Friday 5 September 2014

Finnish Granny Square Scarf, V-Stitch Cowl, Flower Necklace and more Autumn Crochet

Hi, nice to see you here again!

How was your week? Mine was very busy, but the good news is that I have got lots to show you here!

I'm starting with some flower power - read more about that further down!

My Little Crochet Flower Necklace

V-Stitch Cowl
On Monday and Tuesday I was busy making this V-Stitch Cowl with a 7mm hook (Veritas Laura yarn). It is both lightweight and warm! I found this stitch strangely soothing and the Cowl was finished pretty quickly. As usual, there were plenty of ends to sew in, but luckily I did some already in the first third or so.

Also at the beginning of the week I had another go at crocheting the same doily I made recently in colour. This one I made with very fine white Cotton and a 2.5mm hook, you can see it it slightly smaller than the first one (underneath). I gave it to my mother in Germany when we visited her on Wednesday and she was very happy with it!

White Doily
The crochet bracelet that I won from Marianne in the Netherlands!

On Thursday I received some post from the Netherlands - it came from Marianne. She organized a give away and I had won one of her hand crocheted bead bracelets, yay!!! I was so happy to receive this and immediately put it on! You can read more about it here.

I thought it such a brilliant idea! I've been reading her blog for a while and I'm loving her unique colourful style, what an inspiration! Please do check it out for yourself!

Modelling my new bracelet

Ok, back to the flowers! On Wednesday we left in the middle of the night to drive to Germany so we could get there during the morning. As usual at breakfast time, I went to read a few blogs and came across an inspiring post, so I quickly printed off the tutorial and took it with me (together with my Granny Square Bag full of yarn and hooks!) I tried to sleep in the car, but as soon as the sun had come up I got busy with my crochet hook, the tutorial and some of Scheepjeswol Stone Washed yarn.

And this is the result: I joined the flowers to make a necklace. I used all 16 available colours, luckily I had them all with me in a bag of small yarn balls.

Atty gives a fantastic tutorial how to make and also join up flowers here.

I've only found her blog relatively recently, but already have come across a number of interesting ideas with regard to joining modules (such as the flowers in this case).

My little crochet flower necklace
The Flowers close up, aren't they pretty?
On Thursday I managed to finish off the Finnish Granny Square Scarf, here it is!

The Finnish Granny Square Scarf
I joined the squares with a simple blanket stitch and did 2 rows of double crochet all around.

Close up detail of scarf
I even blocked the scarf!


I wanted some sort of tassels at the ends, but something different! I made triple treble clusters of 4, with 10 chains and let the ends hang loose!

My quirky Tassels! (reverse side here)

Thursday late evening after coming home from my Dutch class, I found this lovely pattern by Maaike from Crejjtion - Flower Square Cushion here. I immediately had a go to make a little square following her instructions. You can see the result here, next to one of the Maybelle flowers I made before (to get an idea of scale.

Crejjtion Flower Square and Maybelle Crochet Flower
Also on Thursday late afternoon, I took some new Fenna variegated yarn and some hooks with me and just started some granny crochet. That yarn works up nicely and the colours are like gems, rich and colourful. I've not yet decided what it will be made into, I got 3 balls of yarn, but I am making it quite wide (about 36cm - it would fit a cushion nicely! On the other hand, if I can still get some more, then it could be made into a scarf/shawl. This is what it looked like this morning:

Current Mystery WIP
I'm loving these deep colours!

Close up colourful stitches

So, there you have it, a summary of what has been happening in my crochet corner of the world! Apart from that, I started 2 different Dutch courses in the evening, went to a crochet/knitting meeting and been to Germany and back. This means I need to catch up on everyone else's blog which I'm hoping to do over the weekend!

Please don't be shy and write some comments in the space below, I'm pleased to hear from you and like to know what you think!

And last, not least, thank you again to Marianne, Atty and Maaike for their brilliant blog inspiration!
Please, go and visit their pages!

http://atty-s.blogspot.be/
http://crejjtion.com/
http://marrose-ccc.com/


30 comments:

  1. Wow, you certainly had a busy weeks! The crochet things look beautiful!

    Two dutch classes a week! You must get really good at it by now. ��

    Take care
    Anne
    http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anne! :)
      Yes, I'm getting more proficient! I started 2 years ago when I moved here, going through all the different levels (now I'm doing 3.1 and 3.2 for the whole school year), and then there is only level 4 left!) They split the classes for this level, which means one evening is for Speaking and the other class is for Writing - I wanted to do both. I got 2 different teachers, both seem nice!
      Have a nice weekend! xx

      Delete
  2. Oh Ingrid you really are so talented! Your crochet makes are just wonderful, you have had such a busy week! I love all of your projects especially the granny square scarf. The flower necklace is so cute-what great presents they would make! You are also such a talented linguist, with perfect English and now it looks like your Dutch is great!
    How lovely it must have been to visit your mother in Germany-I'm sure she was delighted with the beautiful circle mat. In which part of Germany does she live?
    I will definitely be checking out those super blogs you recommend.
    Have a great weekend
    Alison xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hiya Alison! Thanks for your compliments, so kind of you!
      Yes, I was happy to visit my mum, she lives in a town called Hanau (you can find out more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanau) which is in the Frankfurt area. At least now that I live in Belgium I am slightly nearer (it still takes a good 4 hrs non-stop drive in the car) than when I still lived in England! I'm hoping she will visit here next month! :)
      Enjoy your weekend! xx

      Delete
  3. Love that scarf and necklace. i would definitely wear those. Jo x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jo, nice to see you here! Thanks - do you make crochet necklaces yourself? This one was quite easy to do! Have a nice sunday! xx

      Delete
  4. My head is spinning with all you have gotten done this past week. You have traveled, been to classes and meetings and still did all of that wonderful crochet. You are amazing.
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Meredith! Well I managed to crochet a lot whilst out and about, I always take my project or new yarn and hooks in my bag! It makes the travel time go faster and I enjoy doing it this way. Sometimes it's a nice conversation starter on the bus! But honestly, I think this week has been extra busy! Phew!!! I'm hoping next week will be a bit less so! Thanks for the compliment! :)
      Enjoy today! xx

      Delete
    2. It is always amazing how much crochet can be achieved with 5 minutes here and there. It all adds up, and is probably better for your hands and body to have frequent short bursts of crochet instead of marathon sessions.

