A little knitting

Yesterday afternoon, I sat here waiting. And waiting. Watching the darkness closing in on me every minute, then finally - there he was! I ran outside with the camera, shouted "Freeze!" and snapped a few pictures. Phew, I made it! Taking decent pictures in daylight literally means you haven't got all day... :) I didn't even get him time to finish unloading the car... Hence the backpacks and the open trunk.

This is what I have been knitting lately. A tube scarf for my darling. He wanted one, and who am I to say no to those pretty eyes? You should know, he's struggling hard to look good for you here. He is a man with many talents, but looking relaxed on a picture unfortunately is not one of them. :) 

He picked the colors, but I wish we had used a different yarn. This curls up terribly, and makes the scarf look too thin. If we ignore that fact, it looks great on him. Even if our son said it looked feminine... As you almost can see, this is a scarf knitted as a tube, that is in the round, without ends. Then you just wrap it around the neck as many times as you want. Or can. More then three times is not recommended on this scarf though, if you want to be able to breathe too. It turned out it was a good thing that I made myself that ear-warmer, since I won't get to use my beanie anymore.Yes, it is (used to be?) mine. He had only gray ones, so he had to borrow it.

Speaking of my ear-warmer, another good thing with that project turning out so great is that I really want matching mitts. And as so happened, I had an unfinished project from last winter that would work, so I finished it today. It was easily done, once I had figured out how I was supposed to continue with the cable. This was my first attempt knitting cables and the first mitt was just left without any notes or clues to how I had made it.

I apparently did figure it out, and even got a little wiser doing it. Hooray! The second one was knitted in a rush (when I was supposed to clean the house, but didn't), and now I am not taking them off. My fingers get terribly cold this time of the year, even indoors.

I didn't figure out how to get them in the same picture easily, so you have to admire them one at a time! :)

My new favorite!

I'm so happy to be blogging today! First of all, since I've been very tired lately and haven't had the energy to do anything, really. Feel much better today though. Secondly, 'cause I have something pretty to show you! Oh, I hope you find it pretty too, maybe I shouldn't just assume that... ;) But I know for sure this is my new favorite!

Tadah! It's an ear-warmer, made by me for myself with love. :) I often wear my hair high up on my head, which makes it hard to wear a regular hat or beanie of any kind. So I figured out that what I needed was an ear-warmer. A big, soft, warm one. With color and a huge flower. It's really easy to make, but maybe I'll make some kind of pattern for it anyway. I haven't decided yet.

(Can you see that my eyes seem to have the same color as the door to our food cellar behind me? Didn't know they were that gray...)

When I went to the yarn shop recently, I bought two balls of this super soft, super bulky wool yarn. It's called DROPS Eskimo, and I love it! It's so soft and works up really fast. I could make several of these ear-warmers in one night, for sure. And I want to. I want to make several in different, happy colors. And I want to make mittens, and fingerless gloves in matching colors. And it goes perfectly with my coat, don't you think? I am so pleased with this! Can you tell? :) I even changed my profile picture to one of these pictures, that's how much I like it.

Bye bye for now, hopefully I'll be back soon with pictures of something else I finished the other day - a tube scarf for my husband. You know, that beige and pink thing in my basket... I just have to catch my darling in the daylight to take a decent picture of him wearing it, and hopefully I can make that happen. I will also try to write down my African Flower bag pattern in Swedish, some anonymous people asked me to. (I wish you rather had e-mailed me, to make sure you get hold of the pattern... I hope you'll be back to find it when I'm done.)

Such a rainy day

 It looks like this

today, so I think I'll grab this

and go hide under a warm blanket somewhere. Maybe light a few candles and listen to the wind. Knit slowly and try to ignore that my body is complaining about the weather. Make the best of a cold and tired day! :)

Lining...

 I've started on this big project. Well, maybe not so big really, but it feels big. I intend to line all the bags I've crocheted, and since sewing isn't what I do best, I'm a little shaken by the thought. Maybe that's why I've been postponing it...

