Crochet Cowl Fall/Winter 2014

I have been away for a while but life has been pretty busy and pretty hot here in the South of France. It has been so humid that picking up some yarn and a crochet hook were one of those things you would like to avoid. But luckily the temperatures are a lot cooler now and I can feel the urge to prepare myself and the family for those cold winter days.

This time I will be bringing many fall/winter cowls & scarfs for 2014/15. 2 Patterns have been added already to my Etsy Shop. 
Both of them are using basic crochet knowledge but they have a rather 3D aspect and will definitely bring that something special you have been looking for!
These patterns provide baby, toddler, child and adult sizes. So you can make them for the whole family.

Madelyn Flower Cowl - Pattern 

Brooklyn Ruffle Cowl - Pattern

Weekly Inspiration_09: Geometric ideas

When you have a look at Etsy you will find many designers/shops, using geometric designs and prints. Here you can find some of them. They give this artistic and rather unique look to a simple product. A great way to be different from the others ;-)

Top Links 1, 2, 3

Bottom Links 4, 5, 6, 7

Weekly Inspiration_07: Yellow accents

Last week I went through many interior magazines as I feel spring is almost there and want to change something in my apartment to express summer is on its way :-). Well, I  realised that a big trend this spring is having yellow accents in the interior and in your outfits. Have a look at the examples I have gathered.

Top links: 1, 2, 3, 4
Bottom links: 5, 6, 7, 8

Triangle Spring Cowl

Spring is in the air and it definitely starts requiring different clothing. That is why I have designed this Triangle Spring Cowl. It closes at the back with a button and looks great with casual clothes such as a pair of jeans and some sneakers.

It is a simple pattern with easy crochet terms and even a Universal Symbol chart.

Weekly Inspiration_05:: Pink and Green

Spring is in the air!! Are you ready for Green and Pink?? It feels like a natural combination as we see it so often in nature. But of course the softer the colors the more easy it seems to wear where as a strong contrast if is often avoided (like picture 3). But look at the cool crochet 'green belt' she is wearing on top of her skirt!! ;-)

Links Top 1, 2, 3

Links Bottom 4, 5, 6, 7

Weekly Inspiration_04: Screen Printing

Even on Etsy, lots of shops these days are offering products with screen printing. You could do this at home, you probably need the space to mess around with paint :-), but you can find lots of tutorials online.

Let's have a look at the lovely ideas I have gathered from the net, lovely for fashion items or to decorate your home with in a funny way.

Top 1, 2, 3
Bottom 7, 6, 5, 4

Weekly Inspiration_03: Longing for a 'blue 'spring 2013

Blue shades are part of the Spring 2013 colors. See here plenty of examples. Get inspired!!!

Top Pictures 1, 2, 3, 4
Bottom Pictures, 5, 6, 7, 8

Weekly Inspiration_02:: Getting ready for Valentine

This week is Valentine, therefore I would like to get everyone in the mood and share some ideas of how to spend the coming days!! :-)
Happy Valentine to you All!

Links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

Weekly inspiration_01:: Black & White stripes

Moodboards are a must for designers that is why I would like to propose every Monday 'inspiration' from a different angle, to start the week well. :-)

This week: Black & White stripes

Row 1 from left to right: 1, 2, 3

Row 2, from left to right: 4, 5, 6

Fan like Earrings make a great gift!!! (+ pattern)

Don't you have this sometimes where you think ' I have crocheted or knitted this scarf/jumper but wish I had some earrings to go with it'? Well, if you have some yarn left, a couple of earring pieces from a craftshop and of course 15mins of your time, you are ready to go.

These are easy earrings but they will look, for those who can not crochet, rather complicated and exotic. They are ready in now time and you can make as many as you want. Come to think of it, they would even make a great present.
I have even added a little template you could use to hang the earrings on when you give it out as a present!! ;-)

White crocheted bracelet/ necklace

I have made this simple bracelet/necklace the other day. Unfortunately I only took pictures of it being a bracelet though. Of course, I'll give some guidelines but you can make this bracelet/necklace as long as you want.

So, do you have some yarn laying around? Because it is honestly as simple as that. If you are not happy with your yarn , you can always spice it up with some simple sewing thread to make this yarn more fancy looking, more jewely like looking. In the picture below you can see that I have used white cotton mixed with some light grey sewing thread.

You don't need to know much about crochet to be able to make this jewelry. But you know as they say, simple is always the best. ;-) It could even be a great idea for a present.

What you will need is yarn (cotton or acrylic ), some sewing thread and a button.
(I would prefer cotton in this case as it is a bit more heavy and falls more neater around your wrist).

What's new??? Spring colours 2013

For those who haven't seen it yet, Pantone announced it's top 10 fashion spring colours for 2013 a while ago. See here the overview and the names they gave them. They are not that different from last year but they seem a bit more intense and optimistic than spring 2012. The 'It' colour  for 2013 is suppose to be Monaco Blue. Hope this will help you to decide what to wear, crochet or sew for the coming months. :-) 
Which of those 10 colours would you like to wear this Spring???

