Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Crochet update and more crochet patterns from Garnstudio

I hope most of you want to know what I am up to in crochet... I am wondering myself what projects I have done for the first two months of this year. Not much actually.
Oh, I just made a dishcloth from Kimberly's crazy cloth pattern, and I like it so much! I'm not showing it here yet, since I joined a dishcloth swap at Simply Crochet and I'll be making the same one for my swap partner. (pssst...its posted on Fiber Freaks)
I'm planning to put up my tank top pattern for sale, that is after I've worked it out with size 10 thread and figured out the other sizes as well.
For my new design for Coats, I'm working on a skirt and top set. I wont talk much about it here though. If you want to take a sneak peek, its in the FF forum as well ;)
I finally thought of something that is not like what I've seen on the internet. I do look for inspiration from the trendy designs from Garnstudio, Mani di Fata, Adriafil, Phildar and some other foreign language sites. I find it more difficult sometimes to come up with my own, after seeing all of it. Seems like everything has been done in crochet already. But, I think as with any kind of fashion design, there's no end to the creativity. There is always something new or reinvented that would come out fresh and appeal to most of us.

And here, to add more inspiration, are the latest designs in crochet from Garnstudio:

new!Jacket in Ice
new! Bolero in Alpaca and Vivaldi
new! Dress in Safran
Colorful Blanket in Eskimo
Sleeveless Top in Silke-Alpaca
Shoulder piece in Silke-Alpaca
Lacy Shawl in Silke-Alpaca
Shrug in Silke-Alpaca
Hat in Silke-Alpaca
Dress in Paris
Dress in Ice
Dress in Alpaca and Cotton Viscose
Long Cardigan in Muskat
Sleeveless Cardigan in Alpaca
Skirt in Alpaca and Cotton Viscose
Jacket in Alpaca and Cotton Viscose
Rose fillet shawl in Alpaca
Tunic in Alpaca and Cotton Viscose
Jacket in Silke-Alpaca
Button cover in Muskat
Hat in Paris
Another hat in Paris
Hat in Safran
Hat in Bomull-lin
Corset top in Safran
Blanket in Eskimo


There's more here from Garnstudio
or go to my updated garnstudio crochet pattern links here

Thursday, February 22, 2007

A day at Coats...

Yesterday, after dropping my son to school, I went to the Coats Manila Bay office. I spent the whole day there, and it went well ;)
I was one of the four judges in their nationwide needlecrafts competition. It came as a surprise to me that they chose me. It was also an honor, for them to have confidence in me to be able to judge the entries.

Here are just some of the contest entries, and the staff at Coats who got so busy putting it all up and later tallying up the scores.





The categories for this competition were: counted thread embroidery, cross-stitch, crochet and scrapbooking. In a few months they will be exhibiting the winning entries at SM Megamall.
For now the contest did not include fashion garments and accessories. But there were some who sent their finished items. I was unable to take pictures of those that were submitted, but not qualified for the contest. It was fun to look at the different items, each with their own unique qualities. Next time, they would most likely add a fashion category for crochet :)

Special thanks to Jackie for inviting me, and for the VIP treatment ;)

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Crochet a Heart Souvenir

Step 1:
Crochet 2 hearts.
This is not my original pattern, I found it on an old issue of Crochet Fantasy magazine.
There are other heart patterns out there. This one is very pretty, but I havent tried it yet.

Step 2:
With one part water and one part white glue mixture, stiffen the two hearts made.




Step 3:
Choose your picture, make sure it fits the space inside the heart. Trace lightly and add an allowance of 1/8" around. Cut.




Step 4:
Glue a piece of ribbon or hanging loop to one of the hearts, then position the picture in the center and then glue the other heart on top.

Step 5:
Embellish the heart as desired.






Another suggestion:

Glue one heart with your chosen photo inside the cover of your notebook:

Monday, February 12, 2007

Just browsing...

I couldnt sleep, its 2:30 am...hence, this post.
Caffeine has a strong effect on me. I drank coffee (just half a cup!) about 3 pm, which is why I'm still awake now. Not wide awake, but I just couldnt sleep, and nothing's bothering me or anything...
Anyways, I thought about this post yesterday and so here it is.
I googled my name and I found some nice sites I want to share with you just for fun :

Mimi by Damon -cute cat photos

Thanks to Snap Preview Anywhere for the snapshots ;)
By the way, I'm not related to any of the Mimi's above :p

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Crochet Set

I couldnt decide on what wearable to do next, so I just made this basic tank top. I had to do it in multicolor thread, otherwise I would not have finished it, since I wasnt even sure how it would turn out. A plain color would not be inspiring since the stitch is monotonous. I happened to use the same color as the breezy bolero. So here's my crochet set: