Cosmic, amigurumi and other stories…

Hello everyone,

Here I am with a new blog entry to keep you all updated on my …never-end stack of Works in progress!!..

So where to start…my obsession with amigurumi is still in full swing…

I got a couple of new books one of which is SUPER CUTE! it is all about bugs and butterflies.What fascinated me is that  Lydia Tresselt, the designer behind LalyLala, is so skilled that made even a fly looking cute!

I attempted a butterfly, is not finished yet, the pattern is beautifully written as  Lydia has been writing amigurumi patterns for a long time.I am sure many of you are well acquainted with her kangaroos and other super cute animals, if not please have a look at her work, it is well worth it a visit.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/lalylala

” Lalylala’s Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies” is her last book, I got it from Amazon a few days ago. It is lovely and a  bit different from the average crochet book, the first part tells a story about the life cycle of the insects and the second part is all about patterns for the different stages of the bugs lives. from caterpillar to adult insect, they look very cute and easy to make.   I think they would be perfect for a child because they are not only lovely to play with but, to a degree, they could be quite educational, as they are not too “human-like “as often happens to amigurumis. on that subject, I have discovered another amazing designer, Sonja van der Wijk , her website is called Son’s popkes  https://sonspopkes.com/

I bought 3 of her patterns on Ravelry, and I got one free I thought to would be a good idea to use some of the Lett-lopi yarn I got in my stash…

if you follow me you might remember the Odinella blanket I made last year using   Lett-lopi.

https://luciasfigtree.com/patterns/odinella-icelandic-blanket/

 

a fabulous yarn especially for knitting and if you are interested in making outdoors garments or beautiful Lopapeysa ,with their recognizable design that has since become a national icon for Icelandic cultural identity ( I love Iceland!)

I made so many  Lopapeysa over the years, they have been my favourite knitting project. So if you love knitting and you also love the outdoors I would definitely recommend knitting one. They can be a bit scratchy at the beginning but they become amazingly soft with age and also they last a long time!

Francesca, my daughter, has a favourite one  I made for her when she was 16 and she wear it all the time..it has a couple of holes on the sleeves but I think it adds to the charm!

you can see it here.

I also have to finish my last bear and i have to  make a  “VERY PINK” ‘s one for my niece, Aurora, she is going to be 7 at the end of May and she loves pink…

This week I also finished joining together the Camo-blanket for Francesca.. I loved joining together the squares she made ,and adding a border.

More WIP’s…the COSMIC CAL!!  how exciting!!!

I normally don’t do Cals because I am really impatient and I  haven’t done a Cal since the Sophie’s Universe, but I think the Cosmic is a lovely one so I decided to give it a go.https://www.crystalsandcrochet.com/

I have been an admirer of Helen’s work since she started designing, she has recently joined the Stylecraft’s blogstars group and has been a real privilege chatting to her, she is not only a great designer but also a lovely all around person!.  the Cosmic is going to be my first blanket using Helen’s patterns.

 

Part one went live this week on the Stylecraft’s web site, it is available in English, American and Dutch, but on Helen’s page is translated in many other languages so have a look at Helen’s page! there is also a video tutorial too on youtube which I found very helpful.

I enjoyed the pattern so much that I made 2 versions as I couldn’t make up my mind about the yarn!! I made a Stylecraft SPECIAL DK ‘s one and an Aran weight one with some Drop’s NEPAL that I had at home.

 

Some of you ladies as asked me about the colours I used on the Stylecraft’s version so here they are: plum/matador/mustard/petrol/empire/gold/bright pink/aspen/magenta/spice/storm blue/fuchsia purple/lipstick/fondant /tomato.

I am not sure yet how I am going to use them and if I will drop a colour or two…as all of you I am following the CAL so is a bit if an adventure!

I also decided to make my life more complicated and in certain rounds, I used 2 colours instead then 1 so again I don’t know if that will work for all the different parts..I will keep you posted, and here is part one of the Stylecraft’s version finished and I am nearly there with the Aran too.

that is all for today, wishing you all a lovely weekend,

the sun shined in Scotland for a couple of hours!…it is back cloudy now..lol

see you next time! thank you for reading

Lucia xx

 

Odinella..the Icelandic Blanket.

