This is something I made for my little cousin for his 2nd birthday. I used the yarn I had in stock that were colourful and hapy enough – Red Heart Super Soft (red and yellow) and Novita Miami (everything else). In the balls I put some craft-balls, some kind of compressed paper I think.

The idea is from Seriously Daisies. The only thing I added were the letters on the bottom as there happend to be the exact amount of cups as the letters in his name. The other thing I considered was some pictorical embellshments.

The hook was a 2.75mm. If I should make something similar again I’d use more of the Red Heart yarn as it was more firm and kept shape better.

You can learn letters and to read a name with these, you can stack, put right colours of balls in right cups. And you can build them into a tower or fit them in each other. Also you can practice throwing them from some little distance to the right cup (for the advanced ones).

As I gave the gift the mother’s first reaction was that it will bring her lots of “interesting moods”. The second I took it out of the package the balls were all over the room. I guess that’s what she had in mind.

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Sellise kingituse tegin väikesele sugulasele tema teiseks sünnipäevaks. Kasutasin olemasolevatest lõngadest kõige värvilisemaid – Red Heart Super Soft (kollane ja punane) ja Novita Miami (kõik ülejäänud). Pallide sisse panin miskid käsitööpallid, vist kokku pressitud paberist tehtud.

Idee sain blogist nimega Seriously Daisies. Omalt poolt lisasin nimetähed, kuna topsikuid juhtus olema täpselt sama palju kui nimethtigi. Teine variant oleks olnud erinevate kujudega aplikatsioonid.

Kasutasin 2.75mm konksu ja kui ma peaksin midagi sarnast kunagi veel tegema, kasutasksin rohkem seda Red Heart lõnga, kuna tulemus tuli nii tugevam.

Selle mänguasja abil saab õppida tähti, saad neid torniks laduda või üksteise sisse panna. Saad Õiget värvi pallid õiget värvi topsidesse panna või edasijõudnutele – veidi kaugemalt pallikesed õigesse topsi sihtida (visata).

Saaja ema esimene küsimus ol, kas see on selleks, et temal ikka “huvitavad tujud” oleks? Kui paki laua peale tühjaks tegin, olid esimese asjana kõik need 18 pisikest ümmargust mööda tuba laiali. Õhtuks oli neid järel võib-olla vaid pooled.  Seda ta vist meeles pidaski.

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NB! Be sure to follow me on Facebook too! As soon as I reach 100 fans I’ll make a free custom amigurumi for one lucky winner!

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NB! Vaata mind ka Facebookis. Kui saan 100 fänni täis, teen kellelegi tasuta soovitud amigurumi! (:

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PPS! I forgot to mention it was part of a rainbow work-along in a local craft community. The last ones from me:

PPS! Unustasin mainida, et see on osa kohaliku käsitööfoorumi Isetegija.net vikerkaare koostegemisest.  Minu viimased siin veel, mis kestavad.

I got inspired by some totally irrelevant colour schemes and I think it turned out pretty good.

I first thought about the coral snake  but I also remembered from somewhere it had a rather similar looking ‘friend’. The only differnece in between was that one of them was venomous. After a bit of googleing I found out about the scarlet kingsnake and decided to make it. I looked nice and was not venomous and I could easily make it life-size (if not bigger). They are really tiny!

How you make the differnece is the coral snake (venomous) has yellow between black and the scarlet kingsnake (non-venomous) has black between yellow.

I used Hjertegarn Blend Bamboo yarn in black, Drops Cotton Viscose in dark red and a rather unknown brand of cotton in yellow. Plus the 6mm safety eyes and this time some pipe-cleaners style wires for the filling. I think I used six of some slimmer ones. I braided the ends so they won’t stick out and pushed them in. It’s a bit more stiff than I estimated but It works and can be folded or bended the way you like. I worked it with my 1.75mm hook.

Again, I really don’t like snakes so much but this one turned out quite adorable. Plus the Chinese New year as The Year of Snake is arriving so I think it’s more than appropriate. (:

Kuigi mulle maod väga ei meeldi, on see juba teine, mille ma valmis olen teinud (ei mäleta, kas Teile esimest üldse näitasin?).

