Not sure if this title is correct Portuguese... [Update: I'm informed it's not. ;-) It should have been Tons pastel de Lisboa. Thanks for pointing me to the correct wording!] I very recently came back (again!) from a stay in Lisbon and was (again!) totally inspired by the amazing light and the gorgeous colours everywhere. Pastels mainly!

I did my usual tour of retrosaria's (yarn & haberdashery shops). I bought this organic cotton yarn called For Nature (from the Portuguese brand Rosários4) and a piece of this most lovely flowered cotton (here in the background), in matching colours.

When I was there I crocheted this doily. The pattern is not mine but from a Japanese crochet book. (I'm sorry, I don't have the title.)

This is where I got my inspiration from colourwise... (I did not bring my camera, so here is a compilation of snapshots I took with my phone.)

I could certainly see this colours in my crochet. :-) What a lovely and inspiring city Lisbon is. Wonderful! I have another post lined up about it... (And I am planning to go back there for even more inspiration. Ha!)

♦♦♦ Many thanks for your kind visit... I wish you lovely, animal friendly, crafty and stress free days!♦♦♦

Many thanks again for your kind comments on my Fifties Cowl. I have been wearing it a lot recently and I really like it: it's comfortable, stylish – to my modest opinion at least ;-) – and can be worn in multiple ways.

I promised to write down the pattern and here it is. I also drewtwo charts that – hopefully – will help too.

I really wanted to have it ready before christmas – for those who like to crochet their way through these days. Not unlike me. ;-)

What do you need?
– yarn: Scheepjes StoneWashed XL, colours MoneStone and Amazonite (two balls of each, but I tend to crochet fairly tightly, so it might be safer to buy three of each)
- crochet hook 6 mm (this stitch produces a fairly thick fabric, so I would not advise a smaller size hook)
– buttons
– scissor and darning needle.

Pattern

To start
Chain 120 (or any multiple of 2)
Mine has a base of 120 chains, this give a fairly snug fit if you wrap it twice, like in the photo above. If you'd like more drape, or are not sure it'll fit, I advise to start with a longer chain. 

Round 1

ch1, skip the first stitch *1 sc, ch1, skip 1 stitch*
repeat from * till * till end of round

Round 2
ch1, *1sc in the first st of the last round, ch1, skip 1 sc*
repeat from * till * till end of round. End the round with a sc

Round 3 till 27
Repeat round 2
Fasten off and weave in ends.

The basic is now ready! The only thing you need to do is to add simple borders and buttons.

Borders
I didn't make a border lengthwise, only in the width. Side A with the button holes, side B with the buttons.

Border A (with button holes): this is a basic row of single crochet, interrupted by short chains to make the button holes. Where exactly you want to make the button holes depends of course on the size of your buttons and the number of buttons you use.

For my cowl I used the following pattern:
5 sc along the side, ch3, skip 2 stitches, 6sc, ch3, skip 2 st, 6 sc, ch3, skip 2 stitches, 5sc. Fasten off.

Border B (with buttons): this is a basic row of 28 single crochet. Fasten off and sew the buttons in place. I advise to place them not too close to the border; this way the cowl will close neatly, without any gaps.

Okay, that's all my crafty friends! Let me know if you have any questions.
I do hope you will enjoy this pattern and cowl as much as I do.

May you have some lovely, animal friendly, crafty and stress free days ahead of you!♦♦♦ Many, many thanks for your visit! ♦♦♦

The woven (or moss) crochet stitch is a one I'm completely smitten with - I guess from the first time I saw it. I love how sturdy and squishy a piece of crochet turns out when you use this stitch and I adore the woven look of it.

I prefer this stitch in two colours because this way you get both horizontal and vertical rows. For one of the hangers I designed for Mollie Makes (issue 41) I used the woven stitch: the pink Style Me Fifties hanger.

I've always wanted to make a bigger project with this stitch, and since I lack time for another blanket (although I would love to make a blanket in this style at some point) I decided on a cowl for now. Again I used pastels to obtain a similar fifties look. Which matches my vintage outfits. ;-)

Since I rather not mess up my bun when putting a cowl over my head ;-) I planned to use buttons to close the cowl. (This way I could also wear it as a scarf.) I happened to have some lovely vintage style buttons in my stack that were just great for the job. (Originally I planned the buttons to be on the back of the cowl, but I like these so much I actually prefer to wear them on the front.)

It's a fairly simple pattern, if you like me to write it down I will try to do so soon. For now some basics:
- Yarn: Scheepjes StoneWashed XL, colours MoonStone and Amazonite (two balls of each)

- Crochet hook: 6 mm
- I scored the buttons on a market a couple of years ago.

