Love Stories

La meua familia de ninos va començar amb una parella de nuvis per a la Laia, per a la seva parada al DeNuvis.

Des d'aleshores fins ara n'he fet uns quants, de nuvis, pero aquest estiu a la boda de la Miriam i l'Àlex ha estat la primera vegada que he vist "en vivo y en directo" una entrega a destinatari.

Encara que vaig passar una mica de vergonyeta perquè una és asocial de mena i no se li donen bé aquestes coses, va ser emocionant. Va ser un feedback genial i una pujada  d'autoestima increïble, mai hauria pensat que un dels meus ninos podia aportar tanta felicitat!

Inspirada per l'experiència he fet un recull de tots els nuvis que he fet fins ara, en plan retrospectiva amb una sorpreseta al final ;)

ELS PRIMERS, I PARES FUNDADORS DEL HOUSE OF DOLLS PROJECT

ELS PRIMERS AMB ULLS DE SEGURETAT

ELS PETITANYOS PARTIDARIS DE L'AMOR LLIURE

AMB CORBATA, VEL I ESQUENA A L'AIRE

BEN EQUIPATS PELS ESPORTS D'HIVERN, QUE DIUEN QUE WINTER IS COMING (encara que sembli que l'estiu està aqui per a quedar-se)

I PER ACABAR, PRESENTANT EN SOCIETAT A MR. I MRS. POTATO, uns ninos que mai hauria pensat a fer i que van ser tot un repte. Ben aviat penjaré el seu patró en una entrada per a ells sols, que bé que se la mereixen.

Holly Wreaths Galore or The Ghost Of Xmas Past

For three years now I've made Xmas ornaments for the whole family.

They find the new model waiting for them at the Boxing Day dinner table (and the ones that can't come ask for them later).

They have snowflakes and baubles and this year I've made holly wreaths from (almost) scratch.

First I made rings out of wire. I wrapped the wire around a sturdy cardboard tube and cut it into nice rings with my super steel wire cutter!!!

Then I closed the tiny gaps with hot glue.

I created my holly berries with the strawberry stitch by Lin.

Here's the pattern/formula I used. The number of stitches will depend on your yarn and your ring.

My rings diameter was 6 cms and I used Drops Paris with a 5mm crochet hook.

HOLLY WREATH

with green

1 - 60 sc into ring, 1 sl st

add red

2 - (1 strawberry stitch, 2 dc, 2 dc in the same st, 2 dc) x10

I started round 2 with the 2dc in the same st (start the round with 3 chains, close it with a sl st)

3 -  green sc around , 1 sl st

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> red superficial crochet around afterwards

4 - green reverse sc around and end with a 15ch  loop to hang it from the tree.

Es el tercer año que hago adornos de navidad para toda la familia.
Encuentran el modelo nuevo esperándolos en la mesa para Sant Esteve (y los que no vienen lo reclaman luego).
Ya tienen copos de nieve y bolas y este año he hecho guirnaldas de acebo (casi) desde cero.

Lo primero fue hacer los anillos de alambre. Los hice enroscandolo alrededor de un tubo de cartón recio, creando una espiral. Después lo corté en anillos con mi super cizalla y usé un poco de cola caliente para cerrarlos.

Para las bayas de acebo usé el punto de fresas de Lin.

Y  aqui está la fórmula/patrón que usé. El número de puntos depende del grosor de la lana y de diámetro del anillo, claro.

Mis anillos tienen un diámetro de 6 cms y usé Drops Paris con un ganchillo de 5mm.

GUIRLANDA DE ACEBO

con verde

1 - 60 p.b. en el anillo, cerrar con un p.e.

añadir rojo

2 - (1 punto fresa, 2 p.a., 2 p.a. en el  mismo p.b., 2 p.a.) x 10

Yo empecé la segunda vuelta en  2 p.a. en el  mismo p.b (empezar la vuelta con 3 cads, cerrarla con un p.e.)

3 - 1 cad, p.b. en verde toda la vuelta, cerrar con un p.e.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> aqui va una vuelta de ganchillo superficial en rojo que se hace al final)

4 - 1 cad, punto de cangrejo, acabar con una presilla de 15 cads para colgarla del arbol.

clones

Can you make me one just like this one you've just made/shown to me/I've seen at your blog-instagram-facebook page?

