Sonntag, 19. Juli 2015

Polymer Crochet Hooks!

Alex & me had so much
fun making & baking
our own personal hook sets!

Crochet hooks with a polymer clay handle
are quite often to find on etsy
- for ONE hook you sometimes pay more than 20 Euro!
Some hooks are really worth it
because real polymer clay artists
have made a real outstanding hook.
But even you have never worked
with polymer clay:
You can create your own art hooks yourself
- even ergonomic hooks
which often cost so much money!

This is a real low budget project,
you will need:


- Aluminium foil (for the ergonomic hooks)
- Polymer Clay (We have used the brand "Fimo")
- Nail art polymer clay sticks
- REAL cheap hook sets
(Search for "colourful crochet hook set"
on amazon, ours have only
cost 2 Euro for 12 hooks!)
- an oven


I've bought these four "Fimo" colours,
blue & purple
have even glitter within!
("Fimo effects")


By accident I've seen
these cheap nail art sticks
on amazon...
You get them in sets of 50 or 100 sticks
for a little money.
And they last for thousands of
decorated crochet hooks! :-)
(Just search for "Nail art polymer clay sticks")

First a look at the pretty hook set
Alex has made!
For this hooks you
only need polymer clay,
a hook set
& an oven!


For his handles he used a brilliant technique
by Donna Wolfe from Naztazia!
It's a real good video
if you wanna go for this technique as well!


He has used more than 2 colours
as you can see here:

 
After he wrapped & rolled this
multicoloured "sausage"
he cut it into little pieces
& attached these tiny bits
to his hook:


Then he just rolled it on an even surface...
& then they came into the oven!
(Fimo needs 130 °C for 20 minutes)


And look how happy he is
about his fabulous selfmade hook set! :-)


I was experimenting quite a lot,
none of my hooks looks the same, yay!


I will show you close ups now
& explain how I made my hooks!
Alex was so kind to help me:
The Polymer Clay Nail Art set
has included a cutter
& so he cut REAL thin decorations
for my hook handles!


***

This was my first hook:


I'm crocheting most of my projects
with a 4,5 mm hook
so it needed to be an thick ergonomic one!


To save polymer clay
I wrapped aluminium foil
around the hook.
I've also wrapped together
polymer clay in purple,
neon green & neon orange...
& I simply wrapped it around
the foil & pressed the fimo
with my fingers...


And because I love flowers
I added some in the end!
I just pressed them onto the fimo!

***

The next ones were really simple to do:


Basically I just wrapped the hooks
in fimo (quite thick!),
rolled them
& have pressed the tiny flowers
& smileys
on the fimo with a tweezer!
That's it! ;-)

***

The next one was this flower hook:


After I've covered this hook in fimo
& rolled it to give it a regular shape
I've put little fimo balls on it:


And then I just rolled it
with my hands
on a flat surface again!
There are prettier flowers
on this planet but
for an experiment they
look pretty nice! :-)

***

I really love how this ergonomic hook
feels while crocheting
& I think I will make more
of these!


I simply formed a foil ball
with my hands
and wrapped it with fimo.
Roll it in your hands
& take sharp scissors...


...you can just stick the balls
on your hook now!

In the end I formed a spike with
aluminium foil
on the end of the hook
& kneaded fimo around...


***


 Loads of psychedelic fried eggs!
I don't have progress pics
but I just covered the hook with purple,
rolled it until the shape was perfect,
added little balls of neon green,
rolled it again
& added even tinier orange balls
to the center of the green spots.
Roll it again & have fun!

***
The hook on the left was covered
by Alex for me!
(I was just so much slower than him, haha!)
The other three are easy to create...


I just formed "worms" of fimo with my hands,
wrapped them around
& rolled the hook with my hands!


***

If you cover the hook sizes
with polymer clay don't forget
to add the size
with a needle before baking!
(Or like Alex:
Write the sizes on the hooks
after baking with
a permanent marker!)

All these hooks were baked in the oven
at 130 °C for 20 minutes
but check the details
on the package of your polymer clay!

My friend Lisbeth has also made
polymer clay hooks
a while ago & has made these pretty
personal hooks!
She also added the hook sizes
with a needle!


It's great to inspire each other,
when you make a personal set
of hooks now as well
send me a photo on Facebook!
I will just add your work to this blogpost here! ;-)


I loved playing around with fimo,
so many possibilities!
Just experiment with your fantasy
& find out funny new techniques! ;-)

Sending love & greets:
Dada (or Julia)

Donnerstag, 16. Juli 2015

My crazy Pineapple Shawl!

This Pinapple Shawl was such a fun project!
And I got rid of loads of scrap yarn!


I've started it with a pattern
I sadly can't recommend here.
In the second row I was struggling
because the written pattern didn't make sense
at some point.
I looked up this pattern on Ravelry
& many crocheters have suggested different edits -
the designer has never replied
& as the corrections haven't been made
I googled for a pineapple shawl chart.

