My buttons

Here they are! Feel free to use them if you want to link me ^___^




By the way. Today I've won my first e-Bay auction! Wow! I got myself some gorgeous Rowan Cotton Yarn, yuppie! :-)))

The irresistible appeal of yarn auctions...

I'm in the tunnel of e-Bay! Someone please help me! I didn't use e-Bay not even once in the last 5 years, and now, I can't stop... I make bids for thing that I don't even want, but I simply cannot resist beautiful yarn at low prices... And hooks, cable needles, everything that has to do with knitting and crocheting.
Hopefully I haven't won a single auction yet, but there still is time... ;-)

Crazy about squares

Yesterday I was in one of my missions at Barnes and Noble to have a sneaky look at a few crochet and knitting patterns from various (too expensive) books... In this wandering I bumped into "200 Crochet Blocks" by Jan Eaton. It was love at first sight! I LOVE this book and I bought it even if it costs a fortune, but, hey, it's totally worth!

I immediately started to use all my leftover yarns, finally. And I'll be making a pretty ton-sur-ton pillow. Look at this, I'm using all the blue yarns that I had in small amounts. I love this first two squares that I've made, aren't they nice?





I've also progressed a little with the Amigurumi bull terrier that I'm making for my sister. Since then I've made the head, the small body and one ear. Little by little I'll go on. Sure I've been distracted lately by the Olympic games, I'm so crazy about Figure Ice Skating that I spend a big part of my day looking for videos online. I've also worked a little (finally) so I'm running late on some projects.



Online I have also found a Gadget for you crochet-geek girlfriends. Look at these "felted icons" they are so cute you have to download it. This icons are perfect for my crochet folders!!!

Tapestry Crochet Kitty Bag

The lovely weather, almost summery, that we had here in Berkeley during the last week inspired me in trying something new. It was a while that I wanted to try Tapestry Crochet, but I never figured out how to do it properly. Finally, a couple of days ago, I found online this adorable pattern by Carol Ventura for a Tapestry Crochet Kitty Bag, and it is very well explained how to tapestry crochet.
Ok we all agree that my attempt, as usual, is not as good as the original, but still I am satisfied with the results... If only I new what to do with my new little bag... ;-)

First Doily Ever

So here it is, my first doily ever. I am totally amazed, and still, when I finish a first-time ever project, I almost cannot believe I did it.
I used a very lovely pattern by Crochet memories, called "Autumn Reflections", some thin cotton thread and a tiny tiny crochet hook size US7/ 1,75mm, and I made it through. Can you believe it? And I am not the tipe of person who has a lot of patience, but I did it...
and I must admit it wasn't that difficult, at least much less than I expected when I first saw the size of the hook, that was scary!

Attempting

I have been experimenting lately. After having spent a whole day at Laci's I had to try several things. One of them was "Filet Crochet" and this is the result... I messed up the pattern a little bit but, I must admit, I found the whole process very slow and pretty boring. I don't think I'll finish this filet cat, anyway I wouldn't know what to do with it...

I also have been working on some potholders, made with kitchen twine, crochet hook H8/5.00 bordered with various wool yarn. I'm pretty happy about it, I made them because I really needed them, so for once I made something actually useful :-)

Finally I tried also to hand felt. I must say that my results aren't satisfying at all. I still can see the texture of the knitted wool I burned my hands, and used tons of dish-soap in my bathtub... So disappointing! I guess I'll try again, but I doubt it'll go better next time. I love so much felted items though!!!

And they call it puppy love...

My next project is a little ambitious, but I want to make a puppy amigurumi like this one for my sister! I have no pattern, though...

Love is in the air

Oh yes, St. Valentine is approaching, and because I live very far from my friends I always have to think about presents with a lot of anticipation.
In Italy St. Valentine is not a big deal, we just expect some chocolates or small presents coming from our boyfriends (things that never come...) but we don't really send cards to friends and stuff.
Because I'm here in the US, though, I thought: "this year I will send a couple of St valentine's cards". But I didn't want to send just a card so I made this scarf for my dear friend Sabina, in Rome. Hope she gets it in time!

I also sent this book to my friend Puli, who lives in London, and wants lo learn crochet. I hope that she gets into it, because once you start crocheting it's so funny!!

Amigurumi!!!

I don't know how I found out about Amigurumi, but now it's my total addiction. I want to make thousands of Amigurumi, I want to give birth to cats, bears, bunnies and a whole new world of Amigurumi friends!
Check this webpage, aren't these pictures absolutely adorables???



Here is my humble and messy attempt to make my first Amigurumi...

Filet Crochet

I have decided to face a new challenge: Filet Crochet. Basically I wanted to make a little curtain for the kitchen window. So I went to Lacis, in Berkeley, and spent there like 2 hours asking thousands of questions, to a very very nice and patient young lady. After all the talking I felt discouraged by the tiny tiny sizes of filet hooks (so small I almost couldn't see the hook!) and the yarns. So I bought a very nice curtain and thought about it a little bit.

