DIY Project - Rag Rug

Ekra - Emily Kircher

One week before Christmas I have a super easy and ecofriendly DIY project for you that is suitable for crochet beginners and which makes a wonderful last minute Christmas present. My inspiration you can see above. Emily Kircher is a recycling artists who makes the most beautiful rag rugs from old fabrics. Check out her etsy store or blog if you like.

To make your own rug you will need a bunch of old t-shirts or other spare textiles, a pair of scissors and a crochet needle size 9. My rug measures 62 cm in diameter and consists of a coral coloured scarf, one orange, one yellow, three white and two grey t-shirts. First cut your t-shirts into strips which measure about 2,5cm in width. You don't have to be too precise as this is a very forgiving piece to crochet. You can easily connect shorter strips by cutting a hole into the ends of two strips, placing them on top of each other and pulling one strip through both of the holes (see picture). Then just start of by crocheting a 'magic circle' and keep on crocheting in spirals by using single crochet stitches. In order to create a flat circle add a chain stitch from time to time.

Here are a few more tips that might help you:

- keep checking the shape of your piece constantly, then decide whether to add a chain stitch
- I recommend using chain stitches instead of placing two single crochets into one stitch as this could create holes
- to enhance the spiral effect place your single crochets in the back loop only
- I found it most easy to crochet on an even surface like my desk
- try to use a jersey material and stretch your thread before crocheting it as this will cause the edges to curl inwards which creates a 'cleaner' look

Also this is a really quick project so I hope you'll have fun trying it out! :)

DIY Tutorial - Christmas Garland Duo

If you have some time to kill like me at the moment then the following 'tutorial' might be for you. Making these lovely paper garlands is so simple it doesn't really need a tutorial but I wanted to show you anyway. I got inspired by the traditional Swedish Christmas decoration called 'himmeli' which is made out of straw and red yarn.

No. 1 

I don't think I have to explain anything here. It's your typical garland which most of you probably made in your childhood and can be used for any party occasion. I did a 'mini' version with very small rolls that are made of strips that measured 7 cm in length and 1 cm in width.

No. 2

For the second garland I used an old sheet of music which was printed on recycled paper but you can use any paper you like. I used the inner circle of a salid tape roll to draw circles onto the paper and then cut them out. This step took me ages so you might want to use a circle punch if you own one of these. Then fold all the circles in half and glue the halves of three circles together (see step 5). You can also glue 4 or more circles together to achieve a 'ball' shape. At last thread them and secure the garland with a small knot at each end. 

Results

I replaced the jewellery branch I made here with the garlands.

New In - Knit Excess

Just a short post on the few things I bought last and this month. Quite a neutral colour pallet, mostly knits. The chunky two-tone knit jumper (Ernstings Family) is one of my favourites. I got it in a size 42/16 so it's nice and big and I can combine it with nearly everything. The wallet is from TK Maxx for relatively little money as it is genuine leather. They've got amazing leather pieces there and I'll be definitely checking for more regularly when I've moved. The grey knit dress is a lovely piece I found in one of the biggest primarks I've ever been to. It's actually sleeveless, goes down to my thighs and is made from a super soft material. I pair it with either a jumper on top or a cardigan (as I did here). Last but not least I was surprised by some cute mittens in Aldi (!). I really don't need any new mittens but they just had to come with me as they remind me of traditional Irish knitwear. Also they're made from shetland and lambs wool.

Sound of Rosewood: Grimes - Circumambient; The XX - Chained; Boards of Canada - Skyliner

Advent Advent...

... ein Lichtlein brennt...bald...in genau 3 Tagen...oh ja! Das heißt es ist höchste Zeit für einen Weihnachtspost, der allererste evahh auf meinem Blog. Was komisch ist, denn mal abgesehen davon, dass ich Feiertage verabscheue (sprich eigene und Anderer Geburtstage, Silvester, Halloween etc.), bin ich ein Freund der Vor- und Weihnachtszeit. Also bin ich ein wenig kreativ geworden und habe ein Adventstablett zusammengeklöppelt, wie unten zu sehen ist.

Solche Tabletts (meins ist aus Holz) findet ihr sogut wie überall, genauso wie die passende Deko dazu, falls ihr diese nicht noch vom letzten Jahr oder dem Jahr davor oder dem Jahr davor oder dem...habt. Gekauft habe ich lediglich die Kerzen und die Naturdeko, bestehend aus getrockneten Orangen- und Apfelscheiben, Anissternen und Zimtstangen (was man sich aber genauso gut selber im Ofen trocknen kann, wenn man den Elan dazu hat). Die kleinen Strohanhänger und Miniaturbaumkugeln hatte ich schon und die Nadelbaumzweige (Fichte???) wurden vom hofeigenen Förster vom Baum geschossen.

Nun zuerst die Zweiglein nett auf dem Tablett arrangieren, Kerzen drauf (man könnte es schon so belassen) und zuletzt die Streudeko platzieren. Ich habe darauf geachtet alles im selben orange-gelben Farbschema zu halten. Fertig.

Eine nette Alternative zum herkömmlichen Adventskranz, die im nächsten Jahr nach Belieben umdekoriert werden kann. Natürlich wird das erste Lichtlein erst am Sonntag brennen! :)

The White Stripe

Even though I am a very patient person, I am not when it comes to doing my nails. Waiting for nail polish to dry seems like a waste of time to me. Last night I didn't waste any time and created a super simple quickly drying nail design. I used a sheer white polish underneath, painted on the white line and used a mattifying polish on top. Originally I was inspired by Ivania Carpio's black version.

rings from H&M and last year's Christmas market