Hello everyone!
It’s with incredible excitement that I announce you that my Shop at Dawanda. com is now open!

Please visit SakuraCrochetDesigns@dawanda and check the new items!

Feel free to contact me for any info or special request @ sakura.crochet.designsATgmail.com

(ps: this blog will obviously remain active for what concerns things that I crochet for me and my beloved ones)

I finally got my blanket back from my mother in law. I am slightly disappointed cause she insisted so much to have it there for a week, so that she could learn to weave ends in and?? She did nothing! So I basically lost a whole week of crocheting for it, which is actually nothing special cause I run out of yarn and I will have to wait till friday to buy more skeins, but still… I told her I was in a hurry with it, cause I am working on several projects at the same time. Bah

I only bought one of each colour to start with, so that I could see how much yarn the blanket would eat up, and I’m pretty amazed that with 5 skeins I managed to make 36 hexagons! If I am not wrong, which could be since I am terrible at maths, with 4 skeins of each colour I should reach the quota of 140 hexagons

HEXAGONS <3 BLANKET:
- Starting date: October 16th 2009
- Finishing date (ext): anytime before Xmas!!!
- Number of hexagons according to project: 140
- Number of hexagons made so far: 36

Hey everyone!

Today’s project  is a bit “old” already, anyway my parents went on holidays at the seaside in May (yes, I know ) and they found a cute and small yarn store during one of their sightseeing trips. They decided me to make me a huge surprise by buying an enornous stash of yarn!!! They came home with more than 40 yarn skeins and they definitely made their girl happy

The yarn is 100% wool and it’s very soft to the touch. It came in 5 colours: yellow, blue, cream, some “lobster red” and light pink

I failed to add the pink to the picture… dunno why, probably it’s because it’s the one that I happen to like less, but nevermind!

More or less in the same period I had purchased this book, which I find totally inspiring! There are a lot of cool patterns and the author uses only a couple of stitches for them all, which make them easy and quite fast to work.

Does anyone else have it? The pink blanket on the cover definitely caught my eye on Amazon, so I had to buy it! Anyway, what I was going to do with all the yarn I got became suddenly clear…

The first one I crocheted was the blue one and I totally fell in love with the pattern! So much that I couldn’t wait to finish the first square in order to start the others
Since I was still working full time at the moment, it took me one week to finish each square, whcih is a long time in my opinion, but with so little time left in the evening, it was the best I could do. Now that I am not working anymore I am still crocheting quite slowly cause I’m simultaneously caught up in some 74732392 projects, well… you know how it is! They just keep producing too much beautiful yarn and we’ve only got 2 hands!

By the end of the summer this is how it looked like. I think that using a single colour would have made the pattern stand out more (as the one in the book), but I’m very happy with my own variation as well:

I am happy to announce though that I reached square #14 this weekend, which makes me right halfway through the whole blanket! When it will be finished it will be just as big as a regular single bed, and I honestly can’t wait! I’ll keep you updated!

WHITE ROSE BLANKET:
- Starting date: May 2009
- Finishing date (ext): April 2009
- Number of squares according to project: 28
- Number of hexagons made so far: 14

Hey everyone!
Did you miss me? lol I have been crocheting like crazy lately, so much that I think I’ll need a wrist/elbow transplant soon I have just decided to take a couple of days off from my crocheting fever to rest my back a bit, so here I am with a couple new post and funny projects to show you!

Remember my previous post about Hexagons ?

Well, my obsession not only didn’t fade away, but it got even increased by discovering the creative talent of Attic24:

In a sudden creativity explosion I decided to make such a blanket (but more a knee rug actually) for my mum this Xmas.
I went buying some yarn the other day with my boyfriend but I totally *effed* it up. Our livingroom in Italy is all in neutral colours, cream, orange and coffee brown, so I figured such a colour combination would be an asset for the blanket as well.
My fave yarn store in Maribor (Slovenia) didn’t have ANY of those colours in a soft bulky yearn which would make the blanket something affordable and easy to make. So I bought just one orange, brown and cram skein of wool/acrylic blend to try and well, I really didn’t like the result. The hexagons were stiffy and riculously small. I would have needed 3 years to come out with anything in the size of a blanket! So I went back to the store the following day and I got to change the yarn I didn’t use. I decided to change colours completely and went for a sweet pink, turquese, cream, purple and green. I thought that choosing 5 colours for a pattern that requires 4 for each hexagon would give me a nice turnover without adding too many colours and I think I was right!

These are the 20 hexagons I made in a 24 hours crocheting marathon Considering that I also ate, slept and went to the cinema watching Julie & Julia in the meantime (eheh) I think they work quite fast! What do you think? Any feedback on the colour choice? I am pretty proud of the fact that so far no hexagon is looking like another.

