christmas decoration 2014 – crochet and paper

december is a month when many of us love to see glittery things, do you too? 🙂

 

i made some decoration to hang onto my wall next to couch, but it would also be nice in front of a window. the lamp is close by so in the evening the light let the decoration sparkle a little extra. it looks cute!

in case you like to do something similar too, you will find the info how to make below and also the links to the pages with patterns or links to patterns and downloadable prints, all free!

 

crochet

what you need is some not to thick yarn from your stash. i used cotton 8 and catania mercerized cotton and for both crochet hook size 3.00 mm and of course you need scissors and a needle with a blunt tip.

 

crafting

for the crafting part i used 2 tiny bottles of glitter and green glitter tape which i bought for just a few euros. 

you need something for your decorations to hang, like a rotan/rattan stick, or pretty clothes hangers. i used an old thin metal rod. next to that you need transparent water-soluble glue, a bowl, water, scissors, a bowl, a brush and a cup or small vase and cling film, funny paperclips, sewing thread.

glitters and green glitter tape

prints, glue, tape and scissors

 

it will be messy 🙂

 

 

you can use any crochet motif you like, patterns can be found for example on pinterest, ravelry or mypicot (scroll down for the christmas theme).

i used motifs i made in the past and kept in a box and motifs i made for christmas two years ago. you can the info about these and links to patterns on my christmas blogpost here.

 

some other info which might be useful

• if you like to make a yarn bowl in a glittery way, use all the info you can find in this blogpost but sprinkle glitter over it while your bowl is still wet.
• if you like to harden your crochet (or knit) motifs, you can find the information here.
• last but not least, if you like you can print your own copy of the faux crochet stars here and the holiday balls here. 

 

 

oops that are many links, but how to make the christmas decoration of this year?

 

here we go

1. hang your rod, hangers or other onto a wall or in front of a window

2. print and cut – if wanted – the faux stars and the holiday ball. cut the faux crochet stars and glue – with undiluted glue – two similar ones with the wrong sides together with sewing thread between them, repeat this until your garland has the length you have, cut thread and attach the garland with a piece of glittery tape onto the rod. you can use the same method for the holiday balls.

3. crochet the motifs you like.

4. mix the glue in a bowl with about the same amount of water. 

5. brush the glue on the motifs and sprinkle some glitters over them, pin and let dry. when they are dry use some yarn to hang them onto the rod. 

white crochet motifs with glittter pinned and drying

paper faux crochet stars

6. if you like you can also crochet some garlands. i used my pattern for the spring garland, numbers 3, 5 and 10. after you crochet them, brush to the glue on them, sprinkle the glitters and let them dry. except garland number 5, you do as follows : put your finger into a. the glue, b. one of the cups, c. the glitters, d. in the same cup and repeat this procedure until you did all the cups. let dry.

7.attach the garlands with some glittery tape onto the rod.

close up of garland

glittery curl

glitter curl

christmas decoration at daylight 2014

8. to make the glittery curl, put some cling film around a cup or small vase, put glue on it, wrap yarn around and sprinkle glitters, let dry completely. use a knife to loosen the cling film. hang curl onto the rod.

9. if you have some nice paperclips, make a nice garland of them, i have birds and i love them (you can see them on the fourth picture in the gallery above).

 

this is the result, pictures taken in the evening with artificial light.

small glittery crochet square

glittery crochet star

glittery crochet lace square

christmas decorations 2014

christmas decoration on wall

 

 

by the way, not everything went well. it is better to use undiluted glue when working with paper. i didn’t at first and the result was bumpy paper and glitters that are not spread equally. thankfully wrapping a gift for my mother went well. i used bright pink paper, some glittery tape and a holiday ball. 

wobbly printed balls 😦

pink wrapping paper, green glitter tape and a holiday ball

 

 

enjoy making your own glittery thingies! 🙂 

 

until next time!

 

 

 

pink and anthracite crochet

hello, how are you? 

last weekend i made it very easy for myself, only a few household chores and some shopping at the supermarket, and of course i watched football (that was not very relaxed…) and of course i crocheted. 

​like this lacy summer scarf for which i’ve used this stitch pattern and anthracite colored cotton viscose of yarnstudio.

