A nice New Years Eve and a Happy New Year 2012!

After a beautiful white Christmas we are going to have a white Silvester this year.

It is snowing very much and looks beautiful outside.

A wonderful Silvester/New Years Eve to you and a great Year 2012!

I´ve first seen this youtube clip on facebook yesterday and just in case you haven´t seen it jet....I love it and hope you like it too.

Some knitting/crochet resolutions for the New Year 2012

Yesterday I was sorting my yarn and got a bit overwhelmed with the amount of wool that is living here. Although I was knitting a lot from stash this last year i still have quite a large stash. I know there are people out there with much more yarn but I think I have reached my limit now. I didn´t buy any yarn since October this year and I will not buy any yarn - sale or not sale - until my stashed yarn is reduced to about half its current size.
I have all my stashed yarn in my Ravelry notebook and so I have a really realistic overview of what I still have and how much I´ve used up.


I also had to overthink my joice of projects a bit. I´ve knitted quite a some shawls in the past. The lacy and triangle kind of. I think these are pretty BUT I nearly never every wear any of them. The only triangle shawls I really wear are the Boneyard (rowan felted tweed), the Azzu shawl (noro silk garden)  and for special events the Ishbel (Drops baby alpaca silk). Otherwise I only wear the Bactus scarfs and large cowls. So why keep knitting lace shawls if noone will wear them?


The knitted and crochet things that get really a lot of use in our house are crochet blankets, knitted socks, hats, mittens, scarfs (not shawls), cowls and some cardigan and sweaters. But mostly the "pure" ones. The ones with garter and stockinette stitch and not much more.

And last but not least the colours! I love buying colourful and bright yarn but prefer wearing grey, black, white and silent and dusty variations of colour. The bright and cheery ones I one like on the skein! So for the future - I will stop buying to "loud" yarn!

I really want to keep these resolutions in mind:

- work from stash until the whole stash fits in the yarn storage again (black and green)
- knit/crochet only garments and assessories which someone will really like to use
- knit only a lace scarf if you really want to use it together with a special dress NOT just because....
- if buying yarn again - Think first if you will really want to wear this colour or if it is just pretty. If only pretty
   on the skein leave it in the store. We are not decorating the house with yarn!
- if possible, buy only yarn  you really love.
- prefer Organic yarn

THE MOST IMPORTANT RESOLUTION FOR THE NEXT YEAR FOR ME IS

WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

The last knitted pieces to show you this year.

David with his Korrigan hat. This one is knitted with Dream in Colour Classy (Midnight Derby).
For David I´ve knitted the size D9. It is large enough but the pattern is very nice and strechy and this one would also fit an adult.

Pattern: Korrigan by SOLENN
Yarn: Dream in Colour Classy (colour Midnight Derby a varieted dark blue) ...receicled yarn from stash
Needles: 4mm

Philipp wearing his new black hat. Unfortunatly I wan´t able to make nice pics with my cell phone. It is heavy snowing and he is not really in modeling mood :) the hat was very easy and fast to knit. Knit in only one evening - the 23rd December. That´s why I call it the last minute hat and I think I´ll knit it again.


Pattern: Graham by Jennifer Adams (this is a free pattern!)
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted ( black, from stash)
Needles: 4mm





Now the cowls are coming. These are just simple garter scarfs joined with 3-needle Bind off. Very fast, simple, totally mindless and absolut winners.

For Teresas I´ve used one whole skein of Drops Vivaldi  (in light grey). I´ve cast on 50 sts, knitted all rows until I nearly run out of yarn. than I picked up the CO stitches with a seperate needle and joined with the last row by using the 3 needle bind off.

CO 50
6mm needles

She can wear it confortably twice around her head.

Mithril

garter love

Mine is knitted with 2 strands of yarn together. One strand of ITO Kinu (Silk) and one strand of ITO Sensai (Mohair/Silk). These 2 make a very fluffy and soft fabric. I´ve knitted until the Kinu was nearly finished, so I have a bit of the second Sensai skein leftover. I love it and wear it since it fell off the needles :)

CO 73
Needles: 6mm

All yarns have been in my stash already.


I wish you some nice and happy last hours of the year 2011.

Winter walk

Here we are, after a nice Christmas weekend, enjoying nice winterwalks in the sun.

Felix is wearing his new Korrigan hat I´ve knit for him the week before Christmas. he love it and the colour matches perfect his snowsuit.

The pattern is great and I loved knitting it. Easy but with a very nice result. And Malabrigo merino worsted is always a pleasure to knit for me.

Hat Pattern: Korrigan by SOLENN... here size D8
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in saphire green
Needles: 4mm and 4.5mm DPN

He is also wearing a new pair of Mitred Mittens (after Elizabeth Zimmermann) out of Drops Alpaca (doubled) which makes very warm and nice mittens that keep kids hands warm even after some time in wet and cold snow.

And thats me wearing my new Calorimetry headband out of some purple leftovers from stash. I´ve made it a bit less wide than I would normally because i like it better this way. And the colour matches the Noro scarf :)


Maybe in the next days I´ll get a chance to take pics of the other knitted Christmas presents and latly finished stuff.

