Teddy bears with diamonds -pattern now available

A pattern for these crocheted teddy bears is now available in English on my Ravelry store and this time also on LoveCrochet. I am so thankful for all the pattern testers @koukutettu @homemadeatmyplace @crochetnaningans @mie.ite.blogi @giioyiio. Go and check out their beautiful projects and creations on Instagram! I am so humbled that these lovely ladies took the time to test the pattern and give feedback. And it warms my heart to think that there are these small critters around the world now, made with their own creative eye, and it has been so inspiring and educating for me to see.    

The pattern is easy to resize as you see. Here above I have used Schachenmayr Catania Grande and (if I remember correct) Sandnes Midi for the bigger bear. The original pattern was designed for yarns Sirdar Ella and Simply Recycled together (smaller bear above). Many yarns are suitable for these little bears, but when using Sirdar Ella the bear with its diamonds starts to shine in the evening light and it adds some magic to the bear, I like to think. You can also easily make other animals instead of bears with the pattern. I am currently making a bunny and see the lovely cat on Instagram which @koukutettu has made with the pattern.

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Näiden timanttisten nallejen ohje on nyt saatavilla Ravelry-kaupassani ja tällä kertaa myös sivustolla LoveCrochet, linkit yllä englannikielisessä tekstissä ja kannattaa myös käydä katsomassa ohjeen testaajien kauniita ja taidokkaita käsityöprojekteja Instagramissa! Ohje on tällä kertaa saatavilla ainoastaan englanniksi, mutta jos ohje kiinnostaa ja virkkauskieli englanniksi mietityttää niin autan toki erittäin mielelläni sähköpostitse. Ohjeessa on paljon kuvia mukana ja kirjovirkkaustekniikan olen selittänyt täällä timanttien virkkauksen perusohjeessa myös.

Nallen kokoa on helppo muokata. Yllä olen virkannut isomman nallen Schachenmayr Catania Grandella ja muistaakseni Sandnesin Midiä olen siihen yhdistänyt (sininen väri). Ohjeella voi myös helposti tehdä erilaisia eläimiä, itsellä on pupu tekeillä ja kannattaa käydä katsomassa Jaanan @koukutettu tekemä kissa Instagramissa. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend! / Mukavaa vappuviikonloppua toivotellen,

Pirjo

Work in progress - Työn alla

There is something wonderful in Japanese textiles, in simplicity, and all the attention to detail. Inspired by them and Sashiko stitching I made this simple little pouch with left over linens and linen yarn combined to hemp yarn. This is also a continuation of my "project" to find new ways to combine tapestry crochet with other materials and other crochet stitches - and also an attempt to create more meaning into each piece I make. For some reason this piece makes me want to jump out of joy (and I may have jumped a few times, better admit the truth ;-)). There is just something wonderful in linen and combining it with some hand stitching. Perhaps it is also the way decorative stitching shows where the hand has left its trace or is it just my sometimes poetic soul that likes to explain the attraction that way ;-).  

Olen pitkään ihaillut japanilaisia tekstiilejä, yksinkertaista kauneutta niissä ja mietittyjä yksityiskohtia. Niistä inspiroituneena olen viimeistelemässä tällaista pientä pussukkaa, joka on tehty jämäpellavista ja pellavalangan ja hamppulangan yhdistelmästä. Pussukan kumpikin puoli on samanlainen. Tämä on myös jatkoa "projektille", jota parhaillaan työstän, eli yritän löytää uusia tapoja yhdistää kirjovirkkausta muihin materiaaleihin tai virkkaussilmukoihin - ja samalla haluan luoda lisää merkitystä sekä mietittyjä yksityiskohtia jokaiseen työhön, jonka teen. Jostain syystä tässä on omaan silmään jotain niin kaunista, että tekee mieli pomppia ilosta (ja voi olla, että olen muutaman kerran pomppinutkin, parempi olla vaan rehellinen ;-)). Ehkäpä se on tämä pellavan ja kirjonnan yhdistelmä ja tapa, miten kirjonta selkeästi näyttää käden jäljen, vai onko se vain oma välillä runollinen sieluni, joka haluaa selittää tämän tämän hetkisen ihastukseni siten ;-). Silmiin sattui sopivasti myös tämä aamuna teemaan hyvin liittyen tämä artikkeli kauneudesta Hidasta elämää -sivustolta.

