Chronicles of a crafting girl

Color Create - week 15

2009-05-10T16:11:00.003+02:00

Jag har gjort mitt första kort! För att få lite inspiration valde jag att följa en challenge - Color create. Veckans tema är blått och grönt, vilket jag tycker jag lyckades bra med :)

Papper: Digiscrap av Michelle Coleman, printat från http://www.littledreamerdesigns.com/

Kort: Panduro

Band: Min stash

Text: Printad från Mirabyll

Brads: Panduro

Bling: Panduro

I made my forst card! For inspiration I decided to follow a challenge - Color create. This week's theme is blue and green. I think I did a pretty good job :)

Paper: Digiscrap by Michelle Coleman, printed from http://www.littledreamerdesigns.com/

Card: Panduro

Ribbon: My stash

Notion: Printed from Mirabyll. The text around the circle says "friendship" and the text in the center says (freely translated) "Thanks for existing".

Brads: Panduro

Bling: Panduro

Moving on...

2009-05-09T16:47:00.001+02:00

I decided to stop updating this page, since I mostly write about my projects in my regular blog, Ullis dagar.

So, bye bye Chronicles of a crafting girl, and hello Ullis dagar :)

Scrapbooking

2008-10-15T14:27:00.002+02:00

Mitt nya beroende är scrapbooking. Var på kurs igår kväll och gjorde min första LO. Lite dåligt foto, men jag är jättenöjd med själva LO'n!

Återuppstånden!

2008-10-15T14:23:00.004+02:00

Efter ca 1½ år i träda har jag beslutat att göra ett nytt försök med min crafts-blogg. Vi får se hur det går, den kanske konkurreras ut av Ullis dagar.

Har en hel massa projekt på gång just nu - som vanligt. Försöker lista dem här ute i kanten, kan ju vara bra att få en översikt på det, känns så mycket bättre när man kan pricka av det man verkligen gör klart :)

Byter nu språk också till svenska eftersom jag för tillfället inte är inne på några internationella listor. Går lite snabbare att skriva och läsa på svenska, plus att mina eventuella nuvarande läsare nog är bättre på svenska.

Ojojoj...

2007-05-17T16:54:00.000+02:00

Nu var det suuuperlängesen jag skrev nåt... Hade en rejäl svacka under hösten, men jag tog mig ur det helskinnad. Hann prducera en vansinnig massa sockor under den tiden, och en hel del smycken. Har givit bort elelr sålt det mesta, men bilder kommer senare på en del av alstren.

Just nu går den mesta tiden åt till att vårrusta båtar till kunder och att renovera lägenheten. Har 3 strykningar av botten på den sista båten, 1 lager primer o 2 lager färg, ska klaras av senast lördag. Har börjat skrapa o slipa luckorna till sovrums och hallgarderoberna. Har inte bestämt mig vilken färg dom ska bli än, men jag har köpt grundfärg så att jag kan förbereda så långt det går tills jag bestämt mig.

Some updates

2006-06-10T23:11:00.000+02:00

Tonight I have been making some updates to my FO's in the sidebar (yes, I actually do finish projects once in a while...).

I don't have a pic of the pair of finished Spring-y socks, but if you follow the lik ypu will see one of them, and his mate is almost exactly the same, give or take a row or two.

I finished the Glad Ragg socks a looong time ago, but they never made their way from the WIP list to the FO list. I must say it again, I really loved knitting these socks!

My current project is my second pair of socks in my own design! I'm knitting a kind of basket weaving pattern, k1p3 fro three rows, k two rows, and repeat. The pattern is on the leg, instep and top of the foot, the rest is stockinette. I bidded on and won a skein of Sockotta cotton blend on Ebay (my first Ebay auction) and just had to try it! The colors are rather pale and boring, but the result might by nice, I haven't decided yet... A pic will come when I have one, must take it during the day.

Testing mail-to-blogger

2006-06-10T22:42:00.000+02:00

This message won't publish automatically, i have to republish my blog

Brokade genser update

2006-05-31T23:00:00.000+02:00

You know the brokade genser in my WIP list? I handed it over to my MIL to finish it... I have worked on it for about 8 years and it's not coming together fast enough... MIL has a broken ankle and can't do much else but sit and knit, so I asked her if she could finish it for me and she agreed :)

I'll post a picture of her progress after the weekend, when I have visited them.

Yippee!

2006-05-31T22:38:00.000+02:00

I'm sewing again!! For the last few days I have actually spent some time with my sewing machines, and you can see the result below!

Sunday night I finally gor around to making pillow covers for Camilla. She ordered them several months ago, but life got in between... And now they're finished! 5 plain beige covers for 28x28 inch pillows. No photo of them, they were too plain.

Monday night I sewed a pair of pyjama pants for my son, the first time I used a serger for elastic fabric! Earlier I have only sewed bags and pillows on the serger. I'm rellay pleased with the result, and the pattern worked great! I haven't tried them on him yet, but I'm sure they'll fit. I was so pleased with the result that I have bought a pale blue linen fabric to make him a pair of summer pants! Just need to wash the fabric first.

Tonight I made a small zippered pouch, I don't really know what to use it for, but it was nice to create something... The fabric is Moda, and the size is appr. 5x5 inches.

