I won't mind swinging a deer over my shoulder

This kind of deer, which is made from thread and fabric, mind you....

The lovely bag comes as a kit, so one can embroider and sew it. It's from a gorgeous Danish company called Fru Zippe. And this particular bag is designed by Pelse Asboe, who never fails to surprise and carry my need for embroidery away.

7 talented embroidery designers have made the brand Fru Zippe, and offer all of us, who loves embroidery and lovely design, a whole lot of exciting kits to make.

Take a look at their website and enjoy the diversity in all the various kits. I have spotted at least 3 more to put on my never ending wishlist...

Excellent - if you ask me!

For a button lover like me - or shouldn't I say haberdashery lover - this is the perfect solution when looking for the right button. And from a company with a fabulous name: Doodlebug design.

So many darling buttons in one card - shapes and colours for this and that. Who could ask for more?

Oliver + S Little Things to Sew, by Liesl Gibson

I have pre-ordered this book a long time ago, and the other day I got a mail to tell me that it was on it's way.

I can hardly wait - oliver + s make such great patterns...and what a cool little film they made to promote the book.

Dotty yellow, red and green

I'm making Spring move into my kitchen. Now I only need 3 big, white candles and some fine Snowdrops to put into the little egg cups...

Emil and Anne-Sophie used to be my reliable providers of Snowdrops and Crocuses, when they were about 3-4 years old. I remember how they proudly came with a few flowers in their little hands - newly picked in the garden and with the shortest stalks ever.

I loved how happy their faces looked, when they saw their flower gifts on the table in egg cups or other tiny vases.

I do have a lot of yarn in there, don't I?

I do have a lot of yarn in there, don't I?, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

It has been a while ago since I made a favourite inspiration mosaic. Today it's very clear to me that my preferences in materials and patterns, have changed over the last period of time. Somehow all of the fabrics have been more or less replaced by yarn!

I don't mind at all, because I know that my love to fabric will not dissapear - it just stays in the background for a bit. And my many metres of fabrics will go nowhere up there in the shelves in my sewingroom...

And if I see some beautiful stuff which has been made from fabric and thread, I will just sit back and enjoy the lovely inspiration.

So, keep the gorgeous inspiration coming - in yarn, fabric, paper, you name it!

Oh, and by the way, do click on the text below the mosaic to go to flickr, and see which talented people have made the things in the mosaic.

Maybe it's time....

...to look for a new house for my very own mouse (which was a gift from my dear friend Liselotte)?? 

A milk carton mouse-house like the one above from Maileg is actually made for the purpose.

 I simple adore it.

And now that I'm at it, I might just have to buy my mouse a new bed from Maileg as well. Who wouldn't want to sleep in a wooden cigar box next to the mouse-love of your life!

I definitely have to buy my mouse a wife.
Who knows, maybe they will end up getting little beauties like these??

And now it looks like this!

The elephant cardigan was unraveled - that will not happen again I tell you...

Luckily the amount of stitches in this small size were easy to deal with.

I'm pleased with the new colours of the first pattern row. It's supposed to be like this on the sleeves as well, but in my opinion, that will become far too much on such a little cardigan.

If you look carefully - and know the pattern - you will see that I left out 2 dark grey stitches under every one of the elephants' trunks. Definitely not on purpose. But it will be easy to fix with a needle and some yarn when the knitting is over...

I have now reached the beginning of elephant row number 4. The snowy day has been perfect for a bit of knitting and sitting inside the warm house.

But Emil and I did also play with Otto in the snow. He's so funny in this weather. He acts as if the whole lot of snow has been put in the garden just for him. So he jumped as high as possible to reach the many snowballs Emil threw into the sky. What a joy to watch.

He's such a happy, funny and loving dog...

I'm elephant'ing

I have always loved this elephant pattern. And have manged to wear out one recipe of these...

I haven't knitted an elephant cardigan for years, so now I think that it's time for another. Originally I wanted to make the cardigan in a size 6 years so Agnes' bigsister Sarah could get it. And I even bought enough yarn for this size.

But then it struck me that maybe elephants were a bit too childish, for a 6 year old! I honestly don't think so, but who knows what today's 6 year olds like?

So instead I began knitting a size 2 years, and now the cardigan has become a future birthday or Christmas present for Agnes.

As you can see in the photo, I made the first pattern row in 2 grey shades. They were supposed to have other colours, but I wanted it to look simple so I went for the neutral choice. Sadly it looked completely wrong and I unraveled the whole lot.