I didn't want to give up, though, so the day after I went to Barnes & Noble and found this book: A Creative Guide to Crochet, full of nice and easy projects for filet crochet. So I said to myself: you can do it! And I came back to Lacis, bought some yarn and a US 7/1,5mm hook and started a filet traycloth with snowflakes motif... So far I already made a big mistake, but I will go on until it's done!!!

Skinny Mohair

A few months ago I went to Artfibers, in San Francisco, my favorite spot every time I'm in town. I didn't have any specific idea at the moment so I bought a bunch of leftover yarns (a big bunch, apparently, because I ended up spending 50 dollars!!!). Anyway among those leftover there was this magnificent green mohair. I wasn't sure of the amount of yarn, so I decided to try a very thin mohair scarf.

Here is the pattern:
I used a hook US M / 9 mm


I started with ch 7 and on round 1, I worked 7 sc
Round 2, I worked 8 double chains.
Round 3, *1 sc, ch1*, and then I just repeated Rounds 2 and 3 until the end of the yarn, closing with 7 sc.
I must say that I really like this skinny scarf, so delicate and warm at the same time :-) Hooray!

Hat from outer space

I wanted to make a funny present for my nephew in New York. Having a look online I found some nice ideas and that's the result: a hat from outer space!

My first choice were the Monster Feet Slipper Socks, but I had no time for that. Then I found this The Flying Spaghetti Monster Hat and I decided to adapt it to my nephew small head, and make it simpler... So I look for a pattern for a baby hat, and found many online. I choose this one, the Bev's Bear Beanie. I just added the ear flips, to make it fit better, and teeth to make it more monstrous! It took me no time to make it and he loved it! :-)

Sweet Mary-Jane

I've been busy lately and I didn't work a lot, but before Christmas I did few more things, here they are:

Thanks to the pattern of Abigail Goss, I did those absolutely adorable fake Mary Janes. Aren't the cutest little shoes? I just added a little flower on the side so to make them even more feminine ;-)

Is it really Christmas without a Christmas Tree Pot Holder?

Unfortunately all the Christmas present I did on November and sent to my family and friends came back :-( I will re-send them but for now here is my mother Alpaca Scarf I had mentioned before...

Tea Mug Cozy - Two Patterns

I wanted to make a little Christmas present for a girlfriend who really loves tea, so I came up with the idea of a mug cozy. I didn't really find online the perfect pattern so I made mines. Here they are:



Tea Mug Cozy Pink and purple

Used a small amount of Lion Brand Cotton in Fuchsia and Purple
Hook H8 / 5.00 mm
Gauge: Check if the length of the chain fits the bottom of your mug. Add or reduce the numer of chains if needed.

With Fuchsia - Ch 30. Join with sl st at 1st chain making sure not to twist the chain.

Row 1: Ch 1, sc in every 30 ch. Turn

Row 2: With Purple - Ch 2, dc in 28 sc. Turn (If you prefer, you can make two rounds in sc instead of 1 round of dc)

Row 3: With Fuchsia - Ch 1, sc in 28 dc + ch 6. Turn

Row 4: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in the other 4 chs and in all 28 sc. Total 33 sc. Turn

Rows 5: Ch 1, Sc in every 33 sc. Turn

Rows 6-7: With Purple - Ch 1, sc in every sc. Turn. 33 sc

Rows 8-9: With Fuchsia - Ch 1, sc in every sc. Turn. 33 sc.

Row 10: With purple - Ch 1, sc in every 33 sc. Continue with sc along the border of the slip and at the base of the hole until you reach the beginning of row 10. Join with sl st to first sc of row 10. Fasten off.

To make your Tea Cozy stick to the mug, sew some velcro on both sides of the slip.
That's it, now you can enjoy your hot tea or coffee much longer! :-)



Blue Mug Cozy

Cascade 220, 100% wool color 8339, worked double
and a very small amount of blue wool, chunky weight
Hook K10 1/2 - 6.50 mm

Ch 25. Join in round with sl st to 1st ch, making sure not to twist the chain.
Row 1: Ch 2. 23 dc in 23 chs. Turn
Row 2: Ch 2, 23 dc + ch 6
Row 3: Dc in 3rd ch from hook, in the other 2 ch and in all 23 dc. Turn. 26 dc.
Row 4: Sc in all 26 dc. Fasten off
Row 5: With Blue yarn. Sl st to 1st ch of row 4. Sl st in every 25 sc. Fasten off.

Sew some velcro on both sides of the slip. And Enjoy your winter Mug Cozy!

Those patterns are Intellectual property of Justine Bellavita
May be distributed freely for personal use only.
Cannot be reprinted on the web or otherwise without permission.
Thank you! :-)

Hemp Basket

I've made this really lovely Hemp Basked, thanks to Donna Hulka.

I must admit that Donna's baskets are much nicer than mine... The only thing I've added are the felted wool beads. In fact I went to a beads shop but I couldn't find anything I liked for the basked (actually I ended up making a necklace for me...) so I made the beads felting small amounts of wool leftovers, felting them in the shape of beads with hand soap and very hot and very cold water.

Cat lovers tip: The little felted beads are also very appreciated by my cats. I made a slightly bigger one for them and they seem to have a very good time playing soccer with it!