Project: Yarn Lovin Afternoons

Soooo the day before yesterday was "la premiere" of our new project, Yarn Lovin Afternoons @ Theia Lab! We met some wonderful ladies, had some tea, chit-and-chatted and of course we went through the basics of crochet. There were 10 students, 3 out of whom already knew how to crochet! The first lesson was, what else, the basic stitches (slip knot, chain). We practiced a lot and made wonderful bracelets out of many chain stitches.
Here are some photos:

and some photos from Theia's blog post!!

We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. It was pretty awesome to meet our new students (See you next week girls!). We will keep you posted!

lots of kisses

♥ marietta + panagiota ♥

edit: p.s check Theia's post about the 1st session of the Yarn Lovin Afternoons...!!!

New Year's Resolution: 2012

Being a team is a state of living for us, we like dreaming and planning together, we like working together, and spending our time off together, so this year we decided to make some "new year's resolutions" together! We the Double Crochets! And here we are sharing them with you.

1. blogging more frequently.  Maybe do a blog makeover also? Spending some more time on our blog is something we both wish to do, although it can be so tough with the everyday routines!
2. keep having fun and dancing more.  We both adore dancing and we are proud members of The Rollin Foxes, the rock 'n' roll dance company of Athens!! All we have to do is keep on rollin! 
3. do more collaborations.  Yes! we have so much talented friends that would be a pity not to work with them on fun and creative projects this year...
4. do more outfit photo shoots for our blog.   mmmm yeah okay
5. set up a Double Crochets online shop. At the moment all of our creations are made exclusively for gifts and friends, it would be nice to do it for more professional reasons, too.
6. document our crochet meetings.  We already do this, but sometimes we get too obsessed with what we do and forget to document it! With the new project at Theia Lab, starting tomorrow, we have to promise to ourselves that we will shoot some more photos! 
7. "spread the thread"!!  This is the tagline of  our blog and the main reason we started our crochet club, to teach more people how to crochet/knit and spread the love for needle work!! 
8. organize a yarn exhibition.  With pictures of our favorite crafts and crafters, and some actual crocheted/knitted objects.
9. participate in a local craft bazaar. There is the Vintage and Crafts bazaar organized by Les Broderies Anglaises, happening at our favorite district (Exarheia), and we really love it, it's a dream of ours to participate to a bazaar of this kind. 
10. crafting more.  crochet more, aaaaaand more, and more, and more!!!! okay some more knitting,sewing,embroidering would be awesome, too! Make do and mend more....  

These are our goals for the 2012! Do you have any? We would love to hear!

big kiss
♥ marietta+panagiota ♥

we want you to meet...

..."yarn lovin afternoons"!! It's our new project! But first thing first, let me give you the whole picture:  Panagiota and I, were really busy on December, and we took an unplanned break from the blog and the crochet club. Then the Christmas arrived and we were super happy, had so much fun and we relaxed (just a tiny bit), everything felt right, and it just might be the new plans that were on the way! And one fine Christmassy afternoon we met Theia! (in greek means aunt) and we decided to collaborate to bring some really cool people together and turn them into a group of cool yarn lovin people! hehehe.

So once a week, on Saturdays around 17.30, till early March, we will be meeting at Theia lab and we will be holding crochet lessons full of information and stuff that would give any crafty human being, yarngasms!! Sounds exciting? We knoooow! If you want to learn more on how the "Yarn Lovin Afternoons" lessons will evolve just come and visit us at Theia lab!
here are some images of this aha-mazing place:
(all photo credits go to Theia)

so who's Theia!? Theia is a creative fashion brand that creates mostly corsets. Behind this fashion brand we met two girls, Thodora and Aliki! The members of Theia also run the Theia Lab, which is some kind of a school for sewing, pattern-cutting and other fashion-related topics (like our beloved crochet!).
   Me and Panagiota will be there welcoming you, every Saturday, starting this Saturday the 14th of the lovely January of 2012, till early March. So stay tuned, cool stuff is on the way (we are planning a lot on more projects, too). And speaking of planning, our New Year's Resolution is coming up...  Did you write any goals for the 2012, down?

kiss kiss with little sounds of excitement
marietta ♥

Our lovely strange places to crochet/knit

    Panagiota and myself, are crazy busy bees at this time of year, and we find it hard to save time for crocheting/knitting, that's the main reason why you can find us crocheting/knitting at the strangest places! Most commonly you will meet us crocheting in the bus, the metro, at bus stations. The second most common place is the cafeterias, and lastly in parks, public spaces and benches! Wherever we have some time to spend it crafting, usually while doing something else, we just do it. 

Here are some photos of needle work actually happening, and some photos of us exaggerating with the concept of strange places, just for fun!

double crochet's club meetings, at a cafeteria

at the Athens Concert Hall

at a fashion show of Athens Xclusive fashion designers week

at the Greek Parliament

at a park on knit in public day

by the sea! 

and a member of our club, knitting at a common place, dressed in a strange way!

