Wednesday! Crochet Tutorial I

Hello readers!!! thanks for visiting again... Oh! Goodness!!! The making of this video took me longer than I thought!!! I've never uploaded a video on Blogger before, or on YouTube. I had to edit it twice... but at the end it came out how I wanted, soooo, here I have what I promised :) My first crochet tutorial for beginners. Now, let me explain a few things before we start. On the video I tried to go really slow and repeated some steps so you could see better what I was doing. If the music bothers you, you can always play it mute :). I had to play some background music, because I live by a really busy street, so you'll only hear buses and cars. You can also pause it or rewind it, so you don't miss any step, that's what I like about video tutorials :).

On this tutorial I'll show you how to make the Slip Knot and the Chain which is abbreviated this way (Ch.) and I also show how the Right Side (RS) and the Wrong Side (WS) of the chain look like. I have this picture from a magazine that shows the difference between the RS and WS, just in case you can't see the difference on the video.

See? the RS has like V's close together, and the WS has vertical lines. You'll need to be able to know the difference for some projects and for the next tutorial as well.

I really hope you liked the video, I know it's of the best quality, I have to practice more... Well, it was the first time, I guess next time is going to be easier :) ... If you're having any trouble or you have questions about the tutorial email me to bluefarfallina@gmail.com or comment below, I'll be happy to help you.

Thanks for watching!!!

Now, grab your hook and start crocheting!!! :)

Chao, Chao!

Pillow Update

Hello Hello!!!... How was your weekend?! I had a crochet weekend. I crocheted all day long yesterday, and part of Saturday. That's why the pillow it's almost finished, I'll take you through the "making of"...I still have to figure about what I'm going to use to close it. I took this pattern from a magazine, but this was a blanket. I followed the pattern, just as if I was making the blanket but I stopped at certain point to make a square... Here...

This is a picture of the magazine, I love this blanket :) It's colorful and light.

If I kept going and going, I would have ended up with a pretty blanket. Maybe one of my next projects? It's really easy, quick and fun to make. So, I stopped when I had a 6x6 (circles) square.

Then I made the little connectors, which closes the pattern a little more. I also like it without the connectors.

This is the part I had to come up with, the sides. I wanted a cylinder shaped pillow, so I added some more rows to the same pattern and ended up with this 5. Then I stitched one end of the square to the circle.

Here's a close-up of the side... Can you see it's the same pattern?. This is an example of how you can take a pattern and make it into something else, add some personal touches and you have something different and original. What if you make a blanket and a matching pillow, that's another idea!!! :)

Here's another view, I stuffed it with white t-shirts, hehe. I still have to make the white pillow. I want to be able to take it out, that way I can wash it, and maybe change the color, hmm... different backgrounds, do you like the idea??

This is what I have so far, I will definitely post some more pictures soon, in fact, I'm going to work on it right now :) ... Thanks for visiting!!!

Ciao, Ciao!!!

NEWS...

Good morning!!! Today is a good day!!! last night I finished the first part of my pillow WIP ^_^ I'll be posting an update on that, probably tonight (that, if I'm not crocheting like crazy so I can finally see my new "master piece" ;)... I also created my second crochet pattern, ok, ok, it is not THE pattern (you know, nothing fancy or super intricate), it's a flower, and something that looks like a dream catcher but it's not, :\ does it makes any sense?, it will when you see the pictures. It is so exciting because a year ago I didn't have a clue of how to crochet, just practicing you start understanding the stitches and how you can create new shapes and patterns and then you're capable of trying new things. My mom has asked me several times to teach her how to crochet, the thing is that she lives in the US and live in Panama, so either way I have to make a video or take pictures and post a tutorial so she can see how it's done. So, I have decided to make tutorials for beginners, not that I'm a PRO, but just for those that look at the stitches and think - that is so HARD!!! how do you do that!!!, trust me, it is NOT a hard thing to learn. That way i'll be helping my mamma and all of you who interested. Just sit back and relax, get your cup of hot coffee or tea, watch my tutorials and hopefully I will get you hooked ;).

So here's the plan. I'm going to try to post a new tutorial every wednesday, that way you'll have the weekend to practice and the others days of the week to ask any questions and send me some pictures of course :). It is exciting, isn't it? I remember when I was looking for tutorials, some were great but others were a little...mmm...I can't find the right word, but I didn't understand very well. That's why I want to try to take the best pictures and make the best videos. I really hope you enjoy them and you'll see that in no time you'll be crocheting.

Stay tuned!!!

Ciao, Ciao!

Bake It Baby!!!

