Native American Inspired Crochet - free patterns

 

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I have been always attracted to foreign, far-away people and their cultures and traditions, and back in middle school, I became obsessed with the Native American civilization.  I was entranced and bedazzled by the vividness and color explosion of their patterns both in jewelry and textile making. I have retained that love until today, and have promised myself to make myself a Native American inspired blanket one day (whenever that might be in the near or far future).

 

For this post I have hand-picked several free patterns for pillows and blankets although I have found some mind-boggling patterns on etsy as well, but I will leave those for another time. 

 

Via

 

 Navajo Indian Diamond

 

Apache Tears
 

Phoenix Rising
 

Textile Art by Nikolay Terjuhin

Nikolai Terjuhin, a highly established fashion designer, dreamed of becoming a teacher, but instead he enrolled at Arkhangelsk College of Culture and Art at the choreography department. He started on his designer's path at the dawn of the 90s where there was nothing to buy at the stores and he wanted to dress fashionably. He has created more than 130 collections and despite the large number of fantasy collections, it was the ethnic traditions that have become defining in his work and have brought well-deserved success both domestically (in Russia) and the world. 

He uses traditional materials and fabric typical for the northern folk costume: chintz, satin, linen, brocade, canvas and calico, woolen shawls as well as modern fabrics like denim, gabardine decorated with lace, pearls, jacquard braided inserts, etc. 

If interested, you can find more about him on his instagram and website.  

Violet Crochet Baby Dress

 

I have been working on my baby collection for 2 months now and whenever I feel exhausted with work or frustrated for not having more than 2 arms, I just look at my happy pile of baby stuff I made and I forget about everything in an instant.

  

This is my latest finished dress I named Violet. 

I made it using a soft lavender sport yarn (Phildar yarn) and a pattern that gives it an interesting texture. It cinches at the upper part and when I added the flowers to it - well, it was a love at first sight. I even got tickled by the idea to make an adult version of this one.  

The pattern is here.  

Amazing Halloween Crochet Costumes by Crochetverse

  I first found about Stephanie Pokorny's amazing talent to use crochet to make the most vivid and intricate costumes when I came upon her witch hat (below) and I have been admiring her work ever since. 

 

Her costumes are a pure labour of love and she invests a ton of energy, and a mind-blowing amount of effort and time in creating these elaborate pieces for her kids. The intricate work and the dedication to recreate details, make these costumes unique, crochet  masterpieces. 

You can follow her work on her blog Crochetverse and buy her patterns on etsy. 

 

 

The Red Crewmate from Among Us Game

Recently Jacob asked me if I can make this character from the Among us game, which I wasn't even slightly aware it existed, and upon my initial urge to scream in delight because he rarely asks for crocheted things, I played cool and didn't show my excitement.

He wanted the red crewmate which they call  "Sus" (suspicious) in the game, and searching the Internet, I found all the patterns for the characters thanks to wonderful Tiffany & Amanda from Cafe del Craft.

I altered the pattern a bit in the shape of the body and the backpack, as well as the front part of its spacesuit (the face) but having miscalculated the amount of yarn I would need, I was short of one for the legs, so I had them made with a considerably smaller hook and it shows greatly when you look at it, but Jacob doesn't seem to mind. As a matter of fact, he requested another character, and I cannot wait to make this one a buddy.

So, what has he been up to? 

He is currently visiting grandma's house,

sunbathing in her flower pots,

 inspecting the flowers for unwanted guests,

playing hide-and-seek with mama,

and watching his big brother play his game. 

That's all from us for now. We'll be seeing you next week!

Autumn Roses Brooch

 

 

Hello all! 

This is my latest autumn-inspired brooch. 

 

When I made my Daphne dress I felt it was too bare for my taste, and me being a flower-crazed girl, I tried some flower ideas to make it richer, so this is how this brooch was born. I used worsted yarn for the vine and the leaves which along with the  roses makes the whole ensemble a little too heavy, which I gathered would add a significant pull on the dress, so I plan to recreate the whole thing with thinner yarn and offer this flower decoration as a gift pattern that will accompany the dress. 

 

 

 

 Goodbye for now. I'll talk to you soon!

P.S. The brooch can be bought here.

Crochet Fall Decorating Ideas

 

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This year I am more concentrated on using "organic"  fall decor like  leaves, pine-cones, chestnuts, acorns and berries to decorate around the house, though as a crocheter I find it hard not to include some of my both fabric and crocheted pumpkins, mushrooms and leaves. 

 

I also love to see what others have used to fall-decorate their homes and I selected a handful of ideas I think everyone would enjoy.  The links to the free patterns for the lovelies in the post below each picture, include instructions for a garland, pillow, jar cozies, and a wreath.

 

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The Daphne Baby Dress - pattern release

 

Good evening all! I have a new shop just for kids' things (it has been opened for a while but I had a just a couple of things in it and didn't promote it at all) - and it's called Marika's Closet.

