Hearts, crochet hearts everywhere!

Remember the little hearts I designed last year?
A few months ago I started using the pattern in new ways: in earrings, necklaces and... strike-through the heart pins!

Hats in the power of three

There was a time that my hands were itching to make a hat and instead of just making one, I made three! For two out of three I wanted to experiment with increases, binding off and different ribbing. The one that stands out was a present for my mother: she asked for a slouchy warm hat and even gave me the yarn! But that yarn has an interesting story.

Dragons

For more than 6 months I had been expecting to leave the country permanently in October (last month) for a job offer in Zambia. I didn't mention it, because, well, things can go the other way easily. Some difficulties came up from the other side and now I am waiting indefinitely to see wether the plans will ever be completed or not. 
The situation is a bit fuzzy and this delay is not entirely a bad thing, since I didn't manage to finish some things I planed for the University, but it still threw me off my preparation mode.

A brand new website

I am finally able to talk about one of the things that kept me busy the last couple of months. It is something I had been thinking about for a long time, and since our small shop over at Etsy has been growing, I thought I should finally give it a try.

I created a main site for this blog, www.uberdentraum.com, which right now functions mainly as an e-shop. It features a dedicated to the shop blog list, but one of my future plans is to integrate this blog to the main site too.

The site features only a part of our Etsy merchandise, but more stock will be added soon. What I like best, is that now I have the opportunity to organise well all of my patterns outside of Ravelry. A complete pattern library will be added sometime in the future.

Progress is generally slow, since my main job is still studying and working on my Thesis, but I hope that it won't be too slow. xD

P.S.1: Do you like the website's design? I tried to match the blog's colors but added lots more pictures (as headers)
P.S.2: we are offering 15% discount as a welcome sale with coupon code  welcome ! :)

Pen tablet glove

It was summer and I needed an instant satisfaction knit. I also had on my mind to create a glove that would allow me to draw on my tablet screen without any unwanted issues. That is how the pen tablet glove was created.

Spellbound

During the summer months, and even though I had various projects in my hands, I got the urge to start a cotton top. I had Spellbound in my queue for a while, and since I had enough stash of cotton yarns I decided to go for it!

Swedish [stash bust] mittens

Here is a project that I totally forgot to blog about! The Swedish mitts, as I would like to call them, took place in February and March, but due to a few procedural mishaps, I didn't write anything about them until I got around to fix my (sad) mistakes.

Wedding gifts pt2 - Vulpix

The second wedding gift I completed was Vulpix in a vivid combination of dark grey and light green.

 

Wedding gifts pt1 - Sharktooth

Yesterday I failed an exam and disappointment was inevitable. After coming home instead of finding some time to rest, I threw myself to work to feel better. I managed to finish quite a few things, which means that today I got to have time to write for the blog. Yay!

Pencil cases

Exam period is here again (frankly, it feels like it never ends!) so I don't have a lot of time and intellectual energy to sit down and write blog posts. Even though I have at least 10 drafts right now...

That's why for now I am keeping it short. A couple of months back I wished for simple and mindless knitting and a way to use up some of my wool stash, so I came up with the idea of knitting a few pencil cases for my Etsy shop.

Kusafiri Shawlette pattern release

I am very pleased to announce the release of a new pattern, the Kusafiri Shawlette. 
It has spent the previous month in testing, and with the very helpful work and input of MadTatter, riverwatcher, mum2five, it is now ready! ^^

Basic Intarsia Tutorial

Intarsia is a simple colorwork knitting technique that uses 2 or more colors in every working row. What makes it different than stranded knitting, is that the colors are worked in 'blocks' and almost no color is worked throughout the row, only at specific parts.

That means that we have 'columns' of stitches of different colors which we work by switching between yarns. The 'trick' to achieve this, without producing holes in our work, is to twist the yarns with each other. 

Cross stitching - Ukrainian biscornu

After years and years of 'i am going to do this someday', that someday finally came :) I recently completed my first cross stitch project, and I couldn't have been more satisfied.