Selle ajendiks oli üks üsna asjasse mittepuutuv värvikombinatsioon, mis viis mõtte esimesena korallmaole.  Samas meenus mulle ka, et on veel üks sarnane madu, kelle nime ma ei mäleta. Erinevus seisnes selles, et üks on mürgine, teine mitte. Googeldasin natuke ja leidsin, tegu loomaga, kelle inglise keelne nimetus on ‘scarlet kingsnake‘. Eesti keeles oleks nagu kuningmadu,  aga selle otsinguga tuli midagi muud.

Tahtsin kindlasti teha mitte-mürgise mao ja seepärast siis otsustasin viimase kasuks. Kuna nad on ka üsna pisikesed, tekkis võimalus teha ta elusuuruses (kui mitte suureamanagi).

Vahet saab neil kahel teha põhiliselt selle järgi, et mürgisel on must kollaste vahel ja mitte-mürgisel kollane mustade vahel, lihtne!

Lõngaks kasutasin Hjertegarn Blend Bamboo musta, Drops Cotton Viscose punast ning üsna tundmatu tootja kollast puuvillast lõnga. Lisasin ka 6mm turvasilmad ning täidiseks panin seekord need pudeliharja-tüüpi traadid, mida erinevateks meisterdamisteks kasutatakse. Kui õigesti mäletan panin 6 sellist lühema karvaga neid kokku, põimisin otsad ja murdsin tagasi, et nad läbi ussi naha ei tuleks ja sutskasin sisse. Tuli välja natuke kangem kui plaanisin, aga saab painutada ja väänata küll.

Heegeldamiseks kasutasin 1.75mm nõela.

Kuigi mulle tõesti päriselus maod väga ei meeldi, tuli ta üsna kift välja lõppkokkuvõttes. Kuna saabumas on ka Hiina uus aasta – mao aasta, siis sobib siia veel eriti hästi. (:

It’s just that I’m not into wearing the kinds of beads I see on this myself. Perhaps it’s not for me after all then. We’ll see. I’ll let you cnow if anything changes with it. For now it is as is and it might just stay this way. Maybe.

Would you add anything to it?

Juba päris mitu aega olen mõelnud ka heegeldatud ehteid teha. Seekord siis katsetasin kaelakeega. Ostsin ühe valmis kinnitusega paela ja asusin tööle. Tegin 7 nn krokodillisoomuse silmust ja arvasin et on valmis. Tundus täitsa hea, aga hiljem olen vaadanud, et midagi on nagu ikka puudu. Olen mõelnud helmeid, aga need ei oleks väga minu stiil, mida ma seal näen. Võib-olla tegin selle hoopis kellelegi teisele siis.

Võimalik, et proovin mingi päev neid helmeid, kui ma oma varud üles otsin. Annan teada, kui midagi peaks muutuma selle suhtes siin. Väga võimalik, et ta ikkagi jääb selliseks. Natuke ikkagi kahtlen.

Kas Sa muudaksid midagi selle juures? Lisaksid?

Pretty soon I probably have no school, no job, no problem, so to say. Perhaps I’ll find something or there will be just a little more time to crochet and create. (:

As the last time I attempted to make a pair for the aunts son it was not quite a success (one pair was way too small and another fit quite snug). I then quickly made a third pair that was more like it but the design was not as far as fancy as I would have prefered.

This was that. Now she warned me that I’d  make them bigger. As I remembered how small they were!? Well, 9-10 centimetres was set to be the size. 

I started googleing and this was one of the patterns I had seen several times on Pinterest and on All About Ami blog that I follow. 

I like the style and shape a lot. I used Katia Pima Cotton yarn and a 4mm hook . It’s incredibly soft and I would think rather warm too. I added a pair of wooden buttons and sew them on with some hot pink thread. Including the search for the right pattern I finished them about 4 hours later.

