drenka's crochet

Socks..Socks and more socks

2009-03-27T09:02:00.006+01:00

It looks like I have developed new addiction in my life. Can you guess it? It is crocheted socks.

After using the pattern for the Step by Step Socks I got tons of ideas for crocheted socks. Now I have 2 new pairs and I absolutely love them.

The yarn that I used for them is Simple Stripes by Knit Picks and Sockotta Sock Yarn by Plymouth Yarn.

I got an Award from Nena. If I had to give an award to someone it would be to many people. Just look at my friend list on Ravelry or the blogroll on the right and you'll see all the people that I am giving this award to.

Baseball Cap

2009-03-18T20:59:00.003+01:00

I love reading My Recycled Bag blog. Cindy has so many ideas about using recycled materials. One of her latest projects was her Recycled Baseball Cap ( Ravelry link ). I immediately fell in love in her pattern and had to make it. Instead of plastic bags I used Lion Brand Suede Yarn.

And you know what? My mother loved it so much, that she took it away for me :)

Now, I have to do one for me...

Swap things

2009-03-02T16:48:00.005+01:00

These are my latest quick projects.

First, this golden bag that can be used as cosmetic pouch, bag, purse... I crocheted it as a gift for a special person for a swap. The bag is fully lined...I am extra happy for this because I used my sewing machine after a long time.I was scared of ruining the pouch , but It turned out great at the end.I am very happy about that. The pattern is Recycled Purseabilities by Nannybird Crafts.

Actually this is the second time that I am using this pattern and I really enjoy it. Such a simple pattern and easy to follow.

After crocheting the socks form the previous post I had some leftovers form the red yarn and decided to use it smartly. I made this bookmark.

The pattern that I used for this bookmark is Baltic Scarf from Berroco. Somehow, I have used this pattern as an inspiration for many projects. Some of them are my headband, lot of bookmarks that are given away as gifts, two scarfs(first and second one)...

Back in the craft world again

2009-02-14T00:21:00.005+01:00

So after couple of months of being out of Internet, I am back here again.

I remember that those first days with "no Internet " i thought that maybe it is a good thing.

"Maybe it is a good thing, no Internet and I will stop crocheting and I will spend my time studding for my exams"-I said to my self.

Boy, I was so wrong. I have spent three month studding nothing and crocheting nothing... total misery. So couple of weeks ago I have said to myself that It is time for me to get on the road again. Started crocheting again and now studding is easier for me. It is amazing how crocheting is influencing me, maybe even more than I realized before.

After hours spend looking at Revelry's Crocheted socks at the pattern browser I have set my mind in crocheting the Step-by-Step Socks by Amy o'Neill Houck (Ravelry link). I am so happy how they turned out. I have used Regia Yarn that i got from Lisa. I really love this yarn , it certainly has a nice feel where I am wearing my socks.

Addicted with crochet again

2008-09-09T00:56:00.008+02:00

Just to tell you that I have started crafting again, and to be specific I started crocheting. Even that the weather is still hot I started crocheting shawls and scarves.
I don't have pictures to show, but I can show you something else. I have started crocheting plastic bags into a rug. I decided to use the "joyful colors" that I have in my plarn stash and you can see the result.

In between crocheting and regular life I have found some interesting blogs to visit:
One Pretty Thing and MMMCrafts. I found interesting things there.

Still tired

2008-09-04T00:38:00.010+02:00

So, after spending 5 weeks away for home you come back and feel relaxed and wonderful. That feeling stops after 2-3 days.
You think that these nice feelings would stay forever? No!!! You are wrong there, BIG TIME! Other people see it at different way.
They haven't seen you in 5 weeks and they all want to see you the first day you come back. Off course, you don't have enough time to see them all in the first day and you spend the next two weeks visiting friends and close relatives. This is the time that you realize that you are getting to feels more tired and forget about the long holiday.
This is how it has been for me for the last 10 days. I have spent 2 days in city Tetovo, and 3 days in city Kumanovo. All the other days I have been in my home city Skopje, seeing people that I haven't seen before, studding and surfing the net.
This is how you get to be in a situation to read a lot of good blogs, but no time to comment them.

I haven't been doing much crafts for a long time. I have a lot of started projects, but still don't have the energy to continue them.
Before my 5 weeks break I crocheted one quick bag for a newborn baby. It was pretty easy and fast because all I did is made 2 grannies, joined them together and made one long strap.

