Crochet Keychain: Pattern

Hello, hello, how is everyone doing? I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend!

Thank you very much for your lovely words on the keychains in my previous post, just simple stuff but you liked it and that made me so happy!

Some of you wondered if I could share the pattern - of course! I'm so glad to do that!
Here you are:

* The oval:

Chain 36.
Round 1: Ch 1, sc into the same chain, sc in next 34 chs, 3 sc in next ch, working on opposite side
of foundation chain, sc in next 34 ch, 2 sc in the last ch. Join with slip stitch to the first sc.
Round 2: Ch 1, 2 sc in the same stitch, sc in next 34 sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 34 sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc. Join with slip stitch to the first sc.
Round 3: Ch 1, sc into the same sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 34 sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 34 sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc. Join with slip stitch to the first sc. Leave a length of tail.

Fold the oval with wrong side facing, sew along the edge. Fasten off.

* Little flower: 

Make a magic circle, ch 1, *sc through the loop, ch 3, 2 dc through the loop, ch 3. Repeat from * 5 more times, join to the first sc. You have 6 petals for the flower. Do not fasten off, make a chain of 15-16 st (or your desired length) and join with slip stitch through the loop. Close circle tight, knot and secure. Leave a length of tail for sewing to the top of the oval.

You're done! Very quick and so easy!

Happy creating!

Crochet keychains

Some keychains I just made, very easy as you can see...

Just simply make a long and thin oval in single crochet, fold it and sew seam together, then attach a small flower on top and you have a keychain. I made one for my honey before and he liked it, so I made some more.... The black and grey one is for him, as its colors look quite manly...

 

Hope everyone enjoy a wonderful weekend!!

Knit simple hanger cover

Hello everyone!

Thank you very much for your kind words on my blog so far. I'm so happy you like my crafts and would love to let you know that I really appreciate every comment from each of you!

I made this hanger cover last week but have been too busy to take photos and post. After I took photos of the crocheted top in my last post, I just felt that my hanger looked quite monotonous, it should have a nice cover. Didn't it come out lovely? :)

This one is really simple, fun and easy to make. At first, you need to remove the hook from the hanger by unscrewing it. Then you knit a flat rectangle piece in stockinette stitch with any yarn you like (I used cotton for this one), fold it and sew seam. Now you can "dress" your hanger, I stretched a bit to make it have a lacy look. Sew both edges. Screw the metal hook tightly and you're done! Crochet a small flower to attach at the center would make your hanger cover nicer!

 

Thank you for your time and hope everyone have a great week ahead! ♥

All the best ~
Lovestitch

Crochet Summer Top

I made this one a while ago, but just took a photo over the weekend (just as I cannot find out a model :)).

Pattern for this summer top can be found here at "Les Mailles de Celeste", Celeste has been bringing me great inspirations with her amazing talent in both knitting and crochet! When I first saw this one on her blog, I couldn't wait to give it a try!

I used size 3 cotton thread, 3.5mm crochet hook in case you are wondering. The bottom was modified so it looks different from the pattern. But I love how it turned out, it fixes me so well!

Hope the rest of the week is gorgeous to you all! ♥

UPDATE on June 25, 2012:

I have "translated" the pattern from chart form to written US term in case you would like to make it. Please let me know if there are any mistakes or unclear details. Thank you and happy hooking!!!

Crochet top: Pattern

(Make two alike)

Chain 6. Join.

Round 1: Ch 1, sc into the loop, *ch 6, sc into the loop. Repeat from * 6 more times, ch 3, dc in the first sc (you have total 8 ch-6 loops).

Round 2: Ch 1, sc in the same stitch, ch 6, *sc in the 6-ch loop in previous round, ch 6. Repeat from * 7 more times, slip stitch to the first ch to join (8 ch-6 loops in total).

Round 3: Slip stitch to the next 2 chains, ch 3 (count as a dc), 3 dc into the same space, ch 6, * 4 dc into the next space, ch 6. Repeat from * 6 more times. Join with sl st to the first ch-3.

