Crochengy

Hey guys. Things have been crazy busy lately!! I have been in Ripe Market at Dubai Design District with YarnsDubai.com. I should post soon about this! I want to tell you about my chunky snood made by DMC Cocoon Chic yarn. I chose the Bleu Ciel color. You have to pay attention to this brand because there is a DMC Cocoon which is not shimmery. The texture is quite amazing and easy to crochet with. It's a blend of acrylic, polyamide, wool and viscose, so you literally feel wrapped with a cocoon. 😁 The pattern is available for FREE and there are many other free designs for crochet  here . You should check them all out. I chose to make the textured cocoon because it's the easiest and I might end up teaching the pattern.  This is the first time I also use a 20 mm crochet hook. I got it to try it just for this project from Lion brand. Can't say it was a great experience because it took me a while to get used to how I can comfortably hold it while crocheting.  ...

Hey guys, it's been a while since I posted here (again). It's really hard to get things in order, but it's best not to give up and just change tactics. I am taking my time to get my ducks in a row so that I don't lower any expectations. So today I am writing about one of my recent projects, which is wrist warmers with Stone Washed XL from Scheepjes. You have no idea how good this yarn is. It's made up of 70% cotton and 30% acrylic so it's so soft. I had no problem at all crocheting with it. Sometimes, with some yarn, the plies can get separated and the strand gets split as you crochet. So I would highly recommend Stone Washed XL yarn for beginners with a 5 mm crochet hook, which is the recommended size hook on the label too. I also love fingerless wrist warmers/gloves because you get to use the tips of your fingers as you type on your laptop or write with your pen. Basically, your hands would still function and you get to exercise your sense of t...

So I was given this wood pulp yarn to play around with since I have never worked with it before. The texture is quite different from any yarn in the traditional sense, I am not sure if I should call it yarn even. The technique of manufacturing wood pulp yarn involves chemical reactions initiated from wood pulp to regenerate cellulose fiber to create a type of fiber called rayon and from that different blends are made like silk, wool, cotton, and linen. If you are interested in more details, you can check Wikipedia When I saw the yarn, I decided to make a bag with it. I was inspired by those trendy Bali round bags. It was kinda hard to work with and rough on the hands. I wasn't sure about my tension because it has no sort of give. Sometimes, If I didn't go between the stitch spaces, I can tear the yarn (it is made up of a thin layer of sheet). However, it was easy to count the stitches and see them. I found this great blog article with a free crochet pattern with t...

This post has long been overdue. It has been sitting in my drafts menu for almost 2 months now!! I continued experimenting with Amigurumi with even more projects. I did Super Mario using AB Hariri and Snoopy using Excel which is specifically designed for making Amigurumis. I have to say that my experience with Excel was far more better than AB Hariri. Excel is softer than AB Hariri, my hands wouldn't feel tired after finishing work. The finished project looks more neat as well because Excel doesn't have that frizzy fiber coming out of it. I found a couple of tricks to help with weaving in ends and attaching the different parts together. I think these resources are great if you are new to Amigurumi. You can check out this great Youtube channel called June Gilbank for Amigurumi tips and tricks for beginners. There is this particular playlist  for right-handed people that contains all the basic tutorials and is all what you need to begin. Even better, the same playlist is...

Hello guys! Today I am sharing my first free pattern of Granny Square Coasters. You can play with the colors as you wish, either make it multi-colored like my picture or make it all from one color. I just love pastel colors, they give out a smooth sense of serenity that goes with that cup of coffee/tea in the morning. Anyways, without further ado, here comes the pattern (written in US terms): Material:  4 mm crochet hook. Nako Saten (Straw, Light Blue, Coral Reef, Quartz, Blue Glass, Romantic Pink) Tapestry Needle. Abbreviations : Sl st: slip stitch Ch: chain Dc: double crochet Tr: treble crochet Dc2tg: double crochet 2 together Dc3tg: double crochet 3 together Beg: beginning Rnd: round Sp: space Pattern: Start with slip knot. ch 6. sl st into first ch to make a circle. Rnd 1: ch 5. (tr into ch4 sp, ch 1) 11 times. join with sl st into 4th chain from beg chain (12) Rnd 2: ch 3. 2 dc into ch1 sp. (3 dc into next ch1 sp) repeat until the end. jo...

I am happy to announce that I started collaborating with YarnsDubai.com as their full-time crochet specialist. Yaaaaayyyy!! It has been 3 years since I was in the job market and it's been so long to start work again. However, I am happy I am doing something I love and am passionate about. Last week was my first and I cannot wait to finish many projects, learn new tricks, and influence others to take up crochet. I am planning to teach crochet with YarnsDubai.com in courses and workshops soon. We are aiming to raise awareness and educate people not only about crochet, but also knitting, cross-stitching, and other things. I hope I will be able to provide the right guidance to beginners when it was given to me long time ago. I am also in the process of making tutorial videos on my YouTube channel to help those who cannot physically come to the classes/workshops. Besides, there will be videos for projects suitable for all levels of experience from time to time as well as simp...

