Some weekend projects

These days I´m very unfocused and have a lot of things around on the same time without finishing anything. Sometimes ´m like this. On other days I´m organized and finish up stuff, but not at the moment.

This weekend was a quiet one and we were staying at home relaxing and´(more or less) anyone did what he/she wanted to. So for me it was a bit of gardening, a bit of sewing, a bit of crochet and knitting and the other time just hanging around...

The bag I wanted to sew for my sister didn´t turn out how I wanted it. I think it is a bit to small and because both fabric I´ve use are quite thin ones it has not enough body to look nice. Something learned for future projects. 

 

 This little clutch turned out surprisingly good. It looks super neat and tidy and I´m  a little proud of myself that I managed to sew it this way the first time. It is the "cute-as-a-button-clutch" from the book Meet me at Mikes by Pip Lincolne.

 And because it needs not much attention to crochet on this ripple afghan, I´ve contuinued a bit while watching tv...

...started a new Lacy Baktus because I wanted to try out the ShiBui sockyarn that I´ve ordered from the U.S.......It is lovely sockyarn and it would be a shame to hide it boots. AND I think that the yarn pools too much on socks. The colour is mulberry (deep winered/purple) and I love it.

And finally I´ve picked up my Soay cardigan again and started with the first sleeve. But it needed to much attention so I´ve put it aside again. maybe an other day....

And an other one

Because it is really easy and fast and I had some fabric in a matching size ....tataa a skirt and hairband for my daughter.

she is skinny so 1.10m wide fabric and 60cm long is more than enough for a skirt for her...

.....and still some cm leftover for a hairband

She was not in the mood for a photoshooting but beleave me, she looks terrible cute in her new stuff :)

Putting the sewing machine up again

After some time without sewing here, I´ve put the machine up again. My sister would like me to sew a bag for her and so I get back to sewing again. I haven´t started with the bag at all. But I´ve looked through my fabrics and found a nice one for her future bag.

And I found the fabric I´ve bought for a skirt for me. I wanted to try out makíng easy skirts but never really started. You know situations like this? You buy something with a special project in mind but never really happen to start? It happens for me quite often. I have more projects in mind than time and get distracted by new and terrible exiting ideas ;)

So back to the topic. I found the fabric, searched the easy skirt pattern from the Meet Me at Mikes book and about a half hour later I had a skirt! Really supereasy even for an absolut beginner.

Simple and easy to wear. I think next time I´ll use a fabric tht has a nicer drape and is a bit smoother. This is simple thin cotton fabric from IKEA.


And because Pip suggests to listen to some favourite music while sewing......this is what is in my head today....

I used to hear rosenstolz a lot some years ago and nearly forgot about my CDs, but when they came back in my mind and I started to listen again....I still love them!

The pools are up again

So not much knitting time these days, only inbetween or if his brother plays with him. But it is so sweet to watch him playing and exploring.

I hope you have nice weather and relaxing moments too.

New on the needles and hook

After finishing some larger stuff this week I´ve immediatly started some new projcts. None of them are really urgent to make. All just nice things to get done someday eventually.

With blue, grey and green merino yarn and merino mixes from stash I´m going to crochet a second ripple blanket. This time I´ve chained 143 only to make it smaller, but I fear this might be really small. But okay, it will be weide enough for the kids anyway.

 This will be another cardigan for me. It is planned (until now) to knit a Soay cardigan. The pattern is from Gudrun Johnston (Shetland Trader) and I´ve bought it on Ravelry.

I´m using Extra Fine merino yarn from Colourmart in winered mix. It is not really dk weight while knitting, it is thinner. But this is how Colourmart yarns are usually. I´ve made the experiance that they are not too lovely to knit while still oiled, but when the yarn is washed it bloomes wonderfully and makes beautiful garments. I´m knitting with the oiled yarn and I´m exited how the cardigan will be after washing. I keep my fingers crossed (virually - would be a bit tricky to knit with crossed fingers )

Do you remember I´ve told you about the Drops Supersale in May and that I´ve ordered some yarn? It arrived this week and as I´ve never knitted with Drops Andes (65% Wool, 35% Alpaca) before I HAD to cast on immediatly the cardigan I´ve planned.

As this is really warm and heavy wool and the cardigan is planned for fall outdoor use I´m not in a hurry. The yarn is nice and soft in the hand while knitting but not next to skin soft for me to wear (no problem for a warm outdoor garment anyway).

