Saint Valentine leg warmers for Blythe

My leg warmers patterns for Saint Valentine.

I was going to post another ILI cowl that I knitted last week but I changed my mind and decided to make a couple of leg warmers designs for my Blythe ( it must be that, in the end, I like to work under pressure). I didn't have much time so they're quite simple.

Firstly I made a few measurements of Berta's calf so that I could use any stitch, and these are the results:

• Wider part of the calf: 14 mm diameter ~ 45 cm circumference.
• Ankle: 7 mm diameter ~ 22 mm circumference. I will round it to 25 mm for an easier fit.
• Length from ankle to just above the "calf muscle": 40 mm.

Now we need to choose between a cylinder and a truncated cone. That is, we can either crochet a rectangle- which would be the easiest option- and sew it or a trapezium for a more anatomical shape.

Basic shapes for the leg warmers.

Let's see the rectangle option: once we choose the type of stitch, we need to crochet a gauge to calculate the number of stitches and rows required.

I crocheted two patterns, one in sc ribbing and the other one in hdc ribbing stitch.

For the sc ribbing rectangle I made a gauge of 5 cm X 2.5 cm with 0 or lace yarn and a 1.5 mm hook ( yes, I know I should have made a 10X10 gauge but it was going to take me ages, too lazy). It gave me 5 sts/cm and 25 rows for 4.5 cm, thus I had to crochet 21 chs for 20 sc and 25 rows.

How beautiful are the mini-hearts!

As for the wider ribbing rectangle, I needed 22 chs for 20 hdc and 14 rows ( if I use a higher stitch I will need less rows to reach the 4.5 cm target).

Mini-hearts in different sizes.

For another type of stitch I would have to make a gauge and calculate the number of stitches and rows required to crochet a rectangle with these specific measurements.

Should I like my leg warmers to be longer, I would add more stitches to my foundation chain accordingly to the desired length.

Oh! I have crocheted tiny hearts to celebrate Saint Valentine but they can also be flowers, bows,  pom-poms, letters, equations...

I haven't had time to write down understandable patterns. When I write them for myself they have tons of my own abbreviations and they are a bit messy.

So would you do me a favour and tell me which one you like the most? I will post the most liked pattern next week, promiss.

Note: the trapezium pattern will have to wait because I have too many WIPs.

Happy Valentines!

That's all for today which is no small thing.

Catch you next weekend!

Adventures and misfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise-VI

Thursday 5th of September

Yes, yes, it is marihuana. You'll see...

Today we stay on board as we are navigating to Dubrovnik. No hurries, no pressure. We are going to explore this floating mini-city.

It's a huge ship and it's got everything. Actually, we could stay on board for the whole cruise without getting bored, dozens of activities, a thousand ways to get lost- as it happened when trying to find our restaurant- shopping (well wonder-Grandpas have already done it for us and they bought some souvenirs), workshops...

Little Romulan has joined the Kids Club and today is pizza day. You can imagine his level of dirtiness after the master class, can't you?

Mrs. Soft Kitty has made new friends and is "missing in action".

And what about Mc and I? Well, first thing in the morning we've found an invitation that has been slipped under the door last night. It's a "private" cocktail with the Captain invitation. Oh, oh, what a nice guy, don't you think?

Tonight, black tie dinner again. We leave the children with Wonder-Grandpas and head off to the cocktail. Oh, wow! There is a huge queue for the picture with the Great Captain Rafaello, yet again. We better drink cava to breve another picture with him... No, not enough cava in the boat for a second round of pictures with him.

After a couple of cavas we go to meet the family at the restaurant for dinner.

I'm not sure if I've already talk to you about our waiter. The fist two dinners he was a very serious and apparently very reserved guy but we've found out that he is a very nice man, a pretty good singer and he's got a particular sense of humour- we've ordered risotto as our first course and when he comes back-after serving our dishes- he offers a small pot to my mother in law, asking at the same time " Madame, marihuana?".

You should see her face, haha! Eyes wide open, dropped jaw... She slowly opens the pot to discover that its content is just grated Parmesan cheese.

He is brilliant! Our bellies hurt after half an hour of continuous laughs and I think that he is a little bit annoyed by now. I'm not sure if he knows that we are not laughing at him but because of what he has said...poor guy!

