15December , 2017 by annekewiese

Christmas Crochet Decorations and a T-shirt Yarn Rug

I want to show you what else you can do with my free Floppy Star Crochet Pattern

Decorate a plain parcel with a crochet star.

Hang your Crochet Stars on a plain wooden Christmas Tree.

If you make my Floppy Crochet Stars with t-shirt yarn, you can join them with slip stitch rounds to make a rug.

If you add more and more stars, you can make a bigger rug with a different shape!

I’ve seen a follower joining her cotton stars to make a table runner.

How wonderful that you can use one little pattern for so many projects! What have you been making with your Floppy Stars? Email us a photo then we can show everyone.

We want to thank you all for your support, likes, comments and orders for 2017. We really really do appreciate you all. Hope you all have a peaceful festive time with your loved ones.

With lots of love

Anneke and Anne-Marie

Crochet in Paternoster

15December , 2017 by annekewiese

Larger Lacy Doily T-shirt Yarn Rug

What you’ve all been asking and waiting for! The PDF file for the larger doily rug!

Download the free PDF from Ravelry . Larger Lacy Doily Rug

Remember, you still need the Free Lacy Doily Rug Pattern for the inside.

Just checking? Are you following us on our other media pages too?

See our awesome Instagram Feed

On our Facebook Page we share our crochet as well as links to other designers’ pages.

And on our Pinterest Boards we’ve pinned all the rugs we have crocheted as well as fabulous rug patterns from other talented designers. You will find ideas and patterns for Doily rugs, Rectangular rugs, Square rugs and much much more.

Oooooh! You have to see this one too! I had an order for a pink and grey doily rug. I used the first few rounds of my pattern, but was working with very thick bulky T and a 15mm hook. I then had to make adjustments to the original pattern and this was the end result. A thick, soft and squishy 75 cm beauty.

Grab a big hook and some chunky yarn and go crochet a beautiful rug!

Lots of love

Anneke

18March , 2017 by annekewiese

NatCroMo Blog Tour

Crochetville Is having their yearly March Blog Tour. Each day of March they feature Yarn Shops and Crochet Designers on their blog. Where you will find awesome inspiration and pattern specials. Do take some time and browse their blog to feast on all the yarnie goodness. I am honoured to be part of the Blog Tour.

For the Glamping Theme I have this Hanging Basket Idea for you. A neat and compact way to store goodies in your tent or caravan. You can use my Merry Go Round Crochet Basket free pattern. Crochet three baskets with t-shirt yarn; or any bulky cotton; or use two or three strings of any dk yarn in your stash. Crochet a long string of chains and attach/join the baskets.

In today’s blog post I want to show you a few projects I made since December. And then right at the end of this post you will find my NatCroMo Special.

First some news on where we live. Last year we moved from Paternoster to Langebaan to be closer to the school. We first rented a house and in December we moved into our own newly built house in Paradise Beach. Here you can see the sunset from our house. We had lovely sunny days which we spent on the beach. In January the teenagers went back to school and the little one started Grade One. And now she is practicing her writing in the sand on the beach.

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A highlight in January was having my Snowflake Crochet Pattern featured in Ideas Magazine. If you want the pattern, you can buy the magazine online from Zinio .

Early in January I finished this HUGE floor cushion for my middle child. It ended up 120 cm in diameter and 50 cm high. I used about 13 kg of t-shirt yarn and my 15 mm hook. We filled it with foam chips.

And in progress now, is a slightly smaller version for the six year old.

In February I was commissioned by Carle from Nurturing Fibres to design patterns for Creative Hobbies Magazine. Look out for these awesome home decor patterns in their June issue.

I put a piece of calico fabric on Anya’s plastic ABC puzzle and then block my crochet piece with KnitPro T-Pins.

In February I made this beautiful basket. You can find the free pattern and other home decor patterns via the Facebook page Yarn in a Barn CAL.

And in between all my projects I play around with designs of my own. I need to write up all these patterns, but find that very time consuming.

I also completed quite a few t-shirt yarn rug orders. Let me show you some of them.

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Then my eldest ordered a rug too. I am using Patricia Kristoffersen’s famous Splendid Doily Pattern. We are about 75% in to the pattern, but do not have enough of the t-shirt yarn to finish. Argh. Plan B is to bring in another colour. Hope to finish this one soon.