I left the blanket at my in laws on Sunday, so no more crocheting until next Friday. My mother in law insisted on having it there to learn weaving in ends, so well, I thought I’d share some of the fun

I also thought I’d make a list of “project stats” from now on… so here they are:

HEXAGONS <3 BLANKET:
- Starting date: October 16th 2009
- Finishing date (ext): anytime before Xmas!!!
- Number of hexagons according to project: 140
- Number of hexagons made so far: 23

I just recently bumped into this website, and though I’m not from the US so I can’t participate, I thought I’d share it cause I think it’s such a good idea

From the website Afghans for Afghans :

afghans for Afghans is a humanitarian and educational people-to-people project that sends hand-knit and crocheted blankets and sweaters, vests, hats, mittens, and socks to the beleaguered people of Afghanistan.

This grassroots effort is inspired by Red Cross volunteers who made afghans, socks, slippers, and other items for soldiers and refugees during World Wars I and II and other times of crisis and need. Read about the Red Cross knitting tradition.

From American hands and hearts
Your gift of a handmade blanket or garment will bring comfort and warmth to Afghan women, men, and children who continue to suffer from oppression, war, hunger, poverty, and sickness. Your lovingly made gifts will send a message of concern and hope to our fellow humans on the other side of the globe. Your participation is important.

So, happy humanitarian crocheting anyone!

Remember when I bought new cotton yarn in July cause I wanted to make pot holders?

Well, I just realized I had failed to post pictures… then after I had a look at them I finally realized why *shame*

I really HATE how the sewing line shows through them. I know that there are ways to make it invisible, but it didn’t look so bad at the time, so I said let’s go for it anyway.
The co-worker I had made them for really liked them though, so that was at lest a good outcome
The pic is pretty bad, still the colours looked pretty much good together. My fave is the one on the left. For some optical mistery the one on the right seems bigger, but they are exactly the same size… weird!

New obsession: coasters!

Well, surfing through the Ravelry patten library can get pretty addictive, you keep discovering cute projects!
I am looking for some quick-to-be-crocheted items for my Christmas presents.
I have found this flower coasters pattern on ravelry Sunny Coaster by Lis Chaong and I thought I would look perfect for a sunflower coaster theme! I started crocheting like mad, though I was already ready to go to bed last night, and here it is!

I’m pretty sure I’m going to crochet at least a small set, they add up a warm touch to any table!

Some many things I’d like to post about and so little time!

I have recently moven from Italy to Austria and, befone my new uni course starts in 3 weeks, I am using my free time to surf the net a bit and gather new ideas
I was looking for cool patterns when I found this super cool website called the roxycraft blog . This gal designs the most adorable Amigurumi and I’ve totally fallen in love with them!
Just some examples

Now, obviously, I am feeling the urge to start crocheting amigurumi, though there ae no kids in my family and I am already collecting too many things to start up a new collection!
I am especially finding it hard to find supplies here in Austria, since I’ve only been here for one week and I didn’t have much time to look aroud… (ah, bureocracy is eating me alive!).
So, anyone reading this blog from Austria, any hints?

My co-worker is pregnant, in her 6th month now, and it’s a girl, so i decided to make a baby blanket for her… my first attempt!
I was browsing through my grandma’s book to find a nice stitch that would work fine for a baby and while trying some “pineapple stitch” I came up with a variation that seemed quite soft and thick at the same time.

I used a 6.00 mm (J) hook and about 4 skeins of Cigno Nero Acrylic wool. I am not very happy with the acrylic, my mum got it for me and she didn’t know it was for a baby blanket. I decided to use it anyway, though in my opinion it’s a bit of waste to put so much time and effort into something that is not going to be the way ti should, but I’ve read somewhere that acrylic blankets can be more handy cause they are easily washable (vs wool being super delicate!)

I started the blanket in Feb actually, and it’s done by now. I didn’t know it was going to be a girl, so I went for a neutral cream colour.

I made 3 pink and purple roses the other day and I bought a pink ribbon… I think the blanket looks very sweet
Just the “acrylic matter” keeps bothering me a bit… ufffff.

And…….

Done! Do you think she will like it?

Mum made me a surprise this morning, she went to the local market and got me the softest and most colourful cotton yarn ever! I’m so happy! I love cotton much more than wool, cause it’s so soft and fresh to the touch (esp now that it’s 35°C here, and you hands sweat when crocheting wool!)

Here are my new babies

And they are going to be turned into… POT HOLDERS!
My other co-worker is moving in with her fiancè soon, so I thought it would be cute to make something for their life together

I really like this design by Bea in Norway…
I’m going to give it a try already today, yay!