Let's do the Cha Cha Cha with Ice Yarns

Eeeee....I am so excited! Why, you ask? Because I have a new order of Ice Yarns. Yayyyy *happy dance*. I don't think I have mentioned this before but I do have an online yarn store called Patchwork Creations (http://patchworkcreations.yarnshopping.com). We have some great deals on Ice yarns available. The yarns I bought are also Ice. I got one pack of Cha Cha Cha yarn (http://www.iceyarns.com/en/ cha-cha-cha-mixed-lot#) and one pack of Twin Ringlets (http://www.iceyarns.com/en/ twin-ringlets-light-olive- green-cream#inc579)

Never having worked with ruffle yarn or scarf yarn before I set out to do some research. After going through many different websites and youtube videos, all I saw were scarves, scarves and more scarves! So I set to work.And here is the fruit of my labour

And while I agree that the models are beautiful * cheeky grin ;D * the scarf itself left me feeling depressed! :(

So obviously I went a-frogging! And came up with a faux sunhat for my DD instead.

She loves it! What do you think? I'm in the process of writing out the pattern. Will post it soon!

Wonder Crochet Blanket CAL 2016 – Update

Ok, I have a confession to make. 

I have not been working on my CAL blanket! I know, I know, I’m a bad hooker!! But I can assure you there are extenuating circumstances. Really! If you’ve been following my blog you would know that I had set the blanket aside to work on a few time sensitive projects, namely a virus shawlette and a beanie for my niece, followed by some wedding accessories for a friend’s wedding. After all that was over I got ambushed by my knitting needles and have been held hostage since!

I definitely have plans to complete the Cal, just not right now. The one that I had completed up to part 6 is now a scarf (sheepish grin) To be honest the colours and yarn is what put me off! I was just not feeling it anymore. I hope to restart with a better quality yarn and much better colours in the near future (fingers crossed)

I owe Mistie from American Crochet (host of the Wonder Crochet Blanket CAL) an apology for dropping the ball….. Sorry Mistie! But I have downloaded all the parts and once I have been released by my knitting needles I will start my blanket again!

Till then…..a-clicking with my knitting I go!!!!



My current WIP. A dress for my DD. Made with Ice Yarns Bali and 4.5mm knitting needles. Pattern is Elenka by Inna Aleksandrova from the Knitty site

Back to my crafty roots

I first learnt to knit when I was in third grade from an aunt. It was also taught formally in school the following year in craft/art class. But once I learnt crochet in my teens I kind of drifted away from knitting. Knitting can be complicated whereas crochet, atleast to me, is easier and faster. The last thing I knitted was a blanket, cap and booties when I was pregnant for my DD, in 2013. Since then I just packed my needles away.

A few months ago I bought some Ice Yarns. In it was a pack of Summer Yarns in black, grey and white variegated colours. I tried using it for many projects but nothing seemed to fit. I used it to make a hat for a friend (she did like it, though I've yet to see her wear it!)

  


Anyway, besides this one completed project I couldn't make it work for anything else. I wanted to use it to make a hoodie vest for my DD, but none of the patterns really looked good. Till I finally decided to try a knitted pattern instead. And that's what finally worked!!!

It's the Baby Clouds Hoodie Vest from RedHeart Yarns' website. Once I'd completed I loved it soooo much that I had to make another one for my DS.

While the one made with the Ice Yarns yarn is a medium weight yarn the second one was made with the locally available fingering weight yarn. So I did have to make some changes. I had to increase the number of stitches to get the right size. I accomplished that by working up gauge swatches! I never was more grateful for having learned about the importance of swatching!! The size turned out perfectly.

And now I'm on a roll!! I can't seem to put down those knitting needles! Here are some of my FOs and WIPs....

Dyning

This is technically a top designed by Madeleine Nilsson from Yarn Madness. I just elongated it a little to turn it into a tunic.

Peppar 

Stig

I really like her designs for the unique and simple, all-in-one-piece construction style. I hate seaming and Ms. Nilsson is a woman after my own heart!! I love her designs and can't wait to try out some more. 

My current WIP though, is a dress called Elenka, designed by Inna Aleksandrova from the Knitty site. Besides the dress I'm also working on making crocheted Alphabets for the little ones to play. They are based on the pattern from Tamara Kelly from Mooglyblog. More on them later.

