Hello Fellow crafters!
I don’t know about you guys, but this week has just been a rollercoaster ride of emotions, I promised myself that with this new start I would actually embrace the simple abundance journey. Boy has this been hard, but then again changing perspectives is never as easy as 1,2,3. One of the things That has helped soothe my self deprecating thoughts has been cacti.
Saludos a tod@s! Yo no sé ustedes, pero para mi esta semana fue cuesta arriba, una montaña rusa de emociones y dudas. Y eso que como parte de mi nueva aventura en este año estoy tratando de seguir los ensayos del libro Simple Abundance. Dejenme contarles, ha sido bastante dificil, todo en papel luce excelente, pero la práctica es otra cosa. Una de las cosas que me ha ayudado a acorralar toda la energía negativa y los pensamientos oscuros han sido cactus.
Now, plants have often been associated with that hygge feeling, but these aren’t just any plants, these are crochet ?! Makes them all that more amazing in my opinion.
A menudo asociamos las matas o plantas con ese sentimiento zen de hygge, pero estás no son plantas cualquieras… Oh no! Estos son cactus tejidos!!!! Excelentes pq
1. Can’t kill them, me and plants try, but not all survive. // no los puedes matar, no todas mis matas pueden decir esto.
2. They are equally soothing and cute. True, they dont’t help purify the air, but they do soothe your soul. // Igual brindan ese sentimiento de alegría que solo la naturaleza es capaz de brindar.
How did I even get into plant amigurumi? Simple, mom bought me Crocheted Succulents : Cacti & other succulent plants to make. It was love at first sight. The pictures in the book just shine with their cuteness.
Cómo me sumergí a este mundo de matas amigurumi? Simple, mami me compró Crocheted Succulents: Cacti & other succulent plants to make. Fue amor a primera vista con este libro.
ABOUT THE BOOK // Sobre el libro
The patterns in the book were designed by Emma Varnam and it includes a variety of cacti.The book includes a page where all the 25 cacti are pictured and the respective pages the pattern can be found in.
Los patrones que encontramos en el libro fueron diseñados por Emma Varnam e incluye una variedad de 25 cacti. El libro incluye una página en la cual puedes apreciar todas las matitas juntitas.
Each pattern includes at least 3 pictures of the finished object from different angles. There is a crocheted techniques page for beginners and for those of us that just need a quick refresher on certain stitches. The book even includes patterns for crochet soil and for crocheting your plant pots. All in all a very well rounded book.
Cada patrón incluye por lo menos 3 fotos de la matita ya completada. Al final del libro hay varias páginas dedicadas a tecnicas tejeriles dirigidas a principiantes o aquell@s que necesitamos que nos refresquen la memoria. El libro también incluye patrones para tejer la tierrita de los cactus e inclusive para tejer tiestos!
PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS // Instrucciones
The instructions on how to crochet the different cacti are all clear and concise. The first page of each pattern lists the materials, including the size of the plant pot recommended, a little description of what the actual cactus looks like and a pattern note that tells you a little bit of how the pattern is worked up ( ex, in pieces, in the round etc.)
Las instrucciones sobre como tejer los cacti son claras y consisas, la primera página de cada patrón tiene una descripción del cactus verdadero, una lista de materiales, incluyendo el tamaño del tiesto recomendado, y anotaciones describiendo la construcción general del cactus.
So far, the only instructions that I found sparse were those for closing the ball cactus stitches. Really wished there would have been a bit more detail here, luckily bobwilson123 has a pumpkin pattern with a similar construction so I just used the technique she talked about in the video.
Hasta el momento, sólo he tenido dudas sobre el ball cactus, las instrucciones para cerrar las puntadas no eran las más claras y tuve que acudir a un tutorial de bobwilson123 en youtube para desifrar el misterio.
You do not have to use the yarns listed in the pattern materials, I bought them because I lacked green yarn in my stash. But I have worked 3 patterns, ball cactus, Peruvian apple, blue waves, in different yarns from those recommended. I crocheted the main body of the ball cactus using vannas choice yarn in kelly green, for the flower I used caron sparkle yarn and the soil was crocheted using caron simply soft in the chocolate colorway. As you can see, it worked up beautifully.
Claro tejedor@s, no hay que usar los hilos que recomiendan en el patrón, de hecho de estos tres tipos que les presento en fotos, ninguno estás hecho con el hilo recomendado. En el ball Cactus, tejí con el hilo de vannas choice en el color Kelly Green y la flor y la tierra fueron tejida con caron.
For the Peruvian apple cactus I used 1.5 balls of Drops Paris in Recycled Denim, this was more than what the pattern recommended and I even used a smaller hook. Still need to crochet some soil for this guy.
Para el Peruvian Apple, utilizé 1.5 ovillos de Drops Paris en el color Recycled Denim, está cantidad de hilo fue más de la que el patrón recomendaba y eso que utilizé un ganchillo de 3.5 en vez de 4mm.
for the blue waves yarn I used a yarn that I don’t really care for because of the awful stitch definition it gives. In my opinion, it just makes the whole project look subpar. But hey, the pattern still worked up beautifully. I even did a version with crochet thread size 10 and a 1.75mm crochet hook (pictured above). I think the hook was still to big, but the cactus turned out allright.
Para tejer el Blue WAves, utilizé un hilo que no me apasiona, Premiere Homes Cotton, encuentro que las puntadas que se producen con este hilo no son las mejores. Inclusive tejí una versión de este cactus con hilo tamaño 10 de aunt lydias y un ganchilo de 1.75mm y creo que también se ve expectacular.
I cannot even begin to tell you how in love I am with these cacti, so in love in fact that I’m including them in my wedding flower arrangements and cake decorations. Yes, I am that crazy!
Estoy tan ilusionada con los patrones de este libro que los estoy tejiendo para usar cómo parte de la decoración de mi boda. Sí, estoy loca y sin idea!
I NEED this book! Crochet and succulents are two of my favourite things, so whoever combined them is a genius
I love it and highly recommend it, its currently on sale in amazon. So its win win. The link takes you directly there ??. Hope to see some of your succulents on my feed!
And I just got some Amazon vouchers for Easter – perfect!
awesome!
Am watching your latest podcast now. I will be sad if we don’t get to see all the things on your English podcast anymore (you said you will be spiting them up between the Spanish speaking one and the English one). I love to see all your things and hear you talk about them. I will get a bad case of fomo! Just pictures on Instagram isn’t the same as having you chat about them and seeing tem on video. Your podcast so content is up to you I know. Grateful for the work you do to put it up for us all to enjoy. I do really enjoy it very much. Thank you.
I love your podcast and especially seeing the garments you make – you look the best in your crochet garments as you have a great sense of style. All the best for your wedding and much happiness in the years to come.
The crochet succulents look great, thanks for the review.
Hello! Do not worry Sara! I shall still chat away about all my crochet I just want to expand the language in which I crochet and hopefully include some spanish patterns in my spanish podcast! Thank you for all your feedback, I love hearing what you guys think and it helps me to expand on content. Afterall, I want you to enjoy watching the podcast as much as I enjoy making it!
I’m so in love with the crochet succulent book.