Party party :)

2006-03-25T21:12:00.000+01:00

Worked this morning, then we took the bus to Stockholm to visit Karna and Anders and their waffel party! The party has evolved beyond the waffels, via some red wine, into a full scale party! Lots of people, new and old friends and complete strangers. Linus finally fell asleep and we tucked him in on a pile of blankets on the host's bedroom floor. It'll be interesting to see how he'll handle sleeping around a lot of people!

No crafting today, but last night I made a necklace, a bracelet and a pair of earrings for Karna, she had her birthday yesterday :) She was happy with her gifts :) Feels really good when your friends appreciate handmade gifts!

Was at my LYS today looking for yarn for a hat for me. It'll be a beanie and I want it black with plum stripes to match the Deep Purple- Smoke on the water mittens. But no plum yarn in the entire LYS!! I'll try to locate som here in Stockholm tomorrow, or I'll just order some online.

Got my Ribbed spring-y socks knitting in the bag, but am a bit hesitant whether to take it out or not. The party perople might think I'm a real geek or they may be offended (you never know what make people upset...). Well well, DH and Anders are playing cards, so I might just take it out and sit and watch them :)

All for now. No pictures today.

Weekly update

2006-03-24T10:49:00.000+01:00

My once daily blog has become more weekly. Not really intentional, but because of the usual lack of time due to parenting, accepting too many embroidery/sewing jobs and an urge to acctualy create something for myself...

My self striping OnLine socks are growing, I just turned the heel of the second one, and the gussed decreases will go really fast since they are the most fun of the whole sock! I just love the way the k2t's and s1,k1,psso looks and how nicely they form a triangular shape! I even thought of a name for the socks, the Ribbed Spring-y socks!

Yesterday I took a dive into the ocean of beads! I made my first necklaces and a bracelet, and I will definitely be doing this again!! I gave one of the necklaces to Nette, as it matches the earrings I gave har earlier. The other one, and the bracelet, I made for my mom, who celebrates her birthday tomorrow.

Thats all for now, I have to work too :) I might not post tomorrow, sice we are invited to a waffel party at Karna and Anders'!

Towel swap

2006-03-17T22:12:00.000+01:00

As I wrote in my last post, I got a package from Lisa. It also contained the towel swap we have been doing "on the side".

I recieved two very nice dark blue towels, one big and one small, with boyish embroideries. Exactly what I wished for! These are going to be Linus' bedtime bath towels.

Thanks Lisa for the beautiful towels, your's are coming as soon as I have finished the embroidery!

Valentine's swap

2006-03-17T21:57:00.000+01:00

This Wednesday I finally recieved my valentine's towel from Lisa! It was not her fault it was a month late, it got held up in customs, and after some phone calls and some email communication, they finally released it free of charge. You might think they would have their hands full trying to stop drugs and other illegal things coming across the border, but no, they had to snatch my valentine's gift... Anyway, here it is! Thanks Lisa for a beautiful towel!

And a closeup of the cute embroidery:

E is for embroidery

2006-03-17T21:17:00.000+01:00

I like embroidery. All kinds of embroidery. Both by hand and by machine. I have tried redwork, cross stitch, freehand embroidery and following drawed lines. And I recently bought a new embroidery machine, a Husqvarna Viking Designer SE, which is totally amazing! I used to have a Janome MC 300E, but I never really got along with it, so I sold it.

I mostly machine embroider towels for customers, as my creative time is somewhat non existing due to motherhood. But sometimes I get to make a pillow, a bag or a table cloth. I often download free embroideries from the Internet, but I'm becoming more and more picky, so I'm not downloading as much as I did when I bought my first machine.

One favourite embroidery site is Artistic Threadworks, their embroideries are cartoony and just sooo cute. With a membership you can download thousands of emboideries of good quality. Another favourite is Zundt designs, who are specialized in lace, and boy are they good at it!! I never bought anything from them, but I will, believe me... Soooo beautiful, I'm thinking of using some of them for my wedding gown!

In this photo you can see my beloved Designer SE and some multicolor redwork hand embroideries I'm making for a country quilt, patterns from Bronwyn Hayes.

Linus' grey sweater

2006-03-17T21:05:00.000+01:00

About 2 weeks ago I finished the back of Linus' new sweater. It's quite narrow, it's hard to measure the gauge since it's so stretchy. I think I'll try to block the back and see if I can get gauge that way, otherwise I'll have to frog and reknit :(

Socks again

2006-03-17T20:43:00.000+01:00

My latest project is a pair of socks, one down one to go. I have no pattern for these, but is picking bits and pieces I like and putting them together for my own socks. The leg is k3p1 ribbing, which is continues down the instep and top of foot. The heel is an ordinary heelflap/gusset heel and the toe is my favourite (*k6, k2t*, a plain row, *k5, k2t*, a plain row, ...). They are really fast to knit, the ribbing on the foot adds variety to the otherwise booooring knitting of the foot...

Syfestival

2006-03-15T23:12:00.000+01:00

3-5 March it was Syfestival in Sollentuna, and as usual I spent an obscene amount of money on crafts...

It was me, mom, sis and gradma who set out for the festival. First we were dealyed due to an accident on the highway, then it snowed extremely much which slowed us down a bit...

