tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87066502401942621692024-03-13T01:30:25.320+00:00bunny mama's cornerDaryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-27547261801535904542016-01-21T19:55:00.001+00:002016-01-21T19:55:23.456+00:00In love with fabricsTo be honest I'm not only in love with yarn (that's why I have an enormous stash which I'm trying to downsize since 2014), I'm as well in love with fabrics. So today when I was passing a small clothes alterations studio I noticed a small basket there with a note "Fabtic remnants, £1 a bundle" I couldn't resist myself to dig in. And I found two lovely bundles that I just had to take home with me.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gt_muwdqZF4/VqE3og_uPII/AAAAAAAAAPo/7H9Pk85ucO4/s640/blogger-image-1002074955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gt_muwdqZF4/VqE3og_uPII/AAAAAAAAAPo/7H9Pk85ucO4/s640/blogger-image-1002074955.jpg"></a></div> </div><div>Why would I need them? Well, I had a few things in mind for quite a while but didn't have the right fabrics.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xUqusPigLNU/VqE3qVMgF7I/AAAAAAAAAP4/E2esP805sNY/s640/blogger-image--701862233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xUqusPigLNU/VqE3qVMgF7I/AAAAAAAAAP4/E2esP805sNY/s640/blogger-image--701862233.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div>The Christmas tree decorations are from a Tesco free magazine and the bunnies are from a sewing magazine I bought a while ago. Plus there are the little owls which I absolutely Love. And they are a free pattern. Take a look: http://moonstitches.typepad.com/photos/tutowlrial/zakkaowls.html</div><div><br></div><div>So happy seeing to me. Now I only need to find a bit of time for it.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fA33szckiM4/VqE3pofk7aI/AAAAAAAAAPw/247qfL0XpGc/s640/blogger-image--1383031220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fA33szckiM4/VqE3pofk7aI/AAAAAAAAAPw/247qfL0XpGc/s640/blogger-image--1383031220.jpg"></a></div>Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-25153667963352129562015-12-19T11:07:00.001+00:002015-12-19T11:07:13.996+00:00Socks and coffeeI had such an awesome time from the beginning of November getting ready for a craft fair, taking orders for Christmas and crocheting every spare minute I had. At times it felt like crochet hook is a natural part of my hand. All of the little creatures I made in this month and a half deserve a special post and there will be one, but today I have a well deserved right to rest, because yesterday I gave away my last Christmas order for this year. So today will be a lazy day with coffee and sock knitting.<div><br><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u4Bi4QwK6OQ/VnU6YPbvRmI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/7m-1l_u-wjU/s640/blogger-image-921420515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u4Bi4QwK6OQ/VnU6YPbvRmI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/7m-1l_u-wjU/s640/blogger-image-921420515.jpg"></a></div><br></div></div>Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-50589354753982309632015-03-17T11:42:00.001+00:002015-03-17T11:42:41.879+00:00Time and mandalas<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xollB0QoQEg/VQgTGSmIkhI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Qh3It6oDhEM/s640/blogger-image--446408238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xollB0QoQEg/VQgTGSmIkhI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Qh3It6oDhEM/s640/blogger-image--446408238.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div><br></div>I think I'm getting used to say "This week was so busy/crazy/awful", I'm getting used to tell people how tired I am and what crazy things my kids do to drive me insane and turn the house into a complete mess. I'm used to those things so much, that they make my every week look and feel the same and in the end of the week I tend to forget that it was not only busy and awful, but actually it was filled with lots of different things, often - lovely and positive ones. This week was for instance filled with watching "Call the midwife", knitting red socks for my granddad, planning a trip to Latvia, thinking of participating in a craft fair and crocheting bunnies as a result, enjoying colouring books with Michael, who is three and his favourite question at the moment is "What is this?", making paper swans and teaching one year old Mathew how to dance. Not bad, I'd say :)<div><br></div><div><div>And this evening, when little people go to bed will be all about mandalas. The case is I made a mandala quite a while ago, before Yarndale 2014 with a plan to send it to Lucy (Attic 24 blog owner). I was imagining it being displayed with lots of other mandalas at Yarndale, but then I discovered that my design was too big for the specific sizes they wanted, so my mandala never got anywhere except my own living room. </div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eh4XSx2lG_k/VQgTLwv3hjI/AAAAAAAAANo/V7rQ1-_frdc/s640/blogger-image-18136056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eh4XSx2lG_k/VQgTLwv3hjI/AAAAAAAAANo/V7rQ1-_frdc/s640/blogger-image-18136056.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q1akUfVUYpo/VQgTKbIz_jI/AAAAAAAAANg/zsE9DldcSnU/s640/blogger-image-1204343778.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q1akUfVUYpo/VQgTKbIz_jI/AAAAAAAAANg/zsE9DldcSnU/s640/blogger-image-1204343778.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But when I made it it seemed that people like it and wanted a pattern. So now finally it's time to write it down and share with happy hooking community. I already made a chart using my original mandala and a tiny tester I made this week, now it only needs a written pattern for those who can't read charts. Looking forward to it:)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-UHQTanR7hNA/VQgTINfPXOI/AAAAAAAAANY/9lJRN_F1jto/s640/blogger-image-2091949128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-UHQTanR7hNA/VQgTINfPXOI/AAAAAAAAANY/9lJRN_F1jto/s640/blogger-image-2091949128.jpg"></a></div><br></span></div><br></div><br></div></div>Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-76798637218932094502015-03-10T12:17:00.001+00:002015-03-12T19:44:46.967+00:00Lost and foundI'm here today to tell you a story. A story about a girl who was lost for quite a while and suddenly found herself again in a box of gouache paint one night. A girl who was doing lots of things she used to like, but could not find any inspiration and joy in them anymore, so all the things she made turned into just a mechanical process for her. She was struggling to find a purpose and happiness in her life and after some time she gave up in trying to identify them and decided to live her life without any. But that was like living in the dark, only the darkness is inside, not around you. You can't live your life in the dark, pretending that you are ok, because you are not. It would be a sad sad story if something wouldn't have happened. And that something was a TV show about artists. May be you think that it is stupid to be influenced by telly, but sometimes answers come from any most unexpected sources and we just need to accept them and let them change us. So that show surprisingly influenced her, and she went and bought a set of gouache colours and a few brushes without even clearly understanding why. She used to paint before, when she was a kid, but it seemed like something from the previous life and she never was really good at painting. All that thoughts made her slow herself down and leave the gouache untouched for a few days until yesterday when feeling lonely and unhappy she finally opened it and made a drawing, letting the brushes fly as they wanted and the colours mix as her soul felt they should. She switched the brain off she told her rational part to shut up and made another drawing. And felt better. The next morning she woke up, looked at her drawings and felt something growing inside. And that something was inspiration - a new light meaning that the time of living in the darkness is over. <div><br></div><div>That girl is me.</div><div><br></div><div>And here is what I have been drawing.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z-XlUd_1pL8/VQHspHtCSqI/AAAAAAAAAM0/f3jkAN-GBtg/s640/blogger-image-1457806830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z-XlUd_1pL8/VQHspHtCSqI/AAAAAAAAAM0/f3jkAN-GBtg/s640/blogger-image-1457806830.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jYViztTNn2c/VQHsqddOBhI/AAAAAAAAAM8/QTzqZnmlFjc/s640/blogger-image--1816439438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jYViztTNn2c/VQHsqddOBhI/AAAAAAAAAM8/QTzqZnmlFjc/s640/blogger-image--1816439438.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-55344005314543340122014-09-04T00:51:00.001+01:002014-09-04T00:52:12.065+01:00Cars<div><br></div>Sometimes I think that it would be nice to have daughters, lovely little girls with their dolls who would definitely need lots of crocheted and knitted dresses, booties and other stuff, plus I could make endless teddies and bunnies, because girls just like teddies and bunnies. But I have two little boys and they don't need any doll clothes or teddies and bunnies. My house is full of cars, trains, helicopters and railroads. Probably that's why I decided to try to crochet a car for my youngest one. He is starting to crawl and when I see him near wooden or metal toys, or anything with sharp corners, I don't feel that this toys are safe enough, I want to protect him at least by giving him toys that are totally safe to play with. <div>I wouldn't say that I am totally satisfied with the result. Probably cars are just not something for me, I'm much better at making bunnies and teddies... Anyway at least it's safe and can be chewed too, as it's made of cotton. Hopefully the little one will like it, especially if I hide all the plastic and wooden cars :)</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G53xDvWiYEs/VAepaRPlqYI/AAAAAAAAALo/nwn37cYr7-0/s640/blogger-image-791802574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G53xDvWiYEs/VAepaRPlqYI/AAAAAAAAALo/nwn37cYr7-0/s640/blogger-image-791802574.