Crochet

Sacred Space

~ Milla Kuuskoski ~ 1 Comment

It’s been a long while since I’ve last updated my blog. I’ve been super busy with my life and as I don’t have computer at home, writing to the blog is really slow with cell phone.

Last year, when I resigned from the company, where I worked for nearly 8 years, my colleagues bought me a gift card to my favorite yarn store. It was big enough for me to use in something bigger. So I wanted to spend it to something special, not just random skeins of yarn or something like that.

While the expiration date was coming closer and closer and I was still undecided what to buy with it, I started seeing more and more photos of this beautiful CAL Helen Shrimpton had yet designed.

The Sacred Space is beautiful blanket, consisting of 9 parts and the CAL started in July 2019. There are great videos to help crocheting this, in case you find it difficult to crochet just with the written instructions. Though in this pattern, the written instructions are really clear and easy to follow!

Me in my wedding dress

So, I used my gift card to purchase 50 skeins of Drops Cotton Merino. I just love this yarn, so soft and nice to work with. I chose the colors according to my wedding dress, which was 50’s inspired flower dress. I chose greens with pinks, and base color is white, just as in my wedding dress!

I’ve started Mandala Madness couple of years ago, but it’s still unfinished as I found the pattern quite hard for my skills. I hadn’t crocheted that much from written pattern before, but this time, I found that really easy. I’ve only had to look small pieces from the videos so far, which I great, as it’s faster to crochet straight from the written pattern.

Part 1 was finished yesterday, and gotta say, I just love it!! Can’t wait to start part 2 today!


Tapio light ball

~ Milla Kuuskoski ~ 3 Comments

At the Kalevala blanket meeting in Pori, we had discussion with Minna Virtanen, test crocheter of Tapio blanket square I designed, that she’d used the center of the square for Christmas decoration balls. I thought it was fantastic idea, and the idea of Tapio light ball came to my mind.

Tapio_fina.jpg

So, here’s the pattern for you!

Merry Christmas to you all!

nimmari

Tapio – light ball

Designer: Milla Elo

What you need

  • Cotton yarn, thicker the yarn, bigger the ball
  • Hook, that is half size smaller than you would normally choose for the yarn. The gauge should be tight to get the best result.
  • Glue (water soluable or other starching product)
  • Balloon, regular size, to get round lightball
  • Some scrap yarn, to hang the lightball to dry.

Stitches and abbreviations

  • ch – chain
  • sl st – slip stitch
  • dc – double crochet
  • dc5tog – 5 dcs together, see instructions below

Special stitches and techniques

  • Puff-stitch: This puff-stitch is made with 5 yarn overs (yo). Yo, insert the hook into the stitch, pull the yarn through and repeat 4 times. Then pull yarn through all the loops on the hook. Close the puff-stitch with a ch which doesn’t count as a st.
  • dc5tog: Yo, insert the hook into the stitch, pull the yarn through, yo, pull the yarn through 2 loops on the hook (=unfinished dc), make unfinished dcs into 4 more stitches. Finally, pull the yarn through all the loops on the hook. [All the dcs stand on their own stitches at the bottom, but are joined together at the top]
  • SS: Standing stitch technique. Tutorial video can be found  here!
  • Invisible join: Tutorial video can be found here!

Other tips

(…) Repeat instructions between brackets as many times as directed

*…* Repeat instructions between asterisks the amount of times specified. This is normally a repeat for a complete side and will consist of multiple instructions.

*…** Contains part of *…* repeats, starting from * and ending to **. The rest of the pattern marked with *…* are skipped.

[…] Between square brackets, written in purple in italic, there are tips and guides to help you through the pattern.

{…} After each row, there is a stitch count of each row or each side of square.

The pieces

Starting row: (Color 1) Ch 5 and close it to form a loop.

Round 1: Ch 3 [starting chain, count as dc], 9 dc, close the round with sl st into the 3rd ch of the starting chain.

{10 dc}

Round 2: ch 5 [starting chain, counts as dc + ch 2], *dc, ch 2*, repeat *…* 9 times in total around the circle and join with sl st to the 3rd ch of the starting chain.

{10 dc, 10 ch2-sp}

Round 3: (Color 2) sl st to the ch-space, ch 3 [starting chain, counts as dc] 2 dc, * skip dc, 3 dc in the ch2-space, ch 1*, repeat *…* 9 times in total around the circle, join with invisible join to the 3rd ch of the starting chain. Weave in the ends.

