Nelly's first granny

You know I have kids. Actually I got three of them ( = a constant mode of chaos). It is not easy to find quality time with just ONE child, but this weekend Nelly and I sneaked away on a track & field event. Far away from siblings and father. Just mother and daughter. And about 300 other contestants in this huge sports event.

However, Nelly was dipping her feet in the river (and I was hooking away on land) when she asked me to teach her how to do the granny square.

Dom flesta vet att jag har barn. Jag har faktiskt tre barn (vilket resulterar i ett ganska kaotiskt liv). Ofta finner jag det svårt att hitta kvalitetstid med bara ETT  barn åt gången, men förra helgen lyckades jag och Nelly få hela söndagen bara för oss själva. Utan syskon, utan pappa, bara mor och dotter. Och ungefär 300 andra unga deltagare i det stora sporteventet som vi var på. 


Det var när Nelly doppade fötterna i ån (medan jag virkade på land) som hon bad mig lära henne hur man virkar mormorsrutor...

I thought this was going to be a quite difficult task but amazingly my daughter took on my instructions like a sponge and swept away all my disbelief in less than a few minutes. With me mumbling next to her " Yarn over, in the whole, fetch, pull through two, pull through two, chain three and now you make another three treble crochet stitches..."

Jag trodde att det skulle bli riktigt klurigt, att hon skulle finna det alldeles för svårt men Nelly förvånade mig och sög åt sig mina instruktioner som en tvättsvamp. På bara några minuter var hon i full gång med sin första ruta.  Och jag mumlade i bakgrunden " Garn runt nålen, in i hålet, hämta, dra igenom två, dra igenom två... och igen... och igen... en korv (Nellys term på 3 luftmaskor i rad) och nu tre stolpar igen. Alltså runt nålen, in i hålet...".

She is hooked. Every day since Sunday she has been working on her piece. With great concentration...

Hon är fast. Sedan i söndags virkar hon med stor koncentration på sin ruta varje dag och ser hur den blir större och större.

And I am not sure who is the most proud, me or her. I just know she is doing great and really getting the hang of holding her work, hooking away, counting and controlling the tension. If she continues like this she will very well become a fantastic crochet girl!

How old? She is 8. I did my first granny at the age of 40. That says something about her future within crochet, doesn't it?

Och jag vet inte vem som är mest stolt, hon eller jag? Jag vet bara att hon gör ett himlans bra jobb och verkligen börjar få in snitsen på hur man håller i sitt arbete, virkar, räknar maskor och ser till att garnet löper på för att få en jämnhet i arbetet. Om hon fortsätter och övar så kan hon bli en riktigt duktig virktjej!

Jag virkade min första mormorsruta när jag var 40. Hon gör sin första ruta vid 8 års ålder... Om ett par år ligger vi säkert på samma nivå med virkningen. Om hon inte lyckats bli bättre än mig förstås! :D

Ciao!

A completely, extremely normal day

A completely, extremely normal day here in Gimel, Switzerland.

Dandelions. Picked by my kids and placed in a measuring cup on our ugly mailbox (accompanied by some type of action hero, super duper man...) to welcome me when I come home from work. So cute. My heart suddenly turns into jelly and gets all warm and fussy.

Spring is here. Flowers are blooming everywhere, like this one on our pear tree.

Laundry. I love drying my laundry outside.

But, hey! What is this? Inside my washing machine. Who put a lizard in her pocket? Poor thing was amazingly still alive after a 60 minute washing cycle.

And gardening. Jay preparing the vegetable beds with kids from the block.

And the hill behind the house is getting green and inviting for play.

And what else. Oh yes, Charlie - the yellow adventourus cat - got into a fight with (probably) a fox and bitten in his leg. But everything is fine now after a visit to the vet (resulting in big fat bill!), a shaved leg looking like a chicken and a few days of bed rest. Here sleeping with his best mate Nelly.... Prrrrrr, prrrrr.

Always something going on here. Always high leveled drama. And always a moment for some crochet. Like these big grannies for a pillow case.

Kärlek
Annette

Crochet blanket - Voila!

Finished! Initially the stripes were supposed to be horizontal. I started off with a toooooo long foundation chain (and discovered it waaaaaay to late to unravel the hours of work I had put in to it...) and quickly I had to come up with a solution which was "Turn the blanket around!".  And I did.

So the stripes are now vertical with horizontal treble crochet stripes at the top and bottom of the blanket.

I planned for an edging but found that no edging would be able to compete with the decorative Shell Stitch and the way the colours mix and match in this blanket. So simple is best. A treble crochet edging, a fringe in each corner and... ...VOILA! - the blanket is done!

FACTS:
- Merino Wool 50g/105-115 m
- Hook size 5 mm / H-8 (US)
- Used a total of approx 20 skeins
- 16 different colours
- Weight - heavy
- Measures 95 cm x 135 cm (37" x 53 ")
- 94 shell stitch stripes
- About 8-10 weeks of lazy hooking and being constantly distracted by other projects on hand.
- Half a billion loose ends to fasten off...
- Really easy (anyone can do this blanket), relatively quick (although it felt like a never ending project at times...), very satisfactory (the mixing and matching of colours is really fun).

Am I proud? I am smiling from ear to ear, that is how proud I am. And I love my blanket. It has such a good heavy feel to it, its soft, cuddly and just perfect. The kids are already fighting over it. I guess I have to make another one. 

And do you want to know how to make the shell stitch? In this post you can find out how easy it is. Try it out and have a blast.

Kärlek
Annette

How to make the Shell Stitch

Today I am sharing a simple tutorial on How To Make the Shell Stitch. I used this pattern when making my Shell Stitch Blanket and absolutely loved every row of it.

A tip is to use a slightly larger hook when making the foundation chain and then switch to a smaller hook size when working the rows of shells. This way it is not only easier in the starting rows but you receive straighter edges of your blanket.

Shell Stitch Tutorial
 
I am using UK terms for my tutorial. See Terminology table for translation to US terms and Swedish terms. Lets start!

 






FOUNDATION ROW:
Work a multiple of 6 chain stitches plus 2 for the turning chain. I made 6 x 32 +1=193 for my blanket which measured approx 135 cm/53" wide.

ROW 1: 
Work 1dc in first and all following stitches across to the end of the row. Ch 3 (counts as first tr of the next row) and turn your work.
TIPS: Work your double crochet stitches in the back of your foundation chain for a more stable starting row.

ROW 2: Make 2tr first st (this creates a half shell), skip 2sts, 1dc into the next st, [skip 2sts, 5tr in next st, skip 2sts, 1dc in next st]- rep [  ] to the end of the row. Finish with 3tr in last stitch. Ch1 and turn your work.

ROW 3: 1dc in first st (the top of the hill), [skip 2sts, 5tr between shells (the dc in the valley), skip 2sts, 1dc in next st (the 3rd of the 5tr on the hill)] - repeat [ ] until the end of row.

Continue to alternate Row 2 and Row 3 until you have the desired length of your blanket.

Good luck and have fun!

Kärlek
Annette

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Another with a colourful mix of sugery naughty.

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