Last summer I made this little green handbag, and to be honest it looked rather dull. It could use a flower or two, and a few months ago I decided on a rosebud fabric for the lining. The crocheted flower was a new thought too, which I decided on even before that. I had it lying around as a brooch after trying to sell it on the Harvest Feast, so it wasn't too much work involved. I just didn't happen. Told you I'm lazy... :)

 I must admit I like it way better like this. I guess I care too much about what other people think, which makes me create things that I find a bit boring myself. This is definitely more me. Not sure that it would attract more buyers if I tried to sell it, but I've come to think of the things I make as adoptable, not for sale. I want the things I make to be loved and cherished. Used. That's the greatest joy. And hopefully, someone will see this bag one day, fall in love with it and want to bring it home.

This time I hand stitched the lining. And I even managed to get the seam straight. What a lucky day! Or night actually, that's when I'm at my best. I'm in love with this fabric, I felt pure happiness stitching it to my little bag. So, so very pretty! So pretty I almost want to keep it for myself, but I certainly do not need another little bag... Wouldn't give it away to just anybody though, this bag has to be loved! :)

Almost forgot the before-picture. Not that interesting, if you ask me...

Finally!

This weekend, the snow finally decided to come and stay for a while. I'm so happy it did! I joined the husband in the garden earlier today, to feed the birds. I love to sit in the kitchen and watch the birds eat.

I finally finished the beanie I knitted for my son, I think he likes it 'cause he tried it on and I haven't seen him take it off yet, and he's not even outdoors! :)

I've been told pompoms are fashion this winter, so he was very pleased with his beanie. To avoid cold winter winds blowing through his ears, I even lined it. Can't say that the result looks perfect, but hopefully it will keep him warm. I used a fleece blanket I bought really cheap once to make parts of a Santa costume from, but then the thought Santa didn't want to participate in the school show and I could use the blanket for other things.

I even used the machine to attach the lining. It feels like cheating, but I think it would have been hard to get it right and stretchy enough by hand-sewing, so it felt like the right decision.

Yesterday, we took the kids to a science center in a nearby town. I brought yarn and needles to get started on a tube scarf while the kids played, but we actually had so much fun playing around as a family, that I never even picked it up. I got started on it last night though. And I think this scarf is the reason my wrist hurts a little today.

I haven't come that far, but I have knitted a lot! The yarn is so thin, and the scarf is so long I had to cast on 450 stitches! I decreased the number after a few rounds, but 375 stitches on 3 mm needles still take a while to knit... I don't know about you, but striped yarn always keeps me knitting. Just one more color shift... and one more... and... The colors are all wrong in this picture, by the way. It's not really that pink, and it looks like blue but in reality it's gray. My husband gave me Adobe Photoshop for Christmas, so hopefully I'll be able to find a way to correct the colors when I learn how to use it.

I haven't showed you the progress on the violet hat yet, but it looks like nothing more than a violet bowl at the moment so you're not missing out on anything. I think I'll spend some time with it tonight and let the knitting rest for a while to spare my wrist, so maybe I'll have something to show you soon. As for now, I think I'll look at some linings for my crocheted bags, while my sewing machine is still in place. See ya!

Color in my life!

 I got some ideas about new projects last night. Yes, I'm that kind of person who works best in late evenings, mornings aren't my thing at all. As you can see, I had some company while sketching a little. As much as I love her, sometimes I find her to be on top of things a little too often. Literally.

She loves to hang out on my creative area, and I guess it's partly my own fault she has to come so close, as you can see there's a bit of a mess there. Constantly. So I guess my sketch book was the only place left for her to relax on. I just thought she took it a little too far when she tried to snuggle with my hand while I was actually sketching... :)

 
However, I did manage to get a picture taken of my sketch, without any fur appearing in the corners.This is what I started making for my girl. A violet hat, ear-flaps with braids and some flower embroidery. That's the plan. I had to undo several rounds several times to get the size right, the drawback of using non-chunky yarn I guess. And maybe the drawback of always wanting to improvise instead of finding a nice pattern to follow. Nah, too easy and not half the fun! :)

There also was this problem with not having the right yarn in my boxes, and today my darling husband helped me with that. I don't have a driver's license (yet), so he has to take me everywhere I need to go. And today I really needed to go to GarnMalin, a local yarn shop that opened up not far from here in September. I know the owner a little from the shop she used to work in, but today was actually the first time I got a chance to visit her. She has the lovliest little shop, I can tell you. You really should visit her site, just to see it and all the beautiful things she makes.

