The world according to Ági

Spring minis - free cross stitch patterns

2012-02-20T23:08:00.003+01:00

I know it is not spring yet. A least not here. But we are all waiting for spring, aren't we?
Perhaps these mini patterns, either together or on their own, will help us wait it out. It cannot be very long now. :D :D

Carneval season - Itt a farsang, áll a bál!

2012-02-16T18:56:00.005+01:00

February is carneval season - at least in my home country, Hungary. To celebrate this, I have made a mask pattern. Please, have some fun with me and stitch it in your favourite colours.

I have a question to my readers. I find it a bit unnerving that even though there has been more than 1000 visits to my blog in the past few days, nobody left a comment. Does this mean that people come to visit, then find it unsatisfactory and just leave, being too polite to say that it wasn't worth the time? I wonder what I am doing wrong that I hardly ever get any feedback.
I really would like to hear your opinion, and even if you don't like something, please, share your ideas so I can learn from them. I would love to have real communication with people who come to see "me" here. :) Thank you.

Last-minute mini Valentine's day cross stitch patterns

2012-02-11T20:27:00.006+01:00

I know I said I am not much of a fan of Valentine's day. But working with a bunch of 11- and 12-year-olds, I had to give in and do Valentine's crafts in my lessons. It seems to be infectious :D :D

Not much time left now, but there is still time to whip up one of these small patterns for a card, a gift tag or a small present, like a scissors-fob, a coaster or a pincushion.

Crazy quilt challenge february block and paper piecing

2012-02-11T20:09:00.004+01:00

I have put together my February block for CQJP. I also started to put in some stitches but didn't get far yet.
This is what it looks like now:

I got a few comments on my January block, saying how it looked like old quilts, so I thought I would explain how I am doing them. I am not a quilter - though hope to be one sooner or later :) -, I haven't done much sewing either, so I don't have a huge stash of fabric. I do have some, though, that I have bought lately, mostly in second-hand shops and flea-markets, and also a pile of used clothes. These are the ones I am using.
I also got through my cross stitching things not long ago when I moved, and found a few small pieces that were practice pieces or unfinished smalls, and thought that crazy quilt blocks would be a good way to use them up. So I will try to add one to the blocks every month, if I have enough.
The piece in the Janauary block was to try out the celtic pattern I used for making 28 mini-bags as gifts when my class graduated. The one in this piece was just a funny experiment: once as I was drawing a cross stitch pattern, a computer-neird friend said: "Photoshop is still much better, you can use different layers in it." So, naturally, I sat down to show how I could use layers in cross stitch, using an organza ribbon.

I also would like to show my first paper-pieced pincushion. I used the English paper-piecing method, sewing by hand, then needle-turn appliqué. It is a bit wonky but I like it.

Somehow or other, as you may have noticed, I have made a heart :D :D Apparently, the Valentine-day craze has caught up with me. Who would have thought? :D :D

Free mini cross stitch patterns

2012-02-07T19:44:00.002+01:00

How often do we need something really small to stitch? A scissor-fob, a tiny card, a gift tag, something really quick?
Here are some mini patterns for you to stitch, either on their own, or in a group, as you can see here. I have made a bookmark with them.

Feel free to experiment with colours or simple frames around them. Hope you like them.

Crocheted and knitted hat tutorial

2012-02-03T22:54:00.002+01:00

The weather has turned really cold. One morning it was minus 17! And of course, I have lost my hat.
So I took some yarn from my stash. This is how I made my new crotted hat. Or knicheted? :D

First, I crocheted a circle about 13 cm in diameter, with single crochet:

Then I picked up stitches all around and put them on knitting needles. First tried the double ended versions, but I needed five just to fit them on:

So after a few rows I swithced to circular needles. I knitted 24 rows of garter stitch - about 9 cm. I wanted garter stitch because it is so warm. I had to keep in mind that garter stitch, when knitted on circular needles, is one row knit, one row purl.

This is what it looked from the top:

Then I cast off my knitting.

With the last stitch remaining, I started crocheting again. One row of single crochet was followed by the shell pattern.

If someone wonders, shell pattern works like this: *one single crochet, skip two stitches, 5 double crochet in the same stitch, skip 2 stitches* and repeat between the *-s. For the next row, start with a single crochet in the middle of the "shell", on top of the arc, and make the 5 double crochets in the single crochet of the previous row.

Then, when it reached almost my ears, I thought, it was a bit too wide. (Starting from the top gives us the opportunity of trying the hat on as we go.) So I thought I needed some ribbing. Picked up stitches on the knitting needles again and stitched a knit-one-purl-one rib. I also decreased every 8th stitch, and in the next row every 7th. So it became a bit more snug around my head - although it is still just a little loose.

I don't have a photo of this stage as I was knitting in the car while going and coming home from work.
After 5 cms of ribbing I cast of again, and did three more rows of the shell crochet pattern. Had to pull the hat together a little in the back, so it doesn't fall forward on my eyes, so I did that with a few stitches.

Here. It can be worn as a hat, with the shells as a brim:

or the second shell-part folded back and hiding the ribbing totally (I prefer it this way):

crazy quilt challenge - january block finished

2012-01-29T21:42:00.000+01:00

I have finished my first block:

I am in a book!

2012-01-24T06:36:00.003+01:00

A while ago (last year, or perhaps even earlier, don't remember) I saw a call for submissions for mending ideas. I sent in a linen dress of mine that had been torn and I mended the tear with cross stitching over it.
They accepted me, and the book is now coming out. Look here: Mend it better.

On Amazon it says it is coming out on the 31st of January.

A non-Valentine sampler

2012-01-22T13:45:00.002+01:00

I have nothing against Valentine's Day - in the countries where it is a tradition.
In Hungary, however, it is not. It appeared just a few years ago, and it has been promoted by florists and gift-shop owners. Thus, it is much more about business than anything else. That said, it seems that the younger generation has accepted it so it may become a tradition in a few years time.

Speaking of love, though, I believe that it cannot be exercised as a campaign. Real love is there all the time, and we must make an effort to show our love to those around us who are important. Not only on the 14th of February.

If you agree with me, you might want to stitch this little sampler. If you put it up, it can stay on the wall all year round. :D :D
Hope you find hapiness in stitching it. I made it in red but you can use your favourite colour or a variegated thread.

Crazy Quilt challenge - January

2012-01-20T11:40:00.004+01:00

I have mentioned that I signed up for the Crazy Quilt block challenge here. This is my first block, still in progress, about 50% done, I think.
Originally I wanted all white fabric and white on white embroidery, but then couldn't resist some of those blues... and the rest just came. It is still not too colourful, though, and I like it this way. There was a week or two when I felt a bit stuck, didn't have any ideas on how to continue, but I did some more yesterday, and hope to continue with it at the weekend.

If you do crazy quilting, what is your method? I am really curious how others work on this. Do you make a plan before you start? Or do you let the piece "form itself"?

So here is my January block, as it looks today:

Errata: mistake in the snowflake biscornu

2012-01-15T12:56:00.006+01:00

I am so sorry, everyone who downloaded the snowflake biscornu, please, forgive me! There is a mistake, it is not symmetrical. I am stitching it now and I have just noticed it.

There should be 33 squares around on each side when you stitch the backstitch border.
I am uploading the corrected version now, please, go and download it again.

Here is the finished biscornu:

Upcycling a cardigan - up a size

2012-01-13T21:11:00.003+01:00

I bought this cardigan in a second-hand shop because I loved the colour and the soft texture. I bought it for my daughter but she didn't want it. And of course, it was slightly small for me. So I had to do something about it.

Originally it had 4 buttons, two on both sides, but by the time I took this photo, I had removed two of them, thinking that replacing the buttons would be enough to make it wider. It wasn't.

So, I took some black boucle yarn and started to crochet a stripe in single crochet in the middle, for new buttons and buttonholes, to add a few centimeters. It is not very straight because I had to go up to the collar part, too, but I think it looks OK. Then I made a row of single crochet around the collar, too. The sleves were a bit too long and tight, so I folded the extra length back and crocheted two rows there too, one single and one double crochet, then cut off the extra length of the old material and sewed it down so that the knitting didn't unravel.
And of course, the former buttonholes and the spots where the buttons had been (the material was really badly pulled) had to be hidden. So I did some very simple embroidery.

What do you think?

Unfortunately, the embroidery emphasises my middle which would be better off hidden this after-christmas time, but I hope this is just a temporary problem. Trying to fight it, you see :)

Snowflake biscornu pattern

2012-01-06T23:09:00.002+01:00

Here is the biscornu I promised :)

The colours are:
DMC 160, gray blue, middle
and 209, lavender, dark

As usual, I draw something in the very middle, but if you want to add a button or bead there, you can leave out those stitches.

