I'm Back!

After long hiatus from this space, I'm back with new things on my plate to offer, good old fashioned chocolate cake with blueberry icing, anyone?

I've finally decided to organise things, woop woop!

So, for my yarn stuff, follow me on Instagram & Ravelry @annapaigenzdesign, who knows there might be a free pattern to grab.

For my skincare concoction and daily cleaning materials, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Felt, & Etsy @annapaigenz.

For the interior design not specific to the house restoration project which is now have been completed, follow me on Instagram @_atfyd_.

For my close friends IRL, follow Instagram @_annapaige_ , Pinterest @_Meili_

And for those who are crazy like me singing in my wardrobe every so often, I Smule @_meili_.


There, it feels like I have organised something.

Free Pattern: Shoulder & Knee Warmer

This project is based on the Free Pattern "Amelia" by Drops Design.

Knee warmer as wrist warmer (my knee is the same size as my wrist???  apparently so...)

I didn't follow the instruction religiously as I felt that 2 strands of the yarn I have would be too bulky for something lacey.

Materials:

- 2 * 50gr Heritage certified organic merino 4 ply (for both shoulder and knee)

- 5.00 mm, 80 cm then change to 60 cm circular Karbonz knitting needle (for shoulder)

- 6.00 mm Tulip crochet hook (binding off shoulder)

- 2.50 mm, 25 cm circular Symfonie knitting needle (for knee)

- 2.50 mm Tulip crochet hook (binding off knee)

- stitch marker

- needle to stitch in ends

The set

On the knee, some on calf, all I need is the boots.

The alteration I did for the shoulder warmer was quite a lot because I realised as I'm only using 1 strand, it looked a bit small when going with their suggested stitches.  I added about 4 more repetition of the pattern only realising that it was a bit much and started decreasing on every knit row to keep the pattern looking as it supposed to be.
I added about 3 more repetition of the last pattern rows because I didn't want it to slip off my shoulder when worn.

For the knee, I casted on 68 stitches, and did the first pattern 6x instead of 4x as it was written.  Then I go on each pattern 1x and skipped pattern F.  I repeat G till the piece was around 25cm long.

Very simple project to do over a long weekend.  Enjoy!

FREE PATTERN: Neck Warmer

Karbonz size 4.00 mm with 40cm cable

Only 1,5 balls needed (approx.150gr)

My favourite way to wear neck warmer

  
 

 Materials:
- 1 ball + around 20 gr (leftovers) Zealana Tui Chunky weight (70% Merino, 15% Cashmere, 15% Brushtail Possum)
- size 4.00mm circular knitting needles with 40cm cable
- 2 stitch markers

FREE PATTERN: Snuggles

There are some changes made to the pattern because I realised there's not enough yarn to make what the pattern called for.

I was also worried about the end result looking like a bib because of the split at the sides, so I decided to just work with what leftover yarn I have and just wing it at the end.
The result was the front side had 4 rows of garter and the back side only got 2 rows and the entire thing only stretches to about 30+cm.

One thing I like working with chunky weights is that you get to see result so quickly, it makes you want to do another and another and another.

Happy knitting :)

Arctic Ready Meditation Poncho

When a dear one asked me to make a poncho for meditation, I never thought it was going to be a "project".  I thought, oh yeah, ponchos, what could be so hard about it?  No sleeves, no collars,  no pockets, no zippers, sweet....

I used 24 balls Zealana Kauri worsted weight (60% fine NZ Merino, 30% Brushtail Possum, 10% Mulberry Silk) in Red Tuhi.
With 2 strands, I needed 6.00 mm circular KARBONZ Knit Pro Interchangeable Needles (yes they do feel supple and light, far from the generic one I used to have).

This is for a large size so, I started with connecting 2 cables of 40cm with the connector (this is the part that I hate most because sometimes they come undone, even after I fastened it with the fastener).  It makes me curious about the ADDI click system.

The pattern is worked from bottom up and very simple, that's why I added the cable in the middle to add some texture.  It's just garter at the bottom, garter for the sides with stockinette in the middle.  Then hood has to be worked back and forth and garter on it's sides.  Sew up the mid section of the hood together.
Then I added a little button with crochet hook and some chains to hook it up.

This is too big for me but in this soaring heat, only I would volunteer modelling it.

The back

The front

Some knitters opt not to work with possum yarn because they kill the animals to take the fur as oppose to just shearing them.  NZ do have a problem with possum as they are pests.  I just have a problem with the steep pricing they have for these yarns.

Alternate use when stored: plush pillow

The evidence

Helping NZ control pests a stitch at a time

Till next time Zealana yarn

FREE PATTERN: Tsubaki Cotton Hat & Cute Bolero

Tsubaki Cotton Hat & Cute Bolero

Free Pattern for hat: Tsubaki Cotton Hat

Free Pattern for bolero: Cute Bolero

Word of warning for the Tsubaki Cotton Hat: it's not an adult size pattern.  Perhaps my head is on the big side (58 cm circ.) and it is genetic?  The picture in the free pattern clearly shows an adult but I followed the pattern and it fits my daughter.

I used 2 strands of yarn for the hat but only the bamboo yarn for the bolero since I didn't want it to be too thick.
Hat used up 1 skein each, bolero used up almost 2 skeins.

