*Black*Grey*Whites* ~ #1 & #2

Oops ~ another deviation from my usual palette! Today I'd like to share two works in progress with you. (Mainly because I've got too many wips & therefore little finished stuff to show you...) Both projects are actually two or three months old, I have not been able to do a lot of crocheting or blogging recently. Hence a post about the wips!

This my first serious stashbusting attempt. A while ago I decided to hook away all my acrylics I always randomly buy. I started with the blacks and greys in my stash. I crocheted like a maniac for a short while, and somehow abandoned it. Came across it today, pinned it on my studio wall and voilà. The idea is to make rectangles in different sizes using different patterns and ultimately sewing or crocheting them together. It's a nice way of trying out some new stitches and patterns. Still have some yarn left from my stash in these colours. I should really finish it soon!

And then there is my second crocheted rug. I wrote about it a few post ago. Another project I worked on very intensively for a short while and then abandoned it. (And of which I only wanted to show the work, but there you go ~ so much for principles, right?) I guess I'm sort of restless right now. Anyways. I made these photo with my phone so I'm afraid the quality is not great. (And I'm wearing socks, aaargh! Very elegant indeed...) But I think I like this rug-in-progress so I shoud really do an attempt to finish it soon. It's actually such a quick project too.

By the way, if you are a reader of the lovely Mollie Makes, you might have noticed my crocheted hangers are featured in issue 41. I got my copy yesterday. :-) I'll share a sneak peek here soon. If you'd like to get your hands on a copy, you can get it here.

Thanks for your visit ~ enjoy your weekend!
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Giant Granny Square *update*

It's been a while since I last posted pictures of my Giant Granny Square.
Well, here it is! Almost ready. Last row added! Only *some* ends to sew in.
As I said before, it's a rather unusual colour palette for me. But I do like it as these colours seem to represent the Quintessential Granny Square. ;-) Oh yeah!

I used a 6 mm hook and a huge variety of yarns. (Variety in brands, thickness, structure, colours, sheen.)

What a pleasure it is, this pattern, just keep going - adding row after row...
The plan was to make a 2 x 2 meters square. But when arriving there, I thought: 'Why stop here?' ;-) So now it measures 2.5 x 2.5 meters. Love that size, truly giant!
Do you currently have any granny squares on you hooks?

Thanks for paying a visit. It's lovely to have you here.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
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A quiet afternoon...

... Or so it would have been yesterday, if it wasn't for the fact that I was quite maniacally making pictures to document the quietness... *ahem*

I wanted to give this post a touch of Less Is More aesthetics. But I guess I'm failing big time because of the number of pics alone. Ah well!

This placemat and potholder are supposed to have an air of Japanese minimalism. Just so you know. ;-)

The placemat is made of simple double crochets - white with irregular intervals of colour.

The potholder is one big granny square, folded round a cotton potholder...

... I whipstitched together the corners at the backside - which is the side I like best.



Don't you just love the bunny? ;-) It's a souvenir from my recent travels.

BTW, what do you think of this ball of bamboo? I bought it ages ago.

It took me at least an hour to wind it from this skein. (As per usual messed up and got it completely tangled.) I love the colours and even the fact that it's variegated, because it's done so subtile... I have a lovely plan for it! To be continued...

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little record of quietness. Did you have a good weekend? Hope so!

I wonder what this week will bring. I personally have not very high hopes for this one. Luckily I can flee in my pastels. ;-)

Full speed ahead, I guess...
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New Mittens and A Lovely Short Film

Every now and then I actually manage to finish a project. Here's a small one. My mittens, from a pattern of one of my new Japanese crochet books. Even though it's spring - and we've got really nice weather! - I had to make them right after I got back.

I bought the pattern book mainly because of these mittens: I saw the picture and I was sold. In case you're interested: it's this book (Thai version):

Oh, and before I forget. There's something I've been wanting to share with you for ages. Are you in for an ultimate feel good moment? Watch this short film in which the knitting of one Dutch lady, Loes Veenstra, brings together a whole neighbourhood. Since 1955 she knitted over 550 sweaters and stored them (unused) in her house. The film was made in 2012, so some of you might have seen it already, but personally: I can watch it over again and again... So go on, treat yourself on these 3:19 minutes of loveliness!

I hope you like it too. If you have become intrigued by it, click here for more information.

Thanks for your visit, take care!
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Doilified Rug

Today I'd like to share with you these pictures of a doily rug I made a while ago. Somehow I it took me a couple of months to make pictures of it.

I used a doily pattern from a Japanese crochet book, but you can basically use any doily pattern you like to make a similar rug. I added one row to make the result a bit bigger.

I used super bulky acrylic yarn (from the Dutch shop Hema) and a 10 mm crochet hook. Of course you could use bulky cotton, but I do like the woolly texture of this yarn. It feels very soft.

Meanwhile I have another, much bigger and quite different, rug on my hook. (Oh dear, so many works-in-progress right now - I've lost count... And new ideas keep popping up...) I'm not sure yet how that one will work out, but hopefully I can show the result here soon.

♦♦♦ As always: I appreciate your visit a lot, have a lovely day & till soon! ♦♦♦

Travel Chitchat

Hello there, I hope you had a lovely (long) weekend. Although I'm back home again - picking up my daily routines and work - I still owe you some last yarny travel stories.

Let me start with my travel doilies, I made these with cotton I couldn't use for my Travel Blanket. (Picture made with my phone.)

I especially like to the pink one. Both patterns are taken from Japanese crochet books. Ah... those Japanese crochet books... That must have been one of the best surprises of Thailand - only yarnwise speaking of course! - the incredible choice of Japanese crochet books on sale. Most of them translated in Thai - which is fine because I speak neither Thai nor Japanese so I'm using the charts anyway. However, there are several Japanese bookstores which a huge selection of craftbooks. So I also bought a couple of them in the Japanese language. Have a look at my choice... Patterns for hats, bags, doilies, wraps, scarfs, blankets and lots of trims and edges - you name it!






















Pretty good, don't you think? ;-) I made a lovely pair of mittens from a pattern taken from one of these books, I'll show them here soon.

Also, while still travelling I started playing with my hemp yarn. It soon became clear that whatever I'm going to make with it, it will be very delicate. The yarn is at some points so thin it breaks just by looking at it. But the texture is rather nice I think. I'm using my 2.7 mm crochet hook - another of my travel souvenirs.

I especially liked the circles. However, after two circles a major drawback occurred: my fingers were indigo blue... And not a little bit either... So I guess that before continuing I have to do something about this, or the white soon will not be white anymore. Maybe rinsing the blue circles in cold water with vinegar? Mmm, not sure if I'll bother to do that any time soon...

Oh, and before I forget, there's one really good travel tip I'd like to share with all you fellow-crocheters. Take dental floss with you! For example on the plane where you're not allowed having scissors with you. It's ideal for cutting yarn. I used it for cutting cotton and acrylic - maybe it worked even better than my special craft scissors... Anyways, I can't recall where I read that tip for the first time (it wasn't my own idea), but I did make a small visual reminder. ;-)

Okay, I guess that's it for now. I'll have another post lined up already (how organised for once...), so I will be back soon! Thanks for visiting.
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Back soon!

Hello, thanks for being here! Just a quick message: I promise I will be a better (well, at least a more regular) blogger frow now on - or soon anyway. ;-) Much has happened - crocheting being one of those things. However, otherwise I've got a lot of catching up to do: Visiting all your wonderful blogs is high on my priority list. See you there soon!

For now I just share this messy pile of crocheted blankets with you.
Have a good time!
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