I bought all the necessities, like yarn for a hat and a headband for me. The three balls above? They are actually for the husband. He wants one of those circular scarves that are so popular here right now. And I'm so happy that he wanted some color. He likes color, so I'm not surprised, but still. We talked about colors in the yarn shop, and the owner agreed with me - people prefer the grays and blacks. Most people won't even buy here gorgeous bags because of one pink rose on a gray bag...

I know that I prefer colors like these, isn't this yarn simply gorgeous? This is the first handspun I have ever had, and I can't wait to get started! As if I didn't have enough projects waiting to be finished already... :) But hey, Variatio delectat, as I learned in the Latin class - variety gives joy! If I want to have a million things going on to switch between and it doesn't stress me out, why should I not? :)

Fun pens and plans

Hi there! Trying to create a new trend here. A I'll-post-more-often trend. I felt some inspiration and enthusiasm coming over me when the new year started. Maybe I just got tired out by making a lot of things for others, and not so much for me. And I had some projects who didn't turn out as I hoped, which probably pulled me down too. Not that I don't like making things for others, it's just that I've realized something. I've realized that I'm not very Swedish. At least not when it comes to preferences of color and how many flowers you can put into a project. :)

I have spent the two last days updating my Ravelry projects. Both with new projects and the really old ones, the ones I made before I even became a ravelrer. And I realized that I have projects with a very varying color scheme. The things I make when I get to just play around are colorful, preferably red or pink. Or any bright color I have at hand.

Things I make for others are a bit less colorful and stricter, and I think I simply get a little bored, not working with colors that I love. And I guess it puts me down a bit, that people rarely want to bring home the things I've already made, but rather want me to make the same thing but in different colors. I think my Purple and pink african flower bag is a great example here, it's soooo popular on both Ravelry and Flickr. But when I put it up for sale here in Sweden, nobody wants to buy it. Too pink for most people...

Don't get me wrong here, I like to be able to make things for others. Maybe I just have to make sure to get some time to make things that I love. I don't want to be forced to work with colors I don't like, but it's not fun when nobody wants my stuff either. Guess it's just a matter of finding the right audience, and maybe that's something I should start working on this year. Sometimes I play with the thought of getting my own place on Etsy, but so far it's just a thought.

I have also thought about my page on Facebook, and what to make of it. I hoped for more feedback, addressing only those of my friends who care about my crafting. That I would be happier to post my projects when they don't "disturb" those not interested. But I was mistaken. I get almost no feedback at all now. And not very many of my friends have liked the page, so now they don't get to see what I'm doing. Last night I thought I would make up a plan, sketch on what I really want with that page, and how to get there. But I was tired and didn't want to go downstairs to get paper and some fun pens. And who can sketch on plans without fun pens (as in colorful), I ask you? Well not me! Once in university, a guy in my class could tell a certain bag wasn't mine, because of the lack of pens in all colors, that he knew would stick out of my bag... :)

Oh, did you notice another one of my plans? One I didn't need fun pens and paper for. Not even a list. (I love making lists!) I have decided to try to show more of my true self here in the blog. And for that, I need smileys! Sometimes my posts sound more serious than they are, simply because you can't hear the irony in my voice or see the smile on my face. I had chosen not to use smileys before, to keep my text... I don't know what really? Clean? Maybe I've taken too many university classes, and now I think I have to keep that "standard" in everything I write? Haha!

By the way, when I mentioned my unability to make up plans without my pens for my husband last night, he laughed and said I should have a blog for that kind of statements too. It would be fun to read, he said. So I guess that shows that I've been way too serious here, and that you all have missed out on a big part of me. The crazy and lazy part! ;) So now you have something to look forward too, you lucky people!

Well, this is becoming a novel shortly, so I think I rather stop writing. Take care, and see you all soon! And that's a promise this time!

Oops!