Hello again readers!!! today I have a little present for you!!!,but first, let me start with a little story. On monday, my boyfriend asked me to bake a pineapple cake. We tried it last year, and it was so good!!!! it is not made from scratch, is one of those Betty Crocker cake mix, fast and easy :) (I do love making cakes from scratch though) it was just too late, so I didn't want it to take too long. Any way, the instructions are written in english (US), therefore, the temperature was on Fahrenheit (F) and the oven has the little numbers in Celsius (C) don't you hate when that happens?. Well, it's really annoying to me, I'm not used to either C or F haha, so every time I want to make a recipe I have to go back to the computer and look for the temperature chart thingy. I know that a lot of you guys out there are either used to Celsius or to Fahrenheit, and you may have the same problem as me, so here's my little gift to you... I designed this little chart with the temperatures commonly used when baking (not necessarily sweet recipes). You can print it, plasticize it (you know, this hard plastic cover) and put it on your fridge, that way you have it at hand and you can used it with greasy, buttery, floury hands, then just wipe it clean. :)

Just right click the image, and save it to your computer. It is 3x4 in.

I hope you like the design. I might make some different ones ^_^. Please remember that it is for personal use only.

Enjoy!!!

Crocheted Pillow

Hello readers!!! thanks for stopping by again... I've been talking about a crocheted pillow right? Ok, here it is... I'm really excited about it. On saturday I was pretty much working on it all day long, watching some chick flicks while working ^_^. Oh! talking about movies, sunday night we went to see Toy Story 3, and I loved it!!!... Oh, goodness, I had watery eyes probably during the whole movie... It's a really fun and cute movie, totally recommend it :). Ok, back to the pillow. It is going to be one of those cylinder shaped pillows, I'm not sure if they have a specific name... it is mostly decorative, but I guess you can use it for your neck??? it depends. It has a lot of texture and color, I'm anxious to see how it looks like when it's finished... Let's take a look...

I'm using these 6 colors... plus the creamy one which is like the main color...

Here I'm making the colored centers of the circles. Tucked under my blanket, it doesn't get better than that ^_* ...

These are centers, they'll be like little flowers in the center of the pattern... I'll be posting a tutorial on how to make the circles, really easy and quick to make...

Now that I have a bunch, I'll start making the outer circle...

So far I've made about 40 of these, I'll have to see if that's enough for the size I want for the pillow...

Can you see a little flower that forms in the middle? cute right?... So, I just have to finish the rectangle with the circles, and I'll be showing you the process, little by little as I go... Stay tuned!!! you may not resist to make your own after you see how it turns out :)

Thanks for visiting...

xoxo...

Lady Cactus Pin Cushion

Hello again!!! I want to show you my new pin cushion...I had to take a little break from crocheting... (yeah I need to show you my new crochet WIP) so I decided to make something simple and quick. I started looking at my old sketches for inspiration and I found this little cactus I drew sometime, somewhere... I can't remember, I just draw the ideas that suddenly come to mind so I don't forget, believe me they might not come back, that's why I have pages and pages all over the place and try to keep them together, while I get a new sketch book, I keep forgetting I need one. So anyway...

Here's my sketchy mess...

And my lady cactus!!! :)

I made the little pattern... and started hand sewing the pin cushion (I'm sure it would be better if I had a sewing machine... that's my next investment, for now, I'll just hand stitch, I still find it fun) . Well, here are some pictures of it... I love it!!!

Oh! yes, I didn't make the little pot, I thought it would be too tall, and I didn't want it falling on it's side.

I'm really happy with it... It's ready to help me hold my pins while I work :) ... I think I want to make more pin cushions, that might be my new hobby!!! On my next post I want to show you my new crocheted pillow... well is a work in progress, but I still want to share the process... Ok, I better get back to work or I'll never finish it... Thanks for stopping by...

Enjoy!!!

Felt WIP Update

First of all let me tell you...I'm not very excited about this project :\ , I feel like something's missing... After moving the pieces around and around, cutting some others, adding more leaves I can't figure out what is missing. Any idea?... I love the theme though, It's cute :) Oh! and I've been looking for a frame for it too, I wanna have a piece of white cardboard around it, and then a white frame. I want it to be delicate, but I still think the piece is a little small to just frame it right on the edge of the felt... you know what I mean? I guess I'm going to have to wait until I have the frame to see if brings that little touche I feel is missing... Take a look...

Ok, I want to let you know (I know the sun is missing haha) Don't worry I didn't go blind stitching the leaves... Keep looking... Isn't it missing something? This is at the beginning, I cut everything, and lay it down, move it around until I like it.

Here is the bigger branch...I loved the little nest!!! and the dimension and texture on the leaves... You can see the stitching on the following pictures, I made some curly things to make it look like wood...

A cloud close up... I really like this picture, the cloud looks soft and fluffy...

This is the final result, I just thought I could have some flowers around somewhere... Hmmm, that could be a good idea... So, I'm not gonna call this WIP a finished project, I would make some changes, well, not changes I would add some other elements :) ... I think I'm liking what's on my head right now, I'm gonna go to bed now, and maybe tomorrow I'll show you what I made...

Thanks for stopping by... Enjoy...