Vacation Sale at Gantsilyo Guru Selections

I will be going on a mini-vacation this weekend until early next week. My friend Erika and I will be going to Cambodia to go on a touristy trip to see temples and eat happy pizza. Of course, we will make sure we will not miss watching the Oscars just because we consider it an important life event.

So, while I'm out, I want to treat you to a Vacation Sale! And it just started today!

We have discounted prices for Lion Brand Cotton Ease, Lion Brand Knit Kits, Red Heart Celebration, Kuka Merino Bulky, Kuka Summer Mercerised Cotton, and pattern books/magazines.

To avail of the discounted prices, customers must checkout and pay their orders within the period of Feb. 28 - Mar. 5, 2014. Sale items unpaid beyond Mar. 5 will be charged with regular prices already.

While I'm out, from March 1 to 5, customers can still expect to get their final deposit amounts via email. Paid orders today (Feb. 28) and tomorrow morning (Mar. 1) will be shipped out before I leave. Shipping out of orders will resume on Mar. 6 (Thu).

I depart Manila tomorrow already, but this is what I have packed so far. Seriously, I packed these first. I was too scared to forget my hooks and yarn!

All my yarns are packed and I'm ready to go!

Gantsilyo Guru in Solar Daybreak

Exactly a week ago, I got interviewed on live television at Solar News Channel's morning show, "Solar Daybreak." To be honest, I had the jitters before the show. This was live television (unlike the feature I did with Good News, which was recorded)!

I had to overcome my nerves because it was a great opportunity for me to talk about my passion - crochet! And of course, yarn!

Here are some "behind the scenes" pics.

Yes, I was crocheting while the producer was setting up. We held the shoot just behind Pino Resto Bar and Pi Breakfast and Pies along Malingap St. in Quezon City. Super thankful they allowed us to shoot there! The place is practically my second home for crochet since I hold some of my workshops just upstairs at Pipino Vegetarian.

Getting some shots of me crocheting. I think I went too fast for the camera! I had some of my favorite projects in front of me and some of the yarn I offer in my online store.

I was interviewed by Pia Bonalos. I was surprised to find out we were given around 10 minutes for the feature! That sounded pretty long for live airtime. Pia was very engaging. Even before the live interview, she made me feel at ease already because we started chatting about crochet and yarn. The live interview just felt like an extension of that conversation.

Thank you for this opportunity, Solar Daybreak!

[L-R] Dewayne Jay Ramirez (Cameraman), Danny Tamayo (Field Producer), Pia Bonalos (Segment Host), Michael Aguilar (Assistant Cameraman)

After the interview, I got super hungry and ate at Pi Breakfast and Pies. They're open as early as 7:00 AM! I got this huge omelette. Good thing they give choices on what to put in your omelette. I only like cheese and tomatoes in mine :p Let us pause for a moment and stare at this heavenly omelette. Yum. I want one right now, suddenly.

And here's the interview. I tried, guys. I really tried! Hope I do a better job next time!

Can't Grow A Beard? Crochet One!

[Intro. Option 1] No beard? No problem!

[Intro. Option 2] Turn a boy into a man with a crocheted beard!

[Intro. Option 3] This is what a boyfriend gets from a crocheter girlfriend.

We don't really celebrate Valentine's day as a couple because the thought of going out on Valentine's day is quite stressful in itself, but I wanted to give him an "anti-Valentine" gift anyway. I checked out crocheted gift ideas for guys online and nothing quite fit Rob's personality. Then I thought, why not crochet a beard for him?

Yes, I know him that well that he would appreciate a crocheted beard. Here he is wearing his crocheted beard while drinking coffee. Fits perfectly.

Here he is with our friends. They don't look distracted at all. It looked...natural.

I used Morris & Sons Estate 8ply yarn, which is made of 100% Australian wool. I kind of cheated with the yarn because he gave that to me as a gift. I think I was able to put it into good use though.

I was inspired by the Crochet Beard pattern from Lion Brand. I had to wing it and didn't follow the pattern as is because of the adjustments needed with the yarn I have. The yarn suggested in the pattern is thicker than the one I had. I had more stitches per row and made more decreases, as needed. I wasn't able to jot down my own pattern because I got really into crocheting it (and I was so lazy to write it down).

This is what it looks like flat. It's just made up of single crochets.

Go ahead and give your man a crocheted beard! Because men like weird gifts.

Want To Be A Better Crocheter?

Practice. You don't have to have a project in mind. Just practice :)

This is how I started training myself. I got a book with 300 motif patterns and I started crocheting the motifs in it.

Well, a lot of them. I crocheted around a hundred (so far). In the process, I was able to refine my crocheting and get "cleaner" outputs.

It's actually nice to have a motif collection. It's better to have the actual crocheted sample of a motif than the image in the book as reference. If you're a serious crocheter, having a collection like this can give you tons of ideas and inspiration for projects!

I had to put a tag on each of them so I could track the motifs I have done so far. I still have a long way to go! If I'm determined to make at least one a day, I can actually make all the motifs in the book before the year ends. Let's see!

Happy weekend, everyone! Crochet something!

My Crochet Fixation For The Past Weeks

Years ago, I crocheted picture frames just for the heck of it. I didn't know why, but I got obsessed making these picture frames. I had no intention of selling them or had people in mind to give them to. I just made them. I think it reached around 50+ pieces.

The patterns for these frames came from the book "At Home With Crochet" by Leisure Arts Publication. This is the same book where I got the pattern for my 3D Christmas Tree. I used mercerised crochet cotton yarn for these.

I attached magnetic strips at the back of some frames so it can be placed on refrigerator doors. I gave most of them away as gifts. These frames can also be starched and hanged as decor (for a unique banner, perhaps?).

I got fixated on those frames for quite some time. I think I'm at it again - not with frames, but with cowls! I've been obsessively crocheting cowls lately. The recent cold weather might have influenced me to crochet these. It's hot in Manila now though, but I'm still crocheting them. I'm not even changing patterns. They all have the same pattern but I wanted to see how the pattern will look like in different kinds of Hamanaka wool yarn. They're super warm! Honestly, these cowls would only have use either in a very cold air-conditioned place or in any country with snow :p

Were you ever fixated on a crochet project? I'm trying to get out of this one by looking for a pretty next project for myself.

Two Guys, a Girl, and Crochet!

This was my first crochet workshop for the year. Yep, there were 2 guys and a girl. It was cool :)

Here they are practicing the basic stitches.

And here they are with their first granny squares! Ta-da!

Those who join my crochet workshops and also those who want to learn crochet in general have different reasons for wanting to learn this craft. One of them, for example, wanted to learn crochet because it's a good finishing technique for paracord making. That's something I never knew before!

The men and their (pink) hooks.

Yes, I looked happy here. Welcome to the crocheting world!

If you are interested to join my basic crochet workshop, please fill out this form. Dates and cities are already final.