A wonderful day to you.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Only 5 days left

Only five days until Christmas. I can´t show you what I´ve knitted or crochet lately because one never knows who visits this blog :) So pics after Christmas.

David is on ski camp with his school for one 4 days and will come back 2 days before Christmas. It´s the first time he is away from home without any family around him and it´s not easy to stay away from home the first time and this before Christmas.

Preperations are going on, gifts are nearly all wrapped, dinner is planned but 100s of things are still to be done.

Here we are decorating the tree on 23rd in the evening or on 24th in the morning. The Christkind comes on 24th in the evening.

For now I wish you a nice and not to stressy week.

A little girly cardigan

Because it is just so much fun to knit for little girls ....

Pattern: in threes: a baby cardigan by Kelly Herdrich
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in colour Purple Magic (from stash)
Needles: 5mm



wood buttons with little trees on them (also from stash)



This cardigan was a pleasure to knit. I´ve knitted the size 18mon for my little niece. As I´m a loose knitter it turned out the right size I think. It will be a little present for her for Christmas.

First snow and a new hat

Last night winter finally arrived here and bought some snow with him. Felix and I spent the morning outside playing and shoveling away snow to get my car free again.

Just in time I´ve knitted a very useful kindergarden hat for Felix which was already in use the last two days. It turned out a bit large, but better a bit on the larger side than too small. Around the face I´ve added a row of crochet to make it a bit more tight.

Pattern: collard pixie by Trude
yarn: 100purewool 3ply merino Worsted in blue (from stash yeah)
needles: 4mm DPN

 I love this pattern and can highly recommend it for little ones to keep the neck and the head warm.


here with the added crochet border....kid all in wool :)

After seeing the baskets/buckets I´ve already made my sister asked me if I would sew something like the bread basket for Gretas books. My little niece loves to watch books on carrides and so the books wouldn´t have a nice place to store in beside her carseat.

Oh I love it when my sister likes the things I make and wants me to make something :)

I had some cute pink fabric in my stash and everything worked out fine.

Just for the pics I´ve stuffed it with diapers. This would be nice too I think.

And best of all, my sister likes it!

Thank you for the nice comments to my last post. I very much appreciate
your feedback.

It is still sunny and very dry here (no snow in sight) but it is cold, so hat knitting is going on. One can never have to many hats :)


Because my daughter took the first Sirle hat I´ve knit I made another one, this time with one less pattern repeat, for me. As my hair is short these days the other one is a but too slouchy. This one has a little less coolness but fits nicer on my hat.

Pattern: Sirle by Suvi Simola
Yarn: Frankengarn Naturwolle 100% Merino (organic, nature grey yarn from Germany)
Needles: 3.5mm DPN

And again a Calorimetry headband. We already have some in different colours in our house. But no black one until now. I love this pattern. Simple and a nice result in one evening.

Pattern: Calorimetry
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino worsted in black (I´ve used about a half skein)
Needles: 4.5mm

My mods: I´ve casted on 88sts only
                knitted with 4.5mm needles
                9 or 10 times row 5 (I´m not sure)
                row 7 as long as only 2 stitches on each side are left
                finish as pattern says

Yarn for both projects from stash and also the button.

This weekend I plan to sew a little. I´d like to sew a quilt again, but I don´t really have a plan. I´ve started cutting on Saturday and maybe start to sew today. Wish me luck.

A nice Sunday to you!



My motto for the next time

will be :

Work with what you have

I know it sounds simple but it is not always so simple. Every day I receive new emails with yarn sales, book sales, "only today 20% off", fabric sale,.... and for me SALE is just a magic word. And ebay isn´t any better for me. But when I look around here, I already have lots of yarn, fabric, pattern,....I know there are always newer and shinier onces out there, but my plan for now is to work with what I have. Only buying crafting stuff for a special project or if needed to finish a project. Buying just because something is on sale ro in case I could use it one day is not planned.

Last weekends sewing projects and the stitching already were all "from stash". And I really plan to work on like this. To reduce the stashed things in my house and to reuse things I already have around.

I know, nothing new, but nevertheless a challenge for me.

Over the last weeks a lot of this crochet jar covers popped up on blogs. I wanted to try it out too and I think it looks cute.

pattern - my own - I love the little hearts :)
thats just a little trying and error crochet with mystery cotton yarn found in my stash
an empty (and clean) jam jar and a tea candle



here I´ve tried this pattern
I´ve made it for an other jar, but it became too loose and the yarn was finished
so now I´m using it to cover a bit of the clutter inside this glas

So two finished projects in no time. Cost 0 Euro as everything was at home already or reused and I´m happy.

What do you think about the "Work with what you have" plan and what type of person are you? The collecting and stashing type of or more the organised "only buy what you need" type of?

Enjoying the weekend

...and sewing colourful and easy things.

