Last Monday we had a much-needed conversation about support and connection in the @needleworkmonday community and the respond to @crosheille’s wonderful post was overwhelmingly positive and understanding. We all planned to connect more with each other and to shift the focus of the needlework community back to the crafts itself and the people behind it, away from trying to get the biggest reward.
So, I will follow this spirit and show a real Monday, you know the Monday after the Sunday
• where your husband had worked the whole night because of an important date (on Monday),
• your garden neighbors transformed into tree hating monsters and wanted us to cut all trees on our side (but they let their ugly poison ivy grow over into our garden and we simply cut it ourselves),
• the Monday after again a week full of migraines
• and a Monday which followed a whole week where I tried to send Silvia (with whom I prepare an exhibition in August) photos and videos of my artworks and the internet decided to not comply? It even spoke to me in a very deep and dark voice and said „Dear Lady, if you want me to send your files you should sacrifice your firstborn, pay a lot more money for a better bandwidth, move into a country where they have broadband internet coverage“
Yes, such a Monday…. A Monday which reveals the true power of needlework, because I countered every hindrance with simply starting a new project to calm myself :-DDDD Over the last week I am now the happy owner of more unfinished project and no, neither of these projects are the grey moss stitch cardigan I wrote last week about nor the knitted cardigan pattern I actually wanted to design (you know, the one I have written two post about here and here 😂).
(If you want to read about the designing process of a knitted cardigan then hop to @shanibeer‘s newest post
Another Lisette blouse
The first new project is another Lisette blouse, the raglan design with bow tie from the magazine La Maison Victor. I made this blouse from an old bedsheet some weeks ago and the finished blouse fitted nicely and was not too hard to make.
Although I was not fabric shopping for a loooooong time (because of the Corona problems here) I still have some fabrics in my stash. Mostly these are lovely woven fabrics with flower designs perfect for summer garments, sadly they are also very small scraps. Therefore, there is no chance I can wriggle a skirt or even a dress out of them, but a short-sleeved blouse, this will work (so my thoughts).
The fabric which I wanted to sew with for a long time has this lovely green flower design and is super soft and lightweight. The downside is the huge hole in the fabric which makes it small amount even smaller. But you know me, I am the master of pattern tetris and so I managed to arrange all pattern pieces on this small scrap of fabric (yeahhhhh 🎉). I had to compromise on the long tie; it will have seams as I cut it out of several shorter pieces… Now the downside: the cutting was gruesome. The fabric is so slippery, I had real problems to get an even cut (I didn’t). I hope this will not be a problem once I start to sew the blouse…
The Mezzo crochet cardigan (free pattern)
On to the next calming project (remember I am only starting so many new things to calm myself, so I do not kill the garden neighbors or unearth the internet cable in front of our apartment) a crochet cardigan. Yes you heard right, a crochet cardigan, not a knitted one :-DDD For some weeks now a new cardigan design is popping up in my instagram feed and after seeing one of my fibre friends picking this up in a lovely purple yarn, I couldn’t resist any longer. It has such a lovely stitch pattern with puff stitches and a new to me construction (I only saw this construction for baby cardigans so far). The whole cardigan is made from two hexagons.
Wow. (Ok, wow for me… perhaps you are much more skilled in crochet and already made several hexagon cardigans, but bear with me, I am new to this).
At first, I could not understand how a complete cardigan can be formed by theses unruly not flat laying pieces of crochet. I was really curious… so I fetched some yarn which nearly fitted the yarn recommended by the designer (not easy to notice for you, but this is actually irony, as the pattern called for a lovely bamboo/cotton mix yarn with a light sheen and a soft drape and I again used my cheap thick acrylic stash yarn :-D) and started my first rounds of the hexagon.
So far, the process reminds me of a granny square only with two more sides :-D It is worked in the round and the hexagon grows with every row as you increase in the corners. I worked 9 rows (the amount the pattern calls for to measure gauge) and meanwhile I understand how the hexagon is folded to form one half of a cardigan.
From now on the pattern will be a bit more complicated as you should work different stitches into the different sides of the cardigan, hence the labels for each side. I am very curious how this is coming along.
If you are interested the pattern is a free one and can be found on the website Make and Do Crew, but you’ll can also buy an ad free pdf and support the designer Jess Coppom (who is really worth checking out because her other designs are also lovely).
So dear readers my pile of unfinished projects is constantly growing and I thought perhaps we should start to bet which of my billion projects will get done first :-DDD
And as always, I need a bit of help: although I accidentally chose a blouse fabric which harmonizes with the yarn I have used for the cardigan, I am not too happy with the latter. The acrylic yarn is super warm and does not have a nice stitch definition nor drape and I think the cardigan will not be very practical: too much holes for winter, too thick yarn for summer. So, I am pondering to unravel the hexagon and start anew with a different yarn…
What do you think shall I unravel or proceed with the purple yarn?
