31.1.13

Ready? Check. Pastels? Check.

In September last year I already blogged about this cushion,
and yesterday I finally finished it.
*sigh*
It's vaguely inspired by the pastel cups (a gift from a friend)
and the thrifted Sphinx plates.

ByHaafner, crochet, cushion, granny stripes, pastel, vintage Sphinx plates
As you can see I'm still looking for a place
in my house where this newest addition can live.

ByHaafner, crochet, cushion, granny stripes, pastel, vintage Sphinx plates

It's the simplest of patterns: a straightforward granny stripe.
Front and back are identical and crocheted together with a single crochet.
I added an extra round of single crochet for a more finished look.


ByHaafner, crochet, cushion, granny stripes, pastel, vintage Sphinx plates




















Have a wonderful (crafty?) day!

29.1.13

Pink meets Hemp

Last weekend I made this potholder.
(Yes, another one...)
The front is made of organic hemp yarn,
the back & edging of cotton.
I quite like the combination of the rough & soft textures.

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, pastel, granny square, pink, organic hemp yarn, Rosenthal teapot, crochet crabstitch





















If you're interested in the pattern, it's as simple as it looks. :-)
The front is a granny square of nine rows.
The back is a solid square, also of nine rounds.
I used a 3 mm hook.
The pattern for the back is as follows (American terminology):

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, pastel, granny square, pink, organic hemp yarn, Rosenthal teapot, crochet crabstitch

Chain 6 and slipstitch to form a ring.
 Round 1:
20 double crochet (dc) in the ring. Join with a slipstitch.
 Round 2:
[in 1 dc of the previous round: 2 dc, chain 2, 2 dc. Then 1 dc in each of the next 4 stitches.] 4x.
Join with a slipstitch.
 Round 3
[in the corner space: 2dc, chain 2, 2 dc. Then dc in each of the next stitches till the next corner space.] 4x
Join with a slipstitch. 
♦ Rounds 4-9: repeat round 3. (The number of stitches between the corners will increase.)

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, pastel, granny square, pink, organic hemp yarn, Rosenthal teapot, crochet crabstitch





















For the loop you can use a key chain as a base, then single crochet on it.
You can sew or crochet it to your potholder (I did a bit of both.)
I then single crocheted the back and front together, using the cotton (one round).
To make an edging I used the crab stitch, which is fun doing.
It's a backward single crochet; on YouTube you'll find lots of great tutorials.

Okay, that's quite enough about one potholder.
I hope you haven't falling asleep. :-)
Thanks for visiting! Wishing you all a very fine day.
♦♦♦

25.1.13

Yarn Talk & Other Tittle-Tattle

Oh dear - it has been too long.
Very busy, but - alas - not blog related.

So no progress to show you unfortunately.
However! I did buy new yarns.

ByHaafner, crochet yarn, cotton crochet, Modinetje, white, pastel, organic hemp yarn,





















Love the powder pink colour...
The yarn on the left looks more like twine, doesn't it?
It's organic hemp yarn. I used it before, it comes out nice.
I'm planning to make a set of placemats with it.

I like the old fashioned crochet cotton
from the brand Modinetje.
I got the last one (for only one euro).
The brand design is like a flashback to the fifties.
Wonder if it's still being produced?

ByHaafner, crochet yarn, cotton crochet, Modinetje, white





















Mmm, I'm afraid this is going to be a quite messy blog post.
(I apologize.)
I'll show you some old pictures, which I didn't use before here.

This is where I store stuff like leftover yarn.
Old shoeboxes...

ByHaafner, upcycled shoeboxes, storage, pastel, paper, decoration





















Craftroom snapshot...
With lots of crocheted doilies, thrifted finds & a garland.

ByHaafner, garland, bunting, crochet, vintage tins, pastel doily, thrifted plate with birds





















And why not end this chaos with potholders?