We are exhausted after all the laughing so we go back straight to our cabin. Tomorrow, our last excursion: Dubrovnik.

• Hours of excursion: 0.
• Hours of siesta: 1.5.
• Hours of crocheting: 0. Yes, zero! I haven't even touched my hook!
• Sea sickness pills: 4.

Friday 6th of September

Overview of Dubrovnik.

Our excursion to Dubrovnik is going to be an easy-going one.

We can see from our ship many detached houses,- almost all of them with a vegetable garden- scattered all over sheer hills.

We reach the town centre and from the square, we can see a beautiful fortified castle that was built on a hill by the sea.

We decide to wander though the streets and after a while we end up in a densely wooded public park with amazing views of the sea, the shore and the castle. We let the children explore the park-forest while we take some pictures.

Fortified castle.

On our way back we observe that some of the buildings still have bullet holes, a sad static and silent memory of the war.

Suddenly the children begin to run to a souvenir shop, they are hungry so it's time to go back to the ship.

Today you can still see the bullet impacts on some facades.

We have our lunch at 4 in the afternoon and go straight to the water-slide. The children haven't had the opportunity to try it and today is the last day in which they can do it.

A transparent part of it shoots out over the edge of the ship and it looks promising.

I'm the chicken of the family so I go to the deck under the transparent part of the water-slide and lie down on a sun-bed ready to take pictures of them.

From the distance I'm unable to distinguish my children from others and as they slide very quickly I take pictures of everybody. The memory of my mobile is almost full and I'm just about to stand up when I see a thin pale body attached to a blonde haired head. Little Romulan is trying to slide sitting on his bottom. I begin to try and catch his attention and explain to him with signs to lie down and cross his arms over his chest to regain speed but he doesn't see me. Finally- maybe I'm telepathic after all- he does it and slides down.

On the contrary, Mrs. Soft Kitty slides so quickly that I shot like mad hoping that at least one picture is good.

Before dinner I crochet a couple of rows but I'm not in the mood. I think that I'm sad because the cruise is almost over. Tomorrow we will return to Venice but only to go directly to the airport to take our flight back to Madrid.

Maybe we should lock ourselves in the cabin and ask them for another round.

• Hours of excursion: 3.
• Hours of siesta: 0.
• Hours of crocheting: 0.333.
• Sea sickness pills: 4. Today our little creatures have bough several unauthorised souvenirs taking advantage of my sickness on solid ground.

ILI Slouch Hat

Ha, ha! I can see youuu.

New year and I've already skipped a post. Bad, bad girl!

It's been a long time since the last ILI (I Love It) pattern. Oh! I love this acronym so from now on I will call the patterns that I like ILIs.

This one is from Lionbrand and is called Seed Banded Slouch Hat (you need to be registered to access the patterns but registration is free).

It's been quite a while since my last knitted garment and after months of intense crocheting I needed to take my needles and knit something. And that something is this hat. It's got a nice transition of different textures plus it is slouchy and I have a fondness for slouchy hats.

The only thing that I don't like is that the pattern calls for 5 balls of cashmere and it makes the hat a little bit expensive. I've knitted it using a 100% Virgin wool yarn in chocolate colour which makes it more affordable.

Detail of the ILI slouch hat.

I've knitted this hat and crocheted a cowl with a wool and alpaca blend for my sister Kiki, as a birthday present. From the very first moment that I saw this ILI hat I knew it was for her.

I've already sent it to her. I'm late- since her birthday was on the third week of December- but it happened that I had the wrong idea of buying something instead of the last years handmade sets that I've been sending to her and when I told her she asked "why, no set this year?".

Yippee! She wanted another one! It's really nice to give a handmade gift but it's better to know that what you've made is really appreciated. What a boost of happiness!

The last weeks of school before Christmas are always hectic so I didn't had time but to crochet the cowl. I took my needles and the yarn with me to Madrid just in case, but we spent all the time with family and friends (you see? I've been a good girl). 

Too much sunlight. I think I'm going to use the pompoms as sunglasses.