{30 dc, 10 ch}

Round 4: (Color 3) Work SS puff-stitch between the two 3-dc groups, *ch 4, puff-stitch between the 3-dc groups*, repeat *…* 9 times in total, ch 4. Join with invisible join to the first puff-stitch.  Cut off the yarn and weave in the ends.

{10 puff-stitches, 10 ch4-sp}

Round 5: (Color 4) Work dc5tog starting from any of the ch4-spaces, starting with a SSdc on 3rd ch, work the unfinished dcs of dc5tog as follows: 1 [2 on following rounds] unfinished dc in the chain before puff st, 1 on top of puff st [This can be done as FPdc to ensure the stitch won’t stretch too much when stretched over the balloon], 2 in the chains after puff st *ch 7, dc5tog *, repeat *…* 10 times in total around the circle, ch 7, join with sl st to the first dc5tog.

{10 dc5tog, 10 ch7-sp}

Round 6: (Color 2) ch 3 [starting chain, counts as dc. If you start with SS, do it on top of the dc5tog done on the last row], *7 dc into the ch-space, dc on top of dc5tog [This can be done as FPdc to ensure the stitch won’t stretch too much when stretched over the balloon]*, repeat *…* 10 times in total around the circle omitting the last dc on the last repeat, join with sl st to the 3rd ch of starting chain.

{80 dc}

Joining

Hold pieces wrong sides facing each other, when joining them together. Join the yarn to either one of the pieces with slip stitch to any of the dc’s on the previous round. Ch 2, sl st to the second piece to equivalent point, ch 2, skip 3 dc on first piece counting from the last sl st, sl st to 4th, ch 2, skip 3 dc on second piece counting from the last sl st. Continue round the pieces, changing the piece where you make the sl st.  See the chart.

Close the round with sl st to the first sl st of the round, cut off the yarn and weave in the ends.

Tapio, joining chart

Starching the light ball

Make glue – water solution mixing 50% of glue and 50% of water. Let the crochet piece soak the solution thoroughly in the mix. After this, squeeze of the excess solution but don’t try to dry the pieces too much. Put the balloon between the pieces from the biggest holes and blow the balloon to form a round ball. Close the balloon really tightly to avoid air running out of it. Join the scrap yarn to the balloon and let it hang until dry.

When the crochet pieces are totally dried, pop/empty to balloon and let the lightball dry a while more before taking it in to a use.

And now you light ball is finished!

Happy hooking!

Kalevala CAL – Tapio – in English

~ Milla Kuuskoski ~ Leave a comment

KALEVALA-CAL

TAPIO

Designer: Milla Elo

Tapio

 

My square

The inspiration for this square is Kalevala’s Tapio, the spirit of the forest. As I like to enjoy the forest, this brought to my mind the mushrooms of an Autumn forest and the hanging branches of a spruce.

About the CAL

This crochet square pattern is a part of a Finnish crochet project. We have designed a crochet blanket based on the Kalevala Mythology. It has been created as a tribute to Finland’s 100 years of independence. The general information and links to all the square patterns of the blanket can be found in the Kalevala CAL info post at the blog of Arteeni.

Translations in PDF

English
Svenska
Deutch
Nederlands
Español
Čeština
עברית (Hebrew)

Videos

Tutorial video part 1
Tutorial video part 2

Info

Yarn: Menita’s Lasse

Hook: 4 mm

Colors:

  1. Forest green 8947
  2. Olive green 9963
  3. Yellow 2317
  4. Orange 3309
  5. Dark grey 203

Other

This square is for beginners. I recommend blocking the square after crocheting.

Stitches and abbreviations

∙ ch                                                   chain
∙ sl st                                                slip stitch
∙ sc                                                    single crochet
∙ hdc                                               half double crochet
∙ dc                                                   double crochet
∙ tr                                                    triple crochet
∙ dc5tog                                          5 dcs together, see instructions below

Special stitches and techniques

  • Puff-stitch: This puff-stitch is made with 5 yarn overs (yo). Yo, insert the hook into the stitch, pull the yarn through and repeat 4 times. Then pull yarn through all the loops on the hook. Close the puff-stitch with a ch which doesn’t count as a st.
  • dc5tog: Yo, insert the hook into the stitch, pull the yarn through, yo, pull the yarn through 2 loops on the hook (=unfinished dc), make unfinished dcs into 4 more stitches. Finally, pull the yarn through all the loops on the hook. [All the dcs stand on their own stitches at the bottom, but are joined together at the top]
  • SS: Standing stitch technique. Tutorial video can be found  here!
  • Invisible join: Tutorial video can be found here!