Family heritage displayed

2012-01-04T21:17:00.003+01:00

OK, it's not my family, but my boyfriend's. It was last summer when I first saw Stephen's grandmother's sewing box. It was full of treasures. The most beautiful things were the lace his grandmother and great-grandmother crocheted.

I told him he should display them instead of keeping them in a box. But of course, he is not a man who would put out a doily, however beautiful it may be. And the pieces of lace his grandmother left were small, they were either practice pieces or left from longer bands when the rest was used.

I had an idea but it took me this long to put it into action. I embroidered the grandmother's and great-grandmother's names, and put the whole treasure together in an old, thrift-shop frame.
The doily in the middle is the great-grandmother's work, the rest is his grandma's.

Sorry, the picture is not the best, but that's all I could do at the lamplight.

Isn't it lovely?
Go and look in your grandma's sewing box! :D

Snowflake bookmark - free pattern, cross stitch and blackwork

2012-01-03T10:02:00.004+01:00

I love the snowflakes so much in the sampler, so I continued to play around with them. Still no snow in this part of Sweden - on New Years day it was snowing, it was soooo beautiful, then melted right away. :(

Here is a bookmark as a result.

I think, a biscornu/ornament design is also on it's way :D

New Year Resolutions - Part 2

2012-01-02T07:39:00.003+01:00

Here is the second part of my free chart "New Year Resolutions". I hope you like it.

The shaded area is the overlaping part between the two sections. I also post a picture of the whole, just in case.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:27:00.003+01:00

Wishing a very happy 2012 to all my dear friends.

Happy New Year! Boldog új évet! God Nytt År! С Новим Годом!

New Year Resolutions

2011-12-30T21:45:00.004+01:00

Here is the free pattern about my New Year Resolutions. At least, the first part ;) With snowflakes - because here in Sweden we are really missing snow now (although I have to admit I do enjoy the sunshine).

Second part coming soon, I promise :D :D

Happy new year

2011-12-27T17:33:00.005+01:00

If you are over the Christmas frenzy, perhaps even got yourself some new stitching stash in the sales, it is time to make a "Happy New Year" ornament or card.

I made two versions, one with a bird and a flower in one pattern, and another for a two-sided ornament. It is also in three languages, English, Hungarian and Swedish.

The colours are:

DMC 333 blue violet very dark and
DMC 156 Blue violet middle light

Hope you like the pattern :)

I am soon coming back with a pattern about my New Year resolutions. :D :D

Merry Christmas, happy holiday season

2011-12-24T19:51:00.006+01:00

Wishing all my readers who celebrate, a very merry Christmas. And even if you don't, I wish peace and joy to everyone.

Accept these speciality-stitches mini-ornaments as my gift to you. They can be done in half an hour or so if you can find a little stitchy time during the holidays.

In the middle you can find smyrna stitch, then heringbone leaf stitch (find a diagram here: http://www.catiacrafts.com/tips.html - scroll down a bit) and different size star stitches, don't know their names but I hope they are obvious from the pattern.

Do the blackwork border first. The stitches used are: standing crosses, heringbone, running stitch, star stitch, the "candles" are made with lazy daisy stitches, then chain stitch and half cross stitch.

Macramé Christmas trees and recycling Aida scrap pieces

2011-12-20T20:12:00.004+01:00

I have made two macramé Christmas trees. I am just sorry it didn't occur to me earlier, I would have made more. They are really fun and I love the way they look.

The first one was done on a piece of "Aida" fabric that was actually a patchwork sewn together from small leftover pieces. One mistake I made - if you plan to recycle your Aida pieces, don't follow me there -: I shouldn't have put it in the embroidery hoop. The sewing was very fragile, the edges just overlapped and it came undone at one point - I had to hand-sew it. But I managed to save it eventually.

So, for the macramé. The tree is made upside down. I put in green perle thread (#8) and started to make square knots. After one row, I used two thread of each previous knot to make a new one, thus creating a net-like pattern.

As I was going I made one knot less at the edges. This made the slanted side of the tree. I simply put the threads in a needle and pulled them to the other side. Also, I wanted to secure the macrame to the fabric, so after the fourth row I made a row of cross stitches in red, as decoration on the tree.

Then I continued in the same manner, leaving out knots at the ends, and sewing the threads down once more. I think, in the pictures you can see well how it was done.

And finally, turn it upside down:

The second one is a bigger tree, about 30 cm tall. It was made of green(ish) hemp string. I hang the string on a wooden rod, and made the tree. Unfortunately I didn't make progress photos. The only tricky part was how to do the three "levels". Finally I did this: I left out knots at the ends, just as before, but later used the same threads for knots higher up. That resulted in straigth lines that were cut at the very end. Ta-da! Add some buttons for decoration and here is your Christmas tree. Done in about 30 minutes, too!

Christmas biscornu

2011-12-16T17:06:00.003+01:00

I know we are all busy preparing for Christmas, shopping and cleaning and decorating (not me, to tell the truth, I am trying to cure myself from this horrible cold and taking it easy) - but in this hectic time we need even more to be able to sit down for a while and relax with some stitching.
Here is a little pattern to help you with it, and it can be a good last-minute gift or decoration.

You can leave the middle square empty if you want to add a fancy button.
If/when I have time to stitch it, I will use metallic gold instead of the yellow. You know, we can all do with some extra bling in our lives. :) ;)

Hope you like it.

Crazy quilting

2011-12-14T21:52:00.004+01:00

As we say in Hungarian: nagy fába vágtam a fejszémet. I am trying to cut down a really big tree. I joined the monthly crazy quilting challenge at http://www.cqjp2012.blogspot.com/ . This is going to be interesting and difficult, because I haven't done much crazy qulting, but what I have done, I really enjoyed. So I thought, as a preamble, I would post photos of my previous pieces. The first two are rather experiments, leading me to crazy qulting.

Well, I certainly hope I will make more and much better pieces than these. I have a great idea right now - but I am in a rush to finish my boyfriend's sweater I am knitting for Christmas - so it will have to wait.

So, from January, you can expect some posts with CQ. Wish me luck - and lots of time :).

Two wonderful giweaways

2011-12-13T18:51:00.004+01:00

at the following place: http://victorianmottosamplershoppe.blogspot.com

The yarns and patterns are yummy, and the giweaway is really a generous one. :)

Christmas trees - free cross stitch patterns

2011-12-12T17:16:00.002+01:00

There is still time to stitch these before Christmas. I hope you like them. :)

A modern (psychedelic?) christmas tree - free pattern

2011-12-04T17:27:00.006+01:00

I have made a small blackwork Christmas tree pattern that is quite different from the ones before. I called it a "modern Christmas tree", my OH called it "psychedelic" :).

Anyway, I stitched it, using two threads in the middle, and one thread for the rest. Here it is, still in the hoop:

And the pattern:

Can you find the difference? :D :D Actually, I made a mistake but was too lazy to frog it, so I adjusted the pattern: there is one extra stitch on the top in the stitched version - now you can choose which version you want to stitch.

Also, I would like to share with you some pictures from our afternoon trip: we visited the julmarknad, that is Christmas market in Gammla Uppsala. There were lots of crafty things. Unfortunately, most of my photos turned out to be horrible, but these two perhaps give you an idea:

Happy Christmas preparations, everyone. :)

Christmas tree alphabet number 2 - a smaller one

2011-11-30T21:46:00.004+01:00

I have another, smaller alphabet this time. You can stitch a few words or a name with them, or they would make lovely minis for gift tags with your loved ones initials.

I would again recommend using variegated thread with them.

Here is the back - I only managed to fit in Merry Christmas in Swedish, the others were too long. :) But you can use the year, or just a few small flowers.

Here is one I stitched:

Hope you like them and find pleasure stitching them.

Christmas tree alphabet - free cross stitch pattern

2011-11-27T19:08:00.007+01:00

I made some christmas tree patterns two years ago, and I just realised they have never been published here. Originally I only made a few of these, with initials of some friends, and now I completed the pattern to make a whole alphabet.

Here are photos (not too good ones, sorry) of two of them stitched. As you can see, I used a variegated thread to stitch, and added some beads to the seam on the first, and made a mini-bag out of an Aida-band on the second.

I hope you will like the pattern.

And finally, here it is without a letter if you want it that way, and the matching piece that I used for the back. Of course, you can use some patterned fabric for backing, or you can simply glue the stitching on a card.