Hello there, long neglected blog and blog-readers! Sorry I was gone for so long... I knew that I hadn't been in here for a while, but I didn't realize I had been away that long! (I'm trying to gather my thoughts here, but it's rather hard since three kids are rumbling about making all kinds of noises, haha.) There's no particular reason for this long blog break, it just happened. We are all well. Of course December was a busy month as always, but we managed to get a lot of family time too. Lots of board games have been played together, lots of meals eaten with lit candles, lots of Christmas preparations made together...

And a lot of family gatherings. We were invited to a baby christening just before Christmas for my cousins daughter, we spent Christmas Eve at my sister's with a visit from Santa Claus of course.

We spent Christmas Day here celebrating our girl who turned seven that very day.

She also had a party for her friends, which was ever so exciting. We usually have some kind of theme on the kids' parties, and this time we pretended that we were out of power, so we had to use candles and flashlights, and cook something on the alcohol burner.

Some of the kids had actually been out of power recently, because of all the storms. But we haven't been affected at all, staying nice and warm. So that's what we've been up to over here. A very nice Christmas, I would say. And a nice New Year's Eve too, spent at home in peace and quiet, watching a movie together, eating wonderful food made by my talented husband, drove up the mountain nearby (actually more like a hill...) to watch the fire works from above at midnight. And the new year came with a relaxed feeling of happiness, and actually some inspiration. Which leads us to the crafty side of life...

I haven't been crafting much lately. I had to speed knit some things before Christmas, which made me a bit tired of it all. My sister's friend wished me to make a hat for her husband for Christmas, and it took a while to finish...

It's supposed to look like a brain... And it does, when someone's wearing it. It's just an ordinary hat, with a total of 6 m i-cord attached to it. It didn't only take time to knit, it was quite tricky to attach it too, especially since I wanted it to be the same on both sides. Haven't heard what the husband thought about his Christmas present, I think I'll have to ask some day.

I also knitted and crocheted presents for my nephews. The little ones got cakes that I'd made, and the older ones got fingerless mittens. One pair was used the next day and constantly kidnapped by the little ones, so I think it's safe to say that they were appreciated. I have actually promised to make the little ones a pair each too, so they'll stop stealing their brother's. Even the dad in the family wanted a pair.

To speed things up, I tried to knit both mitts at the same time, using the magic loop. Don't know how much time you actually save the first time you try something that's a bit tricky to get right, but... At least it felt like they were done faster. I used a patterned yarn, or what to call it. It's hopeless to try and find the place where they start the same sequence, it's just to get going and hope it doesn't turn out to weird looking. But I can tell you that I will certainly knit two things at once on the magic loop again, so much easier to get the same size that way.

Well, that's that. I was a bit fed up with needle-work there for a while, might have been since I was up until 2.30 the night before Christmas Eve crocheting the last cakes... But now I'm knitting again. I'm making a hat for the son, I'll show you when it's finished.

I hope you all had a wonderful end of December and a great start on the new year. I wish you all the best things you can imagine for this year and more, and I have a feeling I'll be around a bit more often from now on... It feels like fun again!

Playing with beads

I used to play around with beads a lot a few years ago. Before I started card making, crocheting and knitting. But once and again I get my bead boxes out and make something. A long time ago, I made my mum a bracelet. She wanted me to add something to it, but I decided I didn't like it as it was anymore, and started all over. I like it more now, I only have to make it a little wider to actually fit my mum. That's the problem with me, small hands, skinny wrists and big head - not always easy to make things for others and actually make them fit!

Mum also wanted me to make her a brown necklace, and the choice of beads was easy enough. I love these stones, I think they are called Tiger Eye or something like that. This time I made it big enough. I love the toggles I used, they are both pretty and easy to use. 

I actually have a few more things to show you, but I don't have the time right now, which means you'll probably hear from me again soon. If I find the time between all the Christmas preparations that still are to be done...

Goodies for Christmas season

 Hello there! Having a busy time now, with Christmas soon coming up? I wouldn't say I'm busy or stressed out, I do all the baking and such because I enjoy it. But I haven't been well this week, so I am a little after my schedule. But then again, I always am. Guess I am always a bit too optimistic about how much I will get done in one day, especially when it's all fun things to do. I have mostly been sitting on my bed, reading a good book and trying to get some knitting done. Have to finish that brain hat soon...

