divinenanny.nl

This is my new bracelet, a Trollbeads bracelet. Trollbeads are bead-charms that slide on a silver bracelet and are available in silver, gold (and a combination) and glass/precious stones. There are over 400 different beads to choose from, not even including all the retired beads. Oh, and the clasp is interchangeable too.

A different brand of bead-charms is Pandora. Both my SIL and my aunt (in law) have Pandora bracelets, but compared to Pandora beads, I like the Trollbeads better. They are more based in classical design and mythology and have a more designer look to them.

Last week H. and I were together for 5 years, and he wanted to give me a Trollbeads bracelet (totally his idea, I swear!). So, last Saturday we went to the jewelers in Hoorn and spent some time picking out a bracelet with perfect beads. We had of course already looked online to see which beads we both liked.

In the end he gave me an 18cm bracelet with a forget-me-not clasp. The beads we chose were the hedgehog (called porcupine in the US?) because H. always has a prickly beard, the Antique Flowers (new style) for our five years and the skein of wool because I love crafts (see my blog ;)).

H. and I have had a lot of fun looking through the catalog, picking out beads that symbolize just about anything :D

A mon seul desir was dormant for a long time, but now that I have a few weeks off from work, and that I am home, I was determined to finish this page and work on it as much as possible. And I finished page 6, the 4th page. The next page contains the middle of the top row. I stitched for 401 hours so far, 85 hours on this page.

The full first row looks like this now:

From the book Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden I made this little devil. I had a bit of trouble with the head  (it is worked in attached rows instead of spirals) but all in all it turned out well. I used Schachenmayr Nomotta Catania (0110/Black and 0115/Red) and a 2.5 hook. I didn’t change anything (but the face) from the pattern.

It is vacation time and I have three weeks off from work. Also, we are pretty much snowed in here in Holland, so what is there to do but crochet or cross stitch?

The next pattern I made was the Bubble Leg Monster by Craftbits. The pattern itself was a bit unorganized and reading it took some getting used to. I used a 2.5 hook (2.0 for the eye piece). I used Stachenmayer Nomotta Catania, mainly 0189 (orange) and Color 0082 (the colorful legs). I also used a bit of black and purple for the mouth and eyes.

Last weekend I bought two new skeins, both variegated Schachenmayer Nomotta coton. One was all kinds of primary colors (yellow, green, red, blue) and one was various shades of pink. I knew immediately what I would use the pink thread for, so when I finished all the parts of my little octopus I started on this little piggy. The pattern is also by Lion Brand Yarns, and the only thing I changed is the nose, to which I added an extra round of twelve to make it stand out more. The eyes are some strings of black thread, with knots for the eyes. Exact colors are Schachenmayer Nomotta Catania Color 0030 (variegated pink) and Nomotta Catania 0110 (black).

After a little break I started a new amigurumi, a little octopus. Sinterklaas brought me new colors of thread (including a variegated skein, which I used here) and, even better, some ergonomic Clover crochet needles. My hands don’t hurt nearly as much now, and no more blisters!
This octopus is a pattern by Lion Brand Yarns (they have many cute patterns). I used Schachenmayer Nomotta Catania Color 0035 (red, purple, orange and pink mix) and a Clover 2.5 needle.
I am really happy with how it turned out. I finally figured out this whole business with the “right” and “wrong” side, so I flipped my work and now my invisible decreases work. I only still have a problem decreasing to nothing in the end, but I think I know now what to do (use regular decreases at one point.
I changed the pattern only for the legs/tentacles. The legs were originally 13 rounds, I made them 23 rounds because I liked that look better. I made eight legs, but in the end I could only fit seven on there….

All the blisters have healed a bit, so I made myself another amigurumi, a Nintendo inspired one this time. This pattern for a Super Mario Mushroom I got from the WolfDreamer’s website. I followed the pattern with regards to the body, but I enlarged the white dots a bit more (start with magic loop 5sc, continiously increase with 2, until about 3,5 rounds. The top of the mushroom is very open, so the top dot needs to cover at least that. I used Catania 0115 (red), Catania 0105 (white) and Catania 0110 (black) on a size 2 hook.

I just returned from a four day business trip to Bern for my work for Planets. In between training days and presentations, luckily I had some time to check out the (old) city and take some pictures. The picture on the left is taken from the Kirchenfeldbrücke when we were walking to the archives, early in the morning.

While in Bern I visited the BärenPark (Bern’s bears), the National Historic Museum with a great exhibit about Einstein and the Natural History Museum with wonderful diorama’s.

For more pictures, see the slideshow below.

Between long days at work and making Amigurumi’s I am not spending much time on the Mon Seul Desir. I stitched for 4.5 hours in these past two weeks (that I am counting as one). I filled in more of the confetti. I am planning on finishing up all the red colors (nearly done there), then doing the flowers, and leaving the bird as the big finale….

I’m on an amigurumi roll! Even though I had planned to do a pattern from my book next, it didn’t work out that way. When I was browsing through free patterns online while eating my breakfast, I came across this pattern for amigurumi Kokeshi dolls by Suncatcher Craft Eyes, and fell in love. I spent the afternoon and evening making this cute doll.

I used Schachenmayr Catania cotton (white 0105, red 0115, brown 0179 and black 0110) and a left over purple ribbon I had. I followed the pattern, however I made two reducing mistakes in the body, and I added a lot more rows to the hair (I think about three or four to the main part, and three more to the half circle. I stuffed it with fiberfill, and if you’re real careful, it even stands on its own!