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#ColourObsessions - Burnt Orange & Teal

11/26/2015

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One of the things I enjoy most about designing yarny things (apart from buying LOTS of yarn), is playing with different colour combinations. It isn't easy - there are many theories on why certain palettes are particularly pleasing to the eye. Getting it right takes practice. I have to practice, for every project I do. Sometimes I get it right, and sometimes I have to go away only to realise I really didn't. Often I'm swayed by trends or too many pinterest-hours, and have to struggle to come back to what defines my own style. 

No matter what happens, however, the process is great fun. I look for interesting colour schemes everywhere; I may or may not have once tried to photograph a bit of a stranger's jacket, it was that good. Looking around me for inspiration teaches me to think beyond my own comfort zone colours (grey+blue and maybe a hint of something warmer, as the palette of this blog will tell you!). When a certain combination captures me, it turns into an obsession. Before long I'll try to look for it everywhere, photograph it, make stuff with it, bring it into my designs and even look for socks that match (okay maybe not quite, but almost!). 

To document these palettes I'm starting the Colour Obsessions series. Perhaps it will inspire you to try new combinations too, and if you're on Instagram feel free to use the #colourobsessions hashtag to show me your favourite colour schemes. 

This week I'm starting off with a combination I'd never given much thought to but which I now love love LOVE:
#ColourObsessions by Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork | Burnt Orange & Teal
An impulse buy from Ness when I visited York last year (and couldn't cope with the bracing British weather after 4 years in Milan at all!) is entirely to blame for this obsession, I think.
Style: Burnt orange coat and dark teal handbag, both from Ness
In case anyone from Ness is reading this - if you ever decide to make a Swedish winter-appropriate version of this coat I will be the first to snap it up, I promise! 

Anyway, after the accidental coat+bag incident came my usual game of "spot that colour combo". Turns out shipyards are quite a good place for burnt orange and teal/turquoise.
#ColourObsessions by Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork | Burnt Orange & Teal
#ColourObsessions by Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork | Burnt Orange & Teal
I haven't gone as far as to incorporate this scheme into my own designs, but the burnt orange has been creeping in to some other makes. It love how it worked with purple in the Nordic Shawl
Purple and burnt orange Nordic Shawl - pattern by Anette Ciccarelli
Purple and burnt orange Nordic Shawl - pattern by Anette Ciccarelli

​I've recently gone over to the dark side and taken up knitting (I know!), and for my very first attempt at knitting something wearable I've chosen orange and indigo. I really like it, but how hilariously gappy is that casting-on row! I think I need a bit more practice at this too...
Orange, indigo and white version of the Blue Bell Hill Scarf by O-wool
Orange, indigo and white version of the Blue Bell Hill Scarf by O-wool

​So there you have it, my first in a series of Colour obsessions: Burnt Orange & Teal 
#ColourObsessions by Eline @ Pasta & Patchwork | Burnt Orange & Teal
What do you think, does this colour scheme rock your boat, or is it not for you? 

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{The Ordinary Moments} #32 - Jammy Kisses

11/16/2015

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Monday morning at my desk, heavy heart, lukewarm tea in hand. So many conflicting emotions. Realising, trying to internalise, how lucky I am. I am not in Paris, I am not in Beirut or Baghdad or Damascus. I’m here, safe and sound.

How to deal with the shame of being safe? With the guilt of bringing a child into world so smarting, ugly, destructive? How not to be overwhelmed by the hypocrisy oozing like a festering sore all around us, nor by the sheer futility. How not to become destructive too, and give in to the impulse to draw up walls, shut out those I love, rip up what once seemed worth my time. What is worth my time?

And then I’m reminded by a simple gesture from a tiny boy:

a jammy kiss

A sticky little smacker from a sticky little boy, given on an ordinary Monday over a breakfast of bleary eyes and cheesy tunes on the radio.

Maybe this is how to deal with it. By writing what I want to write, by making, seeking inspiration, forging connections. By treasuring all his jammy kisses while he still wants to give them and to fight for his place in a world that sometimes, just sometimes, is as overwhelmingly beautiful as it is ugly.

