Does she look like me?

It was fun but I doubt the accuracy of the result!


Which Norse God or Goddess are you most like?
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Did someone say doily?

I've been playing with this idea for quite a long time...

Make a nice intricate lacy shawl from the pattern of a doily...

I already have gathered a selection of patterns from old magazines... and My oh My, what do I spy, with my puzzled eye? Crochet is indeed a small world, because somebody else thought of the same idea.

So this is what Doris Chan, whose creations were featured in Interweave crochet 2004 and 2006, seems to be experimenting in her book Amazing Crochet Lace. It is to be issued November 2006. I can't wait to see that...

Don't you find the result ravishing? This is an idea that will rejoice many crocheters, I'm thinking of those who have a particular affection for doilies and home decor, imagine, let's say you just triple all the figures in the pattern of your favourite doily and ET VOILA! It's magic, you now have a shawl, a poncho, a capelet, a skirt or whatever you fancy ...

Ok, I don't really know this book is just about playing with figures and turning doilies in something else, but, hey, it's worth trying. In France, crochet magazines deal mainly with doilies, so that's plenty of material to play with!

blogging... is it a disease?

I'm sitting at my desk and I should be going to bed.

But I'm not...

I should at least be washing the dishes, starting a few things to please my boss or finishing one of my multiple wips.

But I'm not.

And why is that?

Because I'm blogging.

Worse than that, because I'm considering altering my blog template again, because I'm looking for means to do cool things with my blog skin and make the most of my blog features.

Will it last if I succeed? certainly not.

I will probably try to alter it again, and try to add new cool features...

Will it improve my well-being, my life or my mental health in one way or another? probably not.

Is it essential to my survival. God! no.

So why am I spending so much time on it, why do I lose sleep over it, why do I neglect my housework, my husband, and even my manicure over it.

Do I need help?

Married to a crocheter...

This one got me laughing out really loud, my daughter even asked me what happened! Any resemblance to persons living and crocheting would be purely coinciddental... or maybe you looked in a mirror

Enjoy!

Married to a crocheter

When You're at it, don't forget to check Annie's Attic free pattern of the day, remember it's free only for one day, and for personnal use only, you can't distribute it that is.

Annie's Attic free pattern of the day

She wears it!

I was wondering weither I had crocheted a boléro (suitable for day time) or a "liseuse" (bed time only never-to-be-worn-outside- piece of clothing). The answer is : it's a bolero after all and she now wears it with pleasure, in those mid-season days when you don"t know how to both great the darding rays of sun and fight back the last spurts of cold. She looks lovely in it and I am delighted!
I closed it with a hairpin of mine, but now that she seems willing to wear it ( at last ), I might buy a girly button and chain a button hole.

Looking for inspiration ?

I've been collecting pictures of crochet clothes all over the web, mainly on commercial websites, those are clothes that merchant sites like Nordstrom, Papillon, Carabella, Spiegel or Silhouette sell, if you click the picture, you will see it's name which mentions the name of the site where I got it, feel free to visit this site and shop there... Anyway, here they are for you to admire and get inspired, don't forget they are copyrighted material, don't use them to make money!
Enjoy

Flash Slideshow

Lacy White Sweater Top

This is something I did a long time ago but this time I clearly remember when it was : it was in 1996 and I was still a student.
I wanted to crochet a lacy sweater I saw in Sabrina crochet, but once I had crocheted one third of the front part, I decided I wanted a sleeveless top.

I usually wear it over this tank dress that costed almost nothing. Cheap but classy. See how it looks good on me?

The scarf is something I did recently as an attempt to experiment with the "crochet and knit with your fingers" method, after I bought the book Tricoter et crocheter avec les doigts. It consists of a braid made from 3 finger-loomed-knitted strips, with tassels at the end. It was originally finger-knitted for my daughter, but I just noticed it looks great with my jacket! I am still working on the matching hat, but I don't like the way this ribbon looks crocheted.

More pictures:

Still chubby in my striped blue top

I've just finished my interpretation of the "Charmed top", it doesn't quite look like I hope it would... I can use a few pounds off. Besides, I managed to lose 10 stitches on my way from right side to left side. AND I counted! looks like I can't count correctly. I thought it was the change of yarn that made one side floppy. It wasn't.

Never mind...

There are two ways to tie the lace (three in fact but now it's too short - although 2 meters long - for me to show here... I might crochet another one, at least to feel more at ease as long as those 4 pounds still bugger me), one around the neck and one above the shoulders with the lace going across the chest (the third one would be both around the neck and above the shoulders)
The good news is it's so tight I don't need to wear a bra!!!

Pattern should follow shortly!

Hyperbolic crochet

This is a very cool thing to do!

• crochet a reef


• crochet a hyperbolic plane

Needed to share!

Old blue lacy top

This is something I did a few years ago. I was feeling like musing a little bit with various crochet stitches, and I wanted a somwhat "decent" top to wear in the warmer season. I also happen to wear it when the weather is less sunny, over a light sweater.

The yarn

I think it was cotton. I used something like 6 balls of it, it was a Bouton d’or, yarn, I think I remember the name of it went like “tweed" or something similar. A 3mm crochet hook, as usual, my favourite.

