Crochet cuff

My friend likes bracelets. My daughter likes bracelet, necklaces, and anything sparkles. Even my son looking at his sister wearing necklace also wants to try it on. What makes jewelry so attractive?

I love them, too. However, doing housework requires me to take the bracelets off. But when I see the designs from the book "Simply Crochet" by Robyn Chachula, I told myself to give them a try.

I made these cuff, named "Mystic cuff". You can buy the book or find the pattern here on Ravelry. There's  also a blog post review about the mystic cuff that you can read here.

I had some thread left and used mulberry wood beads to make them. 

I tried another thread "Aunt Lydia crochet thread" size 10, peacock color and glass beads to make another one.

With the same thread, I tried another kind of bead with lighter color and used toggle clasp to make it look more convenient. 

This is the diagram 

And I am still making more cuffs to give my friends. I'm thinking of buying another color thread to make some more. 

Scarves for winter

It's been a long time since the last time I posted. Almost 1 year. yes. So busy with the new member in the family. I still crochet but have no time blogging about my crochet journey.

It's fall now. Christmas is coming. I'm planning to make some scarves to gift to the people I love - my in-laws, my American friends who I had no time to say good bye before I moved. Now let's review some scarves I made.

1, Bellflower scarf

This scarf I made by following a youtube tutorial. Go to Sheruknitting website and you will find a lot of techniques to learn. This is the first one I learn from it. Here is the link. I made it longer, long enough to cover my neck. My daughter really love it. The yarn I used is white and light purple - worsted weight. I love Romanian lace and cord from this website and will return to learn more.

2,

This is "Falling triangle scarf" I made based on the Crochet World pattern. You have to buy the magazine to have the pattern. Not hard, but this is the first time I wet block. It is so pretty and many of my friends love it. I intend to make some more using this pattern. However, every issue will have a free pattern posted on their website newsletter. You can browse each issue and find the free patterns you love.

3, This is the infinity scarf I made for the principal of my daughter's preschool. I made the other scarf with this pattern and gave it to my daughter's teacher for Christmas 2013. It was a harsh winter. The teacher told me she used it in the coldest days and it kept her warm. Her scarf was chocolate cupcake color, with pink and brown shades. Then the principal saw her scarf and asked me if I could make her another one. She told me she liked blue and white. Luckily, I have this yarn at home. More information about this yarn here.


The free pattern I used calls for Vanna's choice yarn, which is worsted weight (You have to sign up to reach the pattern). But this kind of yarn is chunkier. After several times I crochet and ripped up, I decided to use 10 mm hook to make the scarf soft, not too tight. So I have to calculate using a little math here. in the pattern using worsted yarn, it says 1 wave is about 4 and a half inch, 199 chains for 11 waves, 1 wave needs 18 stitches. I made 1 wave in this yarn, measured and calculated. So it is about 7 waves for the scarf, so 18 times 7, I will have the chains I need (126 chains).

4,
This is the scarf I made for my mom. In my country, it's not cold enough to wear a thick scarf in the winter. My mom lives in the South but my dad's hometown is in the north. They want to go to the north and enjoy holidays with my relatives this new year. So I decided to make my mom a scarf, using super wash wool I treasured. This is a graph pattern. The website has a lot of free patterns, but I'm not used to it yet. My mom can look at a crochet graph and make a lot of things, but not me. I have to look and write down the pattern a little bit.

Happy crocheting!

Christmas dress for toddler

Christmas was in the past. New year 2015 has come for almost 10 days, but I still want to show off my daughter's Christmas dress. She wore it on Christmas Eve to get the presents from a "fake" Santa - her word. She explained to me that she knew the Santa giving her presents in the room was fake. The real Santa was busy then in North Pole.

This dress was crocheted using Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn I had for 4 years. The pattern is from the back issue of Crochet Today magazine. I still love this magazine though it was closed. The pattern is named "Sunshine Baby Dress". I made one for her in Vanna's Choice yarn- Burgundy color, and she claimed she loved it. Yeah, my daughter loved it because it is swirly, and twirly and long. So I got the pattern out again and made her another one with Christmas color.