      Delete
    3. You are probably right, but I also do both!!! xx

      Delete
  5. I really like the granny square scarf! And you mystery WIP is looking good, too! Can't wait to see what it is...

    Navy Wifey Peters @ Submarine Sunday Link Party!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi T'onna! Thanks for finding my blog! :) I'm going to check out yours! I'm still thinking about what to make my WIP into, hopefully I might manage to find more of this yarn! I will blog about when it is finished, so come back to read more here! :)
      Take care! xx

      Delete
  6. So beautiful creations!!!
    Happy week,greetings.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love all the things you've made and the yarn is always so beautiful. You have been very busy! Sometimes a long journey is just what you need to get a lot of crocheting done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is so true! Thanks! I'm always on the lookout for new yarn! :)
      xx

      Delete
  8. Hi Ingrid!
    You've been a busy bee, crocheting all sorts of pretty things! So glad your friendship bracelet made it safely into its new home; thanks for the lovely compliments on my blog and linking back to it! Marianne xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Marianne, thanks for stopping by! :) No problem, it was a pleasure! It's the least I can do! xx

      Delete
  9. Hello Ingrid

    Oh my word you have been busy with such beautiful work in gorgeous colours.

    Thank you for your kind comment on my blog. So pleased you liked the photos.

    luv
    irene
    xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Irene, Thanks for your visit! You're very welcome here! :)
      I love the English coast! Which part of England do you live in? I'm going to visit my son in the Midlands on the weekend, looking forward to it! :) xx

      Delete
  10. Hi Ingrid! Thanks for the visit and comment. You sure have been a busy lady! I love the flower necklace and the yarn you used for it. So cute. I love your scarf with the cute fringe too. That square is so pretty. I just noticed the background of your blog is Granny Squares...too cute!! Everybody loves a Granny Square!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pammy Sue! Thanks for the compliments, very kind! :) Yes, the background is made up of the squares I used to make my Granny Square Crochet Bag (see here: http://myfunkycrochet.blogspot.be/2014/08/my-granny-square-crochet-bag-plus-lucky.html)
      I will be checking your blog for more Granny Square inspiration!!! xx

      Delete
  11. Replies
    1. Thanks, Kathy! You would love the feel of it, too (I've been reading your blog about the itchiness of wool) - the yarn (Scheepjeswol Stone Washed) is mostly cotton with a hint of colourful acrylic that gives the special Stone Washed effect. I've been making lots with it since it came out at the beginning of this summer!!! I love using it! xx

      Delete
  12. Groetjes Ingrid!

    Congratulations Ingrid on winning the pretty beaded bracelet. I reckon it looks modern and youthful. It is lovely to have something tangible to make a 'real world' connection with other bloggers outside of the blogosphere.

    I am envious of your productivity in the crochet department, even during busy times, you have so many projects on the go.

    Your scarf's flower motif is divine and looks very sophisticated. Great to see the finished scarf.

    Your patience with motifs is awesome. I love the effect but get put off by the tedium of many seams and ends.

    How are the Dutch lessons coming along? Have fun. :-)

    Doeie! (I hope I have spelt that correctly!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jodie! Thanks for your comments! I think it is interesting what you said about the tedium of sewing together/sewing up the ends. Since I got more and more into knitting and crocheting, I tend to jump right into a project and don't think about how long it might take or how many ends I will have to sew up! Otherwise I might not even start!!! With me it is more that I need a lot of ideas, stimulation, different things because I tend to get easily bored! So having more than one project on the go helps with that. It also means that if I got a brilliant idea I will start when I want to, regardless of whether another item is finished. I have learnt from experience that it is useful to sew up ends as you go along, rather than at the end, so that is what I usually do. If I make something larger, I tend to leave the ends, because to me it is helpful to gauge how much further a skein or ball of yarn might last.
      PS: Dutch lessons are fine, with both teachers I can see that the niveau has gone up quite a bit and that I have to adapt to that (the last teacher we had was not so good).
      Take care! xx

      Delete
  13. Thank you so much for commenting in my blog. Yours is new to me, I'll put you on my list in the blog. So many nice things you show off int his post. I have to read some more. Have a perfect evening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Monica! I have only recently found yours, but I love your use of colour in your crochet projects! :) xx

      Delete
  14. Dear Ingrid
    Thank you for calling in and your words of encouragement - I am opening a tea shop this afternoon!
    I am envious of your crochet skills - I lost mine many years ago sadly!
    Keep up the lovely work
    Best wishes
    Jenny

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Jenny! You didn't loose them, they are hidden away in the secret (5th? 6th?) stash, together with all that yarn you squirrelled away some time ago!!! :) I promise you, they will come back, just give it a try, go on!!!
      Right, I'll have the cream tea, plus enough buttered soldiers to go with my egg, please!!! ;)
      Thanks so much, Jenny! xx

      Delete