New Life? Using old pieces of needlework

2011-11-26T19:14:00.004+01:00

I have lots of old pieces of needlework. I have some I inherited or received from my family, and lots that I bough in Sweden. Sweden is a wonderful place, you can find tons of old embroidery and crochet pieces in the second-hand shops and flea-markets.
I have quite a few I am collecting as my personal museum, really beautiful works.

On the other hand, there are quite a lot in the collection that are not all that beautiful. They are worn or faded and I wouldn´t put them on my wall or table. Or they are in a colour that was fashionable at a time (probably the 60s and 70s) but not any more. However, I wouldn´t want to throw them out either, because I keep thinking of the unknown people who spent weeks or months making them.

I was thinking about using them for something else. For a while I was not really sure if this is a good idea, it almost feels like a kind of sacrilege. Finally, I decided it is more like giving these things another, new life. Here are a few examples.

First, although it might be too late now for making autumn-projects, I would like to show you what I made with my students in the "creative crafts" lesson a few weeks ago.

It´s a branch of tree stuck in a jar filled with gravel. Then each student made a leaf and we hang them on the branch.

You can also see me in the reflection. :)
I took another picture at another place, perhaps you can see it better.

I also made a few leaves myself, and this is what I want to share with you.

I had these old pieces of crochet:

I sewed a leaf shape with zig-zag stitch, and cut it out. I made experiments, because the crochet got more than once caught in the sewing machine. So I tried sewing it with tissue paper, which was difficult to tear of the crochet, then I sewed it on a piece of fabric, I think that worked best.

The first one:

You can see how the thread is tangled in once place where it was caught in the machine.

Then with the tissue paper:

Finally with fabric:

Another "new-life project:

My first patchwork, a hanging folder for bills and receipts for my boyfriend:

Look at the inside:

It is a piece cut from an old cross-stitched tablecloth that has really faded colours, in some places the embroidery has even come undone, but I think it works well as the lining for this little project.

I would like to hear your opinion about this question. Is it all right to make new pieces of old embroidery or crochet, or is it a disrespect to the original creator?

Sorry

2011-11-19T16:50:00.002+01:00

Dear Friends,

I am sorry for being absent for so long. I was on a short holiday, then I moved into my new apartment and I don´t have internet at home, apparently it will take some time to arrange it Not happy about it. :(

Anyway, I have a few more photos to show you and another freebie just in time before Christmas - coming soon. Please, bear with me :)

Agi

I finished my vest - or shall I call it a dress?

2011-10-07T20:28:00.002+02:00

I have finished my vest. The photo was taken before washing and blocking, I will make a new one soon. I have worn it one and it was so nice and warm.

I also finished a small crocheted necklace I started a while ago and was waiting for the finishing touches for weeks:

I made a formerly finished cross stitch piece into a wall hanging. I sewed blanket stitch around it and crocheted a small lace edge around it.

And finally, two small pieces of embroidery I made: a hardanger and a satin stitch-stemstitch one that I drew following some traditional Swedish patterns.

Free hippy cross stitch bookmark - and my first pattern for sale.

2011-09-26T18:26:00.007+02:00

I have made some hippy patterns. One is a bookmark you are welcome to use, as usual, for free. I am not sure the colours show up well enough, the idea is that the letters of the word "Love" are in a strong colour and the background motifs in nice pastel shades.

In honour of the European Day of Languages, which is today, 26th September, I made a bigger version in many languages. This one is not a free pattern however, I offer it for sale. It costs 4 Euros.
I haven´t got round to creating a separate webshop yet but I am planning to soon. Until then it is very simple: you pay me in PayPal (benceagi@yahoo.com) and I e-mail you the pattern.
If you happen to want another language included, I can make the change - in that case the price is 5 Euros.

Here is a picture:

I hope you like them. Happy stitching. :)

New knitting WIP

2011-09-18T09:16:00.003+02:00

As I was at home with a really bad backache, had to stay in bed quite a lot, and in a position that made stitching difficult, I started a new knitting project. The yarn I bought in a loppis (something like a garage sale) not long ago, very cheap. It is half wool and half acrylic. So I am making a long vest for myself for winter.

I am making it, as most of my knitted things, without a pattern, as it comes. I started in the middle, or rather under the breasts, with a row of a different coloured yarn, then knitted top down, circularly. As I want it to be as long as possible, but wasn´t sure how long the yarn would let me go, I stopped now, that´s why there are needles in the bottom row, took out the starting row and started to knit upwards. The back is about half done, I am not sure how I will make the front yet. And I want a wide crocheted edge all around, but again, not sure what pattern I will use. If the yarn is not enough, I might go for another colour for the edges, but I would prefer to keep it one colour, this way it can be worn with more different clothes under it.

This is the bottom part. The pattern goes almost diagonally, I hope it will look nice after blocking. (By the way, does anyone know a good method for blocking circular knitting?)

And this is the top:

It is really exciting, not knowing what it will turn into and experimenting with different patterns and methods. Cross your fingers for me that the yarn is enough :)

Blackwork sampler - part 3 - I have finished it.

2011-09-18T09:02:00.004+02:00

I am so glad, I got some really nice feedback about the blackwork sampler, although noone had time to stitch it right now. I, however, could not stop myself, I enjoyed stitching it so much. I almost forgot how much I like blackwork.

So first, here is the second part finished:

I am giving you the third and final part now:

The first lines are herringbone stitches.

And this is what it looks like in my version:

And finally, a picture of the whole. I finished the sides with hemstitching, this was the first time I did it, and it went quite well. I was so proud of myself. When I was all finished, I realised that I miscounted somehow and on one side the margin I left was wider than on the other. So had to frog it, cut it and re-stitch again, but that didn´t turn out so well because I had to fold it on the line of the previous withdrawn threads, and became a bit wobbly. I am not very happy about it but there is not much I can do about it now. It will teach me not to be too proud of myself. :-/

Black and gold pincushion side 2 - free cross stitch pattern

2011-09-18T09:00:00.002+02:00

Someone asked me for this pattern, sorry it took me so long to draw, but finally here it is:

The middle is empty for a button or embellishment.

pincushion

2011-09-13T15:58:00.003+02:00

I made a pincushion out of the black-gold pattern I stitched a while back. For the other side, I improvised a variation of the pattern, will draw it and post it soon.
I am sure it would look good as a biscornu, too.

Blackwork sampler - part 2

2011-09-10T08:50:00.002+02:00

Hi, Friends,

Due to a terrible backache I have to stay at home and lie in bed almost all day. :( Not the best thing at the beginning of the school year. But that means I have time for knitting and stitching.

I have stitched the first part of the blackwork sampler, so I am publishing the second part. As you can see, I have already done one line of that part, too.

The grey area is the overlap between the first and second parts.

Happy stitching everyone. :)

Cross stitched buttons - photo tutorial

2011-09-04T18:52:00.004+02:00

Hello, stitchy friends :)

I was repairing a cushion that was torn, and the buttons were also missing. So I made some. Here is how.

The cushion looked like this:

Then I did this:

The white buttons were used with their rounded half outside. I stitched a running stitch around them and pulled it tight.

These are the buttons at the front:

and the back:

The back is quite messy but it doesn´t matter if you sew them on a cushion that is pulled together in the middle. If you want to use similar buttons on a flat surface, you should buy a button-making kit. I have never tried them but would love to.

And the final result:

I have also started stitching the blackwork sampler. Half of part 1 is done. It is good that I tried it out because again I noticed a mistake. When you draw a repetitive pattern, it is done with copy and paste, and it is so easy to go one or two stitches off. I have put up the corrected version but I am not 100% happy with it, I should have realised it earlier. But this is how it will stay for me - if you want, you can make adjustment on the black zigzag line, so it is centered. Or tell me if you want it, I can draw another version.

I am using DMC 310 and 221 on a lovely light green hand died linen. Unfortunately, in the photo the fabric doesn´t show. Sorry about the hoop marks, I ironed it but they will not disappear properly until I wash it.

Is there anyone stitching it?

Some more news about myself: here in Sweden it is almost like autumn, at least like autumn at home. We have been picking mushrooms and bilberries.

I hope, dear friends, that you are all well and been stitching/knitting/crocheting happily. Hope to see you soon. :)

I have stitched the bookmark

2011-08-28T14:10:00.003+02:00

I have just finished stitching my latest bookmark. I found that it was a bit too short for my liking, so I modified the pattern a bit. I chose DMC 729 and 3345 to stitch it on 16 count ivory Aida.

