Plans, summer and… crafting

It’s all new: activities, projects, mood, targets, plans…
It seems this summer is bringing along a lot of changes… and I’m always thrilled when it comes to changes!!!

First of all, as some of you may already know, I made a video tutorial for my shawl Maestrale. I have a Youtube channel now, and… well, it makes me laugh every time I think about that. It wasn’t planned at all, but it happened. Some people asked me to make a video tutorial and I plunged in the filming sea. I couldn’t imagine it was so hard to make a 30 minutes video. The camera, the zoom, the lights, the editing (oh dear, the editing!), the voice and my poor laptop screaming the whole night in pain!
Yes, I didn’t (and I don’t) have the right equipment a vlogger should have. The camera I used for filming was almost 10 years ago. A nice camera (Canon Eos 500 D), but still old. I had to buy a microphone and some lights, but the best thing was filming during the night, when my kids were finally fast asleep. Recording the whole thing, getting to the last 20 seconds when I just had to end the tutorial and then… getting thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain popping in. Oh thank you my beloved Dutch summer!

Anyway, I survived, and now I’m even thinking about making other video tutorials. I’d really like to make something to help Italian knitters and crocheters out there who don’t speak English or just cannot read an English pattern. It’d be something very new and I really like the idea of introducing the international World of knitting and crochet to my own country.

In the meanwhile, I’m making an Italian version of my Maestrale pattern and see what happen. And, for those of you who already saw my video: did you notice that shawl on the dummy at my back? That’s my latest project. The pattern is ready, only the pictures are missing but I’m going to have a nice shooting next week. My test knitters are working very hard to finish everything in time, and I really hope I can publish the pattern for the end of this month, so you can all carry along with you a sweet memory of this summer (“Summer? Anybody said summer?”, asked Mr. Dutch Weather).

Beside the pattern launch, I also have some plans for my holidays. Well, first of all, I’m going on holiday with my family, and that’s already a good point scored. When? Somewhere between the second and the forth week of the month. Where? Now, that’s a difficult question. I’d love to go back to Norway, this time around Bergen, Alesund and Molde. I’m in love with Norway, and I’d truly want to see it better than the last time (a cruise? Never again!). Unfortunately I think we have to give up for this year, but I’m determined to go sooner than later! So we’re focusing on the Italian Dolomites, that paradise around Bolzano and Trento where you can enjoy that mountain experience nowhere else to be found. It’ll be lovely and (I hope) very relaxing.

And then, last but not least, I’ll be joining Andrea Mowry’s MKAL What the Fade. So I finally can get my hands on some gorgeous Hedgehog Fibers. Ah! Yarn bliss! I can’t wait! And… oh yes, of course, I have another project going on with Scheepjes Whirl, but I can’t say much, it’ll be a surprise!

What are your plans for this summer? Let me know in your comments!
Happy crafting!!!

Giorni di Sole – Sunny Days

Rain is pouring down in my beautiful city today, so I feel like talking about sunny days (to come soon, I hope!).
A couple of days ago I released another pattern called Giorni di Sole, which in Italian means, guess what, sunny days.

It’s a square blanket, originally designed to be a baby blanket. Being a granny square blanket, though, it’s very customizable. I’ve only made 49 squares and arranged them in a 7 x 7 square, but it can be made in any number of squares arranged in every kind of way. It features a central motif, a yellow sun, surrounded by a contrasting color (the sky) and bordered in white.

The yarn I’ve used is Scheepjes Colour Crafter which is a nice acrylic yarn that comes in lots and lots of different shades. Again, the blanket can be realized in any kind of yarn, of any weight, color and brand. The great great merit about Giorni di Sole, is that it can be used as a stash burner. The only thing to consider is to make all the square in the same size, otherwise the blanket will pull and curve in strange and funny ways when the squares are joined together.

This could be the perfect gift for Christmas as well: try to imagine it done in 2 colors only: yellow and dark blue, or white and black. The central motif would look gorgeous in yellow or white on a dark blue or black background. It’ll become a magical starry sky!!! This kind of color combination would also be perfect for picky teenagers.

The pattern is available here or on Ravelry as a free download. There is also a handy photo tutorial here on how to join the squares of the blanket, so that it can be done very quickly.

So, are you ready to hook your first square? Let me know what you think about it and keep me posted also on Instagram. In the meanwhile, I’m working on a video tutorial for my Maestrale shawl and on another shawl pattern, this time knitted! You can see some sneak peaks on my Insta account!
Happy crafting, have fun and… well, wish me sunny days!!!

Stitch Anatomy – Crochet: joining squares as you go

This method was a true revolution for me. I first tested it some years ago for a baby blanket I was doing and it worked so perfectly that I haven’t used any other method since then!

It’s pretty easy. I’m demonstrating here using my new Giorni di Sole blanket that you can find here or on Ravelry. You can try a couple of these squares to practice!

You need to crochet one full square, which means completing round 5. Then you can crochet all the other squares up to round 4.
Here is how they look.

Now take the square with round 5 completed and name it square 1 (my N. 1 is blue). Take another square (green for me) which you’d like to put beside N.1 and start round 5 completing only one side of the square. Once you reach the second corner, make only the first half but don’t chain 2. Here is how your square N. 2 looks now.

And now the fun part! Place your square back to back (wrong side against wrong side). Insert the hook in the chain 2 space of N. 1, grab the working yarn and pull through.