Here is also the rug called Havu/Twig which I have shown on Instagram but not here on the blog, made with Kaupunkilanka t-shirt yarn. Last weekend the light was just so good that I took this shot of my workspace - and I think the pattern on the rug looks really nice from this angle. I am now finally in the process of writing down this crochet pattern as soon as the teddy bear project below is ready for publishing.

Viikonloppuna valo oli myös niin hyvä, että nappasin kuvan omasta työtilastani ja eritoten tästä matosta nimeltä Havu, jonka viime syksynä näytinkin Instagramissa, mutta en täällä. Matto on virkattu Kaupunkilangan trikookuteesta. Kuvio oli ollut mielessä itämässä jo pidempään ja sitten onnekseni Prismassa kerran asioidessa sattui silmään tämä eläväpintainen koivunkaarnaa muistuttava kude ja tuntui, että nyt on kuvio löytänyt kuteensa ;-). Olen vihdoin myös tekemässä tästä matosta ohjetta toisen kuvion kanssa samaan ohjeeseen laitettavaksi, ja pääsen toivottavasti ohjeen viimeistelemään kun alla olevan nallen ohje on tarkistusten jälkeen valmis julkaistavaksi. 

Teddy bear family has also got a new member, needed to check the pattern and take photos for the instruction and here is the result. I also tested some other yarns than before - Sandnes Mandarin Petit (dark brown), Schachenmayr Catania (dark purple) and Rowan Purelife. The pattern for crocheting these creatures, called "Coco and Hugo", is now ready in English for testing if someone is interested. I will put a post on Instagram about the pattern today in the evening so you can leave a comment here in case you are interested to give this project a try. 

Nalleperhe on myös ohjeen teon myötä saanut uuden jäsenen. Testasin tässä myös eri lankoja kuin aiemmissa, eli käytin tällä kertaa Sandnes Mandarin Petit -lankaa (tumman ruskea) ja Schachenmayrin Cataniaa sekä Rowanin Purelife -lankaa kirjovirkattuun kehoon. Ohje näiden virkkaamiseen on nyt valmis englanniksi ja kaipaa vain halukkaita testaajia, laitan tänään illalla tästä Instagramiin postauksen, ja sinnekin voi jättää kommenttia, jos ohje sattuisi kiinnostamaan. 

Have a great rest of the week! / Mukavaa viikon jatkoa toivotellen,

Pirjo

Exploring new combinations

Well hello! It has been a while since I last posted here. I have been concentrating on other things lately and my crochet arm has also needed some well-deserved time to rest, but when it comes to making, my interest has been in testing and finding new combinations. I try to explore combinations of different yarns - like linen and cotton or wool and cotton - or pairing the crocheted parts with fabric. Slowly and steadily I am also learning to sew better. Some of these pieces I have shown on Instagram last autumn and some of them are now lately finished.  

My thought here is to create more meaning into each piece I make through recycling for example, and using fabric from an old pair of favorite jeans. Yarns I used in the pillow are also purchased from Marrakesh and Bergen in Norway so the pillow contains some wonderful travel memories as well. 

Like in the previous posts, here are some things I have enjoyed lately:

- The fourth season of the program called Husdrömmar - a Swedish version of Grand Designs, with warmhearted hosts and it can luckily be watched on www.svtplay.se.

- Amy Chaplin's cookbook At home in the whole food kitchen has taught me many things about cooking and eating healthier.
- Blackbirds have arrived back to Finland and it is lovely to hear them sing again, feels like Spring is coming.
- Makelight course Photography for Makers.
- Projects to try: God's eye, Ojo de Dios and Face the Foliage and these lovely tassels by Philippa A Taylor (you can see one of them also above).