So these were our lovely strange places to crochet/knit documented until now!! We are planning to shoot more photos at strange locations while crafting, and we might shoot some more peculiar dressed people to crochet/knit. If you meet us somewhere that you wouldn't expect, please do say hi!

kiss kiss
marietta ♥

Human Being Creative

Back in June we started a post series "Human Being Creative" The deal was that from time to time we will share stuff that insanely creative people make, preferable about crocheting, knitting, embroidery and sewing. The first post was about Penelopy a fashionista and blogger. Today I would love to introduce to you the creative duet: Grandmama's reLOVED! Rember them from this post?! They are two sisters that live and create in Athens Greece, that are well known from the vintage and crafts bazaars in Athens and for their avant gard and original pieces. I totally adore their vintage but also handmade accessories and clothing. This time some terrific crocheted head pieces and colars were the reason we chose to feature them here on Double Crochets.

Check out some of my favorite ones:

(all photo credits goes to Grandmama's reLOVED)

Don't you just love the feeling of their photos!? 

You can find Grandmama's reLOVED on facebook and at vintage bazaars down town Athens! And these are only the crocheted stuff...there are a lot of others....  You'll love them , too.

big kiss

marietta  ♥

Wip!!

Long time no see!
Since my life is a work in progress, balancing between courses and searching for a real job, I didn't manage to write a proper post till now! That's why I decided it's the perfect timing to blog about our yarn projects in progress! Let me tell you, that Double Crochets are on a crochet/knitting fever... it must be the chilly weather! Even though our time is little, we manage to crochet in our lovely strange places (buses, bus stops, the metro, anywhere).
I am about to finish a granny square blanket, while at the same time I am crocheting a secret gift (can't reveal it,sorry), and planning to start this week a v-neck sweater for my boyfriend. Panagiota is knitting a sweet bolero on the cutest shade of olive green (using circular needles), and already planning to start something new. In the meanwhile our crochet club members are all working on scarves, cowls, tobacco cases and more! How awesome is that?!

Here are some photos of my blanket:

Granny squares, you can never have too many of them! More! Mooore!

Here is the link to a program my dad made to generate the possible color combos for granny squares!! It's not totally finished yet, but we are working on it. (I am posting about is soon). You can also check my progress on Ravelry, or search for some awesome free patterns. (add me if you have an account there). This is the pattern I've used for the granny squares, with this yarn and a 3.5 crochet hook, and this is the pattern I am planning to use for the v-neck sweater (giggles of happiness). The sleeveless sweater will be my first "wearable" thing to crochet and I am really really, rrreeelly excited!


so I have to leave you now, to get back to my granny squares! Hoping that everyone is having a sweet lazy Sunday, and wishing courage and strength for the week to come.
cheers
marietta ♥   

1st Double Crochets meeting of the year!

1st double crochet meeting for this year!!

Hello, hello!
Autumn is here and what is more delightful than gather,
have some beverage and start our projects in most unexpected places?
This sounds like double crochets' meeting!
you can crochet or knit, either is welcome!
so choose a project, tiny or large and join us!!
today,first Friday of October will be our officially first!

So double crochets' meetings will be held every week around 21.15 somewhere at Exarcheia district.Every week right before our meeting, I'll try to post a loved free pattern (for crochet or knitting) that will be mostly borrowed from another free source and some times might be ours (crosses fingers).

Free Pattern of week 1
Category: Crochet
Level: Beginner
Type: Belt

click for pattern

This pattern is from Janette of  The Green Dragon Fly blog,
we think is a really beautiful, easy and smart pattern that's why we chose this for our first meeting.It's of course for personal use only,except if else indicated in the pattern source.Feel free to send us pictures of your finished projects!

big hugs and kisses

Panagiota of the Double Crochets

fuck yeah!

so there is this thing on tumblr called "Fuck Yeah___insert anything__" and it is a way to find a tumbl-blog that posts stuff only related to the ___insert anything___ topic! Two of my favourites are: "fuck yeah crochet goat" and "fuck yeah knitting alpaca"! As you can tell they are memes about crochet and knitting , and they write funny facts and stuff about them!

Here are some of my favourite (sorry for the image overload but it was pretty hard to choose only these)

they are hilarious! 

You can check the blogs of crochet goat  and knitting alpaca for more! Me and Panagiota enjoy reading these together, it's so much fun if something of these have happened to you before...

In other news, our followers on tumblr got 100!! (105 today to be honest) and we are super happy...! Check our Double Crochets tumbl-blog, it is some kind of an inspiration board and a place to collect stuff we love and motivate us. You can follow if you like! 

kiss

marietta ♥

Summer love

Hello!!

