Weekly Inspiration_03: Longing for a 'blue 'spring 2013

Blue shades are part of the Spring 2013 colors. See here plenty of examples. Get inspired!!!

Top Pictures 1, 2, 3, 4
Bottom Pictures, 5, 6, 7, 8

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Weekly Inspiration_02:: Getting ready for Valentine

This week is Valentine, therefore I would like to get everyone in the mood and share some ideas of how to spend the coming days!! :-)
Happy Valentine to you All!

Links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

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Weekly inspiration_01:: Black & White stripes

Moodboards are a must for designers that is why I would like to propose every Monday 'inspiration' from a different angle, to start the week well. :-)

This week: Black & White stripes

Row 1 from left to right: 1, 2, 3

Row 2, from left to right: 4, 5, 6

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Fan like Earrings make a great gift!!! (+ pattern)

Don't you have this sometimes where you think ' I have crocheted or knitted this scarf/jumper but wish I had some earrings to go with it'? Well, if you have some yarn left, a couple of earring pieces from a craftshop and of course 15mins of your time, you are ready to go.

These are easy earrings but they will look, for those who can not crochet, rather complicated and exotic. They are ready in now time and you can make as many as you want. Come to think of it, they would even make a great present.
I have even added a little template you could use to hang the earrings on when you give it out as a present!! ;-)

PATTERN:
chain 8  and form a ring finishing with a sl st in 1st ch
Row1: 2ch (counts as 1hdc), 8 hdc in circle space ( = 9hdc in total), turn
Row2: 3ch (counts as 1hdc +1ch), *1hdc in next hdc, 1ch * repeat 7  more times (= total of 9hdc ), turn
Row3: 1ch, *1sc in next one-chain-space, 3ch, another sc in same one-chain-space*, repeat this 8 more times, finish off.

Repeat this pattern one more time.

Once you have crocheted the 2 fan like patterns in your favourite pattern/colour, you can start putting it all together, the crocheted fan, the connection ring and the actual earring piece (as you can see in the picture below) and you will be wearing them in no time ;-).

ch = chain
sc = single crochet
hdc = half double crochet
sl st = slip stitch

Template to use as packaging for your earrings.
Place the mouse on the picture and click on the right mouse button, save the pictures so you can reopen it and print it.
Glue it on some cardboard and you have your own original packaging ;-)

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White crocheted bracelet/ necklace

I have made this simple bracelet/necklace the other day. Unfortunately I only took pictures of it being a bracelet though. Of course, I'll give some guidelines but you can make this bracelet/necklace as long as you want.

So, do you have some yarn laying around? Because it is honestly as simple as that. If you are not happy with your yarn , you can always spice it up with some simple sewing thread to make this yarn more fancy looking, more jewely like looking. In the picture below you can see that I have used white cotton mixed with some light grey sewing thread.

You don't need to know much about crochet to be able to make this jewelry. But you know as they say, simple is always the best. ;-) It could even be a great idea for a present.

What you will need is yarn (cotton or acrylic ), some sewing thread and a button.
(I would prefer cotton in this case as it is a bit more heavy and falls more neater around your wrist).

INSTRUCTIONS:

Use both yarns at the same time and create a chain of 2m long, slip stich in the 1st chain and finish off. (make sure your chain is not twisted before finishing off)

You have actually made one big circle.

Take the circle and turn it into one straight line. On one ending (u-turn looking) you can sew the button and on the other end (the other u-turn)  create a loop opening big enough to serve as button opening. Use some extra yarn and turn it around the chain to create the button opening.

You are now able to turn the chain up to 4 or 5 times around your wrist or at least 2 times around your neck.

P.S.: Don't forget still one day to go, so leave a comment here and win a FREE Giveaway from my Shop.

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What's new??? Spring colours 2013

For those who haven't seen it yet, Pantone announced it's top 10 fashion spring colours for 2013 a while ago. See here the overview and the names they gave them. They are not that different from last year but they seem a bit more intense and optimistic than spring 2012. The 'It' colour  for 2013 is suppose to be Monaco Blue. Hope this will help you to decide what to wear, crochet or sew for the coming months. :-) 
Which of those 10 colours would you like to wear this Spring???

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FREE Giveaway!! I have passed the 50!!! -:)

No, no, no, this is not my age, but as some of you might know I have opened my Etsy shop 2 months ago and I have been working hard to stock up my shop and I have now reached 50 items with which I am very pleased.

I have to admit, Etsy seems such an easy place to start your business when you are designer and want to show your creations to the world. Indeed it is easy to start but it is not so easy to get found as the customer gets overwhelmed with other amazing products on this site.