The design

It's just a tube with two straps and a few more rows in the front.

The stitches

From top to bottom : Pineapple,doule crochet, spider, diamonds, waves, spider again, pineapple and a kind of bobbly-cluster for the edging.

More pictures, if you're in a mood

Well, I must admit I had never noticed how daring it was untill I took and uploaded those pictures...
Maybe because I did it when I was around twenty and felt it was ok... Now that I've seen how actually see-through it is, I don't know if I will be able to wear it without anything underneath again

blue and pink purses

A month ago I indulged and bought myself a little jewel of technology(which software, sonicstage, is driving me crazy sometimes) and I wanted to provide it with a worthy casket suitable with my wardrobe.
I finally finished the purses I designed for it. In fact I only had a few details to finish but I've been lazy untill yesterday.

So here are my Sony Hi md MZ-RH10 purses.

Pink purse

I started this one in January with the same yarn I used for my daughter's
bolero except I "variagated" it using fingering red yarn and burgundy sewing thread (the latter doesn't show much indeed.I used a 4.5 mm aluminium crochet hook.

the design : the same as the porte-tute the most difficule thing being to create the stripes for which I used this technic, leaving the contrasing yarns aside to obtain a solid color. I also wanted to draw a line in the back, but I didn't manage to do it in the middle, the stitch being a little bit messy, it was hard to follow clearly the process, I should have counted the stitches. I also should have blocked the finished product to avoid that lumpy look... but I don't care .

the button hole is just plain chain stitches.

the strap consists of chain stitches doubled with slip stitches, although the result is less becoming than the twisted one,I do find it nice and it's both elastic and sturdy.

I added a row of slip stitches all around the finished puse so that the back would look like the front.

The only thing left to do was to add a button, I hesitated because I wanted something fun and cute, I eventually chose a square glass bead.

the stitch :
X are single crochet and T are double crochet (which happen to be "half double crochet" in French, or demi bride)

X T X T X T X T

T X T X T X T X

X T X T X T X T

T X T X T X T X

More pictures of the pink purse :

 

 

 

Blue purse

This time I decided to use a simple stitch so that the line in te back would stand out clearly.
I also opted for a triangular closing flap. In addition, I wanted something funny and cute to balance the sobriety of the stitch, I hesitated between pompoms and other decorative motives, I eventually decided to add tendrils...

the yarn : one bobbin of Bouton d'or "Flash" ribbon, I don't recall the name of the color (1 3/4 oz = about 137 yards), unfortuntely there wasn't enough ribbon left in the bobbin to make the strap, I used something I salvaged from a defunct garment... Crochet hook : aluminium 3mm.

the stitch : chain stitches, back loop only single crochet,
back post single crochet (for the line in the back and the stripes in the front), slip stitches.

the tendrils : form a chain of 10 chain stitches, 1 chain stitch to turn,
3 single crochet in every stitch of the previous row. the button hole tendril : chain of 15 chain stitches, 1 chain stitch to turn, 3 x 3 single crochet in the first stitch of the previous row, then 3x4, then 3x5, then 3x6, finish with a chain of 5 and attach to the flap with a slip stitch.

the design : the same as for the pink one, i just did a series of decreases then increases of 3 to create the flap. As you can see the hem is perfectly tidy and neat, unlike all the mean things I've heard about crochet and the way the
borders were always so messy that you always needed to add a decorative border afterwards.

the button hole is just an opening left at the top of a tendril. the button is a blue chrysoberyl cat's eye bead (I love those).

I sew the strap inside the purse all along the inside in fact, for it to be sturdy.

Once sewn I noticed it was too long...
So I cut it in half and as I had a little bit of ribbon left, I decorated the knots to match the purse. It's just a ring of 8 single crochet started in the same circle around the base of the knot, then the next row consists of 4 single crochet (one in every 2) ended together.Et voilà.

More pictures of the blue purse:

 

I'm not sure about the tendrils, I think they're cute but a little awkward, I might do without them eventually...

Happy crocheting everyone, don't forget to get ready for

WIP : Striped blue top

Do you remember the knitted blue top Rose Mac Gowen was wearing ? I've been working on it on and off since I completed the "gauge" and had almost one third completed ... I went for a corset-like naked back top.

I hesitated because I didn't know if I would make increases (so that my gigantic
boobs would fit comfortably in) or not, and weither they should be visible or not, dramatic or not.... I eventually decided for non-dramatic visible increases.

I was fairly content with the result when...

I noticed I would not have enough of yarn (again). I thought I actually had 6 more bobbins, but they are not the same colour. So I shifted from Bouton d'orFlash "crystal" to Bouton d'or Flash "cirrus"...

I just hope the difference won't show too much. As you can see, the two yarns
do not have the same shine. I keep my fingers crossed and I hope the green stipes will help.

Update: a few days later...

I have now crocheted three rows in "cirrus" and although the difference is not blatant, it does show a little bit, both regarding the colour and the feel of it... Well, never mind. I've been working on that one for the past two months and I'm not going to frog it.

N. O. W. A. Y. !

I'll wear it anyway.