While I was away in Croatia I managed to do only one craft related thing. I wrote the pattern for my Ripple Top. I have to write it on my computer so I can publish it as a free pattern. Hope to do that soon, because I had few requests allready.

I am back !

2008-08-26T22:56:00.005+02:00

I got back and now I feel lazier than ever.

I have spent 5 weeks in long walks, beautiful views, crystal clear sea, sunbathing, swimming, diving and a lot more. 5 weeks spent in visiting interesting places and 5 weeks of paradise for me.

Before I went on my vacation I received a package in the mail form JanaK. I have received wonderful things like yummy yarns, hooks, needles, magazines and a book for sock knitting. I have no words to describe my happiness of getting these gifts. Thank you, Jana!!

Vacation 2008

2008-07-18T23:39:00.008+02:00

I will be gone for a month!
I am leaving on a vacation in a couple of days. As every year, I am going in Croatia and I am staying there for a month.

But this year I feel really stressed about it. To be precise, the packing and the driving stresses me out. Every year the same question: what to take with me and what to leave home? A month is a big period of time so I have to be clever in choosing what to bring with me. It would be super easy if I was going on a 10 day vacation. My luggage bag would be big enough to hold everything that I think that I would need. But for a month, Oh boy, I feel like I need a lot.
The first thing that I put in my bag is Sun Lotions, cosmetics and bath suits (Yes suits, because a lot can happen in a month). After that, I put my underwear and sleeping clothes.
Although it is summer, it can bet chilly at knight so I must put in a pair of long denim-pants and comfortable long sleeved blouse. After I put in one-two books and diving mask inside the bag I feel the rest of the bag with clothes. That means tops, skirts, short pants, blouses...
Off course, I take with me one pair of sandals, snickers, and shoes that are suitable for beach.

So, I will be away for a month and I won’t be having any contact with TV, mail and internet in that time. No, I am not going to a desert island, but I am going to an island. The part of the island where my house is doesn’t have any electricity. People are using solar energy or different kind of alternative energy sources for their needs. At first this drived me crazy, but now I am kind of excited for this fact. This is such an eco solution.

Not everything is bad regarding my vacation. In fact, there are lots of great things there, but this time I chose to speak about them. And these are the only bad things.

Also, the picture above is the view from my house. Great, don’t you think so? Imagine every day waking up like this! Wonderful!

Simple Plarn Curtain – Free Pattern

2008-07-08T00:11:00.007+02:00

Materials:
- Plastic bag yarn ( strips cut to 1,5 cm width or 0,5 inch )
- Size 2mm crochet hook
All stitches are Double Crochet

Start with row 1 (54 squares) and continue working the chart to the row 19. Then repeat row4-row19 until you get the desired length of the curtain. Then crochet row2 and then row1.

Download pattern file directly at Ravelry here. You can see a bigger chart there.

Silver envelope bag and headband

2008-07-04T11:58:00.005+02:00

In a week I am attending a wedding. I have my black dress and my black shoes. I like how my dress and shoes go with silver jewelry and I wanted to go little further with this look and thought that maybe it would be a good idea if I had some kind of envelope bag that was knitted or crocheted with silver-metallic thread. I started crocheting but somehow my bag didn’t seem elegant enough and I ripped it off. Then tried knitting it and BINGO! There it is my silver envelope bag!

It was really a simple knit, because I knitted an ordinary swatch (remember, I am still a beginner knitter, I am not able to knit lace patterns and knitting is still a complex process for me). In the knitting process I used my old cheap envelope bag to measure the length and thought how it would be a lot easier to sew the swatch to the bag and skip the process of lining it. It turned out pretty well, I like to think so.

Lately, I have been obsessed with headbands. I think that they go well with my new haircut. This headband is made from cotton and it will be good for summer beach walks. I used the pattern for Beroco’s Baltic Scarf and altered in order to make it less wide.

I find this pattern very easy and have used it a lot for the past year. I made two scarfs and a lot of bookmarks that I gave away as presents.

My Needle Roll and Yarn

2008-06-29T20:18:00.009+02:00

Since I started making my own handcrafted needles, and my collection is getting bigger every day, I decided that my needles and hooks deserve a decent place to be put in. After searching the net, I found very interesting needle and hook cases. After carefully searching what’s out there, I made my own version of the famous needle rolls.