We strolled around for a few hours and then we had lunch. After lunch the serious shopping begun! I bought:

8 skeins of worsted weight yarn for 4 pairs of socks for DH
4 skeins of OnLine Supersocke 100 in different colorways for 4 pairs of socks for me
2 skeins of really fine dark red wool, for a shawl I think
1 skein of natural wool to complete Linus' sweater
1 skein of natural wool for a hat for me
A bag full of beads
Bamboo needles and dpns
Inox ciculars
Row counter
A gadget to put on your index finger to keep your threads organized when working stranded projects

Maybe it doesnt sound much, but it is! At least for me! My sis bought a really nice japanese book, I will post a pic when I borrow it from her.

When we were going home we couldn't find grandma... We looked everywhere and tried to call her cellphone, but no luck. After 30 minutes we found her sitting near the entrance waiting for us...

D as in Ducks

2006-03-15T23:07:00.000+01:00

I'm really really late posting my D for the ABC-along!!! But here it is:

DH and I collect rubber duckies. We have a skeleton duck, a spiderman duck, a devil, an angel, an official duckrace duck, three baby ducks, a duck with feet, and several more. It all began with the duckrace duck sometime back in the 90's and then it just grew... We expand the collection anytime we get a chance, we even get ducks for christmas :)

Glad Raggs finished

2006-03-15T22:59:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday, the 4th of March, I finished Glad Ragg sock #2! Well before the deadline! I really love my new socks!! They are only the second pair I knit with sockweight yarn and now I'm hooked...

Details: Yarn - Regia 4fädig col# 2137. Pattern - SixSox KAL february 2006. Needles - Inox 3 mm dpns.

Knitting Olympics - Wrap up

2006-03-15T22:51:00.000+01:00

Ok. Knitting Olympics is over for this year. I set up a goal to make one sock and I did it and posted it.

I also recieved a gold medal (scroll down and look at the left side) and a nice Certificate of Participance (which is printed and placed first in my knitting patterns binder)! I didn't win anything in the drawings, but being a wuss, I feel I have won anyway!

Some of us in Team Sweden are acctually sending each other prizes! I haven't had time to go to my LYS and get "my winner" something yet, and I haven't recieved anything either, but I'm sure it will come...

If nothing else, I won new friends in Team Sweden!! It's nice to "know" some swedish knitters too!

Long time no blog, again...

2006-03-15T22:27:00.000+01:00

Almost two weeks since my last post... We have been sick, again... DS was prescribed two different antibiotics, the first didn't work, but the second one did. And now he's teething.

Well, my days are filled :) I haven't even read any blogs for at least a week...

But now I'm back!! (At least it feels like it tonight) There will be more pictures and more posts coming up!

My weekend

2006-02-26T22:33:00.000+01:00

This weekend has been long and slow... The whole family is sick and none of us has the strength to do anything. DS has an eye infection, an infection of the respiratory passage and a general cold, and the doctor prescribed penicillin. DH has a sore throat and achy ears, and I think my cold has evolved into sinusitis...

Well, enough wining! As I wrote in my last post I finished my Knitting Olympic sock on time!
I also signed up for the Quilting Olympics, but I didn't make that one... I began sewing a knitting bag, and it's not much left to do, but I'm just not up for it tonight. I'll settle for one gold medal :) I'll see if I can't finish it tomorrow.

I have also read a lot of blogs. I guess I'm kind of a voyeur, but I really like following other peoples lives, reading about what they do, how they fell, what their inspirations are and what they create! I also eagerly read whip up evry day, it gives me so much inspiration and so many new ideas!! I just wish the whip up team could give us a tip about how to find more time :)

I have begun my second Glad Ragg sock, but it doesn't have do be done until 31 march, so there is plenty of time! I guess I'll work on some other projects in between, as ususal.

Knitting Olympics - I did it!!

2006-02-25T23:00:00.000+01:00

Tonight I finished my sock for the Knitting Olympics! I did it!! I won a gold medal!!

My challenging project was to knit one sock during the Olympics. "One sock?", you might say. "I can knit one sock in an afternoon!!". Well, I probably could too, if I could sit and just knit the entire day...

This was a real challenge for me because:

I have never knitted in english before, so I had to learn.
I have only knitted lace on a very easy scarf before, and this sock has lace on the leg.
The pattern calls for beads, and I hade never knitted with beads before.
My son got sick just before the Olympics, and still is, so I haven't had much time to knit.

But I did it! The knitting in english part was easy, I found a knitting terms glossary on the net, but the pattern was quite easy so I never needed it. The lace was also quite easy, I was fun and fast to knit. The beads. Well the beads didn't work out very well, since I didn't really know how to knit them. So I frogged the sock and started over without the beads (they were optional).

The pattern I used was february's sock from the SixSox KAL Yahoo group, called Glad Ragg. The yarn I used is Regia 4 fädig col# 2137, a greyish blue, and I used 3 mm dpn's.

Sick week

2006-02-24T13:38:00.000+01:00

Yet another week passed and no posts... Linus is still sick, quite a bad cold. Poor child... On the top of that I was sick last week, got well, and during the night I got a high fever and a sore throat :( Plus that DH has a sore throat and a hurting ear...

Well, well. It will eventually pass...

I'm almost finished with my olympic sock, more about that in another post.