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, pastel, white, bright, lacy edging, scalloped edging, granny square





















What are you up to this weekend?
I personally hope to have some time to crochet.
Have a happy weekend!
♦♦♦

16.1.13

Thank You and A Warm Welcome ♥

Welcome dear followers,

ByHaafner, crochet, vintage, thrifted, plate from Mosa Maastricht, crocheted doily




















Thanks to this amazingly sweet blogpost
from the talented Maaike of CreJJtion
many of you found your way to this little blog,
others came here via Pinterest.
A warm welcome to you all!
(And thanks again Maaike for your nice words...)

ByHaafner, crochet, doily, pastel blue




















I do find it a bit intimidating to have followers now.
For the first time I'm a bit lost what to blog about. ;-)
Even more so because these weeks are very busy for me,
and I have hardly time to blog (or to crochet, or to try new recipes).
- But hey, I came up with something...

ByHaafner, crochet, doily, pastel blue, embroidery, leaves, pink




















And BTW, as I wrote in my last post,
I'm planning give away (my first!),
not sure though when it will be online,
but it will be as soon as possible.

Have a very good day!
♦♦♦

11.1.13

Procrastination Equals A New Doily


ByHaafner, crochet, doily, pink, pastel, doily, work in progress





















The hexagon throw I recently blogged about is nearly finished.
Nearly...
I have to make all the half hexagons now - to get an even border.
Which I find more of a hassle than crocheting the hexagons.
A good excuse to make another doily...

ByHaafner, crochet, doily, pink, pastel, doily, work in progress




















Have a wonderful day.
♦♦♦

♦ PS. Give away coming up next week, so stay in touch. ;-) 

10.1.13

Breakfast on a gloomy day

It was dark this morning,
but at least my new potholder perked up the breakfast table.

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, vintage, japanese crochet, teapot




















I decided on a dark brown backside and edging.
It makes the light blue really pop out,
- plus this colour combination has a certain nostalgic feel.

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, vintage, japanese crochet, teapot, vegan breakfast




















The Japanese crochet book had a photo of this potholder
- with a nice border,
but unfortunately the matching pattern lacked the border.
So I improvised something similar.

I think this pattern would work great for bags, cushions or small plaids too.

ByHaafner, crochet, potholder, vintage, japanese crochet, teapot





















Have a non-gloomy day!

5.1.13

Potholders to be & a new button...

Just a quick post,
to show you something that isn't even finished yet.
But I'm so glad with this pattern
(from a Japanese crochet book I received earlier this week)
that I can't wait...
- Even though the light is too gloomy to make a decent picture.
I simply love how the bobble stitch in this pattern works out.

ByHaafner, crochet, potholders, pastel, Japanese crochet pattern, handmade, WIP, bobble stitch




















Unfortunately the book didn't give a pattern for the back,
I will make something simple for that.
Hope to show you the result tomorrow soon, after I blocked them.

ByHaafner, crochet, potholders, pastel, Japanese crochet pattern, handmade, WIP, bobble stitch





















Oh, yes, before I forget:
I finally added a followers button (on the right, below).
So feel welcome to press it... :-)

1.1.13

Gelukkig nieuwjaar!

Happy New Year!
May 2013 be a happy, crafty, creative, sustainable
& an animal friendly one...

ByHaafner, crochet, doilies, vegan coconut lime pie, pastel, vintage, thrifted






















This time we didn't make any traditional oliebollen for New Year's Eve,
but a coconut & lime cream pie instead -
from Vegan Pie in the Sky.
I wrote about that wonderful book before: here.

And to be honest...
When I state something like 'we made a pie':
My task was confined to picking a recipe. ;-)

ByHaafner, crochet, doilies, vegan coconut lime pie, pastel, vintage, thrifted






















Anyway. It was the first time we had this pie,
and it didn't disappoint! At all.
Creamy it was indeed... Mmm.

So, before we ate the rest of it today,
I managed to take some pictures. (Only just!)

ByHaafner, crochet, doilies, vegan coconut lime pie, pastel, vintage, thrifted























To end this first post of the new year:
I'm absolutely thrilled by the fact that there are a growing number of people interested in this blog. :-)
I find it terribly exciting to have visitors from all over the world.
Thank you for visiting and commenting.
It's appreciated, a lot!


ByHaafner, crochet, doilies, vegan coconut lime pie, pastel, vintage, thrifted






















I hope you had a good start of the year too.