17 ... !!!

Yesterday our big boy Matteo was celebrating his birthday .... 17 .... !!!!

Leaving aside all the emotions and memories of your (once!) little boy, I was concerned for the right gift to give Matteo on his big day .... not easy, as in Maputo we cannot find what he really likes (have you ever heard of Gunpla ????), so I had to think hard for a simple, but effective idea, until we go back to Italy in June and send a order through Amazon..... ;oD

Luckily, I remembered that Matteo loves foxes and he would love to have one as a pet .... Why not to crochet one for his B-Day???

On Pinterest I found what I needed ....

First , a fox gift card holder ! Free pattern found HERE !!!

.... I liked it most with a pair of green eyes !!!!
My husband put inside a couple of vouchers with the pictures of the Gunplas asked from Matteo as gifts for his birthday!

Second, a fox jar cosy !!!  Free pattern found HERE !!!
Matteo loves to draw and he is always around with his sketch book and pencils, so I thought a jar to put all his stuff was mandatory!!!
A difference with the original pattern : I didn't like the felt eyes, so I preferred to crochet a fox applique on the jar !! Free pattern found HERE !!!

The fox (a brooch) on the right, instead, is fruit of my imagination, but I never wrote a pattern for it!!!

Third and last : a fox basket, to put in all the gifts and our cards !!! Free pattern HERE !!!

The good thing is that Matteo appreciated all our efforts : PHEW!!!

.... and in the evening he blew candles on his favourite cake (with apples and no yeast, so that's why is so flat!) .....

.... Buon Compleanno Matteo !!!!
xxxx mamma

Some knitting and some crochet !!!

Even if you are not hearing from me very often (internet service is quite a nightmare here!), this doesn't mean I stay with my hands on my belly all day long !!!!

I craft every day !!!!! Some days like a crazy, some days more quietly !!!!!

In the last two weeks I started a couple of projects with my straight knitting needles …..

I'm following a pattern from one of Fiona Goble's knitting books SCARVES and COWLS 36 quick and stylish knits : it's on page 14, the Long striped scarf and I love it !!!

I'm using different yarns ( Sirdar Sublime cashmere merino silk dk ….. discontinued !!!! sorry!) that I bought when still in Indonesia, while the pattern requires other yarns, but still from Sirdar !!! ;oD
Another different thing from the original pattern is the size of my needles : I'm working with a 3,5 mm pair, while the pattern suggests 4mm needles!

My scarf will be thinner and shorter than the original, but I'm already in love with it …

… when working with the garter stitch I always prefer the wrong side of my work, mostly when stripes are involved !!!! I like to look at the rows where I change the colours …

My "little" sister Varinia asked me to knit her socks …. scary, really scary !!!! I've never tried to use circular needles or dpns … so : what to do ?????
Well, I started to browse on Pinterest (where else ???) and I found an easy sock pattern to knit with a pair of straight needles, just to have an idea …..

I did it !!!!! At least one !!!! ;oD
The pattern I followed is HERE !!!!
I admit that I need to refresh my seam technique (!!!!), but I enjoyed this easy pattern that gave me the idea of the parts of a sock and I'm really less scared after this try!
One thing I'm sure right now : I need to understand and practise with DPNS, because they allow you to knit better socks!!!! We'll see !!!!

In the meantime, two Birtdays have been celebrated here in Maputo, so I knitted (again!!!!) two softies,
one for a little girl (3 years old!) …

I call her "piccolotta" (a sweet way to say little in Italian!) and I love it as it's a very quick knit, so simple and satisfying, as you can add small touches to make it great !!! See the bow on her head? And the buttons?? You know what I mean, right???? ;oD

The other softie, was bigger because for a bigger girl (15 years old !!!!) ….

…. ah, the little heart, embroidered using the duplicate stitch method ….

I did some crochet, too !!!!
I'm preparing a couple of photo tutorials and I hope Internet will allow me a serene photo editing in the meantime to show you very soon my new projects!!!
The Big Girl (who received the big softies) kindly asked me to crochet her some little baskets (do you remember THESE????) as party favours : she needs them to put some little cacti in! Nice idea, right?

These baskets are a little bit bigger than the original ones, as I added a couple of stitches in the first round (so they are larger) and two more rows of DCs (so they are higher, too!) !!!

See you soon ( I hope!), xxxx Alessandra

Simple crochet ...

Another Japanese crochet book, all about cushions …

…. and I "need" 4 flat cushions for the chairs around our dining table, so I tried the pattern of the yellow flower, on the right of the book cover ….

The chairs are covered in white heavy cotton fabric, so I can play with colours as I wish, but I'm thinking that this pattern is even good for some wall decorations…. so I'm still pondering what use is better for those flowers-to-be !!! ;oD


I'm still putting some order in my stuff and in a box I found 5 granny squares I crocheted a while ago, when still in Jakarta …. what to do with them?
Luckily I still have some balls of the colourful acrylic yarns I was using in Indonesia, so I decided to use some bright colours to join the squares into a little basket …

…. that is nice even on the top of the wooden cat !!! Not useful, but nice !!! ;oD


Last thing ….

…. a big project that Margot is in love with, too !!!!
I really appreciate that, but this doesn't make my job easier, you know …. !!!!

xxxx, Alessandra

….. Two more Lilliputian Baskets !!!

…. with something different from the previous ones (here the photo tutorial) …

There are just few differences from the original pattern :

1.  The base ( from round 1 to round 4) presents two colours
2. the whole basket is crocheted in double crochets (no single crochets rounds)
3. the tapestry crochet design starts with round 5 and ends with round 10 : you work 3 stitches with colour A, then 3 stitches with colour B and you repeat the colour scheme until the end of the round. The beginning of next round starts with 3 stitches with colour B, then 3 stitches with colour A : repeat until the end of the round ! Alternating these rounds, you will obtain a stairs/spiral effect!
4. round 11 : you work the slip stitches using both strands of yarn together. Even the single crochets around the handles are crocheted using 2 strands at a time!

That's all !!!!!

xxxx Alessandra

today links : Link your Stuff! , Busy Fingers Showing Off #90