Then I recieved a picture of what my aunt actually had in mind. It was more like a classic-vintage-lacy-mary-janey style of baby girls booties. I used this pattern as a base and added a bit from myself and here’s the result. They remind me of cotton candy, somehow. 

The materials are Bio-Baumwolle eco-cotton and some rahter mysterious brand of yarn that basically just says “100% cotton” on the band for the details which is actually not bad at all to use. Again I added a pair of buttons – this time a matching pink colour. Somehow these ones took me a lot more time than the last ones, more like about 6h.

I posted them last night and am not quite sure she has recieved them yet. We’ll hear. 

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Eelmine reede mu tädi palus mul teha paari papusid oma sõbranna tütrele. Kuna viimane kord oli natuke ebaõnnestunud (kui ma tema enda pojale tegin paari liiga väikseid ja paari väga parajaid papusid). Tookord tegin siis veel ruttu kolmanda paari lisaks ka, aga nood ei olnud nii edevad. Tegelikult ma siis väga edevaid vist poleks väga osanudki, ha!

Seekord sain igatahes hoiatatud, teha suurem paar. Mitte, et ma oleks mäletanud, kui väikesed need liiga väikesed olid!? 9-10cm öeldi ette, peaks sobima.

Hakkasin googeldama ja leidsin ühe kifti mustri, mis oli mulle varemgi Pinterestis ja All About Ami blogis silma jäänud.

Minu meelest on nad nii mõnusa kujuga. Nagu päris väikesed saapakesed sellised, erilised. Kasutasin Katia Pima Cotton lõnga. See on selline ülipehme puuvillane lõng ja mulle tundub, et ka üpris soe. Panin sinna külge veel ka paar mustrilist puidust nööpi ja õmblesin nad erkroosa niidiga kinni. Ma olin väga üllatunud, kui avastasin, et olin nad koos mustrite otsimisega umbes 4-5 tunniga valmis saanud. (:

Pärast seda sain pildi, mida tädi ise oli mõelnud papude all. Rohkem selline traditsioonlisem-pitsisem-mannavahusem versioon. Võtsin ette ühe mustri ja tegin selle järgi põhja, ülejäänu lisasin omaloominguna. Lõppkokkuvõttes päris suhkruvatt näevad välja ju! (:

Viimaste tegemisel kasutasin Bio-Baumwolle ökopuuvilla (ka mõnus pehme, aga mitte päris selline, nagu pima). See on selline rohkem vormi hoidvam materjal ja sobib nendele kingakeste taolistele hõljuvatele papukestele hästi. Detailide tegemisel kasutasin tundmatu tootja 100% puuvillast lõnga. Selle lõnga vööl polegi väga muud rohkemat infot. Aga iseenesest tundub ka käes täitsa mõnsa. 

Lõpuks lisasin veel paari lihtsaid roosasid nööpe. Kokku kulus nende peale tunduvalt rohkem aega, sest pidin vahepeal ka paar korda üles harutama – läks vussi. Oma 6h läks vist küll.

Ei teagi, kas see postisaadetis on nüüd saajani jõudnud või, kuidas nad ka tegelikult sobivad – eks kuuleb!

This is for another challenge that came up. Actually I was just starting to making one of these as I noticed the legwarmers’ challenge  in Isetegija.net. I registered myself right away and a few hours later I had finished my pair of woolly warmth. Here is finally the post and an image.

I used my 4.5mm crochet hook and Lana Gatto Nuovo Irlanda merino wool yarn. I also added little star shaped buttons on each of them.

I didn’t want them to be too fancy as for warm and thick. I’m quite pleased of the result but I might unravel a few rows as they seem to have a bit more give than I originally had thought and tend to be more loose.

I chained 40 and then single crocheted through back loops only changing the colours in  every two rounds until I had 20 total stripes (40 rows). On the last row I crocheted it through the beginning chains as well joining it to round. Last I changed the colour one more time and single crocheted around all the edges. As simple as that! (: Then I added a button on both of them.