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YQa8wifyhd0/VAepqEiPXYI/AAAAAAAAALw/N3Sc3xh-meA/s640/blogger-image--853841973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YQa8wifyhd0/VAepqEiPXYI/AAAAAAAAALw/N3Sc3xh-meA/s640/blogger-image--853841973.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br></div><br></div>Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-21937756421184827132014-08-31T00:20:00.001+01:002014-08-31T00:37:50.501+01:00Walking and looking for inspiration<div><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">You never know which simple things can make you super happy until you get them. That was exactly the feeling I had today after I bought a double buggy. Oh yes, I needed a double buggy as 6 month ago our family grew bigger. Now Little Man is not so little, at least not the smallest one in the house :) So, as I was saying, I bought a double buggy and had a long forgotten feeling of freedom when I was finally able to go for quite a long walk with my two little people. I know it might sound stupid - a baby, a toddler, you and freedom just don't come together, but in fact it was the feeling that I control the situation, that gave me some sort of freedom, freedom of choosing the length of walk, the direction, the speed. And for the first time in this long months a walk out with little ones was pleasant, not stressful. Now I honestly have no idea how could I survive without that double buggy :) Here are a bit of pics of our walk. Just wanted to share that lovely feelings of mine with you all.</span></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sj4aeb7BOpw/VAJfs6hKH7I/AAAAAAAAAKw/_qNEWjdTGkU/s640/blogger-image-1562839294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-sj4aeb7BOpw/VAJfs6hKH7I/AAAAAAAAAKw/_qNEWjdTGkU/s640/blogger-image-1562839294.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We went to the Mere which is like 5 min from our home. Well, may be 10. Anyway it's really close and it's the only place like this near our house. This year there are surprisingly lots of swans. It's like three times more than what you see on the pic. So we had some fun feeding them. little Man even managed to touch one of them ( probably he wanted to give swan a cuddle).</div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wMtwDn1CfAA/VAJfxfcbLCI/AAAAAAAAALQ/JquKa3POWds/s640/blogger-image-462797955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wMtwDn1CfAA/VAJfxfcbLCI/AAAAAAAAALQ/JquKa3POWds/s640/blogger-image-462797955.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-TnnRm-QinKU/VAJfrfTdWAI/AAAAAAAAAKo/gDHVuRg826Q/s640/blogger-image--1783335644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-TnnRm-QinKU/VAJfrfTdWAI/AAAAAAAAAKo/gDHVuRg826Q/s640/blogger-image--1783335644.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E0NE0AEpdko/VAJfoehJOhI/AAAAAAAAAKY/uiw26g1f-QY/s640/blogger-image--443856805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E0NE0AEpdko/VAJfoehJOhI/AAAAAAAAAKY/uiw26g1f-QY/s640/blogger-image--443856805.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">That's how the Mere looks. Now it's a bit neglected with trees uncut and that green stuff in the water, but it's still beautiful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HsQuIyg1GXg/VAJfvE9jYzI/AAAAAAAAALA/E5rkA7e5sXk/s640/blogger-image-139115194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HsQuIyg1GXg/VAJfvE9jYzI/AAAAAAAAALA/E5rkA7e5sXk/s640/blogger-image-139115194.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8WPuEIW6moc/VAJfqAg_CTI/AAAAAAAAAKg/w7lhaSmwV8g/s640/blogger-image-280311277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8WPuEIW6moc/VAJfqAg_CTI/AAAAAAAAAKg/w7lhaSmwV8g/s640/blogger-image-280311277.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">A bit of autumn already.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6f3nYMz0gM0/VAJfwQVTPMI/AAAAAAAAALI/9O8WmX4NAt8/s640/blogger-image--44580292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6f3nYMz0gM0/VAJfwQVTPMI/AAAAAAAAALI/9O8WmX4NAt8/s640/blogger-image--44580292.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I treated myself with some berries found along the way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nh6NjhukBBQ/VAJftyP_18I/AAAAAAAAAK4/clEy9k4fhrE/s640/blogger-image--196873171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-nh6NjhukBBQ/VAJftyP_18I/AAAAAAAAAK4/clEy9k4fhrE/s640/blogger-image--196873171.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the end, when the smallest person was asleep me and Little Man had something like lunch in the open caffee. Well, he had some chips and I had some tea with my berries and we both felt really related and happy. Such a nice feeling. Hope there will be lots and lots of walks like this in the future with some nature inspiration, photos and relaxation.</div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-51062595686750924612013-11-03T14:31:00.001+00:002013-11-03T14:31:20.634+00:0030 Days Of Christmas. Day 2: Knitted baubles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I know I was going to sew today. But it looks like I'm not in the mood for sewing, all I can think about is knitted baubles. Yes, exactly! Especially after a lot of inspiration found online this morning.<br />
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It all started with this picture found on Flickr:<br />
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<a href="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/22/45/d0/2245d05ec7f5f93b6c3c382d40dc6a0a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/22/45/d0/2245d05ec7f5f93b6c3c382d40dc6a0a.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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After meditating on that picture for a couple of minutes I went to Google and started searching for some more info hoping actually to find any free patterns. And I found them! Here is a little list of what I found:<br />
<br />1. Three free designs by Marry Ann Stephens (all three in one PDF file):<br /><a href="http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/christmas-balls.pdf">http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/christmas-balls.pdf</a><br />
<a href="http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/kilim-christmas-ball.jpg?w=300&h=300" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/kilim-christmas-ball.jpg?w=300&h=300" width="200" /></a><br />
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2. One more bauble by Marry Ann<br />
<a href="http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/two-strands-christmas-ball.pdf">http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/two-strands-christmas-ball.pdf</a><br />
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<a href="http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/twostrands_xmas_1.jpg?w=640&h=640" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://twostrands.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/twostrands_xmas_1.jpg?w=640&h=640" width="200" /></a></div>
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3. Some really easy baubles by <a href="http://i-like-lemons.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/knit-balls.html">I Like Lemons</a>:<br />
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<a href="http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/em_en_lj/knitballs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa246/em_en_lj/knitballs1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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4. Two patterns by Lion Brand:<br />
<a href="http://www.lionbrand.com/stores/lionbrand/pictures/l0286ada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="http://www.lionbrand.com/stores/lionbrand/pictures/l0286ada.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0286AD.html">http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0286AD.html</a><br /><a href="http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0226AD.html">http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0226AD.html</a><br />
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5. <a href="http://bunnybosworth.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chevron-bauble-tutorial.html">Chevron baubles</a> with pattern and tutorial by Bunny Bosworth<br />
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Plus there is a great <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1844487814/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0YM63P19CRQA7Y0JNDZ9&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=429454147&pf_rd_i=468294">book by Arne and Carlos "55 Christmas Balls to Knit: Colourful Festive Ornaments"</a> and lots of inspirational pictures online.<br />
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I'm going to grab a set of double pointed needles and some yarn bits from my oddments basket and try. Looks like the ones from I Like Lemons are the easiest version. But I really like the chevron ones too...</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-35376574033424253192013-11-02T23:26:00.003+00:002013-11-02T23:26:37.905+00:0030 days of Christmas. Day 1: little crocheted heart<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, today I started a little project. Or is it better to call it a journey? A journey through one of the most unpleasant months of the year to a beautiful Christmas tree... I like how it sounds.<br />
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<br /><br />First of all I found a box at home. It even looked like a Christmas box which is ideal. Hopefully in 30 days this box will be full and I will be really proud of myself. Then I searched for some patterns and inspiration. I decided that I won't be supertraditional and really anything as long as I like it and it has appropriate size can be a Christmas decoration. It can be bunnies or any other animals, snowmen, little houses, hearts, apples, angels or any other dolls, balls, trees and so far. The best places to search for inspiration are Pinterest (look at my <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/thebunnymama/christmas-decoration-ideas/">"Christmas decoration ideas"</a> board there), Google images, any craft magazines like Mollie Makes... There are lots of great ideas in the Internet using all kinds of materials and any skill levels, the most important part here is the creativity.</div>