And I’ve kept the best for last. My Quandala Rug Pattern!

For the next week you can download it for free. Use the code “NatCroMo Blog Tour”.

This is the dates and times for the special:

Start date	March 18, 2017 at 00:00
End date	March 25, 2017 at 23:59

I’ve recently crocheted three rugs with this pattern. My client wanted bright and colourful.

And I love this version by a crochet friend. She used Tori (a bulky cotton/bamboo blend) by Vinnis Colours.

I hope you enjoy the pattern if you do download it. Do like (give it a pink heart) on Ravelry and tag us on Instagram if you upload your photo there. #quandalarug.

Quandala stands for Quick and Easy Mandala. This is an easy pattern for first time rug makers. And other than normal rug patterns out there, this one has a fabulous soft texture and feel.

Thank you for visiting.

Enjoy the rest of the March Crochet fun with NatCroMo.

24December , 2016 by annekewiese

3D Crochet Star Pebble Necklace

Living Dangerously! 😂😂😂

Whenever we travel, I bring back beach pebbles in my suitcase.

In my collection I have pebbles from Strandfontein, Blouberg, Arniston and Knysna, South Africa; Swakopmund, Namibia; Skopelos and Skiatos, Greece; Positano and Portifino, Italy. There are a few small rocks from Les Gets in the French Alps and a few tiny black rocks from Mount Vesuvius in Naples.

I’m always a little nervous when we check in our luggage at the airport 😳

I then be-crochet the pebbles into necklaces. They make great gifts. One friend uses her neckace as a curtain tie. They also look beautiful if you hang them on a hook against the wall.

I made a Photo Tutorial for you. If you are on a beach holiday right now, pick up some pebbles an give it a try. If you can’t find any pebbles near you, try your nearest plant nursery.

My pattern is written in US (American) Terminology

What you need:

Beach Pebbles about 4 to 5 cm in diameter.

Any yarn in your stash with the crochet hook recommended for your yarn.

I used Eco-Cotton from Nurturing Fibres and a 3,5 mm hook.

ABBREVIATIONS

MC – Magic Ring, ch – chain, sc – single crochet, ss – slip stitch, dc – double crochet, dc2tog – double crochet two together, fpdc – front post double crochet.

ROUND 1

In MC, ch1, 12sc, close with ss in 1st sc

Spectators 😹😹😹

ROUND 2

ch2, 1dc in next stitch (counts as first dc2tog), ch3

dc2tog, ch3 X 5, close with ss in first dc2tog

ROUND 3

After this round you will see how your Front Post Double Crochet Stitches make your star pop.

After closing round 2 with a ss, make 1 fpsc, ch2 ( that counts as 1 fpdc ) , ch4

*1 fpdc around the next dc2tog, ch4 * repeat x 4

1 fpdc around the last dc2tog, ch2, 1hdc ( for the hdc, you yarn over twice , insert your hook into your first fpdc, pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through all three loops on hook )

That simultaneously closes your round AND brings your end of the round to the middle of the loop in between your double crochets.

Your work should now fit loosely on your pebble.

ROUND 5

This round needs less stitches in the chain loops. Which means you are “decreasing ” to close your work at the back of your pebble.

ch3, 1sc in 4ch loop X 5, ch1, 1hdc. ( same method as previous round)

ROUND 6

This round is just single crochet into each of Round 5’s 3ch loops to ensure a tight fit.

CHAIN STRING

Look at the front of your pebble. You want your necklace string “attached” to the top left and right point of the star.

Turn to the back again.

Now it started raining, so I am left with very little natural light.

“Move” towards the top left with 2 or 3 single crochets. That also secures the beginning of your string. You can’t hang a pebble on just a slip stitch!

Start making chain stitches here. Mine is about 60 cm .

Cut the yarn, leaving a 25 cm tail, because you want to use your tapestry needle to secure the end of your chain to the top of the star.

There you go!

Ready to wear.

Or wrap it in gift paper for a friend.

For different size pebbles, you can stick to the star pattern and then just adjust the number of chains in your chain loops.

You can also use small flower patterns for the front “panel” of your pebble cover.

Have a look at my Pinterest Free Crochet Flower board here:

Thank you for reading this post.