With some little changes I followed
I highly recommend using a chart for pinapple projects
- so much easier to follow!


As you can see my shawl has become pretty colourful!
I just used scrap yarn -
whenever a yarn came to it's end
I just attached another colour with a knot!
I tried to change the yarn colour
whenever there were a few
dc stitches next to each other.
You can perfectly hide a knot
& also the yarn ends
if you just crochet the followings dcs
above it!

Some yarn ends couldn't be hidden this way
but my friend Silviane Radtke
has an amazing technique
to avoid weaving them in:
Just add beads to yarn strings!


Hard to see in the beads in this colourful mess
so here is another photo:


My naked Nana Venus
wearing my crazy shawl in progress!


And she has met Luna from the first floor!
Nanas LOVE doggies!


In the end I just crocheted granny square stitches
all around my triangle scarf.
And here is the result:




I REALLY love my new shawl!
And also this Lady looks pretty cool wearing it:




And of course we can also wear it as a skirt!


This world needs more colours
& if you will also create such a funky scarf
please show me photos on Facebook!

Dienstag, 14. Juli 2015

Flower Power Blanket - Free Pattern

 I always adored this crochet blanket
made by my mother Ottilie around 30 years ago...


A lot of people admired it as well
when I've posted a pic on my Facebook page.
I could only lead interested crocheters
 republished by the popular magazine "Brigitte"...
I thought I could just ask for the permission
to make an English translation
for my crocheting friends
who have less german skills than me...
And yes!!!
The magazine "Brigitte" was so lovely
& gave me their friendly permission! :-)

I have to add a photo & a little story:
A few hours after I've published this blogpost
Ute Rehner - a friend of my page -
commented on facebook.

She was sitting in a train
while she has seen my post
& she knew straight away in which year
this pattern was originally published:
1974

This flower blanket
is actually on her to-crochet-list
since 41 years,
she was so lovely to send me a photo
of her precious original pattern:


Thank you so much, Ute!
And of course I will send your regards
to the editorial department of "Brigitte" on this way!
♥♥♥

You need for a blanket measuring 160 x 190 cm:

1500 g of colourful yarn rests
250 g yarn in olive green for the border
(or different colours as my mother did)
a 2,5 mm hook
(of course you can also use a bigger hook size
for a blanket with less but bigger flowers
- I guess my mom has used a 3,5 or a 4mm hook)

You work the first rosette this way:

Start with 6 ch, form a ring with a slip stitch


1. round: 
work 12 single stitches in the ring
(crochet away the yarn end from the beginning)
end with a slip stitch


2. round: 
chain 3 (counts as first dc)
dc in the same stitch
2 dc in every stitch around
close row with a slip stitch in 3rd chain from beginning
(you should have 24 dc now!)


3. round:
Change your colour!
Now we will work
TWO stitches of the following stitch combination
in every SECOND stitch:
*3 treble, 1 dc, 1 single stitch, 1 dc*
(repeat 5 times
& close this round with a slip stitch
in 4th chain of beginning)

[note: The first treble = 4 ch;
It may be confusing to work
2 stitches in every second stitch
- basically you work:
*1 treble / 2 treble in the next stitch /
1 dc / a single stitch & a dc in the next stitch* x5]


What a pretty flower!
But how to attach the next flower?

Work the second flower
until the last round
as the first one...


Then we work the first 3 trebles of round 3
& work a slip stitch between
the 3rd treble & dc
as shown in the picture


Now work 1dc / a stitch & a dc
in your second flower
...and again:
a slip stitch between dc & treble
of your first flower
- then go on with the 3rd round as usual!


The 3rd flower will be attached this way
on the first flowers - two times...


...and so on...


...when you have 29 rows
containing 27 flowers each you are almost done!

This is how you work for the border
in the original pattern:
(In the german pattern is only a rough description)

1. One row with single stitches all around.
(In the pattern with olive green
- my mom made a multicoloured border
but just use your own style!)

2. This is challenging!
Work dcs & trebles in the triangles
of your border to fill the gaps!
The pattern recommends
to regulary skip some stitches
otherwise it will get wavy!
- Trust your feeling & your skills!

[My mother Otti did the border another way:
She just added colourful rows
of single stitches
which gives a nice wavy border]


3. As many rows of dc stitches
as you like!

Yay! Congrats!!!
You have a wonderful Flower Power Blanket now!



My friend MariaElena has already started
her own Flower Power Blanket
(or Otti-Blanket as we use to call it!)
& has shared progress pictures with me:


So clever to create all the circles
in the beginning! ;-)

And another friend of my page has already started
a Flower Power Blanket!
Here you can see a progress photo
of Lee Schlomm's growing prettiness! :-)


I have only translated the pattern
but I love it badly
so PLEASE show me pictures
on my Facebook page!
(...and if you have questions
be free to contact me there as well!)

And of course a huge THANK YOU
to the german magazine "Brigitte"
for the permission
to translate it!

Hugs & love:
Dada