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<br />Now shall we start with the first Christmas tree ornament I made. Today the weather was awful, cold windy and rainy and I could sit in my living room and hear that rain and wind outside. Probably that's why I wanted a bit of romance and choose<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/palitoz/3272018708/"> a little crocheted heart</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/palitoz/">Taube Skywalker</a> as a first project.<br />I had that "pattern" for a while and never had a moment to try it out. The way it's written may seem a bit confusing especially for beginners, bud don't worry - I will explain :)<br />
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<br />Ok, that is how I did it (not totally followed the instructions, but who cares after all). First of all you need some DK yarn (about 200 m in 100g), a bit of stuffing and a 3mm crochet hook. When I made the solid colour heart I was crocheting in spiral, so no slipstitches in the end of each round were needed, but when I made the stripy heart I was working by rows and each row started with ch1 (I didn't count it as a first dc), dc into the same space, and ended with slipstitch. <br />
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We start with two heart "tops": <br />Round 1: Make a magic ring and make 5 dc into the ring<br />Round 2: 2 dc into each dc of the previous round = 10 dc<br />
Round 3: 2 dc into every second dc of the previous round = 15 dc<br />
Round 4-5: dc into each dc of the previous round = 15 dc<br />
First top done! Cut the yarn leaving a tail and make the second top using the same instructions, just don't cut the yarn in the end. Now we'll need to join these tops together.<br />
Round 6: dc into each dc of the previous round of the first top, then dc into each dc of the second top = 30 dc<br />
Round 7: dc into each dc of the previous round = 30 dc<br />
Round 8: *crochet 8 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 27 dc<br />
Round 9: *crochet 7 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 24 dc<br />
Round 10: *crochet 6 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 21 dc<br />
Round 11: *crochet 5 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 18 dc<br />
Round 12: *crochet 4 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 15 dc<br />
Round 13: *crochet 3 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 12 dc (start stuffing your heart after this round)<br />
Round 14: *crochet 2 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 9 dc<br />
Round 15: *crochet 1 dc, crochet 2 dc together*, repeat from * to * 2 more times = 6 dc<br />
Round 16: crochet every two dc of the previous round together = 3 dc (I found this round most annoying and difficult as it is not actually that easy to pull the hook through the last two dc). <br />
Now cut the yarn leaving an end, hide that end using either your crochet hook or a tapestry needle and you're done!<br /><br />Hopefully my explanation is ok :) In fact I enjoyed making that little hearts and I'm now thinking of making some more one day. But for tomorrow we need a new project and I'm thinking about birds perhaps... About something like this one:<br />
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And I should make normal daylight pictures of the hearts tomorrow.</div>
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Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-75669698472607841222013-11-02T16:02:00.001+00:002013-11-02T16:02:57.613+00:00My big Christmas adventure. Making handmade Christmas tree decorations.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last year somewhere in December right before Christmas I actually understood that I really want to make all the Christmas tree decorations myself. Well to be honest I tried but made only four or five... And in the end they all disappeared from our Christmas tree as The Little Man loved them so much that he decided they should live with his toys, especially the crocheted little owls. So this year I had the same idea again, but I had it yesterday.<br />
I know it's only the 2nd of November, but all that knitting, crochet, sewing takes time so I might need the whole month to make my little dream real. Plus I must confess - I hate November. I have no idea how can you really like this:<br />
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or this:<br />
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I know there is some kind of beauty in all of that and I was honestly trying to find it while me and My Little Man went for a walk today. It was cold, dark (at midday), and windy outside, but we still went as we both need some fresh air and a bit of physical activity. So we found some goose and a swan... But even they looked depressed.<br />
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Little Man was quite happy touching the mud, finding dirty stones and running away from me towards the cold dark water (see pic above), so it all was quite stressful and in that circumstances I wasn't able to find any beauty or romance in November really.</div>
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In fact the only two things that make November bearable for me are My Little Man's birthday and Christmas decorations that are starting to appear on the streets and in shops windows somewhere around this time. <br />
<br /><strong>So I had an idea - why not stretch all of that Christmas spirit for me? What if I would make at least one little Christmas tree decoration each day during all November and then put them all on our Christmas tree in the beginning of December? And it sounded just right!<br /><br />So starting from today I will start posting the handmade Christmas tree decorations with the links to free pattern, or the pattern itself if it will be my own, and my own explanations and tips. I'm going to crochet, knit, sew them using all the stash I will be able to find in my stash - felt, cotton, beads, lace and ribbons, any kinds of yarn, may be even paper. </strong><br />
<strong>Anyone is welcome to join my Christmas adventure - just post the pictures of your handmade Christmas tree decorations in comments. If you have any links to great free patterns or tutorials it would be great if you could share them too! </strong><br />
<strong>And now I will leave you and use a bit of free time while Little Man is having a nap to make the first ornament. Will post the picture as soon as it's finished :)</strong></div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-30756423662521783602013-08-01T17:36:00.001+01:002013-08-01T17:36:37.601+01:00Gooseberries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, Little Man is getting better and can play in the yard (still no contacts with other children until this weekend). So he has a lot of fun in his sandpit - sitting there with a big smile and covering himself with the sand. After that all this sand ends up on our living room carpet, but at least Little Man is happy and not screaming :)<br />Today he had some fun with his dad picking the gooseberries from our little gooseberry bush. <br />
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You can notice that Little Man still has that chickenpox spot marks, but they are disappearing slowly.<br />
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We bought it last year and now it looks twice bigger than it was, and there were much more berries than last year, of course.<br />
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Sadly they are not sweet at all. May be it was not enough sun for them... So now I'm thinking that I should probably bake a pie with them.<br />Oh, we have a raspberry bush too! With one raspberry on it:<br />
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<br />And I treated myself a little bit and made a little bag for my new phone.<br />
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<br />Still not sure if I like it or not as I wanted something feminine and this one looks too girlish for me. Or may be it's not girlish and looks fine. Really can't decide.<br /><br />Hope you are all doing great and having a lovely time!<br />xx</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-8391109202685434832013-07-28T15:44:00.001+01:002013-07-28T15:44:10.112+01:00I miss nature...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Little Man has chickenpox. Apparently, what he had before was something else. Poor kid! He is all covered with red spots and the first three days were really awful for all of us as he could not sleep and was constantly crying. The picture above was taken a day before all that red spots showed up. But yesterday he already started eating (good sign!) and slept till 6am. Today he even went to a midday nap, so he is asleep now and I have some time for my blog.<br />
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Understood today, that I really miss the nature. Well, we do have a backyard with a couple of berry bushes, nut I mean something totally different. I mean forest, I mean empty beach where the only sounds is a sound of waves and your footsteps, I mean fields far away from big roads and cities... I newer was a huge fun of countryside, to be honest, I could not live there all the time, but sometimes, when I need to escape from everything this feels like the right place to go. Probably now I feel like that because I've been at home most of the time for the last three weeks and I really need to go somewhere to find my lost peace, inner harmony and inspiration.<br /><br />So when I saw <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Impression-Designing-Creating-Artful/dp/1454701250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375019134&sr=8-1&keywords=Making+an+Impression%3A+Designing+%26+Creating+Artful+Stamps">this book</a> an Amazon today it really felt like MY book, something I need, something I would really like at this moment:<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Impression-Designing-Creating-Artful/dp/1454701250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375019134&sr=8-1&keywords=Making+an+Impression%3A+Designing+%26+Creating+Artful+Stamps"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RPMTJJfwL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_SX385_SY500_CR,0,0,385,500_SH20_OU02_.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>