But today I have been feeling much better and have been able to shorten my to-do list a little. Much to my daughter's delight, we have now made our first Christmas sweets, white truffle with lime. Mmm, yum yum! One of my favorites! (I know the pictures are too dark, but I don't have a fancy camera and it's dark here most of the time now. )

 I also baked saffron buns. They should have been done before the 13'th when we celebrate the Lucia tradition, but I didn't have the strength then. We'll enjoy them just as much now! Usually, the saffron buns are made in quite a different shape than these, and are decorated with raisins. But I fell in love with their shape a few years ago and have made them "my" saffron buns. They are supposed to look like stars, but they really did rise this time and turned out like huge... buns. But at least I know they're stars. And it seems my kids like them just the same. Probably even better, bigger buns means more for their sweet teeth, right?

The kids prefer the stars you see, while I found a new favorite last year. I thought for a while that I had lost the recipe, but to my great joy I found it. In my book with recipes, who would have thought that? I actually jumped up and down with joy when I found them, that's how tasty they are. Saffron buns with a filling of almond paste, vanilla and orange. Soooo yummy! 

They too did rise more then I expected, so my husband stated that we could serve them as a meal, or at least a decent snack. He didn't seem to sad about that, I have to say. The best thing is I don't have to bake as many kind of cakes and cookies for Christmas this year, a bun like this and a ginger bread and anyone will be full! A good thing, since we also have a birthday coming up (my daughter is born on Christmas day, which is alright since we celebrate Christmas Eve here in Sweden) which usually calls for a lot of baking. Just perfect!

Less messy

Yesterday my hands was hurting so I had to avoid knitting and crochet. They do so from time to time, due to the weather most of the time. So I decided I would do some sewing instead. I'm not very keen on putting my sewing machine on the table, since we're not really the best of friends. But when I tidied my work table the other day, I realized I really needed (and wanted) a place to keep my circular needles. They tend to get so tangled up when you just let them lie around... So I decided to upgrade my DPN organizer to a DPN and circular needle organizer.

So this is what my organizer used to look like. I undid most of the seams to be able to fold it up to a rectangle. Chose two new fabrics that I sewed together and attached to the rectangle, then I started making new pockets for all the needles. 

Now there's room for all my DPN's, circular needles, knit pro's and hooks. Hooray! 

If you ever plan to make an organizer like this, please do yourself a favor and THINK, long and hard, about what you want to keep in it and how big place each thing will need. I thought I had done so, but when I started putting all my things in place, I realized I could have done with less pockets in one size, and more in some other sizes...

But I managed to put it all in there, and they are all so much easier to find now. And I get a much clearer view of what I have. Maybe there won't be enough room in it for all my needles if I keep buying knit pro's for instance, but if I know myself right I won't be too disappointed if I have to make a new organizer when that day comes.

Unfinished crochet

 I think it might be a good thing for me, showing you all my unfinished projects like this. Why? Well, it makes me want to finish them to show you how they turned out. And that has to be a good thing.

This basket belonged to my mother-in-law, who passed away seven years ago. She was a crafty lady, and has painted this basket herself. She used to keep some embroidery in there, I think. It felt right to bring it home and use it for crafty stuff. Now, I keep unfinished projects that I'm not working on for the moment in it. On the picture it's filled with bags that I intend to line. I don't really like making lining, since I'm not very good at it. But it gives a more worked feeling to the bag, so I'll do my best.

This is another bag I am meaning to line, and maybe add a zipper to. It is crocheted in wool and felted. I didn't have enough yarn to make a whole handle, so I had to improvise. I wanted to try beads for the handle, but I thought it would roll off the shoulder if I used only beads. So I crocheted and felted part of a handle until I ran out of yarn. For the rest of the handle I used wooden beads and felted wool rolled to balls.

