Salihan Crafts Blog

My Creative Space

Salihan — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:54:44 +0000

My creative space has been filled with …

… arm lengths of knitted i-cord,

(tutorial coming soon)

… shades of lofty violet cotton going round and round,

(my “forever” blanket wip)

… and the click clack of excited knitting needles.

(a cabled vest for me)

Life’s good.

Pop over to Kootoyoo to see all the other creative spaces playing this week.

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Join Women on the Bridge

Salihan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:04:02 +0000

“To honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign called Join me on the Bridge on International Women’s Day: March 8, 2010.

On that day, we will bring women from Rwanda and Congo together in peace on a bridge between their countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development. At the same time and in solidarity, we will bring women (and men!) together on bridges throughout the world, creating a truly global movement that says NO! to war and YES! to peace and hope.”

Quoted from Women for Women website

Participants in Women for Women International's programs in both Rwanda (above) and Congo will join their handmade fabrics to create a peace banner on the bridge between their countries. Photo By: Les Stone

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend any of the bridge events but I have signed the pledge to give my support to the global Join me on the Bridge campaign. I want my government to know that I want them to invest in women. 70% of the world’s poor are women and 75% of civilians killed in war are women and children. It can’t go on like this.

Please, TAKE ACTION.

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Free Pattern: Crimson Ridge Cowl

Salihan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:20:35 +0000

When the rest of the world slowly puts away their winter woolies, it’s time for those down under to start crocheting for the upcoming chill. The Crimson Ridge Cowl is an easy project you can whip up quickly for those unpredictable autumn days.

The cowl gently tapers to the top for a better fit. No need for buttons or shawl pins to hold it in place.

Simple ridges and a rope edging adds a nice detail and makes crocheting it even more fun!

Click here for free pattern (published in Favecrafts)

Difficulty level: Advanced beginner
You will need to have basic crochet skills. This project uses a slightly advanced stitch, simple shaping and edging.

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
22″ (56cm) circumference around the widest part and narrows to 19″ (49cm)
9.5″ (24cm) tall

MATERIALS
Approximately 107 yards (98m) of Lion Brand Wool-ease Chunky or any bulky/12ply yarn
US M/N (9mm) crochet hook
Embroidery needle

GAUGE
10 stitches = 4″ (10cm) in single crochet through back loop

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Learning to hem dress pants

Salihan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:36:34 +0000

Hems! Bah! I could think of a million things I’d rather do.

But my husband has a nice, but weird, pair of dressy trousers from Country Road. The weird thing is the hem is not sewn on but ironed on using hem tape. So after a few washes, the hem comes loose and I iron on more hem tape. I’ve done this twice now. Fun eh?

I avoided the impulse to just machine sew a hem. I knew the stitching would just stick out like a sore thumb. So with the magic of Google, I came across this awesome tutorial (PDF) on how to hand sew the hem.

I carefully hand sew the “catch stitch” across the hem and I was quite surprised at how quick it was to sew.

Ten minutes later I was done hemming both legs. My stitches looked pretty even but the truth is on the other side – the right side.

Squeal! Look at that nothingness! I’m not joking. That’s already hemmed on the inside!

I also found that the same website with the tutorial – Sewing.org – has a huge list of tutorials. HUGE! Click here and be one with your sewing.

Oh before you go, do you know whether the iron-on hem is unusual or maybe I’m just clueless and it’s a standard sort of hem for dress trousers?

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Fresh off the hook

Salihan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:30:35 +0000

I’ve just finished a new crochet pattern and it’s going to be free! Here’s a sneak peak.

By the way, taking photos of bright red things is hard! If anyone has any tips that doesn’t involve buying a new camera, please share them with me. Thankyouverymuchly!

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Enchanting Brooch

Salihan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:30:15 +0000

I won a beautiful handmade brooch on my OWOH magic carpet ride a few weeks ago. As soon as I opened the box and laid eyes on it, I was captivated by it’s beauty. This delicately hand beaded piece of wearable art is created by the talented Jodi Davis. She has a collection of stunning, one-of-a-kind jewellery in her Etsy shop.