Busy week

2006-02-15T10:10:00.000+01:00

Another week not blogging... It's been an ordinary working, parenting, sneeizing, sick child, knitting olympic week. Haven't had time to do anything at all, at least it feels that way.
Hope I'll have time to write more in the coming week as I really like writing and sharing my life with you...

Team Sweden

2006-02-12T23:18:00.000+01:00

Today I discovered and joined the Team Sweden Blog! We are acctually quite a few Swedish olympic knitters out here, knitting along in the snow!

Go Team Sweden!

Linus' sweater

2006-02-12T22:57:00.000+01:00

Another finished project. This is a sweater for my son. I knitted it for a size 1 year, but it's just perfect for him now at 9 months! It's really good I didn't make it smaller!

It's knit with Raggi from Järbo garn on 4.5 mm bamboo pins. The pattern is more or less my own. I looked at a pattern for a cabled sweater in Raggi for the number of stitches and decreases, but winged the rest.

I finished knitting it a while ago, and my mom just finished sewing it together (yes I know, I'm really spoilt :) )

Now that I see the picture, a pattern appears on the front of the sweater. It looks very nice, but it's totally unintendend! The yarn is multicolored, but I thought it was randomly!

Knitting Olympics has begun!

2006-02-12T22:47:00.000+01:00

The opening ceremonies was held friday night local time in Sweden. I was really excited to cast on for my Glad Ragg Socks, but unfortunately my son had(has) a cold, so I ended up with a sleepy Linus in my lap instead of a knitting. Quite cozy :)

So, saturday night I began threading 260 rocaille beads on my sock yarn. The beads I bought are one size to small, but I didn't think it would matter that much. But it does. A lot. The beads are quite tight on the yarn, but I can still move them, so thy'll have to do.

I also had some difficulties when I was knitting the beads, since I didn't really know where on the purl stitch the beads are supposed to sit. After trying a few ways of knitting them, I placed the beads on the purl bump, because then they will show the most!

This is how much I have knitted this far

Feeling low and no knitting olympics...

2006-02-11T20:25:00.000+01:00

Today I'm feeling sort of low... Had an all day argument with DH and it's not over yet :( And as usual it's about nothing!

DS is sick, a bad cold with a cough that hurts my lungs. Therefore, no casting on for the knitting olympics last night, he would only stay calm sitting in my lap and knitting is then off the menu. I'd really like to cast on right now, but then again I don't want to. I hate feeling this low... Maybe I'll just do it anyways, I really want to finish on time since I don't began on time!

C is for Chocolate

2006-02-09T23:27:00.000+01:00

Oh, I almost forgot about posting my C in the ABC-along!

My C is Chocolate... And not just any chocolate, but expensive, filled ones. This chocolate shop is located in Gallerian in Stockholm and they sell GREAT chocolate! Doesn't it look yummie?!

The best chocolate shop in Sweden must be Elite in Karlskrona. That's where I had my first encounter with fine chocolate, and that messed me up for life :)

Knitting along...

2006-02-09T23:17:00.000+01:00

Since I finished the Lovikka mittens on Sunday, I immediately threw myself into the next project. It is a really nice woolen sweater for Linus, knit from a natural colored one strand yarn, the color varies from white to medium grey, on size 3.5 mm needles. I had already knitted about 3 inches on this one, but had to frog it and cast on for a larger size. Children apparently grow!?

I began knitting on regular needles, but switched to a circular since I was bringing the project on the bus, and it fits much easier in my small backpack :) I knitted all Sunday night, the whole bus rides to and from Stockholm, half the car rides to and from Västerås, and during an episode of CSI last night. So far I have a little over 8 inches, and I need 4 more for the back. The pattern is really beautiful in it's simpicity, *k2 p1* repeat on all rows, ie you make a k voer a k, a k over a p and a p over a p. Picture will come soon.

However, I will put this one aside tomorrow and concentrate on the beaded lace sock for the olympics :)

Monday - serious shopping day

2006-02-09T23:08:00.000+01:00

On monday I went to Stockholm with mom to do some shopping. And boy, did I do some :) I spent around $100 in Sweden's Craft Paradise #1, Panduro Hobby. I bought a ton of beads, some stamps and a hot glue gun. Fun fun fun!!!

I also found some clothes on sale, but they need some altering to fit better, esp the jeans... I hope I'll find the time soon!

We had late breakfast at a café, lunch at Taco Bar, and afternoon coffee at the same café. It was a long but very nice day, and we were both very tired when we got home. I spent the evening sorting my old and new beads in nice see-through boxes from Panduro. Oh, how I love the order among my beads now :)

Deep Purple mittens - Smoke on the water

2006-02-09T22:53:00.000+01:00

Sunday I finally finished the Lovikka mittens I started last winter. I only had the embroidery and the tassels left. It's great to bring knitting projects to my inlaws, since my MiL watches and plays with Linus, I can sit and knit in peace :)

The mittens are made from a dark purple Lovvika yarn (really thick pure wool), dpn size 5 mm and black, grey and white embroidery yarn in pure wool. I think the name is quite cool! Deep Purple is kinda obvious, and Smoke on the water refers to the black/grey/white embroidery :)

The picture is taken in the sunshine and snow at my inlaws house.