And that's it from me. What's going on with you then???

A Nigerian White Wedding

So, in my last post I told you guys about my friend’s daughter’s traditional marriage, and the samples of the wedding accessories I was making for the white wedding. Well, today’s post is about the white wedding. All the samples I showed the bride were approved and appropriately oohhh’d and ahhh’d over.

The wedding was beautiful. The bride, though kinda harrowed and stressed, still managed to look beautiful. 

Here's the hairband made for the flower girls. While I used the same Gerbera flower pattern I mentioned in my last post I changed the hairband pattern (sorry Mrs. Micawber!). Instead I used the Pearly Girl Baby Headband designed by Jennifer Fayard, I just left off the flowers.

 

One of the flower girls

The boutonniere for the groom and groomsmen. I used the same patterns I mentioned in my previous post. I put two crystals instead of the one featuring in the pic but forgot to take a pic after the modification.

For the groom and the bestman

For the groomsmen

The hair bow for the little angel and little bride.

Little angel

Little Bride

 My own DD was the little angel and my DS was the page boy

Picture Collage

On the way to church

Chief Bridesmaid

Mother of the bride

Cutting the cake

Hubs with the bride

Wedding Accessories Samples

Hey there,

As I told you all I will be making some of the accessories for my friend/mom's daughter's white wedding. So to that end I worked up some samples. Here they are....

This is the hairband for the little flower girls. Its supposed to be in red, but as this is a sample i worked it up in this colour so my DD can wear it later!

For the band I used Mrs. Micawber's Winding Lane Bracelet, a 3.5mm hook and 2 ply (1 weight) acrylic yarn.

For the flower I used the Gerbera pattern from the Gerbera and Rose Corsage pattern I found online. It's from the Craftzine.com book excerpt. Its a pdf file I downloaded a while ago and now I can't seem to find the link anymore :(

Bow tie for the page boys. This one I just made up. I used a 2 ply (01 weight) acrylic yarn doubled (1 strand yellow 1 strand orange) and a 5mm hook for the bow. and used a 4 mm hook and just 1 strand of yellow yarn for the strap. I used the foundation double crochet for the appropriate length then made a border of slip stitches around the entire stranp to make it firmer. popped on a 1/2 inch button on one end.

The boutonniere for the groomsmen. For this I used the Crochet Bridal Flowers - Bridal bouquet and Boutonniere pattern by Cre8tion Crochet.

So what do you think? Are they any good? Would love to get your feedback and any suggestions you may have.

A Nigerian Igbo Traditional Marriage

So on the 26^th of March 2016 I went for a Nigerian Traditional Marriage. In Nigerian Igbo culture the traditional marriage is the main event. The traditional European wedding with a white gown and floral arrangements and the whole she-bang, called a white wedding here, is a secondary event. Once a couple have been united in a traditional marriage with the traditional rites they are considered husband and wife and the woman can go to live with the husband in his house. They are permitted to start their married life and can then go on to the white wedding anytime later. In my husband’s village (Abiriba) and in most conservative Christian families, the girl goes to her husband’s house only after the white wedding. In such cases the traditional marriage is just a matter of fulfilling tradition, no real importance is given to it.

To me this was a very exciting event. It was the daughter of my dearest friend and a lady who I consider to be a mother to me in this strange land. She has looked after me and looks out for my interests almost like my own mother. And this as the first marriage in her family! Moreover, I was also a lot more involved in this event. Unlike other traditional marriages I’ve been to where I was a guest and a spectator, here I was involved. My two little ones were even in the bridal train! OOhhh the excitement!! Usually events here tend to be boring for me because I don’t understand the language nor the significance of the rituals. But as I was more involved here, I was given more information and more interpretations! I’m going to add a collage of pics from the wedding at the bottom of this post. I was requested to wear an Indian Sari in the wedding colour of red so I did. Of course my jewellery was made to match ;-) And since I’d made something for myself I had to make something for my daughter too. I made her a hairband to match her bridesmaids’ (Ashebi, as they are called here) dress.

