightstand. I wanted to make a doily for it - But not round. So I decided to choose a stitch and make a lacy table runner instead! But I'm not so sure about this. Let's see how it goes. The hearts sure are cute though! *Project page*

5 - Memory Blanket 

I can't stop knitting this blanket, it's so relaxing and such a simple project. I take it everywhere with me, and people always say how cool the pattern is. *Project page - find the pattern here*

6 - Another Blanket

And I think I might be starting another blanket. I made one for me, for my sister, and the memory blanket is for charity. Why do I want to make another blanket? Because I have TONS of cotton yarn in this house. Top quality cotton yarn. I haven't really used it yet because I had not found the perfect pattern for it. I got many of those skeins for my birthday last year - god only knows how much money they spent in all of this. I would not be able to AFFORD making a blanket with this yarn! The only thing I would have to buy to complete the blanket would be white skeins, 2 or 3, but that's minimal. And I already have a pattern in mind! :) 

7 - Lacy Scarf

Oh well.... no photo for this one because I have frogged it so many times looking for the perfect pattern. The yarn I chose is beautiful though! :D

That was quite a list, right? :) 

Love, Tina 

Finally!

After knitting socks, hats, making pompoms and finishing small crochet projects, I started my sister's blanket. And you know what? I decided to make a HUGE granny. And I'm really liking it so far! 

The reason why I chose this design is because I have a lot of scrap yarn in different weights. Making square by square would draw attention to their different sizes - Here, you notice the colors more than anything else. 

This are some of the colors I will be using next. After those, who knows? As long as they match, I love this. 

And, to finish this post, a flower. The day is wonderful, blue skies, sunny, warm. :) 

Yey for sunny days!

Love, Tina

My Sister's Blanket

I've made two blankets so far. One for my mom, one for me. My sister never asked for one, until I asked if she would want a blankie just for her. She said yes, so here I am!

Those are the left over yarns from the blanket I made for me. She liked the colors, so I might use a few. That beautiful green yarn has not been used yet - I bought it two years ago! Shame on me.

It's going to be my first square blanket. I have joined squares before, but never like this. Excited to see how it's going to be!

Right now I'm making different squares and choosing patterns. If I like them, I join them together. So every time I try a new pattern, I have to think very carefully about the color I want to use next. I'm loving this challenge!

Mixing lace squares with more solid ones is what I want to do here. Can't wait to see the progression of this! This is why new projects are so amazing - Your brain just never stops.

Love, Tina

Why I Love Making Blankets

Blankets are one of the best things in the world. There's nothing better than wrapping yourself up on a  blanket during a very cold winter's night, with a mug of coffee on one hand, and a book on the other. Or maybe, crocheting. Or knitting. Or just watching your favorite tv show. 

I develop these very intense relashionships with my blankets. During winter I look like an infant; If I go to the couch to watch tv, my favorite blanket goes with me. If I go to bed, my blanket stays there with me by my feet, even if it's just to look pretty. I can't help it! 

When I started to crochet back in 2013, making a blanket was not on my plans. I mean, such a huge project! I had my doubts. No way I was ever going to finish something that big. 

Oh boy, how wrong I was! The first blanket I made was last year, and it was made of yarn scraps. It's not pretty, but my mother stole it from me at the moment it was finished; It became her blanket. And she loves it. 

This year, I was tired of taking my bedspread and carrying around the house with me. (Yes, I actually did that. For years.) So, I started a new blanket: My blanket. 

There's something magical at using something you made, or seeing others using the things you made. You create those blankets (or cowls, sweaters, vests, mitts, hats) with so much love and care, they are like a part of you. And there's nothing better than seeing them being put to good use. 

Now I just can't stop making them. I'm starting a blanket for my little sis, after that, I think I'm making one for my little cousin. Who knows? I might as well make blankets for everyone in the family. :)

Love, Tina