Last Crochet Workshop for 2012!

2012 has been a powerful year for me in crochet, and one of the reasons for this is the opportunity I got to teach it. Craft MNL opened its doors for me to teach crochet. I can't believe I did 4 workshops with them just in the last quarter of this year. I'm also overwhelmed by the amount of interest for these workshops. I hope I get to be a better teacher so I can spread the love of this wonderful craft. Thank you to all the 23 lovely gals who made this opportunity for me possible!

We held the last basic crochet workshop for the year on Dec. 22 at Craft MNL. Despite the frenzied atmosphere of the pre-Christmas weekend, we had a full house! Thank you Cat, Gillian, Joy, Bituin, Julieta, Sharon, and Aneliese for keeping crochet alive in the holiday!

Participants get a crochet starter kit which contains 5 balls of yarn, 2 hooks, scissors, and patterns. I taught them the basic stitches: chain, single crochet, double crochet, and slip stitch.

Everyone was serious crocheting their way. It's not uncommon to get quiet moments in the room because they are focused on what they're doing.

Our goal was to make granny squares. Granny squares go a long way in crochet and it's the perfect pattern for any beginner.

Anyone can crochet! It doesn't matter at what age you start.

Welcome to the rocking chair club! I hope you get to make wonderful things with crochet!

I'm looking forward to a more eventful 2013 for crochet! I can't wait to get Pinoys and Pinays hooked on it!

Crafty Bedroom for 2013!

Hope you guys have been enjoying the holidays. I have been quite preoccupied fulfilling a goal before the year ends...and that is to finally have my own craft room. It's more of a new bedroom with more space for my crochet and of course, yarn.

Let me show you first how my past rooms looked.

This was my bedroom when I was in college. It was already 2000 but I wanted to keep the 90s alive. I was going for that kind of room Janeane Garofalo's character in Reality Bites would probably like. Yeah, I like purple. And yes, I had my own landline. Whatup!

I had that room until 2009, I think (I had a hard time letting go). I had way too much stuff so I had to upgrade to a bigger space on our 3rd floor.

I went for a more "unflashy" look. Less angst. More order and calm. Apologies for the poor pic quality, by the way. Unfortunately, only my lame camera phone had pics of this room before I dismantled it.

Then I became serious with crochet. This room is facing the side of the busy street in front of our house. It's been accumulating too much dust. This kind of environment will not be good if I decide to display all my yarn and crafty materials. I will be spending too much time cleaning my stuff if I decide to allocate a craft space in it. So I did what any big sister would do - bully her younger brother to switch rooms with her. Just kidding.

I asked my brother Gerald if it was ok if I switched rooms with him because his room is facing the nice and "clean" side of our house. He said yes, of course. I will be spending more time in my room than he with his, so it was a practical decision on both our parts. He got my aircon though. His aircon is older than my aircon by about, erm, 10 years I think. Well, it's a fair trade off.

This is his room. Typical dude kind of room.

So this is where I am now with my renovation.

I've pretty much figured out the colors I want for this. I think I can have all of this done before the year ends. 2013 is looking pretty good.

Grandma Series 3: Dolls Galore

When I visited Lola Viring (check out the 1st part of my series on her here) last month, I saw her working on these dolls. Take note, she didn't follow any pattern for everything she crocheted. She's never even written any pattern. She's an original crocheter.

She loves giving dolls their own personalities through the crocheted clothes she makes for them. There are original Barbie dolls among them as well as the generic ones you can buy from just about anywhere. With the clothes she crocheted for them, these dolls have definitely become priceless.

These dolls are all over her living room! They're the first things you notice once you enter her home.

Practically every doll has a unique dress. 

There are more dolls if you click the link below! You won't believe how much she has in her "collection." There are even dioramas of dolls with crocheted clothes. If you wanna see what I'm talking about, click click click!

www.gantsilyoguru.com

Got a new domain name for my blog! It's official! My blogspot address (gantsilyo.blogspot.com) is still active and will just redirect you to my new domain name.

Looking forward to many great changes for Gantsilyo Guru!

Amigurumi Love! The Juice Is Worth The Squeeze

I had a blast last Dec. 15 at the Amigurumi Workshop held in Craft MNL with Christine, Daff, Vera, and Angela. I welcomed back Christine and Daff from the Basic Crochet Workshop last Oct. 27 and met new fellow rocking chair gals Vera and Angela.

We practiced on a pattern for a simple plushie (see picture below, right). Of course, Muymuy was there to give some boost of inspiration. 

It was my goal to teach them the basics of Amigurumi so they can design their own eventually. The crochet kits provided have enough materials for them to make more Amigurumis. A kit also includes Amigurumi essentials like fiberfill, a tapestry needle, googly eyes, and buttons.

Christine, Daff, Vera, and Angela hard at work. 

I would also like to show off what Christine crocheted between our last basic workshop and now. She is almost done with a scarf (ugh, wasn't able to take a close-up pic). She also made an uber cool crochet hook case! Yep, that's her own work! Clap clap clap! I love her color combo for the case. I want one!

Despite the heavy traffic due to the holiday weekend rush (and the busy season in general), they still made time for crochet! Thank you and congrats, fellow rocking chair gals! I also want to wish Daff the very best for her little angel next month :) Easy on the Amigurumis, Daff! :p

Real Men Crochet (and Knit)

It's like saying real men wear pink :p

In my opinion, if a man is confident enough to hold a yarn and a hook and have the desire to create, then he is a real man!