And by refusing to batten down the hatches, instead leaving my heart as raw and vulnerable as it needs to be to see the only the suffering and not the politics or the ideology.
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So it’s business as usual on a Monday morning, it has to be business as usual: writing patterns, crunching numbers, faffing about on Instagram and waiting for His Stickiness to return from preschool. And also gathering up old coats for this initiative for refugees, because the world still is what it is. Because there is lots of darkness, the heaviness still remains, but there is always something - or someone - worth carrying on for.
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Moving to Sweden | Three months in

11/11/2015

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Three months in our new home, two months since my last update. It’s been two months of some great highs, and some pretty terrible lows too. I don’t want to dwell on the latter too much - it’s a normal part of starting from scratch somewhere new. Suffice to say that bureaucrats and the boxes they attempt to fit you in are as stretched, beleaguered and cantankerous the world over. Harrumph.
In between the highs and lows things have just been ticking along. And that’s rather nice. I think when you move abroad people expect you to be off adventuring and discovering at every opportunity, but after the physical and emotional upheaval of shifting our entire lives across Europe, ticking along is good. Ordinary, safe, just nice.  
And in other news...
LIFESTYLE
In a word: outdoorsy! It’s one of the main reasons why we moved here and, my goodness, autumn has not disappointed. Brief, yes, but stunningly beautiful. And so our ordinary rhythm, when we’re not working or at school, is to head out and just walk.
Autumn foliage in Dalby, Skåne Province, Sweden
Toddler being carried in the BabyHawk mei-tai style sling
On the (many) days it rains and we’re just not quite Swedish enough yet to brave it, we laze, code, bake cheese scones (Bean’s current obsession) and make hats and scarves and things for the months ahead.
Uneventful but, as I said, nice.
Sneak preview of the Lavender Skies Skinny Scarf by Eline Alcocer - Pattern coming early 2016
HOME
We’re down to just 7 unpacked boxes! Perhaps destined to stay that way forever unless I really need something at the bottom of one of them, because let me tell you: I am done with unpacking boxes.
But despite the box fort in the master bedroom it does feel like home. The layout feels right, as does Swedish insulation. Bar curtains and wall decorations, the Bean’s bedroom is finished and super-cosy. The kitchen table by the window is my favourite spot from which to crochet and cheer on the plants braving the autumn chill on the balcony. It feels right.
Colourful toddler bedroom - love the mixture of cheaper IKEA items with vintage toys and a handmade crochet blanket
Autumn balcony garden
WORK
Lots of it! Bean started preschool in mid-September (more on that below) and as soon as the settling-in period was over, it was nose to the grindstone for me. A good thing too, as I haven´t earned a thing for 3 months. It’s been reassuring to get back into it, and now the next milestone will be to officially shift my accounts from Italy to Sweden in the New Year. Oh the excitement!

THE BEAN
Ups, downs and roundabouts with this one. The great big up that really needs celebrating is that HE LIKES HIS PRESCHOOL. Oh the relief… We like it too - it’s light and cheerful and safe, the staff are kind, the kids go traipsing round the woods nearby and eat like pint-sized kings. He is happy there, and comes home singing Swedish songs about purple lions (I think).
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Being two (nearly three!) is complicated though. When we first announced we were moving many people said that he would “be fine, kids are adaptable”. And he IS fine, in general, but then there are days when he is really not. Daddy went away for work for a few days in October and that was absolutely not fine. He still remembers what came before, he still struggles with the idea that he can’t just go back. Perhaps he still worries that one of us might just go and not come back, one day. So he is fine, he is adapting and becoming less of a little Italian and more of a little Swede by the day, but he reserves the right to feel crap and anxious about it all sometimes. As we all do, I think.
CULTURE SHOCK
More like weather shock, predictably! We have become wimps after 5 winters in Milan, especially when it comes to wind. And then there’s the fact that cowering indoors is not an option - it’s neither healthy nor realistic (unless you want to become a fuzzy-haired, barely intelligible hermit for 6 months of the year). Becoming braver and understanding what is meant by “appropriate clothing”, as preschool so helpfully put it, has been quite the education. It’s an excellent excuse for making woollie things though, as I said, and for buying a lovely new coat that is warm, windproof, waterproof AND stylish. As soon as I find one, that is (suggestions??).

