Valentine's Day :: Crocheted hearts tutorial - part 2

I got really nervous about this particular crocheted heart. After I did the first three-dimensional one, I had to make another one in order to write the tutorial (why didn't I anticipate this?!) and I started panicking I wouldn't be able to replicate. But, as you can see I managed to do so and if you look really carefully, you'll notice this one actually looks better than its fellow over here. That's probably because this time I had to pay attention to what I was doing. Hence, no mistakes in this one. It's perfectly symmetrical and looks much more like a heart than the first one - though anatomically I would say the first one's probably a better match.

Anyway, if you want to make one of these goodies, this is what you'll need:

- a crochet hook
- red yarn
- 2 pieces of thread of different color for marking stitches or stitch markers if you would have any of those
- roving or fiber fill (I was lucky to still have some red roving left from previous needle felting projects)

Stitches used and abbreviations

cs = chain stitch
sc = single crochet
slst = slip stitch
st = stitch

Pattern

round 1: 5cs, close loop with a slst

round 2: 1 cs, 8 sc = 9st

Mark first stitch using one of the colored threads or a stitch marker.

round 3: 1 cs, 1 sc, increase by making 2 sc in every underlying stitch of previous row, finish round with 1 slst = 18 st.

Mark with the other colored thread or a stitch marker after stitch number 9.
Note: make sure to move up the stitch markers as you go - the markers split the work exactly in half which will help you in making the heart perfectly symmetrical.

round 4: 1 cs, 1 sc, 2 sc in every next stitch, 1 slst = 36st

round 5: 1 cs, 1 sc, * 1 sc, increase 2 sc, 1 sc, increase 2 sc *, increase 3 sc, increase 2 sc, increase 3 sc, repeat * * backwards, increase 2 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc = 26 st.
1 cs, * 1 sc 6 times, increase 2 sc, increase 3 sc *, increase 2 sc, repeat * * backwards, 1 sc = 26 st.
Repeat this sequence on the other half of the stitches. You should end this round with 52 st.

round 6: 1cs, * 1 sc 10 times, increase 3 sc in next stitch, 1 sc *, repeat * * backwards. Repeat this sequence on the other half. You should end with 58 st.
1cs, * 1 sc 11 times, increase 2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc *, repeat * * backwards = 29 st. Repeat this sequence on the other half. You should end with 58 st.

round 7: 1 sc 5 times, decrease by making 1 sc every other stitch 9 times, 1 sc 5 times. Repeat this sequence for the other half. You should end with 38 st.

round 8: 1 sc 5 times, decrease by making 1 sc every other stitch 5 times, 1 sc 5 times. Repeat for the other half. You should end with 32 st.

round 9: 1 sc 5 times, decrease by making 1 sc every other stitch 2 times, 1 sc 5 times. Repeat for the other half. You should end with 26 st.

round 10: 1 sc 5 times, decrease by making 1 sc every other stitch 2 times, 1 sc 4 times. Repeat for the other half. You should end with 22 st.

round 11: 1 sc 4 times, decrease by making 1 sc every other stitch 2 times, 1 sc 4 times. Repeat for the other half. You should end with 18 st.

You can start stuffing the heart with the roving or fiber fill and shape if needed. Continue to add as you go.

round 12: 1 sc 2 times, decrease by making 1 sc every other stitch 1 time, 1 sc 3 times. Repeat on remaining stitches.

next rounds: continue to decrease like in previous rows until you have 1 st left. Bind off and hide the remaining end inside the heart with a needle.

Just a final note: the first couple of rounds look kind of weird - ruffled - and I'm sure you'll wonder how this ever could become a heart. Don't worry about this. As you soon as you'll start decreasing stitches the heart shape will come.

Good luck!

Valentine's Day :: Crocheted hearts tutorial - part 1

As promised yesterday, here's the Valentine's heart tutorial - part 1: a flat heart.

