Crocheting towards Easter

A couple of years ago I tried to learn how to crochet with a help of many tutorials on YouTube. I have long been fascinated with crochet stones and wanted to give it a try. So far I have learned a few basic stitches and I have managed to incorporate my tiny crochet flowers in some of the handbag designs.

This week I found a lovely tutorial showing how to crochet a small stone or a glass bead into a pendant so I just had to try it out. The result are these glass pebbles and a new crochet stone that sits happily in the Easter basket on our dining table. What can I say - I am hooked!

Have a lovely Easter, everybody!

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Pred par leti sem se hotela naučiti kvačkati in s pomočjo YouTube-a se mi je uspelo naučiti nekaj osnovnih elementov, ki sem jih potem vključila v moje izdelke. 
Ta teden pa sem odktila še en video, ki prikazuje obkvačkanje manjšega kamna ali steklene kapljice v obesek - rezultat so tile stekleni kamenčki, zraven pa sem srajčko nakvačkala še za en večji kamen, ki zdaj čepi v velikonočni košarici na mizi. 

forget me not

We have finally gotten a break and some warmer, dryer weather is on its way.
The cold, rainy weeks haven't been very creative but time was not wasted; I spent many evenings cuddled up on the couch watching DVDs and crocheting tiny flowers.

Here is the result, a large zippered wristlet, made from dark navy blue, almost grey cool wool cloth (the kind used for men's suits) and sewn on are tiny crochet flowers in light green hues, with blue embroidered stems.

The wristlet is lined with hand dyed cotton canvas in fresh cobalt blue and it has one mint green interior slip pocket.

Since little flowers remind me of forget-me-nots, I embroidered their French name, "ne m'oublie pas", on the back.
Don't forget, the summer is bound to come!



Spominčice

Končno smo dočakali tudi toplejše in bolj suho vreme! Ker sem pretekle deževne in zimsko mrzle večere v glavnem preždela na kavču ob gledanju DVDjev, sem uspela nakvačkati za manjši travnik rožic - zdaj je v trgovini na voljo nova torbica iz temno mornarsko modrega, skoraj sivega volnenega blaga, posuta s cvetkami, ki imajo izvezena stebla. Ker me rožice spominjajo na spominčice, sem na zadnjo stran torbice izvezla njihovo francosko ime "ne m'oublie pas". 
Ne pozabite, poletje zagotovo pride!

Crochet lace covered stone

Holidays are a perfect time for crocher experiments so I took my crochet hooks with me to Slovenia this week. I must have been the only one in the whole train not playing with an iPad or reading a book on Kindle but instead happily occupied with my analog entertainment, crochet.

I have long admired crochet lace covered stones on Etsy and wanted to give it a try myself. That meant going beyond the basic crochet flower and learning new stitches to cover the entire front of the stone.

I improvised a lot and managed to come to the other side of the stone, where I used a temporary yellow thread to tighten the loose hooks and then crochet around it to finish the cover. 

Pictured with the finished stone is a beautiful ceramic plate, made by a fellow Etsy artist Tika.

V kvačkano čipko oblečeni kamni

Že od nekdaj na Etsyju občudujem v čipkaste mojstrovine oblečene okrogle kamne, zato sem se odločila, da še sama poskusim narediti kaj podobnega. Najprej sem se morala naučiti še nekaj vbodov poleg osnovnih rožic, da napolnim celo zgornjo ploskev kamna, sledilo je veliko improviziranja in prispela sem na spodnjo ploskev, kjer sem zanke povlekla skupaj in jih obkvačkala. Krožniček na sliki je delo ustvarjalke Tike. 

Hooked

I have been working on a custom order bag this week (and it will be finished tomorrow, I promise) but I couldn't stop myself from going back to my crochet hooks in between cutting and sewing.

After my first attempt at crochet flowers a month ago I got completely hooked and this past week I have been working with the tiny hook number 1 and some skinny ecru cotton yarn to make lacy crochet flowers and rosettes. I can't read crochet patterns and have only learned the basics from internet tutorials  so I am making up stiches as I go.
I did find one very user-friendly tutorial at a blog writen by a pattern analphabet like myself  - Mandy writes a delightfully simple tutorial for a very sweet flower HERE and you can see the final results in my blurry iPod picture below (the little flower on the lower right corner of the right photo).

