Cut Out & Keep : the Granny Brooch !!!

…. sniff ! sniff ! sniff….. My last day as a Knit & Crochet Superstar !!!!!

I loved it, immensely!!!!
I worked on my tutorials between November and December (before Christmas time) and it involved a lot of work, some upsetting moments (as internet here as a lot of hic-ups …..), but even a lot of fun and enthusiasm to be part of this brilliant moment in my crafty life!!!!! It was so hard to wait until the 2nd of February to see the fruit of my work shared on Cut Out & Keep ….. I thank you Cath for all the patience you had with me, in answering all my initial questions!!!!

But today it is the end of all of that and I have to show you my last little project ….

…. I simply love her, the Granny Brooch !!!!!

… just a happy end with a big smile and no tears !!!!!

Thank you to you all for you support in this adventure : it means a lot to me !!!!!!

xxxx, Alessandra

Make it ! Mini clown faces !!!

I was thinking about something simple and colourful to do, not time consuming but effective!
Something good to gift as party favours, too!!!!!
This is the main reasoning behind my mini clown faces, that are not very detailed in embellishments, but you can easily understand what they are….. or not????? ;oD

You will need :

• some white (clown face) and colourful (clown hair) yarn
• a hook
• a pair of scissors
• a yarn needle
• some pom poms
• craft glue
• brooch backs
• thread and needle to sew pins
• some cord and baker's twine

As usual, I'll use US crochet terms to explain my work!

To start, you have to collect your hook and the white yarn : we are going to crochet the face of the clown!

Make a slip knot, chain 4 and insert the hook in the first chain done, to form a ring.

( You can find a detailed photo tutorial HERE, if you need one!)

Now, chain 3 and crochet 11 double crochets into the ring.  

Just before the "fasten off", you'll have something like this …

To close your round, insert the hook in the top of your first "chain 3", pull the yarn and fasten off.

After trimming in the ends, pick a new colour for the hair and make a slip knot on the hook with it

and insert the hook in the top of any stitch. Make a single crochet, chain 2 and make a double crochet in the same stitch …

You need to work 2 double crochets in each of the following 5 stitches, so that you will have 6 couples of DCs …

Trim in the ends …

…. and with the help of some glue, attach a pom pom, in the middle of the clown face, as a nose …

Easily done, right ???

What to do with these mini clown faces?

Well, you can use them as pendants on very basic necklaces …

I collected a piece of red cord and a piece of matching baker's twine (both long 1mt) and two beads.

I knotted them together in the back and voila' ….

If you prefer, you can have a little brooch instead ….

…. just sew a brooch pin on the back of your clown and wear it …

….. maybe there are different things in your mind, as little garlands, cards, hair clips, bracelets, cake toppers, or ….. ?????? ;oD

HAVE FUN and let me know what are you going to do with them!!!!! THANK YOU !!!!

xxxx Alessandra

Today Link Parties : Link your Stuff ! and Craft Schooling Sunday !!!!! See you there, too!!!

My Ravelry Notes can be found HERE !!!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

So many things to do, to complete, to wrap and to send away!!!
This, more or less, is the summary of my last week!!!!

I'm crafting as my usual, but this time all my work is finalised for Christmas!!!! I know that you all are in the same boat as me! I'm excited, but even a little bit tired sometime, because of the time table I have to keep up with!!!! It happens once a year, so I know that I can do it by the end!!! ;oD

Last week, I started to crochet a hat following a japanese chart from one of my books…

But I realised that something was wrong, because the finished hat was not for an adult, but for a toddler!
The problem was due to the given size of the hook, that was wrong! In fact, the book stated a 3mm hook, but the right one was, instead, a 5mm!!!!
I solved the thing, just adding a big neon pink pompom and a neon green brim : this hat was given to a little young lady that is 1 and 1/2 year old!!!! ;oD

…. I'm not giving up from my original purpose, so, following the same pattern but with different hook and yarn, I started to crochet the adult hat….

In the meanwhile, I started to accommodate the first Christmas decorations around the home….

…. and this morning my husband, with the help of Tobia, collected the Christmas tree from the box, so that tomorrow we'll decorate it !!! In the next days I'll show you more about the Christmas decorations around the all house!!!

I've crocheted more grannies for my last project (here and here, too!!!)…

What else????
Oh yes, just few pics of the presents I was wrapping yesterday….

….potholders and butterflies brooches and a colourful….

….there were more handmakes, but I forgot to take the pictures of them!!!!! Too busy !!!!!

xxxx Alessandra
Happy weekend!!!

Today link : Link your Stuff!

Make it! Little bears, triangles and a skull!!! PART #1

It seems an obsession of mine, lately, to figure out more things from the same pattern!!!!
I think it happens to avoid any kind of boredom while crocheting the same motif, for example, for a long time (like a big project, as this one !)....

It will be a long post, mostly because of the huge amount of pictures, so I've decided to split it in two parts! Be patient and have fun!!!

BEARS MUZZLES

the pattern is really easy and quick (note that all these projects are worked with a 5mm hook and I follow the US crochet terms!) :

• make a slip knot, chain 4 and slip stitch in the first chain to form a ring.
• chain 3, crochet 10 DCs into the ring and slip stitch in the top of your first DC
• chain 8 and crochet 1 DC in same stitch,  3 DCs in next 3 stitches, chain 8 and make 1 DC in closeby stitch
• fasten off

.... in the next days, I will sew some buttons on them (and a pin on the back of each one!) and I think their expressions will be like the ones pictured in the followings photos...

TRIANGLES into a TETRAHEDRON

the pattern, this time, requires more crocheted stitches :

• make a slip knot, chain 4 and make a slip stitch in the first stitch to form a ring
• chain 3, crochet 10 DCs into the ring and slip stitch in the top of first DC made
• chain 8 (chain 3= first DC and chain 5 more!) and crochet 1 DC in same stitch, 3 DCs in next stitches, chain 5 and make 1 DC in the next stitch, 3 DCs in next stitches, chain 5 and 1 DC in the next stitch, 3 DCs in last stitches and slip stitch in the top of your first DC
• chain 3, 7 DCs in the arch formed by the 5 chains, 4 DCs (**see SKULL), 7 DCs in the arch, 4 DCs (**see SKULL), 7 DCs in the arch, 3 DCs and slip stitch in the top of your first DC
• fasten off

I've decided to crochet 4 triangles to sew them together (using single crochets) into a tetrahedron (aka as pyramid!)...

I think I will crochet more tetrahedrons as decorations for my Christmas tree!!!

If you prefer to fill them with some toy stuffing, this could be a nice toy for a little kid!!!

SKULL

Halloween is just around the corner, so.......

The pattern for this skull not differs too much from the one made for the above triangles, you have only to substitute the 4DCs followed by ** as follows : 1 DC, 2 hDCs (half double crochets), 1 DC

That's all for the # PART !!! 

PART #2 will be posted asap !!!!

xxxx Alessandra