Crochet with beads and white bottoms

During studying I kept dreaming of sunny beaches and swimming, and thinking what my new bikini top should be, since my old one is falling big on me ever since I lost some weight.
I didn't have to ponder much: I came up with the idea of a crochet coral beaded bra!

A summer shawl

After completing the last cycle of knitting lessons, I was left with a few materials and among them were also a few cotton yarn skeins. Looking for a way to use them up, I came up with the idea of a simple summer shawl.

Crochet hooks

About a month ago, I (lately) realised that on ebay one can find lots and lots of kinds crochet hooks on very low prices. (from China of course)
So since my collection of crochet hooks was very small, I decided to buy whole sets of crochet hooks and compare their quality and usability. Each set didn't cost more than 3-3.5 euros, so even if some of them didn't work properly, no harm done!

Bundle of swimsuit tops

I have been quite productive in the summer crochet department, for more than a month now I have been knitting swimsuit tops.. some as custom orders, one for myself, and quite a few for the Etsy shop.

I hadn't quite realised how many I made until I started documenting my progress for the corresponding Ravelry project: 10 bikini tops in different sizes and color combinations.

Random bits {baby booties, a cat cave, wooden shawl pins}

I have been doing quite random things lately... I have officially entered exam period, but for it I have been studying for two months already now. I am in the fever of completing what is left to pass for graduation and although I may not be sure about the outcomes (of this exam period) I know for sure that I am getting tired of studying. xD

Plus, at the same time I spent a lot of time adding mom's stuff on my Etsy shop (check out all this awesome stuff!) (and a few of my own.. he he) and life has been.. hectic. 
Nevertheless, I still manage to find some time to knit. 

Stash and needle organising

So, I have been on an organising fever lately and I have mostly been tidying up my yarn and needle stash. I have been rewinding most of my skeins into symmetrical spirals or yarn, diving them in see-through plastic bags either by project or by yarn type.

What does failure feel like?

For sure, not like the first time you experience failure in a knitted garment. I recently finished a garment that overall is greatly executed, but looks good only on the cloth hanger. Sadly, it needs to be ripped apart and I was amazed that this realisation brought a disappointment much milder than the first time this ever happened.

Kar{e)tpostal care tags!

Recently I realised that writing out care instructions in a tag that accompanies the handmade item you have made, is not really practical, so a month ago I released a template that would solve this need.

So I tried drawing! I researched which are the most common care labels for handmade items, draw each one of them by hand and put them in a card.

The result are the Kar{e)tpostal care tags:

More socks!

Remember the 8 square socks? I made a new pair! This time for myself - with ultra vivid colors and a small tweak!

Rubber handcarved stamps

After being inspired by the amazing Gennine's Art blog, I tried my hand on handcarving stamps, and I love everything about it! ^^

Springtime in Chania

After spending an amazing time with friends in the beautiful city of Chania, in Crete, I find it difficult for days now to return to reality and start studying again.

A fringed top without fringes

I think that from the very beginning I joined Ravelry I had my eye on this fringed top and even though I also had the appropriate yarn for it, I simply hadn't made it. Other more exciting projects were coming up and taking up my time.

But just a month ago, I needed a practically mindless crochet project to take with me while travelling to Chania. It had to be crochet since only crochet hooks are allowed on planes here. (Believe me I have checked, multiple times. Knitting needles, even bamboo ones are considered a sharp pointy object, therefore dangerous! What kind of knitter would ever destroy their marvelous bamboo needles to harm someone?)

Costume up! (as in suit up!)

In a few days I will be attending Part2jam, a jamboree organised by BEST Chania, where we will be needing a different costume for every day of the event. It doesn't need to be something fancy, mostly improvised, and since I don't have the opportunity to transport much clothing, I decided to make some small and easily transportable stuff.