Needed: 1 crochet hook and some red yarn. I prefer cotton for this, but any yarn should work.

Stitches used and abbreviations:

cs = chain stitch
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
slst = slip stitch
st = stitch

Pattern:

row 1: cs 5 and make a loop with a slst through the first cs

row 2: cs 3 (makes the first stitch of the row), dc 5 through the loop = 6 stitches

row 3: cs 3; * 1 dc in first stitch of previous row, increase by making 2 dc in underlying stitch previous row *; repeat * * once, 1 dc, 1 dc = 9 st

row 4: 3 cs; * 1 dc, 1 dc, increase 2 dc *, repeat * * once, 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc = 12 st

row 5: 3 cs, * 1 dc *, repeat * * 4 more times, increase 2dc, repeat * * 5 more times, 1 dc = 14 st

row 6: 3 cs, * 1 dc *, repeat * * 4 more times, + 1 sc +, repeat + + 3 more times, repeat * * 4 times, 1 dc = 15 st

row 7: 1 sc, * 1 sc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 sc, 1 sc *, 1 slst, 1slst, repeat * * backwards, 1 sc, 1 slst - cut off yarn and pull end through loop to bind off. And done!


When you think this is complicated try to read it out loud - now, that's complicated!! LOL!

And now I'm off to make another three dimensional heart, because, of course when I made the first one, I just went on and on instead of writing down everything I did... So, wish me good luck and then hopefully you'll find part 2 here tomorrow!

Valentine's Day :: something to crochet

I seem to be in a crochet mood, lately. I'm still working on the granny squares. I have about 14 ready now - I'm taking it slowly, one at a time. It seems I'm not the only one with granny squares on her mind. For a nice overview and inspiration, check out Mon Ami's blog. Granny squares not only work great for blankets and pillows. The other day, I saw a lady on the metro with the most exquisite granny squares scarf draped around her neck, in soft angora wool, earth tones combined with purples and blues. So beautiful! Too bad winter is too far along otherwise I would have started on one. Maybe something to keep in mind for next year...

Now, in between the granny square oohing and aahing, I did some Valentine's day inspired crocheting as well. I whipped two hearts together: a flat one and last night a three-dimensional one.

In case you fancy to make some of your own, I plan on having a how-to together, hopefully by tomorrow. So, if your in the mood for some Valentine's Day inspired crocheting, stay tuned and get out crochet hooks and red yarns...

Sewing with kids :: PJ's!

We had a nice and almost normal weekend. The girls had busy schedules on Saturday, but on Sunday we just stayed home and relaxed, and M. and I found time for some sewing as well.

With the holidays and all that happened after, we didn't do any sewing since the tote bag. She'd told me a couple of times already the next thing she wanted to sew was something she could wear. That's when I came up with the idea of making some PJ pants. Not too difficult, I thought, and no big deal if it didn't work out. Only problem: I didn't have a pattern - very annoying on a Sunday afternoon. We did have some summer drawstring pants, however, which once belonged to M. but now are more of little H.'s size. I traced those and added a couple of inches here and there, and hoped for the best. I found some really nice cotton fabric in my stash, with a delicate flower print which M. happened to like too. I cut the fabric for her and pinned the pieces together. And, somehow, the pattern worked out perfectly. Don't ask me how I did it, but it was right to the very last millimeter. M. did all the sewing on her little machine - she even zig-zagged the edges to prevent the fabric from fraying. I showed her a little trick for sewing the two legs together. She sort of panicked when she saw how wide the pants were at the waist - that was before inserting the elastic, however. Once the elastic was in, they had the right fit. I added one final little detail for her: a faux drawstring at the front.

Et voilà!... a mere two hours later, I was able to take this shot: a proud M. in her new PJ's...
Perfect! Just perfect! Don't you think?!

Granny squares

Earlier this week I was still complaining about my lack of creativity and energy. It looks like both are coming back, as some of you predicted. K. wasn't the only one who had to recover, apparently. But we're back on track now! Both of us!