Pattern: Splash of Blue by Suvi Simola

This pattern is not easy for me as one has to look at the charts all the time. So no tv knitting with this. But I think I might have it down by September/October when it is getting cold.


I wish you a nice and relaxing weekend. Have fun!

Ripple Blanket

Juhu! Yesterday I´ve finished my first Ripple Blanket. I´ve started at the end of February and always again crochet some stitches or even rows so it slowly grew larger and larger. I´ve decided it is enough now as it really got warm working on it :)

I´ve used several different yarns from stash, mostly with a bit acrylic in it and some (18 skeins) new ones (Acryl/Wool mix from Hofer/Aldi or Pagro). I´ve used a 5mm hook for the crochet. Only´for the casting on part, which was a bit chellenging for me, I used the 6mm hook.

The yarn weights were aran, worsted, dk (double), sport/fingering (double).

The pattern is easy and free and I´m sure I´ll make one of this blankets again.

Pattern: Neat Ripple Blanket by Lucy of Attic24

Thank you Lucy for this free and lovely pattern!

New stuff to play with

Last week I´ve ordered this nice cookbook on Amazon. For some time I was looking for a cookbook with recipes I like, which are easy to understand and cook and tasty for children and adults alike.




Last week Pip from "Meet me at Mikes" wrote about the tomato Lasagne from this book (the english version). While reading the notes i thought this might be something my kids would eat too and which is written in easy terms. So after a bit of amazon searching I found the german verson. the cover is not so pretty but it is the same book.

After the postman brought it today I´ve started to read a bit and its nice and interesting. Cute pictures and nice storys together with easy and tasty recipes. I´ve already cooked the "Tomato risotto", chocolate cookies (easy and tasty, but I think the ones from Martha Steward are better ;) and now the chicken soup is simmering in the kitchen.....

A new live section

For me and my family with today a new part of our life begins. After the last months of hard work my husband today finally opend his new office and showroom in Innsbruck. I´m so happy for him and wish him good luck and lots of customers.

For the last years he already was self-employed but with his office in our house. So he was always somewhere around. But now he has to leave the house in the early morning and comes home at about 7 pm. For most people out there this is something totally normal, but we are spoiled.

Now it is really quite here today. The kids are back in school, husband away for work and only Felix and me at home. It feels strange. I think it will take some time for us to get used to this new circumstances and in between I´m starting new projects, like gardening, baking, knitting, crochet,....

husbands brand new showroom and office

My Celery cardigan aka Kürbis

Pattern: Celery Cardigan by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Wollmeise Lace in colour Kürbis (knitted with 2 strands of yarn)
Needles: 4.5mm circular/DPN for sleeves


Unusual for me I´ve knitted this cardigan from start to finish without longer breaks or starting several other projects inbetween because of getting bored. The pattern is easy to understand and to follow but never gets boring! Thats really great. My gauge was totally off so I´ve knitted size XS to get size L and it worked out perfect. At the front which is shaped with short rows, I´ve only knitted only the first shortrow repeat and the beginning of the second one. Also my sleeves are a bit shorter because I was afraid of running out of yarn.

The cardigan grew a bit after washing (what I hoped for) and now has  nice size. As a closure I use a shawl pin.

Zufällig darübergestolpert

...und nicht mehr weggekommen. Beim Bloglesen und Links weiterverfolgen bin ich heute zufällig auf diese Seite gestossen.  Leider weiß ich nicht mehr wo ich "hergekommen" bin. Auf jeden Fall bin ich einige Zeit hängengeblieben. Die Zeitschrift kann man online durchblättern und sogar abonnieren. ich finde sie ziemlich cool, bin aber mit meinen Nähfähigkeiten noch nicht weit genug denke ich.

Von den Stoffmarkt Holland habe ich schon öfter irgendwo glesen, aber gedacht, dass es die nur in Holland gibt. Aber die gehen ja auf Tour! Und dieses Wochenende sind sie in München. Da ist die Versuchung natürlich schon sehr groß. Ich habe mir ber vorgenommen standhaft zu bleiben und er zum nächsten Termin (16. Oktober 2011) nach München zum Holland Stoffmarkt zu fahren. Falls jemand von euch schon einmal einen besucht hat oder hinfährt wäre ich sehr interessiert was ihr alles erlebt (und gekauft) habt und ob die Stoffe wirklich so günstig sind.