Thank you @crosheille for initiating and @marblely for hosting the #needleworkmonday and the community builder team @lauramica, @romeskie and @kattycrochet I am so glad to be part of. If you want to see more beautiful projects with yarn, fabric and most of all needles, follow @needleworkmonday. Or even better grab your needles and keyboard and join the #needleworkmonday community.
Ohhh, if you don't have a hive account and want to comment then visit my Wordpressblog Bliss and Blisters and write me there.
Read more about my art und upcoming exhibitions on neumannsalva or buy some of my digital artworks on NFT showroom.
Hello @neumannsalva , happy week
The fabric of the blouse is beautiful, I hope you don't have any problems.
I love the hexagons to make cardigans are so beautiful and elegant, with the same principle, hexagons can do wonders. Here is a sample of what I have done using hexagons, it is very similar to what you want to do.
Regarding your question, I would definitely change the yarn, so that the piece has a nice drape and looks more natural.
I hope I could help you.
Regards
Wow, this are crohetiful...I like the 2nd picture.
Thanks!😍
SO beautiful cardigans, you are a real hexagon master!!! No idea how I could have missed this form of construction so long? I am so excited to try it out, but I will follow your lead and not proceed with the purple yarn. THis will be not useful in summer or fall. I yesterday searched my stash but so far I have not found the right yarn (I would prefer cotton, but the only one I have is much too thin and does not look good held double)
But I will try to find something in my boxes :-D
I've knitted them in cotton yarn, I love to knit pieces from hexagons. I hope you can get the thick cotton yarn. I'll be very attentive to the result. Hugs
Perfect 😁.
The hexagon cardigan construction looks very interesting. I am not reading too closely until I have finished my cardigan ... I have a family event on 5th August, I must be focused 😂.
Hope you are feeling better!
Yes, thank you, today is finally better <3
And also yes to the "not reading closely" because I saw this cardigan some weeks ago at a friend's feed and now look at me, I have casted on :-DDDDD I found this construction so interesting I could not stop myself, so beware: the hexagon cardigan is dangerous.
I already saw your post and will comment later. Love how your cardigan is coming together, I am still in love with the lace pattern.
Ahehehe I laugh when I read your post especially about your neighbors garden.
On your cover picture I wonder what's on your hair, I see it is crocheted in purple.
About the hexagon, I hav'nt tried making as wearable.
Yes, the garden... the area was abandoned for many years before we last year rented it, but suddenly the neighbours want the trees cut (it did not bother them before) BUt they are not as bad as I said and I think we will find a solution :-)
Yes, yes, I thought about a funny photo motive and suddenly the crochet hexagon was in my hair :-DDDD
I will love try that sweater pattern... but I most find a yarn that fit first, here right now is a bit difficult and expensive...
I also believe this community it's to share and learn... 💚💚💚
I was checking you NFT showroom I will love to have some NFT.. but I am not sure how it works... where I can find some guidelines, to learn more about, you can share with me please?
Thank you!
Yes the yarn problem, I also will rethink if I go on with the purple yarn, I think it will be much too thick for the cardigan. But here yarn is more expensive then clothes- I find this totally weird. I hope someday you will get a good supply of lovely and not to expensive yarns <3
And thank you for the compliment on the artworks . On @nftshowroom are so many amazing artist and I think it is a real opportunity to buy there.
But I am no expert how to buy there (I think @shanibeer in the needleworkmonday community or @juliakponsford who is admin of @alienarthive are the real experts). I think you have to make an account on nftshowroom (which is easy as it is the same as your hive account) and then exchange hive to SWAP.HIVE which is the currency on @nftshowroom. After this you can buy. I am not sure this was really helpful…
Thank you!! Is helpful.. I Appreciate you taking time to explain.. Thank you!!
I will ask on discord for more... 😁💚
Druid Rage!
I will come over there and get all Scary Pagan to defend your trees. <3
Ah ha ha ha ha! I feel you on this. I mean technically I could get good internet here, but I can't afford to.
That is for sure a skill!
Actually we have fast internet, but.... the company constantly is in service mode and so we in reality do not have fast internet :-DDD (I am laughing, because we had a lot of very strange telephone calls with this company) And ‘fast’ in Germany is kind of low in comparison to other countries, no idea why we are so behind in this area...
ANd yes, I also do not like the idea of cutting trees. We will try to find a compromise as they want the trees gone, but we want them to live on (its a hazel and a willow), so I guess we have to cut them a bit to get everybody happy or.... you really come over and we start a fight 💪
I will come in and drop kick them! ;)
Ohhhhhhh milk and mocha!!! I love them, they are so cute and milk always bites mocha, I can relate to this :-DDDDDD
Ah ha ha ha ha! Good to know if we ever meet in person to look out for your bites! XD
I like this wave of sincerity and tell more behind the scenes instead of the simple tutorial of I did this, this and this ... It relaxes me knowing that there are complicated neighbors anywhere in the world: -DDD
Regarding the project, I think you should unweave and start with another thread (I say it lightly because I have no idea how long it took you to do that ...) But I think it is better to have a functional garment that fits well with the time of the year.
