I have a question

Has anyone seen these fluorescent embroidery floss colours here in Denmark? And if you have - where can I buy them?

I have managed to find them in shops abroad but with shipping fees and all, the floss becomes rather expensive.

But I really do want to embroider some cool details with a neon pink and some of the other fabulous shades...

Do you love baby blankets as much as I??

I definitely have a soft spot for lovely knitted blankets for babies.


Far too many times have I clicked on the favourite button on ravelry, when I saw a tempting pattern. And that without having a baby to warm with stitches in wool.


Now it's time to fall in love with another fabulous pattern. And so I did - right away - when I read the blog post Rosanna wrote yesterday.  


She has knitted the most beautiful blanket for her little niece. It looks extremely fine and delicate with the neatly knitted lace pattern. Perfect for a soft baby to be swaddled in, and a luxurious gift for baby and parents to enjoy for many years.


The pattern is designed by Rosanna herself, and I love the idea she had about making something auntie-made for her sister's daughter.


And take a look at what Rosanna generously offers to us  - the Savannah baby blanket pattern - for free!!

Photo from Rosanna's blog Eaviola

My thoughts ...

...are with this beloved girl of mine today.

Because eventhough she's nearly 20 and a clever, sensible, indepentent and warmhearted grownup, she's still my little daughter whom I'm never stop caring about.

Today she starts a new and important part of her life at the architecture school, along with 150 other young people. Well, the official start is on Thursday, but the next 3 days are RUS-days.

I know that she will do just fine, and luckily she's good at connecting with other people - eventhough she's a bit shy. Still, I remember what it feels like to start an education...so many new and unknown people and places to figure out.


But tomorrow everything will be a whole lot easier, and seem a tiny bit more familiar than from the day before.

Anne-Sophie has been very exited to begin, and that really fills my heart and mind with joy. To hear her talk so enthusiastically about using her creative side along with her academic skills, tells me that she made the right choice for her future. I hope that the education will live up to her expectations.

Just 3 more books. . .

I know that it hasn't been that long ago since I mentioned some new books. But now I have to show some more wonderful  reading matter.

And this time they are even in Danish.

When Lene Holme Samsøe has made a new book full of her spectacular ideas, I simply need to have it. The title is Vild med Garn and this is how tempting the cover is.

Photo from Politikkens Forlag

Those kind of crocheted  hangers have been haunting me for a while - but in the good way! I wish that my wardrobe would burst with hangers as lovely as these, when I opened it to pick out some clothes! Maybe I get to make them by myself after reading the book.

Photo from Gads Forlag

The idea behind the book Til kaffeslabberas is a mix of photos, conversations and knitting. 7 wellknown Danish artists and designers meet with 7 experienced women, and together they collaborate on creating different knitted items.

Finally I need to show Homemade. A book made by Rachel Søgaard, Stine Hoelgaard and Karen Marie Dehn.  All interesting and talented women.

I especially love Stine's blog...

Photo from Politikkens Forlag

So there you are! And no more books for a while on my blog...

They are back! Or is it just me who is slow?

I remember when I, as a young girl, flicked through the pages of the Danish magazine Femina, to find the knitting patterns of the week.

They were always trendy and funny to make, and the patterns have often been the source when I knitted new things in my youth.

All of a sudden the magazine stopped bringing knitting patterns, and the crafty part became a less important factor. That really dissappointed me, but as time went by I forgot all about it.

But then I googled something about knitting, and there it was: a link to lots of beautiful and free knitting patterns from Femina's website!

Maybe it's old news to you, but I got happy. And why on earth didn't it strike me before, that this particular magazine might have a crafty part on their website, like so many other magazines??

So now the little top above has already been printed for future projects, and so will the pattern for the white baby and toddler vest be.

Sadly they are all written in Danish, but maybe they can be an inspiration anyway.

Some etsy love on a Tuesday

Cuplight candleholders from German etsy shop snug.
I adore when people think crazy brilliant thoughts, and make well-know things into something completely different.

And while we are talking about cups, then have a look at this fine cup birdfeeder from CMonetGarden - another etsy shop. I have seen some before around cyberspace from time to time, and wouldn't mind having one in my own garden.

I would love to find a vintage cup and saucer myself, and make it into a garden dining place for little birds.
How to keep the water out of the cup when it rains, is however an unanswered question!

+ 1

5 elephants were not enough. 1 more had to be added in order to make the pacifier holder long enough.

I didn't mind that at all. I adore embroidering those little creatures, and now I find myself trying to find new items to make elephants on...

1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 little elephants

I'm making the preliminary preparations for a little embroidery I have been meaning to sew for months.

So I found all my embroidery floss, tried to pick out some colours and got to change my mind more than 4 times, before I thought that the right mix of colours was there.

5 little elephants are on the pattern I'm going to be making. One in front of the other they will get to walk on the white linen in a long row. In colours which can be used by both boys and girls.

And what is it for you might ask yourself?? 

A kind of chain to hold a pacifier from falling to the floor - eventhough babies at one point in life think, that it's the best kind of fun to throw their pacifier as far away as it can go. I can't help loving that they throw it down over and over, and keep laughing every time. 

I found the pattern in my own copy of the wonderful book Gavebogen - written by Theresa Jessing from Sort Lakrids.

If our little niece Agnes has begun using a pacifier, I will send it to her. And if not, then I simply put it in my box with baby presents...