So I knitted the hat back in Malaga and sent her gift a couple of days ago. I'm really happy to show you her present and will be happier when she receives it and I know she will be happy wearing it as it's getting fairly chilly up there.

ILI hat for my beloved sister.

That's all for today which is no small thing.

Catch you next Sunday! (Promiss)

Adventures and misfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise- V

Awake to see the first light in Istanbul. Yaaaarnss, yeeessss!!!

Wednesday, september the 4th

I'm the first one to wake up this morning. Determined to be at the bus shuttle on time, I enter the mini-bathroom like bats out of hell, wash myself and put my clothes on. This last task is a little bit difficult to accomplish in a 5.4 square feet sort of room when you suffer from sea sickness.

Anyway, I wake up the rest of the family and make them turn on the turbo.

Today is the daaayyyy! Istanbuuuuul! Yaaaaarns! YYYYesss!

Ok, ok, I have to say that I'm very interested on visiting the monuments and all that stuff...

Come on, you guys! Hurry up! Quick breakfast and off to the bus.

Our guide today is a young Turkish lady? Girl? We are going to visit the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, then head to a luxury jewellery shop and a typical Turkish carpets factory and, after that, free time for exploring the Grand Bazaar. Mc husband and I look at each other in understanding: we're going to sneakily skip the visit to the jewellery and carpet shops and go directly to the Grand Bazaar, muahahah!

Wilhelm II Fountain. What does a German fountain do here? Eh?

As always, I'm just going to tell you the little stories about our excursion:

• Mrs. Soft Kitty and I look really pretty in our hijabs. It seems a fairly easy garment to wear but we have to constantly rearrange them over our heads ( I wish I have a bottle of super glue with me).

• The tourist lady that has delayed our group because she has not made her homework and she's wearing shorts! She needs to change clothes for a proper dress and a hijab. Oh, my!

• The terrible feet odour inside the Mosque. Obviously they are foreign feet as locals are very respectful people and wash their feet among other parts of their bodies before entering the Mosque. They surely think that foreign visitors are quite filthy... and I'm afraid that they are right.

• The moderate "harassment" of the street sellers while we walk from the Blue Mosque to Hagia Sophia. Our guide tells us to ignore them and- as we see how a street seller puts one of our tourist colleges under pressure- we decide to follow to the letter our guide's advice.

Obelisc of Tutmosis III.

• Hagia Sophia is amazingly beautiful buuuut unfortunately it's under repair so we can only visit a part of it. Pity!

• Holy cow!! I forgot to transfer the directions for the yarns bazaar to my mobile phone. Panic! I ask our guide for help. I'm not sure if she understands what I want but she writes something for me in a small piece of paper to show to the sellers of the Grand Bazaar. Phew!

We walk to a street near the Grand Bazaar where we stop and, as soon as our guide tells us where is the meeting point and when we have to be there and we sneak out directly to the Grand Bazaar.

We've got an hour! Not that much. Run, run!

While Mc Husband and our little creatures do the bargaining thing, I show the sellers my piece of paper and apparently they do not understand what's written down (I'm not going to reproduce here what I think of our guide but you can use your imagination...). What the hell am I going to do now?

Grand Bazaar. Image from Estambul.es

Thirty minutes left. Panic mode on. We go to a leather shop near the second entrance of the Bazaar. That's the one a seller that might have understood what I want has sent us to ask for directions again. We buy a leather purse for Mrs. soft Kitty and again I try to explain to the seller what I want and... He understands!! And he knows!! (I would have kissed him).

The street is called Mahmutpaşa and the yarn bazaar name is Kürkçü Han. He gives us the correct directions and we fly, fly, fly... down the street.

Image from Laylock. You see the corner of the red building? That's the yarn bazaar.

I'm running now, I can see the corner of the red building, heart pumping like mad. Then, Mc makes me stop and tells me that we've run out of time. Ten minutes left to walk to the meeting point.

Cannot breath, a huge lump in my throat, I wanna cry. I've been patient, everybody has had time for their shopping, everybody except me.

We begin to walk back to the meeting point. The three of them trying to comfort me. And I explode in anger, spilling out all that I have inside. Oh, oh, this is wrong, it's not their fault. I  apologise but don't want to talk about it any more. I'm sad.