I made the edge with Lion Brand Wool Ease - Multi White. I didn't make the button, but used a piece of bias tape which has the Christmas Green color.  Et voila!

Double crochet socks

I need socks. My cold feet need wool socks. However, it does not seem how much I invest in Smartwool socks to be enough. Whenever I started slip my feet into socks, they sweat. Usually, I have to take them off when I stay home, and put them on when my feet feel cold again.

My first purpose when I started to learn how to crochet again is to make myself a pair of wool socks. It was the first time I came here in Illinois, in the frigidly low temperature in the mid-winter. At that time, I wore 2 pair of socks at one time, and felt my feet as if they had been stung by needles, then they were numb. The best way is to stay home, limit the time I was outdoor.

After 5 years, finally, i have my own socks. But not wool yet. Wool yarn is much more expensive than acrylic yarn. I have an abundant of acrylic yarn at home. I have collected them for my daughter's project. They are soft, not itchy, and most importantly, my daughter doesn't have cold feet like me. Dresses or cardigans, hats or scarves made by acrylic yarn are machine washable. I don't have to feel regretful to see my daughter play in mud though she prefers to play cleanly.

Socks from this booklet Learn to Crochet Socks for the Family by Darla Sims are easy to make. I tried this pair without reading the basic instructions at the first pages. The socks I made is named "HDC Doubles for Women". HDC stands for half double crochet. But I made mistakes. I crocheted in double crochet. But it turned out good. Just keep crochet, try on my feet. I did count the rows when I crochet the heel. Love this book. Next time I will try this pattern with wool yarn.

Flower Yoke Top to Dress

I wnet to Idea Store and spot an interesting Crochet Today issue. I bought yarn on sale thinking of making one thing from that issue. I finished it, a dress for my daughter, making it longer from the top pattern. I intended to show off a little bit, and discovered Crochet Today was not being published any more. So sad! I loved this Crochet magazine better than Crochet World or Interweave Crochet because its patterns are always clearly written and diagram included. One pattern was laid out at a time, not like others, the beginning of the pattern was on page 5, and the end was on page 60, for example.
Sigh!
But this is my daughter's dress:

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I bought Red Heart Baby Love yarn on sale in Walmart. The Banana Yellow made me think of her crazy about Bell in "Beauty and the Beast". But when I was crocheting the dress, she told me she already had a yellow dress. At that time, she was into Elsa in Frozen. Poor mom, always late and slow! But when I told her if she didn't like it, I can present it to her friend, she said NO. She tried on eagerly but refused being taken pictures. Perhaps mom show her off so much.

The above picture originally was from Crochet Today July/ August 2009. My daughter is 4, so the yoke for this size needed 9 flowers or 12 flowers for size 8 and 10. But I looked at the picture,  I thought the yoke would stretch and decided to eliminate 1 flower. So, my daughter's dress has 8 instead of 9 flowers. Therefore, the armholes are smaller.
I lengthened the top by adding 4 more rows at the end.
Just hope I can take other pictures when she wears the dress officially!
Happy Crocheting!

Think

I don't know why I keep thinking a lot. Not work anymore. The thoughts wander everything, from my friend's status on facebook or just a response under my note. Everything makes me think.

It seems better for me if I have something occupied my physical body, not my mind. Usually I desire to work. I know, staying home with my child is a kind of work. Homemaker is a better word than housewife. Nope, I am just a stay-home-mom, tired of thinking what to cook every day, bored of playing with my child though I know I have to embrace those moments. She is growing up. Time flies, and I stand still, at one place.

Crocheting makes me stop thinking in a while. Sewing makes me concentrate for a while. I want my whole day free of thinking, not just a while in the morning after dropping her off at her school and before the yoga class. Usually I want myself totally lost in something, which means I have to trade with my child's longing to be beside me. Her smile, her talk keeps me strong in the days I feel weak, just want to leave everything behind.

Just think. Sometimes I feel happy that I can still think. I still exist.