I will keep you informed about my endeavors on the Etsy platform. At the moment it is all still exciting in the hope it will pick up one day soon.  :-)

HOW TO ENTER:

Well, to celebrate I have reached 50 items I would like to offer to one blogger a FREE HEADBAND with FREE SHIPPING, from my headband section in my shop. A headband of his/her choice. Leave a comment here, and tell me what is your favorite fashion accessory!!!!
Make sure I can contact you, if you are the winner, by leaving an email, website etc. (the winner will be chosen randomly). You can leave a comment from now till January 23rd and the winner will be announced on January 24th 2013. GOOD LUCK!!!



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Make your own bow tie ring

I can imagine that you have crocheted a scarf or even several scarves this winter. And in most cases you have some yarn left. So how about making a bow tie ring in the same yarn as your scarf. This is so easy and can be done in no time so that you can make even different rings in different colours to match different outfits.

Before going over to the pattern and the 'Hows' of how to make this ring I would like to make a small announcement.

I know most of you are amazing crafts people and you all know to crochet well. But I would like to thank you for all the visits my blog had over the past 2 months therefor I would like to organise a FREE Giveaway coming from my Headband section in my shop The New Crochet. So hope to see you all at this Blog on Wednesday, January 16th and hope you'll be the lucky one for this 1ST Free Giveaway on this site.

Well enough about this, back to our bow tie ring.

To make this ring you will need to crochet 3 little strips.

 I have used rather thin acrylic yarn and used hook 2.5.

Sc= single crochet

Part 1 (ring):

PATTERN:

Chain 3

Row 1: skip 1 chain, 1sc in each of the 2 remaining chains, chain 1 and turn

Row2: 1sc in the each of the 2sc, chain 1 and turn

Repeat this until your crocheted strip is long enough to go around your ring finger, when long enough finish off and sew the ends together. In my case it was around 6cm long (2.3 inch)

Part 2 (part to tie the bow to the ring):

PATTERN:

Chain 3

Row 1: skip 1 chain, 1sc in each of the 2 remaining chains, chain 1 and turn

Row2: 1sc in the each of the 2sc, chain 1 and turn

Repeat until the strip measures 2.5 - 3 cm (around 1.2inch) (depending on the thickness of your yarn) and finish off.

Part 3 ( bow):

PATTERN:

Chain 4

Row 1: skip 1 chain, 1sc in each of the 3 remaining chains, chain 1 and turn

Row2: 1sc in the each of the 3sc, chain 1 and turn

Repeat until the strip measures approximately 7cm (2.75 inch) and finish off and sew the ends together.

Now place the bow on the ring and fix them together by using Part 2. Ring and bow are placed on top of each other in the same direction while part 2 is placed in the opposite direction.

Have fun with it!!!

 

 

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What's new??? Spring Fashion 2013

To think of what to crochet for your home or for yourself will need some research, of course what is your taste but at the same time we all like to be up to date with the latest trends. That's why I decided to dedicate Wednesday to 'What's new???'. Every Wednesday I would like to go into one topic briefly which could inspire you to continue searching on the internet or it might give you ideas of where to go from here. I hope you will enjoy it and look forward to hearing your feedback.

For those of you trying to figure out what to start crocheting or knitting, which colours to buy etc, well, have a look here. I've picked up 3 interesting ideas, tips of how fashion is going to evolve this year. For sure, colours are in!!! We don't seem to be depressed because of the global economic situation but we rather want to make a statement to show 'life goes on and we are enjoying it, despite of everything ...'.

Here are some of the remarkable trends for the months to come.

1. Curvy Colour blocking

Colour blocking has always been fashionable but going back to curvy colour blocking reminds me more of the 70's, we might not be using the same colours but there is that hint!

2. Flowers are everywhere

Jewelry is no longer subtle but as I said earlier, colours are in and so are flowers, for fabrics, prints but also for Jewels. Wear the flowers around your neck and be proud to be able to show your masterwork of a necklace.

3. Asian influences

Last but not least, lots of Fashion designers sought there inspiration, in Asian traditional fashion, for their spring collection, translating this into lots of layers and lots of interesting pattern combinations!!

All trends for Spring 2013 can be found here at Accessories Magazine online. 

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Infinity chain scarf (+ free pattern)

First of all I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may your year be filled with plenty of happiness and lots and lots of beautiful and creative moments!!!

The festive season is a time for family and there is hardly any time for ourselves but this is all behind us now and a new year with new resolutions has started. This is day 2!!! So time to be creative.

Just before the holidays I have made this chain scarf. It is the simplest thing ever, it is beginners level but I think any level will enjoy making this as this is a good reason to get rid of little bits and pieces of yarn from last year. Like this, your scarf could turn into a colourful item and at the same time you have created some new space to stock up on Spring colours :-).

With the length I have chosen you can wrap the scarf an additional time around your neck. Of course you can test this out and make it longer if preferred.

PATTERN:

Row1: 200ch, finish circle with a slip stitch and fasten off.