On top of that, the bus is half an hour late!! I'm fed up with the aggressive offers of the street sellers, all I want is to go back to the ship, now!

We manage to have some lunch and go back to the cabin to have a nap. It takes me forever to fall asleep but, I finally do.

We talk about the big issue while having a coffee. We will definitely go back to Istanbul, it's an amazingly beautiful city and there are so many sites left to discover that another trip is a must. Therefore I will have another opportunity to bargain for yarns.

I'm not in the mood for crocheting but I try to, while the rest of the family have a shower and dress for tonight's show and dinner. And what do I find? A mistake, a wrong stitch but not in the last round or the round before the last one. The damned stitch is four rounds back! Probably a lack of concentration due to the persistent piercing sound of the whistle of the middle-aged man disguised as a little sailor that yesterday annoyed me so much.

What else can be wrong today?

Oooor it maybe the karma. I've been a bad, bad, girl today.

Anyway, I begin to undo all the way back to the wrong stitch very slowly as an act of contrition and leave it ready for tomorrow.

The wonder-Grandpas. They did the same cruise a few years ago and due to a health condition they cannot come to the excursions with us. We only share a few hours a day but we all are having great fun together.

Tomorrow will be an entire navigation day to Dubrovnik so we will have plenty of time to explore the ship, replenish energy and enjoy a day together.

Note: if you're planning to visit Istanbul and, sinceweareatit, buy some yarn, have a look at Laylock post about the directions for the yarn bazaar and don't forget to bring with you the name of the street and the name of the bazaar.

• Hours of excursion: 5
• Hours of siesta: 2
• Hours of crocheting: more likely frogging... 0.3333...
• Sea sickness pills: 4, maybe 5, cannot concentrate with this sickness.

That's all for today which is no small thing.

Catch you next Sunday! First Sunday of 2015!

Happy New Year, my dearest Earth beings!!

Flexi-Shooees: New model Baaahh-Boties!

This is a new model and the last one for this Winter... The Baaahh-Booties!!

Aren't they cute? Ultra-cute? Mega-cute?

Adventures and misfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise- IV

The market or Agora. I bet there was a yarn shop. 

Tuesday, September the 3rd

Today, Ephesus. And we wake up early again because Smirna is an hour away from Ephesus by bus.

Our guide today is a small middle aged lady ( middle aged, what a convenient couple of words for Earth beings like me who are not able to calculate another's age at first sight).

While in the bus she explains the History of Turkey, relating facts from the past to present ones. For Clon's sake! She's like, I don't know, Saint Google!

She speaks very slowly, extreme care in pronunciation, a calm voice that would have made me have a nap if what she was talking about was not interesting enough.

We arrive to a very crowded entry to the ruines. Our 5 buses plus uncountable more from other cruises. Our little guide lady leads us between the crowd to the entry and it takes us 20 secs to get inside (she would have made a perfect football player).

The sight of this ancient roman city is spectacular. As we walk inside, our guide tells us that there is an agreement between the Austrian and the Turkish governments by which the Austrian archaeologists are the only ones allowed to work in the ruins of Ephesus - Austrian government provides the money- and the Turkish exploit the tourism in the area (clever guys!).

The temple of Hadrian.

I don't want you to get bored so I'm going to tell you just the interesting parts.

The  Austrian archaeologists have recovered all the plans of the city so that they know exactly where to work (clever Romans!).

The Odeon. 

Our wise little Yoda tells us that politicians use to meet in the Odeon to discuss all the issues about the city and that when things were turning really bad, a band of musicians were ready to play some music to calm them down. Now I know why the world is so crazy these days, no violins in the Parliament any more. Oh, my! And there were 100000 souls living in that place too!

The Curetes or posh Street.

The Curetes Street is the posh street. Rich people used to live there. One can still see the ruins of the sewage system of the city (another Roman clever invention) as well as "regular" mosaics in part of the street. They are now working in a Patrician house where the mosaics were top of grade ones, rich in colour and detail.