- Morning on the Dock -podcast, still, like last summer when I found it. In one of the podcast episodes, Susannah Conway talked about choosing a word for each year instead of New Year's resolutions (and she has shared the idea in a lovely way for the rest of us). As I listened to the podcast I had an aha moment when I realized that I had done the same during the last couple of years intuitively without conceptualizing it that far and was very grateful for this discovery. Last year my word - or theme in this case - was "gentle living", which I also used here on the blog, and it manifested in such wonderful ways in my life. I did the whole decluttering project for example and I notice that this has also affected my making. Making less, but trying to make each piece more meaningful. I have a new word for this year as well, and it is a more challenging one, a word that I know I need (and it surely has shown its challenges already).

But let's go back to the word for the year 2015, and the reason why I thought to take this up here in the first place. It also explains why I have changed the title here. My word for 2015 was quietness - hiljaisuus in Finnish - since I knew that I would have to look inwards to find myself as a maker, and also to rest and really think through how I want to live forward. Therefore the blog and my small business got the name Hilja Design (and the name I wanted was already taken). Right from the start, I knew I wouldn't get the right kind of warm and joyful energy behind the name I wanted even though silent moments are an everyday practice in my life. Therefore I have been looking for a new name for quite some time, and hope to find it when the time is right. In the meanwhile, let's just continue making and learning - and use my own name at least here on the blog title. This is a little passion project for me and therefore I am giving it the time it takes and allow it to develop to a direction that feels natural. I also feel that my work life and making don't go all too well together, both demanding me to learn new skills all the time and both being creative (or that is how I also see teaching), so this has been an issue for me and I need to find a better solution than so far.   

And of course these words from previous years are still a part of my life, nothing begins the first of January and ends at the end of December when it comes to life. Everything is in constant change and evolving and sometimes I fail to live according to these words. They have helped me to create new and better habits though so I am going to continue with them and I warmly recommend to take a look at Susannah Conway's work if you think this could be something for you.

I have also made some changes here on the blog as you see and this Mlekoshi-design felt right to me (and I just couldn't resist that lovely slider :-), but still wanted to keep everything very simple here). 

Pirjo

Coco and Hugo - Work in progress

May I introduce you to Coco.

Saanko esitellä Cocon. Ja alla on Hugo. Pieniä virkattuja nalleja, sirkuslaisia, balettitanssijoita tai akateemikkoja - tai ehkä näitä kaikkia - ja joiden tarina ja työstäminen on vielä kesken. Silmien kanssa varsinkin pähkäilen, tehdäkö virkatut vai ommella ne nopsaan muutamalla pistolla. 

Loppu onkin sitten alla englanniksi tällä kertaa samoin kuin linkkivinkki eli ruotsalainen (neule)podcast ja blogi nimeltään Kammebornia, jota on ollut mukava katsella samalla näitä pikku olentoja tehdessä sateisina päivinä. 

And Hugo. (And my messy work desk, but there is some making going on ;-).) 

This is one of my wips and a project that has taken its time. I started crocheting them during Easter and thought that these little creatures would be bunnies, but when the work progressed they became teddy bears instead. 

I especially like the color combinations I managed to find in my yarn baskets and the shape of these little creatures. I find it difficult to get the face right though, because it tells the personality and these guys haven't told me much about themselves. I thought they would be ballet dancers or working in circus, but now that I look at them in their bow ties I think they might be academics instead. Perhaps they are all three. 

And as you see I am still wondering and pondering what to do with the face of Hugo. Should I just keep it simple and sew simple eyes/eye brows with a couple of stitches instead of these crocheted ones? Or shall I try to crochet different kinds of eyes for him? This is the discussion going on in my head. At the moment I think that simple is good (and fast) and I am turning to that direction. I would love to hear your comment as well.  

Otherwise I have been taking it quite slow with crochet projects lately, given them the time they need without trying to think about finishing and making products - in order to keep the joy in the process. I am also teaching summer courses online this summer so it quite effectively narrows the time for other things, but now we are having a few weeks pause and I can concentrate on yarny adventures and other adventures instead.

  

And here is a new podcast and blog I recommend you to take a look at during the rainy days (which we are enjoying in Finland this summer in plenty). This Kammebornias lovely video podcast has been my favorite while making Coco and Hugo. The podcast is mostly in Swedish, but the subtitles are very well translated. It is such a beautiful podcast with gorgeous knitting projects, funny and warm personalities and good content. 

Wishing you a lovely week! Mukavaa viikkoa toivotellen,

Pirjo