Sunshine Award!

Hi everyone!

The amazing Jodie from Lupey Loops blog nominated us for a Sunshine Award!! Thank you so much to Jodie for the nomination - we are honoured to think that our little blog brings you happiness :) Michelle was lucky enough to meet Jodie on her trip to Adelaide in May this year. We love reading Jodie's blog - it is informative and entertaining, and we particularly love all the links to further reading! 


The rules of the Sunshine Award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Answer the questions from the person who nominated you.
3. Nominate a few other bloggers.
4. Write the same amount of questions for the bloggers you nominated.
5. Notify the bloggers on their blog.
6. Put the award button on your blog.

The questions Jodie asked us were:

What energises you?

What is your favourite season?

What is your proudest moment?

What gets you through hard times?

When was the last time you laughed so hard, it hurt?

And here are our answers!

What energises you?

Michelle

Doing things! I absolutely love doing things, and it makes me feel so much better about the world. When I'm feeling fatigued and awful, often the best thing I can do is get up, have a shower, get dressed and go do something, even if it's just replying to some emails or some easy crochet. Of course, with the CFS doing things is sometimes the absolute worst thing to do; but when I was on graded activity therapy, I just about went insane with boredom and misery because my optimum activity level was... not doing much at all. I choose to take the low points, so that I can have the high points as well :)

Anne

Well, it depends. If fatigue hits me, I usually have to take a quick nap. On other days, it is doing things I love and getting engrossed in them. Oh and I recently took up running which seems to give me boosts of energy. I never thought myself as as runner (in fact I hated it) but I am really getting used to it and it brings so much joy to spent the time outside. Unfortunately I am down with a cold at the moment, so I can't run and I am surprised how much I miss it!

What is your favourite season?

Michelle

Winter! I love the cold, and the things that come with it - hot chocolate, warm blankets, snuggly doonas, being inside... Winter is the best!

Anne
Eh, good question? I probably depends on the time of the year really but I think I am incredible fond of autumn with all the changing colors, the storms and the cozy nights. I do like all the other seasons as well though. I love spring for the boost of green and all the flowers, I love summer for the lovely long evenings and I love winter for it brings the christmas season and snow. 

What is your proudest moment?

Michelle

This is a really hard question to answer. I think possibly when I won two ribbons at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year, and my mum said to me that my nan (who passed away a few years ago, and was a brilliant crafty artist) would have been really proud of what I'd made :) 

Anne
I agree with Mich - a rather hard question to answer and one I am not sure of. There are lots of small moments, I like to remember. Like finished a crochet item, graduating from uni, mastering a new dish... 

What gets you through hard times?

Michelle

My friends and family, and list making. I know that last one sounds silly, but when life is careening out of control, and everything seems like it's out to get me, just sitting down and writing a list helps me organise my thoughts, and tackle the problems :)

Anne
Family and friends as well - talking to them, hugging them and so on. And time for myself with either sports or crochet. My bf calls it my crochet bubble. 

When was the last time you laughed so hard, it hurt?

Michelle

Er, I do this all the time. At least I have wicked abs under all my belly padding, right? We do try to get people who come to the Melbourne Comedy Festival with us at Easter to get some stomach training in before the funnies begin - first aid hasn't been required yet, but it's been a close call a few times.

Anne

Last night I thought? We were watching some tv show, I enjoyed. I love to laugh, it is such a good time to spent one's time. And I agree with Michelle - the Comedy Festival is awesome. I hope I get to go again one day and see Adam Hills on stage again!

Nominations

We nominate the following two bloggers for the Sunshine Award, who bring joy, sunshine and inspiration into our lives:

- Wool and Cats - It is such a wonderful blog about yarn-y life in France. The Friday pictures always bring a smile to my face. They are so special and well taken. It really shows that Geraldine has an eye for the importance of small things. Oh and of course her cats are such beauties!!

- WoollyBlueBells - Reading Helen's blog posts is always a treat, along with the wonderful pictures from her life in England (and her travels). She and her husband owns a delightful little caravan and I love reading about their trips. She recently finished her phd and I hope she finds a job which will bring sunshine into her life every day!

And our questions for them are (stealing some of Jodie's questions):

- What is your favorite season and why?
- Which person(s) bring happiness into your life?
- What is (one of) your happiest memory?
- What makes you smile?
- What is the most important thing in your life?

Teddy Mania!

Hi everyone! 