Other tips

(…) Repeat instructions between brackets as many times as directed

*…* Repeat instructions between asterisks the amount of times specified. This is normally a repeat for a complete side and will consist of multiple instructions.

*…** Contains part of *…* repeats, starting from * and ending to **. The rest of the pattern marked with *…* are skipped.

 […] Between square brackets, written in purple in italic, there are tips and guides to help you through the pattern.

{…} After each row, there is a stitch count of each row or each side of square.

Copyright

I, Milla Elo, hold the rights of the design, photos and the pattern. You have no right to copy, edit, distribute or sell the whole patterns or parts of it. You can share the link to my blog, if you want to share the pattern. You can sell the product made by using this pattern, as long as you acknowledge me as a designer. Thank you!

 

 

TAPIO – the pattern

 

Starting row: (Color 1) Ch 5 and close it to form a loop.

Round 1: Ch 3 [starting chain, count as dc] 9 dc, close the round with sl st into the 3rd ch of the starting chain.

{10 dc}

Round 2: ch 5 [starting chain, counts as dc + ch 2], *dc, ch 2*, repeat *…* 9 times in total around the circle and join with sl st to the 3rd ch of the starting chain.

{10 dc, 10 ch2-sp}

Round 3: (Color 2) sl st to the ch-space, ch 3 [starting chain, counts as dc] 2 dc, * skip dc, 3 dc in the ch2-space*, repeat *…* 9 times in total around the circle, join with invisible join to the 3rd ch of the starting chain. Weave in the ends.

{30 dc}

Round 4: (Color 3) Work SS puff-stitch between the two 3-dc groups, *ch 4, puff-stitch between the 3-dc groups*, repeat *…* 9 times in total, ch 4. Join with invisible join to the first puff-stitch.  Cut off the yarn and weave in the ends.

{10 puff-stitches, 10 ch4-sp}

Round 5: (Color 4) Work dc5tog starting from any of the ch4-spaces, starting with a SS, *ch 7, dc5tog*, repeat *…* 10 times in total around the circle, ch 7, join with sl st to the first dc5tog. [Work the unfinished dcs of dc5tog as follows: 2 unfinished dc in the chains before puff st, 1 on top of puff st, 2 in the chains after puff st]

{10 dc5tog, 10 ch7-sp}

Round 6: (Color 2) ch 3 [starting chain, counts as dc. If you start with SS, do it on top of the dc5tog done on the last row], *7 dc into the ch-space, dc on top of dc5tog*, repeat *…* 10 times in total around the circle omitting the last dc on the last repeat, join with sl st to the 3rd ch of starting chain.

{80 dc}

Round 7: (Color 2) Ch 1, sc into the same stitch with closing sl st of round 6, sc in the next 2 sts, *2 hdc, 3 dc, tr, 2 tr in the next stitch, ch 3, 2 tr in the next stitch, tr, 3 dc, 2 hdc **, sc in the next 6 sts*, repeat *…* twice more and *…** once, sc in the next 3 sts, join with sl st to the first sc.

{6 sc, 4 hdc, 6 dc, 6 tr and ch3-sp per side}

Round 8: (Color 4) Ch1, sc into the same stitch as the closing sl st of round 7, sc in the next st, * ch 4, skip 3 stitches, sc, ch 4, skip 2 stitches, sc, ch 4, skip 2 stitches, sc into the corner ch-space, ch 4, sc into the same corner ch-space, ch 4, skip 2 stitches [remember to count the first hidden stitch in the corner], sc, ch 4, skip 2 stitches, sc, ch 4**,  skip 3 stitches,  4 sc [to the middle of the side]*, repeat *…* twice more and *…** once, skip 3 stitches, sc in the next 2 sts. Join with sl st to the 1st sc at the beginning of the round.

{10 sc, 24 ch, ch-space in the corner per side}

Round 9: (Color 3) ch1, sc into the same stitch as the closing sl st of round 8, *(ch 4, sc in the ch-space) [notice there will only be one sc in the corners!], repeat 8 times in total, 2 sc [in the middle of the side, first sc in the 2nd sc]*, repeat *…* 3 more times, omitting last sc. Join with sl st to the first sc of the round.

