Making progress on my Bubble Gum Shawl

Happy weekend everyone!



Just a short post for now. I just want to share my joy about making the Bubble Gum Shawl, it is such a delight. I let the photos speak for themselves!


My Bubble Gum Shawl - taking part in the CAL 2016

 Bubble Gum Shawl 02.07.2016

 

Yesterday afternoon at Nata's in Antwerp with a friend

I met my friend in Antwerp and we had some lovely Portuguese coffee and a nata which is a scrumptious little custard style cake served hot. Absolutely delicious! We had a lovely time catching up and my friend snapped this picture of me whilst I was working on my Bubble Gum Shawl!




Thanks for your visit, feel free to comment below and enjoy your weekend!

Crochet CAL 2016 - Bubble Gum Shawl by Katja Löffler

Hello again,

Did you know that there is a Crochet Along going on right now for a shawl?*

I only found out beginning of this week when I came across the image for the shawl on pinterest, find it here.


Bubble Gum Shawl by Katja Löffler




Copyright Cittigato on Ravelry

First things first - here is the Ravelry page with details and link to the free pattern

The CAL is running from 17 June to 8 July 2016. But that doesn't mean that you can't crochet your own shawl any other time, of course. I'm a bit late to this party, but it doesn't bother me.

Important : it might be that the pattern is only free during the CAL, so I would advise you to download it as soon as possible before the 8 July 2016 - just in case!

This is indeed a beautiful and intriguing shawl! I've not seen another quite like it. For me it was love at first sight! It has got lots of holes. I believe a colour changing yarn is a must.

Going through my yarn stash I found the right yarn - Schachenmayr Tahiti which is a fine cotton yarn I have used before for another shawl last summer - you can find the blogpost with photos of the finished shawl here

Unfortunately this yarn is now discontinued. There are lots of different colourways.

And here are my first photos, I only started on Tuesday!

Happy Yarn - Schachenmayr Tahiti

Getting started on the Bubble Gum Shawl

29.06.2016 - making progress

30.06.2016 - Last night's colour changes

Shawl is curving gently

I just finished row 57. There are a total of 109 rows in the pattern. Obviously the rows keep getting bigger each time. I photographed it laid out on 4x A4 sheets of paper.

Each row is written out, so it is very easy to follow! After a while you see how the pattern is built, one side is curved, the other has got spikes every so often. The pattern starts at one side of the shawl and then works across to the other side.

Despite the fact that my shawl in progress has not been blocked you can see the 'bubbles' very clearly!

I am using a 4mm hook versus the recommended size of 2-3mm for this yarn. The pattern actually states a 5mm hook, but I decided against that. Sometimes you have to go with your own instinct! To me this feels the perfect match.



KAL 2016 Knitted Bubble Gum Shawl © Biancha Müller

* For those of you who are also knitters, guess what? There is a KAL 2016 as well!!!
Find the ravelry link to the free pattern here (download before 8 July, might have to pay after that date).

Knitted Bubble Gum Shawl © Biancha Müller

All photos are my own, except those taken from the Ravelry pages of the originators of the CAL/KAL (Katja Löffler and Biancha Müller) - which are credited accordingly. Please check out their pages for detailed information.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Many thanks for all your recent comments, they are always much appreciated. It gives me great joy to share these things with you and I hope you will find some inspiration!

Feel free to leave me your comments below. Thanks for your visit!

I just love colourful crochet shawls!

Hello, my dear blog friends,


Good to see you back here! And a hearty welcome to my newest followers, you are very welcome and I value your input and comments, and appreciate your time!

Today I want to do a review post, one that looks back at some of my previous makes.

As you can see from the title, I just love colourful shawls. You might have noticed this before. It just struck me when I wrote my last two posts, and I warned you to wear your sunglasses!!!

Afterwards I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fun, if I took a look at some of my shawls and took some photos. So that is what I did! And I really enjoyed it, looking at all that colour together.

And the naughty cats proceeded to walk, no run and skid, across my shawls which meant I had to lay them all out properly once again.

So here they are, some of my colourful shawls, most of them are for the summer. Enjoy!



Scheepjes CAL2015: Flight of Fancy, my own Rainbow Circle Shawl, a small neckerchief South Bay Shawlette, All at Sea Shawl, Elise Shawl, Veritas Triangle Shawl, Minty Green Shawl



Here is a striped Crocodile Stitch Scarf I made some time ago (love how the stripes match up)

My Noro Lion's Foot Stitch Scarf in the middle

Some Skinny Scarves made from Katia Yarn, made with a 2mm hook

Here you can see that my colourful South Bay Shawl really steals the show, it is huge!

If you want to find out more about any of these shawls, just click on the right side bar on the tag called 'Shawl' and it will bring up all the posts that I tagged like that!

Obviously I forgot some, like the Tahiti Shawl I made last summer, it must be somewhere else...

And of course there are the two woollen South Bay Shawls which are draped over my chair where I sit, I didn't include them in the picture because there wouldn't have been enough floor space!

It makes me very happy to think that I got all these shawls waiting for me, that I can pick and choose which one to wear, according to my fancy! And to know, that they are unique, that I made them myself, also fills me with pleasure and joy!