This week I really needed something fun and relaxing to make. I have also signed up to participate in a Christmas market at my friend's work in early December! So, I also had to start thinking about what works up quick, cute and saleable for that. 

If you haven't tried Anne's free Heart Teddy Bear pattern yet, you totally should! It's so easy, quick and enjoyable :) These little beasties took me less than 4 hours each (I made two yesterday), and used just less than 50g yarn each. 

I used different colourways of Stylecraft Wondersoft Merry-Go-Round for each teddy. This is a self-striping yarn, so I get colourful, variable teddies without having to change yarns at all.




















I added a special touch to all three - a little embroidered heart on their left chests :)

These little dudes are just so huggable! While I can imagine the hippos and dragons being kept safe on the shelf just to look at (although that does make me a bit sad), these teddies just demand to be hugged and kissed and loved! 

Plus, they are a bit cheeky too :P Teddy selfie!

Have you made a Heart Teddy Bear yet? 

PATTERN: Toasty Wrist Warmers by Anna Holzberger

Hello everyone! 

We have a very special treat for you today - a guest post (and FREE PATTERN!) from new designer, Anna Holzberger. These reversible, stylish and toasty warm wristwarmers take only an hour or two to work up, require less than one 100g ball of yarn, and look great! 

--------------------------------
TOASTY WRIST WARMERS
by Anna Holzberger
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Favourite and Queue on Ravelry here: 
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/toasty-wrist-warmers

Materials:

60-70g DK/8ply yarn (I used James C Brett Woodlander)
4.5mm hook
Yarn needle
Scissors

Stitches

This pattern uses American terminology. 

ch - chain
slst - slip stitch
hdc - half double crochet
bpdc - back post double crochet
fpdc - front post double crochet


Tension and Sizing:

The pattern below fits a large adult male (length 19cm/7.5", width 12cm/4.5")

My tension worked out to be approx 1hdc = 0.5cm/0.25"

To change the width/circumference, increase or reduce the number of chain stitches at the start - make sure you still have an odd number though!

To change the length, increase or reduce the number of repeat rows in each section (see Notes below for sections).

Notes:

1. These wristwarmers are worked from the finger end to the wrist end.

2. The first 5 rows are worked in the round (Section 1), the next 11 rows are worked in rows back and forth (Section 2) and the final 9 rows are worked in the round again Section 3).

Instructions:

Chain 37 (not tight); join to beginning chain to form circle.

Row 1 – Ch1, 1HDC into same stitch, 1HDC in the next 36 HDCs, sl st to initial HDC (37 HDC)

Rows 2 to 5 – Repeat Row 1 (Total of 5 rows of HDC)

Row 6 – Ch1, 1HDC into the same stitch, HDC in next 36 stitches, turn (37 HDC)

Rows 7 to 15 – Repeat Row 6

Row 16 – Ch1, 1HDC into same stitch, 1HDC in the next 36 chains, sl st to 1st HDC/Ch1

At this stage you can turn the work inside out or stay on same side.

Join by slip stitch to first HDC of Row 16 to begin working in the round again.

Row 17 – Ch2, FPDC in HDC below the Ch2, BPDC in next HDC, repeat FPDC & BPDC (17 times), slip stitch into initial FPDC to close round. (you should have 36 post stitches in total)

Rows 18 to 25 – Repeat Row 17 - do a FPDC in each FPDC and BPDC in every BPDC.

Sew in tail ends….. should only have two of these!!!

Repeat for second wrist warmer.

Ta Da!!!!

And the Winners are...

Good Morning from Germany!

We had a wonderful birthday week! Thank you so much for all your comments, likes and love! :) It is truly a blessing to have such wonderful blog readers! Shoutout to the regulars and the newcomers!

This morning I had the pleasure to hit the "draw winners" button on Rafflecopter. So with much further ado, I herby announce the winners of our give away! 

Teddy Bear Pack: Helen Tighe

3 of our paid patterns: Lilian Venters

2 of our paid patterns: Michelle Holliday

1 of our paid patterns: Amy Schlitt Embree

Sunrise Yarn Parcel: H. Allen

We ask the winners to contact us by the 15th of October 2015 at crochet.between.worlds@gmail.com.   Helen & H. Allen please send us your snail main address. The other three please provide us your email-address and your ravelry account name (if you have one). 

