A Pillow to Share

G'Day

I just love textured stitches in crochet and to show case some of these I make them into pillows to decorate and bring color to my home.

Here is a pillow that is one of my favorites.  Crocheted with a 5mm hook and some varied purple shades of 8ply acrylic yarn..not sure what brand, I made this beautiful pillow case a while ago.

I was you tubing and searching for different stitches and I came across this stitch called
Catherine's Wheel, presented by Mickey from The Crochet Crowd.

I liked this stitch so much that I grabbed my favorite colored yarn, purple and started making the square. Finishing of the square, I started to like how it looked so I decided to keep going and make it into a 35cmx35cm pillow case.

This is the front

This is the back, I alternated between black and purple mix with a simple single crochet stitch. I just make up whatever I feel and suits the whole design.

Cool I think...I buy the pillow inserts/form from Spotlight, this is the smallest 35x35 cm, for 5 bucks.

I have more pillows that I will share with you...so stay tuned, I just love making them.

Thats all for now...

oh and if you are on facebook I have created a page where I share my craft creations...so pop on over and LIKE and SHARE my page

Monika's Artistic Flare

ciao Bella's

Update on Spring Pillow CAL

G'day

I have made progress on the Spring Fling Pillow....the front panel is complete....reminds me of the beautiful blue skies during spring...I love the color of the yarn and the texture of the stitches is perfect, fits well with my home decor of pillows with all sorts of textures. The photos below are the true colors of the blue yarn.

I also started on the back of the pillow which reminds me of the grass, dirt and trees during spring, i think the green mix yarn depicts this quiet well....

Cool, I love it all so far....


If you would like to join this Spring Fling Pillow CAL go and visit Cathy's Hook Club for details...
Also Mickey from The Crochet Crowd has fantastic and easy to follow tutorials to guide you through this beautiful pattern..

Well that is all for now....pass on the word about my blog MonikaRose Crochet and Knits and join/follow to keep up to date.....


Have a Fantastic Day and Happy Crochet Times

Ciao Bella's

A New CAL from Mandy

G'Day

I have joined another CAL from Mandy's Craft Tales (on Facebook).  The pattern is on her Facebook page and CAL ends 12th April.

I have used a 4mm hook and 8pl acrylic yarn in colors of yellow, green, purple, blue, red, orange and a multicolored yarn called by me Firey (mix of yellow, red and orange).


Here is my finished mandala

There have been few entries so far and they are all beautiful in their unique way with many extending their mandalas to suit their home decors...so come and visit Mandy's Craft Tales and join in the CAL..The mandala is nice and easy to crochet up and will not take up too much of your time, the choice of hook and yarn is yours..you might even get a chance to do more then one...

Please Like Mandy's page as she has a great eye for color and many of her own crochet and other crafts to share and more CAL'S on the way....check out her recent crochet project of putting together all different stitch types in a square to make a beautiful end result and the colors are stunning. She shares the pattern of each square too, to give us ideas for our own crochet creations.

Here is what she has so far....

Fantastic, so head on over and enjoy and create your own mandala for your homes.



Enjoy your day Bella's

A Spring Flower Pillow CAL Giveaway

g'DAY

One of The Crochet Crowd clubs, called Cathy's Hook Club

Is hosting their first Challenge for the month of March-April


The New Challenge of the Month is

Spring Fling Pillow with Yarn Giveaway

Cathy's Pillow

I have decided to join and make a pillow, which i love making lots of pillows...which I should show you some.  I also have a youtube video showcasing a few of them.


Anyways I have made a start on the front of the pillow...I am using one of my favorite blue colors of yarn and I will make up the other colors as I go......I found very useful mickey's video tutorials on how to construct this whole cushion from start to finish giving tips along the way...

Here is mine so far......using 5mm hook..and yarn by Moda Vera Marvel 8ply 100 % acrylic (col 1045, lot 779464).  I chained up 60 to make sure I got a 12'x12' square or larger for the challenge/giveaway.

Love the look so far..I love textured crochet stitches..adds to my collection..very cool..and my favorite bright blue yarn.  Very spring color..reminds of the beautiful blue sky.