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Have a look inside and you will understand why. All of that nature inspired stamps feel so real and calm, like the nature itself.<br />
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That is why, if I would need to make a wish list today, it would look like these:<br />
1. <span id="btAsinTitle"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Making%20an%20Impression:%20Designing%20&%20Creating%20Artful%20Stamps">Making an Impression: Designing & Creating Artful Stamps</a> book</span><br />
<span>2. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/LINO-CUTTING-HANDLE-1-5-NIBS/dp/B004V2RE4I/ref=pd_sim_b_7">Lino Cutting Handle and cutting nibs</a><br />
3. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Double-Sided-Block-Sheets/dp/B004V2R93Y/ref=pd_bxgy_k_h_b_cs_img_z">Super soft Lino Double Sided Block Sheets</a><br />
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The other thing that inspired me today was this crochet flowers from Mollie Makes:<br />
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(By the way, this issue with flowers was really good). I'm not going to make a garland, but have an idea of making something nice with this flowers as an embellishment.<br />While I was searching for the picture of this Mollie Makes issue cover I found a nice <a href="http://www.molliemakes.com/projects/free-knitting-pattern-heart-shaped-coasters/">knitted heart shaped coasters tutorial</a> there: <br />
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I really might need some of those as little gifts for my relatives in Latvia. At least it really looks like a quick and easy project.<br />
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Well, after talking about nature and looking at beautiful pictures at Mollie Makes I feel a bit better and can be ready for being a mum of a sick child again. (Yes, I needed this little break!) So I'll go make myself a cup of tea and wait till Little Man wakes up.<br />
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Hope Little Man gets well soon and we could go to the forest or Robin Hoods bay which I really like.</span> </div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-63354246461372525652013-07-14T00:53:00.001+01:002013-07-14T00:56:13.907+01:00Crazy chickenpox attack<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm going through quite difficult times here. Both my boys - The Little Man and my husband, have chickenpox and I'm the only healthy person at home so I'm really busy right now. The Little Man needs mammy a lot, plus now he likes to scream at night until I get to him, hug him and sit with him on my knee until he gets back to sleep. During the day he is into screaming too, witch would be ok if I would not need to keep him quiet to give my husband a chance to sleep... For my husband things are much more serious - he is all covered with that chickenpox spots, could not sleep for a couple of nights as that spots were too itchy, could not work (obviously), and finally had to have some pills from the doctor. Now he is better, at least sleeping. <br />
But I feel really tired. All of that making tea hundred times a day, treating them both as nicely as I can despite their bad mood, cooking (usually I don't cook anything except porridge at home), washing, cleaning the house... I could not do any knitting for a couple of days. I just was to tired for that in the evening.<br />
I just wish it would all go back to normal soon.<br />
And now I'm going to grab my Kindle and go to bed. Reading is the only hobby I still can do at the moment. Which reminds me that I need to knit (or crochet?) a case for my lovely little kindle friend when he travels with me and The little Man to Latvia this august. I really want it in bright colours so it could make me smile for no reason any time I see it :)<br />Like this:<br />
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<a href="http://p7.storage.canalblog.com/72/72/486978/58778121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://p7.storage.canalblog.com/72/72/486978/58778121.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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(found here: <a href="http://grannymania.canalblog.com/albums/swap_automne/index.html">http://grannymania.canalblog.com/albums/swap_automne/index.html</a>)</div>
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Hope you all are really enjoying your weekend! <br />
Stay safe, feel good and smile! And so will I :)</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-9936986348228761122013-07-07T13:35:00.000+01:002013-07-07T13:35:00.250+01:00Coming back<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I know I kept silence for quite a long time. That time was difficult for me. Probably that super long winter we had and that cold spring influenced my feelings, but it wasn't the main thing. I think more important was that I just felt lost. Not that I had no idea what to write about or I had no new projects. I was busy with something all the time. I just needed to understand what exactly do I want from my blog, how I want to see it. When I started I wanted to share all that little precious moments I had each day, but I ended up writing posts about what happened a week ago often forgetting to mention what was happening NOW. Now is more important for me and that is exactly what I want - may be just posting a picture with a short note "look what I'm doing right now" and that picture would say much more of what I really want to say.<br />So that's how it's going to be now. <br /><br />At the moment I've got a couple of little free patterns to share and that will be the first goal in the next couple of weeks. After that I want to make a post about my new love - spinning. I started spinning recently with no one near me who could help, so I had to search the Internet and books. Yes, there is a lot of information for beginners, but not always it was enough. Like I really was confused about the different wool types you can use. When you are going to order some wool online for the first time all of that sheep breed names will probably mean nothing to you as they did to me. So I tried different types and now can share my experience and personal feelings about it. Hope it will be useful for someone.<br /><br />And now I'm going to finish one little bunny I want to share with you next time. He needs some eyes and nose. Little Man already approved him even without a face, so I hope you'll like him too. :)<br /><br />Have a great Sunday!</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-42723268476133300192013-02-16T16:20:00.000+00:002013-02-16T16:20:37.694+00:00Just some squares<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesturday I mentioned that I wasn't really in the mood during the last couple of days. It was not only about blogging, it was about everything including my craft work. So I stopped working on my current projects. They just didn't bring me the joy they used to... But I just can't sit on a sofa not doing anything, I need to be busy, otherwise I start to feel worried, annoyed, bored and so on and so far. That is why I grabbed some yarn leftowers for my charity crochet, found an easy pattern online and here I am - crocheting granny squares for two days allready.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8479355530/" title="charity grannies by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="charity grannies" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8479355530_ab51f5e32f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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The pattern is <a href="http://www.littletinbird.co.uk/bullseye-squares-pattern/">Bullseye Squares</a> from <a href="http://www.littletinbird.co.uk/"><span style="color: #14024f;">Little Tin Bird.</span></a> It is really easy and I like working on it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8479355438/" title="IMG_3728 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3728" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8479355438_a11ff77c97_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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This squares will be sent to the ladies in Russia who make charity blankets for orphanages. I mentioned them before in my blog and allready sent them a parcel with tiny knitted socks, crocheted hats and booties and a couple of bunnies. <br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8478265421/" title="IMG_3731 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3731" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8231/8478265421_ebb3156423_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Made 12 squares so far. Not shure if I will make the whole blanket or just send the squares, but that is how they look all together:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8478265331/" title="charity grannies - 12 so far by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="charity grannies - 12 so far" height="426" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8478265331_7f3cb7989d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Not bad, yes? <br />Probably I would need about 80 squares to make the whole blanket, but this amount of work just scares me at the moment... So I will just continue crocheting the squares till i get complitely bored with them without thinking too much about the future.<br /><br />How are you all doing? Hope your weekend is great :)<br />xx<br /></div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-42766600967558227172013-02-15T18:35:00.001+00:002013-02-15T18:35:20.798+00:0052 Weeks of Happy (2/52)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I know, I'm a bit late this week, but I just wasn't in the mood for blogging. Or may be I just wasn't in the mood in generall that's why it was hard for me to pick the positive moments of the last week. But, as I've started this 52 week long project I decided that I still must concentrate and remember that good things. It helped, actually.<br />