Round 4: * Ch 3 (count as a dc), dc in each of 3 dc, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6. Repeat from * 7 more times. Join with sl st to the first ch-3.

Round 5: * Ch 3 (count as a dc), dc in each of 3 dc, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6. Repeat from * 7 more times. Join with sl st to the first ch-3.

Round 6: Ch 3, make a cluster of 3 dc, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 3, 4 dc into the next space, ch 3, sc in the next space, ch 6. Repeat from * 7 more times. (Note: for the repetition you make a cluster of 4 dc instead as the first ch-3 counts as a dc). Replace the last 3 ch of “ch 6” with a dc and join to the first cluster.

Round 7: Ch 1, * sc in the same space, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6, dc in each of 4 dc, ch 6. Repeat from * 7 more times. Replace the last 3 ch of “ch 6” with a dc and join to the first sc.

Round 8: Ch 1, * sc in the same space, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6, make a cluster of 4 dc in each of 4 previous dc, ch 6. Repeat from * 7 more times. Replace the last 3 ch of “ch 6” with a dc and join to the first sc.

Round 9: Ch 1, sc in the same space, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6, sc in the next space, ch 6, sc in the next space, *ch 6, triple crochet in the next cluster, (ch 6, sc in the next space) 8 times. Repeat from * 2 more times. Ch 6, triple crochet in the next cluster, ch 6, work (sc in the next space, ch 6) 5 times. Replace the last 3 ch of “ch 6” with a dc and join to the first sc.

Round 10: Ch 1, sc in the same space, (ch 6, sc in the next space) 4 times, *ch 6, triple crochet in the previous triple, (ch 6, sc in the next space) 9 times. Repeat from * 2 more times. Ch 6, triple crochet in the next cluster, ch 6, make (sc in the next space, ch 6) 5 times. Join with sl st to the first sc.

Round 11: (In this round a cluster is made with 3 dc) Sl st to the next 2 ch, ch 3 (count as a st), make a cluster in the same space, (ch 4, cluster in the next space) 2 times. (Ch 18, cluster in the next space) 3 times, (ch 6, cluster in the next space) 29 times, (ch 18, cluster in the next space) 3 times, (ch 4, cluster in the next space) 2 times, ch 4. Join with sl st to the first cluster.

Make the second piece and join with sc along edges and top.

Bottom:
Start at the joining sc.

Round 1: Ch 1, sc in the same st, *ch 6, sc in the next space. Repeat from * all around. Replace the last 3 ch of “ch 6” with a dc and join to the first ch.

Round 2 & 3: ch 1, sc in the same space, *ch 6, sc in the next space. Repeat from * all around.

Round 4: Ch 1, sc in the same st, * ch 3, cluster of 3 dc, ch 3, sc in the next sc. Repeat from * all around. Join with sl st to the first sc.

Enjoy and Happy Hooking!!!

Giveaway from "Yarn Madness"!

Hi friends!

I would like to share with you a beautiful giveaway at Madeleine's blog: "Yarn Madness". She is currently hosting three lovely prizes for three lucky winners! Check out her blog and you may have chance to win one of them! :)

Good luck to all and have a great weekend!!!

Yarny Gift

Hello everyone!

Sorry I have been away from blogland for a while, almost three weeks and I must admit I miss blogging so! Life is so busy, isn't it? Hope everyone are doing so well and have been enjoying your crafting creations!

A friend of mine just got back from her trip to Switzerland and surprised me with a lovely gift! It was all about yarn!!! A ball of bamboo yarn from Lana Grossa, I love the color she chose so much!

And a skein of mohair yarn, it's truly gorgeous, and the color is much more beautiful in reality than in the photo...

I've still not yet decided what project I should make with these yarns, I just love, love it and enjoyed it so, so, so much! Thank you very much my friend for such a wonderful gift! What a cute surprise!

Well, that's all for today's post... Thank you for stopping by, and thank you for all the kind words on my blog so far, I do appreciate!

Best wishes to you always!

With love, LS

Tutorial: Crochet Hair Scrunchie

Hello friends!

Thank you ever so much for your sweet words on my last post, you made my day!

I just finished my tutorial on how to make a scrunchie and am very happy to share you today. This is also my first attempt to make a tutorial, so please correct me if there are any mistakes. I hope it helps those who are new to crochet! Thank you!

Okay, let's start. What you need is: some cotton thread, 1.8mm crochet hook (or any size that works well with your thread/yarn) and a pony tail band.

Make a slip knot. Insert the hook through the pony tail band, pull thread through the band and the slip knot. 

Pull the thread tightly, like this and you are ready to go. 

Round 1: Chain 3,

Single crochet into the loop.

Continue: chain 3, single crochet into the loop. Repeat all around the hair band. You may need to slide the stitches down to cover the band.

When the stitches all cover the band, join with slip stitch to the first chain-3 space.

  

You've finished round 1. 

Round 2: Single crochet into the same space.   

Chain 3, single crochet into the next chain-3 space. 

Continue all around, like so. Join with slip stitch to the first single crochet.  

Round 3: Single crochet into the first chain-3 space. Chain 3.

Make 5 double crochet into the same space, then make a single crochet into the next chain-3 space.

Continue: Chain 3, make 5 double crochet into the same space and single crochet ino the next space. Repeat all around and join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet. 

There you have it! Enjoy and happy wearing!!

Lovely day to all! ♥

Crochet Hair Scrunchies

Hello, hello, how is everyone doing? I hope you all had a great weekend with family and friends!

The first project I thought about when I started to learn to crochet is making myself some hair scrunchies, but I have not yet made even one until now, though it's a easy project. I decided to make some over the weekend, and they were really fun to make!

One in light blue...

One in variegated color of red and white...

 

And another one in pink...

 

I just love these small lovely stuff and really enjoy wearing them!

They look so nice, don't they? I will make more to match my shirts! Would you like the pattern? I'm working on the tutorial and will post it shortly! Just come back!

Thank you for your time, hope your new week is awesome!

See you later! ♥

Bicycle and Flowers...

Hello everyone!

Not much to post about today, I just pop in to say "Hi" to you all! I'm still around, but have been so bad in updating my blog the last few weeks. I just have too many distractions at the moment...

I found this lovely bicycle back when cleaning my house over the weekend. A friend gave it to me about tens years ago, it's handmade with a kind of wood which I don't know its name. Just love it. Some tiny flowers to put in the basket in the front is not a bad idea, right? ;-)

Just a cute bicycle, some little flowers which brought me the hook, would make me happy enough!

 

Wishing your days are always wonderful and delightful...!!! See you soon!

Lots of love, ♥

Versatile Blogger Award

Hello all my bloggy friends!

Rob at Men Crochet was so kind and nice to think of me and pass this Versatile Blogger Award on to my blog. Thank you very much, Rob! I cannot believe my blog is versatile! I'm very chuffed! :) 

Now it's my turn to follow the rules:

1 Add the award to your blog

2 Thank the blogger who gave it to you

3 Mention 7 random things about yourself.

4 List the rules

5 Award to 15 bloggers

6 Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on there blog.

1 - 2 - 4: Done. Now I have to list 7 things about myself - I just wish I can skip this part! :)

• I love coffee.
• I started to try spicy foods a few years ago, and I just love it.
• I don't smoke.
• I love dark chocolate.
• My favorite color is orange, green, cream and recently I feel I like blue.
• My sweet honey just brought to my home 2 chickens, they are very cute in the garden!
• I met my honey 8 years ago and we don't celebrate Valentine's Day. I love gifts, love flowers, love chocolate,..., but don't need to have them on Feb 14.

This part is also not easy, I have to choose 15 blogs to pass this award on to. Here goes, in alphabetical order:

• Annielizabeth at annielizabeth's heart to heart 
• Anne at Ungardened Moment 
• Annemiek at mieksthreads
• Aurora at Aurora Blythe 
• Celeste at les mailles de celeste 
• DaPerfectMix at Mixing it up with DaPerfectMix 
• Donna at GG's Creative Corner 
• Esther at Happy In Red
• Heather at The Good Life 
• Mercedes at el olor de cadiz  
• Meredith at Mereknits
• Tammy at T's Daily Treasures
• Teresa at Teresa Kasner
• Sandy at Sandy's Space
• Saskia at Crafty Valley

I hope you like the award, but you don't have to participate - a smile would be good enough! 