FREE Giveaway!! I have passed the 50!!! -:)

No, no, no, this is not my age, but as some of you might know I have opened my Etsy shop 2 months ago and I have been working hard to stock up my shop and I have now reached 50 items with which I am very pleased.

I have to admit, Etsy seems such an easy place to start your business when you are designer and want to show your creations to the world. Indeed it is easy to start but it is not so easy to get found as the customer gets overwhelmed with other amazing products on this site.

I will keep you informed about my endeavors on the Etsy platform. At the moment it is all still exciting in the hope it will pick up one day soon.  :-)

Make your own bow tie ring

I can imagine that you have crocheted a scarf or even several scarves this winter. And in most cases you have some yarn left. So how about making a bow tie ring in the same yarn as your scarf. This is so easy and can be done in no time so that you can make even different rings in different colours to match different outfits.

Before going over to the pattern and the 'Hows' of how to make this ring I would like to make a small announcement.

I know most of you are amazing crafts people and you all know to crochet well. But I would like to thank you for all the visits my blog had over the past 2 months therefor I would like to organise a FREE Giveaway coming from my Headband section in my shop The New Crochet. So hope to see you all at this Blog on Wednesday, January 16th and hope you'll be the lucky one for this 1ST Free Giveaway on this site.

Well enough about this, back to our bow tie ring.

What's new??? Spring Fashion 2013

To think of what to crochet for your home or for yourself will need some research, of course what is your taste but at the same time we all like to be up to date with the latest trends. That's why I decided to dedicate Wednesday to 'What's new???'. Every Wednesday I would like to go into one topic briefly which could inspire you to continue searching on the internet or it might give you ideas of where to go from here. I hope you will enjoy it and look forward to hearing your feedback.

For those of you trying to figure out what to start crocheting or knitting, which colours to buy etc, well, have a look here. I've picked up 3 interesting ideas, tips of how fashion is going to evolve this year. For sure, colours are in!!! We don't seem to be depressed because of the global economic situation but we rather want to make a statement to show 'life goes on and we are enjoying it, despite of everything ...'.

Here are some of the remarkable trends for the months to come.

1. Curvy Colour blocking

Colour blocking has always been fashionable but going back to curvy colour blocking reminds me more of the 70's, we might not be using the same colours but there is that hint!

Infinity chain scarf (+ free pattern)

First of all I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and may your year be filled with plenty of happiness and lots and lots of beautiful and creative moments!!!

The festive season is a time for family and there is hardly any time for ourselves but this is all behind us now and a new year with new resolutions has started. This is day 2!!! So time to be creative.

Just before the holidays I have made this chain scarf. It is the simplest thing ever, it is beginners level but I think any level will enjoy making this as this is a good reason to get rid of little bits and pieces of yarn from last year. Like this, your scarf could turn into a colourful item and at the same time you have created some new space to stock up on Spring colours :-).

With the length I have chosen you can wrap the scarf an additional time around your neck. Of course you can test this out and make it longer if preferred.

My Christmas gift to YOU

Happy Holidays to you All and your families.

May the coming year bring you lots of love, a good health and plenty of creativity!!!

Alexandra

As my Christmas gift to you All:

Sign up with my Facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/alexandra.fraraccio.5  and get a coupon code send to you which you will be able to use in my Etsy shop: Thenewcrochet, from December 26th 2012 till January 2nd 2013.

 

Easy unisex cowl (+ pattern)

It is not easy to find some crochet patterns for men. For some reason, crochet always seems to have this feminine side. But I recently made this unisex pattern (very easy) for my partner. I have used a basic stitch and created some ribs to make it more 'tough' looking.

So if you still want to surprise someone with your own home-made Christmas present, this is maybe one on your list-to-do as it will take just a couple of hours to have this one ready and gift-wrapped.

Flower choker necklace (+ pattern)

I have realised from all your comments the past 2 weeks, that everyone is busy preparing Christmas decorations or even Christmas presents. Maybe this little bracelet could be part of your preparations, for yourself or for someone else. You could make it in the same colour as your outfit. You could even make a bracelet to go with it, to have a matching pair.
The whole bracelet is done in crochet.

I have used cotton yarn for the flower and for the actual string I have crocheted lace that I bought at a DIY shop, which is used for necklaces.

To fancy up the flower I sewed a bead in the middle of the flower.

Hope you like it or even better, I hope it gives you some inspiration to fancy up your outfit during the festive season. And all this in a very cheap and fun way!!

DIY: Curly scarf (+ pattern)

I have been looking for a scarf I could start crocheting in the evening and wear in the morning and yes I have found what I was looking for.

I didn't have enough yarn, therefore I have used 2 colours, black and dark brown. The nuance is very subtle but although this scarf is ready in no time, it is pretty warm!!