Here is the modified pattern:

Blackwork sampler - SAL challenge

2011-08-25T20:43:00.005+02:00

I have created a blackwork band sampler. Altogether it is 65 x 170 stitches, so if you want to stitch it, this is how big your fabric needs to be, plus a few centimetres around it. This is how it will look like:

Terveztem egy blackwork csíkokból álló mintát, összesen 65 öltés széles, és 170 hosszú. Persze rá kell még hagyni néhány centimétert körben.Így fog kinézni:

I am going to publish it in 3 parts. As soon as someone finishes the first part (perhaps that someone will be me, but I am not sure how much time I will have for stitching), I will post the next one.

Három részletben fogom közzétenni. Amint valaki elkészül az elsö résszel (lehet, hogy ez a valaki én leszek, de még nem tudom, mennyi idöm lesz hímezni), felteszem a második részt is.

So, come with me on this journey, let´s do this together. I am really curious to see what colours you choose.

Gyertek velem erre a kis kalandra, hímezzünk együtt! Alig várom, hogy lássam, milyen színeket választotok.

The full squares are supposed to be cross stitches with two strands, but perhaps you can substitute them with beads.

A teli négyzetek keresztszemes öltések, két szállal, de talán gyöngyöket is varrhatunk helyettük.

Mistakes in the previous pattern corrected and some new ones

2011-08-20T20:36:00.005+02:00

Dear Friends,

I have to apologise, the patterns in the previous post had some mistakes. If you downloaded them, please, do it again. The corrected versions are up now.

Kedves barátaim!

Elnézést kérek, az elözö mintába hiba csúszott. Ha szeretnétek kihímezni, töltsétek le újra, már a javított verzió van feltöltve.

I also made another version in Swedish. Not because I believe that so many Swedish people read my blog but because I am in Sweden and I wanted to pay a tribute to the beautiful language :)

Csináltam egy svéd verziót is, mivel Svédországban vagyok, szerettem volna kifejezni nagyrabecsülésemet e szép nyelv iránt. :)

And for those who like smaller patterns, or want coordinated patterns, I made a bookmark and a biscornu version of the motifs in the sampler. Enjoy :)

Ès aki a kisebb mintákt szereti, vagy összeillö szettet szeretne hímezni, íme egy könyvjelzö és egy biscornu ugyanazzal a motívummal.

Note: I usually make my bookmarks two sided, and sew them together the same way as a biscornu. Or sometimes I just sew together the long ends with whip stitch, then sew a running stitch across the short ends, and fray them.

Általában kétoldalas könyvjelzöket készítek, és ugyanúgy varrom össze, mint a biscornut. Vagy csak a hosszanti oldalakat, a rövideket csak összeöltöm, és kirojtozom a végét. (Mi a "running stitch" magyarul, tudja valaki?)

New subversive sampler, based on a Hungarian saying

2011-08-18T20:12:00.005+02:00

Mindenki ismeri a mondást: anyám, én nem ilyen lovat akartam. Ìme, most ki is hímezhetjük. :) Sok sikert hozzá. A szokásos piros-fekete színpárosomat használtam hozzá, kíváncsi vagyk, ti milyen színekkel tudjátok elképzelni.

There is a saying in Hungarian: you want something really badly, and when you get it, it is not the real thing, not good enough, or you realise that you actually wanted something else - we say: "Mummy, I wanted a different horse". It doesn´t seem to make much sense, that´s why it is funny - at the same time, it is a bit bitter, too. Now you can stitch it, if you want to :) I made it in my usual red and black colour scheme, but I am curious to see what colours you would use for it.

And a picture of the crocheted hairband I made for the sister of the newborn baby boy. I wanted her to have something in the package, too. :)

Have a good time stitching, knitting, crafting and send me photos if you stitch my designs, please :)

And the winner is...

2011-08-14T19:40:00.003+02:00

Aurelia Eglantine!!! Congratulations.

And your gift is the following pack:

There are some interesting threads apart from the variegated ones and the perle, one is an unknown thread that resembles a cord, really shiny, the other is a linen thread, both are vintage finds. I hope you will enjoy them and have fun with them.

Thank you all for the comment, I will try and fulfil some of the wishes. I cannot promise anything though :) I am working on a subversive sampler right now, it is almost ready, will post it soon, just want to make the Hungarian version as well.

And finally I would like to share a few photos with you.

I made this little cardigan for my friend, Hajnalka´s newborn son.

And I did an experiment. I have an old tablecloth that was made by my Mum. This is how she finished the edges:

I tried to copy it, and this is what I have come up with. I assume she had a smaller hook - but not sure I would be able to do it tighter. But I like how it looks, anyway. What do you think? I am planning to finish my boyfriend´s gift (that I made a while ago) with this edge.

And finally, yesterday we went to an event in the neighbouring village, the Feast of 100 cookies. This is what it looked like:

I also saw some old cookie making iron tools:

And of course, had to taste them all :D :D

Today, we went to the sea to have a picknick. It was so beautiful. Unfortunately, it is too cold to swim.

And tomorrow I am back to work. I have just started to work at an International English School in Sweden, teaching textile crafts. On Wednesday the kids will show up. I am so excited. :D :D Wish me luck. :)

Cross stitch alphabet sampler and a giveaway

2011-08-07T10:28:00.003+02:00

Hello, everyone. I have moved. I had to do it in a very short time, had a week to pack and arrange lots of administrative things, then travelled 3 days. And I have been working at my new workplace for a week now and enjoy it a lot. But didn´t have much time or energy for my hobby.

But today, finally, I managed to sit down with my program and finish the blue alphabet I started to design before moving.

Here it is: first a full picture, and then broken down into four pieces for easier printing. I also added the 10x10 lines to these, and tried to shade 3 rows and columns for overlap - I hope I didn´t make a mistake there, it was my first time. Not as easy as it seems. :) Hope you enjoy it.

And as promised, I am doing a GIVEAWAY to celebrate that my blog has attracted 20000 visitors. The price will be a pack of threads and fabric, with some unusual ones included. Cannot post a picture right now because some of my things still haven´t been unpacked but will do so soon.
The winner will be selected from those who post a comment and answer this question:

What type of patterns would you like to see in the future?

Looking forward to your answers. I will draw the winner next weekend.
See you soon.

Stitching "Diagon Alley"

2011-07-21T23:21:00.005+02:00

I hope some of you realise by the title that I am a fan of... ????

Anyway, you already know I love playing around with colours. Also, the other day I was looking at a big piece of Aida with slanted edges - because I stitched a square on it that was stading on its corner, and realised that I don't have to cut it off, I could stitch something on that diagonally.

This is how the following bookmarks were born. Three cross stitch and one blackwork. Would like to try them out soon, but I am in the middle of moving now, and for relaxation I am knitting a simple baby pullover so they have to wait. But you just go ahead! :)

Over 20 000 visitors

2011-07-18T21:16:00.004+02:00

Wow, my blog statistics show that I have reached more than 20 000 visitors. Thank you so much for your interest! :D :D

(Not the counter at the bottom of the page, I only set that one up when I already had more than a thousand, so that is a bit behind.)

I think I will do some giveaway to celebrate this, but you must be patient with me and wait for it, about two weeks I think, because I am just about to move to another country.

So, again, watch this place! :D

Oh, and I stitched one of the latest freebies. I stitched Algerian eyes for the stars, I think it turned out rather well. Will be a pincushion one day.

Let me also show you my latest finishes. The baby sampler just waits for the date and weight.
The other one is a Hungarian proverb translated into Swedish and changed just a bit.
"He who likes nature ("flowers" in the original), cannot be a bad man".
I used a French freebie as the border.

New free cross stitch patterns

2011-07-14T10:49:00.005+02:00

I made some more cross stitch patterns, can hardly wait to stitch them. I planned them in black and gold, stitched on white or perhaps some very light grey aida. The stars could be stitched as Smyrna stitches or Algerian eyes, as you prefer.

This could be a nice pincushion or ornament but would also work well for a card:

The next two are a bit bigger. Of course, you can always leave out a few lines or columns, since it is a repetitive pattern. I am planning to use them for a top of a wooden box and a notebook cover, if I ever get down to stitching them.

And a bookmark:

Of course, as always, feel free to change the colours. I would really love to see if someone stitches them.

I hope you enjoy them. Happy summer, everyone. :D

Tutorial: how to crochet a cosmetic bag. Very easy. Part 2 - lining.

2011-07-14T10:29:00.004+02:00

Hello, here I am with the lining part of the tutorial.

I used a lovely Hungarian traditional cotton fabric to line this bag. I had a stripe cut off which was roughly the right width (about 20 cm), so I just had to cut a piece of it twice the height of the bag. Sorry, I didn´t do any measuring just adjusted it to the bag. I folded the fabric in half, this is how it looks with the bag:

Then I cut off a little from the corners, to follow the shape of the bag. I didn´t want too much bulk in the corners.