Fuzzy scarf is ready!!

2006-02-09T22:49:00.000+01:00

Late friday night I finished the most hated Fuzzy scarf! I swear I will never knit with a hairy, fuzzy yarn again! I was not very difficult, I just didn't like it. And what I hade the most is that mi dear sis finished a similar scarf in about 2 days... Mine took over a year (or about 2 weeks of knitting time...)

Now I don't know what to do with the scarf. I guess I will put it in the "last minute gift"-box and see what happens to it.

'Cause I'm a SixSoxer, yes I am...

2006-02-09T22:41:00.000+01:00

Have you heard the song "'Cause I'm a hiphoper, yes I am" by Thomas Rusiak? If you haven't, find it and enjoy it!!!

Anyway... I joined the SixSocks KAL list! The idea of this group is that they release one sock pattern every other month, and you have 2 months to finish your pair of socks. If you finish on time and post both a progress and a finished photo, you are entered in the raffle. If you don't, at least you have a new pair of socks and you learned some new technique! It's a win-win situation :)

This month we are knitting beaded lace socks in ragg yarn, and this is the sock I'm knitting for the Olympics! I will post progress photos as I knit along.

I have chosen a greyish blue yarn, Regia 4fädig, and Gütermann Rocaille 9/0 beads in a shimmery pale yellow. I think it will look very nice! Too poor lighing right now, but picture is coming...

I will begin casting on tomorrow during the opening ceremonies! Can hardly wait...

Long time no blog

2006-02-09T22:34:00.000+01:00

Hi folks, missed me?

It's been a really busy week here... Here comes the short short version.

Thursday - work
Friday - Lunch with Nette and the kids, then some work
Saturday - Work, and then off to the inlaws
Sunday - At the inlaws
Monday - Shopping in Stockholm with mom
Tuesday - Retailer meeting with Husqvarna Viking in Västerås
Wednesday - Working, plus Linus have a cold
Thursday - A day off, Linus cold worse

Thats what I've been up to! More specific posts are coming up, just keep reading :)

Journal Quilts

2006-02-01T22:43:00.000+01:00

Early in January I found out about Journal Quilts, a friend wrote about it on a mailing list. I'd like to make the same approach to Journal Quilts as the woman in the link above, to explore new techniques, to mirror what happens in my everyday life, to sum up what I have learned and what could have been done diffrently.

And now it is already February, and I haven't made one yet... I guess what I really learned during January was how to blog, and how to find other people's (crafters') blogs. That might be quite hard to interpret in fabric... Maybe I'll have a go at it and make the first one a bit late. I still want them to be 12 in the end of this year!

Perhaps January's journal could be made using the new presserfeet I've got in the shop, and using some of the fabric I got in the Monthly scrapbag I subscribe to. Will think more about it in the morning...

Joined Team Sweden

2006-01-31T23:44:00.001+01:00

Now I have officialy joined Team Sweden for the Knitting Olympics! I've been fiddling to get the button to show in my sidebar, and after some days of work, I finally did it!! Marika made the nice button, kudos!

Tonight I made a pair of pearl and bead ear rings for a friend that goes back on maternity leave tomorrow! She has worked over the holidays, and now she's gonna stay at home with her first child until the second one is due in July. It is so exciting, a new baby on the way! Of course, I'm making a quilt for the baby when it arrives (I might even sew it before the arrival, if I get to know the sex of the baby).
Anyhow, I think she deserves a gift. First day off + exactly nine months since the birth of her daughter + she is just a great friend! *waving to Nette* I'll post a pic when I have given the ear rings to her, don't wanna spoil the surprise :)

Did some 4 inches on the fuzzy scarf watching Desperate Housewives and Joey. To much yarn left...

Both my boys are asleep now (DH + DS), and I'm joining them now since it's darn close to midnight...

Books are allowed

2006-01-30T23:25:00.000+01:00

Since I have my own little Stashalong going, I can't buy any more yarn or fabric 'til 1 April. But books are still allowed! Therefore I have done some shopping...

First, I found Lucy Neatby's Cool socks, Warm feet at a good price at Amazon.de, so I ordered it. I placed the order Wednesday, and I recieved the book today! Thats what I call fast! I have browsed through the book and I like the models, although they are only six :( On the other hand the book teaches you how to create your own socks. It explains different kinds of cast-ons, toes, heels and general sock knowledge, and my aim is to read the book and try all the different heels and toes. Who knows, I might just learn something :)

I also found (read about them in Saartje's blog) two Estonian books called Kirikindad I & II - Patterned mittens. They are of special interest to me since my gransmother is from Estonia, and I'm really looking forward to getting them! Btw, kindad means mitten in Estonian :)

All the way to Ikea and back

2006-01-30T22:38:00.000+01:00

We didn't go to my inlaws over the weekend. They had gone to DH's sister, and we ha forgotten to ask if they were gonna be home... Thus, no knitting this weekend. Or, not much knitting. I knitted on the hateful fuzzy scarf all the way to Ikea and half the way home. Still a lot of yarn left :(

The trip to Ikea was good though! We bought a new storing system for two of our closets. We don't have many things that should be hanging, but lots of stuff that fints nicely into drawers :) Yesterday I spent a lot of time assembling 4 pieces of Antonio - the wire drawer rack, and it acctualy involved a hammer and no screws! I cleaned out the two closets and put the racks in there, sorted my, DH's and DS's stuff and put it in the drawers. A day well spent!