Flowers and shell beanie with brim

This is the beanie I made from the free pattern provided by Sarahndipities. The pattern is for adult but I used smaller hooks, different yarn, and crocheted few rows; so it turned out to be a toddler beanie.
Yarn: Red Heart With Love.
Hook: 4.5 mm
8 rows instead of 10 rows as mentioned in the pattern.

The flower pattern is from Lesley Stanfield's 100 flowers to knit and crochet.

I also made some flowers from the book, attached one to another white hat I made 2 years ago (so lazy to make any embellishments). The pattern for this hat is here. At first, I thought this hat didn't fit my daughter. I made one for her 2 years ago, feeling inspired and made some more using the same pattern. However, she tried it on, tried to fit it on her head and claimed this hers. Finally, she hid it with other hats she owns.

  My daughter even picked up a crocheted daisy and asked me to tie it on her plastic headband. Again, so lazy to make a flower headband for her.

Happy crocheting!

Recycled Bookmarks

I was surprised when I saw a lot of craft activities related to bookmarks, for example, cross-stitching, embroidery, crocheting, quilting, and so on. Bookmarks also come with all shapes like hearts or ovals besides traditional rectangle. Bookmarks can be very easy to make, just cut rectangles or so difficult. However, I like making bookmarks because they are small projects to start learning a new craft. Even my baby can make some. She is developing her hand muscle by using scissors.

In this picture, she cut triangles from used and one-sided paper. I draw the lines for her to cut. She tried to cut them straight. Then she glued hearts I cut on, traced some words. And voila, she had some bookmarks to gift her teachers on Valentine's Day.

And I also made some recycled bookmarks from one-sided paper by folding them. Youtube has a lot of tutorial showing you how to origami heart bookmarks. Here a corner heart bookmark and here.

 

Bookmarks I made

Red Ridinghood Cape

My daughter wanted me to make her another cardigan, but RED. I remembered seeing a Red Ridinghood cape pattern from Red Heart yarn website. I bought 2 skeins of  Red Heart With Love on sale in Walmart. Perfect for this project.

There is one problem. I am not always following instruction. Always for every projects. I don't know why. While I was making this cape, I also changed. I made it longer.

And here is this.

 My daughter is happy with it. When she is bigger, I can move the button hole lower. So, this cape is used longer. Love it.

 

Try it on

Reindeer hat

I found the pattern of this Rudolph Reindeer hat on Crochet Today magazine. I failed to find the yarn required (Red Heart yarn) so I used Threads & Looms yarn from Michael's store. After finishing this hat, I decided it was too much for me. So many details, so much sewing though I didn't attach tiny jingle bells on. Later, I found this free pattern on Repeat Crafter Me. Hope it may help you if you want to try.
These are some pictures of my reindeer hat.

I tried it on Pooh

I may try to make this hat again for next Christmas.

Adult Cloche

Last Christmas, I had a blog post about a hat I made for my daughter. I also shared a version for adult hat in the post. I like the floral cloche on Crochet Today, but the flower is quite fancy to me. I mean, in my country, only girls or babies wear big flowers. Therefore, I really enjoy looking at women in the US with flowers on their hair or hats. They look so femine. I know that but I still can't change my mindset yet.

So I made this cloche, changing a little bit int he pattern. I added decreased treble crochet to make V-cabled on the hat. I bought the yarn in IDEA Store, too. The yarn is 50% wool, and I ended up buying 10 skeins of this yarn. No other colors. It is quite itchy at the forehead. My friends complimented on this hat a lot but I can't use it for a lot of reasons. Wait for the spring, maybe.

Adult Cloche

Bernat Chunky Neckwarmer

This chunky neck warmer I made from Bernat Softee Chunky Yarn, as required in the pattern. You can find the free pattern here.

This neck warmer was made quickly due to the thickness of the yarn and the pattern. My aunt in-law also wants me to make a black one for her. 

I may try to make a trip to Jo Ann or Michaels to look for Bernat Softee Chnuky in black.
--
Updated (Feb 15 2014)
This is the black one.

I couldn't find Bernat Softee Chunky Yarn, so I used 3 strands of Bernat Satin Ebony. The combination of 3 strands also made this neck warmer thick enough.