Then I folded the fabric right side in, and sew together the two sides.

I stitched with hand and used backstitch, this is how it looks from the two sides:

This is how it looks when I turn it right side out - but then I realised I don´t have to do it. :)

Because the lining goes in the bag so that the right side faces inwards:

Then I had to adjust it a little. Since the crochet is flexible, it is possible to smooth out the fabric quite nicely inside. This is how it looks then:

Now only the edges are left to stitch. First I folded and pinned them, then I sew them to the crochet with very small stitches.

Unfortunately I don´t have a zip with me here and don´t want to spend money when I have a few at home, so that will have to wait.
But here is a nice tutorial how to sew in a zip, if you need it.

While making the previous two bags, I had some experience with it. With the first, I sewed in the lining first, then the zip. With the second, I tried to put the zip´s fabric part between the crochet and the lining. It was much more difficult to sew and it wasn´t better looking at the end, so I chose the first option this time.

As for the embellishment: I want to wave in a nice looking ribbon in the double crochet row this time, so that will also have to wait until I am home.
The flowers on the previous bags were made using this series of crochet tutorials on YouTube by Theresa:

I think I will make them again, they are so well explained in these tutorials.

I hope I helped if someone wants to make something similar.

Tutorial: how to crochet a cosmetic bag. Very easy. Part 1

2011-07-10T18:39:00.005+02:00

I have been away from the blog for quite a while, but I am back now. I crocheted another one of the little bags and took pictures of the steps, so here is how it was made. This part is only about the crochet, I will come back soon with the lining and putting in the zip.

I started with a chain of 40.

Then I did one single crochet in each chain.

When I reached the end, I turned but not the usual way. I turned around, if that makes sense, and did another single crochet on the other side of the beginning chain.
I hope you can see it here, at the bottom is the first row I made, and at the top I am just starting the other row in the starting chain.

So when I finished this row, I actually finished a round, and I had this:

It is good to remember that you finish a row when you are just at the opposite end from the starting tail.

After two more rows, with no increasing, you can see how the bottom of the bag starts to take shape:

And you just go on and on, round after round of single crochet. Easy as pie :)

Since I wanted the sides of the bag to be a bit slanted, I did one increasing. If you don´t want it but prefer a straight side, you can omit this step.
So I increased two stitches at both ends (you can find where exactly if you flatten the bag):

I crocheted two single crochets in the two middle stitches.

When the bag was 9 cm high, I did a row of double crochet. This is where I will weave in a string or a ribbon for decoration. Again, if you want, you can leave this out.

Then I went on with my single crochet again and when I reached the desired height, I did a final row of a kind of picot or wavy finish:

It goes like this: *one single crochet, one single crochet, chain two, single crochet in the next stitch* - and repeat between the *s.

This is what the edge looks like when done:

And this is the whole little bag. No sewing together needed.

See you soon with the rest. And some more freebies to stitch. Watch this place :)

more crochet

2011-06-29T18:19:00.002+02:00

Now you can see the two little crocheted bags I made as presents for two lovely little girls.
I crocheted them as a circle, with single crochet all along, I have to admit I prefer the look of it if done around than in rows. I only did one row of double crochet to weave in the cords. Then I crocheted together the bottoms, added some crocheted flowers that I am really enjoying doing right now, and the light blue one also has a picot edging. I added lining and a zip.

New freebie to stitch

2011-06-20T21:32:00.004+02:00

This free pattern can be finished in more than one way.

I made this little pincushion out of it. Still thinking whether adding a button in the middle or not.

This is what it looked like before stitching a line of backstitch around it and whipstitching the sides together:

Here is the pattern for you. I drew it in blue, but I stitched it in my favourite DMC 115 colour. I think it might also look good in rainbow colours, feel free to experiment with it.

Since it is quite big, I made a cut off of a quarter of the pattern, to make printing easier, this is actually enough, you just turn it around 90 degrees :)

I really like how the pincushion turned out. But on the other hand, I am thinking to stitch it again in a flat version, perhaps for a cushion. But then I would use it turned around 45 degrees, like this:

I thought that this way I might need something to put into the corners. So I came up with this version. But again, I am not sure I will keep to these colours. (Sorry, my program doesn't let me turn the pattern 45 degrees.)

I find it interesting how the modern stile of the lines and the traditional form of the flowers meet. Hope you will like it too.

Crocheted jewellery

2011-06-19T08:30:00.004+02:00

Hello, friends,
Sorry I haven't written for so long. I haven't been stitching much lately, spent most of my time crocheting. Here is the result. Most of it was done with no written instructions, so I will try and give some explanation how I made them if someone is interested. But don't expect me to write a real crochet pattern, I still have difficulty understanding them, let alone writing :D I am still a very beginner crocheter.

The necklace was made like this: I chained 76, then did two rows of double crochet (By the way, I think I use the American terms, that's how I learned them.) In the second row I increased five stitches. I simply marked the middle stitch, and counted 4 in both direction, marked those stitches, then counted 4 again and marked again. So I had 5 stitches marked. I did two double crochet in those, that's how the semi-circular shape was formed. I didn't know how it would turn out, I was just experimenting, but it did work. :)
Finally, I did a row of single crochet, with a 3-chain picot in every 4th stitch.
To finish, I made a chain on both ends, attached a magnetic clasp, and sewed small dark grey beads on the picots.

The bracelet is just a 7-stitch wide single crochet band. When I had the desired length, I decreased on the two sides to make a rounded edge. Then I did the same single crochet with the picots edging on the two sides, and added a small 4-chain loop at the rounded end for a buttonhole. Sewed on the beads and a tiny button.

Another necklace - for my taste it is a bit clumsy, but I can see such things everywhere so it must be the fashion right now :D :D

This was made by chaining about 50 (cannot really count it now) then doing two double crochets in each chain. At the end I didn't turn the row but went around and continued on the other side of the same chains. Then I did the same single crochet with picots edge all around. Didn't sew beads though, because I though it might be overdoing it. It is also finished with - this time shorter - chains and closed with a small loop and a bead because I had no more clasps at home :D

I also made some flowers using different video tutorials on youtube. The dark blue was made into a pin (I just sewed a safety pin on the back, have to buy some professional finishing things!) and the light blue, with a button in the middle was attached to an elastic ring. The bigger light blue circle was just another trial piece of a double crochet band, I sewed the edges together and pulled a piece of elastic band in it, perfect for a ponytail.

I also made two small pouches for telephones, just double crocheting all around. Not very professional. But he friends who received them liked them :)

I have two more crocheted pieces but they are made as gifts, so don't want to show them before they are received. So more crochet to be expected. In the meanwhile, I will be coming back with some cross stitching, too.

I won an award :)

2011-06-15T23:07:00.003+02:00

Thank you, lostinblue for the award.

As I understand it, according to the rules of this award, I have to tell you a few random facts about myself. Hm...

* I love listening to audiobooks, actually since I discovered them, I read much less. Can you guess why? Of course, because you can stitch while listening. :)
* I have been singing in a choir for two years and that has been a wonderful experience for me, a whole new world of music opening up, and also I have become part of a wonderful group of people.
* I love languages and my dream is to learn a few more when I retire. In my life I have learnt Russian, English, German, Finnish, Italian, Georgian (!) and Estonian. Because of the Russian, I understand a bit of Croatian as well. Of course, this doesn't mean I can speak all these languages, only that I have spent some time with them. I can speak English well, and some Russian still, some basic Italian and that's all. And now I am learning Swedish.

What else? You can ask me, if there is anything else that is of interest, I can't come up with any more.

And now I would like to pass on this award to:

Brodösens blog
annekata
Ötletelő

Congratulations, I love your blogs.

Some of my patterns stitched up

2011-06-04T21:43:00.002+02:00

I have stitched some of the circles and made them into cards.

And an unusual blackwork design:

New free blackwork patterns

2011-06-02T11:37:00.003+02:00

I told you to expect some more blackwork patterns. I hope you like them. Please, feel free to change the colours, or stitch them with variegated thread. I would love to see some realisations of them. :)

Mondtam, hogy további blackwork minták várhatók. (Mi a blackwork magyarul? Tudja valaki?) Remélem, tetszik. Nyugodtan változtassátok meg a színeket, vagy használjatok színátmentes fonalat. Szívesen látnám a mintáim különböző megvalósulásait. :)

And variations of the same pattern. És variációk egy témára.

Free blackwork bookmark and square

2011-05-30T22:26:00.000+02:00

I seem to be on the blackwork trail nowadays :)

Here is a bookmark and a square I designed, and there are some more coming.

Happy stitching.