{8 ch4-spaces, 9 sc [including one in the corner] per side}

Round 10: (Color 1) Ch 3 [starting chain, counts as dc], (3 dc into the ch-space, dc in the sc), repeat 3 more times, ch 3, * dc into the same corner sc as the previous dc, (3 dc into the ch4-space, dc in the sc), repeat 7 more times, ch 3*, repeat *…* twice in total, (3 dc into the ch4-space, dc in the sc), repeat 2 more times, dc in the next 3 sts. Join with invisible join to the starting chain, cut off the yarn and weave in the ends.

{33 dc, ch3-sp in the corner per side}

Round 11: (Color 5) Start with SS dc in any of the dcs of previous round and make dc in every dc with (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in the corners. Join with invisible join to the 1st dc, cut off the yarn and weave in the ends.

{37 dc, ch3-sp in the corner per side}

And now the Tapio is ready! I hope you enjoyed making it!
Tip. You can share the photos of your own square in social media using the hashtag #KalevalaCAL!

Pdf-files

English
Svenska
Deutch
Nederlands
Español
Čeština
עברית (Hebrew)

Videos

Tutorial video part 1
Tutorial video part 2

Pitkästä aikaa!

~ Milla Kuuskoski ~ Leave a comment

Viime kirjoituskerrasta on vierähtänyt jo tovi. Aika on mennyt lennossa, paljon on tapahtunut ja toisaalta taas ei mitään. Muutamia töitä on valmistunut ja paljon uusia
aloitettu. IMG_20160413_212157
Viime kerralla kirjoitin matosta, jota aloitin tekemään kudontaryhmässä. Kudonta onkin osoittautunut mitä parhaaksi keinoksi nollata päätä. Vaikka en paljon töitä ole valmiiksi asti saanut, niin sentään jotain. Oranssi matto pääsi koristamaan keittiön lattiaa valmistuttuaan, ja siitä tuli yllättävänkin tasainen ja nätti. Kehitettävää totta kai on,
mutta ei sitä kukaan asioita osaa ensimmäisellä kerralla.

Yksi nopeatekoinen vohvelimattokin tuli pyöräytettyä, sen hapsuissa on vielä vähän viimeistelyä ennen kuin pääsee vessan lattialle. Ja tällä hetkellä puilla on kaksikin työtä, toinen on kiikkalaistyylinen, toivonmukaan edes pitkälle alkuperäistä kunnoittava, matto, jonka tekeminen on kesän aikana ollut vähän hidasta, kun kelit on olleet niin upeat. Mutta se on sellainen väri-iloittelu, että sen tekemisestä nautin todella paljon.

Virkkaustakin on tullut harrastettua, on niin kätevä vaan napata pussita koukku ja työ käteen ja alkaa virkkaamaan, kun kudontaan on tarvinnut aina lähteä. Ja virkata voi missä vaan, ja kotona terassilla onkin ollut ihana paistatella päivää koukun heiluessa.

20160727_225401.jpg
Tällä hetkellä koukulla on monen monta työtä, niin kuin aina… Eniten kutkutusta on aiheuttanut Mandala Madness. Aluksi päätin että sitä en sitten ainakaan aloita, kun Sophies Universen teossakin on mennyt jo niin kauan, että täytyy Sophie ainakin tehdä ensin valmiiksi. Mutta kun toinen toistaan ihanampia kuvia Mandala Madnessistä alkoi ilmaantua, ei voinut mitään enää… Liljan lankakaupasta hain alennuksesta Dropsin Paris-lankaa, ihan vaan varovasti muutaman kerän alkuunsa. Koko työhön pitäisi mennä n. 84 kerää, joten ihan kerralla en malttanut kaikkia ostaa. Ja tuolla kaupalla on niin ilo käydä, että mieluusti haen pieniä eriä kerrallaan!

Viikonloppuna olenkin ensimmäistä kertaa osallistumassa virkkaus-aiheiseen tapaamiseen, kun lähden Lammille tapaamaan muita Mandala Madness virkkaajia! Jännittää, mutta ihan mahtava päästä näkemään hengenheimolaisia ja heidän upeita töitään!

Kehräilyä merinovillasta
Kiikkalainen matto
Sophies Universe
Virkattu pöytäliina
Vohvelimatto