It was quick sewing with my old sewing machine. I don’t mind sewing with it, but when I think that in order to start sewing I have to go and get it and find a clean place at my desk to put it on and after I finish sewing I have to put it away, I immediately start to say to myself that sewing can be done in another time.
I made this needle roll with 2 table napkins and one felt fabric that is the same size as the table napkins. Basically what you do is sew one table napkin with the felt cloth. The second table napkin is also sewed with the needle roll and it is used to make pockets for the needles and hooks.
I didn’t have big enough felt fabric so I joined 3 pieces together to make one. Also, so far I haven’t found a store that sells felt fabric in cheerful colors, so what I did is buy dish clothes from my market. These days you can find dish clothes that really look a lot like felt fabric.

I seem to getting a lot of yarn in the mail these days. Thanks to Fey , Lisa and Laura .

DIY Needles and Stitch Markers

2008-06-16T15:50:00.007+02:00

Since I started knitting, I had to make some handmade needles and stitch markers. I am pretty happy how they turned out. Now I am proud owner of DPN's (2,5 mm and 3.5 mm) and straits (also 2,5m and 3.5 mm). I made them in various lengths so I can easily knit socks with the short ones and long ones for bigger projects.

I have been using this tutorial mainly as a guide to making my own personal needles. I have been really lucky to find the wood in the local stores. These sticks are actually for barbeque and they are already sharpened.

Here you can see my short needles in action. I told you before that I am addicted to sock knitting. It is summer here and it’s very hot, so you can imagine how far my addiction goes.

Also, I made a lot of stitch markers and started giving them away as presents at Ravelry’s RAK group. These are those that I am keeping for myself.

Testing, testing

2008-06-03T14:21:00.003+02:00

I have been testing the pattern for the Recycled Purseability Bag. It was written by Nannybird at Ravelry. Now when I finished it I think that I would like to crochet it again, but using different yarn.I think that it would be good also if I used regular yarn, or even felting it. If I really do it again, I would use very thin yarn and smaller hook so I can make myself small handbag. I think that It would be perfect. Overall, I love your pattern.

I am getting to think that I am getting addicted to using plarn (plastic bag yarn).

Here are my two projects that I told you about in my previous post. The Granny Square Earrings where I am using wire:

And my pantyhose rug:

Socks finished and other things

2008-05-26T15:34:00.005+02:00

I finished knitting my socks. I am so happy!!! Finally my wish of knitting my own socks came true. I love them so much. To be honest, they are far from perfect, but I like to think that they are. The one thing that I have to work on is improving the heel turn. I got the pattern here at Ravelry.

Maybe I have sock mania but I have to tell you that I started another pair already. It is very addictive.

Also, I have a lot of new projects at the moment. I am experimenting with new materials and started crocheting a rug using pantyhose as a yarn. The process of cutting the hose is a little slow, but I must say that I like the result. My rug is getting an interesting texture.

Another material that I am trying on is wire. Crocheting a wire is a very complicated process. At least it is for me. I am using very thin wire and again it is a little difficult. I decided to make granny-square earrings, but it is going slowly. I used up lot of wire and didn’t do anything. At the end somehow I managed to this granny square and now, I don’t have any wire to do another one. This project will be “sleeping” until I buy new wire.

my first socks

2008-05-06T14:02:00.003+02:00

Finally, I started knitting my first socks. Hurray!!! I am so happy right now.

This is an original sock yarn. It is 75% Superwash wool and 25 % Polyamide. This yarn feels soft and the only thing that I mind about it is that there is too much color changing. But I can certainly live with it.

My summer skirt

2008-04-18T02:27:00.006+02:00

My summer skirt is almost finished.I had to show it off here. The crochet part is finished and all I am left to do is buy some matching fabric and line this skirt. I am a little scared to do this, but I have to.

So far I love it , but need to do some improving of the design.

City Bag

2008-04-12T02:54:00.002+02:00

I wanted to crochet new beach bag. First I started doing the Inga's Haekelbeutel Bag-pdf link (via Ravelry). But then I changed my mind and blocked the squares to get this shape of the bag. I wasn’t wrong, the bag turned out beautiful and I immediately fell in love in it. This is not a “beach bag” anymore. It is a “city bag” and it's huge enough to keep many things inside.

p.s. I have six (6) exams left for my Faculty. This number is getting smaller.

I am knitting

2008-04-01T15:09:00.003+02:00

I started with a small swatch. I didn't know what to do with it and I don't want to throw away my first knitted piece. That's why I decided that I am doing the Knitted Kitty. It was lot of fun.

Sneak peak preview of my skirt

2008-03-19T21:30:00.006+01:00

I have switched to cotton. I was very happy for that, but suddenly today it started raining snow. How weird is that? Snow in March.