Anneke

You can see more of our crochet projects on Facebook and Instagram.

https://m.facebook.com/crochet.in.paternoster/

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10November , 2016 by annekewiese

Merry Go Round Crochet Basket

For those of you following my Crochet Bucket List Series. In between filling those buckets I have also been crocheting baskets and rugs. The baskets make perfect teacher gifts. Which you can fill with chocolates or flowers. If they are yarn lovers, you can fill them with yarn.

They are super easy to crochet and you can use T-yarn, any bulky yarn or any other yarn in your stash.

Let me show you how to make them.

Difficulty: Beginner.

Time: 60 minutes. (depending on size)

Sizes: Will depend on your number of beginning rounds as well as your number of side rounds.

With t-shirt yarn and a 12 mm hook: 4 rounds at the bottom and 8 rounds on the sides, gives me a basket of 20 cm in diameter and 20 cm in height.

With eco-fusion from Nurturing Fibres and a 3,5 mm hook: 2 rounds at the bottom and 7 rounds on the sides, gives a cute tiny basket of 3 cm in diameter and 4 cm in height.

For the photo tutorial I used a DK Acrylic and a 4,5 mm hook.

Terminology used is US (American).

ABBREVIATIONS

rnd

st/s

beg

hdc

bl/s

[12]

magic circle

chain

slip stitch

single crochet

round

stitch/es

beginning

half double crochet

back loop/s

double crochet

stitch count for round in green and Italic

DOUBLE CROCHET IN THE ROUND INCREASES

(Remember: When you are working in a spiral, you need to use a stitch marker to mark your last stitch of the round)

round	increase in every	total of stitches
1	No increase	12
2	Every stitch	24
3	Every 2^nd stitch	36
4	Every 3^rd stitch	48
5	Every 4^th stitch	60
6	Every 5^th stitch	72

Bottom:

rnd 1: Into mc: ch 1, 2 sc, 2 hdc, 8 dc, do not close round [12 sts]

rnd 2: ( Your first dc of rnd 2 is going into the first sc of rnd 1. ( and that is how you begin a dc spiral! )

From here on you need to put a stitch marker in your last stitch of each rnd.

Make sure you can find that 1^st sc to work into before you pull your magic ring tight. )

2 dc in each st all around, do not close rnd. [24 dc]

rnd 3: Your first dc of rnd 3 is going to be into the first dc of rnd 2

* 1 dc, 2dc * all around, stitch marker in last stitch, do not close rnd. [36 dc]

You should have a pretty good idea of spiral crochet now. You can now decide how big you want the bottom of your basket. For a larger bottom, you just carry on with your spiral rounds using the increase table above.

After your last dc in rnd 3 you need to taper down to get an even “end”.

This is how you do it:

Work the following into each of the next stitches:

last dc, 2 hdc, 2 sc

Your spiral should look a bit more roundish now! Do not end off here. You are starting your side right here after that last sc.

Side:

Work in the back loops for the first round of your side.

To bring your side up to dc height: 2 sc, 2 hdc, then dc all around. ( stitch marker in your 1^st sc )

When you come around to your first sc you made in the back loop, you simply dc in the normal way (under both loops of that sc) and then carry on with normal dc stitches in each stitch all around.

You do not need stitch markers for your rounds from here on, because you are just going around and around until you are happy with the height of your basket. Hence the name: Merry Go Round!

When you decide you are happy with the height of your basket, you taper down again to get the top part sort of even: last dc, 3 hdc, 3 sc, 2 ss and work away the end.

OR don’t work away the end and carry on with a pretty edge/border.

My Border on this light blue basket is done over two rounds. ( the border also “doubles” as handles if you want to carry your basket )

1^st round: dc 3 tog, skip 1, ch5

2^nd round: into each ch5 loop: 5 sc

What else can you crochet with this pattern?

Chair Leg Socks:

I used Eco-Fusion from Eco-Fusion from Nurturing Fibres and a 3,5 mm hook.

Measure the diameter of the bottom of your chair leg.

Mine was 2,5 cm. Crochet your bottom until it is 2,5 cm, then crochet in the back loops to bring the sides up. (Work away your beginning tail here, as it is difficult reaching it when your sock is finished.) Then you go around and around until you decide they are long enough. I stopped at eight rounds.

These will come in very handy to protect our painted cement floors in our new house.

My wonderful Testers’ basket photos started coming in and I just love what they made!

Nicci left her basket as is with no border. Neat!

Elize made a scallop edge on her basket. Love the pink and the heart!

