A simple Crochet Top and a walk amongst the forests and wetlands near Tilburg (NL)

Hello,

Hope you all had a nice weekend!!! Did you manage to catch a little bit of sunshine? We did, after a bit of a heavy rainshower, more of that later! First to some crochet news!

A simple Crochet Top

I started it some time ago, maybe early May, before the Baby Blanket and all the recent shawls - which is why it got put to one side for a while. So far I had completed most of the back and half of the front panel, but there were still quite a lot of rows to go!

After working hard this weekend to get this Top finally finished,  I can finally show it to you!

Here it is!!!

22.06.15 - My second crochet Jumper

Before it was finished: Here are the back and the front (which are identical), basically 2 large rectangles which I crocheted together to form a boatneck and simple cap sleeves by joining the sides.  This is my own design.

At the weekend : still more work to do!

Here you can see the easy stitch pattern I decided on: 2 rows of dc (UK) double crochet followed by 1 row of treble crochet (tc).

I wanted to have an even pattern that was not too holey, but let some air through nevertheless.

Sirdar Americana Cotton Blend DK

Boatneck detail

The finished Jumper!

Cool and comfortable!

The yarn I used was Sirdar Americana (I also used this for my Minty Shawl in a different colourway).

Hook: 4 mm       Used 9 x 50g*

From further away the colour looks quite neutral, but close up you can see the flecks of Red, Green and Orange in the Cream yarn. It will go with a lot of my clothes!

I made the Top quite long* (66cm) which is how I wanted it!

Some things I learned:

Making a smooth even edge - some of my early rows seemed to have gone a bit here and there, so I began to check the number of stitches in each finished row to make sure it was correct. Tedious, I know, but I soon got the hang of it and my edges started to be totally straight (and I didn't have to check anymore!)

When using a neutral yarn, it might be better to use a more interesting stitch pattern! (next time)

In hindsight I could have made more of a tunic shape (but I was dreading in/ or decreasing!)
I might need to make up my own paper pattern shape against which to crochet along!!!

Crocheting the edges together somehow seems to accentuate the holes made by the trebles (luckily the side seams don't get noticed much plus they could be extra air holes....)

Maybe crochet in the round instead???

The boatneck was a total success!!!

I was considering adding tassels but then decided against it!



A walk in a Nature Park between Tilburg and Eindhoven (NL)

Despite the crocheting on the weekend, we still managed to get out yesterday. We drove across the Dutch border to the Beerze Dale. (Beerze is a River) We noticed we were driving towards some very dark clouds! As we got nearer, there was still some rain, but the it stopped and we got going!

We walked an enjoyable trek of about 7 km, through forests, along fields and wetlands. I even got to stroke some grazing horses (in the middle of the woods) which was magical! We had to walk right through amongst them and they were such gentle creatures, busy with grazing.

Horses in the forest

Pale Foxglove (Digitalis)

White cows!

Extensive wetlands

We also saw quite a few wild flowers, an ants nest in a tree trunk, lots of electric blue dragonflies, a green frog and a brown toad. Lots of interesting new impressions.

What did you see this weekend? And what are your tips when it comes to crocheting a garment?

I look forward to hearing from you, please leave me some comments!

My Tahiti Shawl is finished plus flowers on my balcony garden

Welcome back, my friends!

In my last blog post yesterday I told you that I wanted to finish my Tahiti Shawl as soon as possible. Well, I put in a lot of crochet time both yesterday (whilst watching the gripping Season Finale of Wolven (a crime series here in Belgium) plus some more this morning and I'm happy to say that I finished it mid morning! Yippee!!!

My Tahiti Shawl

19.06.15 Finished Tahiti Shawl

Warning: Lots of photos to follow below.....

19.06.15 Morning - I still had to do more rows

The finished Shawl - note the spacing of the stripes!

Happy with the result

Stitch pattern

Here is a quick visual comparison between the Tahiti Shawl and the Minty Shawl - both from the same pattern. You can read more about the Minty Shawl in my blog post here.

Tahiti vs Minty Shawl

                                                           Tahiti                                   Minty

 Finished sizes:                              188 x 63 cm                          154 x 23 cm
                                                                                                        (without tassels)




Balcony Garden

Today the weather is cooler again, at least yesterday we had some more sun, but the temperatures were not great... Never mind, that way we get to appreciate the hotter weather when it returns! ;)

The good news is that the recent heatwave has helped my plants to grow more, and I'm happy to see a bit more colour again!

