Sometimes..

I really want to be a cat. Living the sweet live and nestling down between the windows and enjoy the sunshine...

Faded Flowers Blanket

No, this is no fancy new sweater nor is it a shawl.

And yes, I showed you a work in progress picture some time ago. Remember?

This little blanket is my own creation. I like combinations of blue and cream or beige, they remind me of the sea, beach, dry grass in the wind and sunshine. In one word: summer!

I didn't use a pattern and improvised on the go. The main part is simply single crochet. I found the instructions for the lace trim here: Madmoiselle Chaos. 
Unforetunately I forgot where the flower and leaf pattern came from, but you could use any type of crochet flower you like.
I started this project a while ago, not yet knowing what I was going to do with it once it was finished. While working I happend to be invited to the blessing ceremony of a friends daughter. This was the perfect occasion for this blanket and now it belongs to Liv and I was told that she truly loves it. What a pleasure to hear! :-)

My first New York Cheesecake

I recently tried to make my first cheesecake and I was a bit worried because it was for my mum's birthday and it had to be perfect. Because of me, my mum would have loved it anyways. I'm sort of a perfectionist... sometimes..  But as you can see, it came out great! And it tasted as it looked!

I used this recipe and made some modifications: I used a little less sugar then the recipe requires and for the crust I had McVities Original Digestives on hand which worked perfectly. I wanted my cheesecake to have some fruity contrast to the creamyness, so I made a strawberry topping. I used half a glass of strawberry jam and some water. Just put the jam in a small bowl and mix it with a fork until it softens. Add water dropwise to dilute the jam until it flows from a spoon nicely. It should be like a thik siroup at this point. Prepare your cheescake like the recipe tells you and let it bake for 5 minutes. Take it out of the stove and dispere jam with a spoon. I made circles and used a toothpick to create some kind of marble effect and to make sure the jam will not just stay on the surface but also enter into the cake. Oh, BTW, by follwoing the recipe I got enough cheesecake mass to make a second cake! I put this one in the freezer to have some more yummy cake later and it works perfectly!

Armwarmers - Pipi Lonstocking Style

Remember the Stipy WiP? I recently finished it, YAY! :-) I made a pair of armwarmers and I think they quite look like Pipi would wear them, too. I'm a huge fan of everything Pipi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren and Scandinavia inspired things. The red colour reminds me of those typical red Swedish woodhouses and I combinded it with white to come even closer to the style because these houses use to have white painted window- and doorframes. The wooden button matches the style perfectly, I think.

I'm so sorry the pics are this blurred... I whish I could take better photographs. I'll have to improve my technique somehow..

Hexipuff Madness - or - What would you do with all those odds and ends of sock yarn?

Knitting involves leftovers of yarn from time to time. If you're like me you just can't throw them away. That's why I started to knit little hexagon-shaped pads. They're about 5cm in diameter and I stuff them a little bit with polyester wool because I want them to be somewhat "puffy". Once I have knit a bazillion of these, I plan to sew them together on the edges to create a quilt. 

At the moment I have about 14 Hexipuffs. Not really that much, I know.. It will take me ages to finish this one! But since this is a long term project, I don't care about the time. ;-) I'll keep you updated!

Oh, I forgot! You can find the pattern here or here

Have a nice day! :-)

 

Once I'm done, the quilt should look like this one, except the colours. I plan to keep mine more autumn style.

( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-beekeepers-quilt)

Stripy WiP...

Did I mention that I love stripes...? :-)

Prettify a diary the simple way

Well, the only thing you need is some nice coloured fabric tape, some lace and 10 minutes of free time. Really, super quick and easy and the result is worth it! The tape is from here. The Treehouse Fairy is really nice and shipping was super quick!

My "new" diary, retro stile...

...and my notebook, now having in a new, romantic look.

upon my personal cloud...

Yeah, I know, spring is coming and everything.. But here it's still winter. And this means it can still be cold in the evenings and we have to start a fire in our oven every now and then. As you can imagine, it takes some time until our living room is reheated properly. And this is where my new cosy and large shawl comes in handy!

The pattern's name is "Nuvem" which means "Cloud". I used an entire skein of Wollmeise Lace yarn in Feldmaus and it took me a whole month to finish this one! I mean, we're talking about 1500something meters of yarn.... For me this is not a shawl to wear when I go out, but I love to snuggle up to it when I sit on the couch or at my desk. We'll see if I make another one.. Maybe not in the next months, but somewhere down the road... We'll see! :-)

Hitchhiking

I made this little shawl for a friend's birthday in January.

The pattern by Martina Behm is a nice and easy tv or public transportation knit. BTW, she named it "Hitchhiker" because if you knit up one 150 gr. skein of wollmeise yarn, you'll end up with 42 teeth on th shawl. Right, 42. And that's the answer to the question about the universe and everything. At least it is in Douglas Adams' book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

Don't forget your towels! ;-)

A Day at the Beach

This was my first try in lace knitting and I think it came out great. The pattern is named after Holden Beach, North Carolina. It is a free pattern and works up quickly and really easy, ideal for beginner lace knitters like me.

I used wollmeise lace yarn, which I think is gorgeous. The colourway is "Ein klein wenig verrucht", a vibrant semisold purple. I planed this as a christmas gift and the receiver loved it! *phew*

Hope you like it aswell!

you may wonder...

what I made with my handspun verzasca yarn? 

Well, I mixed it with some brown mohair yarn...

....And made another shrug!

It's basically the same like my green spring shrug, but more fluffy and cosy. Unfortunately, it makes my shoulders look like.. I don't know.. like those of a wrestler..? It made them inexpressibly broad... *brrrrr* That's why I gave it to a friend. It fits her much better than me!

A Dream of Winter

As you may have noticed, I changed the design of my blog because I got rid of the old wood desing. Somehow it was too dark. We'll see how long I will be pleased with these lovely flowers...

Although I didn't bolg very much for the last months, I was quite active over on Ravelry. I just didn't feel like sewing and spinning during the last year and I still prefer knitting. At least for now, that may change again! ;-)

I recently finished this nice little Shawl an I love it! The colours remind me of the snow, ice and grey clouds we have here for two weeks now. I must admit, I kinda like winter.. I really do. As long as it's cold and has at least some snow.