Blog posts you won’t want to miss: Read them now.

Dear users, dear authors,
in our blog there are numerous exciting articles and free patterns that you won’t want to miss. Here in this thread, authors present blog highlights. Maybe you’ll find an article you really like.

@Authors,
you can feature up to 3 blog articles here. Please don’t copy the entire text. Just describe what the blog post is about in a few sentences and upload a relevant photo. Don’t forget to include the link. 

Many people don’t even know about our CP blog. We’re going to change that now. There is sooo much exciting and useful information to discover there. Here are a few examples from me. I hope you enjoy looking at them and making them yourself.

Warm regards from Ina

Free crochet pattern for a sitting ball cover

The idea and pattern came about out of my own need. Since I preferred to sit dynamically on a sitting ball at my PC, I needed a cover for the sitting ball to create a pleasantly soft and temperature-regulating feel. I crocheted it from lots of leftover sock yarn. Maybe this is an idea for you too?

--> Click here for the blog post “Free Crochet Pattern for a Sitting Ball Cover”



My second blog recommendation might be interesting for all beginner sewists. You buy a pattern and want to get started. And then it’s always explained in such a complicated way, and it feels like there are 1,000 variations of everything. My blog post shows you what you really need to sew a T-shirt. No frills, just a T-shirt for a child or grandchild. Take a look.

--> Click here for the blog post “Sewing a T-Shirt for Beginners”



Lastly, I’ll show you a crochet idea that your kiddos will surely think is absolutely wonderful. I like it too. Maybe you’ve just gotten rid of an old mattress. You can cut it up and crochet wonderful, colorful seat cushions from it.

--> Here is the blog post “Free Crochet Pattern: Colorful Seat Cushion”

I think it’s great to promote the blog, but I don’t find it very helpful when there’s no thematic connection. If a lot of people post here, it doesn’t really help with targeted searches.

Do you have any specific requests? If so, please write them down with details. 



Just in time for St. Patrick's Day on March 17, here is a children's raglan sweater to knit, featuring the Irish clover, the "shamrock," to embroider using duplicate stitch. 


Here is the pattern for the clover sweater



A really lovely gift idea is this starfish potholder. It is knitted in double-face and looks amazing. 
I personally love hand-knitted potholders in my kitchen, and they are a real eye-catcher.

Go to the starfish potholder here

Yes, I think it would be nice if blogs could be promoted by topic. For example:

Clothing for adults
Clothing for children
Accessories 
Decorating ideas
Informative blogs with and without patterns
Toys

There are surely plenty more, but from my point of view this would be much clearer. 

@Mit-Liebe-verbunden
That would only make sense if lots of blog authors presented their work here. Since the blog isn't very well known and, on top of that, not every blog author is active in the CP forum, most topic-related blog threads would probably remain empty.

Why not have a colorful mix of blog posts for a change? All the other promotional threads are already structured finely enough. It's okay to just drift through the colorful crafting topics and get inspired once in a while—just like on the blog itself.

Best regards, Ina

I have a beautiful free pattern here with two different borders:

https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/blog/3509 


The simple border is great for men, too! And the other one is a real eye-catcher!!

The pattern isn’t really difficult—you just need to be comfortable with relief stitches, and then you’ll have this shawl finished in no time.

Have fun! 😘 

There are so many wonderful blog posts by great authors that hardly anyone sees. With this thread, we can draw a little attention to them—not just to the posts featured here, but to the blog section in general. Since all blog posts are available for free, I think this colorful mix is fantastic. If as many people as possible feature their posts here, we’ll have a lovely virtual “showcase” that invites people to browse. And maybe one or two of you will even try something you’d never have come across through a targeted search 🤗

In any case, I hope you have lots of fun and enjoy browsing through the blog posts.

Here are a few examples from me:






Heart Coaster – Doubleface Beginner’s Course – Doubleface is all the rage right now. This knitting technique may seem complicated at first glance, but it’s actually quite simple once you get the hang of it. Essentially, it’s just two sides knitted in stockinette stitch. By knitting with two colors at the same time, you can create some really great motifs. If you’d like to try out this exciting knitting technique, just take a look at this blog post.





Tapestry Crochet – Coaster with a Four-Leaf Clover – In crochet, too, you can create designs that look beautiful from both sides using the tapestry crochet technique. This coaster is a lovely project to get started with. 





Knitting Pattern “Coaster with a Heart” – Coasters are perfect for using up leftover yarn, and this one is super easy and quick to knit. Why not get started right away and make a loved one happy with it today? 🤗

This sitting ball cover is absolutely amazing! What a great idea!
I used to have one, but at some point I decided to go back to a chair. If I get another one, I’ll definitely crochet this awesome cover—thank you so much for sharing this pattern!
Best regards, Christina

Dear Christina, I’m so happy to hear your extra praise for my exercise ball cover.

