Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

Two days ago, we brought our patio furniture back out—finally able to sit outside in short sleeves and crochet, since last Saturday we were still out and about in jackets.
But it’s not more than 10 degrees today.

Oh, sorry—that’s my photo; I took it myself

I just tried my hand at mosaic crochet, and now I know how to crochet the patterns.
Petra Perle and her amazing granny squares also inspired me.

Here are the test pieces—I just couldn’t stop. It’s so much fun.



Here’s what it looks like from the back.

At some point, we'll see the "light at the end of the tunnel" again

I wish you all a restful Easter. Here, Maundy Thursday is already a holiday.

You always need pins. Right now, I’m using “regular” pins with larger “heads”—they’re 4 cm long.
But the pins that used to be common, with the tiny glass heads (which aren’t always available), I like to use as eyes for smaller amigurumi. Just snip off a little bit and glue them into the stitch. But they’re often white; I need black or dark blue ones.

With such small figures, you can’t always use those safety eyes with a washer.

I also often use these doll needles for “larger” crocheted dolls—they make it easier to reach the spots for the eyes, nose, and mouth.

There are just the two of us too, so there will definitely be time for handcrafting. If the weather permits, maybe even outside on the patio, which we “christened” yesterday, so to speak.
The patio furniture has been put out, and we had coffee outside for the first time... and... of course, crocheted. But it’s not getting above 11 degrees here. I’m really envious of all of you right now.

Anyway, I wish everyone a relaxing, lovely, peaceful Easter with looooooads of yarn.

Well, my yarn stash is slowly dwindling—I’m kind of rationing it out, and I only have a few skeins of several colors, so I’m only planning small projects.
I’ve also been on the “yarn diet” since January 2020, and it’s working out well for me.
The stores are all closed anyway, so there’s no temptation to buy yarn.
Everything’s great
Let’s stick with it, all together—have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Today I started and finished a little crocheted heart with this candy cane edge.

And... I went for a little bike ride to the Drammenfjord, sat in the sun, and enjoyed the warmth on my face—I even brought a drink and some cookies with me. It’s just lovely out here today.
In the meantime, a strong wind is picking up, so I’ll keep crocheting on new projects indoors. We’ll see.

I also found some old school yarn from the ’70s. I don’t really like crocheting with old yarn like that—it feels weird. But it’s still good for doll hair.

A Cor(on)a bag? Looks interesting.

lasting beauty

Yeah, it’s me again.
You now have this repeat (for example, about 20 sts, i.e. the chain). First, you need to know how long or wide the border should be. One repeat measures about 7 cm.
If you want your border to be about 40 cm wide, you’ll need to crochet the repeat a total of 6 times—that’s 20 sts × 6 repeats = 120 sts/ch that you’ll need to make, plus the turning chain, and then work according to the crochet chart.
First, crochet the 1st row, then crochet the 1st row again a second time, a third time, and so on, until you’ve done it 6 times.
I hope I’ve explained it reasonably well. Good luck!

Hey there, misstressdarkness,
I have the book too, though I haven’t crocheted it yet.
My idea would be to maybe crochet the first 4–5 rows several times before the curved edge starts, so you can reach the height you want. Or add a few complete rows of double crochet in between, if that helps.

Best regards, Andrea

Gøteborg

Hey Mods,
Of course we’ve thought about it, but it’s still strange until you get used to it again.
To be honest, I don’t need this time change; it can be abolished, in my opinion.

Wishing everyone a good start to the week; the sun is shining here today

Best regards
Andrea

That's right, I hadn't even noticed.
But if you've downloaded it, like I did, it's still there under "Free Downloads"

At Petra’s place, everything is blooming so beautifully. That’s what’s missing here; everything is still gray.
And it’s not snowing here. The sun has come out, but it’s very windy and chilly.
Other than that, I wish everyone a good start to the week, and hope you make time for your hobbies. Stay healthy and simply enjoy your time at home.

Asker
(the town next to ours in the Viken municipality), Norway

I’m constantly struggling with these safety eyes, too. They’re often really hard to work with because of these new plastic discs. The older version of the safety eyes with the metal disc went in easily without any help. Unfortunately, you can hardly find those anymore.
Here in Norway, we have 5-krone coins with a hole in the middle—I always use those to attach the eyes. It takes some force, but it works.
They fit right in the center, but I should mention that I often use smaller eyes (5–7 mm) for amigurumi.

Otherwise, I think you can find a mounting tool like this in craft stores or at Buttinette, OPIC—I’m not sure. They’re pretty expensive, too, I think.

That’s awesome

Naumburg

nursing home

Dear Diana,
I’ve just read the sad news. My sincere condolences. I’m so sorry for you and your mom.
In any case, I think it’s a great idea to make up for it once things have settled down.
Then I wish you lots and lots of strength for tomorrow. We are all thinking of you.
I’m sending you a big hug from afar.

Thanks, Ina—you too, and get well soon.

Good question, Petra. Maybe it’ll turn into a giant “coronavirus” made of grannies—the tall ones are the “spikes.”
I have no idea. We’re looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Right now, I’m not working on any UFOs, but on lucky pigs—my son wants some, and I’m making them for his coworkers as good-luck charms during these difficult times.

