Bootcuffs-gone-wrong cowl

This is the story...

I wanted to make a pair of bootcuffs out of some leftover yarn (Rowan Lima Colour and Lang Minerva Merino). Their colours turned out too different to be acceptable though. I hadn't realized that this kind of variegated yarn doesn't have a recurring colour pattern.

What to do, what to do....??

I decided to make a cowl out of the two pieces of knitted fabric, by sewing them together. It's a nice and soft fabric and feels great around my neck.

But still, I found the seams a bit weird. Perhaps a few buttons would make it work? So I searched my button box for some buttons that would fit together and sewed them onto the seams.

I think it works, it's not haute couture off course, but nice :

Cheery flower chain

This flower chain I crocheted some months ago for a friend who could use some cheering up.
It is based on a pattern I found in "Haken in kleur" ("Crochet with color") by Kazuko Ryokai.
The pattern (on p. 84) is called "lariat" or "bloemenketting". It was a fun project, although it meant weaving in really a lot of ends...
I used all kinds of yarn leftovers, mostly cotton, some wool.
It turned out quite nice I think, and in fact, at the time, it cheered me up as well.

Please give bees a chance

I love bees, especially bumblebees. Every time I spot one of these flying teddybears, it makes me smile and I want to see what they are up to. But pollution makes it hard for them to survive and the global bumblebee population is declining. In my own small way I wanted to raise some awareness for this. Craftivism is my kind of thing, and since I recently discovered the joy of embroidery, that's what I did. With a model from Making Magazine, issue 2 as a guideline, I embroidered this bumblebee onto a piece of fabric, cut from an old pair of linen trousers. I’ve hung it in front of my window, hoping it will make just a tiny little bit of difference…

Itty bitty bear cubs

What an adorable pattern! You can find it (it's free!) here on ravelry. I very much enjoyed  knitting these baby hats for 2 friends' new babies. The yarn is Duetto Stampe, a wool-cotton blend, which I liked working with.

And here is one of the Little Heroes with his new hat! 💜 

Repurposed leggings!

An old pair of leggings, scissors, some embroidery thread and a bit of time. With these ingredients I created this pair of funky wrist warmers. Fun recycling!

The Great Wave phone case

I needed a Phone case. So I decided to make one myself, with supplies I had on hand. I knitted a piece of fabric with three small leftover skeins of very rustic wool.  This piece I felted in the washing machine, which made the fabric thicker. This way it protects the phone better. Then I sewed the fabric together with a blanket stitch, attached a cord and sewed on a button. The button depicts Hokusai's woodblock print "The Great Wave of Kanagawa". I like the result: I think the button fits perfectly. And then I came across this cup at the British Museum, which made me smile (even though it was a disposable one...)

The making of:

Rosa Scarf

The minute I saw the photo of this scarf on Ravelry (you can find the free pattern here) I wanted one. I love the simplicity of the rectangle in garter stitch, the snug and also slightly vagabondish style. And now it's finished, I am very happy with it. It was a very boring knit though, rows and rows of garter stitch. The yarn is Pure organic by Veritas  : good quality yarn and I really love the knitted fabric. But I didn't really enjoy working with it, a bit too fluffy for my liking.
The button is a wooden one.

Sooo many rows of garter stitch…

Thinking about the hedgehogs last summer

We have a small garden and it's not very neat. As a reward for this untidiness, 5 little hedgehogs were born this spring, in our compost heap! So so cute!! They have gone their own way now, perhaps one of them will come and visit us again some day.
As a keepsake, I sewed these 5 little hedgehogs. The fabric is tweed from a sample book I bought on the Dutch second-hand website "Marktplaats". I think I'm going to have much more fun with this sample book in the future!

And here are some of the real little rascals !

Happy Merry Christmas to all!

Very, very happy holidays and for 2019 loads of crafty happiness, good health of course and lots lots lots of good news, - in short, all best wishes to you from me and my reindeer Comet!!
Comet is made of felt pieces sewn together (a Mollie Makes pattern). I gave him a nice warm scarf made from a yarnscrap of lovely soft Blue Sky Fiber suri merino.

Cheeky Comet, he loved the photoshoot!

Selbu Mittens

The Selbu Mittens is a pattern by Skeindeer Knits. You can buy it here on Ravelry. Skeindeer is a London-based Norwegian pattern designer highly influenced by traditional Norwegian knitting. She hosts a nice YouTube podcast that I watch regularly.
The pattern is well-written and easy to follow, and I loved learning new techniques (like the Old Norwegian cast-on). It was a bit like solving a puzzle to me. This colourwork knitting is really something I want to do more of.
The yarn I used is John Arbon Textiles knit by numbers DK, bought online from Knit with Attitude
(a local yarn shop in London). I am very happy with these mittens, they are so super warm and cosy. I made them as a Chritmas gift and I hope they will be well received!

Sooo cosy and warm!

starting a new project is always a bit daunting…