I don't know what triggered it, but on Wednesday afternoon I found myself rummaging through my craft supplies, looking for a crochet hook and some yarn. I have quite a stash of left over yarns, and I did remember this gorgeous granny squares blanket on Yvestown (also check out her photostream for more colorful projects). I started on the flowers and made a small stack of them that very same night. Yesterday, I went out to get me some white and a couple more colors. [This is totally besides the story but on my hunt for yarn I got "lost" at some point, but in a fun way. I came across a part of Paris I didn't know yet and which I definitely need to go back to some time soon, to check out the nicest little boutiques. I'll keep you posted!]

Anyway, it took me a while to find the appropriate white cotton but eventually I did. So, last night I finished off some of the granny squares. I don't know yet what I'll use them for, a blanket or some pillows. Though that was the initial idea, I'm afraid a blanket is a little bit of an ambitious and risky project for a restless mind like me who likes to change projects often. And it could cause some problems here too, as the girls are already asking who it will be for. Two pillow cases, however, would make both girls happy and maybe that would make a nice Valentine's Day present as well...
Need to think about it!

Blocked

From left to right: Hand sanitizer - we used plenty of it lately; a vintage clothes hanger - the colors and print make me long for spring; my new leather jacket - a nice find as it was really cheap and it looks nice with yellow, I thought; M. painting last night.

Could it be I'm struggling with writer's block? Or is it just me hibernating? Not sure. But the last couple of days I find it really hard to sit down and blog. Unlike usually, I don't spend hours in a row on the computer. I'm even way behind with checking my favorite blogs, have plenty of e-mails and comments unanswered still. Sure, K.'s still at home, but it's not that I need to look after him like a baby. He's fine, even without my help. So, that's certainly not it.

I just have the feeling I have nothing to talk about right now. Instead, I want to DO stuff. Sew, make, create, go out and take pictures. There's one problem though: the ideas won't come or when I have ideas I can't seem to structure them. I still need to come up with something to make for my girls for Valentine's day, to name just one thing. Ever since they were little, I have this tradition of making something special for my girls, something personal. Last year, at this time of the year, the ideas just kept coming. That's when I wrote my first tutorials. If I go on like this you won't see a new tutorial any time soon, I'm afraid.

Maybe I'm just putting too much pressure on myself. Blogging is not a competition, is it? And is there a law which states you need to re-invent yourself over and over again? Not that I know of. I'm sure there are plenty of fun crafts and project ideas out there. So, why don't I just start by looking around in blogosphere. Have you come across any fun projects lately or some inspiring sites? Just drop me a line in the comments section!

After the rain

Today was a busy day. Ran around all day like crazy to bring the girls to and pick up the girls from their activities, doing the groceries in between. And it rained all day so I got wet every single time I went out. Not really an interesting topic, is it?

I haven't done anything creative over the last two weeks for obvious reasons, so I can't show you anything new either. I have some old stuff which I haven't shown you yet. But the mere fact I haven't shown it, most likely means there was something wrong with it. Otherwise, I'm sure it would have made it up here already. And though I plan a post on "mishaps", I don't feel like writing about it now.

Maybe, I could write about the dryer which died earlier this week (the timing couldn't be better) while I was drying a load of bath towels. And about how the repair guy sort of lost his mind because he had to take the whole thing apart in order to find out what was wrong with it (I'm still convinced there must be an easier way to get to that pump) only to conclude he didn't have the parts with him to also fix the problem. After which he had to put the whole thing back together - sigh. Will it ever work again, I wonder - he really took it apart completely. Also, since the guarantee expired a couple of months ago, I had to pay close to 90 euros, for a dryer which is still not working and which won't be for another week because that's how long it takes to order and get the parts. So now, in our living room, besides the usual mess laying around we also have laundry drying. Not really exciting, is it?