 

anthracite lacy summer scarf on hanger

anthracite lacy summer scarf close up

anthracite lacy summer scarf

crochet anthracite lacy summer scarf

 

 

i found a ball of yarn (label unknown) that has escaped the trip to england, see here for more info on that. the yarn  i have turned into a few small items: a glass jar cover, a floral motif and a flowery garland.

crochet jar cover bottom

crochet pink glass jar cover

crochet pink jar cover close up

crochet pink floral motif

pink flowery garland on wall

flowery garland close up

crochet flowery garland

 

if you are interested the pattern for the garland can be found via this link and then look for number 8. the only difference with the original pattern and this pink one is 10 chains between de flowers in stead of 20.

the pattern for the flower motif you can find via this link.

 

that was it for today. hope your monday was a good one, my best wishes for the new week!!

 

 

crocheted orange flags

 

almost weekend!

 

do you follow the world cup? i do a little but many people in my neighborhood follow the dutch team more fanatical. their gardens and balconies are adorned with all sorts of orange decorations, including plastic garlands with orange flags. this pretty white cat lives two doors away and on the background you can see the orange decorations in ‘her’ garden. 

white cat

 

 

i won’t show you a picture of the garden on the left, because my neighbors can hardly stand upright there by all their decorations:)

 

crocheted flags

a few years ago i hooked a version of cotton yarn, 11 orange flags, one for each player of the team. see the original blog post here. but below there are some new pictures to see: 

crochet orange flag

crochet orange flags garland

crochet orange triangles garland

 

 

recently my friend alessandra has posted about this type of crocheted triangles and the variations she has made. in her post you will find the link to the original charted pattern, so if you like to make your own version of this garland here is the link to the explanations. 

 

orange

the next match of the dutch (orange) team will be a little thrilling and i will certainly sit in front of the television with my crochet work and support them. will you also watch matches of the world cup?

 

joining: creative friday at natural suburbia

 

 

wish you an enjoyable weekend !!

orange garland by elisabeth andrée

little cars in a row tutorial

hello!

this tutorial i had prepared about a week ago, but there were other things. today the little cars are online and i hope you like them!

i need some rest but in about a week i’m back with news about the storage bag with the fishes. i hope to see you then because i always like it when you come for a visit. 

have a lovely weekend and week!

.

a tiny traffic jam

while making the baby blanket i thought i might crochet and sew an application on. in the end i didn’t sew anything on the blanket, but i have tried some patterns for cars and of trying one learns how a motif is put together. they can be found on my pinterest board for yarn leftover projects.

eventually i figured out  the shape i wanted and i must admit it only differs in minor details, but sometimes small details are very important (at least i think so).

.

if you like the  little cars in a row, here is how it goes:

.

used stitches (american terms):

ch = chain

ss = slip stitch

sc = single crochet

2sc tog = 2 single crochet together (see: explanation of 2sc tog or sc2tog)

dc = double crochet

dtr = double treble (see: explanation of double treble)

.

used materials:

leftover yarn (catania and phildar coton 3) and crochet hook size 3.5 mm

 

start

make 18 chains

row 1. 1 sc into the 2nd ch from your hook and into all the other chains until end of row, 1 ch, turn

row 2. 1 sc into the first sc and into all the other sc until end of row, 1 ch, turn

row 3. repeat row 2

row 4. repeat row 2

row 5. 2sc tog in first and 2nd sc, 1 sc into all the next stitches until end of row, 1 ch turn.

row 6. 1 sc into the first sc and into all the other sc until the last two stitches, crochet 2sc tog into them, 1 ch, turn,

row 7. skip first stitch, ss into next sc, 1 sc into next sc, 7 ch, skip 4 sc, 1 double treble in next sc, 7 ch, 1 sc into last sc – from this stitch you work around the car and create the wheels – make 1 sc in each space or stitch, into first corner at bottom side make 1 sc, 1 ch, 1sc, 1 sc into next stitch, 6 ch, skip 4 stitches, make 1 sc in next 4 sc, 6 ch, skip 4 stitches, sc into next stitches, 1 ch for the corner, but make the next sc into the next stitch, keep crocheting sc all around, 12 sc into the window spaces each, skip the double treble. 

weave in ends.

wheels

attach second color in the wheel space and crochet 12 sc into first space. finish off and repeat for second wheel.