This happens.
And you end up making clones
Making clones is fun, because you have half the work done already and you know the way and because someone liked your work enough to want some of the same.
I've cloned dolls and hats, and cactus, and shawls and koalas so far
and I think I'm missing something...
anyways, here they are with the originals



Puedes hacerme uno igual que este que acabas de hacer/enseñarme/que he visto en tu blog-instagram-página de facebook?
Esto pasa
Y acabas haciendo clones
Hacer clones mola, porque ya tienes la mitad del trabajo hecho y ya sabes el camino a seguir y porque a alguien le ha gustado tu trabajo lo suficiente como para querer tener unna copia.
De momento he clonado muñecas y gorros y chales y cactus y koalas
y creo que me olvido alguno...
bueno, aqui los tenéis con los originales

LA NINA ESTEL

LA NINA SUSANNA


MINIONS

MINIONS RELOADED

CACTUS GALORE

CACTUS INVASION

MISSING ANNIS - OR THE SHAWL THAT WENT AWAY

ANNIS THE SECOND - THE ONE THAT STAYED


BIRTHDAY GIRL

BIRTHDAY GIRL II


WONDERLAND

LOOKING GLASS


ROLLING SKATES - 1

ROLLING SKATES - 2KOALA THE FIRSTKOALA THE SECOND

A Forest In Silk

It was love at first sight.

Leaves in a lacy web, Forest Foliage indeed.

The pattern asks for fingering yarn but  this Tussah Silk by Dye for Yarn had been around for too long already.

The winding process took forever, and when I was done, I had this thing that ressembled a cocoon of undyed silk.
Then it was time to fetch the felt pens and start colouring charts.
I love colouring complicated charts and using tiny post-its to mark my place in them.

And then, row by row, the leaves started making its appearance.
I love my knit pro needles, by the way. They make knitting lace as easy as pie, and as enjoyable.

It was so easy that I could do it while watching japanese cartoons* in the vernacular AND drinking tea.
*knights of sidonia

That was until I reached the last two rows.
The last two rows were nightmarish.
They took forever and were a quite complicated bind-off.
The results are, however, worth the madness.
Here you can see the finished shaw before and while blocking.

And here you have it i all its ready to wear awesomeness.
Now to wait for a suitable occasion to brag about it all over town.

Una nina d'aniversari

L'any de unbirthdays s'ha acabat.
I ara toquen aniversaris.
encara que com sempre, aquest blog us arriba en diferit... que se le va a hacer.....
La Júlia ha fet un any (de fet ja té 18 mesos...) i li he fet una nina, que li va agradar molt.
La nina de la Júlia és molt rosa, és tant rosa que li van posar de nom Pink.
La Pink porta mitjons a ratlles.

La forma de canviar de color sense que es noti gaire que més m'agrada és aquesta: tancar el darrer punt del primer color amb el segon color.
Començar la volta següent amb un punt nan agafant només el fil de dins del punt i a continuació fer un punt baix agafant els dos fils del mateix punt.
A la volta següent deixar sense treballar el punt nan.
Com que els amigurumis es treballen en espiral, aconseguir franges de color horitzontals que quedin bé és ben difícil.
Jo trobo que aquesta tècnica fa un canvi de color bonic i definit i és la que utilitzo sempre.

Un altre punt que utilitzo bastant  a les nines és el ganxet superficial. M'agrada perquè queda igual que el brodat a punt de cadeneta i és molt més fàcil de fer.
Serveix tant per a afegir accents de color, com aquí vaig fer a les mànigues com per a fer línies definides de canvi entre dos colors, com entre les sabates i els mitjons.

Nina Estel

L'Estel ha fet la comunió i la Sílvia, sa mare, volia regalar-li una nina "que no fos de comunió".

Volia una nina que s'assemblés a sa filla quan està vestida per a córrer.




La Sílvia em va enviar fotos de la nena i jo en vaig fer un horridibuix dels meus, que no cal que veieu...
I a partir del dibuix i de les fotos vaig fer la nina.
Amb el que vaig patir més va ser amb les ratlles verticals als pantalonets, perquè al punt baix en ganxet els punts no fan columnes verticals.
Per al top vaig utilitzar feltre negre i punt de cadeneta.

