StoneGnome

Make a nice decoration for your bottle of water. Use it as nice touch or for more practical reasons.


Everybody brings a bottle of water at the fitness center or at a field trip. Some of the bottles look very much alike, and occasionally it can be difficult to find the right one.

Here is a pattern for a bottle decoration, that makes your bottle unique.

Say hello to another happy member of the baby toy family. The Smiley Cloud.


As a gift to everyone on the newsletter list and following on Facebook, The crochet pattern is FREE for a few days - but on Ravelry only! Use the coupon code FREECLOUD.

Need boot cuffs - or just want to practice slip stitches? Use the boot cuffs as decoration, to stay warm or to give the boots a nice soft top.

A new pattern is out. A cute little Smiley Moon.


The Smiley Moon has actually existed for quite some time. Now it exists as a written pattern too. Find it at  Ravelry or as a package with 3 amigurumi patterns at LoveCrafts.

There are many ways to crochet a cord or strap. With or without an eye. And more or less elegant, when it comes to hide and weave in the loose ends.


I like a method, where both yarn ends are easy to hide afterwards. Here is a tutorial of how to do that.

Ever thought about using (video) cassette tape for a crochet project? It is smooth and soft and got a distinct metallic color. Apparently, it isn't such a good idea though.

Bymami has this exquisite pattern package with 5 different succulents. I wanted to try one with variegated yarn, and then I made a tuft of (sea)grass as well to create a sea theme. This might be a good way of spending leftover yarn.


Get links and patterns here.

Short 'n long rows. This is special techniques to use with slip stitches. It can be used as increase/decrease or it can be used to make slopes.

Learn about slip stitch foundation row, different slip stitches, stitch markers plus links to patterns.


Last week I wrote about the Forgotten Crochet Stitch - aka the very versatile slip stitch. Since then, I've spent hours chatting about it and got requests for tutorials too - especially for video tutorials. So I've got a lot coming up about slip stitches, that will hopefully be helpful.

Most of us use it frequently. Just a little here and there. Some consider it more of a technique than a stitch. But it IS a stitch.


We tend to forget that this stitch is very versatile and can be used for much more. It can give your work a dense - though soft and drapable - fabric, you can use it for decoration, and it can be used for a stretchy ribbing.

Have you figured out by now, what stitch I'm referring to?

Here is a yarn bowl, that doesn't break, if it drops off the table. And you can make it yourself in whatever color you want :)


The yarn bowl has three slits at the top, which keeps your yarn in place. The bowl can be carried as a little bag and you can easily remove any yarn from the bowl without cutting the yarn. Due to it being felted, it is relatively heavy for its size, which helps it stay, where you want it.

The pattern can be purchased from LoveCrafts and Ravelry and includes:

Get ready to be inspired!


Most of my week has been about the Textile Exhibition at Gudhjem Museum. Local crafters are showing their work. It is a show of weaving, felting, patchwork, knitting - and - crochet!

Do you know how to make a beaded crochet rope necklace? I recently found some, I made years ago and I remember, how much fun they were to make and how pretty they got.


They are perfect for Summer crafts and you can find an incredible amount of fantastic patterns for the beaded crochet ropes.

Learn How To

The first rounds are confusing and they might make you incredibly frustrated. I sometimes start over again and again - especially if I crochet with one color beads. Once you got the first rows, the rest of the beaded crochet necklace is easy to make.

It can be difficult to find good tutorials, but I've hand-picked some, that can help you get started. The tutorials I've found are clever and use different colored beads.

Also notice that some tutorials start with a row of regular chains (without using beads yet) and make a circle with this, while other tutorials will get right on to using the beads.

You will need:

• beads (see later about beads)
• thin crochet hook, maybe around 2mm (US 0, UK14) The smaller your beads, the tinier the hook.
• a strong thread in a color that matches the beads (or a contrasting color for the first sample)
• needle to put the beads on the thread
• Optional: end caps and a lock - or be creative.

You can practice with huge beads like HAMA beads for children. It will make it easier for you to see, what you are doing. Use a 3mm (US C/D, UK11) hook or likewise.