Now I have found 2 beautiful red shades of yarn in my stash - they are more dusty than bright red. Perfect I think...but you will have to wait for photos of that.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring me a bit more elephant'ing - then the elephants can start marching all over the cardigan....



Taking purple steps...

From Nature Shoes.

...wouldn't bother me at all. Actually I would adore it!

And there was a hat

Another kind of baby hat for Agnes - Tophue med tut. It's from this book - a lovely and usefull book with loads and loads of great patterns.

I'm exited to hear how it fits Agnes' little head, because it seems a bit loose.

Tadahh . . . there is nothing new under the sun!!

Not exactly a surprise to you, but here they are. The stripes for Agnes and the little hat for Karl.

I still need to crochet around the neckline and had a go at it late last night. It definitely didn't turn out like I wanted it to, so I unraveled and decided that maybe it would be better to go to bed.

If it doesn't work today either I don't know which excuse I will use! Lack of crocheting skill is probably the most obvious one...

Besides that little problem, I'm very pleased with both things. As you already are aware of, the sweater is a favourite pattern - and I remember the procedure so well already. Without looking at the paper it's written in - a big thing for me!

Oh, I do have one question: do the pale pink stripes look white to you? They do so to me. Hmmrf!

For little Karl

One of my cousins recently had yet another little boy. He is called Karl.
It's not that often that I see my cousin anymore, but I still think that I could send a gift for her newborn son - and you know that I just love making small clothes. And besides she's such a lovely woman, my cousin.

I'm going to knit a Djævlehue or two and I will put a pair of trousers in the package as well. The trousers are the ones you see above. . .and here.
I made them this autumn and they have been hanging on a coat hanger ever since. Now I have found the right recipient, who might fit a size 68 centilong soon - that's just wonderful!

The yarn for the hats is the same one, which I used for the sweater for Agnes. I bought the ecological cotton in a beautiful pale blue colour yesterday, which hopefully will look fine on Karl's little head.

Fabulous and French

New books arrived the other day - or actually 1 book and 2 magazines.

I just had to have some more of the Phildar knitting magazines for kids. I already had this one for babies, but I fell in love with some of the patterns for older children as well.

The book Poupées en chiffon is about making dolls. I have a dream of making a doll for - guess who? - Agnes or Sarah as they are the youngest members of our family, and then sew a whole lot of doll clothes for it too.
The book has so many fine patterns. It's almost looks like real clothes - with many gorgeous details.

I recently ordered a Swedish book about doll making, and it took a lot longer for that book to arrive from Sweden, than the ones from France. However, it turned out to be a bit disappoiting, but lucilky this sweet and extremely talented woman is going to make a book on the subject. I know that it will be a fantastic book when it's done.

The magazines were brilliant and full of things which I would love to knit sometime. But I will save the book for a cozy and quiet moment in the kitchen. I'm sure that the weekend will bring several of those...

Have a wonderful weekend with your loved ones.

A pure necessity!

I can hardly wait till this fantastic dotty fabric hits the shops in March. Once more it's Riley Blake who made me sigh for their designs.

It has really been a long time ago since I have seen a piece of fabric, which I love as much as this!
It makes me think of warm summer days with popsicles and cold squash, and little girls in adorable tutus in gorgeous pastels.

What to make of the fabric when it arrives here in my mailbox, is not a problem at all. I want to make little summer trousers for our 2 little nieces - like the red Gingham ones I made for my sweet neighbour girl Maria.
Actually I must admit that I have thought about making something for myself in it too. A tunic to wear on lazy days at home would be great.

Ranunculus and stripes

These flowers are some of my favourites ones...and I only paid 20 Danish Kroner (3,68 $) for these!! A bargain if you ask me...

I wish that we could get Ranunculus at the end of May, when Emil is going to be confirmed and have his party for family and dear friends. But I know that it's not the time for them when we reach that date.

Hopefully we will find some other beautiful flowers. Not that it's Emil's favourite subject (that would be a bit strange anyway!).
When I ask him which colours he wants for the table at the party, he looks at me and smiles. "That's entirely up to you, mom!" is his answer - and probably just what one could expect from a boy his age. (But I thought that he should have a chance to decide...)

So, green it will be in some kind of shade - Emil loves green.

While talking about colours: the stripes for Agnes are coming along fine. This time I think that the size will be just perfect.