Close to the Patrician houses are the Temple of Adriano, the baths and the latrines or public toiletes. The last ones are in perfect condition and were the place to socialise (Cleopatra's butt was there!) but, sorry, I cannot see it, I cannot imagine myself sitting there, trying to concentrate on my own business while the person next to me speaks to me trying to establish a conversation and farts at the same time. Can you imagine it? Can you imagine the terrible odour? I suppose that they burned aromatic herbs or something like that, yuck!

Wanna share a private moment?

At the end of the street there is a magnificent view: the library of Cadalsus, the door to the Agora (the market) aaand... the "house of love".

The Library of Celsus. Strategically positioned.

Yes, the wise people of the city thought that it would be a good idea to place the library close to the market so that women would eventually come in the library before or after shopping and in front of the house of love for men, before or after (I would rather say after), well, you know...

Now we are at the theatre. It's huge. Yoda tells us that it was a very important cultural space ( not sure if gladiators fights would be considered as "culture" or gore). I'm beginning to feel like dancing but refrain myself. They've been using the theatre for concerts and other cultural events but now it's forbidden. The grades are damaged and they have to be restored. I wish I could have had the opportunity to listen to a concert there. Pity...

The theatre. I feel like dancing...

Yoda gives us a 10 minutes break and we have a little walk through the harbour street before going to the exit.

The Harbour Street.

Typical souvenirs shops, no yarns (of course) and its damn hot. We've drank 3 litres of water.

Before returning to the port we make a strategic stop at a leather factory ( they've worked things out pretty well). Firstly they show us the last models in a short catwalk room, then to the shopping space. My eyeballs turn the other way around when I see the most beautiful leather jacket in the world: soft and extremely light Napa leather in grey, knitted hood ( my inner yarn radar's fault) and an exquisite printed lining.

Magically a salesman appears close to me and, in spite of telling him that I'm only having a look and that I'm not going to try it on, he insists. Perfect fit! Mc Husband asks for the price and its astronomical (why do I have to invariably choose the most expensive item of the whole shop?) but the salesman tells us that he will make a 50% discount, that is astronomical/2, still astronomical. When they begin to bargain the price I get embarrassed, take the beauty off and go straight to the accessories part of the shop, leaving them in the middle of a futile discussion.

Back to the bus. We are late and on top of that there is a huge traffic jam in the motorway. The bus driver decides to take the first available exit and, as he takes it, we find that right in front of us a tank truck is reversing to take the motorway again (has he gone mental or what??). There has been an accident and the exit is collapsed. Then our bus driver decides to do as the tank truck driver did and reversed back into the motorway (oh, my, we are going to die!!).

We arrive to the ship just on time (phew!). Adrenaline has left our bodys exhausted. This helps us to share our lunch with the hordes in peace and harmony. A nice nap and off to the swimming pools. It's a bit chilly so we head to the indoor swimming pool. Children, swim, me, crochet. Piiiip, piiiip! A piercing whistle sound. There is a middle aged man wearing a little sailor suit with a whistle in his mouth, using it!! because some children are behaving badly. 

I take a deep breath and return to my crocheting (wow, it's getting hot, like in a sauna room). Piiip, piiiip! Twenty seconds later, piiiip, piiiip, piiiiiiiip! Dammit with the whistle!! He could slip on the wet floor and swallow the damn whistle! ( oh, oh, bad karma).

Ok, relax, have a deep breath, straight back, shoulders in position and begin crocheting again. Ten minutes later my angora yarn is getting spongy, my fingers are wet and it's impossible to...piiiip,piiiiiip! Enough!

Back to the cabin, have a nice shower and off to meet the Grandpas.

Tomorrow Istambuuul! Yaaaarns! Goood!

• Hours of excursion: 5.
• Hours of siesta: 1.
• Hours of crocheting: 0.6666...
• Sickness pills: 4 ( I've gone all over Ephesus as if I was coming back home after a Roman bacchanal).

That's all for today which is no small thing.

Catch you next Sunday!

Flexi-Shooees: new yarn colours & Color Block Loopy Star Booties

This last week I received a couple of new yarns for the Loopy Star booties. Every time I receive a package it’s pure joy for me: I open it carefully, look with adoration at my new balls of yarn, touch them, smell them. I know, I know, I’m a yarn addict but you already know it.

Flexi-Shooees: new sole colours!!