I haven't met a man (yet) in the Philippines who crochets. I'm sure they're out there somewhere crocheting. I found this guy Chase Stoeger who has a blog aptly named, "Real Men Crochet and other things." He's a husband and father who crochets! You can also check out his Facebook Page here.

Logo and picture from http://www.realmencrochet.com/

Did you know there's an interesting history between samurais and yarn? Click the link to continue! I also found an up-and-coming crocheter dude!

Crocheted Flower Bouquet

I've been experimenting on a crocheted flower bouquet. I have two flower designs so far: a rose and a pansy. I love crocheting flowers. Most of the stuff I have done are flat (see my collage of flowers here) and are more suited to be used as brooches or pins. These ones can be gathered up to make a pretty bouquet.

I'm still working on the flower arrangement part and planning to add leaves for a cuter look.

I can imagine making this (of course something way prettier than this) for an actual bride or bridesmaid someday :) These flowers won't wilt for sure.

Grandma Series 2: Home Is Where The Crochet Is

I have already introduced you to Lola Viring last week (if you haven't "met" her yet, you must check out my blog entry here before proceeding) and promised to show you her crocheted home accents. Here they are!

Here is a crocheted pillow.

Table covers are also staples in her home.

Click the link below for more images of her work. A must click!

The Project I Had Nothing In Mind For

Sometime in December 2010 I decided to make a bunch of circle motifs. I actually had no idea what I'd do with them. I was just curious how they would all look like connected to each other.

I felt very bohemian with the colors I used. See how thick the stack above looks like? Yeah, I made a lot :p

Ok, I just want to make clear (if you're a seasoned crocheter) that I have not washed or blocked these motifs...thus the "unflatness" (if there is such a word). I can take up this topic later on, because washing and blocking make all the difference! They make projects like spreads and doilies look flat and they secure the shape.

I ended up making 120-140 pieces. When I got to connect all of them, I ended up with some spread around 5 feet long and 2 feet wide. I think it will have its purpose later on.

Click on the link below to see my "attempts" on making this project useful.

Crocheted Beanies and Headbands with My Story Photography

This is somewhat my "soft launch" for my made-to-order crocheted beanies and headbands for babies and kids.

My Story Photography captured all these images of (uberly cute) baby Lima Bean wearing my crocheted pieces. Warning: You might experience an overdose of cuteness here. 

Lima Bean is wearing a white headband piece with a medium-sized flower. Photo courtesy of My Story Photography.

Adorbz. These flowers are detachable from the headband or beanie. They have clips on them so you can interchange flowers (using the same headband or beanie) to get different looks. You can even clip them directly to your kid's hair.

Lima Bean is wearing light khaki (left) and white (right) headband pieces with the large flower (left) and the small flower (right). Photo courtesy of My Story Photography.

Her cuteness makes you want to cry. She wore this beanie for the longest time during the shoot and probably forgot she was wearing one. The yarn used is soft and won't leave any marks on your baby.

Lima Bean is wearing a fuschia beanie with a large flower. Photo courtesy of My Story Photography.

More beanies with Lima Bean!

Lima Bean is wearing lime (left) and light khaki (right) beanies both with large flowers.
Photo courtesy of My Story Photography.

Yep, she even played with the flowers. The colors seemed to have gotten a lot of her attention.

Photo courtesy of My Story Photography.

I am already accepting orders for the beanies and headbands. They are sold in sets. To get more information on these, please click this link which will direct you to my Facebook album.

Grandma Series 1: V for Viring

This is Lola Elvira Reyes, otherwise known as Lola Viring (coincidentally, the nickname of my mom). She is 81 years old. She has been crocheting since she was 15 years old. Let me tell you why this grandma is, so far, the greatest crocheter I know.

Yeah, she crocheted that blouse.

If you've seen that "Going Gantsilyo" segment shown in "Good News" on GMA News TV, then you've already seen Lola Viring. She is the grandma in the first part of the video seen crocheting (before I show up). The "unnamed" grandma caught my attention. I wanted to meet her. I wanted to see what she has done over all those years crocheting. I wanted to know her crochet story. I was pretty sure she had more to say than me or the other crocheters featured in that segment.

Here's a glimpse of the kinds of projects she did.

She is the greatest crocheter I know because of 3 things:
1. She never read a pattern in her life. She never even wrote one.
2. She started crocheting at the age of 15. Based on my calculations, that was 1946. She had no access to crochet magazines and no one taught her how to crochet.
3. When I asked her how much she has crocheted, she said that if you only count the blouses, it would be around ten truckloads. Now that's hardcore.

Dewey Finn said, "You're not hardcore unless you live hardcore." Lola Viring, in the crochet world, is hardcore. She is living and breathing crochet. When I came to her house last week, she was crocheting dresses for barbie dolls. She was wearing her crocheted blouse. The pillow supporting her back had a crocheted cover. The door leading to her kitchen had a crocheted curtain.

I cannot wait to show you everything she made, at least those that she kept. Putting it all in one blog entry though won't do justice to the greatness of this grandma.

My next blog entry will be all about her crocheted home accents.

Let the grandma adventures begin!

Gantsilyo in Cosmopolitan Magazine's December 2012 Issue!

Thank you, Cosmopolitan Magazine (Philippines), for including my crocheted earrings in your December Happy List! You made me happy!

I can see the earrings!

Yey for Number 8!

Loving the term, "earnaments!" The December 2012 issue has Angel Locsin on the cover.

You can also check a previous blog entry I made on these earrings here.

These are made to order pieces. Right now, I only have a pair of each color and design of these earrings available for sale.

To be able to purchase, click on this link that will direct you to my Facebook page. Just leave a comment on the picture if you are interested to get them.