Book-elicious

I don't think that I have ever looked more forward to this autumn's and winter's new books, than I do in 2011/2012. So many talented people have been busy making books for the rest of us to enjoy - and of course to learn and get inspired from.

Many of you probably already know this fantastic woman from her blog Tusindfryd.
Wenche Steensen is going to release her new book about making dolls. She makes the most wonderful custom made Waldorf dolls for children, and following her blog is a magical thing.
 As far as I can tell from the online bookshops, it will be here some time in the beginning of 2012.
I can't wait to see her work and all the many ideas on making dolls.

Another woman whom I admire so deeply - both as an artist and as a person - is my blog friend Cathy Gaubert. Maybe her name rings a bell since I have written about her several times before. Her embroidery patterns are some of my all time favourites.

Cathy is making a book too. A book about patchwork doll quilts - a thing she does so brilliantly herself. Oh, how I love the work from her hands and head!
The book is called Pretty in patchwork - doll quilts and contains different doll quilts from several talented women.

My sweet American blogger friend Amy is actually going to be in 2 books this autumn. She has quilting blocks in the book Modern Blocks and you can definitely look forward to seing her work. She's really talented and makes all her things with such dedication.
The book will be in the stores by October 2011.

And she has things in the book Zakka Style, which has contributions from different crafters. This one will be available in December, so there's a clear cut idea for a Christmas present.

Finally, I know that I will love the first book from brilliant Fiona Dalton. Her patterns - which I have bought and sewn this bunny from - are simply genius and the expression on each animal she makes is so good.

Her book is called Hop, skip, jump - the same as her blog. The book will be in stores about the end of October 2011.

So with all these fabulous books coming, there's one good reason for summer to end a bit faster - eventhough I don't really want it to end at all!

Making progress...

Just a little collage to show you that I'm making the scarf longer - slowly but nice and quiet I add more circles.

I quickly decided to add some other yarns as well. Somehow I needed a bit more of the vivid colours.

So in my stash I found some of the yarn I have bought from Garnudsalg.dk - so far I have used Blodappelsin, Blå Polkagris, Polkagris, Retro Blå and Retro Bordeaux (and some other bits and pieces from my stash). I absolutely adore the Polkagris yarn! And the name...it makes me think of lovely days in Sweden eating Polkagris candy.

To remember Piccadilly Circus by

Yesterday I saw an amazing program about the super talented artist Stephen Wiltshire. His story is so heartwarming and full of hope, and I couldn't stop thinking about him for the rest of the day.

His art work is extremely fantastic and he has a partiality to drawing buildings in metropolises around the world - and old American cars.

I decided to buy a print made of him and chose a beautiful drawing of Picadilly Circus in London. It shows the exact spot which my friend Kirstine and I went to every Sunday, when we were off work while living in England.

A fine way to remember a part of life during my youth - and hopefully my modest buy can be a tiny help for Stephen, so he can visit new cities and create new and fantastic drawings.

No words needed...

...the beauty of the paper from Minimega speaks for itself. Underneath you can see the paper on a beautiful photo from the shop, since my photo was taken at night time, and I don't think that it does justice to the actual colours of the paper.

How can I ever have the heart to use such pretty paper?

Photo from Minimega

New inspiration for x-stitches

I'm over the moon about the 2 new books about x-stitches, which I recived today. Well, I actually got 4 books, but the other ones are fiction and not about stitches (it's Berlinerpoplerne and Eremitkrebsene by Norwegian Anne B. Ragde).

I bought the embroidery books in France, and they are both full of inspirational ideas for making logos and pictograms with needle and thread. I'm almost certain, that I will get hooked on sewing edged people and traffic signs.

France really have a whole lot of fantastic books about x-stitching in a new and different way. I would never have discovered it, if it wasn't for the wonderful people I have been so fortunate to get in touch with through flickr, blogs and etsy.

I wonder where it has been??

On a little Sunday trip I bought this cardboard box. It has 2 sweet girls drawn on the upper lid - the kind of drawing which makes me have a second look at it, whenever I see something like it.

The girls reminded me of some paper cut out dolls I had as a child. And actually I expected to find that kind of dolls in the box when I opened the lid.

Instead it revealed 2 pieces of lined writing paper...with tiny dolls walking across the buttom of the paper. Perfect for the kind of letters only a child can create - and which I love.

I wonder who put the paper in there? Maybe a girl who wanted to save the final pieces of paper for something special - but who never got around to using them anyway.

Now, the paper wasn't bad either. And the box has already pleased my eyes several times. It only cost me about 7½ $. What a cheap pleasure...

o o o o o o o

Circles, circles, circles.... I'm crocheting this.

With the many little circles which are needed for the scarf, I will most certainly get a bit more experinced in this particular kind of handwork. (At least I hope so). And maybe then I can take a wee step ahead in the wolrd of crocheting. But first things first - the scarf must get done.

I have decided to make the scarf 3 circles wide contrary to the recipe, where they have used 4.

The easiness of making the cirles, the size and the convenience of bringing it along, suit me perfectly. Especially in these days, where the warmth has finally hit us.

I like to sit in our little patio in our old garden furniture with Otto runing around. He loves to look for the titbits I hide for him. And since he doesn't possess the patience of an angel, I think he's rather satisfied with the fact, that a half-finished yarn circle can be put at the table in no time...