New books and an extra tool

It's been some months, I have been meaning to write about two wonderful books, Knitter's Almanac and The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann which I bought last Autumn, but now I have a great opportunity to write altogether about books with the very recent addition of Íslensk Sjónabók!

Headbands

Here is a venture I never thought I would get into! Making headbands is something that wouldn't cross my mind, until a friend asked for something of the sort.

Icelandic Spring Shawl

A spring shawl just in time for spring!

New classes and their materials

Since 23rd of February a new cycle of classes have begun in Mouselin Patiserrie and I am very excited about them! One reason is because this time I get to provide all class materials, and have also the chance to create handouts for each lesson. Since the classes now last for 3 hours instead of 1!

White crochet LOVE

Just a week ago I finished the biggest(probably) project I have ever crocheted so far. It is so big, that it's wingspan is approximately 2.5m and it's length around 1.5m. It's a white triangle crochet shawl and it took 400 grams of cotton lace to be completed.

New skills

I learned how to double knit! and it's so much fun! much easier than one would expected to be, and I really like the result it produces.

Graham

This year because of travelling, I made only one piece of Christmas gift. This particular friend, I wanted to surprise, but also to make something that would go well with the other piece of knitting he already owns. ^^

I searched a bit and I settled on Graham, a pattern that I wanted to try out for some time now.

Beer Mitts!

If you ever happen to visit Iceland, even during Summer, you will definitely come across one for their most awesome woolly accessories: the Beer Mitt.

Inspiration ahead!

When I finally manage to find some time away from studying for my semester exams, I will start sharing on my blog Facebook page, projects, patterns and pictures that I find inspirational, and educational for knitting and crochet!

Stay tuned!

The Oddity pair

A while back I completed the very awesome pattern of Oddity mittens, and while wearing them at work, a friend of mine noticed them and requested a pair for her, paired with a  beret that would feature the same texture elements. Thrilled to have a commission that also lets me create something from scratch, I cast on immediately, but took me a while to finish both of them.

Random Christmas motifs

For Christmas holidays I made some Christmas ornaments, motifs, accessories and an amigurumi Santa Claus in gnome style!

Ein kleines rotes Herz

More than one month later, I realise that I haven't written about my most recent published design. Ein kleines rotes Herz, which translates from German to 'a small red heart'.

Vandrare

When I first encountered Vandrare, I didn't really expect that I would fall in love with the design. It's simple, it's quick to knit, and oh-so-flattering.

2013, it's 2014 already!

2013 came and went by so fast, it's hard to realise that it's 2014 already! Many things happened during last year, and more are waiting to happen.

I had set 13 goals for the past year, which I had almost forgotten they even existed up until now xD. I didn't get to finish many of them, but I got to do other stuff: travel a lot, have awesome time, meet wonderful people, find a new job and many more.

Sadly I haven't been able to write about all of my travels yet (too busy or too tired or both) but I am planning to do so sometime, along with my most recent Christmas and New Year travelling. ^^

So, last year I was ambitious! I set out to:

1. Keep up with working out and work more on flexibility - I did that alright!
2. Keep up with Italian - as much I did before, but not more
3. Spend more time with friends  - definitely!!
4. Organise something special for birthday - almost
5. Publish at least 8 more patterns - not even close, I published just 2, and I have to admit I didn't expect to achieve much more xD
6. Search and prepare for internships - not really, but then again, I got assigned a Master thesis
7. Pass at least 18 subjects - this is soooo almost: I got 17, and I am very happy because that was not easy to achieve
8. Get some dancing lessons - nope, but I am dancing anyway
9. Get a tattoo
10. Get a driver's license
11. Build a professional website - so much time thinking about it but not actually doing it
12. Continue reading books
13. Exercise drawing

So, it's 8/13, not bad! Not bad at all.

Since I am already feeling quite burned out and totally not in the mood for crazy new beginnings and stuff, for 2014 I have one, yet important goal, to

1. Graduate 

Let's see how this will go! Happy New Year everyone and good luck with your dreams!