I wish I could have drawn more winners! For everyone who didn't win: We hope you will enjoyed the free teddy pattern plus the coupon to get the blanket pattern 50% off is still valid until the end of next week!

Take care and happy crocheting

Anne

PATTERN: Tumbling Blocks Baby Afghan

What a great blog birthday week we have had so far!! 

The giveaway is still open for another 24 hours or so, so head over there to enter (don't forget, you can enter every day!) -  http://gvwy.io/tk8e0cz or http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/happy-2nd-birthday-crochet-between.html  

My special announcement for this week is my brand new pattern :D 

The Tumbling Blocks Baby Afghan is now available for purchase on Ravelry! It's an adaption of the well-known quilt pattern, Tumbling Blocks, but made with Diagonal Half Solid Granny Squares (only 4 ends per square!) and the Join-As-You-Go technique. So, no mountains of squares or diamonds to sew together at the end! This was definitely my favourite part.

The 3D effect comes from the colour placement. By putting the light shade of one colour on the left "face" of the block, and the dark shade on the right "face" of the block, it looks like the blocks (with white tops) are sitting on top of each other in a pyramid.  

For the next week, we have a special offer for blog readers - 

50% off with the code JAYGTUMBLE !!

You can also use this super fancy direct link: 

http://www.ravelry.com/redeem/wrapped-with-love-by-michelle?code=JAYGTUMBLE 

If the idea of a whole baby afghan is too much for you, it also makes a pretty excellent cushion cover :) Just do fewer squares to get the size that you want!

I have absolutely loved putting this pattern together, and I hope you enjoy making it. 

Thank you again for helping us celebrate our second blog birthday - and here's to many more years to come! 

FREE PATTERN: Heart Teddy Bear

Good Morning from Germany!

As you might have guessed from my last posts, I am really busy making Teddy Bears these days. I tried some patterns from the Internet but most them them involved so much sewing on! And I am very bad with sewing the parts together. Very, very bad.

So I decided to make up a pattern for a Teddy Bear which involves as little sewing as possible. The following pattern only requires the ears and the snout to be sewn on. The rest is crochet in one piece/crochet together.

I am publishing the pattern for free and hope you enjoy making Teddy Bears from it. Should you like the pattern, I am asking you to donate a Teddy to a refugee child (or send some money donation to a charity which helps refugees). Thank you!

Oh and I would simply LOVE to see your finished Teddy Bear! Send us a pic, share it on our Facebook or on Instagram (hashtag #crochetbetweenworlds ! :)

Please drop me a note, if you find any mistakes in the pattern. You can also contact me via crochetbetweenworlds@gmail.com if you need help with the pattern.

Take care

Anne
 

Heart Teddy Bear

You will need:

ca. 100gr Aran Yarn (or any other yarn you like)

4,5 mm hook (use at least half a hook size smaller than you would usually use for the chosen yarn)

Stitch Counter

Safety Eyes

Scissors

Needle 

Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/heart-teddy-bear-2

Pattern

Arm (Make 2)

1) Magic Ring with 6st (6)

2) 2sc into each stitch around (12)

3) *1sc into the next stitch, 2sc into the next stitch* 6 times (18)

4-6) 1sc into each st around (18)

7) *1sc into the next stitch, sc2tog* 6 times (12)

8) *1sc into the next 4 stitches, sc2tog* 2 times (10)

Fill the hand.

9-23) 1sc into each st around (10)

Do not fill the arm.

Leg (Make 2)

1)    magic ring with 6st (6)

2)    2sc in each stitch (12)

3)    *1sc in the next stitch, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (18)

4)    *1sc in the next 2st, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (24)

5)    *1sc in the next 3st, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (30)

6)    – 8) 1sc in each st around (30)

9) *1sc in the next 3st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (24)

10) *sc2tog* 6 times, 1sc in the remaining 12 st (18)

Stuff the foot

11) *sc2tog* 4 times, 1sc in the remaining 10 st (14)

12) *sc2tog* 2 times, 1sc in the remaining 10 st (12)

13-22) 1sc in each st around

Leg 1: Sl into first st of row 22, finish off, weave in ends

Continue with leg 2. You are now moving to the body part

Body

23) 1st into the next 9st, *ch1, turn, 1st into the next 4 st* repeat 3 times, ch1, turn. With the next four stitches crochet the second leg to the just made „bridge“, 1sc into the next 8st, evenly place 4st into the „bridge“ between the legs, 1sc into the next 3st (24)

24) *1sc in the next 3st, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (30) Note: The bridge between the two legs equals 4st

25) *1sc into the next 4st, 2sc into the next st* repeat 6 times (36)

26) *1sc into the next 5st, 2sc into the next st* repeat 6 times (42)

Fill the legs.