I was just like you—I’d tried using a ball before, then spent years back in an office chair. But now I’ve been sitting on a ball at my desk for 4 years and think it’s brilliant. It just keeps your back moving more. However, it wouldn’t work for me without a cover. That’s why I came up with this wool cover. It’s soft and breathable, so it’s comfortable to sit on in both summer and winter.

Best regards, Ina

I also run a blog—still small for now—with craft ideas. I try my hand at everything. Mainly knitting and crocheting, of course, but also sewing, embroidery, and crafts. Feel free to stop by every now and then and get inspired. Click here and you’ll go straight to my blog. 

Are you still looking for a little something for your Easter basket? I love giving crocheted dishcloths as gifts along with a matching dish towel—not just for Easter. There are so many beautiful dish towels available; there’s always something I can use to bring joy to my friends and family. 

Do you like my idea? Then you’ll find the free crochet pattern for Nobbig Dishcloth

[Image removed]

I’m really into embroidery right now. Cross-stitch, to be exact.

And that’s how my first counted cross-stitch pattern for an Easter picture came to be. 



In today’s blog post, I have the embroidery pattern as a freebie for you, and I’ll also show you how I sew a pillow from the small embroidered pictures. 



Click here to go to the blog

Petra, your cute Easter picture is inspiring me even more to take up cross-stitch again! Thanks for your great blog post! 789 (By the way, I check in more or less regularly and have already made some projects based on your posts.) In the photos of the back of your embroidery, I noticed that you stitch the crosses differently than I do. How do you work the stitches? I stitch from the bottom left to the top right, so that the stitches run horizontally on the back. That’s how we showed the students, too.

Good morning, Christina. Yes, I still need to work on the back. The stitches should be just as you described: always nice and even, and in one direction.

I started with the border, working nicely from bottom to top in one direction. For the wrong side row, I then went ahead and embroidered the upper cross from the next row right away. That’s why I went up and down.

On large areas, the back looks almost nice. But even with my tulip, I wasn’t paying attention. The first two rows go in a different direction. But most of the time, you can’t see it from the front—thank goodness.

I’m glad I was able to inspire you. There are so many beautiful Easter motifs, but also motifs for the rest of the year. I’m really into embroidery right now. 

It’s so nice that Petra is enjoying embroidery so much right now and is inspiring other creative people
to take up embroidery. I think her little Easter motif is really cute.

By the way, the back of my piece also has vertical threads, just like Petra’s.
If you always stitch the cover stitch in the same direction on the front,
you’re already doing most of it right.
After all, the most important thing is enjoying what you’re doing!

For more cross-stitch projects, I have a simple alphabet
for you on my blog.

Click here for the embroidery pattern for the alphabet on my blog.

I hope you have fun embroidering!

Petra, I didn’t mean my question as criticism—I’m just really curious about how you embroider. Apparently, there are differences from country to country? I learned the method used by the farmers’ wives in Graubünden.
By the way, for some students, the back side looks pretty wild—there are new patterns popping up, though they’re very irregular!

Good morning, Christina—no, I didn’t take it as criticism. You’re right, after all.

I’m trying, but so far without success. Right now, I’m embroidering Karola’s pair of bunnies. I keep working my way up with cross-stitches along the bunnies’ outlines. And I find myself working sometimes from the left, sometimes from the right. Unfortunately, I don’t have anyone to embroider with who I could bounce ideas off of.

  We also learned in school that the back should look just as nice as the front.

Only those who look very closely (and me) notice the wrong stitches; when embroidering, I can live with it. When knitting and crocheting, I can’t accept a wrong stitch and always rip it out.

When do you pick up a needle and embroidery thread?

Have a nice day 

Cross-stitch is often used as an introduction to embroidery, and it
often becomes a great passion in its own right.
It was definitely like that for me 😉.
For anyone who would like to learn cross-stitch, I have written an
introduction to the basics of cross-stitch.
If you are no longer a beginner, there may be a few tips included
that you did not know yet and that will make stitching easier for you.
The blog post includes a free embroidery pattern for the lettering
"Food Designerin" and "Food Designer", which I designed for bibs.

So feel free to take a look, whether you want to learn, pick up new tips, or get the free
cross-stitch pattern.

Click here for the tutorial.

Have fun stitching!
Best wishes, Karola

I have a little embroidery design for you this spring



Pauline the hen with her chicks on the chicken farm. Colorful flowers and butterflies add to the springtime feel.

This time, I decided to make a picture frame. Why, you ask? I’ll tell you all about it on my blog