Overall, the patterns were easy to follow, although some self adjustments were made when it came to the hat's brim and the pattern of the bolero.

Knitpro Crochet Hook 3mm

FREE PATTERN: Crochet Shawl

Professional photographer needed!

The little fleurettes

The edgings 

Finished, yeay!

Materials:
- 3 skeins of Bamboo Cotton (30%, 70%) anti bacterial yarn at 50g each
- 3.00mm crochet hooks

FREE PATTERN: Crochet Shawl
I love this Gyoso site because it has such simplistic instruction with diagrams that enabled me to simply whip up something really quickly.

This project is for mom who's suffering from Parkinson and Osteoporosis.
She leans around 45 degrees to her left side so I wanted her to have something small and light weight to just cover her neck and shoulder.

The working of this shawl is fairly straight forward with the body of the shawl first and the edgings to finish.
I would think the measurement can be adjusted, especially the length of the shoulder if one has a wider frame.
Mind you, this site is a Japanese site and Asian woman are mostly petite size, so, the picture do represent what it yields.
Get your measuring tape out before eagerly jumping into your project.

Have fun creating :)

FREE PATTERN: Frilly Scarf

Materials:
- unknown brand of yarn, fingering weight, use 2 strands at once, 4 skeins of approximately 50g each.
- 5.00 mm crochet hook

Free Pattern: Frilly Scarf

The thing I love about this site is that the pattern is pretty much self explanatory with minimum words and some diagrams.

I did reworked the scarf twice (yes, painful, but it was a self fulfilling prophecy) because the yarn colour I had bought from the same batch was yielding different shade!
Lesson learnt: be careful when selecting a presumably same coloured yarn in a bag, check it thoroughly that they are the same shade!
Restarted again using the different shade worked together, instead of same shade worked together and ending up with different shade at the tip.

This is a surprise project for a friend, which is now missing in the mail since November 2013, just like the flight MH 370.
I hope whoever decided to retrieve this gift in the end, appreciates and love it as much as I loved making it.

FREE: Pattern- Two Tone Brimmed Beanie

For crown measurement 60cm (XL)

Materials:
- Bamboo Yarn (70% cotton, 30% bamboo yarn) 3 skeins of 50gr each (2 main colour, 1 contrasting colour)
- Crochet hook size 3mm
- Patience

Measure:
- Crown diameter
- Drop height to bottom of ear
- Desired brim width

Stitches needed:
- Chain = ch
- Single Crochet (on the magic ring if not doing chain for the first row) = sc
- Slip Stitch = ss
- Double Crochet = dc
- Front Post Double Crochet = fpdc
- Back Post Double Crochet = bpdc

Method:
- I followed "Basic Double Crochet hat with instructions on how to make a hat a great fit every time" (on her page, scroll down for free pdf file Bobwilson123)/ "Basic Beanie" (youtube video) for the crown, with a bit of modification.
Instead of chaining and joining the chain to form a circle at the beginning, I made a magic circle ("Crochet Geek" on youtube has an excellent library of these basic crochet technique) and made the needed stitches for the first row.
Here I made:
Row 1: 12 sc on the magic circle, ss to first stitch, 1 sc, ch 1 (instead of ch 3, do not count as stitch)
Row 2: increase row, 2 dc on each sc (total 24 dc), ss, 1 sc, ch 1
Row 3: *1 dc on first stitch, 2 dc on second stitch* repeat *to* (total 36 dc), ss, 1sc, ch 1
Row 4: *1 dc on first stitch, 1 dc on second stitch, 2 dc on third stitch* repeat *to*(total 48 dc), ss, 1sc, ch 1
Row 5: *1dc on first stitch, 1 dc on second stitch, 1 dc on third stitch, 2 dc on fourth stitch* repeat *to* (total 60 dc), ss, 1sc, ch 1
I continued the increasing pattern until Row 15 (total 180 dc), after ss, 1sc, ch 1, I start the cross stitch pattern.  This stitch pattern will only work with even numbered stitches.

- The pattern I used was the "Cross Stitch Hat" (on her page, scroll down for free pdf file Bobwilson123)/ "Cross Stitch Hat" (youtube video).
Here I made the cross stitch pattern from Row 16 to Row 31.
Since this is for the side of the head, no increase is made within this section, you should still end up with the same number of stitches you started with after you stop the increase round, i.e. I ended up with 180 stitches.

- The contrasting colour is added after you do the first fpdc at the start of the brim row.
Row 32: *main colour fpdc on first stitch, ss to join contrasting colour fpdc on second stitch* repeat *to*, take both yarn when ss, 1sc, ch 1
Row 33: *main colour bpdc on first stitch, contrasting colour bpdc on second stitch* repeat *to*, take both yarn when ss, 1sc, ch 1
I did 4 sets of repeat Row 32 to Row 33, do as many as you wish, depending on how wide you want the brim.

This is an extra large beanie and I used a fairly thin ply yarn hence the many rows and stitches.  If you are using an chunkier yarn, e.g. 8 ply onwards, you only need fewer stitches and rows.  The first row (the magic ring row) may only need 6 to 10 stitches.

Feel free to use this pattern but please refer it back to my url site.

Have fun :)