Some of you might notice (or probably not) that I removed one little banner from my sidebar. It was the challenge I made my lace collar in. Well it turned out they didn’t accept it as the part of it because I called myself joining the challenge and posting the work in one post. It was supposed to be some kind of rule that stated that. Or I’m not quite sure.

They said that generally it goes some other way around. I thought well – f that and left that to be. I still don’t get why they do that or for who the challenges are or why. Plus the albums that are created to collect lots of inspiration. Apparently if you don’t write your stuff down the ‘right’ way or time it is a no-go.

–(Two days later than starting the post) I discovered that another work-along accepts stuff submitted the way I did. Now I’m even more puzzled of how it works over there. I have tried to ask but that’s about as far as it goes.–

I just sighed for that and are seriously thinking it all over whether to accept any of the challenges from there at all or not. They are just total mood killers some time and I don’t want that for myself. I will still try to do my best and finish the on-going ones correctly but I guess we’ll see what happens. A bit sad but what can you do!?

One more thing – as from today I will also post in Estonian as I’ve had some little feedback that not anyone understands this rather common language of English.

Niisiis. Tänasest kirjutan ka eesti keeles. Esimese asjana mainin ära, et päris 100% üks-ühele need tõlked kindlasti olema ei saa. Kirjutan kõigepealt ühe ja siis teise, mitte ei hakka tõlkima. Nii on lihtsam, loogilisem ja kergem kõigile, ma arvan. 

Need on siis minu isetegija.net foorumi töö sääriste koostegemisse. Avastasin selle teema mõned(kümned) minutid pärast seda kui olin ühega neist algust teinud. Õhtuks oli paar valmis ja nüüd siis ka siin Teie ees.

Tegemisel kasutasin 4.5mm konksu ja Lana Gatto Nuovo Irlanda meriinovillast lõnga. Lisaks veel väike tähekujuline nööp mõlemile.

Ei tahtnud väga edevaid teha, pigem olid mõttes soojad ja paksud. Lõppkokkuvõttes ei pea pettuma. Ainukese asjana, võib-olla siiski kunagi harutan paar viimast rida üles, kuna nad venivad päris kenasti. Ei ole liiga ümber vm.

Tegin aluseks 40 ahelsilmust ning nendele hakkasin heegeldama kinnissilmuseid ainult läbi tagumiste aasade. Seda kõike nii kaua, kuni oli kokku 20 triipu ehk siis 40 rida. Viimase rea heegeldasin esimesega kokku ringiks. Kõige lõpus vahetasin veel korra lõnga ning heegeldasin ülemise ääre (oleneb, kust poolt vaadata), siis mööda liiteserva alla ja alumise ääre. Tekkis selline kohakuti olevate servade efekt kergelt. Serva nurgale sai pandud väike värskeltsoetatud nööbike. Mõlemale. 

Tähelepanelikumad ehk märkavad, kuigi tõenäoliselt mitte, et ma eemaldasin paremalt ühe bänneri või nupukese. Seda sellepärast, et minu töö  ei sobinud sinna või õigemini esitasin ta valesti. Linkisin pildile ja liitusin nimelt ühes ja samas postituses. Tuleb välja, et nii ei tohi. Koostegemise eestvedaja küll küsis, kas soovin ikka liituda, aga ma keeldusin viisakalt. Ma ikkagi ei saa aru, kellele või, miks neid koostegemisi seal tehakse, kui pidevalt midagi kelleltki tagasi lükatakse. Minul juba teine selline. OK, esimese ajal olin ka nö noor ja roheline foorumi kasutaja, aga asi ei tohiks üldse nii keeruline ollagi, et keegi uus asjast aru ei saa. 

Kõigele lisaks avastasin paar päeva tagasi, et teise teema all täpselt samamoodi esitatud töö aktsepteeriti. Võta siis kinni!? Ma igatahes otsustasin, et väldin neid edaspidi. Need, milledele olen oma “jah” sõna öelnud, üritan ikka ka parima anda ja õigesti kõik täpselt ära esitada. Iseasi muidugi, mis sealt välja tuleb. Ma lootsin, et nende projektide kaudu saab inspiratsiooni vm, aga minu jaoks on nad rohkem kui korra täpselt vastupidi mõjunud ja sellest piisab. 

Tõenäoliselt loen ikka foorumit edasi ja vaatan ringi, aga ikkagi on kuidagi liiga ülereglementeeritud ja piiratud see loomeinimeste kokkusaamise koht mu jaoks. Mulle meeldivad lihtsad asjad, aga seal seda väga pole. 

If you look really closely you can see that the yarn has subtle colour variations from a little lighter to a little darker. On the picture they seem a little like shadows or texture but the yarn really is like that. I didn’t notice at first when I bought the yarn or used up the first part (it was in a pattern where it was hard to tell)  but I really like it.

I embellished it with a wooden button. I tryed crocheting one at first but that looked too gigantic and not very flattering.

As the pattern was really easy I recommend it for all of you. Even if you don’t crochet much. You only have to know three stitches to finish it and it takes really little time and effort. Also suitable for someone like me who just can’t keep themselves working on row after row in a blanket for example. I have made some but they take time as I have to take breaks or work on something else in between. 

I haven’t really had a chance wearing it yet but I’ll find an outfit to fit it soon enough.

As well as I didn’t finish my Blogtoberfest. I missed the dates and later was a little bummed about it and just didn’t feel like blogging. I had my topics and thoughts but just couldn’t sit down and write.

There have been some happenings that I plan on covering, all of them.

First of all the work-along. Last year it was all different colours each month. This year it’s 12 different crafts:

1 – knitting

2 – crochet

3 – beading

4 – paper crafts

5 – two types of crafting combined (free of choice)

6 – weaving/braiding/pleating

7 – embroidery

8 – sewing

9 – painting/coloring

10 – carving/modelling/ceramics

11 – felting/shrinkage

12 – Christmas crafts

I feel this one is more of a challenge than the last year’s. That I could have crocheted 12 different amigurumies and that could have done perfectly but this year I have to try different kinds of crafts that of some I might have never done before. Tempting. I hope I won’t miss anything. After all all the themes are open and I could start planning and practicing right away.

I have not quite planned what I would do on every month but I’m considering using a certain theme that goes through all of them. Not sure how it would work out but we’ll see. First of all let’s hope I won’t miss a month! (:

I have also already participated in two more common work-alongs that last a month or two in general. One of which I joined because I planned on doing something like that for the year challenge but they said I can’t submit one work in several subjects. I have reconsidered the idea and am really hopeful about reaching it. It’s a rather large project.

Enough of the chit-chat on with what I wanted to write about. I am working on a knit project on  which I use a rather unusual type of yarn. I am a slow knitter and this makes it at least three times as slow. So I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss the first month of the challenge and grabbed a bunch of double-pointed needles and a nice chunky yarn.

I’m not sure why I made it an owl. I started thinking about while I was already working on it. I googled some knit plushies and an owl seemed a safe option form me to actually finish. I wasn’t sure about the result but in the end I’m quite pleased. There are some quirky spots but that’s OK.

I used Drops Ice and Steinbach Wolle Ahoi with some additional buttons and fiberfill. I used 5mm dp knitting needles.

What would you do on each month of this type of crafty year I’m on? Any guesses on what I might be on?

vr – magic circle (as said)

ks – single crochet (US terminology)

as – chain

aass – slip stitch

(x) – number of stitches on the round

*…* – repeat from between

2ks ühte – 2 single crochet in one stitch (increase)

2ks kokku – single crochet 2 together (decrease)

ringi lõpuni – around

lisa täidis – add stuffing

There have been a couple of other things up but one I forgot to photograph before shipping it away and the other one is up and coming. I have lots of WIPs. I should try and finish more of them. I also got the first feedback about one of my patterns. There will be some referrings. Coming soon.

Let me know what you think!

These are the things I have been working on lately. It was a colour-swap and my recipient asked for blue. First it was hard as I had practically no blue yarn at home. I gess I’m just the blue kind of girl.