Anyways...ooh which reminds me please vote for my Overlay Mandala No4....click here @ A Creative Being

These two are from last years CAL from A Creative Being
More info and better photos in my other post..click here

Thanks for stopping by..make sure you join this blog for more great creations and updates on the CAL's

ciao bella's

Octagon and Square Afghan Completed

G'day

My Octagon and Square Afghan is finished and I immensely enjoyed crocheting this one in ten days before the deadline on 20 th March which one winner will be drawn from the Random Generator by Mickey from The Crochet Crowd.....cannot wait cross all your fingers and toes and send positive thoughts towards my afghan ...

To see the Flickr gallery from The Crochet Crowd Aghan Club click here....

There is still time if you are a fast crocheter......

Here is my afghan in the gallery...

Take a look and admire my crochet afghan as it is very different.

Thank you and go and make one for yourself and checkout the gallery with over 300 entries for the giveaway.

Enjoy your day and happy crochet

Overlay Mandala No4 Completed

G'Day

Overlay Mandala No4 is completed and in a list to be voted for to win a few prizes.

Please head over to A Creative Being to vote for my mandala,  name is Monika Rose

Thank you and much appreciated for your vote....I love the variegated yarn is different from the other mandalas....

Have a Fantastic Day and Enjoy Crochet

Progress on Octagon and Squares Afghan

G'Day

Progress on the octagon and square afghan is going great almost done..

Crocheting two at a time octagons now with 5 to go....got two on the run and three to go...

Getting excited to have it finished before the deadline of 20th March.

Sewing together should be fun I cannot wait.. Planning using a single crochet to connect and using another colour, orange or red to subdue the yellow around the octagons and squares.

You can still crochet this afghan for the giveaway, go to my other post for details..

Well there is a bummer I encounted, I ran out of one of the variegated colours, but I found the other variegated yarn which I thought I did not have....should have seen my stash room..uproar, yarn all over the place trying and wishing I would find some more.   Anyways I found very close, similar yarn to the one that I ran out of (only four octagons to do with this one).

Ran out of the variegated yarn on the left and found more of the ne next to it

This one is the closest

The one on the left is the original and the one on the right is the closest color I found

Well all the above happened yesterday and I managed to complete another four squares late last night whilst watching Last Resort.  One more juicy octagon to go today and then get stuck into joining all the octagons and squares together....cool cannot wait...and I will be able to submit the afghan to The Crochet Crowd Club for the giveaway before the deadline.

ok then...see ya soon...Bella (Bella means beautiful in Italian)

First project i crocheted

Hello again..

Just reading a recent post from A Creative Being called First Love (the first ever thing crochet by wink).
Wink asks to share the first thing we ever crocheted...and that got me inspired to share my first ever crochet hat....

This was crochet about 4 years ago, when I first started to crochet..with a big 10mm hook and some rope (my hubby's idea, he wanted to see how the stitches were made so he can incorporate them into making a solid wall...or something like that. But i took it from there to learn crochet)...so I can see the stitches and how they are constructed...well that did not go to plan...according to a book and single crochet stitch....stuck half way.....

Anyways from what I remember I learnt crochet through YouTube with the lovely Teresa (Crochet Geek).

From what I remember, the first thing that I crochet was probable a single crochet square, very wonky, not sure where that is.

I always wanted a warm hat but could not find one in the shops that I liked....i think I found this beanie/hat pattern on the web somewhere ( a simple in the round, I would not know where the pattern is from)....I thought working in the round looked simple enough and the yarn was soft...I cannot stand wool too itchy.  I think it was cotton A from Lincraft.

This pattern was confusing and I think you can see that it is the wrong way, the back of the stitches..I remember this got me so confused I could not tell the front from the back. I think the color was too bright so I tried to mask it with the stringy bits at the top...and later the embroidery flowers.

The hat does fit but i think I tried a few times to get the right number of stitches..

To this day I still wear this hat/beanie...and I think the stitches are so easy to be recognized the front and back.....makes me wonder what was so hard all those years ago.  I have learnt and come so far and I can crochet anything..except jumpers which I love to learn some day.