I could write about how K. is feeling much, much better and finally got his appetite back which I'm really happy about since he lost a lot of weight. I wouldn't mind to loose a couple of pounds, but I think there are healthier ways to do so...

I also could mention how M. got the best compliment ever from her teacher this week, who was totally surprised to find out M. didn't speak a word of French a little over two years ago. She simply thought M. was a Belgian francophone...

I could write about how little H. almost knocked her own tooth out yesterday at gym - a baby tooth luckily - so while I was at it at the grocery store I had to bring a special order from the Tooth Fairy as well, just in case...

But I don't want to write about all that stuff - I just want to show you these shots, taken in between showers and all the running today - a 15 minute time span to be exact.

I promise I'll never say again our court yard is dull and boring. It's lovely. Even on a rainy and soaking wet Saturday...

So much better!

He's back home from the hospital! This was by far the scariest week ever. I've never seen him this sick and I hope I won't have to ever again. But he's doing much better now, tired still, but so much better. No flu, not even a seasonal one it turned out, but pneumonia. A really, really bad one.
I'm so glad he's back home - and the girls too will be thrilled to find their dad back home when they'll return from school.

Thank you to everyone for your support and get-well wishes. They meant a lot to me, to us. And thank you, mommy, for coming all the way to Paris, to take care of the girls and me. You made the difference this week!! Thank you so much!

xo, P.

Break

I'm dropping a quick line, just to tell you I'm taking a little blog break until further notice. K. ended up at the hospital last Saturday, and I don't feel like blogging at all at the moment. My mom is coming in today to help me out which is quite a relief. The girls have been wonderful but are worried just like me. The doctors are no longer sure that what looked like the flu actually was a flu to start with... We're still waiting for further test results.

Going abstract in the snow...

It's been a while since my last abstract shot. Never thought the next one would happen in the snow...




Wishing you all a great weekend!

xo, P.

Winter happiness: Snow

We had some snow yesterday. Only a little bit, but there's more to come on Saturday. We keep our fingers crossed as we still haven't had our real snow fight yet!

Though I had a busy schedule yesterday (K.'s still sick), I couldn't resist taking half an hour off to make photographs. These were shot in the courtyard of our apartment block. Though our courtyard is not spectacular at all on regular days it gets quite magical under a thin white blanket. I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I do...

Needless needles?

I stripped our Christmas tree on Tuesday from all its ornaments and yesterday morning we escorted it to the park, where it will get mulched.
At home, just a couple of needles left here and there reminding us of the holidays. It must be January...

In the same post where I mentioned I was still debating whether to get a tree or not, I also mentioned we weren't sure whether we should get the flu-vaccine. Even though we eventually decided we would go get one, we still didn't do so, due to circumstances. And now, I'm afraid we might be too late. K. came down with what looks like a severe flu. I'm worried. I've never seen him this sick. I hope it's not the Mexican flu, not that this matters right now - I just want him to feel better soon...

Winter happiness :: the smell of homemade bread

This is what I did yesterday. Bake bread.

I just love everything in the process of baking bread. The bubbling of the yeast and the smell it releases, combining the ingredients and the stickiness at first, how all of a sudden the ingredients blend and turn into a smooth mass, the kneading, the silky feel of the dough, watching the dough rise, the final shaping, and best of all the scoring - the baker's signature - right before confiding it to the oven. And oh, that divine smell while baking...
I used to bake bread quite a lot, but since we moved to Paris, there's no real incentive for baking bread anymore with more than a dozen of bakeries within close walking distance.

Was it the winter cold, I'm not sure, but yesterday I felt a sudden urge to bake bread. And it turned out so good. Even with the crust a little burned...
This is what I call real comfort food - homemade bread with a bowl of steaming hot homemade soup...

"I'll sleep when I'm dead"

I'm so not a morning person. I never was and I never will.
I simply can't go to bed at night. Quite often it's 1:00 AM before I end up between the sheets. I can't help it. There's so many things I want or "need" to do at night, that I often think to myself "I'll sleep when I'm dead"*.
The result is that right now I feel like I could use a little nap...

