Loopy Flowers - free pattern

Hi! I thought its about time I posted another free pattern. This one was done last year in May, and was featured in Design of the month free pattern leaflet by Coats Manila Bay.

Loopy Flowers
© Mimi Alelis 2006 - do not distribute this pattern or post in another site http://mycrochetstuff.blogspot.com/2007/03/loopy-flowers-free-pattern.html

Materials:
Small amounts Anchor cotton thread size 10,
or Cannon cotton thread size 8
Crochet hook , 1.50mm or 1.75mm
Ponytail elastic, or pin
Yarn needle for finishing
Instructions:
Note: There are 3 layers of petals, first one is smaller, the second and third are bigger and worked the same way. Each flower has a center front and center back.
First layer petals
Ch 6, join into a ring with sl st,
Rnd 1: Ch 1 (base chain), (ch 12, sc in ring) 16 times, join w/ sl st to base chain. Fasten off.
Second and third layer petals
Ch 6, join into a ring with sl st,
Rnd 1: Ch 1 (base chain), (ch 16, sc in ring) 16 times, join w/ sl st to base chain. Fasten off.
Center front:
Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st to 1st sc.
Rnd 2: Ch 1, 2 sc in each sc, join. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: Sc in each sc, join. (wrong side will be facing up)
Rnd 4: (sc tog the next 2 sc) 6 times, join. (6 sc) Fasten off leaving 12” tail.
Center back:
Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join with sl st to 1st sc.
Rnd 2: Ch 1, 2 sc in each sc, join. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: Ch 1, ( sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc) 4 times, join. (16 sc)
Fasten off leaving 12” tail for sewing.
Assembly: Arrange petals together and sew center front to the three layers of petals. Sew the center back placing a hair elastic or a pin as options.

Other popular designs:
Basic Slippers
Chic Cell Phone Purses
Stylish Crochet Mesh Bags
Stylish Makeup Purse
Shell Halter Top
Shells and Flowers Shrug
Cute Tawashi Designs
Stylish Sack Bag

All my designs in one page - thanks to Ravelry!

Crochet and music

I just rediscovered something. Crocheting while listening to music, is a good thing when one is bored working in front of the computer. I was looking at my blog and realized that other than googling some news stories, I had been looking only on crochet sites and not much else. Thought I'd try blog-hopping, and clicked on NEXT BLOG. One blog after another, I take a peek. So far, nothing weird or offensive has come out. I wasnt sure if I was just wasting time. But I found myself listening to some music that I like. First one was a chorus song in an Asian language I dont understand on this guy's site. Next, a love song on a lady's site.
This site has a good collection of music videos, from it I discovered one of the best female singers of all time - Eva Cassidy.
I chanced upon the best version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow", a duet by a current singer and a past (deceased) singer. I was really awed by the singing talent of Eva Cassidy - so I went on and searched more on her. Dont miss this, if you havent heard her now's your chance ;)
More on Eva on ABC nightline videos.


Of course, no need to go blog-hopping if one wants only to listen to music, there are more sites like this with endless choice of songs.

Crochet News

Have you joined the "Bernat Home" contest? Well, all you U.S. and Canada residents, 18 yrs and above are qualified to join. Go on over to the site and submit your entry form for a chance to win yarns - lots of it...hehe...
Also check out the cool patterns that are available there.

Are you good in Math? Well, if you're good in crochet as well, maybe you would like to try this: Crocheting a Hyperbolic Plane.
If you can figure it out, you might be able to create these:

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

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 ;)

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: