FuoriBorgo

everywhere handwork bag

I think I do most of my crocheting sitting down at the kitchen table while the boys do their homework, or in the pauses that happen now and then during meal preparations - waiting for the water to boil, or for a dish to finish cooking.  I also do a lot of crocheting while waiting around in town, which happens regularly, as it's a long drive home - and seems longer and longer with the sky-rocketing price of gasoline in this country.  So, a bit like emigrants, we leave the house with bags and bundles full of snacks, equipment, and things to do during those inevitable periods of time when we have to wait in a bar or at the beach for someone to finish or start an activity, for an appointment, and so on. 

Before leaving home, I grab my crochet work, which is usually sitting somewhere in the kitchen, and tuck it in my handbag.  Lately, though, I've started to worry about losing or breaking my precious wooden hook that I bought on a whim at Retrosaria, and that I'm absolutely loving.  I decided that my crochet hook and work needed a better place to be here, there, and everywhere.

I made a version of my round hanging bag (my tutorial here), which works really well: when I'm home it hangs on the back of a chair in the kitchen, where it's out of the way, and I find looks quite decorative.  And when I leave home, I just grab it and go.

 

I've tested it out here, there and everywhere, and I love it - why didn't I think of making one before?!

I also made a Everywhere Handwork Bag for my shop:  a convenient, portable bag for handwork, both at home and on the go.

crocheting for my shop

I'm quite excited about my shop update today!  As many of you anticipated, when I finished Rebecca's flowers-in-the-sand scarf (here), I decided to make a couple more for my shop.  This time I planned and matched the colors with a little more thought and care, to make two quite different scarfs.  Trouble was, I soon ran out of black (there's a lot of Merino wool and hard work in those scarves!), and had to wait until street market day rolled around again, which was yesterday. Mercifully, it wasn't raining, or I'd have had to wait for yet another week.  Since buying a second skein of black yarn, I've been working non-stop in my spare time to complete the second scarf, eager to see how it would turn out.  This is a kind of work I truly love.  Here they are:

A multicolored crochet floral scarf:

And a multi-toned crochet floral scarf:

I honestly can't decide which one I like better (if you follow the links, there are some more photos).  What do you think?

Autumnal Red - in my shop

I find it magical that nature gives us one last spectacular display of colors before going dormant for the winter.  As I watched the hillsides beginning to turn yellow, orange and red, I crocheted a soft, fluffy Autumnal scarf of 70% mohair yarn, in a color that matches the season.

It's in my shop.

For end-of-summer evenings

A crochet cotton lacy scarf for these end-of-summer evenings.

In my shop.

summer blues

Today, a little blue update for my shop:

 

 

A blue cotton crochet necklace, and a turquoise silk purse with floral cotton lining and a flower applique.

And a blue ivy bag.

I'm off to watch the rehearsal for the little concert the boys will be performing in tomorrow night.  Jeremy is in the choir, while Nicholas will be at the piano, and he's all thrilled to be the one with a microphone!

Petals

Petals are everywhere, at long last, gracing the still-leafless branches, floating gently on the breeze.

 

 

 

I designed a new crochet petal necklace, with cream-colored petals and beads.  It's in my shop.

Pebbles & necklaces

 

 

We found new ways to play with our growing collection of black & white beach pebbles: assembling them following the white vein is truly an addictive occupation.  So many shapes can be created with just simple pebbles, and it's fun when everyone takes a turn adding the next one. 

 

All the playing with black and white helped me finish a new Black Flower Crochet Necklace.  

It's in my shop.

Serenade necklace

 

Rebecca has been practicing her harmonica quite a bit lately, and her favorite audience is our technically-outdoor-only cat.  I think Ms Cat must enjoy the attention, or at any rate she doesn't mind the sudden wake-up music.  Anyway, she doesn't show any desire to leave her favorite cushion during the performances, which are usually brief, and always end with the musician bursting into joyous laughter: she likes to have fun, this little girl of mine.

Rebecca's serenades have inspired the name for a new necklace, which I've added to my shop (I do have a problem with coming up with titles and names, but fortunately Tom and the kids always come up with something good - like the title for yesterday's post, for example).  

 

My Serenade Necklace  is a crocheted multi-stranded cotton necklace in forest green, each strand interspaced with green glass beads which sparkle among the twisted crocheted strands.  It fastens at the back with a mother of pearl button.

A new stitch for a new necklace

I've fallen in love with a new (to me) crochet stitch, the bullion stitch.  It's a beautiful spiral stitch, but it required a lot of practice and patience to master (I discovered it in Renate Kirkpatrick's Freeform Crochet).

It's perfect for creating interesting and intricate textures.

And I used it to make a black crocheted collar necklace adorned with delicately colored faceted glass beads.  I think that it turned out quite striking.

It's in my shop.

Indoor inspiration

 

We're spending more time indoors. More time all together in the warmest room in the house where our fireplace is.  More time engaged in quieter activities (quieter - really! - but I think that's more due to the weekly 13 hour tennis-training program the boys pleaded to join, than the cold season).  And in all the coziness around me, I was taken by the desire to do some embroidery. 

 

I didn't go very far for inspiration: I found it right in my kitchen, among the objects I use every day.



 

 

And I didn't go very far to embroider either: it did it on our sofa, next to my kids and ... our technically "outdoor only" cat - she's also liking staying indoors these days, curled up by the fireplace.

Then I crocheted a couple of edgings, and stitched together an embroidered a turquoise & red dish towel.

 

And an embroidered green dish towel. 

They're both available in my shop.