27) *1sc into the next 6st, 2sc into the next st* repeat 6 times (48)

28)-37) 1sc into each st around (48)

38) *1sc in the next 6st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (42)

39) *1sc in the next 5st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (36)

40-42) 1sc into each st around (36)

43) *1sc in the next 4st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (30)

44) *1sc in the next 3st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (24)

45) 1sc into each st around (24)

You will now attach the arms. Flatten the arms so that you have 5st on each side

46) 1sc into the next stitch, with the next 5sc crochet the first arm to the body, 1sc into the next 8st, with the next 5st crochet the second arm to the body, 1st into the next 5sc (24)

47) 1sc into the next stitch, with the next 5st crochet the first arm to the body, 1sc into the next 8sc, with the next 5sc crochet the second arm to the body, 1sc into the next 5st (24)

Stuff the Body.

48) *1sc in the next 2st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (18)

49) *1sc in the next 1st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (12)

You will now move onto the head

Head

50) *1sc in the next 1st, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (18)

51) *1sc in the next 2st, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (24)

52) *1sc in the next 3st, 2sc in the next st* repeat 6 times (30)

53) *1sc into the next 4st, 2sc into the next st* repeat 6 times (36)

54) *1sc into the next 5st, 2sc into the next st* repeat 6 times (42)

55-64) 1sc into each st around

Place eyes between rd61 and rd62 with 8st between the eyes.

65) *1sc in the next 5st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (36)

66) *1sc in the next 4st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (30)

67) *1sc in the next 3st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (24)

Stuff the head.

68) *1sc in the next 2st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (18)

69) *1sc in the next 1st, sc2tog* repeat 6 times (12)

Stuff the rest of the head.

70) *sc2tog* repeat 6 times (6)

Sl into the first st of rd 70, finish of. Weave the tail through 6st of row 70 and pull tight to close the hole. Weave in the tail.

Ear (make 2)

1) magic ring with 6st (6)

2) 2sc in each stitch around (12)

3) *1sc into the next st, 2sc into the next st* repeat 6 times (18)

4) *1sc into the next 5st, 2sc in next st* repeat 3 times (21)

5) *1sc into the next 5st, sc2tog* repeat 3 times (18)

6) *1sc in next 4st, sc2tog* repeat 3 times (15)

7) 1sc in each st around (15)

Sl into first st of round 7, finish off, leave long tail for sewing the ear onto the head

Snout

1) Magic Ring with 6st (6)

2) 2sc into each stitch around (12)

3) *1sc into the next stitch, 2sc into the next stitch* 6 times (18)

4-6) 1sc into each stitch around

Sl into first stitch of round 6

Embroider nose onto the snout, sew snout to the head. Make sure that the nose is curved, so that you can stuff the nose while sewing it on.

Sew the ears to the head.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Crochet Between Worlds!

Hello ladies and gents!

Our blog is two years old and thus we decided to have a bit of a celebration!

Two years - wow! So much happened since our first blog post! We got tons of lovely comments and likes, made new friends and even got to meet some of our blog readers in person! The world of crochet blogs is such  wonderful place and we are really lucky to be a part of it.

In the last two years both of us expanded our crochet skills a lot - many new stitches, many new patterns and oh my, so many new ideas. Man, the more one sees and makes, the more ideas come up. It would be awesome to have more hours a day for crochet. And other creative things of course.

Because we are so happy and thankful for each and everyone of our followers, we decided to have a little give away. It runs til this Friday and we ship world wide. So what can you win?

1st Place: A parcel which includes all the necessary items (yarn, safety eyes and stuffing) to make a teddy from Anne's newest pattern which will released this Wednesday

2nd Place: Choose three from our paid patterns

3rd Place: Choose two of our paid patterns

4th Place: Chose one of our paid patterns

If we get more than 100 entires, I (Anne) will also throw a surprise yarn package in!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winners will be announced on the 11th of October 2015. The winners need to contact us via crochetbetweenworlds@gmail.com within four days after the announcement. If a prize isn't claimed we will  draw a runner up. 

Take care

Michelle & Anne

P.S. You can enter daily!