I also found two very nice teacups that will eventually become "sewing stations", a place where you keep the sewing notions you use every day. I will post pictures when they are finished.

In the same building as Ikea there is a Panduro store (craft and hobby products), and they are about to close, so they had a 25% sale on everything! I bought some beads, metal rings, brass snap-hooks and large safety pins. I just love Panduro!

Kitchen towel swap arrived

2006-01-28T10:44:00.000+01:00

Yesterday my kitchen towel set from Barb D arrived! We are having an off-list mini swap (see the posting about the bath towels), and this is package #2 of 3. It is a beautifully embroidered terry towel in yellow and white with matching wash cloths. Thanks Barb!

More stitch markers

2006-01-28T00:24:00.000+01:00

Made some more stitch markers tonight. This time in blue and green tones, with some silver accents. Five of them are going in the mail tomorrow, finding a new home at a friend's. Bad pic as usual...

The upper row is green and the lower one is blue.

Weekend plans

2006-01-27T22:51:00.000+01:00

We are going to my MiL's over the weekend. They live in the countryside = no internet = no postings :( And no reading other blogs :~( But since MiL and FiL will be playing with Linus all the time, I'll have some time to knit!! I'm taking the fuzzy scarf and the Lovikka mittens with me, hoping to finish both.

Fuzzy scarf

2006-01-27T22:41:00.000+01:00

I found another knitting UFO! It is a simple scarf that was meant to be a gift for my grandma last christmas. I never finished it since it was sooo boring! And I hate the yarn. My sis knitted one of these in like two days and I thought I might do the same, what was I thinking?
The yarn is Idéna's Happy Multi in some beige-brown colorway (#72), and it's some hip fussy polyester stuff. My mom asked if I had shaved the cat... The pattern is as simple as knitting 30 stitches, turn and do the same, for a few hundred times... I'm using up two skeins, and I just began no 2, so I'm only half way... Anyway, I plan to finish it this weekend.

B is for Boxes

2006-01-27T22:09:00.000+01:00

Posting #2 for the ABC-along. Boxes. I love boxes! I love to sort and store stuff in boxes. All the boxes below contains crafting stuff. DH thinks I have to many of them, but I can't help it, I must have more!! Some might say I'm obsessed... I have the same feelings for binders, card indexes and other accessories for sorting :)

These boxes are for quilting stuff, I have six of them. They contain fabrics, batting and other stuff. In the background you can see the Singer sewing machine my sister and her boyfriend gave me. They found it in the scrap yard and I'm renovating it. Don't know yet if I'll keep it or sell it. Don't have a Singer, so I might keep it...

These beautifully blue boxes is where I keep some of my ongoing projects. There is one for knitting, one for crocheing, one for my lifetime hexagon quilt and one for embroidery. The knitting one is the most frequently opened at the moment.

And these boxes holds just about everything! One is for current projects and contains my Lovikka mittens, my Bronwyn Hayes embroideries (for a quilt) and some beads. The others contains things like invoices, tapes and MD's, silly teenage memorabilia, computer cords and much more (have about 15 of these boxes...)

Tomorrow I'm going to IKEA, and there's a good chance I'm picking up some new boxes so I can bring my yarn stash up from the basement :)

There is one more box that I just love, but that one will get a separate posting :)

Finished the Opal wristwarmers

2006-01-24T23:33:00.000+01:00

Tonight I finished the Opal Wristwarmers. Now I have a matching set of socks and wristwarmers :) They are oh so nice and warm, and my wrists rest so soft while I type :) I like the way the begin and and with a red part!

Recieved bath towel swap

2006-01-23T23:43:00.000+01:00

Today (or last friday acctually, but I picked it up today) I recieved the first of the bath towel swap packages! It was from Barb E, and it was sooo wonderful! She is so considerate!

I recieved a white towel embroidered with blue flowers + matching wash cloth, a pink towel, cotton blossom body lotion (it smells sooo nice!), Dove mini soap and lotion and Dove chocolates.

She had also made a parcel for Linus! He recieved a red towel embroidered with motifs of a black cartoon cat (I think it might be Oscar? + the water soluble needs to be washed out), a blue whale to have in the bath, a mini slinky, a Nascar carshaped tin with chocolates, a bag of Lion King Gummi Bugs (with squishy centers!) and one of those compact towels that grow when you put them in hot water.

Thank you so much Barb! I really love everything you sent me and Linus! He immediately started chewing on the whale, and that is a good grade :) I just love swapping with you!

Beads beads beads

2006-01-23T23:37:00.000+01:00

I had so much fun the other day making stitch markers, so today I bought a bunch of new beads! The ones I had was mainly pinks and purples, so I bought green, blue and silver ones. In two weeks I'm going to Stockholm and Panduro Hobby, and then I'll get a lot more :) Beads are not in the stashalong deal :) Not a very good pic this time either, I think I have to take a photo class...