A WIP finished

2011-05-28T23:09:00.003+02:00

I have finally finished my stitches sampler. It is going to be a cushion cover. I am planning to write a detailed description of each square, if I can remember all the stitches I made :) Watch this place.

Végre befejeztem a különböző öltésekből álló munkámat, amiből hamarosan párnahuzat lesz. Azt tervezem, hogy részletesen leírom mindegyik négyzetről, milyen öltést használtam, feltéve, hogy emlékszem mindegyikre. :) Nézzetek vissza hamarosan.

Summertime free pattern and bookmark pattern

2011-05-28T21:00:00.008+02:00

I have been listening to Ella Fizgerald. And also, it has been around 30 degrees here recently, so I really got into a summer mood. :)

Ella Fitzgeraldot hallgattam. Na és mostanában 30 fok körül jár a hőmérséklet errefelé, nem csoda, hogy nyári hangulatba kerültem. :)

First I made a pattern to celebrate summer, with all the colours and flowers but then realised that most of us probably doesn't necessarily want to stitch something this big, so I made a smaller, bookmark version as well - not a small bookmark, though ;)

Először készítettem egy mintát, amivel igazán meg lehet ünnepelni a nyarat, sok-sok színnel, virágokkal, meg ami csak belefér, de aztán ráébredtem, hogy sokunknak valószínűleg épp ez nem biztos, hogy bele fog férni, így hát született egy kisebb, könyvjelző méretű verzió is. Bár könyvjelzőnek azért nem olyan kicsi ;)

Hope you like it.
Remélem, tetszeni fog.

A blue butterfly

2011-05-26T22:49:00.003+02:00

I took this photo about two weeks ago, in Fót, Hungary, where there is a hill full of lots of different butterflies. There is a study trail worth visiting, it is amazing.
Ezt a képet a fóti Somlyóhegyen készítettem úgy két hete, a pillangó tanösvényen. Érdemes megnézni, csodálatos!

I tried to make a cross stitch pattern from the photo. Not converting a photo, just drawing myself. I will try the conversion, too, but that will have to be a much bigger pattern, I think. This is just a small one. I hope someone out there likes it. If you look at the photo, I think you will find it justified if I say: stitch the middle with metallic thread!

Megpróbáltam mintát alkotni a képből. Nem konvertáltam a programmal, csak úgy megrajzoltam. Meg fogok próbálkozni azzal is, de az jóval nagyobb minta lesz. Most csak ilyen kicsit akartam. Remélem, tetszik. Ha összehasonlítjátok a fényképpel, szerintem igazat adtok nekem, ha azt mondom: a közepét fémszálas fonállal kellene hímezni.

New blackwork biscornu, free pattern, and a WIP

2011-05-24T14:54:00.005+02:00

I made this little one yesterday and today:

It's on 16 cound Aida, stitched with white and pink satin thread. The button is actually pink, but the photo doesn't show it very well. On the other side I put a few small beads.

Here is the pattern. Remember, as this is not not a "pointed corner" biscornu, when you sew it together, match the green arrows with the green ones and the read arrows with the red ones. (They are not to be stitched.) Please, enjoy. :)

And now one of my WIPs. I am not a "big project" person, so even when I do something big, I choose it to be made of smaller parts. Right now I am working on an afghan. Instead of the original pink roses pattern I decided to stitch Celtic patterns on it. I have done two motifs so far:

the Celtic hound:

and the Celtic horse (this was finished a few days ago):

The whole afghan looks like this right now - actually, this is not the whole, just the middle of it, it is too big to fit in a picture :)

Next I am planning to do a Celtic knot.

Flexible macramé bracelet. Tutorial.

2011-05-19T14:50:00.013+02:00

There are all those friendship bracelets, true, they are for the young but I would love to wear one or two as well. The problem is, the concept of the friendship bracelet is that you should not take it off. Also, it would be nice to have a few in different colours and change them according to my mood. But it doesn’t work well if they are knotted on your wrist. So I was wondering if I can make something similar but flexible. I tried to make a few with clasps, but it is difficult to guess the right size. What fits my wrist, is too big for my daughter.

So I came up with the idea of the flexible macramé bracelet. Here is a tutorial, or rather an attempt to a tutorial – it’s my first time, so please, be patient with me. Also, when I started, I wasn’t sure how I would finish it, so at the end some pictures are missing. I photographed one step, didn’t like it, tried another one – and forgot to take a photo of that. Also, as I looked through this post, I can see that I am really bad about placing the photos and the text, the pictures are not aligned etc... please, forgive me, will try and learn how to do it better for next time.:)

Ok, so here it goes. First, what I used:

Black perle thread, black flexible cord, and some embellishments: buttons, a bead and a hanging little butterfly. I used double thread to give it some thickness. Earlier I made one with single thread and it looked lovely, too but you need smaller beads for that.
I cut the flexible cord 60 cm long and the perle 170 cm, and folded them in two. hanged them on a loop – I used a small embroidery hoop’s spring, but you can use anything provided you can slide it off at the end.

Then I put the hoop on the corner of a pillow, this is very comfortable for me. Started to make some simple macramé knots, keeping the flexible cord in the middle.

When I reached a certain length (I didn’t measure, I am so bad at planning, just guessed – but you might want to draw a simple plan for yourself to place the embellishments evenly), I checked which thread would be going across in front for the next knot.

I put a button on that thread (here it was useful to have double thread) and continued knotting. This is how it looks from the front and the back.

Again, after a certain length I added the bead. This one had three holes, a big one in the middle and two smaller ones on two sides – but I think any bead could do, you can pull all the threads through the hole, or just the middle ones, and tie a knot around the bead with the other threads.

Then some more knots, another button, and some more knots again.

Now, here comes the trouble. On my previous bracelet I tried to weave in all the thread ends, but it wasn’t a huge success, it is difficult to hide so many, there was a bulk in the bracelet. That’s why I thought now I will not hide them, but use them for an accent.
First, I took off the beginning loop using a needle so as not to lose the hole as it was quite small. Then I pulled the flexible cords in the middle through the loop and pulled them taut.

I secured the middle threads with a pin. And then I knotted the last few knots to cover up this place where the beginning and end meet.

There I was, the bracelet done but lots of threads hanging out of it. So I tied the small butterfly on them and cut the ends, leaving a tassel-like ending. Not a perfect solution, but I kind of like it. Will have to think about finishing it in a better way.

This is how it looks like - a bit tight on my wrist but will be perfect for my daughter.

Long armed cross stitch - free bookmark

2011-05-18T22:41:00.006+02:00

First, would you like a good laugh? I crocheted a bag with pure wool. It looked just lovely. Then I put it in the washing machine to felt. And this is what came out of the machine:

It is VERY small and really thick. Lesson: crochet felts much better than knitting. Well, I can still use it as a mini stitching basket or decorate it with some flowers and give it to a child. :D

Now, the stitching results of the past few days. I stitched the blue striped design, both with and without the red backstitch/French knots, and made an ornament out of the two.
I used DMC 311, 794 and 309 for this. Can't decide which side I prefer. :) If you want to make it, note that the version with the red is one stitch smaller, so you need to stitch the backstitch line accordingly (my favourite finishing method is this, and not only for biscornus: backstitch line all around, then whipstitch together).

I also stitched the bird in the circle, using a variegated blue, Anchor 1210. Don't know yet how I will finish it.

I made a variation of the circle with coloured sections, and stitched it with smyrna stitches:

Here is the modified pattern:

There is another new freebie: a bookmark pattern. I stitched it using long armed cross stitch. It has long intrigued me, since it was used in old Hungarian patterns, but recently I discovered it in Swedish stitching as well. The Swedish call it twistsöm. What is different from cross stitch: you stitch the lines following the direction of the pattern.
I looked at different books, and found something interesting: in the Hungarian tradition they stitch a line then turn the work and stitch the next line in the other direction. This way they are creating ridges and valleys, so to speak. Swedish twistsöm, if I understood the explanation in my book correctly, is usually stitched starting from the same end, and so the lines resemble braided thread. There are other interesting similarities and differences between the two countries' stitching traditions, but more about that later. I am still learning.
I thought the simple stripes pattern will be an easy one to try out this stitch, and here is the result.

I like my bookmarks to have a back, so I often stitch someting simple to put on the back, too.

Here you can see the long armed cross stitch/twistsöm more closely:

This photo also gives you an idea how the bookmark was finished: two lines of backstitch on the long sides, whipstitched together, and the lines across at the ends were stitched going through both layers. Then the edges were frayed. I like this finishing. This bookmark can be washed if it gets dirty, still, it is not too soft.

For those who don't know how to stitch long armed cross stitch, here is a step by step drawing, I hope it is clear enough:

And finally, the pattern of the bookmark (of course, it will look lovely with simple cross stitch, too).

