21 Jun 2015

Scheepjeswol Bloggers Weekend 2015

What do you get when you cram 11 yarn addicted bloggers into Scheepjeswol HQ?
You get, quite simply, 2 days of fun filled, laughter infused good times!

#scheepjes #scheepjeswol
Last Friday we were invited to visit HQ and meet up. I'd better add now that the reason I haven't blogged about my weekend before now is that I've just returned home. I had a little break from the hustle and bustle ;-)
So back to the weekend! Friday morning we all (well most of us) tip toed nervously into the meeting room. I guess it was a little like that first day at school feeling. Nervous but excited about meeting folks whose blogs you've followed for ages (I'm an avid blog stalker by the way!)
Within 2 minutes the room was buzzing with laughter and chatter....phew! 

After introductions we did a tour of the warehouse. Now I'm lucky enough to have visited a couple of times before but you could really tell from the oohs, aahs and squeals those that had not!!!
The button aisles are always a huge hit ;-) What is it about crafters that we get so excited over buttons, yarn and stationary?????
If you want a little peek of the warehouse go visit the blogs linked below ;-)


After the tour we had lunch in the glorious sunshine! Man! It was hot!!! Although I made the most of the glorious weather as usual.

Our afternoon was spent talking blog stuff and stroking new yarns. I know! Tough huh????


We spent the evening at a lovely restaurant in Assen which had a slightly unusual take on flavour combinations ;-) Very delicious...I never thought I'd ever say that about Pheasant, pea puree and popcorn!!!! Much laughter and chatter later (oh and a little wine ;-)) we finally got home at midnight. And Sleep!!!



On saturday morning we all met up at this gorgeous lakeside venue for a relaxing morning. I had my current WIP but in all honesty little was done! I was way more interested in chatting and seeing what everyone else was making haha!


We were served delicious food....how gorgeous are these?


And even Mr Scheepjes himself got in on the action....he made his very first granny square with a little help from the lovely Dedri!

Before we knew it was time to say our goodbyes and head off home....the time just flew!
We had a ball and thank you so much to Mr Scheepjes, Job, and the Scheepjes team for making our visit so good!

If you want to read more about our Bloggers days (or just a little blog mooch) just follow the links below:


Sadly, Marinke and Tammy couldn't make this get together....(you were missed!) but hopefully next time!

So once the Bloggers days were over it was time to kick back and relax a little....no relax a lot! Typically, the weather took a down turn but that didn't stop us chilling out one little bit.
We drank gin....


Cycled....


Plenty of hooky time!


And even a little spinning :-)


As usual the time just flew and before I knew it I was heading to the airport and back to reality. 
*sighs*

On the plus side I have some lovely memories and also a few goodies that I'll tell you about soon. 
Til next time x
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3 Jun 2015

Spring Cushion Tutorial

Ok.... *embarrassed coughs*.....so let's just call this a Spring/Summer Cushion tutorial ;-)
Oh dear...I'm really not good at this keeping my blog updated malarkey am I???
So let's just pretend almost 2 months haven't elapsed since my last post!

Let's make a cushion!!!!!

You will need:

Yarn (obviously!) I've used Scheepjeswol Soft Fun Denim and Regular Soft Fun

Soft Fun Denim Colour 500 x1 50g ball
Soft Fun Denim Colour 503 x1 50g ball
Soft Fun Denim Colour 505 x1 50g ball
Soft Fun Denim Colour 506 x1 50g ball
Soft Fun Colour 2412 x4 50g balls (I used about 3 and a half balls)
I've used the recommended 4mm crochet hook
Scissors and a darning needle (to weave in the ends)
Cushion Pad
Lot's of patience for the pom pom edging!!! (I find a gin and tonic really helps with this although not so much that you can't see.....because that's not good!!!)
Let us begin!
For my tutorial I've used a different colour palette as I ran out of yarn!
NOTE!!!! I USE ENGLISH CROCHET TERMS. THE ROSIE POSIE SQUARE IS IN ENGLISH TERMS AND THE POM POM EDGING IS IN AMERICAN TERMS
The pattern I've used for the squares is the Rosie Posie pattern by Cherry Heart.
I'm not going to go through this step by step as there is a lovely tutorial that can be found on Sandra's blog here.....and why reinvent the wheel??!!!!
I used 4 different colour combinations for my squares. The first 2 rounds I worked in one colour, round 3 in another colour, round 4 in another colour and the final round in the main colour. 
For the reverse of the cushion I made 4 coloured squares (one of each) and 12 squares in purely the main colour. That's 32 squares in total.
So after the first 2 rounds you will have something resembling this....

Then the next round...


And another!


Then finally adding the corners and making a square.


At this point I like to block my squares.


So let's start and join them together...


To join, place your squares wrong sides together and double crochet into each stitch. When joining corner together double crochet into the corner space, chain 1 and double crochet into the next space.
Repeat until all your squares are joined. Now weave in the ends. 
So to summarise....you are going to have 4 rows of 4 squares for both the front and the back. The front will consist of 16 multi coloured squares and the back will have 4 multi coloured squares in the centre and they will have 12 main colour squares around them


Something like this!


To make a border for both cushion sides work a row of double crochet in the same colour as you joined your squares. Work a double crochet into the corner spaces down the sides then a chain as you did when you joined the squares. For the corners work 1 double crochet, 1 chain, 1 double crochet. Fasten off yarn.


Change colour. Next row work in treble crochet all the way round. Treble crochet into the chain spaces on the sides and into the corner chain work 1 treble, 1 chain, 1 treble. Fasten off.
Change colour. Work another row of trebles. For the corner work 2 trebles, 1 chain, 2 trebles into the chain space. 
Repeat this process for both the front and back.


Next you are going to join your cushion front and back together. Using the same colour that you are going to use for your pom pom edging and with wrong sides together join using a double crochet. This is where I confess that I was a complete lazy so and so and rather than making a nice opening for my cushion with buttons, I just joined 3 sides, shoved the cushion pad in and joined the final side!!!!
But if you're not lazy, like me, and want to do it properly....join 3 sides, work a row of double crochet along the back side and then the front. This will take you to the point where you are ready to make the pom pom edging. Ok...deep breath....glug of gin....you can do it!!!!

The pom pom edging I modified from this lovely blog. There is a wonderful step by step tutorial!
I wanted my pom poms to sit snuggly around the cushion edge, so instead of working 6 chains I worked 3 chains So start with a double crochet, chain 3 and work the pom pom into the double crochet. In between each pom pom I worked 3 chains, skipped 3 stitches and worked the pom pom into the next double crochet. Before you start I need to point out that the pom pom has a back and a front!


This is the front view...


And this is the back!

And just to complicate matters....I'm left handed! So I work patterns in the opposite way to right handed hookers. So just check that you're pom poms are facing the right way!!! And that is something I never thought I'd find myself saying!!!


Carry on around the cushion making pom poms. I had to slightly adjust the spacing to make sure I had a pom pom at each corner point :-)
For those of you not lazy hookers you can now insert your cushion pad and secure with buttons. The spaces in-between trebles make great button holes!
And there you have one Spring/Summer cushion!
For those hookers outside of Holland....Scheepjeswol Soft Fun can be purchased from Deramores.
(affiliate link)
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