Polka dot

Saumuri pääsi välillä hyvin ansaitulle levolle sillä välin kun ompelin pitkästä aikaa mekon ompelukoneellani. Kankaan olin hamstrannut Eurokankaasta jo aikoja sitten, mutta sopivan ohjeen löytäminen kesti kauan. Tämän ohjeen bongasin loputa Suuri Käsityölehdestä 5/2007.

Selässä on piilovetoketju, jota varten sain vihdoinkin hankittua ompelukoneeseeni piilovetoketjujalan. Mikäli teillä ei vielä ole tätä erikoispainainjalkaa käytössänne, suosittelen sitä lämpimästi! Toki piilovetoketjun voi ommella myös tavallisella vetoketjujalalla, mutta piilovetoketjujalalla se vaan on niin paljon helpompaa ja nopeampaa. Säästät sekä aikaa että hermojasi!

Malli ei istunut ilman muokkauksia. Selkään ja kylkiin muodostui isoja ryppyjä, joten jouduin pienentämään ja hieman lyhentämään yläosaa. Ei tämä vieläkään täydellinen ole, mutta menkööt tällä kertaa. Saatan vielä myöhemmin säätää tätä lisää. Lisäksi kaula-aukko repsotti aluksi aikalailla, mutta sen sain korjattua madaltamalla hieman kaula-aukon reunaan. Tästä seurasi hieman ongelmia alavarojen kanssa, mutta nekin sain pelastettua aukileikkauksien avulla.

En tiedä teistä, mutta minulla on aikaisemmin ollut suuria ongelmiä näin leveän helman reunan huolittelussa. Kun reunan taittaa kaksin kerroin, alkaa kangas helposti kiertämään ja ommellessa syntyy ryppyjä. Tähän löysin Coletten blogista mielettömän hyvän ja toimivan niksin. Eli ompele ensin koko reunan ympäri 1 cm saumavaralla. Tämän jälkeen on helppo taittaa ja silittää tätä ommelta pitkin reuna nätisti. Ja sitten vielä toinen taitos, silitys ja reunan kiinnitys ompeleella. Todella helppo tapa. Toimii!

Kuten sanoin, ei tämä mekko ihan täydellinen ole, mutta olen silti melko tyytyväinen lopputulokseen. Tämä on itse asiassa aika monikäyttöinen. Oikeilla asusteilla tämä menee sekä juhlamekkona, että arkimekkona. Ja onhan nuo polka dot kankaat vaan niin ihania! <3 Jatkoon tämä malli ei kuitenkaan pääse. Minun kropalleni sopii paremmin mekot, joiden helmat lähtevät levenemään heti vyötrön alapuolelta. Tämä lantiolta lähtevä helmaosuus saa minut näyttämään ainakin 10 cm lyhyemmältä. Eikä se ainoastaan johdu tästä niiaus asennosta ;)

Voilà, my new polka dot dress! This is from Suuri Käsityö 5/2007, with a few modifications to make it fit my body better. I don't know about you, but at least I have had some problems with hemming wide skirts like this. They always try to twist and there's lumps when you sew etc. But now I've finally found the solution in Colettes blog. This tutorial is simply brilliant and I'm SO going to follow this technique in the future!

The dress doesn't fit perfectly but I'm still quite pleased with the result. Love the polka dots!! :) And with the right accessories it can be worn both as a coctail dress and an every-day dress. I won't be using this model again, though. I feel that the version where the skrirt starts already at the waist suits my body much better. This version, where the skirt starts at my hip, makes me look at least 10 cm shorter than I really am. And no, it's not just the pose!

Nopeat tiskirätit + ohje / Fast dishcloths + pattern

Joululahjoiksi meni myös muutama virkattu tiskirätti. Kokeiltuani ensimmäistä bambu-tiskirättiäni, totesin sen toimivan lähes yhtä hyvin kuin tavallinenkin tiskirätti, ainoana ongelmana hidas kuivuminen. Eli pääsi jatkoon meidän talossamme ja teinpä meille vielä toisenkin, punaisena. Tällä kertaa opin kuitenkin ensimmäisen tiskirätin virheistäni ja lähdin virkkaamaan ilmavampaa pintaa isommalla koukulla. Ilmava tiskirätti kuivuu paljon nopeammin ja pysyy kauemmin freesinä.

Tässä siis ohje virkattuihin viuhka-tiskirätteihin:
 
Koukku: 4 mm
Lanka: Novita Bambu tai Hjertegarn Blend Bamboo

Aloitus: virkkaa 36 + 3 kjs (3 viimeistä vastaa yhtä pylvästä).

Rivi 1: Virkkaa 4 p kolmanteen silmukkaan, *hyppää 3 kjs yli ja virkkaa seuraavaan ketjusilmukkaan 5 p ( = 1 viuhka)*, toista kerroksen loppuun asti.