I have made many hats and beanies ever since..I find a yarn that is cool in Spotlight or Lincraft and think this will make a great beanie and I dive into a pattern most of the time I stick to a simple in the round from Tereasa (I like her method of starting from top and increasing to the size of the top of the head and then just crocheting round, not joining, just in a spiral , until the length I want)....Simple and quick to crochet up within the day.

I have come a long way that I have knitted a cable hat which is my favorite and wear all the time...cables are so easy..I will have to try and crochet one,,,this one is in ravelry as well (Teal Cable Hat).. I can wear two ways, perfect fit and did I mention it is my first knitted cable hat. My own design too.  I love to compromise..choose a stitch and a basic pattern and go for it..

This picture is true color of the hat..teal from soft acrylic yarn.

I also crochet a cable cover for a mobile phone.

 And knitted one too...pattern is available on ravelry as a free download (Knitted Cable iPhone Cover)

Ok cool for now.....gosh so many designs and patterns to share....which I will do...share with you as the days come along I will post out a project that I have crochet or knitted over the years.

I also have a YouTube channel MonikaRoseCrochets which shares some of the things I love making and doing in life...there is a video on some of the crochet/knitted pillows I have made.

Well, time to go and crochet some more Octagons & Squares Afghan or the Overlay Mandala no4.


Ciao for now.....

Progress on CAL Mandala

G'day

Making progress on my overlay mandala..just finished round 20..not bad so far...very cool when you just throw together out there colors..not mattering if they match..

ok cool looking forward to continuing..next is light purple..crocheting sc with spikes..nice and quick.

If you would like to see other CAL projects and like to join visit A Creative Being

Octagon & Square Afghan

G'Day

I have succumbed to a new afghan pattern after looking at the pictures of others completing there's on The Crochet Crowd @ Octagon & Squares Throw Club (on Facebook).

The pattern comes free from Red Heart. 
Also Mickey has three videos on YouTube to teach you how to make the octagons,squares and how to put the afghan together.

There is a competition/giveaway..more details here.  

There is still time to crochet one the deadline is 20th March 2013.

So here I go....I started yesterday..just randomly choose the 4 colors that are needed for the Afghan, but not necessary..

The colors I choose are.   Red, orange, yellow and two variegated colors.

So I did samples and this is what I came up with.

Today I am working on the squares (they are done, yapee, only 12, took two days)..
The tutorials are fantastic, easy to follow and remember so I can crochet without looking at the pattern and flows much quicker..

Now I am working on the octagons, the center of them..

Would be great to finish before the deadline, I think I can do so and be part of the competition/giveaway.
I will see how I go....


If you would like to crochet this beautiful afghan...have a go and join the club..follow the links above.


ok for now...hot here in Aussie in the 30's Celsius all week...yuk

Anyways have a Fantastic Day

Progress on CAL

hI..HOW ARE YOU ?

i am well and hot..here in Aussie land there is weather in the 30's now....yuk...

Anyways..I have made progress on the Overlay Mandala no4 CAL....up to round 19..and looking fabulous...


Round 16 completed

Round 17 completed

 Round 18 completed

Round 19 in process

Cool love how looks so far....

Join the CAL HERE @ A Creative Being



Ok for now cya Bella's..have a fantastic day :)

More knitting on new scarf

Hello

I have been knitting a bit more on this new scarf and the colors are beautiful....click here to see info on this gorgeous scarf.

Finally uploaded...my gosh you take a photo from your phone and how do you get it on your computer...well I do not like synching to iTunes...is confusing....so I found a way to email the photo and then download and save to the computer to upload to blogger...did ya get that...I got it now....

Anyways...these scarfs are fabulous and easy to make...you can grab any kind of yarn..even the fluffy ones (where when you crochet you cannot see the stitches, anyways thats me)...and knit in the round..and you will always have a beautiful scarf...warm because it is a tube and doubles up...not like your flat ones when you crochet and knit ( I have done many of these too and they are great).

I will have to gather theses tube scarfs that I have knitted on this blue round loom and show you how beautiful they are.

here is the most recent tube scarf i have completed...Turquoise Scarf


Ok I will leave that at that for now.....