The brooch is pinned to my Clapotis shawl and it’s like a match made in heaven. It seems like the moon and stars have aligned to bring these two together. Maybe it will even bring me a bit of good fortune in the future. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

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Knitted a man’s sweater in 13 days!

Salihan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:17:29 +0000

I’ve done it! I knitted a man’s sweater in less than 2 weeks! Woohooo! *happy dance*

The 2010 Winter Olympics was a fabulous knitting companion. All the excitement and disappointment, the trials and tribulations, the love and passion – all of which poured into this gorgeous sweater.

Why I LOVE this:

Great looking yarn that kept me motivated to knit the sweater. It was fun watching the stripes form automagically.
Bulky wool and alpaca blend yarn means this sweater is very warm and squishy. It makes Richard even more huggable when he’s wearing it.
The sweater fits him perfectly which makes him a very happy man.
Elizabeth Zimmerman is a genius to work out such a customisable sweater formula. I’ve learned so much from the aptly-named ‘Knitting Without Tears’ book. But it really isn’t a beginner book. I needed my knitting experience to fudge along the way as directed by EZ.
A confidence-boosting project. To knit with such a time constraint using a formula rather than an actual pattern has really shown how far my knitting has come. My passion for knitting is further ignited and I can’t wait to start my next knitting project.

I also learned to knit two sleeves at a time. I used the magic loop method and cast on like I was knitting two socks at a time. This tutorial by Knitting Giraffe helped me get started. I love knitting the sleeves together. I think it’s quicker as I don’t have to keep track of rows and count stitches twice.

Knitting pattern: Seamless Hybrid (Shirt-yoke version) by Elizabeth Zimmerman’s ‘Knitting Without Tears’ book
Yarn: Patons Jet
Needles: 5.5mm
More @ Ravelry

So what do I get for knitting in this year’s Ravelympics? A medal of course!

Click on this button to see all the sweater projects in the Sweaterboard Cross

Now I’m off to watch the last few events before the Winter Olympics 2010 closing ceremony. See ya later!

Related post:
Ravelympics: Ready, Steady, Swatch!

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Busted!

Salihan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:07:00 +0000

Richard: Have you seen Olly?

Me: Huh? No. Why?

Richard: Go look for him.

Me: OLLLLYYYY!!! (runs to his usual sleeping spots) Hmm… where is he?

Richard smiles as he watched me lift the lid off my new WIP box.

Olly: Huh? What’s going on?

Richard: (points to label) W. I. P. West in peace.

Me: Ha ha verrry funny. (grumbles)

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Abracadabra! The pear is now a frog!

Salihan — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:30:14 +0000

Cristi waved her magical crochet hook on my Pear Tawashi crochet pattern and turned it into a frog! I think it’s just brilliant and doesn’t the frog look adorable? I just want to give the cute fella a squeeze and a hug!

Cristi shared her interesting and informative journey of the pear transformation with me. Here is what she has to say:

Hi Cristi! So how long have you been crocheting?
I have been crocheting steadily for about 2 years now. I started when my Gramma died. She sent me her knitting needles and a bunch of yarn. She had tried to teach me to knit, but i was only 12 and lived in another state, and to be honest, I was not really very interested. When she died, I started crocheting because I thought it was easier and it made me feel connected to her. I still want to learn to knit, but I am having a lot of fun with crochet right now. I know she just wanted me to learn the joy of making things, which I have and it’s addictive!

Why were you looking to crochet a frog? Who is the frog for?
Ok, so this is a bit convoluted. I was without a job and wanted to make Christmas presents for my family. I thought of making those microwavable heating pads for my boy relatives, but I know my brother and knew he would be much more likely to use/enjoy something unique and not plain looking, but not cutsie. So I thought of crocheting a lizard or something as a cover for a heating pad. I found a couple of patterns I liked, but nothing clicked as “right”.