Yes, and it feels sooooo good

Oh, how lovely—everything is blooming so beautifully over there. Thank you so much for these wonderful glimpses of spring in bloom; even if it’s just online, I can practically smell spring in the air.
The forsythia hasn’t even come out here yet, and the wind is freezing cold—it’s enough to make your ears fall off.

Akela, that is such a lovely collection, with such beautiful motifs—they would all appeal to me too. Thank you so much for showing them.

I don’t use one myself either, but somewhere in my sewing box there’s still one made of plastic (that little plastic needle tube; the thimble was attached at the top with a tassel).
I think my mom still has a metal one from her mother.
In the past, people still did a lot of hand sewing or embroidered linens, so they needed one then too.

I’ve got a few UFOs lying around too—though still in the single digits—waiting to be finished.
My problem is that I work on several projects at once because otherwise it gets so boring, or I lose my motivation if I work on one project for too long. Now that I have the time, I can finally finish them.

But I also agree with Akela —that’s how it should be: finish the old project before starting something new. Unfortunately, my “inner slacker” is often stronger.

Happy birthday from me, too. Despite the restrictions, I hope you still had a wonderful day.

Thank you all for the positive feedback.
The walk was balm for the soul, and if it did you good too, I’m all the happier.

ruthk, your dollhouse is so beautifully decorated, and I admire it again and again. That’s a great idea for my dollhouse.

You’ve all already decorated for Easter. It looks great.

Arni, well, someone is really happy, and the weather is ideal for it.

That’s great—I’m glad to hear it. I really enjoyed doing it.

Here, you can sit by the fjord and enjoy the sunshine today.

glorious sunshine today, so we just had to get out. A walk to the Drammen Fjord, only a 20-minute walk from our place.
Here are a few impressions

yes, that's me in one of the pictures

have a nice weekend

Oh yeah, needlework class at school—I didn’t like it much, except for those embroidery exercises on canvas and crocheting pot holders.
Once we had to sew a skirt, and that stupid teacher threw mine on the floor because it wasn’t sewn right. That wasn’t very nice.
That’s right, the boys didn’t have to take the class.

Thank you—I wish the same for all of you. Enjoy the sunshine, and finally tackle those pending tasks without any time pressure, all at your own pace.
After all, we have this forum so we aren’t completely cut off from the outside world.

Take care of yourselves and stay healthy—that’s the most important thing.

Oh, Petra, that’s so sweet and funny at the same time. Thank you so much. Please post more like this.

:-) Wonderful—yeah, we had those carpet beaters, too. Awesome.
Your mom really did a great job with the costume.
The ingenuity back then helps many of us today be creative with wool and similar materials.

Thank you so very much Wollbaerli, I also think it’s great that so many are joining in. A trip down memory lane like this is good for the soul, too.

Here are the carnival pictures I promised, from me; I think I was 3 and 5 years old there.





Did you have leather pants like these too? I loved them. :-)

Thank you so much for your rhyme,
and greetings to everyone at home.

We always make the best of it—
folks, get out the yarn!

I’ve also written a little poem for you

We all love wonderful things,
that truly bring us joy,

we don’t want to grumble,
there’s so much to knit and crochet.

Whether shawls, sweaters, or scarves,
we’re always spoiled for choice.

The selection of patterns is so large,
you only think: which one should I choose?

Once the choice has been made,
there’s still one thing to hope for,

Is there enough yarn? Is there enough?
YES

Have a lovely evening, I hope you enjoyed it

Diana , thanks for sharing—those are lovely pictures of you. I really like the carnival photo.
I still have some carnival pictures of myself, too; I’ll upload them when I get a chance.
It’s pretty impressive to see what kind of clothes we used to wear back then, how different the school cones were, and the hairstyles. Every era has its charm.

Wishing everyone a lovely, sunny weekend—stay healthy and make the most of it.

Yours, Andrea

Good morning, Monika!

I wish you all the very best and send my warmest birthday wishes to you today. Maybe you can enjoy your day outside in the garden or on the patio, even if it’s just in a small gathering.
Take care and stay healthy. Cheers!

Warm regards from Andrea

I wrote a little poem for you too

We all love wonderful things,
that truly bring us joy,

we don’t want to grumble,
there’s so much to knit and crochet.

Whether shawls, sweaters, or scarves,
we’re always spoiled for choice.

The selection of patterns is so large,
you can only think, what should I choose?

Once the choice has been made,
there’s still one thing to hope for,

is there enough yarn? do I have enough?
YES

have a lovely evening, hope you enjoyed it

Warmest birthday wishes from me, too.

My UFO is turning into an unravel-and-redo UFO, which will then “grow” again and soon become a finished piece.
Sounds good, right?

Thank you, Ina, maybe from time to time, especially at times like these, we all need to think about something nice.

Enjoy your free time in the sunshine

I cleaned the windows yesterday.
Today, I did some unraveling on my unfinished crochet vest because the armhole didn’t fit—I still need to crochet a few more rounds before I can work on the sleeve opening.
Maybe I can sit out on the patio today; it was a bit too chilly yesterday, but my laundry dried nicely outside.

Have a wonderful day, everyone—enjoy it.