Happy 2013

This is my New Years card (I don't do Christmas cards) for 2013. Hope it is a Happy & Healthy one.

Clean windows

And another day / where I don't have to worry / about clean windows

Schrödingers equation

Question: What do you get when a crafty nerdy girl gets her hands on a beautiful Quantum Mechanics equation and some embroidery thread?

Answer: This .....

A bright decoration for any geek who loves her Schrödinger (yes, the one from the cat).

Ben Nevis in the fog

Snow

Silver and Green Fern

Shells

QR Code reprise

And another example of one of my embroidered QR-codes. This one I made for my conductor, who turned 50 this year. So an appropriate gift was designed: the QR-code with the URL to his own website. This way he never needs a business card again, just this QR patch ....

I "Like" birthdays

And another birthday in August, this time my cousin. He turned 20 this year, so an appropriate birthday card had to be made. As he's also one of my Facebook friends, I decided to make a 'Like' button in cross stitch.

Happy butterfly day

It's a birthday card for my special auntie!! As she follows this blog I had to wait to post this card until August 8th. Hope it arrived via snail-mail already.

Pattern is from a huge tablecloth with about a hunderd or so butterflies on it.

Home Sweet Home

As I was cleaning my house the other day, I discovered a 'happy new year' card which I forgot to send to some friends. Shame on me. It's already August and they had to do without the best wishes for 2012 for 7 months .... So to make it up to them, I made this card featuring one of my QR-codes in crossstitch. These QR-codes (or quick response codes) are currently quite the hype and can be seen in ads, on food labelling, in stores, etc. They can be scanned by smart-phones and usually result in a website / URL or other information. Mine reads: Home Sweet Home and is made of 900 individual crossstitches. Not the pixelated drawings you can see in those ads, but actually stitched one pixl at the time.....

So by using an 'ancient' and sometimes referred to as 'old-fashioned' technique, I have created something truely 21st century !!!! Now all I  have to hope for is that my friends can forgive me when they receive this unique card.

Little red rose

Just a small project to share with you: a little red rose for a friend who could use some cheering up.

Spot the kiwi



Spot the kiwi ...the fruit, not the bird ;-)



For my friends from Kiwi-land.

Tropical summer: orchid in cross-stitch

And from spring we went straight to summer here in Europe. So this lovely orchid in cross-stitch feels right at home. Made this card for a friend's birthday.

Spring: vegetable patch

Spring is in the air .... well, nearly summer according to the calender. Still a bit chilly sometimes. The vegetables I have sown in pots on my balcony are just beginning to sprout. Have to wait for quite some time to be able to eat them for dinner! But the raddishes inspired me to make a lovely embroidered card for a friend. Thanks to the huge stack of crafting magazines I inherited from my grandmother, I actually have patterns for a lot of vegetables in cross stitch :)

Pattern for fingerless mittens 'Aotearoa'

Here is a free pattern for you to use to make some fingerless mittens. I have named them Aotearoa as I was in New Zealand when designing these.

Fingerless mittens ‘Aotearoa’

1 skein of Superwash merino (60% merino + 40% polyamide) (50 g/190 m ; 1 ¾ oz / 208 yards)

1 set (5) of double pointed needles 2.75 mm (US size 2)

Darning needle

Waste yarn or stitch holder

2 stitch markers

 

Notes: The mittens do stretch a bit and are a women’s size S to M. Pattern is the same for left and right mittens, although the five stitches for the thumb should be at the beginning of the round for the left mitten and at the end of the round for the right mitten. Description below is for the left mitten. The pattern is on 11 stitches and is repeated 4 times per round, indicated below by [ pattern ] 4 times. The pattern is based on the one used in 198 Yards of Heaven by Christy Verity.

 

Abbreviations: pm = place marker; sm = slip marker; p = purl; k = knit; m1 = make 1 by picking up the strand between the stitches and knit through back loop; yo = yarn over; ssk = slip slip knit; k2tog = knit two stitches together; dbl dec = double decrease: slip, knit2tog, pass slipped stitch over; dpn = double pointed needle.

 
Instructions:
Cast on 49 stitches and divide over 4 DPNs as follows: 16 / 11 / 11 / 11.
Rounds 1 through 6: [p1 ; k1] repeat until last stitch ; p1.
Rounds 7 through 18: p1 ; k3 ; p1 ; [ pattern rows 1-12 ] 4 times
Rounds 19 through 42: repeat rounds 7 through 18 two more times.

Round 43: p1 ; k1 ; pm; m1 ; k1 ; m1 ; pm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 1] 4 times
Round 44: p1 ; k1 ; sm ; k3 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 2 ] 4 times
Round 45: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; m1 ; k3 ; m1 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 3] 4 times
Round 46: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; k5 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 4] 4 times
Round 47: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; m1 ; k5 ; m1; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 5 ] 4 times
Round 48: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; k7 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 6] 4 times
Round 49: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; m1 ; k7 ; m1 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 7 ] 4 times
Round 50: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; k9 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 8] 4 times
Round 51: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; m1 ; k9 ; m1 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 9 ] 4 times
Round 52: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; k11 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 10] 4 times
Round 53: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; m1 ; k11 ; m1 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 11 ] 4 times
Round 54: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; k13 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 12 ] 4 times
Round 55: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; m1 ; k13 ; m1 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 1] 4 times
Round 56 through 60: p1 ;  k1 ; sm ; k15 ; sm ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern rows 2-6 ] 4 times

Round 61: p1 ; k1 ; remove marker ; slip 15 stitches to waste yarn ; remove marker ; m1 ; k1 ; p1 ; [ pattern row 7 ] 4 times.
Rounds 62 through 66: p1 ; k3 ; p1 ; [pattern rows 8-12] 4 times

Rounds 67 trough 73: p1 ; k3 ; p1 ; [pattern rows 1-7] 4 times

Rounds 73 through 76: [p1 ; k1 ] repeat until last stitch, p1.

Cast off.
 
Thumb:
Pick up stitches from waste yarn / stitch holder and pick up 3 more on the inside of thumb. Divide evenly over 4 DPNs.
Rounds 1 through 8: knit
Rounds 9 through 12: [ p1 ; k1 ] repeat.
Cast off.
 
Weave in ends.
 
Pattern:

-	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	-	12
-	/	.	.	O	.	O	.	.	\	-	11
-	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	-	10
-	/	.	.	O	.	O	.	.	\	-	9
-	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	-	8
-	.	.	.	O	T	O	.	.	.	-	7
-	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	-	6
-	.	.	O	/	.	\	O	.	.	-	5
-	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	-	4
-	.	O	/	.	.	.	\	O	.	-	3
-	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	-	2
-	O	/	.	.	.	.	.	\	O	-	1
11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Legend:  . = knit ; - = purl ; O = yarn over ; \ = SSK ; / = k2tog ; T = dbl dec.

Pattern row 1: p1 ; YO ; SSK ; k5 ; k2tog ; YO ; p1.

Pattern rows 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12: p1 ; k9 ; p1

Pattern row 3: p1 ; k1; YO; SSK; k3 ; k2tog; YO; k1; p1

Pattern row 5: p1 ; k2; YO; SSK; k1 ; k2tog; YO; k2; p1

Pattern row 7: p1 ; k3 ; YO, dbl dec ; YO ; k3 ; p1

Pattern rows 9 / 11: p1 ; SSK ; k2 ; YO ; k1; YO, k2 ; K2tog; p1

(c) 2012 DrNyx – please use pattern to create something nice, but for personal use (and gifts) only, thanx.

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