Need to think about this tonight. Before the clock hits 1:00 AM, that is...

* I'll sleep when I'm dead - Warren Zevon (1976) - too bad I couldn't find the track online as I really like that song...

Sewing with kids

I mentioned it in one of my last posts of 2009: Santa brought the girls a real sewing machine - the Janome Sew Mini. At first I felt a little nervous about it. I wasn't sure they would like it. And given their young age (9 and 6), would it be easy enough to operate? I was a bit worried too - was I putting pressure on them to like the same thing I like to do: sewing? Turns out that I worried too much. They just love their little sewing machine, the best proof being the little projects they did.

So far, they each made a heat therapy cherry pit pillow. Big girl M. made the most gorgeous tote, big enough to fit a large sized book in it. And they both made a little linen pouch for their cousins, with their cousins' names embroidered on it - too bad I didn't have time to take pictures as these were REALLY cute. For all of these projects, all I did was provide the fabric, cut the fabric and put the pieces together ready to be stitched on the machine.



Since the bag turned out so lovely and is really easy to make, I decided I might as well provide you with some instructions. My first tutorial for 2010! It makes a nice beginner's project, not just for kids but for anyone who's new at sewing.

All you need is two rectangular pieces of fabric of 42 by 80 cm, one for the outside of the bag and one for lining the bag and some matching thread.

This is how it goes:

1. Cut the fabric - both the lining and outer fabric - as shown in the diagram. Next, fold the 10cm wide strip in half, lengthwise, and cut lengthwise at the fold so you obtain two 5 by 80cm strips. These will be used for the handles.



2. Starting with the outer fabric, fold the bigger piece in half, right sides facing and stitch the side seams. Repeat with the lining, but this time you leave a small opening in one of the side seams, for turning.

3. Take one of each fabrics long handle strips, place on top of each other right sides facing. Stitch both side seams. Attach a safety pin at one end, slip it inside and turn the obtained tube inside out - this makes a nice exercise in fine motor skills for kids. Remove the safety pin. Shape the handle and press flat with an iron (this should be done by an adult). Repeat with the other set of strips.

4. Turn the outer bag inside out, if you haven't done so already and pin the handles to the bag, such that the outer fabric of both the handle and bag is facing. Stitch into place, really close to the edge.



5. Pull the lining over the outer bag with the handles already attached, making sure the handles are squeezed inside, and such that the right side of the outer bag is facing the right side of the lining. Stitch the top seam, about 1.5cm from the edge.

6. Now, turn inside out the bag through the opening you left in the lining. Shape and press flat with an iron (adult!). Close the opening in the side seam of the lining and ... done!

I hope this is clear - if not just let me know!
Just a final note: if you plan on doing this project with kids, or any project on the sewing machine, do not leave them unattended while operating a sewing machine and make sure to keep the working area safe!

And now I'm off to dismantle and get rid of our Christmas tree!

Wishing you a fun first week of the new year!


Please note, these tutorials are intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

2010 :: Less is more...

I hope you all had a wonderful end of year and a happy start of the new decade. "The new decade" - it sounds so weird to me. I wasn't even aware of this fact until I saw all the overviews of the decade in the newspapers and on TV. Time goes by so fast.
Although this doesn't apply to the world in general, the past decade brought a lot of changes in my life - I mean nice ones, really good ones, positive ones and only a few sad ones. Will the next decade be as good as the previous one... ? Only time will tell.

I'm not a believer when it comes to New Year's resolutions - I'm just hoping for another creative year and a simpler life. No excesses this year as less is more.
And I have a personal project I want to work on this year. Too premature still, I want to keep this my little secret for now (and maybe forever, depending on how it works out...).

But in the meantime, I do want to wish you all a wonderful and happy new decade - a positive and healthy 2010!

xo, P.