While reading blogs and following links I´ve found this blog today. I nearly got lost there looking at the cool magazines and reading. The online viewing of the magazines is a really nice thing I think and one can also buy them. I think I´m not skilled enoughin sewing to make any of the garments jet. I need more practise.
And they showed me the Stoffmarkt Holland! I´ve heard/read about that Stoffmarkt before but thought these are only in the Netherlands and didn´t know that they also go "on tour". And they will be in Munich next weekend (which is the nearest largerman town from here). But this time I will stay home but in fall, when they come back, I maybe have more experiance and might be able to sew nice garments....we will see.

Have a nice evening.

Sunny days

I hope you all had a nice mothers day, not only the mothers but also the daughters and all the other family members. My lovely girl wrote a post for me at her Blog. I love her but she doesn´t want me to mention her blog here. So....ok. She´s a private girl.




It is very warm and sunny here and it feels like summer during the days.

view from the parents bedroom

today it was about 30 degree Celsius on the terrace in the afternoon

I wish you a wonderful week.

For the books

I love books. And I have quite some around. Mostly I read more than one book at a time and so I need quite a lot of bookmarks. This way a lot of postcards, recipes, fotos, dry and pressed flowers and lots of other pieces got lost over the years. Sometimes I received magnetic bookmarks or so, but I do´t really like them. The best ones are mostly colourful pieces of yarn. These days while browsing Ravelry I found a pattern that I´ve queued at the very beginning when I´ve joined there, but I never started it.

I´m sure a lot of you already know it and tried it out. For me it was a first time. It was much easier than I expected and took about one evening. Ant I think it turned out quite nice. I´ve used sport weight cotton from stash which turned out a bit too heavy for a bookmark. Next time I´ll use some thinner tread or lace yarn maybe.

Pattern: Fan bookmark by crochetroo  (the pattern is free)

I´ve used a 3mm hook and sportweight yarn but I recommend using something thinner!

Thursday already

Where has the time gone? It is flying by so fast.

This week I´ve done a bit of bag sewing, a bit of stash diving, some new wool ordering (ehhh...didn´t I say I´m on yarn diet eh?)...ok but these have been serious circumstances. Drops has a SUPERSALE again, at least here in my region. And I had to buy some yarn for planned projects. And no, I am not going to knit another shawl, I´ve started to knit a cardigan again. And ordered yarn for another 3 cardigan.

So until I´ve to wait for the pretty new (and SALE ) wool to arrive, I´ve started a cardigan for me with stashed yarn. I´ve bought it last fall at the fair in Benediktbeuern and hadn´t found a project for it until now.

Pattern: Celery by Veera
Yarn: Wollmeise Lace in Kürbis
Needles: 4.5mm circular needle

As I´m totally not going to knit a whole cardigan in my size (L) out of lace yarn, I use it double and therefore get a gauge from 20sts/10cm/4in. So I had to do some maths and if I´m not totally wrong I´m knitting a XS to get a size L.




knitting in the sun with pretty yarn and a nice new knitting bag....heavenly




today (day 3) I´ve seperated sleeves from body...and yes it is THIS orange!



A little gift

....for our large sons saints-day tomorrow.

Pattern: Inro by Judy Sumner from the book "Knitted Socks East and West"
Needles:  started with 4mm DPN and switched to 3.75mm DPN after the ribbing
Yarn: Wolle Rödel Rustikal Hauswolle - 1 ball/200m

It was the 2nd time I´ve knitted this pattern and I still like it. The pattern is easy understandable with a nice result and because of the heavier yarn a fast knitted pair of socks (theoretical, if one doesn´t loose interest inbetween...). I didn´t like the yarn but I had it in the stash and wanted to use it up. I really hope it gets nicer after some washes.

The perfect size

Finally the perfect sized slouch bag! I love (nearly) everything about it. I would love the handles to be in one piece without the seam at the top but otherwise this bag is perfect for me. The outer fabric is very soft cotton from Alexander Henry "Farmville blossom in grey" and for a bit of shape I used a heavy  white cotton from IKEA for the inside.

I´ve used the "Lickety Split Bag" pattern again, but cut out the body of the bag a bit wider to get a larger bag.




And finally I´ve managed to finish some socks.

Pattern: Waving Lace Socks by Evelyn Clark from the book "Favourite Socks"
Needles: 2.25mm DPN
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Fabel in grey