So here are this little happy things:<br />
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1. First was a big parcel from Latvia that my mum and dad sent us with lots of gifts. And there was a pile of yarn for me. I hope to turn it all into something beautiful :)
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8476573086/" title="some new yarn! by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="some new yarn!" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8527/8476573086_bcb0d97c5d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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2. Second was a project bag/basket I made for myself. I was using some scraps of chunky yarn I had in my stash and finished it in two evenings.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8475483909/" title="my project bag/basket by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="my project bag/basket" height="417" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8366/8475483909_d15dcf8cd0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Before I kept my project-on-the-go in a usual TESCO plastic bag, so now it's much better in a basket. <br />
I will share the pattern of my basket here in a couple of days.<br />
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3. The third was Little Man's new game - he takes a flannel sheet and wraps into it with looks really cute and funny.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8475483971/" title="Little Man likes flannel by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Little Man likes flannel" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8379/8475483971_af899e80b5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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4. And the last thing was the little bonsai tree I got for Valentine's day.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8476572978/" title="my bonsai tree by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="my bonsai tree" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8527/8476572978_1e82a79745_z.jpg" width="427" /></a>
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I recieved plants as gifts before and they didn't last long. But this time I really feel responsible for this little one. Hope I cant treat him nice and he will live with us for years.</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-88598131622384734772013-02-12T14:10:00.000+00:002013-02-12T14:10:11.678+00:00I love charity shops!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I really do. I would even write it like these: I LOVE LOVE charity shops. And not those ones that look nice and tidy, almost like normal shops, but those, where it's all a bit dusty, some things are hidden in the boxes under another ones and you need to search and dig to find the treasure. As those are the places where you can really find some treasures. Like once I found a little embroidery book from 1920-1930s, and then a knitting magazine from 1955 with our city view on the front cover. <br />
This Saturday, as soon as my husband left to work I decided to treat myself with a new visit to my favourite charity shop, took Little Man and after a 20 minute walk we were there. And I'm sooo glad we came!<br />
First of all I found two baby and toddler hat pattern brochures:
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8467164859/" title="patterns from a charity shop by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="patterns from a charity shop" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8517/8467164859_5f8122691d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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There are 3 designs in one and six in the other in different sizes. Perfect for my charity projects! And I just love old knitting, crochet and embroidery brochures, they feel retro. Guess how much did I pay for them? 20p each!<br />
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My next found treasure was an embroidery.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8468259686/" title="embroidery from a charity shop by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="embroidery from a charity shop" height="430" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8225/8468259686_bc0469cbc2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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My mum and grandma do cross stitch and I know how much time does it take. Plus the money for all the materials. So when I saw the 50p price on this one I felt sad. Even the blank piece of canvas would cost more than that. So a person who put that price didn't evaluate someones hard work put into this embroidery. I just could not leave it there and had to take it home with us. I guess it could become a centre of a cushion cover for Little Man's room.<br />
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Then I found a book about different kinds of embroidery. Probably I will try something from it this year as one of my plans for 2013 was to make some embroidery.<br />
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And the last but the most awesome thing I found:
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8467164671/" title="yarn from a charity shop by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="yarn from a charity shop" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8527/8467164671_6c286f0006_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
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a huge bag of different yarns! It really is big! And can you see the price on the photo? It's £3! I was sooooo happy when I found this! So much yarn for my charity projects for babies!<br />
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Now you see why do I love charity shops so much. Sometimes they can make you happy for almost nothing. <br />
So if you never tried them you should definitely do! Hope you'll find some awesome things for yourself!<br />
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xx</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-87957426442670218602013-02-07T21:48:00.000+00:002013-02-07T21:48:05.408+00:00Infinity scarfs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After making a couple of infinity scarfs as gifts using a super easy video I accidently found on YouTube (you can find it <a href="http://crochetomania.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/infinity-scarf-and-other-stuff.html">here</a>) I thought that I would like one for myself too, but as I've already made three scarfs using one and the same pattern I wanted something new. Well, you just get bored when using one and the same pattern again and again. So I made a little research on the Web to find some more interesting patterns. Sadly, there are not so many of them. Most infinity scarfs I found were just made using trebles in a round. But I wanted something more interesting, something really special and free. And finaly I found three free patterns I liked. Here they are:<br />
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1. <a href="http://peoplewebs.blogspot.ca/2011/01/pattern-chunky-circle-scarf.html">Chunky circle scarf:</a> <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cntHi-wN1Hs/TTOTl0X6pNI/AAAAAAAAA3M/ahrnD9iMcSE/s640/DSC_2198-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cntHi-wN1Hs/TTOTl0X6pNI/AAAAAAAAA3M/ahrnD9iMcSE/s400/DSC_2198-5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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2. <a href="http://myfavouritethingsblog95.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-unique-gift-chunky-infinity-scarf.html">Blue infinity scarf:</a><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SSj5txTqdTQ/UHJbLjrJzPI/AAAAAAAABzA/uAU-r-8zgyg/s400/013(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SSj5txTqdTQ/UHJbLjrJzPI/AAAAAAAABzA/uAU-r-8zgyg/s320/013(1).jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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3. <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/edie-infinity-scarf">Edie infinity scarf:</a><br />
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<a href="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Jetsy/88166753/Edie_Infinity_Scarf2_medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images4-b.ravelrycache.com/uploads/Jetsy/88166753/Edie_Infinity_Scarf2_medium.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Now I only need to decide which one I like most. I allready have the yarn - <a href="http://www.deramores.com/james-c-brett-marble-chunky">James C. Brett Marble Chunky in shade 14</a>, which is red and changes the colour a bit. Not shure which of this tree scafs would look better with this yarn...<br /><br />Do you have any new projects in your mind?<br />Hope you do as it's allways fun and exciting to start something new.<br /><br />Have a nice evening and see you all soon :)</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-64222551989363058432013-02-06T16:19:00.004+00:002013-02-06T16:19:49.265+00:0052 Weeks of Happy (1/52)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If you haven't heard of <em>52 Weeks of Happy</em> you can find more info <a href="http://www.jenlittlebirdie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/52-weeks-of-happy-152.html">here</a> but basically the main idea is to post four pictures of the things that made you happy every week. I thought it's a good idea and something that really suits me as sometimes I feel depressed or sad for no reason and by making pictures of some happy moments I will be able to look back at this pictures and remember that there is no reason for being depressed.<br />
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Ok, let's start.<br />
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<em><strong> Things that made me happy over the last week:</strong></em><br />