I cannot find a specific beginning point to explain why I have been out of the picture for the past few months. I had a family emergency that kept me away from work and home for a month and a half, plus when we got back it was time to move out of our house and relocate to another place. Needless to say, it took a lot of time to settle in and get back to the routine. I did a lot of yarn shopping from Egypt and when I came back I was so eager to get back and start working with them. However, to tie up loose ends first, I picked up the water bottle cover project again to finish it. But sadly, it did not finish up nicely when it was time to join the pieces. I was so bumped about my failure especially that this was my first idea to design. My husband told me to start again. I must have learned something from my mistakes and now have to figure out how to recover. And indeed this is what I will do! Of course, failure is unavoidable in life, but how we deal with it is what makes the diff...

I hope you liked my last post on my best friend's wedding gift and checked out the tutorial videos! For my second part of the wedding gift, I made barefoot sandals since they are the raving fashion in crochet nowadays. I found a lovely pattern on Ravelry  and decided to glam it up with beads. Check it out: This is also my first attempt at the barefoot sandals and adding beads to crochet work, it looks so precious, doesn't it? I feel like the more you experiment with different projects, the more diverse your experience will be. It doesn't matter if you have 10 years experience or 10 days, every time you try a different project, you are back to square one and you are a beginner. Have you started a new project lately?

Well as you might have read in my previous post, I have been extremely busy with my best friend's wedding. Since she was getting married, I thought of making her a bikini crochet set and barefoot sandals as her wedding first. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a written pattern of a design I like, so I browsed YouTube and found a great video for the bikini top and another for the bikini bottom . For the first time, I had to listen to a tutorial video in Portuguese and it wasn't hard to follow at all. That's the beauty of crochet ladies & gentlemen! doesn't matter what language is it in, any diagram/video would be easy for you to decipher and follow. I am sure I missed a couple of tips and tricks while the lady was talking in the video, but I ended up with a beautiful piece and my friend couldn't wait to wear it! I made sure to tie at the end of the strings wooden balls, so they don't get affected by water and rust. I also found a great article...

Wow! I just saw the date of my last blog post and its been more than a month since I lasted posted something!! 😮 Well, just so you know, I have been working a lot with my best friend to prepare for her wedding setups. I was in charge of making the corsages and making a fashionable headpiece for her. I learned how to make accessories, how to spray paint on fake plants and leaves, and finally I learned how to assemble the corsage pieces together all from Youtube. Check it out: Bridal Headpiece Before & After Spray Painting Baby Breaths The Corsages for the Mothers Bridesmaid Corsage Take I Bridesmaid Corsage Take II What a great fun I had making these DIYs and Everything looked amazing on the wedding day! 😍 I found the headpiece materials in al Satwa, the golden leaves were quite a challenge to find and I found them in one store only called Ribbons. The flowers, leaves, baby breathes and ribbons I found in Dragon Mart (and they are available in an A...

I haven't updated my blog in some time now. I have been running around the city for some fun events with my family and also a little sick. However, rest assured my hook wasn't idle 😉. Im excited to announce that the countdown has started for the giveaway with my fellow blogger Zahrah . Less that 24 hours to announce 2 lucky winners to win amazing handmade crochet gifts, so make sure you head to Instagram and fellow the steps on the post . Yesterday, I was thinking about the packaging for the giveaways and I decided to make origami gift boxes ( I just had to give it a personal touch and go on with the "all-handmade" bit  😀). I found a great tutorial video and it was so easy, I had so much fun making it! the boxes look even cuter than the gifts themselves. Happy Women's International Day! Also, I have been working on my sister's-in-law baby gift, we agreed to go for a snuggle blanket or a buddy blanket and I found a beautiful elephant snuggle with free ...

"Remember, Woman, your power and grace, the depth of your deep sea heart. Never forget you are Woman, divine, as you have been from the start." Woman's Day is coming around the corner and I've had the pleasure of meeting a fellow food/mum blogger, Zahrah Noor . We started talking about blogging and how much we like to share our experiences. Then we thought of showing how much we appreciate our followers by planning a special giveaway to 2 lucky winners! To celebrate Women's International Day with all the phenomenal women out there, I made these 2 beautiful sets with crochet: 1- A mug hugger for a cozy feel with a feather bookmark to go one the book you are reading. 2- A unisex baby sandal (0-3m) and a headband for a lucky baby princess that can be tied with any head size all made with 100% cotton yarn. Check it out! Women's Day Giveaway Make sure to like the post on Instagram  and check out the conditions to win one of these beautiful cr...

