My deal with the squirrels

I have been collecting acorn caps over the past few weeks. As they were very rare to find last year, I have secured a big pile to make sure we get through the winter. Normally I make felted acorns of raw wool. This year I decided to try and crochet the little nuts.

Not hard at all, this is how I did it.

- Start out with a magic loop and a 3.5 mm crochet hook. 

- make 5 single crochet into the loop and pull it together into a circle.

- next row is simply 2 single crotchets into each of the chains from the previous round 

- continue to crochet single crotchets into each of the 10 chains that is now forming the   
    base of the acorn. 

- depending of the size of the acorn cap, do between 5-7 rows of single crochet stitches.

As the top of the crocheted nut will be covered by the cap I just filled the hollow nut with fiberfill. To secure the filling inside, simply just crochet into every second chain from the previous row and keep going till the nut is closed up.  I used hot glue to secure the nuts under the caps.

During the summer we went to Denmark. On my to do list while we were there was to go and check out the yarn store yarnfreak in Århus .  I have followed Camilla's blog for a while and was very inspired by some of her postings. To my husbands horror, there was quite a lot of yarn in the store, I couldn't live without. Even though it meant bringing it all on a plane to the US! 

The yarn I have used for these acorns are 100% mercerized cotton called Rio from the Dutch yarn company Lammy which Yarn Freak stocks in all kinds of colors. 

Scarf for the pumpkin season.

Another Christmas present to an older member of the family. This shorter version of a scarf was fun to make, as I tried out a new, to me, technique: The foundation stitch. Basically you make the foundation chain along with the first row, in one go. The pattern used was  this one from Purlbee.

There is a tutorial on how to make the foundation single crochet stitch. I had a go with the tutorial on a friday evening and after several attempts I gave up.  I think it was described in way too many details. I found an easier photo tutorial on you tube. 

In order for the scarf not to be too bulky, and be able to look a little more conservative, I added the little snippet on the back as a "lock" for the scarf. That makes it drape really beautiful.

Crochet has a ring of old fashioned to it, maybe because we tend to  associate it with our grandmothers. I still remember how my grandmother made chair covers for the armrests on her upholstered lounge chairs.  Probably not something we would spend too much time on today. The simple stitch here doesn't look one bit old fashioned, in my opinion, so maybe with all the fantastic new crochet designers out there, it will be possible to change the image of crochet. 

Package to Denmark

I have frantically been working on Christmas presents for the past month or so. Decided that many of my gifts this year should be homemade.  It still seems that Christmas is far away, but when you have the opportunity to get your shipment to friends and family in Denmark without the help of US Postal Services,  I really need to take it. That means all packages have to be ready to send of in two weeks.  Still a way to go, but here is a little sneak peek at one of the little presents.

  The inner part of the cushion is made of one skein of the fabulous."Knit Collage". This particular one is the "Raindance".

The back and the rim of the cushion is crochet in a 100 % thick merino wool.  It was a lot of fun making this. Only challenge was to get the little sparkle items, that originally was part of  the Saries that this yarn is recycled from, to end up on the front of the cushion!

As the entire cushion is made in single crochet stitches (Double crochet (UK) and Fastmasker (DK), into the back stitch of the previous round of stitches, it was very easy to sew together at the end.  The two sides almost blend together.

Knit Collage can be bought all around the world. Vendors can be found on their website: www.knitcollage.com  I found my first skein in a little fun Art Store in the tiny town of Chester, CT ( normally don't sell yarn, but who could resist this?) and when I needed more for my Christmas presents I just found a stockiest locally.  

Chair Cushion

Maybe you remember the funky looking yarn I bought a couple of weeks ago? The intention was, that it was meant to be for chair cushions for all of my dining chairs. After I finished this one, I decided that it was too busy for that purpose, but that it would fit perfectly in this chair.

                                    And this is how the cushion looks up close. 

You can find the pattern on the Norwegian website Pickles and the pattern right here.

It is a very simple pattern and you can whip this up in an hour or so.  I added an extra row of stitches, as I used a 15 mm crochet hook instead of the suggested 20 mm. 

Have a wonderful day.

Technical challenges

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What the squirrels left me!

   
  When the oak trees start casting off acorn around this time of year, I walk with my nose to the ground in pursuit of these beautiful home accessories.  Or to be more correct the acorn caps. The squirrels and I have an agreement, They take the nuts I take the caps, which is all I need for my yearly fall crafting project. Last year I found out that I can't count on the supply as the trees only shed the caps every second year.  I was in dire need last year as demand was far bigger than supply. Luckily that is not the case this year. It is like a candy store out there these days.

This is what the squirrels shared with me today.

In a couple of days I will show you what I use them for.

On this first day of October.

We have had a brilliant Indian summer here and apparently it is continuing.

Today I just wanted to share a few pictures.

The one here, is of one of my favorite houses here in my neighborhood. Just because it looks so pretty. The little pumpkins above the door is a nice little fall touch. To live in, I prefer a more modern style house, like I am used to from back home, but it doesn't change the fact, that there is something very cozy about a house like this. 

 Stayed tuned for when they decorate for Christmas. It is out of a fairytale.

 

And then I couldn't pass this beautiful flower without taking a picture of it. 

 Happy  1st. of October.