Another blog entry…two in two days!  I love weekends because no work mean more time to write stories!  So some more about the June blanket:

 

Despite the heat, I finished the June blanket just a few days later then envisage.

 

I was so close to put the blanket in the WIP’s pile …as I didn’t consider the possibility that Scotland could get hot too, but I loved the yarn and the pattern I designed for the blanket so much that I persevered regardless of the temperature.

So now it still needs a  very simple border of some sort of type but I have run out of yarn and while I am waiting for it I started my July new adventure.

I might postpone the border to September I see how things go.

I was on the Ayrshire coast last weekend with my daughter Olympia and three of her friends,  so I took a few pictures of the blanket and the lovely coast.

The blanket is beautiful both sides! I still cant make up my mind which one I like the best…

 

The original idea for the pattern was to emulate the colors of Bifröst, the burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Asgard and Midgard,  a tribute to yet another of the books I love and I mentioned before: ‘the Prose Edda’.

I thought I was going to make some sort of stepping stones like large pebbles, colorful paving stones for the bridge, but as always happens with things that are made as you go, the ‘pebbles ‘ looked more like a starfish then anything else!

more so when I photographed the blanket on the Beach…

So yeah…no paving stones, sorry Heimdallr,

 

On the matters of lore, traditions, and stories I was going to mention elves and trolls and more so some really amusing little books written by a blogger and journalist called Alda Sigmundsdóttir. She has written several “Little Book” . they are a series of short essays that tell the story of the Icelanders,  now and in the past, some of the how they live, how they eat, how they deal with the beautiful but challenging Icelandic landscape.

Some of the topics include early superstitions, cultural anecdotes, and stories of the elves. (Do modern Icelanders really believe in elves? The answer may surprise you!)

Back to the blanket. I gave it a new name is called Odinella. you will find out why …

I realized that looks more like a  coterie of starfish, but as they are technically not fish… I am calling them sea stars.

While looking at images of sea star to use for this blog entry I stumbled on this beauty…is called Odinella and belongs to the family of the Brisingids.

     

 

The sea star’s family  is named after the Brisingamen, Old Norse for “glowing jewellery”,  ‘fire torc’ , the most beautiful necklace worn by the goddess Freyja so we still have  after all a Norse mythology connection, and Heimdallr is back too, as in the Prose of Edda, Loki steals the necklace, to avoid been found  he disguises  himself into a seal. Heimdallr turns into a seal as well and fights Loki. Heimdallr wins and returns Brísingamen to Freyja….great fun indeed.

Now this might be a bit controversial, as the Prose of Edda is a phenomenal extraordinary scholarly book, but…if you have no time to read it or you want something ‘lighter’ to share with your children you should have a look at  Neil Gaiman’s book :’Norse Mythology’. I found it witty and very enjoyable,  for me the added bonus,  is that it is available on Audible too, and the reader is Neil Gaiman himself!

back to the blankets some lovely shots of Turnberry’s lighthouse…( I walked over the golf course, not with a set of clubs but with a basket, a blanket, and a camera..and few puzzled looks)

 

 

the details of the pattern are still in a jumble in my scrapbook. I will ( don’t I always say that?! …) write it  down, but ,as I have been asked for the yarn I used, here is the list of the colors:

The yarn is LETT-LOPI  , a DK weight  100% wool. it comes on a 50 grams ball,100metres.

0867/9427/9426/9423/9421/1404/9418/9419/9432

/1414/9417/9431/9429/9428/9414/9434/1408.

I used 2 balls of all the above, besides 1408 (light red heather)  which I used just 1 ball as it is a very powerful hue.

 

the joining was done with 6 ( so far ) balls of 0058 (dark gray heather) I  am saying so far because I haven’t finished the border yet. I reckon I will need probably another 4..I am not sure.

More warnings…they yarn is FABULOUS BUT….if you are accustomed to the feel of acrylic, cotton, or merino please note that this is different. Lopi Lettlopi Wool is a breathable and water-repellent Aran weight roving yarn.

I love it and it is my favorite 100% wool yarn! it is the best for garments for the Scottish weather as it is rustic but so warm you will be pleasantly surprised! also, it is handwash only.

my advice? if you want to make the blanket before embarking in buying the full amount yarn just try a ball and see how you feel about it…

that is all for today,

happy crocheting,

lucia xxx

 

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