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<strong>1.</strong> a pot holder and dish cloth that came to me long way from USA from my swap partner (I've participated in a pot holder swap on swap-bot.com)
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8446962903/" title="the pot holder from my swap partner by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="the pot holder from my swap partner" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8372/8446962903_d31c1b3d76_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<strong>2.</strong> Little Man started playing with a ring stacker.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8446962827/" title="look what Little Man did! by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="look what Little Man did!" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8370/8446962827_933b0b0d76_z.jpg" width="436" /></a><br />
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He made this and brought it to show me. I was so proud and happy at that moment!<br />
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<strong>3.</strong> My narcissus. When my husband brought them I thought it's green onions ore something like that, as they were completely closed. Now they are opened to show me how beautiful they are - like little yellow suns on my window.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8448051120/" title="first narcissuses this year by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="first narcissuses this year" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8448051120_0d754ef32f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<strong>4.</strong> Some lovely crochet I was working on.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8448051068/" title="baby blanket in process by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="baby blanket in process" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8448051068_4ac91e8ce0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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This had to be a baby blanket for a baby shower. Unfortunately I had to unravel almost all of it yesterday as I understood that I don't have enough yarn. But I still enjoyed the process, the colours and this picture. I will tell you a bit more about this blanket later as I going to put some rows of white between this colours and some white border.<br /><br />Hope you had a great week too!</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-57999069339818443972013-02-05T17:52:00.000+00:002013-02-05T17:52:36.979+00:00Little booties and some news about my patterns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
You know, I'm really happy today. Despite the fact that the winter is back and a nice sunny day suddenly turned into a snow storm I'm sitting here and smiling. And I've got several reasons for that.<br />
First of all, yesterday for the first time in my life I've posted <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/newborn-knitted-socks">a pattern to Ravelry</a>. My tiny newborn socks. And today I've discovered that 47 complete strangers added it as a favourite and one lady already knitted a pair! Wow!<br />
Then yesterday in the evening while Little Man was having a nap I translated the same pattern into Russian for the lovely ladies in Russia who knit and crochet charity blankets and clothes for children in Russian orphanages. Send it to one of them and she posted it into her blog so ladies could use the pattern for their charity projects. And again - almost 40 complete strangers re-posted it to their blogs.<br />
Someone would say that 40 is not much and even 80 (if I would count all of them together) is not much too, but for me it means a lot. Really a lot. And first of all it is so important to me because I don't know this people and they don't know me, so they liked my pattern not because they like me and want to be nice and polite, but because they all like what I did. And it makes me feel happy and proud of myself.<br />
The other thing that made me smile was a response from the lady from Canada who received my pot holder, that I crocheted for her participating in a Pot Holder Swap on swap-bot.com She loves it and it was nice to read how talented I am and how perfect the work and the colours are.<br />
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Today I finally packed everything for my charity package to Russia. Hoped to send it today, but had to stay at home because of the snow. Anyway, I promised to show you the booties I was making for orphanage babies. Here they are:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8448050816/" title="baby booties by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="baby booties" height="417" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8448050816_12fba536c2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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The yellow ones were made using a pattern found <a href="http://crocheybebe.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/pap-da-botinha-do-grafico-japones.html">here</a> which actually is not a pattern but a Japanese crochet chart (the chart itself can be found <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jJQjdilAQkE/TDjuDbUtQOI/AAAAAAAAF9M/fiM0fVF-IEI/s1600/36.jpg">here</a> ). It might look a bit confusing but after you figure out what they mean in the chart the booties turn out to be quite easy. I used 3mm crochet hook and some DK yarn and the finished size is about 3-6 months.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8448050902/" title="yellow baby booties by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="yellow baby booties" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8512/8448050902_abf9119dde_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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The blue ones are actually my favourite. For them I used <a href="http://crochetdreamz.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Boy%27s%20Slippons">a pattern</a> I found on Pinterest but I had to modify it a bit as I just could not understand the pattern in the end. Little crocheted star pattern can be found <a href="http://foothillhomecompanion.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/crochet-star-pattern.html">here</a> and I used 2mm crochet hook and a bit of 4ply for them. For the booties I used 3.5 mm crochet hook, not 4.25 as in the pattern as I just didn't have one, and DK yarn leftovers. The size I was making was 6-9 months, but I ended up with a really tiny pair, 0-3 or even newborn size... Was it my crochet hook that changed the size so much? <br />
But I still love them<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8446962273/" title="blue star baby booties by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="blue star baby booties" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8377/8446962273_3bcd095d8d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Hope are doing great too :)<br />Have a nice evening!</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-18229586302044116212013-02-01T17:14:00.000+00:002013-02-01T17:14:09.405+00:00Just chilling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8436011048/" title="My quiet cup of coffee by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="My quiet cup of coffee" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8090/8436011048_81b207c632_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Little Man is asleep, husband gone to work and I have some time to just quietly enjoy my coffee and reading. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8436010960/" title="Coffee and reading by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Coffee and reading" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8325/8436010960_d779671e9c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I have a great book and an issue of Mollie Makes with me and I sit here in my quiet living room, chilling and slowly realizing how good this week actually was.<br />
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This week I've sent away quite a lot of packages for my swap partners as I joined Swap-bot and participated in a cotton square swap and a pot holder swap too. Plus I've sent some gifts to Latvia - for my granddad and my aunties on their Birthdays, and the infinity scarf I was showing you before is gone to Denmark to my sister.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8429815678/" title="I really need to get to the Post Office by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="I really need to get to the Post Office" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8498/8429815678_727be722a2_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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When this huge pile was finally gone I felt much more relaxed. And in the same time I recieved two cotton square packs from my swap partners!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8436010902/" title="cotton squares by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="cotton squares" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8087/8436010902_5f0b2899cc_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Well, that's a lot of squares! And there are three more packs to come, wich is great. What am I going to do with them? <br />From all the blue, green and purple squares I want to sew a <a href="http://dsquilts.com/fabric_and_patterns.asp?PageID=187&ImageID=500">Scottie Dog</a> for Little Man's room. And I could make a bag for myself from all the red ones. Mmmm, sounds great.<br />I did some crochet for charity and need to send all of it next week to Russia. But I really enjoued the way of doing it - no rush, just relaxing with a crochet hook and some lovely yarn, enjoying every row I made. It's great in a comparrison with the last year when I was allways in a rush and knitting or crocheting not because I wanted, but because I needed to finish the projects.<br />Yesturday I had coffee with a good friend of mine and then finally, after a long time, went to the knitting club. So I was happy about my social life this week too.<br /><br />How was your week? Hope you enjoyed it!</div>