Great weekend to all! see you sooooonnnn.........

Learn more about "45 Lessons..."

Hello everyone!

Thank you very much for your comments on my last post and I'm so happy you like the "45 Lessons Life Taught Me".

After reading one of the comments on my blog that Regina is an Urban Legend, my dear friend Donna had spent time to find more about her from her official site and found that Regina herself is the author of  "45 Lessons Life Taught Me" not anyone else. She wrote this when she was 45, and added 5 more to her list when she was 50, you can refer those on her site above, "50 Life Lessons". She is not an Urban Legend.

Both Donna and I agreed that we should post this to our blogs, as Regina is really an incredible woman and her life lessons are really wonderful and honorable.

Thank you for your time. Wishing everyone a gorgeous day!

All the best,
Lovestitch

45 Lessons Life Taught Me

After reading this from my friend's blog, Donna at GG's Creative Corner, I know I will print it out to read and remember it by each day. My craft blog today has a non-craft post as I would love to reprint it here to share you all. Hope you like this as much as I do. Thank you Donna for sharing these precious words...

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short – enjoy it.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye But don't worry; God never blinks.

16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive but don’t forget.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all throw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Knitting Lace Scarf

Hello, hello everyone!

Finally I can find some time to blog and have something to share with you after a long break... I just finished a scarf during my Holiday of Dragon New Year. This is the first time I tried lace knitting, but this scarf turned out so beautiful in lavender and so soft! I just love, love, love it!!! I'm sure the photos did not treat it well!

I selected a pattern in my knitting book to make the scarf, called a "Cell Stitch". It's a simple combination between YO and K2TOG, but with this special type of yarn, it came out much over my expectation! 

My friend Donna sent this yarn to me a while ago, she loves lavender color and generously shared it with me. It ruffles itself, and is very soft, especially it creates an amazing stretch for the scarf!!! I believe it made the scarf more special beside the stitches! Thank you, thank you so much my friend for giving me a great opportunity to experience this wonderful yarn, and in turn, this one will be another gift to be sent back to California! I'm more than happy with that!

I made a crochet chain for the edgings instead of adding fringe or tassel, as this kind of yarn unravels easily when cut in to a short piece, and the second reason is just to save yarn for the scarf body! :)

This scarf is really glamorous to me, so I hope she will love it and enjoy it as much as I do! 

Thank you ever so much for taking the time to visit my blog and your comments are always most appreciated! Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!!!

Best wishes, ♥

Ruffle Scarf for the New Year!

I made several scarfs before, in both crochet and knitting, but until the weather has changed recently, when it's getting cold here I just realized I don't have any scarf for myself! I really wanted to have one. I found this pattern when surfing for a scarf and it was always in my mind until I could start it!

This scarf was made with 2 skeins of Lion Suede, the yarn my dear friend Donna (visit her at her wonderful blog here) sent to me in our last "Dove".  I actually thought about making something with this yarn all the time so I was very happy with this project! The pattern calls for 3 skeins so I had to adjust a bit in the last row, worked only 1 dc in each stitch along and finally it was also sufficient, till the last scrap! Thank you so much, my friend for sending me such beautiful yarn! You know how much warm I feel! It's great on me and I just love it!

I'm also making on another project with another yarn she sent me, and must say I'm really excited with it, but I will reveal it once I'm done!! :)

Thank you for stopping by, hope everyone had wonderful Holidays and wishing all the best for your New Year!!!

♥ See you all,

~ Hello New Year!!!

Hi everyone!

Thank you very much, my friends, for always visiting my blog and uplifting me with your words of encouragment over the past year, that meant a lot to me and I do appreciate!

I would like to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year! May your new year be filled with love, joy, happiness and so many crafting creations!

Blessings and Lots of love,

Lovestitch, ♥