This week we have added two new colours of Filaflex to our chart ( a clue: one is blue and the other is brown).

I’ve already told you about the Filaflex, haven’t I? Ups, just in case, one more time.

Flexi-Shooees: new yarn colours!!

New yarn colours for the model Lollipop.

Aha! You surely thought that I had abandoned you. Nope, I wouldn’t dare to, my dearest Earth beings.

Flexi-Shooees are here!

Today's post is just this: no texts, no pics, no nothing.
If you want to see the Flexi-Shooees just click here.

Adventures and misfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise- III

Maño-father would say that Olimpia is a scattered bunch of old stones. 

September, Monday the 2nd:

The Katakolon port is an hour away from Olimpia by bus, so they’ve told all the tourist to gather together at the Safari Lounge (Safari, Golden, Diamond, Galaxy, what a bunch of weird names for bars) at 7:30 a.m. There is a mini-bathroom in our cabin, so we have had to wake up at 5:45 to have plenty of time for breakfast.

Wish it was Spring Lilac capelet- Winter 14/15

Composition:
Capelet	100% Angora

Measurements (inch):
Capelet	L: 19.3     W: 21.3 / 10.4

Note: length with neck folded as in the picture. First W measurement is for the widest part and the second one for the neck part, both measured when garment is flat.

Adventures and misfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise- II

Bari view from the ship

Sunday, September 1st

A little bit dizzy this morning. They've told me that because the ship is mega-huge ( Little Romulan's favourites, mega and huge) I won't feel anything but of course I do! Every time the ship tacks somewhere I do so too, so right before going out of the mini- bathroom I've tacked to one side and hit my head with the wall. Hurray!

Wish it was Spring- Light blue capelet- Winter 14/15

Composition:
Capelet	100% Angora

Measurements (inch):
Capelet	L: 17.3     W: 18.9 / 8.1

Note: length with neck folded as in the picture. First W measurement is for the widest part and the second one for the neck part, both measured when garment is flat.

Adventures and missfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise- I

Friday, August 29th:

What's in the box?... Surpriiiise!!

We wake up early in the morning and have a quick breakfast. The taxi driver is already awaiting for us and he takes us to the HST station. We are travelling to Madrid to meet the grandparents and our children who have been spending two weeks with them before departure.

My pulse is raising as we get close to the scanner but everything is all right. Fiuuu! First test passed.

Wish it was Spring White Capelette- Winter 14/15

Composition:
Capelet	100% Angora wool

Measurements (inch):
Capelet	L: 15.7         W: 25, 8.5

Note: length with neck folded as in the picture. First W measurement is for the widest part and the second one for the neck part, both measured when garment is flat.

Adventures and missfortunes of a crocheter in a cruise- Prologue

Ok, ok, this is not a collage but a bloody mess. What can I do? This is not my field...
By the way, pictures have been taken from internet. Whoever has any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace.

I wrote it just before leaving but I tell you the story now because Little Romulan and Mrs. Soft Kitty didn't know, so it was going to be a surprise and I had to keep it secret, you understand, don't you?

Mc's parents invited us- yes the whole family- to a cruise over the Mediterranean Sea. No thank yous enough for them (here, an adoration face).

The CoowlHat or Hatwl- Sold out!

Composition:
CoowlHat	50% wool, 10% alpaca, 40% acrylic

Measurements (inches):
CoowlHat	L: 12         W: 11

My idea of crocheting a cowl that is also a hat is not new but I bet that the name is original. Isn't it?

Now, explanation:

The "it'scostmemylife" shawl

Ok, ok (no need to be rude, you know) this is not the real name of this awesome shawl, in fact this is the Wild Rose Shawl designed by Kathryn A. White.

All right, all right, it hasn't cost me my life but, you know, I needed a dramatic title for my triumphal return and here it is!

Round Beach Bag for Blythe- free pattern

For people- like me- who were born and raised in inner lands it's very difficult to cope with Summer living by the coast.

High temperatures and humidity is a bad, bad combination if you're not lucky enough as to spend the whole day immersed  in water. No matter how many times you have a shower or try to cool down your body temperature, 5 minutes later you'll be sweating again.