2010 Retrospective: Crochet

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Happy New Year to everyone!

2010 Retrospective: Clothes

I decided that since the year is nearing it's end, this would be a good time for a retrospective. Or a series of retrospectives, actually. First, the clothes I have made this year. Some are inevitably missing and you really should see the pile of unfinished clothes! Perhaps some day they will be finished as well :)

Christmas present for my husband: socks

Pattern: Novita's basic sock pattern with a few alterations

Yarn: 7 veljestä

Needles: 3

I made these to order. He wanted two stripes and coloured heel and toe and that is what he got :)

First pair of mittens

Pattern: Me Naiset magazine from the 70s

Yarn: 7 veljestä by Novita

Needles: 3

I wanted to try knitting some mittens and since I was visiting my parents, I decided to peruse my mother's stash of old women's magazines. I found a series of basic patterns for socks and mittens and tried this one. Very good and simple pattern, which I will certainly use again. 

The only issue I had was the thumbs. As you can see, they are different sizes. The one on the right was done according to the instructions and ended up being almost a centimeter too long. I guess either the people in the Seventies had longer thumbs or my daughter has unusually short thumbs. Or the pattern is just wrong! I did not bother fixing the right mitten, but I made an improved left mitten. 

This one's a keeper!

Pattern: Pompon and seeds hat by Carolin Gall (modified)

Yarn: 7 veljestä by Novita

Needles: 4

I have a thing with hats. They never seem to look good on me - or I don't look good with hats! Either way, I have never given up and keep trying to find the perfect model. I started knitting this hat for my husband but it became obvious somewhere in the middle of the project that it was going to be too small for him. I did not want to redo it, so I decided to see whether I could make it work for me. Imagine my surprise when it did! Truth be told, I guess it looks just like all the other hats I've tried but the difference is that this one I made myself  : )

Merry Christmas!

This is Emma in 2007, she was then 2,5 years old. Time really flies, she is not a baby anymore! The temperature in Finland is freezing at the moment (-25 degrees Celcius!!) and I just finished wrapping the last presents. I still need to do some sewing today, but otherwise everything is ready. Christmas can come to our home.

Merry Christmas

Hyvää joulua

Feliz Navidad

God Jul

Frohe Weichnahten

Buon Natale

Häid Pühi

Joyeux Noël

!

Dish cloths

I have been crocheting whenever I've had a minute or two to spare. Most of my friends have already received one as a gift, and I even gave these to Emma's kindergarten and ballet teachers. So very simple to make and still pretty and soft. A bit boring gift, I admit, but ever so useful. Everyday aesthetics at its best.

Another pair of socks

Pattern: Novita's basic sock pattern, again

Yarn: Novita Nalle

Needles:3

More flags

I am still missing Iceland and Aland flags. Or actually the original flag bunting (my mom's) does not have Aland flag, but since we have family in Aland island, I decided to add the flag as well. I am afraid this won't be finished on time! Doesn't matter, we are not going to spend Christmas at home, so there is no pressure to get any decorations ready. I still have a few Christmas presents to make, so this project is the last on the list.

Dress alterations

I liked this dress plain, but just to please Emma, I added a petticoat and red satin belt. Neither has been attached to the dress, so she can wear whatever combination of the three as she wishes. Although I do hope she wears the dress itself anyway! The petticoat is made from an old bedsheet, some white tulle and vintage lace. I still need to adjust the petticoat since it is too loose, as you can see from the last photo. It is already a bit too low...

 

Linking again to TeaRoseHome. Go and check it out!

Christmas dress

I am not quite sure what Emma is doing in this picture, but it has something to do with princesses. Perhaps a royal wave? And an itchy arm pit? Haha, she got mad at me when I asked her about that. Anyway, I made this dress one night, when Emma announced that she would not be going to her kindergarten's Christmas party in a skirt, she wanted a dress. Ok. I made her one. The fabric is from Ikea and I only wish I would have had more of it, since I wanted to cut the skirt part in bias. It would have looked much better! Anyway, Emma loves it and that is what really counts.

The dress is from this book:

At first I was a bit disappointed in this book, since it only contained a few variations of some basic patterns. However, the basic patterns in the book are very versatile and I have learnt a lot by just glancing through it.The instructions were very clear and patterns easily traceable. By the way, my book sections is still missing a lot of my books, but I am just trying to think a better way to showcase them. Hopefully sometime soon :)

Not very good photos, but you can probably tell why Emma likes the dress :)

Comfy pants

Quite self-explanatory, aren't they? The pants are made from thin brown corduroy, pattern is my own. I made these already in September and now they are almost too short for her. She grows too fast!

Christmas decorations

The picture quality is rubbish, but I hope you do not mind! Also, this should have been shown in Independence day, but I only got the idea then and had no time to implement it. This flag bunting is made from scraps of old linen sheet and jeans.

I am not completely satisfied with this one, since it is a bit dull. I want more colours :) In my childhood, my mother had a bunting with all nordic flags and that is what I want as well. I already started cutting the fabric scraps, I have all the needed colours!