When I first started to learn crochet, my first project was a beanie hat. Little did I know, beanie hats are not really the kind of projects that you start with right after you learn how to do the foundation chain. And then I saw Granny Squares ! My reaction was " Why didn't I start with granny squares when I first started to learn?! " They are extremely easy, and you can do endless type of projects with only one pattern. You can do baby blankets, potholders, coasters, dishcloths, shrugs and even slippers with the same row repeats.  Plus, you can play with the colors as much as you can imagine.  If you saw my last post, I am attempting to come up with a design for my 5 gallon water bottle. What I am trying to do is combine mandela circles with granny squares. I wonder if this defies the laws of Geometry! 😅 I am also going to learn how to join the squares after they are done AND figure out how to join them to the mandela circle. Wish me luck! If you have ...

It has been a while since I posted anything and I miss writing. I have been sick for the last few days with the horrible common cold, so all my work has been put on hold. I am much better now, though not totally recovered. Crochet always makes me feel better, so I am back to working on my design for a water bottle cover. Living in Dubai, most of the houses depend on getting 5 gallon water bottle delivery to their place. Currently, I am using a simple plastic cover to make it look nice, but it keeps ripping every time we have to exchange the bottles. I went online to search for some nice designs and a new crochet project, but, surprisingly, found none! So I decided to design my own pattern for it for the first time in my life. Quite excited about my first attempt at designing, YAAAY!! Stay tuned!

A while ago, I contributed to a charity group who make soft cocoons for newborn babies. They needed extra hands to finish an order and I volunteered to help their wonderful group. It is a Facebook public group called Small and Might Babies Crochet that help and showcase crochet projects for charity. Here is their leaflet A crochet pack includes 2 balls of yarn which are more than enough to finish the project, 1 4mm crochet hook and the instructions leaflet for the pattern. They also posted a tutorial video for the pattern on YouTube to make following pattern instructions easier AND they will be launching their own website soon, so stay tuned! If you are interested in a charity project related to crochet, this is a great one because you have the option either to contribute by your crochet skills or just financially. It was a fulfilling experience for me to join their mission and I love their spirits. Here is the finished look of my contribution Baby Cocoons Later, t...

Buying yarn can be hard task, even for experienced crafters. Whenever I go shopping for yarn, it is always quite a challenge to choose what to go for! The colors, the texture, the size..so many choices, and I end up buying more than what I originally want. Now that I have the experience, it became easy for me to know which projects can be done with that yarn, and I just LOVE yarn!! However, when I first started, I was TOTALLY lost. The salesperson at the yarn shop will always ask me what yarn do I want, and I just say " well..I want to make a beanie hat. " And they just give me the yarn suitable for that project. Later, when I check the pattern I liked online, I realize that is not the same yarn used. 😭 The more I learn, the more I realize that I have quite a few options to go for in one project anyway. Based on design, size and season, you can make endless shapes of one item. I decided to help beginners and make a video to introduce yarn and mention the different ...

So my sister-n-law's wedding was just last July and I promised to make her a crochet gift for her house. And being the best sister-in-law I could ever wish for, I had to make her a REALLY special gift. I ended up making her 4 cushions and a table runner for her living room! Patterns: table runner https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/oval-pineapple-doily cushions http://www.leeleeknits.com/free-crochet-pillow-cover-pattern/ I also promised her I'd make 2 more cushions for the bedroom. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to do it before her wedding (I made all of this in 2 months, can you imagine?!) As much as I hated not keeping my promise, I decided sooner or later I would still keep my promise. Better late than never, huh? 😉 So I found this free pattern of a Holiday Chevron Pillow Pattern  that we both liked and I decided to go for it. It is super easy, and you just need to repeat one row instruction with changing colors as instructed. Have a...

When I moved to Dubai less than 2 years ago, I was trying to find where I can buy my yarn and materials from. I tried Google, Facebook and asking around, until I found a few! YarnsDubai.com This is the only online store in Dubai and I love their collection, I ordered 6 balls of yarn the very first time I visited their website. They offer a full range of yarn sizes, brands and colors. They recently added a new option for free patterns and continuously offer a new range of crafts materials. Their shipping service was also hassle-free & efficient! What I particularly like in their website is their filter system and how much information they provide on their products. For example, they filter their yarn collection based on type, project, color and weight. After that you can further filter the results by brand or hook size. This is extremely helpful when there is a specific yarn used in a project that is unavailable to you. You can use this website to buy the closest type of yar...

I thought about uploading English versions of my videos to reach out to more people, since we are living in a multi-culural society. So here it is! I am sharing this with you in hopes it will help anyone get started with crochet.

So you have seen all those cute knitted picture posts of things like blankets, clothes, bags, sandals or even toys! lovely, aren't they? By some invisible lightening strike, you decide to learn crochet and fire up your search engines and google tutorials. Obviously, to start crochet you need a crochet hook and scissors. Personally, I started crochet using a 5mm aluminium hook and a medium sized ball of yarn. Now check out my crochet tools collection! my most treasured possessions 💚 I have just uploaded my first video tutorial on crochet tools basics in Arabic. Check it out: