a crochet-skirt for me

I first saw Judy on a FB Group page intended for our High School batchmates to connect with each other some 5 years ago. She actually belonged to another class and since that FB page was set-up,  we got to know each other better as years passed. I also found out that we have one thing in common and that is ...the love for crocheting. 

She is an expert in this craft for she turned her hobby into a small business. She is based in Olongapo City ( Philippines)  which is about 3-4 hours away by car or bus from Manila.. Thanks to the social media, we are connected at all times,  sometimes chatting in the wee hours, LOL!

I have been talking to Judy about how I love the skirt I saw she was wearing one time... I found out that she made it for herself and I asked her if she could make one for me. She promptly said yes and that she would take the time to buy the materials so it ´ll be finished before I come to Manila.

Materials used for this skirt are all 100 % cotton.

I was actually scheduled to visit my family in Manila and planned to make a big party to celebrate Mom´s 88th birthday.  But then, Mom passed-away untimely just before New Year.... that probably gave Judy stress for I had to atttend Mom´s funeral and would like to bring the skirt when I returned to Venna. Poor Judy I thought....

And then, she finished it by the way except for the lining which I have to do myself. Gladly, all materials were given to me so I could make the lining upon returning home.  

I love the stitches Judy used for this skirt... it´s so fresh and airy to wear, the perfect skirt for summer!

And I can´t wait for summer to come ....  

I´ll surely enjoy wearing this! I love reading your comments. Thank you for visiting!

xoxo,

Mercy

in betweens......

This blanket is my actual project at the moment.. I ordered pastel colors but  I wasn´t satisfied with the results when the grannies have been crocheted. The overall outlook really had been different as what I hoped for , so I tried  adding color variations.. I´m in the process of finishing up this project in a few more days so I could show more of the complete blanket.

The holidays had been a busy one at home, especially spending Christmas in the hospital when Mom in-law was confined...  We didn´t really celebrate that much, it is difficult when all our heads are  somewhere.. ....

...and in betweens, I have to do my household chores, walking mom in-laws dog named Lily, a chihuahua aged 3, such a lovely dog!!! Although I was having a hard time in the beginning because of the litters, now she´s fine and would love to take the walk...

...and in betweens, I take my morning walk, We live in the outskirts of Vienna and I love the area because of the greenfields and the fresher air... you can feel as if you are along the countryside. 

It was not long ago that we´ve had snow. We are lucky at the moment for it is unusual to have plus temperatures in midwinter. When I took the walk today morning, we´ve had 5°C. 

Armed with a playlist from Jason Mraz´s album Love, it was a great walk and I felt refreshed and tanked more energy for the next multi tasking.....

Enjoy your day wherever you may be!

xoxo,

Mercy

PS: This blog is linked-up at : French Country Cottage - Featherd Nest Friday

of roses and ondori crochet patterns

It had been a sunny day last Thursday , my last day of the week in the office. I was really looking forward to my weekly TGIF plans which are my food shopping and the other things

chores I planned for the weekend. 

Friday had been a disaster (!)... surprisingly,  I couldn´t start the Xtrail... it was the battery I supposed and it really gave me the blues (!!!),  we also had a medical appointment that afternoon and for goodness sake who would schedule a doc´s appointment on a Friday when most if not all business offices close at 2 pm ...?

I called up the Touring Club and they sent us a technician to recharge the battery. We had a tight day, so many things to get done... so we rushed to the club´s premises and after waiting for more than an hour, we had the old one replaced by new maintenance-free battery. It cost us 130.-Euros which I think  was expensive :-(

Afterwards, I went food shopping and I treated myself to a freshly  cut bunch of pink roses to cheer up my day! I Put them in a flower vase and decorated the table using the tablecloth I crocheted myself some years back. I guess the rose vignette is pretty! 

The tablecloth featured here was crocheted when I was commuting by train to work in the 90´s.  It was a long ride for about 45 minutes.

I got the motif from one of two Ondori Crochet Books given to me by my japanese boss  when he and his family went home to Tokyo for a holiday.