I know that some of you have stitched a pattern or two from this site. Can you please, send me a picture or allow me to put up a link here? It would be so nice to see them all.
Happy stitching to everyone. :)

New free patterns - and some photos.

2011-05-13T21:16:00.003+02:00

I was not online much in the past few weeks but I hope when you see my photos, you will forgive me. I didn't stitch much either. Only worked a bit on my stitches sampler (pictures a bit later) but have designed a few small freebies again. Please, enjoy them. This time I was playing around with a circle as the basis of the patterns and tried different "fillings".

A simple geometric one, which woud be good to play with different colour scehemes, variegated thread, or perhaps different stitches. (Hm, I might rethink this one a bit later.)

Two variations of the same pattern:

A bird:

And two with flowers:

And here are some of my photos of wild flowers that I saw in the past three weeks on trips in Hungary. Unfortunately, I don't know what they are called, apart from a few. But I will know later, and will add the names.

This I know, it is feather grass. Not an easy one to photograph, though:

Flowering ash:

A wild rose:

This might be hawthorn but I am not sure:

And a sunset:

Some new freebies

2011-04-28T12:12:00.005+02:00

Here are some new little ones for you to try out. Happy stitching.

This should be whipstitched together along the backstitch lines and form a small pyramid. You can fill it with lavender or other scent.

Just a simple geometric pattern for a card.

And a variation of the previous one - for the brave ones amongst us - I mean for those who don't hate backstitch and french knots. I actually like them. :)

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

2011-04-25T16:09:00.002+02:00

Sorry that I am a bit late, I haave been busy with some things :)

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate, and a happy spring to everyone, anyway. It is so beautiful here at the moment.

Red and black patterns

2011-04-23T01:03:00.003+02:00

Some new fooling around. Feel free to use the patterns or just motifs of them. Enjoy!

A sampler:

A biscornu:

A bookmark:

Stitched poetry

2011-04-21T09:16:00.001+02:00

I have stitched a few of my favourite poems or quotations, made a separate page for them, please, take a look.
I included English translations, too :) Enjoy.

Teacher bookmarks - könyvjelzők pedagógusnapra

2011-04-19T11:56:00.008+02:00

Teacher appreciation day is getting close, but I think there is still time to make a simple bookmark. You can even make it with the kids, you can pick just one of the motifs and the border, that would work, too. I recommend changing the pink border to blue or green for a male teacher though :)

A pedagógusnapig (Magyarországon június első vasárnapja) még van idő kihímezni egy kis könyvjelzőt, akár a gyerekekkel együtt. De talán ballagáskor is jólesik a kollégáknak egy kis kedvesség. Nyugodtan válogassatok a motívumok között, nálunk az alma nem olyan jellegzetes szimbóluma a szakmának, mint Amerikában.

blackwork biscornu stitched and another geometric pattern

2011-04-18T14:06:00.005+02:00

I stitched the blackwork biscornu yesterday. Is it only me, when I have plans what to do and what to stitch then there is suddently something I really must do first, and the plans are put off all the time?
I just read a lovely quote yesterday: "Don't procrastinate, put it off right now". LOL

So here it is, I didn't realise how tiny it would be. I made it on a srcap piece of material which was very small count, so that might be one reason. Used some Caron threads and a Glissengloss rainbow.

And here are the edges, even less sharp than the previous one, I am not even sure if it IS a biscornu any more. ???
You can see how tiny it has become.

The next is: I made two cards from New Stitches not long ago, with lovely, simple and colourful designs, and since I have one more of the same type of card, I needed a third pattern. (There might be more in the magazine but I didn't feel like searching for it LOL) So this was born, and it is being stitched right now.

A blackwork biscornu

2011-04-16T16:29:00.004+02:00

This biscornu, just like the one I posted previously, will not have sarp corners but nice wavy sides.

I marked with arrows where the pieces should meet in the middle, green arrow with the green and red with the red. I hope it is clear.

As for the stitching, I drew it in one colour but I am thinking of stitching it either in some multicolour thread or stitch some parts with metallic.

New finishes

2011-04-16T10:54:00.003+02:00

I have been on a finishing spree these past days. I promised myself I am not trying out my new sewing machine until I finish some things. First, because I need space on the table (LOL) and second, because I am a coward... LOL again.

I finished the Hungarian patterns I showed you not long ago, here they are:

I especially like these two little cushions. I saw pictures of similar things on the net, but no tutorial, so I figured out how to do it by trial and error :)

And another experimental thing. Again, a pattern I posted earlier, and said I wasn't sure whether it would work for a biscornu, because I didn't draw it as a rectangular shape but had the corners cut off.

(I have to admit, I was so much in a hurry to see how it would look finished that I forgot to stitch the yellow in the middle of the flowers on the other side :D )

So, I think it did work, and I have to say I really like the wavy effect the edges have. Compare it with the sharp corners of a regular biscornu.

Vicces "Isten hozott" - Subversive Welcome sampler

2011-04-12T10:09:00.002+02:00

Már készülök egy ideje, hogy hímezek egy "Isten hozott" feliratot az előszobába, terveztem is egy mintát hozzá (l. korábbi bejegyzések), de jobban szerettem volna valami kicsit viccesebbet. Ez lett az eredménye.
(Amúgy tud valaki valami jó szót a Subversive cross stitch kifejezésre? Nekem a "pofátlan" ugrott be elsőnek...)

I was planning to stitch a Welcome sampler for my hall, I have made a design earlier (see older posts) but I wanted someething a bit funnier. So I came up with this. I have to thank my friends on crossstitchforum.com for helping me phrase the English version.

Well, I had second thoughts. It appeared to me that perhaps Welcome would look better in one word, so I made some rearragement of the pattern. Would like to know which one you all prefer.

Egy megjegyzés. A minták készítéséhez PCStitchPro programot használok, de amikor jpg fájlként mentem el őket, a 10x10-es vonalak nem látszanak, hiába próbáltam vastagítani őket, semmi nem segít. Egy ideig a kisebb mintákon megrajzoltam a vonalakat, de a nagyobbaknál elég macerás. Ha kinyomtatjátok, akkor meg lehet húzni őket vonalzóval, szerencsére a számok látszanak, de ha ez gond, akkor szóljatok, és megcsinálom. Ha valakinek megvan ez a program, és szeretné inkább a PAT fájlt, szóljon, és elküldöm e-mailben, akkor akár módosíthatjátok is a mintát.

Just a side note. I am using PCStitchPro for creating my patterns but for some reason when I export them into a jpg file, the bold 10x10 lines don't show up. I tried making them even bolder but nothing seems to help. So I gave up. With smaller patterns I just drew the lines in backstitch but with the bigger ones it's kind of a bother. If you print out the patterns, you can draw your own lines, luckily, the numbers are given. Or if you think it is too much to ask, let me know and I will draw them in blackwork. Also, if you have PCStitch, send me an e-mail and I can send you the PAT file, that way you can even make some adjustments if you like.

One more Easter pattern

2011-04-11T12:00:00.001+02:00

I seem to be in the whimsical mood lately LOL.

I designed another Easter pattern and named it "Whimsical Easter hanging". I think you can see why :)

Some more Hungarian patterns

2011-04-11T10:50:00.000+02:00

I love the coasters, but am still thinking of how to finish the rest.

The bookmark on the gray aida is not Hungarian, it is and old Viking pattern. :) :)

Crochet, makrame and woven bracelets

2011-04-11T10:42:00.000+02:00

I have started to learn to crochet many times, but last time I was really determined and now I can say I know the basic stitches, and have made about 25 squares for a future afghan as practice pieces. But I am still quite inexperienced, find it difficult to crochet evenly, struggling with patterns etc.

So I discovered "whimsical crochet" when you can say it looks like that on purpose LOL.

My first such piece, crocheted without any pattern, just as it came, was a bracelet for my daughter and she loved it. She encouraged me to make some more, so here are the experiments. Sorry about the ironing board and the pins, they are being blocked right now.

and the craziest ones:

I also made two makrame bracelets:

and one woven:

I am not giving up and hope to make some more and better ones, so watch this place! :)

Free cross stitch patterns - with a twist

2011-04-09T23:00:00.000+02:00

This is not your typical cross stitch topic :D I made it a while ago when two of my students won the national competition in electronics. It is supposed to be a circuit board. I made it into cards for them.

This other one was also a Well done card for success in an English competition. I hid the words in a word search game. I don't have the pattern for it but you can adapt the idea. :)

This one is a combination of cross stitch and makrame. It was just an experiment, but I really like it so might try some more. I think it is going to make a nice card, too.