And make a slip stitch! You’re not going to chain now, Your slip stitch will replace the chain!

Complete your corner as normal, with the next 3 double crochet, and carry on till you get to the next chain 1. Once again, you won’t chain. Insert your hook in the chain 1 space of the square N. 1, pull a loop and make a slip stitch.

Just as you did before.

Continue on like this…

…till you get to the next corner. And guess what? You’ll do exactly the same!

And now your two squares are joined! You can continue on with the border until you reach the other side and close with a slip stitch.

When you have to join 3 corners together, just make 1 long slip stitch inside them, and that’s it!

I told you it was easy! This will save you a huge amount of time since you don’t have to make all those boring slip stitches all together at the end.

What about you, what’s your favorite joining method? Please let me know if you have questions and feel free to comment below. Happy crafting!!!

 

 

Maestrale

And here we are, finally ready to click that missile button called “Publish this pattern to Ravelry”

Yes, writing pattern is hard work at the moment, but I really like it. Sharing the knitting and crochet experience is fantastic. I find fascinating the whole idea that someone could use my instruction to make what I made, it’s like crafting together!

You can find the pattern here or on Ravelry.

The video tutorial is here!

This shawl is crocheted. It’s called Maestrale, and it’s inspired by the strong wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea, especially in Sardinia. This shawl is a gift, like everything I knit or crochet. It’s a gift for my mother in law and she lives, of course, in Sardinia.

I love the shawl, the color, the construction and the overall effect. I can be casual, wrapped around the neck on a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Or very elegant left open on the shoulders and closed in the front with a nice pin!

I used Scheepjes Whirl in color Green Tea Tipple; it’s a teal blue-green which gradually fades in light grey and then darkens a little bit.

The nice bit of this shawl is the shoulder line. I blocked it following the natural curve of the pattern and adding little spikes on top of each wave. This gives the shawl a very unique look. I like to fold the last bit outward so the spikes can be seen.

This is one of my first pattern. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to write it as clear as possible but I know I could have skipped something or messed up somewhere. Please, feel free to contact me and point me my mistakes so I can fix them. This is a free pattern and I’d like it to be easy for everyone to follow. And, beside, if you know a nice software to make crochet chart, please, let me know! I’ve used Crochet Chart but I’d like to try something more flexible.

Happy crafting, I hope you enjoy as I did!

Windy days – Vento

Autumn has come in the Netherlands, and it’s such a cold one!
This year temperatures have dropped dramatically in October. We already went below 0 once! In the mornings all the cars on the street and my garden where covered in a thin shiny coat in a bed of fallen leaves.
Beautiful! But for me and my kids, riding a bike everyday, this means we have to protect ourselves from the Dutch chilly wind. I had to start somewhere and I decided to go for my daughter who rides directly facing the wind in the bakfiets. Something for her neck, then a hat and maybe gloves and legwarmers, we’ll see. My boy is still safe and protected from the wind thanks to the maxi cosi (but he’s outgrowing it!).

L’autunno è arrivato qui in Olanda e si fa sentire! 
Quest’anno la temperatura è già scesa sotto lo zero una volta. La mattina tutte le macchine e il mio giardino erano coperti da un sottile manto luccicante in un letto di foglie secche.
Bellissimo! Ma per me e i miei bimbi che andiamo in bici tutti i giorni, questo vuol dire che ci dobbiamo assolutamente coprire perchè il vento olandese non ha pietà! Tra noi tre, quella che è più esposta al vento sono io ma ovviamente la mia bimba viene prima, quindi ho iniziato da lei. Il piccoletto è ancora al riparo nell’ovetto, anche se per poco perchè sta crescendo a vista d’occhio.

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I wasn’t sure about the design, but I was about the yarn: Scheepjes Stonewashed XL. It’s absolutely amazing, one of my favorites ever! The colours are just perfect, they remind me of the flowers growing in my garden and they are a bright spot in this autumn colours all around us.

Non ero sicura del design, ma lo ero certamente del filato: Scheepjes Stonewashed XL. E’ assolutamente tra i miei preferiti! I colori sono perfetti, mi ricordano i fiori che crescono nel mio giardino e danno un pò di contrasto ai colori autunnali dai quali siamo circondati.

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There’s a whole set in my designer dreams. Let’s see if the reality will match the expectations! At the moment I’m busy writing the pattern for one of the pieces. Once completed, they’ll be available on Ravelry and Loveknitting for sure. I’m struggling to check the measurements as it seems my daughter doesn’t want to help at all: she’s too busy running around and playing these days! It’s so heartwarming to see the kids are so happy. As for me, as usual, crochet hooks and colours are my best travelling companions on this lively road.
Happy autumn!

Nei miei sogni di designer c’è un set. Non so se riuscirò a fare tutto, ma mi concentrerò su un singolo capo alla volta. Al momento sto scrivendo le istruzioni del primo pezzo; saranno disponibili di sicuro su Ravelry e Loveknitting, aggiungerò i links una volta pubblicati. Per ora sto perfezionando le misure, sempre che una bimba che ha voglia di correre si fermi un istante per collaborare e provare un pò il lavoro di mamma! E’ così bello vedere questi bimbi allegri. Quanto a me, come al solito, lavorare con l’uncinetto e i colori mi mette sempre di buon umore. 
Buon autunno!