The cloth can also be used as bedspread for a single bed. It has a total of 66 squares crocheted together and sort of framed by a border.

 I really can´t remember how long it took me to finish this, but I was crocheting this while on the train...

When the size of the cloth had been bigger, I stopped working on this in the train since I couldn´t handle it´s volume anymore... so I finished it at home... 

When I was finishing this at home, I was working on a new Ondori motif in the train and so my hands were not left idle on the way to work .. I will show you the other one next time...

These roses made my Friday and by just looking at them, my traffic stress on that afternoon to and from the doctor´s slowly drifted away..

HAPPY SATURDAY TO ALL !!!

I would love to read your comments, you´re welcome

 to ask questions too!

This post is linked to:

Feathered Nest Friday

Show & Tell Friday

simply potholders

I have a bunch of potholders at home but can´t recall that I 

have ever crocheted one. The carry-all bag had left over yarn,

 so instead of thinking on what to do with the rest, I thought 

 of turning them into potholders..

While watching the World Cup football between Germany and Portugal,  I started  crocheting the  grey one on the right.

Starting with a chain of 4 to make a round, I used 12 single stitches to finish the 2nd round and continued as in a spiral  all throughout.

  It took me only an hour to finish the rounds as the yarn is thick.

  I ´ve added one round of dark grey  so that edge of the potholder

 gets a contrast.   I did the same with the peach color. 

Single crochet stitch was used all 

  The yarn colors chosen for the bag are almost similar to the

 colors of my kitchen tiles, but this is just a coincidence. 

I´m sure that I will enjoy using these potholders in my kitchen.

Til next, 

Mercy



This post in linked to :
Show & Tell Friday
Feathered Nest Friday - 26

A Carry-all Bag

Hello everyone!

I hope all of you are fine and coping with the heat wave. For me, it´s back to reality after 4 weeks of absence in the blogging world. The holiday took me to our 2^nd home in Andalucia, Southern Spain.

  During my holiday, I thought of making a few projects to 

  keep me busy for the next 4 weeks...

For me,  just be lazy or doing nothing is sometimes a "no go" for I easily get bored when my hands aren´t working. 

Besides, crafting is more fun to do especially when

 time slowly passes by.

The first project I´m going to show you is this  crocheted
 carry-all bag.

 A tote bag is always a welcome accessory, a bag that is sturdy enough to carry all those food goodies or things from short errands made during lunch breaks.

 Each skein has 40 grams and I used-up a total of 10 skeins... peach, light grey and dark grey.

 The stitch is so simple, double crochet stitch all the rounds and handles were done in a single crochet stitch.

Then, I lined the bag with a light brown cotton fabric.
Both the yarn and the lining are washable at 30°C.
 My apology for the pic color, took this one during the night.

I´m sure this will be a good carry-all bag which is stylish 

enough even for a city stroll.

I´m linking this post to:

Feathered Nest Friday - 26

Keep on crafting!

xoxo, Mercy

a caddy for my yarn...

Today, I´m blogging about a caddy I recently did for my yarn. It´s a bag

 I crocheted while watching night movies at home. A carry-all bag that will hold all my crafting materials...yarn, threads & needles, scissors, etc.

Blue & white are my fave colors so I used both for this project.

This blue yarn was supposed to be a sample yarn that I brought 

along from Spain during holiday. The skein was a 100 gram/100 % Acrylic and the off white is made of 100% cotton that I´ve ordered from an online shop.

The bottom of the bag is a simple granny square, the sides are made of 8 smaller grannies that I handstitched together to form the bag base.

The acrylic yarn was thick but a bit softer... here, I used hook nr. 5

After handstitching the small granny squares to the bag base, I went on crocheting the blue yarn until it was finished, then I added the white yarn and the straps..

Basically, I couldn´t decide what to do with the blue yarn..

...I thought of making a bread basket, but I needed a pouch, a carry all bag for my craft materials and then came up with this one.

Crafting is my way of relieving myself from all the stress after a

 long day at work....glad to have done this one finally!

Have a nice Saturday!

Shared @ Bewitch Me & Titi Link Party