I started crocheting a skirt for myself. It is my first skirt and I am learning, but so far it looks good. I am doing a flower pattern on it and it is amazing. You can see the pattern on the picture below.

Also, Vanchy was kind enough to send me crochet hooks. I was lucky and I got these Susan Bates Crochet hook set and one big hook (9mm). Also I received this amazing fun fur yarn from Lion Brand. This is my first Lion Brand Yarn.

I used my new hooks and started crocheting a scarf from the yarn. Now this seems too easy, and I think that I should have a better use of my new yarn. I was thinking of making a poncho by combining this yarn with a regular one. First, I need to learn to knit, so I can do that.

"Tree day" in Macedonia

2008-03-12T15:24:00.004+01:00

"Having in mind the bad condition of the forest fund, and in particular the catastrophic forest fires which occurred last year, we have started a citizen's initiative for afforestation in the Republic of Macedonia.
The purpose of this initiative is to plant more than 2 million tree seedlings corresponding to the population of the Republic of Macedonia in a single day, on March 12, 2008. The action shall be entitled « Tree day »"
You can read more about this project here: http://www.treeday.com.mk/

My personal participation in this initiative and the green living is making a bag from plarn (plastic bag yarn). I crocheted this bag using plastic bags from the local market.

Lorna's Scarf and Crocheted Kitty

2008-03-08T13:13:00.004+01:00

I haven't blogged for two weeks. I have been studying and I can now proudly say that I have 8 exams left. And what am I studying? I am a student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies.
There, I said it at loud :)

Let’s continue with crafty things.
First, I must say “Thank you” to Lorna. She is really great and I am very happy that I got to know her. Even that I never met her in person; I can sense that she is pretty terrific. She was kind enough to knit me a scarf. It is white, chunky and soft with beautiful texture and pattern. Again, I say “Thank you, Lorna”.

On the second picture above you can see my Crocheted Kitty. I found a knitted version and thought that I could alter it so I can crochet it. I wasn’t wrong, it turned out cute. I can’t find anything appropriate to put for the eyes. I found the pattern here via Ravelry.

Fake Mary Janes Baby Shoes

2008-02-18T12:39:00.008+01:00

This cozy was originaly made as booty. I used too thin yarn and they ended up very small. Accidently I found out that it works well as flash drive cozy. It can work as well as key chain cozy, too.

And because I needed a pair of shoes, I used thicker yarn, followed the same pattern and made these:

They turned out very cute. The original pattern that I used is "Fake Mary Janes" found here. Very easy pattern and fun to do.

Blue Imagination Hat and free pattern

2008-02-04T23:00:00.000+01:00

I was so interested in making the red hat that I saw over at Incoknito's blog. And I wasn't the only one. Many tried before me to make up the pattern. All of them are great and I like them but I think that Goce's version is most like the original.

I got inspired and I created my own version.
I know that it is not like the original but I like this version, too.

Also, I wrote the pattern and instead of writing the words I drew a graphic of the pattern for the shells and took a picture of it. I hope you understand it.

This pattern needs only one skein. How neat is that?

7 Random Facts About Me

2008-02-04T16:36:00.000+01:00

I have been tagged by aaidjs. Here are my seven random things.

1. I like to crochet.
2. I have a huge stash of bags. They are bought, crocheted, knitted, sewed....
3. Recently I got an old weaving loom as a gift. It is very big. I don't know how to weave on it, but I will definitely learn. I also would like to own a spinning weel.
4. Most of my friends are surprised with my crocheted work. They think that I have some kind of special gift that I have. They don't realize that crochet is matter of practice. At least, I like to think so.
5. I collect post stamps, crocheted and handcrafted things.
6. I never believed that with my hobby I will meet so many great people on the web.
7. I am still a student, but hopping to finish my studies in one year.

My Nordstrom Crochet Hobo Bag

2008-02-01T16:48:00.000+01:00

I was crocheting this bag for me, but because at the end it seemed too small for me, I am giving it awayas a present. My coisun in Croatia is expecting a baby girl, so I am sending it as a gift to her.
"Every lady needs a bag"-said by me.

The pattern is over here at ShortyLam's blog and I found it via Ravelry (I can stay for hours and hours there). It was an easy pattern although I didn't follow it completely. I just looked at the picture, and felt boring to read the pattern(but I don't think that the pattern is boring). That's me, sometimes I just can't make myself read and follow patterns.
Instead of adding ribbon and a bow, I made a crocheted flower and used yarn to wave it round the bag.