For the hairband I used the pattern from My Hobby is Crochet (www.myhobbyiscrochet.com/2013/08/thread-headband-free-pattern-and.html) but I didn’t use the suggested flower. Instead I used the Chrysanthemum Flower designed by Clare Sullivan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmGjPTFDJkg) I got it off the BobWilson123 website. I used the Yeye yarn I have available (light fingering / 01 weight) and a 3.5mm hook.

For my own jewellery I used seed beads that I had (not sure about the size cause the sizing system here is very different from global systems, though they maybe a size 10/0) and used a basic spiral bead rope pattern tutorial from Inspirational Beading (http://inspirationalbeading.blogspot.com/2010/02/beading-tutorial-spiral-rope-chain.html?m=1) The blog has some great beading tutorials. I’m going to try her Dutch spiral and double spiral rope patterns next. The designer, Mortira, makes everything seem so easy.

Remember the wedding accessories I’d mentioned in my previous posts? Those are for the same girl’s white wedding. So far I’ve finished the silver bow for the little angels. Since the white wedding is in May I still have time to make the rest. Though time does seem to have a habit of getting away from me ;-)   teeheehee…

I like the bow but i think its missing a bit of bling. What do you think?


And here are some pics of the traditional marriage itself.

The Cake.

The base is a trunk, topped with the brides traditional clothes, beaded jewellery and next to it is a Calabash, used for the traditionally drunk palm wine and unseen behind the trunk is a walking stick traditionally carried by the groom.

The happy couple

The blushing bride

The bride's mom with my family

The chief bridesmaid

Hot Off The Hook!!!

Gosh! It’s been a looong time!! I just checked and my last post was almost a month ago!! :O Wow! I don’t know where the time has gone! I have been neglecting my blog because of all that’s been going on, though I know that’s no excuse. I have been as busy as a bee completing old and current wips….

So what have I been up to you ask? Well, as I mentioned in my last post I wanted to make a phone pouch for my SIL and my new infatuation with the woven stitch. So I combined the two and came up with a phone pouch using the woven stitch. I just used all the left over yarn from my rainbow coloured woven stitch hat I’d made for my niece and a 3.5mm hook. After some amount of frustrated frogging I finally got the stitch count right to match the desired size. Now the only thing left to do is the handle. That’s actually got me stumped though. I need a long handle since she’ll be wearing it cross-body at work to leave her hands free (she’s a hair-dresser). It also shouldn’t sag too much with use, so it needs to be firm. And most importantly I need it to be something simple and easy cause I’m reaaallllyyyy done with this pouch (*rolls eyes in boredom*). I was leaning towards a 5 strand braid myself but I am open to suggestions.

I eventually managed to get done with Part 4 of The Wonder Crochet Blanket MCAL 2016. A little late though. I haven’t even started with Part 5 yet and Part 6 is already posted (yikes!!). I’m really lagging behind, but hopefully I’ll complete it within the next few days (or weeks…fingers crossed). I’m sure Misty is not gonna be happy with me if I keep this up (*wink*)

I finally finished the single crochet lariat I’ve been working on since last year though and that has made me very happy. In fact I wore it yesterday for a Nigerian Traditional Marriage I attended!! Yayyy...

Remember the bridal accessories I’d mentioned in my last post? Well I have also been busy researching on that and working up samples. Besides spending time in consultations with the blushing bride ;-) She’ll be having her traditional marriage this weekend in fact and my two little ones will be in her bridal train. I’m quite excited cause this is the first Nigerian traditional marriage I’m actually involved in!! Usually I’m just a spectator and it gets real boring really fast! I’m not making anything for this event though.

This is a sample I made. It’s a simple 5 strand braided headband made with individual strands of double crochet. Perhaps I’ll write out the pattern for it in the next day or two. And a flower pattern I found years ago and now can’t find the source for anymore :(

 

And last but not the least I made a hat for a friend with one of the Ice Yarns yarn I ordered a few weeks ago. It’s my own design again but I forgot to write down everything and now I don’t know if I’ll be able to replicate it again (darn!)

So you see….I have been busy…busy…busy. I didn’t realize quite how much I’d done till now though….whew…no wonder I have brain freeze!

Oh well! It’s back to work for me. Wanna work up a few more samples for my friend. Ta for now….