Rivi 2: Tee ps ensimmäisiin 3 p, virkkaa 3 kjs (= 1p) sekä 4 p samaan silmukkaan. Virkkaa tämän jälkeen 5 p jokaisen viuhkan keskimmäiseen silmukkaan.

Toista riviä 2 kunnes olet virkannut 15 viuhka-kerrosta. Päättele langanpäät ja rätti on valmis!

I also gave away some crochet dishcloths this Christmas. I really loved my first version of a bambu dishcloth and soon enough, I just had to make a second one, in red, to replace the first one when it was in the washing mashine. This time though, I wanted to make an airy dishcloth that would dry up faster, so I chose a bigger hook and a lacy pattern.

So here's some instructions on how to make a shell dishcloth:

Hook: 4 mm
Yarn: Novita Bambu or Hjertegarn Blend Bamboo

Chain 36+3 (the last 3 counts as one dc).

Row 1: 4 dc into the third st from the hook. Skip 3 st, 5 dc into the next st, repeat till the end of the row.

Row 2: Sl st into the first three dc, chain 3, make 4 dc into the same st, then make 5 dc into the third dc of every shell on the row.

Repeat row 2 until you’ve made 15 rows of shells. Weave in all ends and your dishcloth is ready!

Together through the autumn

Taas on saumuri surissut ja tällä kertaa sen jäljiltä valmistui tällainen ihana hupparimekko:

 

 
Kaava on oma, mutta ispiraatiota olen toki hakenut useammastakin paikasta. Kangas on iki-ihanasta Verson Puodista, joustocollegea nimeltään Yhdessä ja värissä petroli. Resorit tilasin sen sijaan Noshilta. Huppuun löysin pienen palasen vaalean turkoosia trikoota vuorikankaaksi. Tuo siihen mielestäni ihanan pienen piristyksen!

Karkelot-blogissa on hyvä ohje kietaisuhupun valmistukseen, mutta koska kyseinen blogi ei näemmä ole tällä hetkellä saatavilla, napsasin pari kuvaa kaavoistani. Vinkin tähän olen siis poiminut Karkelosta.

Jäljennä hupun kaava kahteen kertaan kaavapaperille, toinen peilikuvana toisesta. Näin kaula-aukon linja jatkuu luonnollisesti, ja kun pidennät hupun etuosaa kietailsuhupun malliseksi, sopii se täydellisesti vaatteen kaula-aukkoon.

Punainen viiva osoittaa uuden huppukaavan. Jatkoin kietaisuhuppua ihan olkasaumaan asti. Hupun kietailusosa onnistui tällä tavoin hyvin, mutta ensi kerralla aion kyllä suurentaa itse huppua vielä lisää. Se jää nyt turhan naftiksi pään ympärille. Tämän kyseisen huppukaavan olen napannut jostakin Suuri Käsityö-lehdestä.

Kerrassaan täydellinen vaate pimeneevään syksyyn ja talveen! Lämmin ja mukava mutta silti työpaikkakelpoinen.

I've been sewing again! The fabric is from lovely Verson Puoti and the design is my own (but of course I've been seeking inspiration from several places!). You can find a lot of nice instructions in the blog Karkelot, but as it seems to be unavailable at the moment, I tried to illustrate here with a few pictures how I drew the pattern for my hood. The red line indicates the new hood pattern. Feel free to ask if there's something you're wondering about! Otherswise I'm pleased, but the hood itself could have been a bit bigger.

This hooded dress is absolutely perfect for the cold autumn and winter! Warm and cosy but yet wearable for work. 

Mossy Owls vol. 2

Here's my second take on my Mossy Owl mittens. Instructions can be found here.

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Four Seasons Gründl Hot Socks Marrakesch, held double
Needles: 3 mm

It was a good idea to make the same mittens a second time. Now matter how closely you think you've read the instructions, you always find some mistakes when you read it again. But now I've corrected the mistakes I found. Feel free to tell me if you find more mistakes!

These were made as a birthday present for a friend. Hope she liked them!

Holding hands in New York, New York...

We like going out for walks. And we like holding hands when we walk. And now our winter walks are finally much more comfortable.

Pattern: Valentine mittens + Owls In a Tree Mittens
Yarn: Austermann Alpaca Silk (green) and A.P.D.O.O. Alpaka (raspberry red)
Needles: 3 mm

I also happened to finish all these mittens just before we went on a family vacation to the U.S., starting in New York. How convenient! Finally some new backgrounds in my pictures! :) These (not the snowy ones) were taken just outside Rockefeller Center.

The funny thing is that I didn't think I'd find a colorchart that would have both an owl and a tree in it. You know, to match our individual mittens. But then I just decided to type it in the search field of Ravelry - just for fun! - and there it was! Amazing! But I had to re-draw and  modify it a bit to make it fit the Valentine mittens. But still. It's crazy how you can find almost everything on the internet!