Animation Tutorial

If you are impatient, I found this simple page on Fiosarterapia that explains the different steps with only 5 animations. The first animation shows how to make the first round of stitches including beads. The other animations show the 4 steps you need for doing sc with each bead:

1. Insert hook
2. push the already attached bead to the side
3. make the next bead ready on the loose end
   (push the loose end over the already attached bead)
4. finalize your sc

Photo/Image Tutorials

Fusion Beads has good and lots of images. Just don't get paralyzed when you see the number of images. Step 1-10 is enough for a good start. Step 16 shows how to join the ends of the first row to make a circle, and then you might only need to look at steps 17-19 to know how to do all the rest of the beads.

Making Beaded Jewelry got great photos and text. Here is how to crochet over beads (for the first round), and for the rest of the beaded rope, follow the How to Crochet Beaded Ropes tutorial.

Video Tutorials

A great and very straightforward video tutorial is made by Beadaholic. The actual tutorial starts around 3:15.

Ann Benson made a detailed youtube video tutorial that starts with info about what you need and a couple of great tips too. Around 3:12 the 'real' tutorial starts by showing how to make the first row of stitches. She uses nice animations as well as short videos to show the details.

Finalize the Necklace

Only some tutorials show how to end the rope. You can do this, just like you would end another crocheted project. Make a slip stitch, cut the thread and pull it through. You decide whether to attach end caps or not. There are many options. Be creative.

About Beads

The more perfect beads you have, the easier to get a perfect outcome. The beads have to be 'perfect' in the way that they should be very similar in size and shape. Because when you are new at this you might crochet pretty tight and then uneven beads will give you a messy looking rope. When you get more advanced, you can mix bead sizes in a controlled way to make more complex ropes.

Useful Links 

When you are familiar with the rope technique, I found some good links on biser.info. It is a Russian page, but with lots of great photos. It will bring you joy and hours of work:

• A collection of patterns and images of beaded crochet ropes.
• Photo tutorial on how to split a crochet rope into two.
• Photo tutorial on how to make a twisted spiral shape on the crochet rope (use Google Translate to get the whole meaning)

Did you ever think about how many different crocheted ribbings there exist? I think most of us just do whatever a pattern tells us - or you find a page telling you 'how to crochet a ribbing'. As in one ribbing.

Being conscious about the different kinds of ribbing is an advantage, if you want to be able to change an existing pattern or make your own design.

I've started to collect plastic bottles. I save those that have been used for vinegar. I found out, they are pretty easy to cut into different shapes - and they can be washed.


So hubby, please bear with me!

How do you join yarn for a color change - or if you need to add another yarn ball?



I don't like knots or sewing in ends. If I do amigurumi, I prefer to crochet over the yarn ends whenever possible. In almost every other case I prefer the Russian Join. To my experience, It can be used with most yarns and it blends in very well. I also use the Russian Join, if I suddenly find a knot in the middle of my yarn ball.

Latvian Twist - or Twisted Stitch Edge - is a knitting technique for creating a lovely border. I have seen knitters doing it, but never a crocheter. So I tried it, and you can use it, when you crochet.


It takes advantage of the natural curling of a crocheted work and it will also help you prevent the rolling of the rest of your work.

This might be the tiniest advice ever, but wouldn't you like to get rid of the knot you get, when you start a new project?


You probably start with a slip knot and pull it tight. Then you have a little hard knot in the corner of your work. It doesn't add anything good to your work and can be difficult to hide - even if making a border - as it is always trying to run away and stick out.

Once in a while I talk to an experienced crocheter, who never did a gauge swatch. Because GAUGE sounds like something difficult. It's not.

Do you need to know your gauge? No. You can certainly crochet without knowing your gauge. But if you want to have just the slightest idea of what size your final work will be, you need it.

Very often the never-did-a-gauge-swatch-chat is followed by a funny story about extremely large or small hats.

It doesn't take long to learn to do a gauge swatch and it might save you hours of frogging for the rest of your life!

This is my first time felting anything in the washing machine. - At least on purpose.

So, I'm clearly not an expert, BUT! - If you are like me, you would think, this was time consuming and difficult.

It was a piece of cake and amusing too!
I am definitely going to try this again soon.

This is how it works...