Repeat this 32 times (less or more depending on your yarn thickness or the thickness you would like to give to your infinity scarf).

30 chains are for the actual scarf, the 2 additional ones I have used to turn around the 30 chains to keep them nice and need together and finally sewed them slightly to the bunch of chains to keep them in their position.

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My Christmas gift to YOU

Happy Holidays to you All and your families.

May the coming year bring you lots of love, a good health and plenty of creativity!!!

Alexandra

As my Christmas gift to you All:

Sign up with my Facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/alexandra.fraraccio.5  and get a coupon code send to you which you will be able to use in my Etsy shop: Thenewcrochet, from December 26th 2012 till January 2nd 2013.

 

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Easy unisex cowl (+ pattern)

It is not easy to find some crochet patterns for men. For some reason, crochet always seems to have this feminine side. But I recently made this unisex pattern (very easy) for my partner. I have used a basic stitch and created some ribs to make it more 'tough' looking.

So if you still want to surprise someone with your own home-made Christmas present, this is maybe one on your list-to-do as it will take just a couple of hours to have this one ready and gift-wrapped.

For this cowl I crocheted with double yarn (acrylic yarn) and used a crochet hook of 8mm.

PATTERN:
Ch 112 and form a ring with a sl st in 1st ch (make sure you keep the string of chains straight and not twisted before forming a ring)
Row1: Ch 2, skip first sc and add 1sc in following ch, *1sc in following ch* and finish with a sl st in 2nd ch of beginning, turn piece
Row2: Ch 2, skip first sc and add 1sc in back loop of following sc, *1sc in back loop following sc* and finish with a sl st in 2nd ch of beginning, turn piece

Repeat Row 2 until achieved the desired height of your cowl.
Tip: by using just the back loop of each sc and turning the piece at the end of each round, you will be creating ribs. 

ch = chain
sc = single crochet
sl st = slip stitch

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Flower choker necklace (+ pattern)

I have realised from all your comments the past 2 weeks, that everyone is busy preparing Christmas decorations or even Christmas presents. Maybe this little bracelet could be part of your preparations, for yourself or for someone else. You could make it in the same colour as your outfit. You could even make a bracelet to go with it, to have a matching pair.
The whole bracelet is done in crochet.

I have used cotton yarn for the flower and for the actual string I have crocheted lace that I bought at a DIY shop, which is used for necklaces.

To fancy up the flower I sewed a bead in the middle of the flower.

Hope you like it or even better, I hope it gives you some inspiration to fancy up your outfit during the festive season. And all this in a very cheap and fun way!!

PATTERN:

String:
Depending on the size, necklace or bracelet you crochet the amount of chains necessary and finish off. (you could also use a thin leather strap to replace the crocheted string)

Flower:
chain 5 and form a ring with a sl st in 1st ch
Row1: 3ch, 1dc in same ch, *2dc in every ch*, repeat 4 times, finish with a sl st in 3rd ch from beginning
Row2: 4ch, 1dc in same ch, *1ch and 1dc in next dc*, repeat 9 times, finish with a sl st in 3rd ch from beginning
Row3: 1ch, 1sc in 1st ch space, 4ch, 1sc in same ch space, *1sc in next ch space, 4ch and again 1sc in same ch space* repeat 9 times, finish with a sl st 1st sc.
Finish off

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DIY: Curly scarf (+ pattern)

I have been looking for a scarf I could start crocheting in the evening and wear in the morning and yes I have found what I was looking for.

I didn't have enough yarn, therefore I have used 2 colours, black and dark brown. The nuance is very subtle but although this scarf is ready in no time, it is pretty warm!!

PATTERN:

Chain a row approx 150 cm / 59'' long with hook size 4 mm turn the piece.
Row 1 : Crochet 1 dc in the 4th ch from hook, 2 dc in the same ch, then 3 dc in each ch until the end of row, turn the piece.
Row 2 : ch 3, 1 dc in the same dc, then crochet 2 dc in each dc until the end of row.
Fasten off.

Stitches used:
ch= chain
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet

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D&G rocked the Milan Fashion Week

It was the perfect romance on the ramp with Dolce and Gabbana’s spring/summer 2011 collection at the Milan Fashion Week The whites were actually looking gorgeous. The range had it all from perfectly-cut pencil skirts, detailed floral attires, bustiers,corset-bodies, ra-ra skirts and the long maxi-dresses.

Each piece was gentle plus elegant. The garments of this collection were accessorized with wooden and floral sandals, giving that natural look to the models. Overall, the D&G show was awesome; it was sultry with the laces, elegant with the linen and fantastic with the designs. Have a look at the pictures below

w

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Victoria's Secret 2010 Fashion Show

Victoria's Secret Lingerie Model Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Candice Swanepoel, Karolina Kurkova,Erin Heatherton and others participated in the 2010 fashion show

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