How are you? (have you seen the new blogger's dashboard?) and how was your summer? Mine was terrific! Some weeks ago I visited my sweet cousins at Aigina island! We did some catch up, we cooked together, laughed, swim, rest by the sea, had a blast!!!  We did enjoy some mornings with a cup of coffee and chocolate croissant. nom nom! Aaaand we did some knitting by the sea! As you already know, Marietta and I, like to crochet or knit anywhere (literally at any place!) One place I haven't tried before, and was found out to be pretty awesome, was the beach!!

My younger cousin wanted to learn how to knit, and I was more than happy to show her, while it happened that among the sunscreen and the underwater masks, we've packed needles and yarn. The scenery was ideal and so.... we started knitting lessons at the beach! It was a little crazy but most of all relaxing!

what's your top 5 strangest places you've ever tried knitting or crocheting?

The perfect photos of me and my younger cousin Marietta (yes they have the same name with my sister Marietta) were shot by my older cousin Marina, a very talented architect and bon viver! Thanks for everything girls! Now that I am back in Athens I'm trying to enjoy myself until I get back to the crazy life of autumn. Double Crochets will soon start meeting again in Athens and new projects are about to begin!! Wherever you are, find some time, grab your needles or hooks, choose a nice pattern and let's spread the thread! September is here, autumn is at the door, we'll soon be wearing socks, warm pullovers and drinking hot tea while we knit! But summer isn't totally over yet!! let's keep some summer in our hearts! 

big hug

Panagiota 

Double Crochets in Athens News

Last week we were on the news! eeeeeeek! Marie Zaharaki wrote an amazing article on Athens News about crafting groups in Athens and we were really proud to be among two well known ones. We received a questionnaire with questions about us, our group and some crocheting issues!

here are some of our favorite answers:


How did you learn how to crochet/knit?
Marietta:I remember myself being taught by my mom how to hold the crochet hook since i was a little girl and doing simple "paint by number" style embroidery during the summer vacations. Panagiota is mostly self-taught and the one that talked me into crocheting and taught me more stuff.
Panagiota: The first time I sat down and finally started learning how to knit was when I wanted to make a scarf for my boyfriend at the time. I asked my mother and grandmother, who both showed me how to start, the basics so to speak. The rest I found on the internet. There are too many sites and tutorial videos on how to knit. After learning how to knit, crochet was next! Internet was again my tutor. Now crocheting hooked my heart!

When did you decide to start coming together as a group?
Marietta: I always considered Panagiota and myself a creative duo and literally a team since we were toddlers. Some time before 2008 I started reading lots of crafting and vintage related blogs! And the whole movement inspired me! I kept trying to talk my sister into creating a serious crochet group and have a more serious attitude to it. A year later I also persuaded two friends of ours to be in the crochet club and then it was reality! Panagiota was our leader and teacher ,me, Eleni and Tonia were the students/members!

What benefits are there in working as a group?
Panagiota: Well when you are in a group like ours the benefits are more than one can imagine, the most important for me is that one inspires the other and together we are moving forward and stay motivated! more ideas are coming on the table and we are having fun at the same time.


Do you feel comfortable to take your needle work out when with other friends or visiting someone?
Panagiota: We feel totally comfortable with that, but we don't like getting too antisocial, that means that when we're with friends that don't knit or crochet we prefer having fun with them so we don't crochet/knit!

What have people's reactions been like if you have taken your work out?
Marietta: There are really surprising reactions from people watching us crocheting! They ask us what is it that that we do, if they can buy something from us,even if we can teach them! Old ladies usually get too excited, they say that we are going to make super good brides and how lucky the men that will marry us will be... They also give us advice about what yarns to use, how to finish our project, then they ask our names and say goodbye! It's so cool! In the cafeterias, where we do our crochet club meetings, the waitresses will every time comment on our projects, and also happened sometimes that they ask us to teach them how to crochet in their lunch break! We also have taught two or three complete strangers how to crochet, we are still friends with some of them!


Marie (a knitter herself) wrote a wonderful article about craft meet up groups and commented on if it is socially acceptable to do needle work in public.There were some amazing ladies answering those issues and it is very interesting to read about crafts gaining ground in Athens.You can read here the article in Athens News (the oldest english spoken newspaper in Greece!) And  there will be some more of our answers in the About us page. Hope you enjoyed this!

Also stay tuned for Dimi's new blog and the Sunshine awards! coming later on this week on Double Crochets!

cheers
Marietta ♥

new blog on the block!

Yesterday we had a photo shoot for Dimi's new blog and an extra tiring name-brainstorming. God, finding *the* cool name is hard! But totally worth it, I am super excited for it and really can't wait till it's finished. I'm pretty sure it'll be the awesomest blog ever! Here it's a making-of photo, but sorry I cannot show you more or reveal any more information... you'll have to wait!

coming soon!

In other news, the other day, we received the Sunshine Award! From lovely Marielle of Magical Day Dream!! We promise to pass it on to the ingenious bloggers that we love, really soon!
Oh and a question to anyone interested answering: how do you stay motivated to post on your blog?! I really admire the ones that are so dedicated to this! It seems like I'll never manage to do it!

cheers
marietta ♥