Ria used a scallop edge as well and added a red ribbon.

Susan used the crab stitch for her edge.

Just a few other ideas :

Crochet in the 3rd Loop to get this knit like basket.

Polly from Every Trick on the Hook has an excellent tutorial for crocheting in the 3rd loop. Do take some time and browse her blog. She is an excellent designer, her patterns are stunning and very well written and explained.

Make a fellow yarn addict’s day with a basket filled with yarn. I made this one for our neighbour after she looked after our cats when we went on holiday.

For this one I used slip stitches for the top edge round.

Make three baskets. Crochet a long string and attach them all together. These hanging baskets are ideal for small spaces.

I made these teeny tiny plant pot covers with eco-cotton. They are 3 cm in diameter. A very cute gift .

This photo gives you an idea of the sizes. The t-shirt yarn basket was a gift to a crochet friend. I love the fancy border. I will have to share the border in a next post, because it is getting very late now.

8November , 2016 by annekewiese

Crochet Bucket List – numbers 5 and 6

Just showing you the “blanket” again, then you know which squares I am referring to.

Towards the end of the Elle CAL that I mentioned yesterday, a new CAL began. The Seaside Winter Blanket CAL, by talented local Designer, Zelna Olivier. The first square was stunning. And one of those easy addictive squares. I made quite a few of them, playing with different color combinations. I am just showing three squares of this CAL. Do have a look on her blog. There are lots more.

Umzumbe, Square 1

Umtentweni Square

And my favourite square of them all! Port Shepstone, Square 6

And my Facebook friend Tze Moi, from Tink Crochet in Amsterdam made a t-shirt yarn rug with the Port Shepstone Square. How awesome is that!

Then we went away to Arniston and Knysna for school holidays. I just love long drives in the passenger seat. Ample crochet time. I then crocheted a few of my own squares. No patterns, No notes, just relaxing crochet, playing with shades of blues and greens. Again, Christelle, who has an Afrikaans crochet group on Facebook, “Ons Hekel”, was an influence here. She was busy with this beautiful tile inspired crochet blanket.

Christelle’s Crochet Tiles.

Everywhere else in the crochet blog and pattern world, tile inspired squares began popping up. This one was my first try at designing a tile square, but it ended up in a Mandala. lol!

The rest of my holiday squares. (No patterns yet)

The Southern Most Tip of Africa

East Head Cafe, Knysna. Look at my healthy breakfast! Poached egg on toast AND Lemon Meringue. Nina is going over the top with fruit. Hehe!

This one I crocheted when we were back from Knysna. Photograph by Nina Wiese at Paradise Beach, Langebaan

The other large square you saw in yesterday’s post, was the Wishing Well Square from Dedri Uys, which I made bigger with extra rounds of dc and hdc.

Wishing Well

One more square that joined the others was this beautiful and easy one by Polly from Every Trick on the Hook. Another one with endless color combination possibilities. You must have a look at ALL her other designs. She has an outstanding collection of crochet squares and her patterns are very well written.

Marigold

And that was the end of my Granny Square Madness for this year.

In searching for these photos I can also see lots of finished t-shirt yarn rugs as well. That would be another blog post. BUT … Let me get my ducks in a row and finish with the packing!

Two more buckets filled! And Anya wanted to show you her new watch. I discovered it in a box this morning. It was one of the teenager’s from when they were small. It needs a battery. In the mean time I manually forward the time by 15 minutes every time she wants to know the time.

I also managed to empty 2 large plastic crates and one box today. Just old clothes, linen and fleece blankets. Most of which are going to be given away or donated to Hospice.

Next up? My cotton yarns.

6November , 2016 by annekewiese

Crochet Bucket List – number 4

This is what 70 plus crochet squares look like.

It could make a beautiful blanket. But with all the different sizes in there, I think it will be a nightmare trying to join the lot!

This all started way back in April this year. Facebook Crochet Groups started showing us this CAL from Elle Yarns.

You will find the free patterns for all these squares on Elle Yarns’ webpage. You just need to register (for free), then you can download them.

I had some blue yarn in my stash and joined in and crocheted the first square. We went for cake and coffee in Paternoster where I then took photos of the squares. After that Elle released two squares a week. And I then felt obliged to photograph all the other squares somewhere along our West Coast with views of the ocean.