Ufo #2 finished

2006-01-23T23:26:00.000+01:00

Today I finished UFO #2! It is a makeup/toilet bag based on a pattern from a book by Annie Eikenes. This one was originally intended to contain my MiniDisc player, ear phones , some MiniDiscs and extra batteries. Now I think I will use it for the toilet stuff we tote around for Linus, such as nasal spray, cough mixture, painkillers, saline drops, cue tips etc. The pics show front and back. Sorry for the bad lighting. Can you spot DH in the background? :)

My creative corner

2006-01-22T23:43:00.000+01:00

My friends at Quiltsnack's mailinglist has been posting pics of their sewing rooms, and I follow the stream. Here is my sewing corner on our kitchen table. We have our dinner here every night, so I have to push my stuff to the side all the time... This is just as messy as it usually is :)

Inspiration

2006-01-22T23:20:00.000+01:00

I found this tablecloth in my drawer. It has been my paternal grandmother's, and I rescued it when we went through her things after she passed away. I don't think it has ever been used, it has that stiff new feel to it. And it still smells like grandma... I love the fabric and would like to use it for a bag or two, but just I can't cut it up. The tablecloth is for a round table and mine is rectangular, so I can't even use it for what it was intended for. Any hints on how to deal with these sentimental feelings so I can use the fabric? Maybe if I found some more of her old stuff?

The colors are actually this red, the darker areas are not black but dark brown. I love the combination of orange, tomato red and fuchsia.

Sleepy Sunday

2006-01-22T23:13:00.000+01:00

This has been a great day! We (including Linus) slept until 9 am, and then we had a long breakfast together. Around 11 am we were getting a bit bored, so we called our good friends in Stockholm and made plans (they were just as bored as we).

We took the bus to their place and had a cup of tea, Linus played with their cats. Then we took a stroll to Fältöversten, a nearby mall, and did some windowshopping. After a really good pizza we took the bus home again, satisfied with a calm yet meaningful day with friends. (Waving to Karna *wave wave*)

Poetry in motion

2006-01-22T23:08:00.000+01:00

This is my 9 months old son Linus having his bedtime bath tonight. Oh, my heart aches when I look at this picture, I just love him so much... That thing he does with his tounge is the latest "thing", he puts it out a bit and giggles. Sleep well my darling, mommy loves you!

Lost in time

2006-01-22T22:50:00.000+01:00

Today I made a disturbing discovery. I haven't used my calendar/organizer since the middle of OCTOBER!!! The plastic thingie that marks the week was still in october... This led to another discovery, I don't even have new calendar sheets for this year, it ends in the beginning of january!

This is a personal catastrophy! My calendar is usually scribbled full with meetings, appointments, reminders and ideas, but since october it is empty. Is this what life as a mom is? No time at all for me? I guess that it's ok when I think about it, after all, Linus is the most important thing in my life!

I love my organizer! It is a golden cognac brown leather Filofax, pocket size, and it has kind of a western/equestrian theme going on with the marked seams. I bought it last summer (2004) at the bookstore in Ronneby where I used to work. It cost me a fortune, about $100. But as my friend Iopop put it: I will use it for at least 10 years (I did with my last one), and that will only be $10 per year :)

Well, tomorrow I'm going to the stationer's (where I also used to work) and getting a refill for it, and perhaps some nice colored note papers too, to make up for lost time...

Stitch markers

2006-01-21T23:13:00.000+01:00

Tonight I have entertained myself by making beaded stitch markers. I had a lot of fun making them and I'm sure I'll make a ton more of them :) Maybe I'll sell some, if anyone is interested. In that case, make a comment or send me an email and we'll arrange something!
Acctually, I've never used markers before, but having read about them on the net and in blogs I wonder how I could ever have done without them?! The colors are not very good in the pic, the beads are more iridicent and colorful irl.

Btw, I think I have lost my latest pair of bamboo pins, 4mm :( I bought them in november and I have used them for one project since, but now I can't find them. Hopefully I left them at my MiL's, I have to call her tomorrow and check...
But on the upside, if I really lost them I have a good reason to buy new 4mm's, but in rosewood this time :)
Added later: The pins were neither at my mom's or at my MiL's, so I just have to buy new ones, but I guess it has to wait until after March 31, or DH will go nuts... Guess I won't be knitting anything with size 4mm unless I do it with regular metal pins...

First kitchen towel done

2006-01-21T23:07:00.000+01:00

The Knitting Olympics

2006-01-21T12:01:00.000+01:00

Today I have joined the Knitting Olympics at YarnHarlot's!

**********************
Concept:
You must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (Feb 10)- and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (Feb 26). That's 16 days.

Rules:
1. The project must be a challenge for you to complete in 16 days.
(...)
4. No casting on before the flame is lit.
5. Finish before the flame goes out.
6. You may swatch before the games. (I consider this "training.")
**************************Quoted from YarnHarlot's blog

During the Olympics I attempt to knit one sock from any English language pattern. First, I have only knitted one pair of socks, and it took me two years. Second, I have never knitted in English before, only Swedish, so it will be a real challenge for me to figure out all the abbreviations! Don't know if there is a Eng/Swe knitting dictionary somewhere on the net, but I'll try to locate one...

If I manage this challange there will be a whole new world opening for me! I have been surfin around over the last few weeks, and I have found tons of nice patterns I want to try, but they're all in English...