My favorite hat pattern of the year-Bubblegum beanie

Wandering in IDEA Store, I found Inside Crochet, a magazine from the UK. I bought it because it has an attractive hat pattern I really want to make. You may buy the pattern from Ravelry.

Here are several of hats I have made for 5 days.
This pink hat I made with Lion Brand Baby First yarn. The pattern requires really chunky yarn and this yarn is really good, chunky but soft. The hat is cabled, reversible and stretchy. I call it "2 in 1" and "one size fits all" hat.

The cable

The reversible side

I like this twisting cable here, an embellishment made during the hat making process. I don't need to make any flowers to attach on it.

I made this hat as a Christmas gift for my friend's daughter. I made another red hat for another friend's daughter too. This time I used Hobby Lobby yarn "I love this cotton". I combined 2 strands of worsted weight to make it, the result was the hat also looks chunky. I love the color, too. Red is Christmas color, right?

The hat also fits my head.

Yesterday, 24 Dec 2013, I went to Walmart and bought 2 skeins of Lion Brand Hometown USA, Honolulu Pink yarn. The yarn is bulky so I worked more quickly and tried it on. I ask my husband to take a picture of me wearing that so pink hat. I have never tried any pink things before.


Love this hat pattern so much!

Polar Bear and Gold Fish Hats

The pattern is here, on Crochet Today Magazine. You have to buy the magazine to have the pattern. Sorry about that. The yarn you need is super bulky and the hook I used is N/15 or 10 mm.
I got the yarn from IDEA Store. Just one skein, and just enough for the hat only. I like shopping at this store very much. You don't know what you can find there because the stock depends on what people donate. Like a treasure hunt. The result is I stock a lot of yarn and fabric at home.
 I made this hat last year, when I just found the yarn, but the season is not right to try it on. Until this winter.

Here is the Gold Fish hat whose the pattern I found on Crochet World Magazine. My daughter wanted me to make her 2 more hats, orange and red. So this goldfish hat satisfied her. Just one more red hat to go.

Happy crocheting!

Mommy's and daughter's hats

I found the pattern for the hat from Fave Crafts. But you can find the original pattern from Red Heart.  I decided to make one for me, but I couldn't find the yarn requested. I used Caron Simply Soft instead. While I was crocheting for me, my baby asked what I was making. I answered "A hat." She said, "For me." So, I made one for her first, then one for me. One skein of Caron Simply Soft can make almost 3 hats. I also made one for my aunt in-law.

The first one- for my baby

2 more hats. 

Here she is, with the flower cloche.

You may want to try the yarn requested. As I finished, my hats don't have the texture like in the pattern picture.

Happy Crocheting!

White floral hat

With the same pattern of floral hat on Crochet Today, I made about 5 more hats last year. They needed flowers and leaves to become lovely gifts. But I couldn't make any flowers to embellish them.

Yesterday we went to a restaurant to have a farewell party with a friend of my husband's. Their daughter was one year older then mine. We had celebrated birthdays together for all children here born in September and October, including my and their daughters. Now, one of those hats I made must be a farewell gift.

The flower I made here is based on this pattern - colorful flower. The leaf I made from this pattern - Leaf face Scrubbie. You can look for the hat pattern on Red Heart Yarn or Crochet Today. One of my old posts also has the link to the pattern.