 I'm not sure that I like the way it turned out. I used a wire to thread the beads on, but it is rather uncomfortable in the crocheted part. And it looks a bit weird, doesn't it? I'm thinking about making a new handle, but I don't know how yet. I bought the yarn on sale since they were deleting the colors from the product range, so I can't buy more. Maybe I can find something else in my yarn boxes.

Yes, one more. This was actually the first one. I was meaning to give it to the church sewing circle's annual charity auction, but it was never finished and then my kids got ill and I totally forgot about it. Yes, I'm a bit ashamed. Especially since it's almost done. I just need to attach the handle and line it. Maybe add a zipper. But I'm not completely ashamed, I am honestly a bit relieved too. I only said I might give it away, and then my neighbor forgot about the might and I felt obliged to give it away even though I didn't really want to. But I do feel ashamed that I forgot about the auction and that I didn't donate anything at all to be sold.

Yes, I do love African flowers! I made this one before the two above, but put it aside for a while. This one is supposed to be for me, but so far I have only made this one hexagon... I guess I have enough to keep myself busy for a while. But if I know myself I will probably get started on a few new projects before I finish all of these...

Some unfinished business

Oh, I know I've been boring lately. Not posting too often, am I? I hoped I would have something fun to show you, but all I seem to have is an endless row of unfinished stuff. No, that's not entirely true. I do have these, I finished them last week. But how much fun are they really?

Cozy and hopefully warm, yes, but not too fascinating. So I guess I have no other choice than to show you some of my unfinished (and in some cases unsatisfying) business. Too many for one post, so let's start with the knitting.

I was tidying the mess (and indeed, a mess it was!) on and around my worktable today, and found some things I had almost forgot about. This mit was one of them. Last winter, I thought I would try making cables. Turned out it was not my best skill, and here it is now. I'm thinking I might give it a second chance, maybe influenced by the first snow that fell here last night. Winter and cables seems right somehow.

The next one is newer. Do you remember the trouble I had, trying to machine felt a purse and a mobile cozy to the right size? Well, this is the too big mobile cozy. I thought I'd keep it for myself, since I have a rather big mobile phone. I thought I would make something colorful, like Swedish kurbits. I really like the way it's turning out, but unfortunately I broke my last felting needle and was unable to finish it. Have to get new ones soon!

This one is the actual custom ordered cozy. This one belongs to the category unsatisfying unfinished business. I managed to get the cozy the right size, but then she wanted the motif of a wolf. Oh my! Never thought it would be so hard to make. I just started needle felting motifs, and I can truthfully say I'm not very good at it. Yet, anyway. I hope to be one day. What you are looking at is supposedly a wolf howling at the moon.

Someone close to me admitted it had looked like a rabbit to him, and he had the courtesy to say so when I had come this far. Thank you! (Love you anyway!) So now it looks like a rabbit to me too. Rabbit or not, I don't really like it. And I really like to be proud of the things I make, especially if they are for someone else. Now I'm thinking about how to make it better. Felting a wolf is so hard since I'm not good enough to make details. And embroidery on such a thick material, in the shape of a cozy seems too hard to do. Grateful for any suggestions! 


This one is something I really long to get started on. This is the first attempt I made at that felted purse with ribbon embroidery that turned out too big. I'm thinking about turning it into a small handbag. I will felt a long handle for it, line it with red, silky fabric and make some embroidery on it. Red. I searched long and hard to find the right pattern, and I think I found it.

When I knit purses and bags for felting, I cast on with a cotton yarn. Then I start knitting with the wool. This way I can sew the bottom together very neatly. On this one I happened to use red cotton, and it looked lovely! Red and gray are winter and Christmas to me. I'm thinking that this tiny little handbag would be perfect for any Christmas related party where you need only a pretty little something for your mobile and maybe your wallet.

This last project is the only one I'm actually working on for the moment. A friend wanted me to make a very special hat for her husband for Christmas. It will look like a brain when it's done. Hopefully!

Last but not least, I would like to say thank you and welcome! Thank you for all the lovely comments on the African Flower bag, I've walked on clouds for days now. I could never imagine that my little how-to would lead so many people to this blog. So do feel welcome, both you who just passes by and those of you who liked it enough to stay with me for a while. I'm very glad to have you, and I hope to find new friends among you!