There is another challenge connected to this. As I blogged about a few days ago, I'm doing a Stashalong, and I can't buy any new yarn or fabric until March 31. And I don't have any sock yarn!!! But I will make do with the superwash yarn I have in a lot of colors! The socks will be striped :) Or maybe I'll just raid my mom's stash ;)

A is for Almost Amish

2006-01-20T20:25:00.000+01:00

My first ABC-along posting is kind of late, but here it is! Almost Amish by RJR Fabrics is my favourite series of quilt fabrics. The colors are quite dark, yet a little faded. The motifs are subtle or tone-on-tone. Beige, taupe, old rose, burgundy, dark gold... Yummie! Sadly, they are a few years old and quite hard to find. Lucky me have some left :)
The pics show two make up bags I made from these fabrics.

Stashalong

2006-01-20T12:15:00.000+01:00

I just read about the stashalong in I'm knitting as fast as I can's blog. Sadly, I missed the sign up date by about 3 weeks, but I guess I could tag along anyways :) So, I'm doing my own mini stashalong... I have not bought any new yarn yet this year, so I have not broken the rules yet. The stashalong lasts 'til March 31, and for the two months one week that is left my goals are:

* To finish the Opal wrist warmers
* To finish my Lovikka mittens
* To begin and finish Julia's sweater (size 1 year)
* To begin Linus' woolen sweater (size 1 year)
* To begin a shawl from my one-of-a-kind hand dyed skein of pure wool

I think these goals are quite reasonable, and if I run out of projects, I can always raid my basement stash...

For Linus' sweater I will be needing more yarn since I'm knitting one size bigger that I planned to, but I can order that after March 31 :) Ohohoh, I just had a great idea! If my mom bought the missing yarn and gave it to me as a gift, then I wouldn't be breaking the rules, would I?!

Now, back to the embroidery machine, I'm making kitchen and bath towels today!

In the mail

2006-01-18T23:42:00.000+01:00

Today I recieved two nice things in the mail: A book on scrapbooking (that I forgot to let my book club know I didn't want...) and a quilt catalog from Hancocks of Paducah *mmm yummie*

The book will be returned tomorrow as it was quite boring (though it was nice to browse through). The catalog will be read over and over and over... So many ideas that pop into my head when I read those catalogs, esp the one from Keepsake Quilting :)

Opal socks II

2006-01-17T22:57:00.000+01:00

I'm back from my mom's and the Opal socks are finished! It took me a total of two years to get them done, I'm not used to knitting with such thin yarn... My first finished UFO in 2006, the year of the UFOs.

From the left over yarn I'm making wrist warmers in a spiral pattern. It's fast and fun!

I'm in an internet swap group, the Santas embroidery stocking swap. We swap all sorts of embroidered or sewn objects, and for Valentine we're swapping kitchen towels. I recieved my swap pal yesterday, and it was just the person I was hoping for! Tomorrow I'll embroider her towel so I can send it out on friday (to South Africa!).

We are four girls from the swap group that are having our own little towel swap, I'm sending two bath towel sets and one kitchen towel set, and will recieve the same. I have bought all the towels and are going to embroider them on thursday I think. Boy, it is fun to swap!

If you're into knitting, check out Knitty! Lots of great free patterns.

Trimming heaven!!!

Wouldn't you love to have these rosewood pins?!

Opal socks

2006-01-13T18:15:00.000+01:00

Just a short post today, I'm off to mom and dad's for the weekend. DH is helping dad renovating our boat house.
I'm taking one of my knitting UFO's with me. It's socks in Opal yarn, that stuff that patterns itself. One down, one half to go... Iv'e worked on them for about two years, and I think they are too small :( Well well, maybe sis can have them...
Pattern from Markno design.

I'm also bringing my Lovikka mittens UFO. I began those last winter when I was pregnant, but Linus came in the way of finishing them. All that's left is weaving in the loose ends and embroidering the zig-zag pattern on the cuffs. Perhaps there will be a photo after the weekend :)

Surfer girl

2006-01-11T23:34:00.000+01:00

Woke up this morning with some stomach illness :( That automatically leads to a surfing day :) When you feel under, there is nothing better to do than random surfing. Start at page you like (or dislike) and just click away. You can find weird and wonderful things!

My pic today is one of a handbag. I downloaded the pic somewhere on the net to keep for inspiration. Now I don't remember where or who designed it, but please let me know if you recognize it! I just love the simpleness of this bag! I sometimes think I'm creatively impared... So simple but just so great!

Found a nice webshop today. Annelito creates the most wonderful broches and rings!

Also found Abigail A. Percy, a very talented girl that creates outstanding jewlery!

Both links found at Camilla's.

Latest project

2006-01-11T00:50:00.000+01:00

Ohohoh, I remebered I finished one quilt after the one I mentioned in my last post! It was sewn on commission for a newborn boy, Loke. It's the same easy pattern as Linn's quilt.

First attempt

2006-01-10T23:56:00.000+01:00

Finally, it got to me. Couldn't live without telling everyone about my doings. So I've got a blog.

Since I have no photos of my current projects yet, I'm posting the last baby quilt I made. It's a simple square pattern, quilted diagonally both ways across each square. This was made for DH's newborn niece Linn. Sadly, her mother still keeps it in a drawer after 6 months. I hope it will see daylight again sometime...