Slouchy Beanies

Slouchy Beanie mass production - at least that's what if felt like in December 2010. It was bad ass cold outside and I was in need of something that kept my head and especially my ears warm. I finally ended up experimenting with the pattern of the small beret. The result was a simple two-coloured slouchy beanie.
My sister saw it and wanted to have one. My mum saw it and she wanted to have one as well. So I ended up crocheting three of them....

My sister's:

My mum's:

My own:

Self-Made Gift Tags

These gift tags were on my to-do list for ages. This weekend, I finally managed to make them :)

They are basically just made of paper and some staples.

Small Beret

I found this amazing pattern online about a year ago and I had to try it out :)

Pattern: Crocheted Beret by South Bay Crochet

Future Projects

I just wrote down a list of future DIY projects I plan to work on:

• Marimekko Easter card
• More spring decoration
• Granny star garlands
• Gift tags ( => Blog Post "Self-Made Gift Tags" )
• Skyscraper collage
• Skyscraper collage - tutorial
• Another granny square blankie  
• Something to keep my crochet hooks in
• Lanterns for decoration 
• Setting up a folder for my stencils, patterns, etc. 

What's on your list?

Self-Made Envelopes - A Tutorial

Remember the self-made envolopes I blogged about here? Well, someone suggested I put up a tutorial on how to make them so here we go :)

Step 1: The Stencils
The first thing you need and probably therefore the first thing you have to work on are your stencils. I made mine using ruler, triangle and some scratch paper*. The easier way would be to simple use another envelople.
I'm talking about stancils (plural) because the envelopes I made required two - one for the envelope itself and another one for the inlay:

If you like, you can also make a stencil for an address field. Mine is a simple rectangle - 7cm x 4 cm - with round edges. I myself don't use a stencil for that as it can be easily drawn with a triangle.

Step 2: The Material
Next, you have to choose the material you want your envelopes to be made of. There are various options. You can for example print out patterns or use old newspapers, wrapping material or paper bags** like I did. Here are my ideas:

When you decided to print out something you're pretty much done at this point with step 2 of this tutorial.
When you went for other material, like the paper bags or the newspapers you now have to prepare it. Preperation in this context means cutting things in shape an maybe also ironing them:

Step 3: Draw and Cut
Now we're at the point where I normally get the feeling that I need more hands than I actually have.
Arrange the stencil on the inside of the material you chose and prepared in step 2 and transfer the different shapes onto it with a pencil. Afterwards, cut them out.

 
You should then also raze out all traces of pencil that are left on your future envelope, inlay and address field.

Step 4: Fold and Glue
After everything is cut out, you can begin to fold the envelope. Therefor, slightly perforate the paper with the help of a needle and a ruler. Afterwards, the folding will be much easier and the folded edges will look nicer.

Then glue the inlay into the envelope.

After that glue the envelope together. Therefore put some glue on those two edges.

At the end, add the address field.

Now to secure everything I recommend putting your envelope under a heavy book for a little while.

Done :)

- Uta -

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* Whenever you make stencils I highly recommend using scratch paper or a piece of newspaper, it's more eco-friendly.
** Not only will mother earth be thankful when you reuse 'old stuff', it will also make your envelopes truly unique.

Crocheting: English vs. German Terminology

Guess I'm not the only person having problems with the English crocheting terminology from time to time. It took me a while to figure out that there's actually a difference between the British and the American one. For those of you having problems with this as well...

American vs. German Terminology: PDF-File by Granny's Garret

American vs. British Terminology: Guide at About.Com

PS: I sometimes mention patterns by Sarah London. She lives in Australia and is therefore using the British terminology.

- Uta -

Wool-Eater CAL Update 08: 26 - DONE!

I made it :) 26 rounds in 8 weeks, wow....

So that's how my finished wool-eater blanket looks like (those dark rounds aren't black, they are navy-coloured):

Wool:

Round 1 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8303 (purple)
Round 2 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8246 (pine)
Round 3 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8289 (fuchsia)
Round 4 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8223 (navy)
Round 5 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8201 (yellow)
Round 6 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8195 (teal)
Round 7 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8221 (red)
Round 8 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8190 (lilac)
Round 9 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8194 (lime)
Round 10 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8223 (navy)
Round 11 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8284 (mint)
Round 12 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8289 (fuchsia)
Round 13 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8291 (denim heather)
Round 14 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8223 (navy)
Round 15 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8279 (neon orange)
Round 16 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8194 (lime)
Round 17 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8195 (teal)
Round 18 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8303 (purple)
Round 19 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8201 (yellow)
Round 20 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8221 (red)
Round 21 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8223 (navy)
Round 22 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8246 (pine)
Round 23 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8284 (mint)
Round 24 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8279 (neon orange)
Round 25 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8190 (lilac)
Round 26 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8223 (navy)

Self-made Envelopes

I'm a sucker for stationary always looking for nice letter paper and evelopes. Unfortunately, it's hard to find stationary I really like. Therefore I started to create my own. I began by looking up different patterns and picutres on the internet that I later printed out. Those turned out like this for example:



But as I became more and more aware of the necessity to live a bit more eco-friendly I had a look at things I had lyning around my appartment, things I could maybe reuse or recycle. And I instantly had to think of all the paper bags you get for example at Starbucks or at TeeGschwendner. I love to buy things at those shops so I have a couple of them.

Well, I then started to craft my first Starbucks envelopes:

And those are the ones made out of TeeGschwendner bags and After Eight paper:

- Uta -

Wool-Eater CAL Update 07: 23, I'm almost there

It almost takes 3 to 4 hours to finish one round now that the blanket got so huge, it's amazing!

Wool:
Round 21 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8223 (navy)
Round 22 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8246 (pine)
Round 23 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8284 (mint)

- Uta -

Wool-Eater CAL Update 06: 20 and counting...

As the weather switched to bad-ass cold lately I spent a lot of time with a cosy blanket, hot tea and a crochet hook on my couch. Result: I managed to finish four more rounds of my wool-eater blanket. That makes a total of 20; my goal is 26 so far.

Wool:
Round 17 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8195 (teal)
Round 18 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8303 (purple)
Round 19 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8201 (yellow)
Round 20 - Schachenmayr Bravo 8221 (red)

- Uta -

New Spring Inspired Decoration for my Windows

Okay, I know, it's still winter, there's snow and it's darn cold outside (-16°C aren't exactly fun). Nevertheless, I needed new decoration for my windows and as I'm not really a fan of winter I decided to already put up some spring inspired things. Therefore, I bought some wire butterflies and flowers as well as some nice ribbons et voilà:

So there's one for the office, one for the kitchen and I made another one (not pictured) for the little hall.

- Uta -