I think this is something we all got in common, when we make things for ourselves and others - it brings joy to the maker and to the wearer.



Hope you liked this post, feel free to leave your comments, it's always great to hear from you!

Have a nice weekend!

Would you like a free crochet shawl pattern today?

Hello my dear friends,

How are you doing? Did you have some nice Easter days?

Are you planning on making a crochet shawl but lack inspiration? Do you wish you had a nice new exciting pattern?

Well, look no further!

Here is just a very quick note to alert you right now that you can download these two 'flaming red' crochet shawl patterns for free - but hurry, this is only for a very short time, then they will cost money!


DISCLAIMER - THIS POST USES IMAGES FROM THE PATTERN ORIGINATORS, THE COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO THEM.


The Heatwave Cowl by Zoë Clements


How : You can find the link to download here on Ravelry. (you might have to join Ravelry if you are not a member yet, but it is free and totally worth it for the access to so much inspiration and information!)

How long : free until 8 April 2016 - don't wait too long!

Do I need a code? YES! Use the code: Heatwave

I first found it via Zoë's lovely blog - pernickitywitch. Do check it out!



Photos taken from Zoe's blog so you can see the lovely cowl pattern (Copyright Zoë Clements)



Red Velvet Rose Wrap by Chandi Agee


How : Here is the Ravelry Link or go directly to their  Expression Fiber Arts website.

How long : free until 31 March 2016 - so please hurry!

Do I need a code? NO. The page shows the price as 0.





These photos taken via Google search of the images published on Ravelry. Copyright Expression Fiber Arts.





Well, I thought these two wonderful patterns look amazing and different and I just had to share them with you all.

I already downloaded mine, don't delay or forget! And feel free to pass on to others if you do blog, just make sure you respect the authors' copyrights and mention where the patterns/photos came from.

I'm already thinking about which yarn would suit each pattern. However, I have other current WIPs that are demanding attention, so it will have to wait!

I hope you enjoyed this different sort of post, I'm planning on sharing other inspirations from time to time as well as my own makes!

Happy crocheting!!!!
(Please leave a comment after the beep!)


*Beep!*

Crochet Shawls : Fortune's Shawlette, Virus Shawl and a colourful South Bay Shawlette

Hello my dear Blog Friends,

How have you been? Thanks so much for your lovely comments on my knitting post!

For those of you who have been wondering if I had given up on crochet - this post is especially for you! This time I will show you some interesting crochet shawls and links to the patterns!

Interesting Crochet Shawl patterns


1) The Virus Shawl

I can't tell you how much this pattern demanded to be made! Almost every time I go on pinterest, I seem to come across this pattern. So I put this on my ideas list until I had finished some other projects first. I had already bought the yarn in Germany.

The pattern is on ravelry, of course and it is free!

Virus shawl.                         Here is the direct download link (PDF)

Virus pattern in German.     And here is a photo tutorial and chart on Facebook
The yarn I am using is lace yarn by Zitron, called Filigran Lace. It is super thin and fine pure merino wool and the colours are amazing!

The colours are really as vibrant as the first and last photo. (Some days the day light is not great for taking photos!)



2) Fortune's Shawlette

I first mentioned about this shawl in a recent blog post here.

Here is the Fortune's Shawlette! It's from another fantastic crochet designer, Tamara Kelly, better known as Moogly. You can also find all her many (and often free) patterns on ravelry.

So far I have used 2x 100g skeins of the lovely soft Merino wool, and I'm about to start my last skein!

3) The South Bay Shawlette

Some of you might remember that I have used this pattern quite a few times, because I love how you can use it for different kinds of yarn, different thicknesses etc. I love variegated colourful yarn best!

A lot of you really liked this version here from a previous post.

The South Bay Shawlette is from Lion Brand, you will find the free pattern here.

Sometimes incredible things happen, such as finding the new sock yarn by Arne and Carlos (shade 03653 - shown in large) and then coming across another yarn in matching colours - Kidsilk Haze Stripe by Rowan (Shade 202). Kid silk Haze is an amazing soft fuzzy and light Kid mohair yarn with 30% Silk added. It feels very luxurious!

I couldn't think of a better pattern to use these 2 yarns together! The colour effects are simply stunning! (these photos don't do them enough justice!)

And here are all three shawls together!

Funkycrochet - Three great crochet shawl patterns!
 

I hope you enjoyed this little round-up of interesting patterns and might come back here for the links!

I find it really interesting to look at a pattern on ravelry and then check out the different versions that people have made from the same pattern! It really is very inspirational!

If you haven't tried pinterest before, I urge you to give it a go! It opens up a whole new world of ideas and patterns, lots of them for free. For example, if you click on one image, it shows a whole lot of similar and complimentary patterns below.

You can find (and follow) me here on pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/myfunkycrochet/

Last, but not least: Thank you for following my blog! A very warm welcome to my latest new followers, hope you enjoy what you see!

I welcome your comments and love reading them, so please don't be shy and say hello... ;)
 
Have a lovely weekend!!!

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?