I plan to fill it in with baby patterns and actual items, and that is mostly what I have been working on for the past month. 

The first pattern to be added is this one for the dress I named Daphne and it includes sizes 0-3 and 3-6 months.  

If you, or somebody you know would love baby patterns,  I would appreciate a referral. Thank you!

 

Jacob's Scarf - crochet pattern release

Stepping out of my routine to concentrate on girls' crochet stuff, I made my son Jacob this scarf as a personal / handmade gift for his 15th birthday, which was yesterday. To his mama's delight, he was eager to model it for me.

The pattern, which can be found in my etsy, ravelry; and lovecraft shops, uses a mix of two patterns: crossed double crochets and bobbles. 

I would love to have some free time on my hands and try it in cotton for Eva.

 

Crochet Foliage Shrug - pattern release

 

  
This my newest pattern for a shawl turned shrug / bolero.

For this shawl/shrug I used 1.5 skeins of Nako's Vals worsted variegated yarn (100 gr/skein) and a 3.00 mm (UK11) (US 10/3) hook.
Used terms (American terminology): chain (ch), chain space (ch sp), skip (sk), double crochet (dc), treble (tr), picot.
*tapestry needle for weaving ends.

Finished measurements: 95 cm (37.4”) long and 53 cm (20.8”) wide (at the widest point).

Tip: The tutorial shawl /shrug is made as a rectangle that fits sizes S / M. The rectangle is folded at the center in the shape of a triangle and each of the two panels is sewed so as to make it a shrug/bolero. Please consider this if you want to make it more generous in volume (length and width) and not as closely fitting at the arms. The pattern uses additions of 5, so consider this when calculating your foundation stitches if you want to make it bigger in length. I recommend you measure yourself arm to arm across your back (or wrist to wrist to be more precise, and chain as much, but be careful that you have a stitch count of 5 (additions of 5). The pattern for the foundation of this one is made with 130 stitches. 

Pattern: Etsy, Ravelry & LoveCrafts

The "Penelope" Scarf

 

Around this time last year, we were on the road, traveling to Istanbul and during the car-ride I made this scarf and named it after the city, but when we came to the photo-shoot location, Eva's posing reminded me of the Penelope-in-waiting, so the name stuck with me. 

So here it is - the Penelope scarf which is immensely versatile and can be styled in numerous ways, but we like it best wrapped around the neck, with the fringes falling in layers. The lace crochet  pattern gives it a rich and textured appearance and makes for a truly unique piece.

Crochet Leaf Ear-Warmer - free pattern

 

With the mornings getting chillier, Eva requested I make her an ear warmer  and I was happy to oblige. 

It's something you can make in a jiffy, and it is a perfect last minute gift. 

Supplies:

50 gr of Aran yarn. I used the brand "Soufle" by Austermann and it is 100% virgin wool.  4mm hook.

Stitches: chain (ch), skip (sk), double crochet (dc), 3-dc cluster, picot.

Measurements: maker's fit.

Pattern:

Foundation and round 1: Ch6 and join to make a ring. dc9 in ring. 

Round 2: ch5, turn work, sk1, dc1 in next st, ch2, sk1, dc1 in next st. Repeat this pattern two times more. Ch3 and turn work.

Round 3: make 3-dc clusters in all ch-spaces. 

 

Round 4: ch7 and sc1 in between the second and third cluster. Ch6 and sc1 again in the same place. This will make the ring for the next leaf Ch3 (counts as the first dc) and turn work. dc8 in the ring. From here repeat the pattern from round 2-4. 

Work the pattern until the warmer fits your head. It shouldn't be too tight, and work as many leaves needed to make a nice fit. When done, ch7 (for the end of the leaf), sc in-between the 2nd and 3rd cluster and sl st in the very first chain you made to close it. Whilst doing this, make sure not to twist the headband's sides and join the wrong side with the face side. 

Turn the warmer inside out - the face should be inside and sc1 once more in the same ch-space. 

Do not cut yarn, because we are going to decorate it by adding picots at the sides.

Ch3, turn the warmer with the face up and sl st in the big (7-ch) chain. Ch4, make a picot and sc1 in the cluster round. Ch4, make a picot and sc in the ch-space round, ch4, make a picot and sc in the 1st round. There should be 4 picots. From here, ch4, make a picot and sc in the chain of the next leaf. When this side is done, cut yarn and weave work the end.

 

Insert yarn in the 1st round of the leaf, ch4, make a picot in the same space, next repeat the picot pattern single crocheting them in the ch-space, first cluster side, and second cluster side. There should be 4 picots on this side too. Ch4 and make a picot in the round 2 of the next leaf.

Work this until the whole side is picoted. Sl st in the same space where you worked the very last picot. When  done, cut yarn and work the tails. And that is it!