The bucket is after the Nesting Burlap Bucket Pattern by Maya*made. I´ve purchased the pattern last week and already made 4 different buckets. It is a very nice and easy pattern with endless possibilities.

this one is going to be a "project-bag" for knitting and crochet project (currently filled with Drops Alpaca)



and this little bucket (without handles) is a little bread basket now

 The pillow covers are from some IKEA fabric I had leftover from previous bag projects.



And because I needed to calm down a bit after all that sewing I´ve finished the little fairy. The motive is from "Rot" - kleine Stickereien.

Now I´m off to the kitchen to make a nice fire in the oven and prepair some homemade Pizza for tonight.

I wish you all a nice and calm Sunday :)

A little crafty update

A little crafty update about some of the projects that got finished recently.


I loved knitting this hat. The pattern is free and wonderful. It is charted and very easy to work. Suvi Simola did a great job again in designing this little cute slouchy hat.

Pattern: Sirle by Suvi Simola
Yarn: Frankengarn Merino Naturwolle in lightgrey
Needles: 3,5mm and 3,75mm DPN mixed (couldn´t find 5 from one lot)



Teresa with her new "Sirle" hat



Back in July 2011 I´ve started this blanket and now I call it finished. It is 1.50m x 1.50m, colourful, bright, heavy and warm and crochet only with yarn from stash. It´s in the livingroom now and warms the members of the family while watching tv in the evenings.

just a large granny square out of stashed yarn, measures 1,50m x 1,50m

   Some warm and heavy socks for me.


Pattern: Konnichiwa by Judi Sumner
Yarn: Drops Nepal in a really vibrant green

There are some other - secret - projects on the needles and hooks but one never knows who reads to blog so no pics until Christmas is over :)

I wish you all a nice rest of the week.

today I´m loving

Adele

...and not only today. She is asolutly gorgeous I think.

As some of you might know by now I´m a great fan of Pip of Meet me at Mikes. I just love her blog, her positiv style and  some of the funny retro inspired stuff she makes.

She´s a really great woman I think and does 1000 of creative things. Now she has a supercool and totally free Holiday Guide you should really check out. 

my Pip-book-collection :)

A hat for the husband

How about your men? Do they like handknitted stuff? Mine does not. He doesn´t want me to knit him any scarfs, sweaters, cardigans, cowls or even socks.The only handknitted things he agrees to wear are hats.
And his hats have to be black or darkgrey. 

I think I found a perfect hat pattern for men on ravelry. It´s the Arden hat. It is a free pattern by Mikka Tokuda-Hall.

 The pattern is for two sizes (I´ve knitted the larger one) and comes with written and charted instructions!

Although it looks a bit complicated with all that cables it is really much easier than it looks and works up really fast in worsted/aran weight yarn.

Pattern: Arden hat
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed Aran in soot (dark grey). I´ve used about 1.5 skeins
Needles: 4mm DPN

On the pictures the hat is unblocked and I think I´ll leave it like this. It has the perfect size for my husbands head and will keep him warm this winter.

Busy days

October was a busy month here for us. We had a lot to do in the garden and still are not finished.
Philipp renovated his room with help from us. So he has a youth room now and not a childrens room any more. He did a lot of work himself including painting his walls. The room looks cool boyish now and he likes his "new" room. We are proud of him  :)

Than the boys had autumn holidays and today all are back to school. We had a lot of family meetings and nice days together but today Felix and me enjoy some quite hours in the morning.

Inbetween there was always a bit of crafting time.

I´ve started a ripple blanket for Teresa out of Drops Alpaca (doubled)

some simple mittens for Greta

On a weak moment I´ve casted on for some Kai-Mai for me....but I only knit on them from time to time

And with my wonderful Noro Silk garden I´ve bought on ebay I´ve knit an Azzu Shawl for myself

I´m totally in love with this autumn colours

Shawl pattern: Azzu bei Emma Fassio (this is a free pattern and very nice and fast to knit) thank you Emma Fassio. Iused heavier yarn and 6mm needles and knitted only garter stitch to make it fast and mindless. I love it:)

As I´m not doing very much Christmas knitting/crocheting I´ll soon have time to knit something nice for me again. I love the new Look Book from Brooklyn Tweed!

t o d a y . . . .

climbing and working hard

helping Mama and searching for walnuts

drying in the sun

herbs and pears

the raised bed is empty now, waiting for next spring

the very last zucchini and one forgotten onion are the last ones this year from the raised bed

Beautiful autumn days

 Thats the few when I leave the front door....

Sunday afternoon walk

Farmers market

Saturday we´ve spend on our regions largest farmers market. And it was really large and a great possibility to buy all kind of different food from the local farmers.

    

We´ve bought a lot of potatos, tomatos, apples, apple juice, cheese, eggs, different sausages, speck and lots of vegtables. Usually I visit the farmers market in our village once a week but this one is an event and only happening 2 days each autumn.


                                     


The weather was wonderful too. A really golden autumn day full of sunshine. I hope you are also having a nice weekend.

The austria artist Hubert von Goisern has a new CD out. Until now I only know this song. It is very critical and I think it a good match with this post. And I really like his kind of music very much!

His song is about waste. Waste of money, food, energy ....and that it can´t go on like that. (just my personal summery of the song)