Chocolate Cheesecake at Mondvol Coffee Shop

Langstrand Paternoster

After the first square I was hooked! And of course every time I visited my LYS, 50 Something Yarn Shop, different shades of blue yarn screamed at me to come home with me.

This was square number 2 of the Elle CAL. Paradise Beach, Langebaan

Having fun at Paradise Beach. Three more weeks then this is where we are going to live! Yay!

Squares 4 and 5

Square 8

I just love the insides of some of the squares. The possibilities of what you can do with them are endless!

The beginning of Square 10. With chocolate cake and cappuccino at Lekka-by-die-See at Mykonos, Langebaan.

Square 10

And that is the Elle CAL in a bucket for now. Anya wanted to be in the photo too! She wants to be in all the photos. LOL!

I can really recommend beginners to take part in a CAL (Crochet-Along). You learn so many stitches and tricks.

These went into a bucket for now. I am still deciding on what to do with them.

The rest of the squares in my “blanket photo” were from other CAL’s and some of them were my own squares. Hopefully I can show them to you tomorrow.

5November , 2016 by annekewiese

Crochet Bucket List – number 3

I think I started this one last year June.

Christelle , founder of the South African Facebook group “Ons Hekel” challenged our members to crochet a blanket for charity. If you know me and my crochet well, you will know that I have never ever finished a crocheted blanket!

I’ve been eyeing this beautiful green acrylic yarn for a while, but had no project for it. This challenge was the perfect excuse to buy a few balls. I saw this beautiful shawlette pattern on Moogly. It had a beautiful stitch pattern. Almost like a Corner to Corner, but a bit more lacy. Then I figured out that you can make a square with the pattern. (well sort of, hehe!)

fortunes-shawlette-labeled1

This is how the square looks. I then went all around the square with a variegated yarn using 1 sc ch3, thinking I could then JAYG them all together in a stunning blanket.

Now I have this stack of not so square squares! And two mittens. lol!

Here my assistant, Anya helps me packing them out to see if we have enough squares for a blanket. Oh dear! Now you can clearly see that not all the squares are squared! Eeeeek!

Then Anya came up with this idea for a photograph. I wonder why? She does not know what Frogging means in crochet language.

Crochet Bucket List Item Number 3

I really really do not have lots of hope for this project to become something. Let’s just put it in a bucket for now.

You are going to love tomorrow’s post. It is another unfinished blanket! lol!

4November , 2016 by annekewiese

Crochet Bucket List – numbers 1 and 2

From the dictionary:

“Bucket List” = a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime

It has been way too long since my last blog post.

So much happened in between. In January we moved house from Paternoster to Langebaan to be closer to our three girls’ schools. It just makes life much easier. Paternoster was about 40 minutes drive to school. We are building a little beach cottage here in Langebaan in an area called Paradise Beach. So …. for 2016 we rented a house here. And … end of this month (November) we are moving into our own house. Yay!

I am struggling to get organised with the packing. Not one of my favourites! And as with the previous move there is always so much yarn, fabric and other crafty stuff to sort out.

I see now that I am way beyond a few unfinished WIP’s. Everything is terribly chaotic and out of control. So … I’ve decided to do a few posts about all my projects that I still have to finish. Putting them all on a Crochet Bucket List makes a lot of sense to me. It also adds some fun in to the packing and sorting and who knows? Maybe I get to finish some of them in the new house!

This basket lived in a box since the January move.

This package lived in the same box. Unopened! Twelve extra balls of Colours of Grace Aran 10 ply cotton.

I emptied the crochet basket. And here is my WIP! The plan is to crochet doilies with my Pink Doily Rug Pattern, and then join them together. I’m still deciding : Blanket? Curtain? Wall Decoration? Any other suggestions?

This T-yarn basket will be Number 1 on the Crochet Bucket List. Those scallops on the edge keep on flopping over. I am going to frog the edge and redo it.

Tadah! Crochet Bucket List Item Number 2!

Thank you all for stopping by. I’m off to find more WIP’s to fill more buckets!

8December , 2015 by annekewiese

Floppy Star

Hi All!

Sorry for being so scarce! We had Exams, a School Nativity play, and a School price giving this evening. Busy Busy!

I have a little star pattern for you. Little if you crochet it with dk yarn or cotton. Or BIG if you use bulky or t-shirt yarn. Have fun and do show us if you make some.