As I shared here a while ago I have so many ideas for this blog and for new crochet designs. But time is still an issue unfortunately. Hence the sporadic posts on this spot... Hopefully next year will bring more time for both!

Thanks for your visit. Lovely to have you here!
♦♦♦

Hello dear crafty friends,

How are you? I thought I'd pop round just to say hello...  Not really a project to show. I'm abroad right now, but I prepared a little post before I left. I'd like to share this little colour pop with you.

It never seizes to amaze me how colours can invigorate me. They really brighten up my spirit. I'm sure many of you feel the same about colour. Or am I mistaken?

Maybe you'd like to float with me for a while on this cloud of colours...

Do you recognise my little Travel Blanket? I made it during my travels in Thailand earlier this year. Somehow it looks quite different here!

I sneaked in a copy of Molla Mills' Modern Crochet in this last pic. Such a wonderful crocheter and I was very pleased that her first book is translated into English! Are you familiar with her work & website? *click!*

♦♦♦ Many thanks for your visit! ♦♦♦ Have a lovely day. ♦♦♦

Hello there, crafty friends! How are you? Many thanks for your kind comments on my last post, they made me feel over the moon!

No finished stuff today... But I'd like to share some snapshots from my workplace.

My dotted blanket is slowly progressing. Actually, eventually it was a very speedy progress, but recently I have been lacking time again. And I want this one to be a big, heavy, snuggly blanket - in short: I have still some rows to work on. ;-) By the way, I was inspired by the circles of this lovely blanket from Three Beans in a Pod to make ribbed dots for this one. (The squares are different though.)

Bunny resting on a couple of doilies.

My little notebook in which I scribble down my patterns and my flashes of crochet related *Eureka!* moments.

Here is the blanket again. As you can see I decided to abandon the powdery pink from the first picture.

One more, just because close ups of yarn make me happy... (I'm sure there are worse things that make people happy...)

And another sample, but *wow* - what a gorgeous hook is that?! I tell you more about this handmade beauty - and where to get it - in a next post!

Because now, it's already getting late, and the alarm clock will sound early enough tomorrow... Many thanks for your visit & have a lovely week!
♦♦♦

Well. Can you believe it? (I can't!) Last weekend I began and actually finished a project. Hooray! It seems ages ago I could last show a finished project, so I hereby proudly present you my new cape... (Apologies for the number of photos.)

The pattern is from a Japanese crochet book (I'll share the book details later in this post). I've been wanting to make this cape for over a year (it was the reason I bought the book), but somehow I never found the right yarn. Something woolly, I wanted, but I never use real wool. Enter: Stone Washed XL by the Dutch brand Scheepjeswol, a new yarn. Judging from what I see from fellow-bloggers it has quickly has become quite popular here in The Netherlands. It's made of cotton with a special acrylic coating. The offwhite ('moonstone') fitted the bill perfectly. (Mmm, I realise I sound like an ad here, but it's not.)

It was such a delight to whip up this pattern, which I followed except for the collar. The pattern called for a knitted collar, but I can't knit... And even if I could I wouldn't have understood the Japanese directions at that point. So, I came up with this simple alternative: A crocheted rectangular of single crochet rows, using back loops only, hence the ribs. I later single crocheted the collar to the cape. Piece of cake! And, if I may say so myself..., I quite like how it turned out, the ribs make it elastic and wearable. Okay, here's a close up. ;-)

All practicalities in short...

♦ Pattern: from Crochet & Cape (2008), more details below
♦ Collar: Rectangular made of single crochets, back loops only to create a rib
♦ Crochet hook: 5,5 mm
♦ Yarn: nine balls of Stone Washed XL (colour moonstone), by Scheepjeswol
♦ Light blocking (a night between wet towels with something heavy on top - not me)

Okay, let's do one more close up of the collar. ;-)

The pattern is from this fabulous Japanese crochet & knitting book from the Let's knit series. Published in 2008 by Nihon Vogue pubishers. This particular book is out of print, but I think there are still some copies available. I bought mine in the Etsy shop Pomadour24 which has loads of pattern books. 

So... I guess this really is all there is to tell about the making of one cape. The wearing of it is a whole new chapter of course. ;-) 

Many thanks for your lovely visit and chat!

Have lots of fun with all your creative adventures.

♦♦♦

As much as I love naturals, I do enjoy a good pop of colour. Today feels like it could do with a little colour injection. So here it is!

Nothing can sheer a dull day up like a colourful pile of crocheted blankets. Agree?

Although confetti is a good second best...

And here's more confetti... ;-)

By the way, patterns for a similar potholder can be found on Ravelry. Search for a daisy potholder. Oh, and in case you're wondering: sure, I always carry a bunch of crochet hooks in my hair. ;-) 

Have a good week!

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