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Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-39898877681544957712013-01-30T12:49:00.000+00:002013-01-30T12:49:00.660+00:00Hat mood, charity and some Scrap buster hats for babies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since my last post I had a great crocheting period. I've been in a hat mood. First of all because I noticed that my Little Man's hat, a gift from his grand grand parents, was sliding over his eyes all the time he was outside, so it was obvious that he needed a new hat, the one that would fit. I've searched my stash, found some yarn and grabbed a crochet hook. In the first evening I had to remake it, starting all over again for about 5 times, but after all of that and one more evening the hat was finally finished.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8429815960/" title="Little Man likes his new hat by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Little Man likes his new hat" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8071/8429815960_d9478900e0_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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As you can see Little Man likes it. It has a big metal button on a side and fits perfectly. Every mum knows that babies are not big fans of hats and if they can pull that hat off, they will. Well, no chance with this one, Little Man was trying really hard but had to give up without even moving it away.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8428726483/" title="Little Man's new hat by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Little Man's new hat" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8516/8428726483_cbb695540b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Sadly I wasn't writing down the pattern while working on it. May be I will try to recreate it later as it might be useful for some other babies too. <br />
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After finishing that hat I realized that my husband needs a hat too (it was snowing and freezing outside), so from the same yarn in the same evening I made a hat for him. That one was so easy, that I will make a pattern for it and crochet one for myself. Sadly, no pictures of it this time.<br />
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Then last Sunday I bought a knitting magazine and found an article about knitting for premature babies there. It was good to know that there are ladies here in England who knit tiny little clothes for premies and give them to the hospitals. While reading this article I felt that a big need for some charity work was growing in me. I wanted to help someone too. But I wasn't sure, that our hospital would take my knitting as I don't think they are dealing with premature babies. So I was thinking about orphanages. Went to the Internet and soon discovered that there are no orphanages in England. Makes me proud of this country again.<br />
And then I remembered that in 2011, when I was pregnant with Little Man I took part in a charity project for orphanages in Russia. I crocheted <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/6620557323/in/photostream">a blanket</a> for them. Why not to make something like that again? I found one of the project coordinators in the Internet and started crocheting.<br />
Here are three little Scrap buster hats I made for babies:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8428726011/" title="Scrap booster hats for babies by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Scrap booster hats for babies" height="421" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8211/8428726011_c552387c46_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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The pattern is <a href="http://adoginasweater.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/scrap-buster-hats.html">A Scrap Buster hat</a> from A Dog in a Sweater. When I saw this pattern for the first time I immediatelly wanted to make a hat like that but wasn't sure that I would wear it. It felt like something too childish, so perfect for babies, not for grown-ups. So when I decided to crochet for an orphanage it was a perfect chance to try the pattern out.<br />
What should I say about the pattern... It's easy. In fact it's super easy and written so good that it's easy to follow even for beginners. The only thing you really should think about before making them, except the size, of course, is the colour. The original hats looked a bit strange to me. No, they were fine, they just looked scrapy. And I wanted to make my hats funny, colourfull, but stylish in the same time. This are still scraps, but it doesn't feel like something that's made from unwanted leftovers.<br />
I've changed the design a bit too as I didn't want to make the long braid like on the original hat, and I wanted mine hats to have a bit of gnome style. So I made following changes: after row 18 I repeated rows 17 and 18 two more times and then crocheted every two together in the next row. As one of the hats was Little Man's size I asked him to be a model and you can see how it looks on babu head:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8429815866/" title="Scrap booster hat and my little man as a model by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Scrap booster hat and my little man as a model" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8495/8429815866_b6a6d26218_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
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Now I'm working on two pairs of baby booties from my scraps too for the same orphanage. Will show them to you when they are ready.<br />
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Hope you all have a nice day :)</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-75779916695224481892013-01-17T21:42:00.001+00:002013-01-17T21:42:35.298+00:00Infinity scarf and other stuff<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yesterday was a quiet day at home as we decided not to go to Little Man's baby group. It wouldn't be great to share our illness with other little ones. So we stayed at home, played with Little Man's garage and all of his cars. It's so much fun now when he is trying to put one car inside of the other.<br />
In the evening, searching for something in the Internet, I accidentally found a wonderful round scarf tutorial on You Tube. Probably I'm just really lucky as I often find something useful or beautiful by accident while looking for something else or just browsing the Internet for no particular reason. But, back to scarf - it looked so beautiful and easy that I immediately wanted to try it. Then I had half an hour inner fight with my rational part who tried to tell me not to start another new project while I have so many unfinished ones, but my impulsive part was stronger and I started the scarf. And it was finished by midnight! Just in one evening! <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8390228108/" title="A round scarf for my sister by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="A round scarf for my sister" height="422" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8364/8390228108_5b40108aaf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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I'm sooo happy with the result! It will be a present for my sister who lives in Denmark. It's quite cold there at the moment and I hope this scarf will keep her warm. Plus all the nice thoughts of her I had while making it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8389143541/" title="A round scarf by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="A round scarf" height="423" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8375/8389143541_a83f6d1843_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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For this scarf I used a ball of <a href="http://www.deramores.com/james-c-brett-marble-dk">James C. Brett Marble DK, shade MT9</a> and 6mm crochet hook. It's 100% acrylic, but I love this yarn for it's gorgeous colours. One ball was enough to make a 16 row scarf. And it turned out to be really warm. <br />
So, are you excited and want to make a scarf too? OK, guys, here is this wonderful video with all the explanations:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kviC5g1AHgs?list=PL669561828CFC1C29" width="560"></iframe><br />
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The author uses chunkier yarn and 6.5mm crochet hook, but as you can see on my scarf DK works too. Go watch the video and make a scarf for yourselves as it is sooo easy!<br />
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After a nice evening yesterday this day just had to be good. And it was especially because we all felt better and the sun was shining, so we even had a short walk out.<br />
Little Man was asking for freedom and straight after he was given what he wanted he fell into snow with his face. And he didn't like it :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8389143311/" title="Little Man in snow by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="Little Man in snow" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8468/8389143311_c838fba51f_z.jpg" width="427" /></a>