Yes I think neighbors are a world wide topic :-DDD Not sure if you like to watch serials, but I remember a comedy serial about strange eughbors (they actually were aliens who lived in disguise)
https://abc.com/shows/the-neighbors
It’s some time ago that we watched this, but at that time I found it funny.
ANd yes to the project, you are right, not good to proceed and then be unhappy with the much too thick yarn. The problem is I already searched my yarn and I do not have anything fitting, I think I will have to do the search again and think about combining two different thinner yarns or something like this.
Hello @neumannsalva it is always a pleasure for me to read your post.
This one is so funny, although it remembers me some unfinished projects that I has been ignoring 🙈.
I love the way you write your experiences with the needle projects and the way you connect with all of us.
Greetings and blessings.
Oh yes the unfinished projects :-DDDD I have so many of them right now I, it should be forbidden :-DDD But on the other hand, so we always have something we can do craftwise.
And thank you so much for the compliment, but I only can give it back. I love to hear form all of you and see so many new techniques (I have learned a lot on all fronts -knitting, crochet and sewing - from reading the needleworkmonday posts)
Oh yes the unfinished projects :-DDDD I have so many of them right now I, it should be forbidden :-DDD But on the other hand, so we always have something we can do craftwise.
And thank you so much for the compliment, but I only can give it back. I love to hear form all of you and see so many new techniques (I have learned a lot on all fronts -knitting, crochet and sewing - from reading the needleworkmonday posts)
I have never done a big project with exagons, I don't even know how long it would take me, I hope to see your result soon <3
As the yarn is thin I and done with a big hook (6 mm) this will be faster than one anticipated (especially when compared to knitting a cardigan, in my view knitting is so much slower than crochet). But I feel you on the size, a cardigan is the biggest thing I so far made, I never managed to crochet a blanket :-DDD
But as I will change the yarn, it will take some time for me to finish this (and because I am working on a billion other projects simultaneously 😂)
Well I am so glad you chose to start new projects to help relax you instead of saying/doing something to your neighbors that you might regret later.
😬
I hope you’re able to sew your new blouse without any complications. I think it will still be pretty even without the long tie.
I agree about changing the yarn. Especially if you already know it won’t drape to your liking I’d hate to see you continue further and be even more frustrated in the end.
Yes... the neighbors :-DDD I think we will find a compromise and cut only a part of the trees not the whole tree (which I would find extremely sad).
ANd yes to the blouse, I hope I will find time to sew it as I imagine it to be perfect right now (we have rally hot weather - on Thursday 33 degrees Celsius and after this hopefully a bit of rain).
And another yes to the purple yarn. I already stopped with the project and searched for a better yarn. I hoped to have a usable cotton yarn in my stash, but no... now I will try a different acrylic which is not much thinner, but a lot of less sturdy, more fluffy and light (if this makes sense).
Yes that makes sense about the yarn. Let’s hope it works!
Oh, please don't cut your tress you can just trim the part that bothers them. Who wouldn't loves tress and a good shade to rest under during the evenings.
Sorry about the band witch too, that thing can be disappointing especially when it is needed the most.
It will be good indeed to start every project with a calm heart so you won't end up working on a project that won't bring satisfaction.
I wish you a beautiful and healthy new week. And please don't forget the tress, I love them.
Sadly we had to cut… these neighbors have all the right to want the tree gone, it is too near to their fence. But we only cut the tree a bit and we hope it will regrow nicely. I also hate to cut trees, they are so needed in hot weather and lovely in generell <3
Congratulations @neumannsalva ! Your post has been placed in the spotlight for this week's NeedleWorkMonday Community Featured Posts #143!
Thank you for your quality post and for being a part of the needlework community!
You are absolutely right, it was good that we all agreed to work more and complain less, I think that from now on we will have more calm, it is not easy to be a woman I think we have the bad habit of despairing as well as it happened to you with your neighbors, hahahha, thank goodness everything went well and you arrived more relaxed this Monday after Sunday.
:) :)
Tienes toda la razón, fue bueno que todas estuviéramos de acuerdo en trabajar más y quejarnos menos, creo que a partir de ahora tendremos más calma, no es fácil ser mujer creo que tenemos la mala costumbre de desesperarnos así como te paso con tus vecinos, hahahha, menos mal que todo salio bien y llegaste más relajada este lunes después del domingo.
:) :)
Sadly we nevertheless had to cut a part of the tree last week, the neighbors went on with complaining... I hope the tree regrows very fast :-D
ANd yes, often such task (negotiate with neighbors) is done by women, so I think it also ok, to sometimes complained a bit :-DDDDD
Sending hugs!