És la primera nina amb cua de cavall que faig.
El coleter és de mouliné rosa i porta un botó que crec que li escau força :)

Lo millor a l'entrega quan sa mare va dir "És l'Estel!"

Uncurling Crescent - A Recipe (with awful drawings)

I love crescent shaped shawls.

I've made quite a few, sometimes following a pattern like here -  Annis by Susanna IC - here, here and here  - the In Love Collection by  Boo Knits.

Sometimes I made my own crescents by putting together a nice lace edge and a section of short rows to shape the crescent. Like here with Laminaria and here with Echo Flower (Estonian lace and its nupps) But they ALWAYS curl. 

Yes, I know stockinette curls like crazy without a proper edge. But I try. And experiment, and try again. 

This time I've knitted the stockinette section 4 times, and now it doesn't curl. In fact it isn't proper stockinette anymore.

After trial number 2 I was quite desperate and asked for help, Where, to whom? At the Ravelry Forums of course, where you can find a treasure trove of knitting knowledge and very nice people who will share it with you! I love Ravelry. Best online community in the whole world.

trial num 3
eyelet and icord bind off

What they told me - 

1 - a bigger needle helps

2 - stockinette will always curl BUT if you "break" it with some nice purl columns here and there... it will curl a lot less

3 - an i-cord bind-off is a brilliant way to finish a shawl.

So, with all this new knowledge I tried it again, while trial num 3 was an improvement there was still a lot of frakking curling going on BUT trial number 4 was a success!!!

trial num 4 before blocking

trial num 4 while blocking

And here you have my RECIPE and some awful drawings.

• 1 . Find a lace edge stitch or a lace triangular shawl of your liking (edge) better if in chart form, in my opinion
• 2 . Find a nice yarn and some needles (bigger than the ones the yarn asks for because, lace)
• 3 . Make a swatch of one repetition of the motive you like with the needles you are going to use
• 3 . Block it
• 4 . Measure it
• 5 . Decide the length of your shawl and calculate how many repetitions you need and thus the number of stitches to cast-on
• 6 . make a provisional cast-on (my favourite is the provisional crochet cast-on)
•  
• 7 . knit your lace and bind-off
• 8 . undo the prov. CO
• 9 . start the short rows/eyelets section *in detail below*
• 10 . Make an I-cord bind-off to end the project

SHORT ROWS/EYELET SECTION
In order to achieve my goals of 1 - make a crescent and 2 - avoid curling I have combined some short rows with a pattern of eyelets and purl columns.
Even though the two things must be done at the same time, I'm going to explain them separately.

short rows

first of all you have to decide between a narrow or a wide shawl.
If you want a narrow shawl you need less short rows and the number of stitches added to each short row, Z,  shall be bigger.
If you want a wider shawl, you need more short rows and the number of stitches added to each short row , Z, shall be smaller.

Then you have to decide how "pointy" you want your shawl to be.  If you want it quite pointy your Y number should be a small one, if you want it less pointy Y should be bigger.

• X = number of stitches / 2         
• Y = central number of stitches you want to start your short rows from = number of stitches second row
• Z = number of stitches you want to add to each row
• K = knit
• P = purl
• T = turn
• SSK, slip slip knit
• P2TOG purl 2 stitches together

then you follow this:

1. RS    K  X+Y/2, T 
2. WS   P  Y, T
3. RS    K until one stitch remains before turning point SSK, K Z, T
4. WS   P until one stitch remains before turning point P2TOG, P Z, T

repeat 3 and 4 until all stitches are worked

eyelets

what I did

• place a marker at each repeat of the lace pattern
• start short rows
• when a marked stitch has 5 rows over it , K2TOG, YO (make an eyelet) over that stitch and purl (RS) knit (WS) it from this moment onward - FIRST ROW OF EYELETS
• when 2 consecutive eyelets have 8 purl rows over them, make a new eyelet in the middle, and the purl column that goes with it too - SECOND ROW OF EYELETS

maybe you'll need more rows of eyelets, I had enough with that

beware!  the number of stitches between eyelets will change once they are over the short rows decreases 

I hope some of this makes sense, I really do.