Zakvačkana

Ta teden šivam torbo po meri (več v naslednjem postu), a si ne morem kaj, da ne bi vsake toliko časa sedla k mojim kvačkam. Odkar sem pred kratkim spet pogruntala kvačkanje rožic, sem čisto ujeta in moj zadnji projekt so čipkaste rozetke, kvačkane z mini kvačko št. 1. TULE najdete link do še posebej enostavnega opisa izdelave luštne rožice - opis je zlasti za takšne kot jaz, ki ne znamo brati kvačkarskih hieroglifov.

Sprrrrrriiiiiiiiing!

After I posted my last story about learning how to crochet again, the flu season came around and between nursing my children and myself for weeks, everything had to be put on hold...

But I am back, with some fresh, colourful items in my shop, which is better than a vitamin shot as far as I am concerned.

new Pippa bag with crochet flowers

First I finished the bag I started working on before I fell ill - it is a small shoulder bag Pippa, adorned with freshly picked crochet flowers. It felt strange to pick up my work after a month's pause, I am not yet sure what to think of it but as every new thing it needs time to set in. I have made some new, vibrant crochet flowers in the meantime and I am determined to give it another try.

And last week, to my great surprise, one of Loddelina items made it to Etsy's front page! Features of this kind have been few and far between so I was delighted to see how much attention little coin purse got afterwards, there were tons of hearts and shop views. So many in fact that I decided to make more of this reverse star applique design - and here they are, four new coin purses in my shop since last night.

four new coin purses are now available in my shop

I wish you all a great week ahead!

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Pomlad!

Kmalu po moji zadnji objavi nas je ujela epidemija gripe in ko sem končno pozdravila sebe in otroka, je bil naokrog ves mesec. Zdaj sem spet v formi, z novimi pisanimi torbicami v trgovini. Najprej sem dokončala torbico Pippa, okrašeno z mojimi kvačkanimi rožicami - hecno, po enomesečni prekinitvi mi prvotna ideja nekako ni več sedla v srce, a za prvi poskus bo v redu, čaka me še cel kup novo nakvačkanih rožic in odločena sem, da bom poskusila še enkrat.

Zadnji teden pa se je zgodil manjši čudež, moja mala denarnica z zvezdo je prišla na Etsyjevo prvo stran, kar se ni pripetilo že celo večnost, zato sem še toliko bolj vesela vseh srčkov in obiskov trgovine, ki so sledili. Odločila sem se, da hitro zašijem še nekaj novih barvnih inačic zvezde in zdaj so tukaj, v moji trgovini.

Lep teden želim vsem skupaj!

Learn a new craft

A new year, a new craft, that is what Etsy blog suggested the other day. So I decided it was as good time as any to finally try to learn to crochet small flowers I have been wanting to add to my designs for a long time. My mother taught me crochet basics when I was a little girl but I haven't touched the hooks and yarn since...

However, with a little help from YouTube tutorials for beginners I learned to crochet several diffenent flowers in no time! First attempts were a bit awkward but after one week of crocheting I have over 40 flowers ready to be appliqued to my bags.

 trial and error

Tiny and small 5 petal flowers (6 petals are a result of a welcome mistake in counting)

You can find the tutorials HERE and HERE.

I also llike these ruffled flowers, perfect for adding pearls in the middle or plain and simple, resembling a chrysanthemum. Find the tutorial HERE.

Do you have and interesting crocheting tutorial? Please share!

Nauči se novo spretnost

Čas je že bil, da se končno naučim kvačkati rožice, s katerimi si že dolgo časa želim okrasiti moje torbice. Mama me je sicer že davno tega naučila osnov kvačkanja, pa sem do danes vse pozabila in tako   spet prvič prijela za kvačko. K sreči je na YouTube-u polno navodil za začetnike in tako sem se v enem tednu naučila kvačkati tri različne rožice in jih do zdaj naredila že čez 40. 
Zgornje, s petimi lističi (ali šestimi, kar se je zgodilo kot dobrodošla napaka pri štetju zank) sem naredila v dveh velikostih, spodnja, skuštrana, pa je še posebej zanimiva, ker jo lahko naredimo poljubno gosto, dodamo perlice, brez pa še najbolj spominja na krizantemo. 
Povezave so pod slikami, če imate tudi ve kakšno zanimivo kvačkarijo, jo prosim delite!