Knitted and felted bag

2011-04-07T13:58:00.000+02:00

This is my first attempt, but definitely not the last. I bought some really cheap wool at a thrift shop, and it felted, well, not 100 % perfect, but I quite like the effect. You can still see the knitted stitches, but barely.

Woven bookmark

2011-04-07T13:55:00.001+02:00

I do have a loom but have no energy for warping. So I just took out a drawer and made a mini-loom.

This is what I made. The edges are not really even and the width is not exactly the same at the two ends, but then I haven't woven anything for about 15 years... Feels as if learning anew. :)

And another one in progress:

Two cross stitch bookmark patterns

2011-04-06T10:18:00.001+02:00

The colours are as follows (DMC):

For the lilac one: 155, 3733, 208, 051
For the orange one: 900, 947, 970, 743

Spring sampler

2011-04-05T15:59:00.001+02:00

I made a spring sampler, in two colourways. But of course, you are welcome to change the colours to your liking.

easter chicken

2011-04-04T15:36:00.000+02:00

I designed this for an Easter exchange. You can choose to stitch the whole pattern, or, as I did, cut out the chicken from yellow Aida and stitch the pattern on it. Then I buttonhole-stitched it to a piece of fabric to make a small ornament. Actually, finishing it this way was not easy, so perhaps stitching the yellow would be worth it after all. :)

Here is what I made of it - some colours are different, but I always do that, change colours as I go. :)

Hope someone out there will like it. :)

Smile

2011-04-04T00:46:00.000+02:00

I felt I really needed some cheering up. This is the result. :)

Another free cross stitch pattern. A sampler with one of my favourite sayings.

Actually, the middle motif is quite good without the backstitch elements, too if you want to leave them out.

Some more of my cross stitches based on Hungarian patterns

2011-04-02T10:01:00.001+02:00

I apparently made a mistake. I wanted to post this on the Hungarian folk art page but didn't manage and now don't know how I could put it there. Well, I will just have to put up with my inadequate blogging skills. :(

Some christmas ornaments stitched with folk art patterns but christmasy colours (not the one on the left but the other two).

This was just a play with a typical pattern in black and white. This is a common element in Hungarian patterns but I think it must be a really wide-spread motif since you can find it in so many other countries' folk tradition.

Some small gift bags I made when I went to Scotland. There was some chocolate and paprika in them. :)

A cushion pattern from Cigánd (I think I found this in the Keresztszemes magazin).

some close-ups:

This is a bookmark with a pattern from the area of Kis-Küküllő.

Some bookmarks with birds:

(this photo was taken before finishing the bookmark)

One more from Tard:

And one more with a peacock pattern and the first line of a Hungarian folk song:

I also started the so called Rákóczi-pattern, but I stitched it on gyöngyvászon (a type of evenweave) with perle and I didn't like it at all, the thread was too thick for the material, so I stopped. Have been planning to restart it ever since...

ornament pattern

2011-04-01T22:56:00.000+02:00

I am not sure if this would work with a biscornu, because of the shape but I might try it.

for Sheila

2011-03-29T10:15:00.000+02:00

This little pattern that I called "Pansies" is dedicated to my dear friend, Sheila. I know you like these colours, Sheila, I hope you like the pattern, too. Hugs.

I won a Stylish Blogger Award! :)

2011-03-28T10:29:00.000+02:00

And what is more, I received it from two bloggers at the same time :D

Now, to the rules of the award:

1. Thank the person that awarded you:

A huge thank you to Lorraine http://k1ns.com
and Kell http://diaryofadomesticgoddess.wordpress.com XXX

2. List 7 things about myself:

1. I used to love reading, but since I discovered audiobooks I love listening to books - because I can stitch at the same time :)
2. I grew up in a Hungarian village with Ruthenian/Rusyn heritage.
3. In my life I have learnt 8 languages: Russian, English, Finnish, and a little of Italian, German, Georgian, Polish, Estonian; and now I am learning Swedish.
4. My all time favourite actor was Paul Newman.
5. In my youth once I worked as an interpreter in the Capitol in Washington DC - just one day though. :)
6. I have travelled quite a lot, but there are still two cities I haven't seen and really would like to visit: Paris and Prague.
7. If I could start my life again, I woud learn to become a textile artist.

3. Pass the award to 15 other stylish bloggers

I hope it's OK if I don't pass it on to those friends who got it from Lorraine or Kell at the same time as me - although I love their blogs a lot. I will try and widen the circle.

So here are my choices:

1. Sari from Finland: http://illinkilli.blogspot.com/

2. Lennu from Finland http://lennuntekeleet.blogspot.com/

3. Ana Luisa from Mexico http://wwwpixie56.blogspot.com/

4. Manka from Hungary http://mankaminta.blogspot.com/

5. Annekata from the USA http://annekata.blogspot.com/

6. Heidi http://allmyscatteringmoments.blogspot.com/

7. Knit Yoga from the UK http://knityoga.blogspot.com/

8. Valérie from Belgium http://echevettesdeval.over-blog.com/

9. Aliola from Russia http://aliolka.blogspot.com/

10. Barbara http://44mamawsfinishedcrossstitchitems.blogspot.com/

11. Pam from the USA http://confessionsofasouthernstitcher.blogspot.com/

12. Flossy from Wales http://flossybobbin.blogspot.com/

13. Sheila from the UK http://sheilasscribblings.weebly.com/index.html

14. Aurelle http://aurelle.over-blog.com/

15. Ancsa from Hungary http://ancsanaplo.blogspot.com/

Knitting

2011-03-24T09:42:00.000+01:00

I made this cardigan for my daughter.

And this is an old denim jacket I made a size or two bigger with some knitted pieces:

I am working on a bag right now, which is going to be felted. I am really curious to see how it will turn out. :)

Spring in my heart

2011-03-24T09:27:00.000+01:00

I stitched this for an exchange. The pattern is from Aliolka, I love her things.
http://aliolka.blogspot.com/

A biscornu

2011-03-21T14:47:00.000+01:00

I stitched up a biscornu from one of the previous geometric patterns. Of course, it meant I had to design another side for it. :)

And the new chart:

today: flowers

2011-03-20T11:50:00.000+01:00

I have made some small flower patterns today. One for a card, and a variation for a biscornu.

Easter eggs

2011-03-19T13:31:00.000+01:00

I know lots of people out there like stitching Easter patterns. So here are some small cross stitch patterns, and a bit bigger one in blackwork. I hope someone will enjoy them. :)

a new quick stitch

2011-03-16T15:21:00.000+01:00

I stitched one the designes I made, because I really needed something colourful to lift my spirits.

Here it is. I decided to leave out the backstitch and French knots in the fourth square but I might stitch it again with doing some backstitch in the other squares, too.

2011-03-13T10:04:00.000+01:00

Made a new page for all my Hungarian folk motifs. There are still some to be added.

Interestingly, I cannot add any new posts to that page. I may have made some mistake, sorry. So I decided to just keep all stitching and patterns in one place until I learn how to work this thing :)

a great blog and a giveaway

2011-03-13T09:19:00.000+01:00

Look at this blog, she has done some lovely things. She is also doing a birthday giveaway:

http://44mamawsfinishedcrossstitchitems.blogspot.com

Free cross stitch patterns

2011-03-11T17:41:00.001+01:00

(Just a note before you read: I have no idea why some of my text appears as a link, please ignore it. Still learning this blogging thing. If you can tell me how to remove the hiperlink, please, do so. Thanks. :) One more thing. I made a mistake when adding the tags, not putting commas between the words and now cannot change it. How do you add further tags? )

Recently I have made a few simple patterns. I thought I might just as well share them with you all. Please, enjoy. Also, if you choose to stitch any of them, please, send me a photo.

I made a few band patterns for a band sampler we made with my CSF friends. :)

And here is the band sampler itself. I didn't use all the patterns I made, and there are lots that were designed by others. I used Madeira silk for it, and tea-dyed Aida.

Some more patterns. The tulip bookmark in two colourways:

Virágom, virágom (a line from a famous Hungarian song):

A Welcome sampler.

A tree, inspired by old samplers.

My favourite so far: the spiral biscornu. The pattern:

And stitched up:

Another spiral pattern - could be a biscornu or cards, or a bookmark with different colours:

The purple ornament:

Three logical puzzle-patterns. I have no idea what came into me when I thought of making these but I love them. I am planning to stitch them for small notebook covers or bookmarks.

Two "quilt" patterns:

A heart:

And some subversive samplers in two languages:

Three more geometric designs. I think I might need to think of names for them :)

Enjoy!

2008-07-04T18:30:00.000+02:00