Pattern: Cruiser by Caylin Meyer
Yarn:  Austermann Alpaca Silk
Needles: 3 mm

These mittens were a piece of cake. I just followed the pattern for that largest size, and that was it. The yarn is so incredibly soft with its alpaca and silk, but at the same time, they're not the warmest of mittens. Guess I'll have to make a pair of warmer ones soon.

Pattern: my own (see notes below)
Yarn: A.P.D.O.O. Alpaka
Needles: 3 mm 

My own mittens were more tricky. Yes, there's a lot of patterns for owl mittens, but none of them were made for yarn this thin. Plus, I didn't want to work purled sticthes over the whole front of the mitten. So eventuelly I ended up just winging it. I tried to write down some notes, though, in case I ever want to make these again. So here you are:

Mossy Owl Mittens:

CO 40 st and work a k2p2 rib for 5 cm. Increase 4 st after the rib.
The rest of the mitten: work moss stitch on the front side and stockinette stitch on the back side.
Knit 3 cm in moss/stockinette stitch. Then start working the owl in the middle of the right side like this: 5 st moss stitch, 12 stitches for the owl, 5 st moss stitch.

Remember to leave a gap for the thumb on the back side!!

The owl:
rows 1-5: knit
row 6: C6B C6F
rows 7-17: knit (11 rows)
row 18: C6B C6F 
row 19: knit
rows 20-23: k2, p3, k2, p3, k2 
rows 24-27: k knit
row 28: C6B C6F
rows 29-30: knit

When the owl is done, continue working the mitten in moss/stockinette stitch until it’s about 5 cm shorter than you want it to be when it’s finished. Then start decreasing on the sides of the mitten on every second row like this:

Needle 1 and 3: k1, ssk, work till the end of the needle
Needle 2 and 4: work until 3 st remain, k2tog, k1

Continue the moss stitch on the front side for as long as possible.

Sew on eyes :)

Last but not least, here's a few pictures from our trip. We started out in New York,

then headed out to Washington D.C.,

and finally ended our vacation in Florida (including Disney World Orlando on New Years Eve, yay!!)

Seahorses!

Hi everyone! I'm finally back after a very busy autumn. So sorry for not updating anything in ages! There was just so much to do with both work and studies. But don't you worry, I still had the time to actually finish some smaller things, and here's one of them:

Double seahorse mittens! For the really cold winter that hasn't arrived yet... In other words, I still haven't been able to test how warm these mittens really are, but I'm feeling quite confident.

Pattern: my own
Yarn: Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky (brown) and Novita tico tico (white)
Needles: 6 mm and 2 mm

I started by casting on 24 stitches using 6 mm needles and the chunky brown yarn, then increasing to 30 stitches after the k2p2 rib. For the thumb I used 12 stitches and the rest is just a very simple basic mitten. When I had almost reached the place for the thumb, I started to pick up 48 stitches for the inner mitten right where the rib ends.  (In other words, the rib isn't double!) For this I used 2 mm needles and the thinner yarn. The thumb for the inner mitten is knitted with 20 stitches. Then I actually knitted these two mittens at the same time, always a few rows at a time. I finished the inner mitten first, and then just knitted the outer mitten on top of that. And tadaa - my first double mitten was ready!

There's one tiny but quite funny little "mistake" with the mittens. Somehow I managed to pick up and start knitting the stitches for the second inner mitten the opposite way as the first one. This means that in the first mitten, the purled side is facing my palm, while the knitted side is facing my palm in the second mitten. And I actually like the second mitten better.... :)

Ready for the winter! :)

Miss Bambi - DIY ring

I think this might be the cutest ring I've ever had! Bambi <3

Originally it was one of my colleagues at work that came up with the idea for a ring like this but I thought it was such a great idea that I wanted to make one for myself too. And since it wasn't at all hard to make, I thought I migth as well share some simple instructions with you too.

This is all you need:

Scissors
Glue
A ring base
A decorative glass stone
A small-enough picture

I didn't find a picture I wanted in magazines, so I simply printed one out from the internet. But remember, it has to be small enough to fit the ring base. Once you've cut it out, glue it to the ring base. Then, put glue only around the edges of the picture and press the glass stone on top of that. This will prevent the glue to blur out the picture. Last but not least, let the ring dry and then it's ready to be shown off to everyone you know! :)

Piece of cake!

Last monday I had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate my birthday. Very rare delicacy, only happens once a year. What made this year more special was the cake I made for the first time ever: a pancake cake! Yummy yum!

Wonderful blueberries on top and jam and whipped cream as filling. Tasted like heaven.

Perhaps inspired by that sensational taste and the colours, I made these super easy and soft summer accessories the day after:

Want to make some of your own? Do so, it's the easiest piece of accessory you've ever made, I promise! As yarn I used some tricot weft rags and the hook was size 10. Then you just crochet a chain as long as you want, leave a 10 cm tail in both ends and put a ribbon on it. And voilà! Doesn't take more than 10 min to make a whole set. See? A piece of cake! :)