Cardigan for 3 year-old girl

I'm slow. Slow in doing anything, with sewing, crocheting, crafting, cooking. So when I saw the book Crochet in a Day for Baby (sample), my eyes shone. I may have a cardigan made on my baby's third birthday. The idea was so inviting.
My baby wanted a yellow cardigan for her. She liked the yellow dress Belle wearing in the movie "Beauty and the Beast," and she wanted the yellow cardigan to go with the yellow dress she has. Haizz, movies do affect a lot in life. My baby is not an exception.
I have to explain more about the yarn I used here. I stocked yarn. There was a time I kept going to Michael's to look for clearance yarn. I intended to make this and that dress for my baby, I downloaded and saved the patterns but most of them required light weight yarn. I found some Bernat Softee Baby yarns on clearance and grabbed them. But, they have been in my boxes for a long time. No time to work on those patterns any more.
Now, my baby is in preschool. I try to have more time for me. Drop my baby off at her school, stay in the car to crochet for a little time, then head to the library to study something. However, I have been spending more time on crocheting than studying. I am addicted.
Now, yellow yarn. I don't want to buy any more yarn. Digging in the boxes, I found 2 skeins of Bernat Softee yarn. They are 3- medium weight yarn, not the worsted one as required in the pattern. Sigh, I had to calculate the stitches. Luckily, I have another cardigan made by the same yarn but in the color of aqua. I got it out, counted the stitches and made some simple calculations. Done.
Smaller yarns cost me more time to complete this cardigan. The texture doesn't look the same with the one in the book but it's still fine. I may try another one in future. Love the colors the author Candi Jensen used.

Aqua cardigan for 1 year-old girl

2 years ago,I made this cardigan for my baby and tried to finish it on her first birthday. She was born in October, and I thought it was perfect for a cover with a sleeveless dress. I also thought fall was not so cold so a cabbage hat was fine. My baby was eager to wear it everywhere until she is 3 now. The sleeves are short now. Luckily, the cardigan was tied by a bow so it was not so tight for my baby though she is tiny. She still wore it on her 3rd birthday.

The pattern of this cardigan is here but my cardigan is quite different. I didn't make the people applique. , I bought 2 skeins of Bernat Baby Soft for sale, and they were medium weight. At the time I made this cardigan, I didn't like the idea to make pieces and seam them together, so I tried to calculate, crocheted, rip it off, crocheted again, trial and fail, and finally, I made it. I also added scallop edging and flowers to embellish. Maybe another time, I have more time to post the way I made it seamlessly. 

Handmade gift lasts long. Happy crocheting!

Another unfinished project now finished

I like surfing books for ideas and usually I want to do this and do that. But time is limited. I always feel teh day is shorter.
I love this book, I [love] patchwork. Just google the name of the book and you will see so many products made by customers.

I started to study a writing course last semester. As requested by the teacher, I had a triangular highlighter instead of 3 highlighters, a set of index cards, a pencil, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, and a pen. Registering for a Coursera course, I need a small and portable headset to listen to video lectures on Coursera.org. Also, I need them separate from other stuff in my backpack with my baby's food, clothes inside. There, this cosmetics pouch is a perfect thing I need.

I cut cloth squares from fabric stash I have but let them lie in the drawer for a few months. Thanks summer for coming and now I have time to finish it.

2 days. I tried to be more patient now. I learned from those impatient times in the past. It is better to work slowly and carefully than to correct it later. Voila, it's here. Thanks Rashida Coleman-Hale for bringing it on me.

What are these?

I had a presentation about Vietnam, my home country last April. And I got an email from a Japanese friend last week asking about this picture. Her daughter didn't know what these people were carrying in tiny bicycles. In spite of safety issues,they look artful, thanks to the unknown photographer.

But what are they on the bicycles? You can see them more clearly from this picture:

 I know these things are but I don't know the English words. Even Vietnamese people who don't live in the country can't distinguish the different names, shapes ans sizes of the tools. Even with the same function, it will be named different due to local dialects. The things in the picture above is named "đó" (pronounced as "door" with higher pitch, no "r" sound).

As you can see, in image a, "đó ruộng" is the tool used in the rice paddy, while "đó đầm" is used in the ponds and lakes. They are made of bamboo. The farmer put "đó ruộng" in the small current and left it there. Following the current, fish swam into the entrance of the tool and couldn't escape. Unfortunately, fish is becoming rare because people tend to use more chemical fertilizer and herbicide. Consequently, these tools are disappearing and can only be seen in the private museum.



These are fishing tools weaven from bamboo in the South of Vietnam

Luckily, someone may see through their decorative side and use them in country-themed restaurants. "Đó" was used on Nguyễn Huệ flower street in Lunar New Year.

Just hope this explains something in the picture on top.