Here are a few photos to show what is flowering now...

Pink Roses

Hydrangea

Oxalis (Clover) and Gladioli planted a few weeks ago

 

Flowering Succulent Sempervivum

Red Rose

Blue White Lupins plus Thyme and Lavender

Hope you enjoyed reading this quick post! If you got the time, why not leave me a little note?
Have you planted anything recently? 

My new Veritas Triangle Shawl

Hello my lovely blogfriends!

Thank you for your lovely comments about my latest post. And welcome to my latest followers, I hope you will enjoy reading this new post today!

I am slowly starting to realize that I really love making shawls in the Summer, because they are so versatile to wear and equally fun to make!

The following shawl was really quick to make! I got the pattern from a woolshop here in Belgium - at Veritas. They often have free leaflets called #how to create. I picked up one that was called 'Driehoekige sjaal met pailletjes' (Triangular shawl with Sequins).

Sadly I couldn't find a direct link to the pattern which is written in Dutch.

Here is my Veritas Triangle Shawl!

Here you can see how it came about

Recently I went to Breiboetiek Debby in Antwerp to get more of the Katia Jaipur for my Rustic Lace Squares.

There I found some random yarn at reduced prices. After a good rummage in the box, I came up with the following:

6 balls of 50g , Three in a pale Sea green/Putty colour, one in Cream, and one each of different natural coloured balls with hints of browns, blues, green and orange.

I had never made a shawl from odd balls of yarn before! I thought it would work because these were all natural shades that look good together.

The pattern didn't look too difficult, and with a 5.5mm hook the shawl started to grow fast!

I started on the 5th June, the weather was sunny and I enjoyed crocheting on our balcony.

I alternated the colours, using the Sea green/Putty colour as my main colour because I had the most of this one.

 

  

I love the subtle stripes and colours. When it was finished only 3 days later, I added some tassels from the remaining yarn.

The finished shawl!

08.06.15 Tadah! My finished Shawl

The finished shawl measures 136 cm wide x 60 cm long (without the tassels, they measure approx 14 cm).

I already have worn this shawl a lot, it is soft and great when you are sitting somewhere with the airconditioning, protecting you against a chill.

My Tahiti Shawl - an update

Meanwhile I am concentrating on my Tahiti Shawl to get it finished. I'm hoping to show it to you all soon, but there is still quite a bit to do! You can see my recent progress here:

My Tahiti Shawl

The reason this one is taking longer is the difference in yarn! It is very thin cotton and I am only using a 3 mm hook. Also the size is a lot bigger, the width is approx 177 cm! So it will end up bigger overall!

What is your favourite summer project? Have you made something recently that you are already wearing now?

I'd love to read your comments, please feel free to add them below! Thank you for taking the time!

Happy summer crocheting!!!

#cathrynsvintagetop - my photo tutorial I showed on instagram today

Hello my dear blogfriends,

I hope you all got a chance to enjoy the lovely and very hot weather we've been having today!!!

I wanted to share something I've been working on today!

The internet can be a wonderful thing, filled with amazing people and ideas. (Yes, I know that is not always the case, but stay with me and focus on the positive here!)

Last week I encountered the lovely @cathryncook via my instagram . I know, not everybody is on instagram. Which is why I will publish my tutorial here as well. Only you get it all in one nice blogpost, whereas I had to post numerous times on instagram.

Cathryn posted a most lovely photo of a crochet vintage top she bought in a charityshop.

You can find it here: Cathryn's Vintage Top - Photo

I used this one, saved the photo, turned it upside down on my computer and used my skills to 'hack' this pattern - that is to work out the stitches for a crochet pattern. (This is my term) ;))


The Stitch Tutorial for Cathryn's Vintage Top

The swatch I made for this pattern

Step by Step:

#1

First post of a new #series :
#cathrynsvintagetop

@cathryncook - this is for you especially!!! My #crochethack at working out the pattern from your post.

Row 1: all treble stitches

Row 2: * three trebles, two chains (skip one treble below) , one treble into the 5th stitch ,two chains (skip one treble below) *
Repeat from * for row2.

Shown: rows 1 and 2.