SOCIAL LIFE
Kind of okay. No real friendships yet because these things take time, and so there are definitely days when we feel lonely. A few visitors (and more coming every month for the next three months!) have helped lift the mood greatly though. As has Instagram for me. No, seriously - it turns out there are some truly lovely people on there, and every now and then you get to meet up in person and talk yarn or food, and always pretty pictures. It’s a godsend, I tell you!
Pink Hydrangea

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"Crochet meets Patchwork" Afghan - Fuchsia Granny Square Pattern Round-up

11/5/2015

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As regular readers of this blog will know, we packed up all our belongings and moved from Italy to Sweden a few months ago. And do you know what the best thing about unpacking was? Getting my yarn back! OBVIOUSLY I had put a couple of little projects in my suitcase until the boxes arrived, but oh my, it was lovely to see the lot of it again. Especially all the beautiful colours that make up my Crochet meets Patchwork blanket.

It's been in progress for over a year now, this blanket. A while ago I took a big step back and changed the colour scheme (you can read about that and see the new colours here, if you missed it). I just love it now, and every now and then I even get the chance to add a couple more rows to it ;-)

Anyhoo, it's time to reveal the completed fuchsia block. I adore this colour for the way it pops against the greys and the white. Wherever possible, I’ve linked to the original patterns and their designers. As you’ll see, however, there are a couple that I can’t track beyond Pinterest. If anyone knows who owns the copyright to these pattern, I’d be very grateful if you could get in touch.
Crochet meets Patchwork Afghan by Pasta & Patchwork | Fuchsia Granny Squares Pattern Round-up

Crochet meets Patchwork Afghan - The Fuchsia squares

Notes: 

2.5 mm (C), 3.0 mm (D/3) or 3.5 mm (E/4) hooks 

DMC Natura Just Cotton (fingering weight)

Colours: Amaranto, Ivory, Gris Argent, Aswan

individual square size: 10 cm x 10 cm (ca. 4" by 4")
Crochet meets Patchwork Afghan by Pasta & Patchwork | Fuchsia Granny Squares Pattern Round-up
  1. "Hexagon Daisy Pattern" by Cornel at i love pom-poms - adapted after round 4  to make a square rather than a hexagon.
  2. Star Stitch granny - no pattern, this is just a practice square that I ended up liking a lot! It is based on a repeat of 4 rows: row 1 SC; row 2 slip st.; row 3 SC; row 4 Star Stitch (also known as Marguerite Stitch).
  3. "Anemone" Granny Square by Eline at Pasta & Patchwork 
  4. Unknown - I found this as part of a set of four diagrams on Pinterest
  5. “Triple Puff” Granny Square by Eline at Pasta & Patchwork
  6. Standard Crochet Granny Square - goodness knows who came up with this pattern first (!) but I used this step-by-step photo tutorial by Allison at Dream a Little Bigger to learn how to make granny squares.
  7. “Snowflake on the Square” by Laura at Baking Outside the Box
  8. "Block Stitch Square" by Ana Benson at Craft Chic
  9. “Sunburst” Granny Square - no idea who came up with this first, but I used this photo tutorial by Jenny at Nittybits to learn.
There you go, nine lovely free granny square patterns! To join them I used this tutorial by Carina at Carina's Craft Blog and the edged it with a continuation of the Block Stitch. The whole lot is to go with the green block I published previously. On to blue (coming very soon) and that unfathomable but beautiful colour called "brique"! 
Crochet meets Patchwork Afghan by Pasta & Patchwork | Fuchsia Granny Squares
Do let me know if you decide to make any or all of these - I’d love to see your take on my crazy patchwork project!

Tag me on Instagram (below is an "on my desk" shot I shared a couple of weeks ago) or twitter using the #crochetmeetspatchwork hashtag, or come join me on the Pasta & Patchwork facebook page. 
 Crochet meets Patchwork Afghan by Pasta & Patchwork
Remember that you can also find pins of all the patterns and tutorials mentioned here on my Crochet meets Patchwork pinterest board.

​Happy crocheting!

All the patterns mentioned in this post are free, but please respect all the designers' copyright and do not republish, sell or claim as your own any of the photos, patterns, tutorials or text mentioned or included here. Please visit each webpage linked to above for more information on each designer's copyright notice. 

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    Hello! I'm Eline, and I've recently moved to a new corner of the internet: 
    www.emmyandlien.com/
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    Do come and say hello!

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