Winter hat & scarf

Yarn: Naturwolle in "Peru"

Needles: hat 6, scarf 8

Aren't the colours bright and pretty? This thick merino yarn is my new favourite and I think I need to buy more. It comes in several beautiful colourways and I had a hard time choosing. I bought the yarn from Vihreä Vyyhti.

The pattern for the scarf is just basic 1k-1p all the way except that I made a slit in the middle so that is would be easier to put on. The hat pattern is a modification of an adult hat pattern from Ravelry.

Here is a picture of Emma and her new accessories in action. We went to see the Independence Day fireworks to the city centre yesterday, great show! It was the first time that Emma was not afraid of the fireworks!

Knit cowl

Pattern: My own

Yarn: Alfa by SandnesGarn (grey), Smart by SandnesGarn (mustard yellow)

I gave up. The knit lump above is a cowl I made for myself. My first knitting project for over ten years! But, impossible to take a decent picture of me wearing this soft and warm cowl at this time of the year. Either there was not enough light or then my assistant photographer (otherwise referred as husband) was not home to take advantage of sudden light phenomena. So when I realised that there just might be enough light for a minute or two, I grabbed the cowl, placed it in the brightest place possible and took a picture.

My inspiration for this cowl came from several places: Kalastajan vaimo, lightbluegray and Kaitaliina, to name a few. I just started knitting, so I did not use any actual instructions. Maybe I could write the instructions by myself? We'll see about that. I am not familiar with knitting terminology in English. 

The yarn is merino wool.

Another pair of socks

I made another pair, this time for my daughter. The yarn is Novita 7 veljestä and again I used Novita's instructions (sorry, available only in Finnish or Swedish). I modified the pattern a bit since I wanted to do something different from the first pair I made. As you can see, not that many modifications, just basic ribbing to the whole sock.  Again I used size 3 needles and they seem to be good for this yarn, since it is a bit thicker than Nalle that I used for my socks. I did not bother matching the stripes, but started wondering whether others do. Matching stripes or not? What do you think?

Finished socks

I have been using these the whole weekend, I am so happy that I actually understood the instructions and had the patience to make both socks! I have tried kntting socks years ago, but managed to knit only one, then I got bored.  Anyway, next time I will use smaller knitting needles, since these socks seem to be a bit too loose. I used these instructions from Novita and they were quite easy to follow, even for a beginner like me. The yarn is Novita Nalle Kukkaketo and I used size 3 knitting needles.

Work in progress - socks!

Actually, I finished these socks yesterday, but I just didn't have enough light to take a proper picture of them yet. So annoying!  But aren't the colours pretty? I would like to see a bit more white, a somewhat calmer colour palette, but these are my first knitted socks, so I am happy! The yarn is Novita Nalle Kukkaketo (colour 817).

Knitting trials

I finally had the courage to try knitting. I somehow think that winter, wool yarn and knitting belong together, so I just had to try. It was surprisingly easy! I actually made something else first and these wrist warmers are made from the leftover yarns of that project, but since I have not had much success in taking acceptable photos of the first trial, I just had to start with these ones.

Jeans skirt

Jeans skirt made from my husbands old, really worn jeans. There were holes everywhere but that's OK. I kind of like the worn-out look. I just need to make sure my daughter does not make the hole even larger...

Apologies for the crappy image quality, it seems that November is too dark for mobile phone snap shots. Go figure. I need to buy a real camera!

Black, white and yellow

Black, white and yellow. My favourite colours, looks surprisingly good on Emma as well. The fabric is Marimekko jersey from Eurokangas, pattern is my own (drafted from some old shirt).

"Mom, can I go now???"

Baby toys

 I like crocheted toys, they are so soft and nice. I just had to make some after I found good instructions from Garnstudio. They have cute designs and I now have this urge to try knitting as well.. I just need to buy some knitting needles!

I found the instructions for the rattle from Garnstudio's website. The rattles are filled with wadding and since I wanted them to sound like maracas, I added a small plastic container inside and filled that with red lentils. The plastic container is from Kinder Surprise milk chocolate egg, those are very well made and do not break open easily. The rattles are not the same size, since I forgot to follow the instructions...

Everyone repeat after me: That ball is round, that ball is round, that ball is round... Anyway, it WAS round but then my daughter started throwing it around and it was ruined. Next time I'll add more wadding inside, perhaps that helps. Oh, and I will also follow directions and do not just improvise. So the ball is my own design, although I did check Martha Stewart's and Garnstudio's instructions. I just didn't have the patience to follow them!

Linking this to Tea Rose Home, please go and check it out!

Red and white scarf

Remember this post from May? I am finally finished with the scarf. It took a looooong time since I did not have any motivation to finish it - I did not have any use for the finished scarf... Anyway, it was a good thing that I did finish it, since Emma absolutely loves it and insists on wearing it even though it is now too cold for cotton scarfs.