So as I was browsing through my Evernote logs for inspiration I found the pattern I had saved from your website and decided to make a frog. I found a pattern I liked for the legs and started making them. Along the way, I realized this was too much work for heating pads (after I had made four or five). I just ended up making soft cotton covers for the heating pads which went over very well, except for my boyfriend’s father. He opened the present when I wasn’t looking and thought they were sand bags to use for support for his camera… LOL … He was a little embarrassed when I told him that they were just heating pads, but tried to make up for it by using one right away. I told him that I totally didn’t mind if he used it as a sand bag, as long as he liked it. He perked up after that!

Right before Christmas, I finally found a job as a nanny and wanted to make something sweet for the children. So I made the frog as a softie for the little boy and made a FreeSpirit Doll for the little girl. Both were extremely well received.

Did you look for a frog pattern by googling or searching Ravelry?
I have some links I have saved as bookmarks that link to pages that store patterns, I also Googled, and searched Craftster. Though I am a member of Ravelry, I usually forget to check them out. I also use Evernote a lot to save interesting and inspiring things I find online so that I can find them again. There is so much neat stuff on the internet!

So what made you use the Pear Tawashi pattern for the body? Have you seen this pattern before the frog one?
I don’t know what made me think of using your pattern like that. I think it was one of those strange brain alchemy things where you mix alot of things together and something new comes out. It happens to me a lot.

Did you find my pattern easy to read and understand?
I did! it was very easy to understand, to make and modify. It was indeed well written and comprehensive.

PROJECT DETAILS OF TAWASHI FROG
Patterns:
Pear Tawashi pattern from Salihan Crafts and Frog Toy pattern from Caron.com
Yarn:
Green worsted I had from a vintage yarn score from Craigslist… epic story in and of itself!
Hook:
I believe I used G, im pretty sure, but I didn’t write it down (bad bad me) and H as the pattern calls for on the legs
Modifications:
I made the pattern with worsted yarn, but otherwise followed the patterns straight up. I made the “front” side first then when I finished making the “back” side, I single crochet all around the outside through BOTH edges. I turned them inside out as I found this made the frog thicker/taller. I put the eyes in then stuffed the frog through the “tail” and finished with single crochet to where I had started to single crochet around. I attached the legs amigurumi style to the sides of the body and to the corners where the body and the tail bent.

All photos in this post are copyright of Cristi Nelson

Thank you Cristi for emailing me and sharing your project with us. I had fun reading all about it.

If you have made one of my patterns and would love to show it off here, please email me at contact@salihan.com. I would love to feature you, yes, YOU!

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Healthy Cheese Biscuits in 20 mins

Salihan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:02:49 +0000

I’ve been craving cheese sticks since having some homebaked ones at a friend’s house on Monday. I was a little piggy and finished the container! They were yummy, Cath! She told me how easy they were to make so it played on mind that I could whip some up quickly too.

So after dinner last night, I pulled out my trusty Edmonds Cookery Book and found a recipe for cheese biscuits. I modified it to make a healthier version and I think they’re delicious, even if I do say so myself. Haha… It was hard for us not to eat the whole batch all at once!

I’ve shared with you my version and I think it’s a good base recipe. I’m thinking that it might also work well with garlic powder and cheese or rosemeary and sea salt. I might try those next week. Happy baking!

Ingredients:
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt
pinch of ground paprika
25 g light margarine/ spread
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons skim milk, approximately

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Sift flour, icing sugar, baking powder, salt and paprika into a bowl.
Cut butter into flour mixture and rub in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix in cheese.
Add just enough milk to form a stiff dough.
Knead lightly and roll out to 2mm thinkness.
Cut into squares and place onto lined baking tray.
Prick each square with a fork.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 mins or until lightly golden.
Sprinkle biscuits with a pinch of sea salt. Eat when cool.

Makes 25.

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