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But he enjoyed all the trees and bushes in snow and I couldn't resist to make a picture.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8390227662/" title="IMG_3538 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3538" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8390227662_047c39e2cd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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We've seen the ducks and geese to. Last year I was mentioning them a couple of times and we went to see how are they going in this cold weather. Well, they're just fine in the middle of the pond looking really funny when they try to walk on ice.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8389143209/" title="IMG_3533 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3533" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8079/8389143209_643e8ea635_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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If you remember, last spring the swan couple had babies there and now I was really surprised to see how big this babies are grown. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8390227750/" title="IMG_3535 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3535" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8354/8390227750_451e85b0b3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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And here is me with the Little Man just before we went back home:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8390227586/" title="IMG_3550 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3550" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8465/8390227586_893c6bb70d_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
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We do have quite funny faces. Probably it's because we spent more than a week stuck at home and were a bit confused to be out for the first time :)<br />
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Hope you all had a nice day too. See you all soon.</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-47241360716029300982013-01-14T15:38:00.000+00:002013-01-14T15:39:36.384+00:00Snow!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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O my God, I got such a great gift from Mother Nature today! It's snowing here! And I do like snow, I like the whole world around being white and quiet and I always have such a Christmas feeling when it's snowing outside. So I couldn't resist and grabbed my camera to catch a couple of pictures as it doesn't snow so often here.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8380901794/" title="IMG_3512 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3512" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8336/8380901794_f83e76fd95_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8380901956/" title="IMG_3508 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3508" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8472/8380901956_9d7c36a9ec_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8380901714/" title="IMG_3515 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3515" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8082/8380901714_3a9f904fb6_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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And here you go a picture of happy Little Man who is so interested in my camera, that it makes me think that he might become a photographer in the future. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8380936866/" title="happy Little Man by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="happy Little Man" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8083/8380936866_66c5463d62_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Now it's time to make some tea, light the candles and finish some knitting while Little Man is asleep.<br />
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Hope your day was fab too and let it end with a nice evening :)</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-37573788955362709992013-01-12T21:45:00.001+00:002013-01-12T21:45:52.605+00:00This is going to be a blanket...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was a nice day today. This morning was the first morning in a really long time when I woke up and felt HAPPY for no reason. And it was such a nice, light feeling! Hope I will have more mornings like that in 2013 :)<br />
Today I will show you a sneak peak of a project I'm working on and probably will be working on for another couple of weeks. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8368986472/" title="IMG_3445 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3445" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8497/8368986472_77d72de238_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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This is going to be a blanket. A special blanket for my dad in different shades of blue on a grey background as blue is his favourite colour. And when it's finished it's going to be the biggest blanket I made so far. At the moment I've got 17 finished granny squares (12 rows each) and need another 18 to start putting them together. Hope he likes it when it's finished :)<br /><br />And now it's time for a bit of evening knitting - I'm finishing a pair of socks for my grandpa on his birthday.<br /><br />Hope you all have a nice evening too :)</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8706650240194262169.post-37045128567224791372013-01-11T12:06:00.000+00:002013-01-11T12:06:34.170+00:00First little projects 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi everyone! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year! <br />
This is my first post in 2013 and the first post after quite a long silence over here. I had the reasons for that silence, but hope not to do so again. In fact I really hope to post more often in 2013.<br />
Anyway, I've started this year with a crochet hook in my hand and allready have two little projects finished. The first project was a set of coasters as a gift to one lovely lady.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8367932179/" title="IMG_3468 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3468" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8367932179_442ccd11bf_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8367918823/" title="IMG_3458 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3458" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8507/8367918823_429ce6c45b_z.jpg" width="427" /></a><br />
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In fact I saw a <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/516717757216408301/">wonderful picture on Pinterest</a> and was immediatelly in love with what I saw, so I wanted to make the same. And then I found <a href="http://crochet.about.com/od/vintage/ss/aa052606.htm">the original pattern</a> with a picture and was complitelly shocked about the fact that they look soooo different. Which made me thinking of how our choice of material and colour can change the look of our finished works. Honestly, if I saw just the original pattern picture I wouldn't probably even look at it and wouldn't like to make something of the same kind for shure.<br />
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So you would understand, here is the thing that inspired me:<br />
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<a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/516717757216408301/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="389" src="http://media-cache0.pinterest.com/upload/120330621264087105_cHcEJD9c_c.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
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Source: <a href="http://www.lululoves.co.uk/index.php/item/crochet-coasters" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;">lululoves.co.uk</a> via <a href="http://pinterest.com/thebunnymama/" style="color: #76838b; font-size: 10px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Darja</a> on <a href="http://pinterest.com/" style="color: #76838b; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></div>
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And here is the picture in the original pattern:<br />
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<a href="http://z.about.com/d/crochet/1/0/O/V/1893rndmotif.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://z.about.com/d/crochet/1/0/O/V/1893rndmotif.JPG" width="289" /></a></div>
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See the difference? Well, that is why I wanted to show it. The material and colour can really change the look of your work and make it beautiful, modern, professional or it can make your work boring and unattractive. <br />
By the way, my coasters are made from mercherised cotton (DK) using 3,5 mm crochet hook.<br />
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Ok, finished with the first little project and now it's time for the second one - my super funny granny socks. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73362546@N04/8368997836/" title="IMG_3492 by crochetomania, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3492" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8368997836_2d42432ab4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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As my feet were freezing for a while and the floor in our living room, dining room and kitchen is really cold I was dreaming of a pair of socks for myself. But between October and December I knitted so many socks (2 pairs for my husband, 4 pairs for my little man, 3 pairs for sale), that I just felt sick thinking of knitting one more pair. I needed a break. But I needed some socks too. And then just by accident I found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70XkbMFWxqY">a video on YouTube</a> about how to crochet socks from granny squares. I thought it could be a nice option for me and after a little search on-line I found a webpage with all the information I needed: <a href="http://tricoter.su/kryuchok/tech/noski/index.html">the patterns for squares</a> and <a href="http://tricoter.su/kryuchok/tech/noski/vindex.html">a super long video showing how to crochet it all.</a> Sadly, it's all in Russian, but if you can read the crochet charts I'm shure you can make it. <br />But! It all looks easy, and it is easy in fact, but takes a while to make. My socks took 5 days (the usuall knitted pair would take 2-3 days to finish) and you will need about 150g of yarn, or may be a bit more (mine took 160g). <br />Still it's a good option for those who can't knit or for crochet beginners. May be I'll even make an English tutorial on how to make this socks... We'll see how it all goes.<br /><br />Have a nice day with lots of sunshine!</div>
Daryahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06896126142531897975noreply@blogger.com4