Anywho. Another thing I was worried about was what else should I make becouse I didn’t want her to get just a box full of amigurumies. That would have been so expected and boring. I’m not saying that the final combo is anything particulary interesting but hey – I gave it a shot. At least its kind of variated.

First I made the pieces for the kitchen as she described it’s colour-sceme as  a hint. The potholders are from Drops Ice and Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend  as the embellishments (shilouette of a sock on one and lettering “Sokike” on another as for her forum name which means “socky”).

Next I used Debbie Bliss Ecobaby Fair Trade yarn with Rowan Classic Luxury Cotton to make the coasters. I made them in two-coloured spirals. First I added a mustard trim but them removed it as it didn’t fit in my opinion. Looks cleaner and more blue without it.

The third item is the (store bought) towel decorated with swedish weaving. My second work but this time on a different fabric. This one has much larger squares on it so I had to use a bit bulkier yarn as well. I used Bio-Baumwolle organic cotton which is one of my favourites. For the trim I choose a much finer Cotton yarn (I never knew the actual company that procuces it – just says “Cotton” on the label – weird). The trim is from a book 200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments and Trims and the swedish weaving pattern is from Undukas’ workshop handout.

Next I took on the amigurumies. The cat is made of  Drops Paris and Schachenmayr SMC Cotton Linen with 2.75mm hook. It’s important to use at least one size smaller hook than recommended because you don’t want the stuffing to show in the holes. For the dog I used the same Debbie Bliss Ecobaby Fair Trade yarn and added Schachenmayr SMC Catania. This time I used a 1.75mm hook. For both of them I used safety eyes and fibrefill. The cat got the free sample eyes that were the only ones I had. I think they fit perfectly. The dog has a safety nose but the cat has an embroidered one with some whiskers.

To write of the pattern, both of the creatures have the same body/head that my rabbits do. I lengthened the limbs and tail for the cat and shortened the ears. The tail is a totally different piece. For the dog the limbs are actually same as the rabbits, but I lenthened the tail and shortened again the ears (but not as much as the cats). If this even makes sence. Can you tell the similarities?

I bought a super silky-soft cotton-silk-viscose yarn that’s name I can’t put a finger on . I have to check it out once I get to my stash called Gedfira Top Soft. I decided to make some christmas ornaments of it. I made four and decorated them with felt, filled with fibrefill. They are became so soft and squishy and have a subtle shine on them. Plus they are totally safe and kidproof. I packed them into an origami box.

The last but not least is the pillow. It developed between everything else. In the meantime when I was figuring out what else to make or just to rest from everything else. I used up a whole skein (apart from the amount used on the potholders) of Red Heart Eco-Cotton Blend yarn. The patterns for the flowers are again  from the 200 Crochet Flowers, Embellishments and Trims book. I love it, by the way (mine is in Estonian though).

It was my first attempt of freeform crochet. It had always looked intriguing but I didn’t have the guts to put my hands on one of my own. It wasn’t so bad. I also bought some velvet fabric and a 40x40cm pillow insert and made it into a proper pillow then added the crochet piece on it. I think it was my first real pillow as well apart from the chair-cushion that I made in elementary school.

I also added a little letter for Sokike describing what I made, from what, why and how.

Be sure to take a look at her blog (in Estonian) as well. She has so many adorable pictures of the stuff that was in the package and of the package itself as well. The pictures seen here also belong to her. I will take a look on mine later and decide wether to post them here as well or not.

I still haven’t taken photos of my green stuff. I tried yesterday but nothing good comes out photographing in the dark. I like natural light and I decided to wait for some daylight. I just haven’t been home during that kind of time lately. Last weekend I wasn’t at home either and the next one is also booked. Maybe I’ll manage to squeeze some in saturday morning – thumbs up for that!

Another secret project is also waitiong for proper pictures and another swap project needs to be finished by the end of the month.

Have you ever participated in any swaps? Did you find it hard to make a present for a total stranger? Let me know what you think of the bloo stuff.