 

garland

in third color make 50 chains, attach first car with a sc, make 25 chains, attach second car, repeat this until you have attached the last car, crochet another 50 chains, 1 ch, turn, slip stitch into first and all other stitches, finish off.

optional: for the last row of slip stitches i used another color.

happy crocheting!

7 little cars garland

christmas decoration

 

the past week i’ve been thinking about whether or not i will have christmas decorations in my living room this year. i’m not a big fan of it actually, although in other people’s houses, i find it often quite nice. last year i gave much of my christmas stuff away – to the charity shop – but some christmas balls i still have in a large cardboard box. christmas trees are not for me because i get rashes and red eyes of them. but entirely without decoration in december looks so … grumpy, i think.

so i made something myself and have no money spent.

everything i thought i could use i put on my table and have made a first selection and after a while i made a final choice: what colors appeal most to me and what fits the colors in the room.

 

this is what i chose:

a few christmas balls

 

cotton yarn (left overs), glitter yarn and thread with glimmery things

hooks for hanging christmas balls

an old earclip of my mother, a few beads, ‘silver’ rings which were on the caps of perfum bottles and crochet pointy earrings

nothing is new, the copper-colored yarn i bought on ebay years ago, the other glitter yarn is from an old vest of my mother, the white thread with the glowy things i have ever detached from an object. most motifs i already had, i have crocheted only a few new ones and all the edges around the motifs.

 

anyway, this is the result 

 

how to make 

i realize that you do not have the same stuff as i have and you might not have glitter yarn lying in the closet. maybe it is an idea to ask family, friends, neighbors if they have discarded rings and earrings, which you can use. maybe someone has old clothing with beautiful buttons, sequins or yarn.

 

the garland

on this photo wrapped around a white glass.

make 3 chains, 1 sc into the second chain from hook, *3 chains, 1 sc into the second chain from hook*, repeat between * and * until your garland is long enough.

 

edges

around all the motifs you can – if you like that – crochet an edge of just single crochets or 1 sc, 1 ch, 1 sc or slip stitches.
look here for the tutorial for little squares and if you scroll down the page you will see how you can crochet a pretty edge.

motifs

below you will find links to patterns/tutorials for small motifs

 

1. for these round motifs on the right see the pendant pattern and for the little cup see this page

2. for a simple but pretty triangle, see here for the pattern (diagram, there are more patterns for triangles on the same page)

3. and those gray pointy things on the same picture you can make in any color you like, see here for the tutorial

 

4.

• a pretty flowery motif is mypicot pattern number 4007, the first 3 rounds. you can find the diagram here. 
• and the japanese diagram for a flowery circle (bottom left on the pattern page) you can find here
• the diagram for a simple star you can find here 

 

6. for a circle with a glittery edge you can use my tutorial for crocheting rounds 

 7. that counts also for this:

 

tutorial: a cover for a glass jar

• crochet rounds until it has the size of the bottom op your jar
• next round. crochet into the back loops only and without increasing the number of stitches
• next 4 rounds. crochet 1 stitch into every stitch (without increasing)

subsequently:

• round a: 3 chains, skip 1 stitch, 1 dc into the next stitch, 1 ch, *skip 1 stitch, 1 dc into the next stitch, 1 ch*, repeat between * and * until end of row, slip stitch into the 2nd ch.
• round b. 4 chains, 1 treble into the next dc, 1 ch, *1 treble into the next dc, 1 ch*, repeat between * and *  until end of row, slip stitch into the third ch.
• round c. 7 chains, skip 2 spaces and 1 treble, make 1 tr into the next tr, 3 ch, *skip 2 spaces and 1 treble, make 1 tr into the next tr, 3 ch*, repeat between * and * until end of row, slip stitch into the third ch.
• round d. 11 ch, skip 2 spaces and 1 treble, make 1 tr into the next tr, 3 ch, *skip 2 spaces and 1 treble, make 1 tr into the next tr, 3 ch*, repeat between * and * until end of row, slip stitch into the third ch.
• round e. attach glitter yarn to any stitch and crochet 1 sc into all the chains and the trebles. weave in the ends.

 

8. and if you like the white vase cover see here for the tutorial

 

9. for this decoration i have a couple of large and smaller beads strung on a thread together with the earclip and hung it on the edge of the vase with a hook.

 

that’s it, do you like these decorative things? you can hang it in the christmas tree or as a garland on the wall. hope you will have enough time to crochet your own christmas decorations!

 

enjoy!