Mandalas

This week I’ve been working on mandalas.   I’m still studying colors.  I even bought a color wheel from AC Moore.  It was for painters but I found it helps with yarn too.

 
I found this fabulous website called ,A Creative Being, and she crochets a mandala a week.   It’s a fantastic study in color.  There’s a free pattern on the site for her basic  mandala.  I also bought her pattern for the  “I love Holland crochet Mandala.”  This pattern can be found on Ravelry.

 

This is one of the ones I made.  It’s so simple to do but so pretty.  I made another one in red, white and blue.  And I started a third one with red and yellow tulips  I made them in Sugar n Cream 100% cotton yarn.  I think they make pretty hot pads.  Or maybe placemats.

 

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Coloring My World

Coloring My World

 

So this week I’ve been playing with color.  I finally got my box of cotton yarn from Germany.  It’s Catania from Schachenmayr.  I love it.  The colors are so pretty and it’s wonderful to work with.

 

I made this birdie.  I really enjoyed this pattern and I plan on making and selling these birds for decorations  in my Etsy shop.  After I took his picture I found better beads to use for the eyes and feet.  This pattern is by Atercrochet.

 

So is this one.  I love this pincushion ring!  It was fun and quick to do.  I want to make a bunch of these to sell also.  Tho maybe just at craft fairs.

 

 

 

 

 

I got the idea for the colors for my latest diaper cover and hat from a truck that drove past me while I was driving home from work and stuck in traffic.  It was a big blue truck and it had a large orange sphere on it.  It said Blue Moon on the side of the truck and I just thought it was so pretty. I came home and crocheted up a diaper set for baby girls.

 Where do you get your inspiration for projects?

 

 

 

 

U is for Ugly

U is for Ugly

 

I’m  making this Owl cushion from the pattern I bought. 

 

My first attempt was this. 

 

 

 

Ugly! Because as I said before I can’t always choose colors  So I went to her Etsy shop and studied the pix of the cushions and then I made this.

 

 

 

Ahh!  Much better and so pretty.   Even though this picture doesn't do the colors justice.  It's purples and pinks.

 Now I can’t wait to finish it and see it on my love seat on the porch. 

Such and Stuff

P Q R S is for Such and Stuff

 

I’ve been buying a lot of patterns lately so P is for patterns.  You might wonder why I would need to buy patterns when I could probably figure it out myself.  But sometimes I don’t feel like figuring it out.  Sometimes I just want to sit and crochet and not have to pick colors or figure out sizing.  Plus buying others designer’s patterns, I’ve actually learned a few new things, like a neater ending for crochet or how to add crochet  flowers to a bunting.

Q is for Quicker.  I’m always looking for a way to streamline my knitting or crocheting so it takes less time.  But sometimes I just want to take my time and mosey along working on a more complicated design.

R is for Rainbow.  And though I love colors I’m not always good at combining them prettily.  So I’ve bought several patterns by ATERcrochet  because I love her use of color.  Plus her patterns are wonderful.

S is for Slip Stitch, my new favorite stitch in knitting.  With it you can make items look like plaid, or tweed or bricks.  It’s so fascinating and I have several things in the works using slip stitch. 

 

 

 

That’s what I’ve been doing lately, studying new patterns and new ways to knit and crochet, when I thought I “knew it all”.  I love learning new stuff so it’s been fun and relaxing.