#funkycrochet ,#crochetpattern,
#vintage ,#patterndesign ,#ilovecolour ,#ilovecrochet ,#crochetaddict ,#crochetmearainbow ,#instacrochet

#2

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #2

Showing Row 3

Row 3: * five trebles , three chains. * - see crochet stitches here.

Repeat * for the entire row.

In the #original #crochetpattern @cathryncook the first three rows are in the base #colour (#white ), I am using #lilac as my #basecolour.

#funkycrochet ,#crochethack ,#crochetpattern ,#instacrochet ,#ilovecrochet

#3

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #3

Showing row 4 in #yellow = #colouraccent

@cathryncook
Row 4: *three trebles, then into 3 chain space below: three trebles, one chain, three trebles *

Repeat * across the entire #row
Note: basically rows 2-4 form the pattern

Rows 2 and 3 are in #basecolour, and row 4 is in #colouraccent.

#myfunkycrochet ,#crochethack ,#vintage ,#crochetpattern ,#instacrochet ,#crochetmearainbow ,#crochettop ,#crochetlove

#4

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #4

Here you can see row 5 in my #basecolour #lilac .

You will notice that this row repeats row 2 again.

Please refer to all the posts with #cathrynsvintagetop together.

@cathryncook
#instacrochet ,#myfunkycrochetblogspotbe ,#ilovecolour ,#crochethack ,#crochetpattern ,#crochetlove ,#crochettop ,#crochetmearainbow ,#crochetmania

#5

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #5

Showing row 6 in #basecolour #lilac - this row is a repeat from row 3.

Please check out all my posts in this series.

@cathryncook
#crochetpattern ,#vintagepattern ,#funkycrochet ,#ilovecrochet ,##crochethack ,#crochetaddict ,#instacrochet

#6

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #6

Hooray, we got another #colouraccent row!!! Showing row 7 in #colouraccent #mintgreen .

Each #colouraccent row follows the #stitchpattern for row 4, with two rows of the #basecolour inbetween.

#instacrochet ,#ilovecolour ,#crochethack ,#funkycrochet ,#vintagelove ,#crochetdesign ,#crochetmearainbow

#7

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #7

Next: row 8 in #basecolour #lilac which is a repeat of row 2

@cathryncook
#crochetmania ,#crochetpattern ,#crochethack ,#instacrochet ,#ilovecrochet ,#vintagepattern ,#fun ,#funkycrochet

#8

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #8

@cathryncook
Row 9 is a repeat of row 3 in the #basecolour #lilac
Now you can see the pattern emerging!

#instacrochet ,#crochetpattern ,#crochethack ,#funkycrochet ,#vintagelove ,#ilovecrochet ,#crochettop ,#crochetmearainbow ,#colour

#9

#series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #9

If you check out the original :
#cathrynsvintagetop @cathryncook then you will notice what a difference a bit of #colour can make!!! Hers comes in one #basecolour
Plus 2 #colouraccent s

What I did here is add a new #colouraccent !! You could add any number of colours be creative!

I would love it if anyone might try this #crochetpattern. Please use the tag #cathrynsvintagetop when sharing.

I do not claim to be the original designer, I merely tried to work out the pattern and share it here. Feel free to change the number of stitches to make it #unique.

I want you to feel inspired!!! I am going to do a post on my blog about this #ctochettutorial soon. Check: myfunkycrochet.blogspot.be

#instacrochet ,#crochetismagical ,#creativity ,#crochethack ,#myfunkycrochetblogspotbe ,#ilovecolour ,#colourful ,#crochetpattern ,#crochetlove ,#crochetmearainbow

#10

This is #series #cathrynsvintagetop
Post #10
Here is my handwritten #crochet #diagram

@cathryncook
Please see my other posts in this series, giving a step by step guide.

#crochetpattern ,#crochethack ,#vintagepattern ,#instacrochet ,#ilovecolour ,#crochettop ,#crochetmearainbow ,#crochetismagical ,#myfunkycrochet
Please share and link back to me!
Enjoy!!!



Notes:

Of course, this is only the main part of the pattern, it wasn't meant to be an instruction how to make the entire top.

You could take any general pattern and just replace the stitch pattern! You could make any number of garments using this stitch pattern. I'm thinking cardigans, tops, dresses, jackets, etc.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, let me know what you think! I love reading your comments!

Have a lovely summery weekend!